Sure, it's not the most imaginative post title, but I still like it. Last night, the C's reserves restored order after Durant and the Thunder started their comeback effort, as Glen Davis and Nate Robinson helped to secure the 92-83 victory. In the end, it was the experienced defeating the youth, as Bean Town earned their 5th straight win to keep November perfect. It was also nice to get a regulation win again to help calm the nerves.
The C's led the Thunder by 7 after the first quarter and by 21 after the first half, but a 27-15 OKC third led to a tight finish. With the Thunder's attempt to rally back, the Shrek and Donkey show took center stage. Glen Davis hit three huge jumpers to add to Nate Robinson's strong to the hole layup and Ray Allen's "make it rain" three to help put up a 15-6 run at the end of the game for the C's. As the game was about a minute away from completion, media heartthrob Kevin Durant got into a little fisticuffs with Paulie under the basket. Durant got called for the technical in the scuffle, and both players went to the bench to prevent further business, which is probably a good idea because Pierce would get owned in that fight. For the fourth straight game, the Celtics proved that having Shaq is nice but not necessary for victory.
The Celts shot just 47% from the field, but went 40% from beyond the arc to help the effort. While the teams were dead even in rebounds, the Thunder were -5 in assists, +7 in turnovers, and +5 in foul calls. Pierce (17), Allen (19), and Rondo (10) were the lone double digit scorers, in a game where Rondo also added 10 assist (just another double-double day at the office) and the Celtic bench chipped in 33 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists. Man, I love this B team. Tater Turk, Semih Erden, who impressed in the preseason, finished with 9 points, 4 boards, and an assist, and shot 5 for 5 from the charity stripe. Really, really glad to have him around.
At 6-1, Bean Town now lead the division by 2.5 games over the 3-3 Knicks, and in the East, the C's are deadlocked at #1 with the 6-1 Hawks (where you at, Heat?). Within the greatest rivalry in all of sports, the Bizarro Celtics (aka, the Clippers) continue to be our exact opposite tied for last place in the West at 1-6. After losing to the Jazz by two over the weekend, B's C's battle New Orleans tomorrow. The winning streak for my C's has brought our point differential/game to 6.3, as we are 18th in points scored but 6th in points allowed (out of the 30 NBA squads). Our SRS sits at 4.89, good enough for 7th in the Association, while our 91.6 PACE (24th) only further solidifies our defensive prowess over our offensive abilities. In fact, our defense is rated 3rd in the NBA per Basketball Reference's DefRtg stat. We are, however, shooting .051% better than our opponents this year.
So, why do I like our B team so much better than the A squad? Well, besides the fact that I'm not huge fan of ridiculous free agent acquisitons, they are also way more fun to root for. And how about their stats? Well, let's look at the top 5 players in a couple of stat categories, and see how my bench buddies fit in.
PER (Player Efficiency Rating, with 15 being league average)-
1. Luke Harangody: 50.7 (1 game)
2. Rajon Rondo: 20.6 (7 games)
3. Marquis Daniels: 17.4 (7 games)
4. Paul Pierce: 17.0 (7 games)
5. Glen Davis: 16.1 (7 games)
eFG% (FG% that adjusts for the fact that a 3 is worth more than a 2)-
1. Luke Harangody: 1.000
2. Shaq O'Neal: .611
3. Semih Erden: .600
4. Marquis Daniels: .574
5. Glen Davis: .571
TRB% (an estimate of the percentage of available rebounds a player grabbed while on the floor)-
1. Kevin Garnett: 17.5
2. Semih Erden: 16.1
3. Shaq O'Neal: 15.9
4. Jermaine O'Neal: 12.0
5. Paul Pierce: 10.4
WS/48 (an estimate of the number of wins contributed by a player per 48 minutes of playing time)-
1. Luke Harangody: 0.537
2. Semih Erden: 0.246
3. Marquis Daniels: 0.201
4. Glen Davis: 0.199
5. Rajon Rondo: 0.182
While I know that Harangody is rated highly because of his small sample size, I think these stats clearly show how amazing the bench players are on this team. How many teams can boast having so many bench players in the top five of such impressive statistical categories? This is one of the important features of this Bean Town squad that lends well to us going far through the post season. Not to mention that it statiscally shows why I love these guys so much.
Next up is a battle with the Dallas Mavericks (3-2) tonight. For some reason, Vegas has the Mavs as 3 point favorites. However, with the serious rest our first unit picked up in last night's game (KG, Pierce, and Jermaine all had 32 minutes or less), and the fact that we have started 7-1 or better for the last 3 years, make me pretty confident in our chances.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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