The Celtics matched wits with the Pacers, and outlasted the Indy crew, prevailing 99-88 for their 13th straight win. Paul Pierce went completely nuts, Nate Donk filled in perfectly for Rajon yet again, and Shaq completed an alley oop that made me say, "Wow!"
With things tight in the first, the C's busted out for a 9-2 run, and took a 30-23 lead heading into the first break. The Pacers were never really able to close the gap, until they managed to make it an 85-81 game in the fourth. At that point, however, the Green Army turned on the after burners. Glen Davis and Ray Allen each hit jumpers, and then Ray Ray came away with a big steal that he banked in on a lay up (take that Dunleavy!) to get the score to 91-83 with about 3 minutes to go. The jello was jiggling.
The C's finished 54% from the field, while holding the Pacers to a truly pathetic 35%. We also outrebounded and outassisted the Indiana sqaud, and while they won the steal battle, Allen's aforementioned grand theft may have been the most important. The Green Army had five players finish with double digit points: Pierce (18), Shaq (11), Ray (17), Nate (18), and Big Baby (18). Now that's spreading the love around. Paulie was clearly the player of the game, going for 18, with 10 boards, and 12 assists. He was just out of control. KG was underrated, at a point and a rebound away from a double double (9 and 9).
The wins just keep on coming, and we're now 22-4. In the Atlantic Division, we lead New York by a large 7 spot, and in the Eastern Conference, we're up on the Heat (who, I hear, are very excited about the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell") by 3 games. Our SRS of +9.15 is the number one rating in the NBA, our +9.6 point differntial per game showcases our 10th ranked offense and 2nd ranked defense, and our season FG% is 51.2% (while we hold the bad guys to 43.5%).
With St. Paulie's amazing performance last night, I thought we could try and compare his value with that of a couple of other NBA superstars, and see where he ranks. We'll look at one "superstar" from each of the six division leaders, and we'll keep the stats real easy. We're just going to compare wins shares this season (WS) and career win shares per season (WS/Sea).
WS:
Paul Pierce- 3.9
LeBron James- 5.0
Derrick Rose- 3.1
Deron Williams- 4.8
Kobe Bryant- 4.0
Tony Parker- 3.4
WS/Sea:
Paul Pierce-8.962
LeBron James- 13.525
Derrick Rose- 4.667
Deron Williams- 7.467
Kobe Bryant- 10.000
Tony Parker- 6.89
I guess you could argue on just who is the superstar from each team, but the Spurs was the only one I was questioning (and I didn't want to pick Gnobli). We'll give a value (CWSV equals "complete win share value") based on where they rank in each category (6 for first, 5 for second, etc), and give you the rankings.
1. James: 12 CWSV
2. Bryant: 11 CWSV
3. Williams: 8 CWSV
4. Pierce: 7 CWSV
5. Parker: 4 CWSV
6. Rose: 2 CWSV
There you have it. Of course, LeBron wins, Paulie finishes fourth (behind Deron Williams?), and the stats prove once again that I know nothing about basketball. But, I'm still a huge Truth fan. Always have been. Always will be. Celtics without end. Amen.
Tomorrow evening, St. Paulie has another chance to put up huge numbers and show he's more talented than LeBron, Kobe, and Deron (combined?). The Celtics go against the Sixers, and they're hungry for #14.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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