The story of this game is obviously Ray Allen returning to Boston for the first time since going to the Miami Heat (28-12) in the offseason to chase a ring.
Ray isn’t the only former Sonic in this match-up, Rashard Lewis, his former running mate in green and gold is also now on the Heat. Rashard also signed with Miami in the offseason in hopes of getting the first championship of his career. He is also signed to a much more manageable contract now too.
Allen and Lewis were both stars in Seattle during the Sonics last playoff run in 2004-05.
Two other former Sonics are also playing in the game and will be coming off the bench for Boston. “Uncle” Jeff Green and Chris Wilcox.
Oh and Jason Terry is also going to be playing in this game too! Lot’s of local connections in this one! It’s also kind of the reason we chose this game to follow.
Miami has been not very good on the road this year. They are only 10-9 away from home this season. Boston (20-23) isn’t much better at home or on the road. They are in a team that’s on the verge of falling back into the pack and needing to think about life after Garnett and Pierce.
Random baseless prediction: Chris Andersen dunks on Jared Sullinger.
Overplayed match-up everyone will talk about: James vs. Pierce.
Even if one of them is hurt the announcers will talk for half the game about the battles that James and Pierce have had with each over the years. Not the one you should actually pay attention to.
Match-up to actually watch: Dwayne Wade vs. Avery Bradley.
Miami does rely on Wade to succeed; contrary to popular belief that LeBron scores 102 points a game and is the whole team. Miami kind of goes as Wade goes. Wade’s scoring is down, but his shooting efficiency is up. Avery Bradley is Boston’s best off the ball defender. Bradley is physical and loves to keep his opponent off balance. Bradley doesn’t have the offensive game that Wade does and won’t be able to outscore him unless he goes absolutely unconscious. His job is going to keep Wade in check.
Prediction: Boston is not in a good place right now and I don’t think they’re going to be able to pick it up to match Miami in intensity or scoring. Going to take Miami 104-87.
Everyone step off the roller coaster, let’s drop rumors, stop talking about press conferences and let’s talk about basketball. We’ve beat a lot of points into the ground, time to start talking about games again.
Looking forward to watching Rondo. He’s always great to watch when it comes to playing against the Heat. Clever, sneaky, and fast.
I got NBA Legue pass yesterday. I need to reacquaint myself with the league beyond box scores and highlights.
I want Eric Bledsoe as the point guard for Sonics 2.0. He’s special. He’s due for a contract soon.
Maybe Ray Allen can return to Seattle as a veteran leader to close his career. I would love to see that.
I think ray will likely retire after this next contract and even if he wants to play I think he would try to go to another contender.
Ray did retire to Miami, it will just take a couple years to become official.
I’m kidding, he is doing what all superstars do, cash in, then trophy out (they hope).
Still a few folks left from the 2000 team USA roster.
http://www.usabasketball.com/mens/national/moly_2000.html
+1 on Eric Bledsoe
Once CP3 re-signs and Griffin gets the Max……..its inevitable that he gets traded at some point.
Cousins for Bledsoe? Clips front line would be pretty sick with Griffin, Jordan, and Cousins.
I would be very hesitant to trade Cousins for anyone until our own staff could evaluate him. He is a potential franchise player, and those are very difficult to acquire. Equal value would not return via trade. The point would be to team Cousins and Bledsoe together and surround them with complementary pieces over time. Of course this strategy is only viable if Cousins can mature himself and get with the program. How I wish the Kings had drafted Damian Lillard or Andre Drummond over Thomas Robinson.
I was big on Lillard and Drummond too. They may have totally sucked in the Maloof chaos though. Robinson hasn’t been good but he has some good games. It’s still possible that he develops into a good player but doesn’t appear to have the upside of Lillard or Drummond.
I’d do a Cousins to Boston for Sullinger and two firsts.
In the draft this year I’d take Cody Zeller with the first pick and then Trey Burke to run point.
Someone mentioned hopefully winning lottery or getting #2 and getting Shabazz and then winning next year and getting wiggins, signing Bledsoe and would have good young nucleus
The are so in DENIAL. This week should be good. Feb 1th , Hansen will give Maloofs, 30 million.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/01/26/5142080/burkle-talks-to-nba-commissioner.html
“When the mayor revealed in 2011 that Burkle wanted to buy the Kings and keep them in Sacramento – at a time when the team’s owners, the Maloofs, were attempting to relocate to Anaheim – the reaction from the NBA was so favorable, the Maloofs dropped the Anaheim idea.”
LOL. Really? Way to distort the past to meet your distorted vision of the present & future. Isn’t it the case that Anaheim was dropped because David Stern said it ain’t happening?
Perfect example of sacto press living in denial.
wow Rondo tore his ACL.
That’s huge. That ends Boston’s playoff hopes.
Yeah that is HUGE for Boston and not in a good way. The run of these past few years was on the decline. Now it is over
I wonder if they become sellers.
I think they could. I bet they could get something decent in return for Pierce and Garnett.
Stick a fork in the Celtics. They are a lottery team now fore sure.
Terry could be shipped off too. I’d keep Sullinger and Bradley, but that’d be it. Unless there’s any offer Danny Ainge can’t refuse.
Oh and Jeff Green’s contract is pretty much unmovable.
I dont think they move Terry. It makes even more sense for them to keep him now that Rondo is out.
Cousins for Bradley and Fab Melo
I hate to see that. Rondo is a special player. I hope he can recover fully.
Rondo is hands down the second best pure point guard in the nba behind Chris Paul.
Most of u have seen this from yesterday, but I really wanted to highlight Calabro’s comments here. So glad to hear he’s still totally dedicated and on our side. He’s 100% spot on about the need to put together a top notch front office. Can’t wait!
Who the hell is Cody Zeller, I’ve watched all of 1 minute of that kid and I’m impressed.
Took the ball from the right elbow, crossover right to left, drive all the way to the rim for a layin off the glass.
He has a better handle than Jimmer.
He’s a rookie from UNC. He’s a tough nosed player, big big hustle and extremely high basketball IQ. Cleveland has a bunch of special young players. They are on the verge of being extremely good.
This guy.
http://nbadraft.net/players/cody-zeller
Oops. Sorry, I confused him with his brother Tyler.
Jeff Green is feeling it right now! Corner three and then a monster dunk!
I was just going to post that. Jeff Green is all over the place. Fun to watch!
Hearing KC call the Jeff Green dunk brought back memories of countless Kemp jams, and tears to my eyes. Can’t wait!
Double overtime, kids!!!
Heck of a game.
Lawler’s law comes into play. First to 100 won.