Boston Celtics Blog – Page 123 – NBA Blog

Leon Powe out with major knee injury

The Boston Celtics announced today that forward Leon Powe suffered an ACL tear and a meniscus tear in his left knee during Game 2 against the Chicago Bulls in the First Round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs.

Powe will miss the remainder of the playoffs. A surgery date will be determined at a later date. This injury is unrelated to the right knee injury that he suffered on March 17. Powe is expected to make a full recovery from his surgery.

The Celtics are already without star power forward Kevin Garnett in the playoffs as they try to defend their championship. This latest injury things out their frontcourt in devastating fashion.

Allen, Rondo help Celtics even series against Bulls

The AP reports: Ray Allen landed the final blow in a memorable duel with Ben Gordon on Monday night, shooting the Boston Celtics back into their first-round series. Allen made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2 seconds left and finished with 30 points, leading the Celtics a 118-115 win over the Chicago Bulls. Gordon nearly carried Chicago to a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. He scored with 12.3 seconds left to tie it, the final hoop of his playoff career-high 42 points. Then Boston set up a play for Allen, who took a pass from Rajon Rondo and connected from the right side. Allen scored 28 points after getting some advice from coach Doc Rivers at halftime. “Doc said going into the half, ‘Be aggressive, but let it come to you,”’ Allen said… Davis had 26 points for second-seeded Boston, passing his career high of 24 points on March 21, and Rondo had a triple-double—19 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds. Pierce added 18 points and Kendrick Perkins contributed 16 points and 12 rebounds. John Salmons had 17 points and Brad Miller scored 16 for Chicago.

Mike Brown named Coach of Year

Cleveland’s Mike Brown is the recipient of the Red Auerbach Trophy as the 2008-09 NBA Coach of the Year, the NBA announced today.

Brown totaled 355 points, including 55 first-place votes, from a panel of 122 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

In his fourth season at the helm in Cleveland, Brown guided the Cavaliers to a franchise- and NBA-best 66-16 (.805) season, marking only the 12th time an NBA team has won at least 66 games. Cleveland started the season with a franchise-best 23-straight wins at Quicken Loans Arena and finished with the best home record in the league at 39-2. Cleveland is the sixth team in NBA history to record 39 home wins and the first to do so since the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls. The Cavaliers’ 21-game improvement over last year’s 45-37 record tied the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers for the second biggest improvement all-time among teams with at least 45 wins in the previous season.

Brown was named NBA Coach of the Month for December, February and March. At the All-Star break, Cleveland owned the highest winning percentage in the Eastern Conference (36-9, .800), earning Brown the spot as head coach for the East in Phoenix. It was Brown’s first appearance as an All-Star head coach and the second in franchise history (Lenny Wilkens, 1989).

Brown led the Cavaliers to at least 45 wins in each of his first three campaigns, marking only the second time Cleveland won that many games in three consecutive seasons (1991-92 to 1993-94). With a combined regular season record of 211-117 (.643) in four seasons, Brown has the highest winning percentage of any head coach in franchise history. In each of his first three seasons in Cleveland, Brown has led the Cavaliers to the playoffs, amassing a franchise-best 26-20 (.565) postseason record. In 2007, he led Cleveland to its first trip to The Finals.

Brown joined the Cavaliers after two seasons as associate head coach for the Indiana Pacers. Prior to that, Brown served as assistant coach for three seasons in San Antonio, helping guide the Spurs to the 2003 NBA championship. Brown began his coaching career with the Washington Wizards, where he spent two seasons as an assistant coach under Bernie Bickerstaff.

The Coach of the Year Award is named after legendary coach and Hall of Famer Red Auerbach who guided the Celtics to nine NBA Championships. In 1996, Auerbach was honored as one of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History as the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Houston coach Rick Adelman finished second in the voting with 13 first-place votes and 151 total points.

Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy finished third with 13 first-place votes and 150 total points.

Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan finished fourth with 15 first-place votes and 127 total points.

Denver Nuggets coach George Karl finished fifth with 11 first-place votes and 117 total points.

The next five coaches to receive some votes were Jerry Sloan, Erik Spoelstra, Mike Woodson, Phil Jackson and Doc Rivers.

Danny Ainge out of hospital

The Boston Herald (Mark Murphy) reports: Danny Ainge was sent home from Mass. General yesterday, two days after sustaining a minor heart attack and having arterial surgery. The chances of Ainge attending Game 2 at the Garden of the Celtics’ first-round playoff series against the Chicago Bulls, however, are slim.

Fans predict first round playoff results

InsideHoops.com posted a poll two days ago asking fans to predict the results of the 2009 NBA playoffs first round.

In the East:

325 fans picked the Cavaliers to beat the Pistons. Just 29 picked Detroit.
321 fans picked the Magic to beat the 76ers. Just 20 picked Philadelphia.
258 fans picked the Celtics to beat the Bulls. 87 picked Chicago.
And in the East’s only fairly close result, 183 fans picked the Heat while 155 picked the Hawks.

As expected, other than the Lakers-Jazz series, the voting was pretty close in the West:

336 fans picked the Lakers to beat the Jazz. Just 17 picked Utah.
241 fans picked the Nuggets to beat the Hornets. 113 picked New Orleans.
224 fans picked the Spurs to beat the Mavericks. 122 picked Dallas.
198 fans picked the Trail Blazers to beat the Rockets. 152 picked Houston.

Bulls beat Celtics 105-103 in OT in Game 1

The AP reports: Derrick Rose matched Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record with 36 points in his playoff debut, adding 11 assists to lead the Bulls to a 105-103 overtime victory over the defending NBA champions in Game 1 of their best-of-seven first-round series… “I hope this is a wake-up call,” said Paul Pierce, who scored 23 points… Tyrus Thomas scored 16 points—making six of Chicago’s eight points in overtime, including the game-winning jumper with 51 seconds left in overtime. Joakim Noah, who was also making his postseason debut, scored 11 with 17 rebounds for the Bulls as they wrested the home-court advantage from Boston… Rajon Rondo scored 29 points with nine rebounds and seven assists for Boston, which was without Kevin Garnett and didn’t get what it needed from the rest of the Big Three, either.

Danny Ainge OK after minor heart attack

Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge is recovering at Massachusetts General Hospital after having a minor heart attack. He is recovering nicely. Mr. Ainge is expected to remain in the hospital for a few days.

The Celtics are the NBA’s current defending champions, and the NBA playoffs are set to begin Saturday.

Read fan reaction and post your own comments in this forum topic.

Pierce lifts Celtics past 76ers

The AP reports: The 76ers might be in big trouble in a playoff series with Boston once Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett are back. Paul Pierce and his backup band were enough to finish off a Sixers team that still has something to play for. Pierce hit the winning jumper, scored 31 points and hindered Philadelphia’s shot at the Eastern Conference’s sixth seed in Boston’s 100-98 win over the Sixers on Tuesday night… Tony Allen and Leon Powe were pressed into service and combined for 28 points, and the Celtics’ bench also outscored Philadelphia’s reserves… Andre Iguodala led the Sixers with 25 points and Thaddeus Young had 18.

Ray Allen suspended for elbowing Varejao

Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics has been suspended one game without pay for elbowing Cleveland Cavaliers forward Anderson Varejao in the groin, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred with 5:05 remaining in the third quarter of the Celtics 107-76 loss to the Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena on Sunday, April 12.

Allen will serve his suspension tonight when the Celtics visit the Philadelphia 76ers at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, PA.

Read fan reaction and post your own comments in this forum topic.

Cavaliers destroy Celtics 107-76

The AP reports: LeBron James made five 3-pointers and scored 29 points before swaying to the music in his seat, and the Cavaliers throttled the defending NBA champions 107-76 on Sunday to move within one win of matching the 1985-86 Celtics for the best home record in league history… The Cavaliers, now the 14th team in league history to win 65 games, may have never looked this good. They outclassed the Celtics, who were missing Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe and have nothing to play for but pride after locking up the East’s No. 2 seed… Daniel Gibson scored 15 and Williams added 13 for Cleveland, which held the Celtics to a season-low in points on 36 percent shooting. Paul Pierce scored 14 and Glen Davis 12 for the Celtics, who never led and weren’t thrilled to rehash the game afterward.