Sleepless in Boston

The following post is from new Green Room contributor Matt Hafele:

The road trip that saw the Celtics’ first three-game losing streak this season and my sleep schedule get thrown for a loop finally came to an end Monday in Los Angeles. The players haven’t been home in a week and for those that participated in All-Star Weekend (Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo), it has been even longer. It was a brutal five-games-in-seven-days West Coast trip that had its highs and lows. Thankfully, the Celtics ended up winning in Portland and Los Angeles on a back-to-back to somewhat salvage the trip, and my sanity.

It has to be tough going on a long road trip like that right after the All-Star break, and the Celtics certainly didn’t look like themselves in the first three games. It’s tough to determine whether that was because of the opponents or just the extended break. The first game, against Denver, was also Garnett’s first game back in nearly a month. After Friday night’s game in Phoenix I wasn’t really foreseeing this road trip ending on a positive note, but the Celts were able to pull it together and put a beating on the Blazers and the lowly and injury-depleted Clippers.

Midway through the second quarter against the Blazers on early Sunday evening (afternoon on the West Coast), the Celtics finally started clicking. They were getting stops like we knew they could and making the most of every offensive possession.

Much like their first West Coast trip in late December, Pierce played the hero. His game against Portland was arguably his best on the season. He was harassing ball handlers on the defensive end and added 30 points on a remarkable 12 of 14 shooting. Out of those 14 shots, only one was a lay-up. All of his other shots were mid-range jumpers or three-balls. It got to the point where once he got the ball the defender knew what he was going to do, but couldn’t stop it. He put on quite the show just when the Celtics needed it.

In that second quarter of that Portland game they managed to get down by 17 and it looked like they were ready to drop their fourth game in a row. Somehow Pierce was even able to overshadow Ray’s great offensive night. Both Pierce and Ray struggled mightily in the loss to Phoenix but neither could be stopped on Sunday.

It was really nice to see both of them bounce back immediately and in such an important game on the road. All players go through rough games, but it’s good to know we have three top-tier options to look to this season. The Phoenix game was only Garnett’s third game back, so it’s tough to rely on him to carry the whole load. It’s easy to forget that most of the team this year is new and it’s going to take time for everyone to get on the same page. Garnett’s injury was a small setback but I don’t think it’s anything to worry about in the long run. The Celtics’ next five games are all at home, starting with Cleveland on Wednesday, which could be an interesting playoff preview.

Some final thoughts on the road trip:

• The fourth quarter in Tuesday night’s game in Denver was wild. Pierce had one of his most emphatic dunks of this season -- and maybe his career. It was over both Marcus Camby and Kenyon Martin, two great shot blockers. I would’ve loved a win, but I’ll take the satisfaction of getting to rewind that play and watch it over and over again on my DVR.
• The Phoenix game was probably the Celtics’ worst game of the season, and yet they only lost by 8. I can live with that, but mostly because they took the next two games.
• The Clippers' Sam Cassell sat out Monday’s game with a sprained wrist. The rumors have been flying about his potential buyout and the most likely place for him to land would be in Boston. I have been hoping for this moment all season and I think it would be a great move heading into the playoffs.
• How impressive was James Posey in the last two games?! We’ve become accustomed to his great defensive performances and his excellent multi-colored mouthpiece… but since when does he shoot the lights out? He shot a combined 12 of 16 from the field; 7 for 11 from deep. A couple of performances like that in the playoffs would be huge.
• Tuesday night’s game against the Nuggets was all right because it started at 9 p.m. -- but the Warriors and Clippers games’ 10:30 start time is deadly during the work week. The Celtics can now come home to their families and I can get some much-needed sleep.

Oh, and hello
This is my first Green Room post, so to introduce myself, here are a few of my likes and dislikes. I like when Rondo does his fake behind-the-back pass. I like that Garnett yells “Get that **** out of here,” after every block and is almost always picked up by the TV microphones. I also like when he nearly eats his jersey after an intense play or game. I like Ray Allen’s perfect shooting stroke. I like listening to Tommy go crazy after any foul call. I like cheering for Scalabrine at the Garden, mainly because it’s high comedy watching him play and I try to make the best out of a bad situation (his 5-year contract). I don’t like Doc Rivers.

This season has definitely been the greatest since I’ve started bleeding green in the early ‘90s. Just like every other Celtics fan my expectations are through the roof. I live and die with every Celtics game and I’ll do my best to make my time here memorable -- pretty much the opposite of Rick Pitino.