Posts from the Celtics Category at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

Whatever hopes the Cavaliers had of winning the final two games of the series against the Celtics just took a huge hit, as sharp-shooter Daniel Gibson has been ruled out of Game 6 with a separated shoulder. Gibson left Game 5 early in the fourth quarter with the injury, which will keep him out of action for at least one-two weeks. Which, you know, is bad news for Cleveland, because this series definitely won't last past Sunday, and might not even get that far.

While Gibson's only big game of the series came in Game 4 where he dropped in 14 points, the fact that he's a long range threat tends to open things up for the all-important one, LeBron James. So even though Gibson's firepower won't necessarily be missed, his presence will be, and that might be just enough to get the Celtics over the hump on the road in Game 6.

Every now and again there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the L. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

The Celtics came from behind to protect their home floor on Wednesday, which is kind of important considering they've yet to win on the road in the playoffs. Paul Pierce (29 points, 11-13 FT) took over in the fourth quarter and Kevin Garnett (26 points, 16 boards) filled the bucket and cleaned the glass, but the guy who impressed me the most was Rajon Rondo.

Rondo scored 20 points with 13 assists, both personal highs for him thus far in the playoffs. Rondo even hit 2-3 from long distance, which might not sound all that special until you realize he shot just 5-19 from three-point land the entire regular season. Rondo can drive the lane with the best of them but has little to no range -- except when the Celtics desperately needed points to climb over the hump and erase a Cavaliers lead.

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Bad back and all, Kobe Bryant was still able to score 26 (6-10 FG, 13-17 FT) with seven assists and six boards to lead the Lakers to victory. He finished the game with only 10 field-goal attempts (and six makes), but that's a bit misleading when you also consider he went to the line 17 times (converting 13 times).

Entering the game, LeBron James hadn't scored more than 21 points in a single game against Boston. He had that by halftime, but unfortunately his production slowed to a crawl in the third quarter. He finished with 35 points, five assists and three boards -- a rather ho-hum performance given his fast start.

Sorry, Celtics fans, but as of right now the only thing 66 wins gets you is a supporting role in LeBron James' poster. That said, It's not a real series until someone wins on the road, which is what King James and the LeBronettes will be trying to do tonight. The ball tips at 8pm on TNT; my inane commentary follows thereafter. Join me below the jump as I try to survive watching two teams fight, scratch and claw their way to shooting 40% gaining the series lead.

In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for tonight in the Cavs-Celtics Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 5 this evening.

1. This Is Not Your Momma's House: Let's take a step away from slamming the Celtics' horrific road performances for a moment, as fun as it is. This team is a seven-dagger-tailed demon with light coming out of its eyes at home. And tonight's game just happens to be at the "Garden." While there are certainly a variety of warning signs about this Celtics team and their inability to do that vastly underrated exercise of putting the ball in the little hole with the net hanging from it, this team has still always responded when it needed to at home so far in the playoffs. They have their backs up against the wall, facing a daunting return to the suddenly intimidating Q in Cleveland for an elimination game if they don't hold serve tonight. With so many superstars and Hall of Famers on this squad, you'd have to figure someone or someones will still up tonight.

2. No Regard For Human Life Shooting Slumps: Lost in the dunk that blew doors off hinges was the fact that LeBron James still didn't have a very good game in Game 4. He scored 21 points on 7 of 20 shooting. Not bad, but nothing amazing either. However, he did start to significantly warm up in the fourth quarter of Game 4, topped off by that redonkulous jam in the face of Kevin Garnett. We've been waiting for him to catch the spark necessary to get him going, and if that was it, the Celtics may not be rolling to another home blow out tonight.

NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. Bleacher Report: The Utah Jazz have "the most disgusting fans in the NBA."

2. The Wages of Wins Journal: Statistically, the All-Rookie second team is better than the first.

3. Mark Murphy, Boston Herald: Is Sam Cassell getting benched?

4. Basketbawful: What it's like to lunch with Larry Bird.

5. Jerry Brown, East Valley Tribune: Mark Jackson is getting an interview with the Destroyer.

6. FreeDarko: ESPN does not know who Rodney Stuckey is.

The NBA named their Executive of the Year today, and not surprisingly, the prize went to the Celtics' Danny Ainge. The Celtics were able to go from one of the worst teams in the league a season ago to the team with the most regular season wins this year, a feat that's worth recognizing to some extent. But as our headline states (sentiment courtesy of Matt Moore), Ainge was really more lucky in getting Garnett (by way of his relationship with Kevin McHale) than he was skillful in pulling off any amazing deal.

The alternatives to Ainge though aren't really that exciting either. The Lakers' Mitch Kupchak finished second, largely because he didn't acquiesce to Kobe's off-season trade demands, and because he was able to get Pau Gasol from Memphis for Kwame Brown. As great as that deal was though, Mitch wouldn't have even pursued it had Andrew Bynum not gone down with a knee injury. Still, Kupchak is the one who put together this Laker roster over several seasons, and now that it's all come together, he seems like the logical choice.

One final note on this award, and that's the fact that inexplicably, third place went to Hornets' GM Jeff Bower. Now, either the people who vote for this award are completely lazy, or they simply don't know what they're talking about. The only difference between this year's Hornets roster and the one from last season is the addition of Morris Peterson and Melvin Ely. So those guys are the reason NOLA has the Spurs down 3-2? I don't think so. Plus, Bower didn't even draft Chris Paul or Davd West, so how he can receive so much credit for the team's success this season is beyond me.

NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. Need4Sheed: The patented 'Sheed foul reaction, endlessly looping for your enjoyment.

2. Tim Kawakami's Talking Points: Presenting the first annual NBA No-Defense team.

3. Brian Windhorst on the Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James is glad this didn't happen on Mothers' Day.

4. Mitch Lawrence, NY Daily News: Starbury, meet coach D'Antoni. Now pack your bags.

5. Mike Bresnahan, L.A. Times: Ronny Turiaf won't be suspended for that Game 4 flagrant foul.

6. CelticsBlog: I knew Ray Allen was Jesus, but Wally Szczerbiak as Blue Steel?

Larry Bird feels that he should be the only one to profit from the use of his name, and I suppose it's tough to argue that point. But what about when the name is simply being used to accurately describe his former place of residence? That, my friends, is why God created lawyers, and Larry has retained the services of one to sue the pants off a couple who is using Larry's name for precisely that descriptive purpose.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, claims Georgianna Lincoln and Christopher Cooke did not have permission to use the NBA Hall of Famer's name with the property and are profiting off his trademark by stating the home belonged to him.

"The commercialization of Larry Bird's name in association with this former property is wholly and completely unauthorized and is blatantly being done for the sole purpose of profiting illegally from Larry Bird's name," the lawsuit states.

The property that is being described here is a resort called "Legend of French Lick," which says on the front page of its website that it's "the former home of Larry Bird." (Uh, Larry? It was your former home.) It doesn't sound like Bird has much of a case here, as long as the resort owners stick to the facts in representing their property. But then again, Larry simply might not want his name associated with something that he has no involvement in, even if the representation is factually accurate.

"LeBron James, with no regard for human life!" Kevin Harlan is fantastic. I'm not sure why KG didn't really attempt to contest this dunk, especially considering this year's Defensive Player of the Year only had one foul the entire game. Maybe he thought the game was over, and maybe he didn't want to get really embarrassed by having LeBron throw it down on his head. Either way, it was a nice exclamation point for the Cavs, who are now headed back to Boston with the series all tied up at two games apiece.

The Hawks might have looked like they were hung over during their Game 7 shellacking at the hands of the Celtics, and now we may know the reason why: extra-stiff drinks, courtesy of the hotel they were staying at.

Word is, Boston entertainment prince Patrick Lyons might have played a role in the Celtics' blowout Game 7 win over the Hawks a week ago that vaulted them to the second round. The Hawks stayed at the Liberty Hotel May 3 in Cambridge before playing the Celtics. A league source said Lyons, who operates the Alibi Lounge in the hotel, instructed his bar staff to give anyone affiliated with the Hawks a double shot in any alcoholic beverage they ordered.

Now, before we get all high and mighty on the Hawks and criticize them for being out the night before a series-deciding playoff game, let's keep a couple of things in mind. One, we have no names to go along with this story, and two, there's no evidence that any players had anything to drink at all, much less several cocktails that may have been generously poured by the hotel staff.

Still, this is just one more reason why the NBA's regular season matters: as if playing in front of a hostile crowd isn't enough to worry about, players now have to be wary of overly-friendly bartenders, at least when staying in Boston.