Boston Celtics Blog – Page 65 – NBA Blog

Clippers beat Celtics by 29 for 15th straight win

Matt Barnes tied his season high with 21 points off the bench, Chris Paul had 11 assists and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated Boston 106-77 on Thursday night, becoming the first team to win 15 consecutive games since the Celtics four years ago.

Fellow reserve Jamal Crawford added 17 points, Blake Griffin had 15 points and Caron Butler 14 to help the Clippers improve the NBA’s best record to 23-6.

Kevin Garnett scored 16 points for Boston, which never led in dropping to .500 at 14-14 with its fifth loss in seven games. Paul Pierce and Jeff Green added 12 points each to go with 10 apiece from Jason Terry and Rajon Rondo…

Barnes had the Clippers’ first five points in a 9-0 run that opened the fourth quarter and boosted their lead to 90-67. Willie Green briefly played; otherwise the Clippers’ other starters rested to close out the game.

The Celtics were held to 10 points in the final 12 minutes…

The game got chippy at times. In the third, Jared Sullinger was called for a flagrant-1 foul for grabbing the front of Griffin on his way up to dunk. Then Butler and Pierce emerged from a big mass both holding onto the ball, leading to a jump ball. In the first, Rondo was lying on the ball and Paul tried to take it out from under him on the sideline, leading to a testy moment…

Justin Bieber (who had Paul’s young son sitting on his lap), Billy Crystal and Olympic 200 sprint champion Allyson Felix were among the Clippers’ 67th consecutive sellout crowd.

— Reported by Beth Harris of the Associated Press

Celtics easily handle Nets in Brooklyn

Rajon Rondo lost his cool, and any chance at history, in the second quarter when Boston last met Brooklyn.

This time, the second period featured some of the best basketball the Celtics have played this season.

Rondo scored 19 points in his first full game against the Nets this season, and the Celtics won 93-76 on Tuesday in another game with some heated moments between the division rivals.

Rondo, sidelined in the first meeting and thrown out of the second after shoving Nets forward Kris Humphries into the courtside seats, outplayed counterpart Deron Williams and helped the Celtics take control early…

Rookie Jared Sullinger tied a career high with 16 points and Jeff Green had 15 for the Celtics (14-13), who avoided falling under .500 with just their second victory in six games.

The Celtics took control with a 23-5 run in the second quarter of the opener of their four-game road trip. They had 11 assists on 13 baskets and outscored the Nets 34-18 in the period after dropping the previous two meetings…

Gerald Wallace and Brook Lopez each scored 15 for the Nets, who have lost four of five. Struggling to find anything that worked, they played Lopez and fellow center Andray Blatche together with three guards at one point, but Brooklyn shot just 41 percent and committed 20 turnovers that led to 25 points.

Williams had only 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting and Joe Johnson, his partner in a high-priced backcourt, shot 4 of 14 for his 12 points.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Celtics rookie Jared Sullinger fouls a lot

Despite playing just 17.1 minutes per game, Jared Sullinger leads the Celtics in personal fouls with 74, and he understand that his rookie status isn’t helping his cause.

“It’s fouls,” he said. “I can’t go over to the ref and make him change the call. It goes in one ear and out the other.

“I probably do lead the league in [raising] my arms up after fouls. I’m a rookie. There’s no way I can handle a ref. They are not going to listen to me.

“So being a rookie, sometimes you always get the short end of the stick, but you’ve got to pay your dues around here in this league.”

— Reported by Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe

Boston Celtics sign forward Jarvis Varnado

The Boston Celtics today signed Sioux Falls Skyforce forward Jarvis Varnado for the sixth Call-Up of the 2012-13 NBA Development League season. Varnado joins more than 100 players with NBA D-League experience currently on NBA rosters.

Varnado (6-9, 210, Mississippi State) has appeared in 10 games for the Skyforce, averaging 14.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 30.5 minutes and a league-leading 3.9 blocks. Varnado finished with six double-doubles and recorded season-highs of 21 points and eight blocks on Nov. 30 at Springfield. He tallied a season-high 16 rebounds at Austin on Dec. 22. For his efforts, he was named NBA D-League Performer of the Week on Dec. 3.

Originally selected by the Miami Heat in the second round (41st overall) of the 2010 NBA Draft, Varnado was a four-year contributor at Mississippi State where he was named the NABC Defensive Player of the Year (2010) and was a three-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year (2008, 2009, 2010). Varnado finished his 141-game collegiate career as NCAA’s all-time leading shot blocker with 564 career blocks.

Varnado is expected to join the Celtics today and be available on Dec. 25 when the team travels to face the Brooklyn Nets in a Christmas Day match-up at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Chris Wilcox could miss a month with a thumb injury

The Celtics will enter their critical four-game road trip beginning Tuesday with just 11 active players, as once again keeping their centers healthy remains difficult.

At practice Sunday, coach Doc Rivers revealed that Chris Wilcox will miss perhaps a month with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb, sustained in Tuesday’s loss to the Chicago Bulls.

Wilcox attended the team’s Christmas party for local children with a brace on his right hand. With his absence, the Celtics have one true center on the roster — Jason Collins — despite having addressed the position in the offseason.

President of basketball operations Danny Ainge re-signed Wilcox and added Darko Milicic and Collins, and drafted Syracuse’s Fab Melo for support. Milicic left the team after less than a month to be with his ill mother in Serbia and Melo is playing for Maine of the NBA Development League.

— Reported by Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe

Boston Celtics recall Kris Joseph from D-League

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have recalled forward Kris Joseph from their NBA Development League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws.

Joseph, a 6’7 forward, has appeared one game during his most recent assignment against Erie on December 22 and recorded 10 points and seven rebounds in just over 37 minutes of action. He has posted averages of 19.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.88 steals in his eight contests for Maine this season.

Celtics re-assign Kris Joseph to D-League yet again

The Boston Celtics have re-assigned rookie forward Kris Joseph to the Maine Red Claws, Boston’s NBA Development League affiliate. The assignment is the record 68th of the 2012-13 NBA and NBA D-League seasons, while Joseph is one of 42 NBA players to have been assigned this season. The previous assignment record was 67, set during the 2011-12 season.

Joseph (6-7, 210, Syracuse) has appeared in three games for Boston this season, scoring two points in nine minutes of action. He returns to the Red Claws having played in seven games, averaging 20.9 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 2.0 steals and 38.1 minutes.

Joseph is expected to be in Maine today and available to play when the Red Claws host the Erie BayHawks at 7 p.m. ET.

Celtics recall Kris Joseph from D-League

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have recalled forward Kris Joseph from their NBA Development League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws.

Joseph, a 6’7 forward, has appeared in seven games for the Red Claws this season and has posted averages of 20.9 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 2.0 steals in 38.1 minutes per game. At the time of his recall he was ranked fifth in the NBA Development League in points per game.

OJ Mayo discusses almost becoming a Celtic last season

This past April, Celtics analyst Donny Marshall claimed O.J. Mayo‘s refusal to play for the Celtics led to the collapse of a deal with the Grizzlies that would have brought him to Boston last season in exchange for Ray Allen and a draft pick. “Mayo basically said, ‘I don’t care about banners,’” announced Marshall.

After losing to the Celtics in double overtime on Wednesday, the current Mavericks guard denied that accusation, referencing his lack of veto power without a no-trade clause and affirming he would’ve welcomed the deal to Boston.

“I was in a good situation in Memphis at the time,” said Mayo. “Obviously, Boston is a big-time organization as well. Great players. It would’ve been an honor to play with KG [Kevin Garnett], [Paul] Pierce and [Rajon] Rondo. It would’ve been great to play with those guys and with [Celtics coach] Doc [Rivers].”

Instead, Mayo blamed the deal’s failure on an internal debate between C’s players and the front office over Allen’s future.

— Reported by Ben Rohrbeach of WEEI

Celtics re-assign Fab Melo to D-League

The Boston Celtics today re-assigned rookie center Fab Melo to the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics’ NBA Development League affiliate. The assignment is the 45th of the 2012-13 NBA and NBA D-League seasons, while Melo is one of 33 NBA players to have been assigned to the NBA D-League this season.

Melo (7-0, 215, Syracuse) returns to the Red Claws having played in five games for the team, averaging 6.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 23.4 minutes. Originally selected in the first round, 22nd overall, by Boston in the 2012 NBA Draft, Melo appeared in eight preseason games with the Celtics, scoring two points and grabbing ten rebounds in 47 minutes.

Melo is expected to join the Red Claws today and be available on Friday, Dec. 14 when the team travels to face the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.