© 2108 Jordan Long Sports-Scoop.com | Sports with Attitude!   The Boston Celtics are at the All-Star break, resuming the season on Friday against the Detroit Pistons.  The team is in decent shape to make the playoffs and  a run at the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference.  Boston sits at 40-19 and is only 2 games behind Toronto at 41-16. In the 1st half of the season Boston wasn’t the best scoring team with 103.1 points per game, 25th in the NBA.  This is a surprising number since they have some of the top scoring talent in Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Al Horford.  Irving leads the team with 24.7 points per game. The reason that the Celtics are one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference is their defense.  Opponents are having a tough time scoring against them.  Boston’s defense forces opposing teams into difficult shot opportunities limiting teams from scoring.  And, with only 99.6 po...

© 2108 Jordan Long Sports-Scoop.com | Sports with Attitude! The Boston Celtics retired Paul Pierce’s number on Sunday.  Pierce played 15 NBA seasons with the Celtics from 1998 to 2013.  In his time with the Celtics he established himself as one of the best players in the NBA and in Boston Celtics’ history.  He averaged 21.8 points, 3.9 assists and 6.0 rebounds per game.  With Pierce, Boston went to the playoffs 10 times and won the NBA Championship in 2008.  Pierce was deserving of this highest honor since most of his career was spent with the Celtics. Another member of the 2008 NBA Championship team who may have his number retired is Kevin Garnett.  Garnett spent 6 years of his 15-year NBA career with the Celtics.  In those years he was one of their top defenders averaging 8.3 rebounds, 1 block, and 1.2 steals per game.  His presence took pressure away from Pierce on defense. Offensively Garnett played down low near the basket allowing h...

© 2108 Jordan Long Sports-Scoop.com | Sports with Attitude! The Celtics are on their longest losing streak of the year - 3 games with the loss Sunday to Orlando.  They look to end the streak tomorrow as they start a 4-game road trip in L.A. This is a learning experience for the Celtics.  They’ve played great basketball to this point.  Every team in the NBA seems to have a 3- or 4-game losing streak during the season and this is theirs.  The Celtics learn more about their team in the losses than in the wins.  The first one was a 3-point deficit in an overtime loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.  The Celtics shot only 39.6% from the field.  That will not win games when opponents shoot 45%.  They couldn’t guard Anthony Davis who put up 45 points. Against Philadelphia the team lost by 9 and were out-rebounded 51 to 38.  The Celtics were not able to box out the 76ers and those rebounds lead to more possessions for Philadelphia to add points to ...

© 2108 Jordan Long Sports-Scoop.com | Sports with Attitude! The Boston Celtics are 34-10.  They will face the New Orleans Pelicans tomorrow night .  They have a fast start on the season and the Celtics are hoping to bring a championship to the city.  They were close last year but lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals in 5 games.  There is one player who could help them beat the Cavaliers this year, Memphis Grizzlies’ shooting guard Tyreke Evans. Evans is a scorer and a defender.  He scored 19.8 points per game so far this year.  He sets up plays and dishes to his teammates for easy baskets, notching 4.6 assists per game.   Evans would take pressure off of Kyrie Irving, Marcus Smart, and Jayson Tatum to score points. On the defensive end, he is the defender the Celtics need.  Evans starts fast breaks with steals, averaging 1.1 per game.  He can rebound with 4.2 defensive rebounds per game.  ...

© 2107 Jordan Long Sports-Scoop.com | Sports with Attitude! The Boston Celtics are targeting New Orleans Pelicans' Center Anthony Davis.  It is possible the Pelicans will not move their All-Star center.  If that's the case, there are other options for the Celtics to improve at center. The Celtics could go after DeMarcus Cousins.  He has one year left on his current deal at $18.1 million.  He would be an upgrade from Al Horford.  Cousins is a threat to score down low with 26.2 points per game.  He can rebound and box out better than Horford.  And he averages 12.3 rebounds per game, he improves scoring after fast-start breaks on defense while increasing opportunities for second-chance points on the offensive end.  Plus, he blocks opponents' shots with 1.5 blocks per game. Cousins is a fit for this Celtics team.  The only downside is his contract.  Boston may not want to move any of their players for Cousins.  He would be a ren...

© 2107 Jordan Long Sports-Scoop.com | Sports with Attitude!   The Boston Celtics are playing outstanding basketball with a record of 22-4.  One player who has stepped up his game is Kyrie Irving whom the Celtics acquired during the offseason.  The Celtics couldn’t be happier with his production. Irving joined the team after spending his first 6 years in Cleveland.  In a Cavaliers uniform, he went to 3 NBA Championships and won 1.  The Celtics wantedhim because he is 25, entering the prime of his career and he helped a team play deep into the playoffs.  Irving wanted a change of scenery as well as the opportunity to lead a team rather than play second fiddle to LeBron James.  The Celtics are hoping he is the missing piece of the puzzle for an NBA title. Irving is scoring 23.5 points per game.  He can drive the lane for easy buckets, adding points by free throws.  Irving is setting up the plays to run the offense.  With him...

© 2107 Jordan Long Sports-Scoop.com | Sports with Attitude! The Boston Celtics are 18-3 so far this year.  They are set to face the Detroit Pistons tonight.  Boston is playing well but there is one player who is standing out, rookie Jayson Tatum. Tatum played only one year of college basketball, which was last season at Duke University.  During that season he average 16.8 points, 2.1 assists and 7.3 rebounds per game.  Tatum could score but who knew whether his style of play would translate to the NBA.  Tatum was projected to be a high draft pick and possibly be selected in the top 5.  The Boston Celtics decided to take him with the #3 overall pick. Tatum has made a flawless transition to the NBA.  He doesn’t look like a rookie but rather a veteran in the early going.  He is taking the place of the injured Gordon Hayward.  Tatum has started all 21 games in a Celtics’ uniform.  In those games he is averaging 13...

© 2107 Jordan Long Sports-Scoop.com | Sports with Attitude! The Boston Celtics are 9-2 to start the NBA season, number one in all the Eastern Conference.  They take on the L.A. Lakers tonight as they look to extend their winning streak to 10 games.             Boston’s first game was a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers 102-99.  And, unfortunately, in the game, Celtics’ small forward Gordon Hayward was lost for the year with a dislocated ankle and fractured tibia.  The Celtics dropped their next game to the Milwaukee Bucks 108-100.  Boston finally began playing better basketball which is the reason for the team’s early success.             The Celtics are playing well on the offensive end, scoring an average 103.5 points per game.  They are working the ball around the court and finding the open shooter.  When they do, it creates...

© 2107 Jordan Long Sports-Scoop.com | Sports with Attitude! The Boston Celtics are 2-2.  Over the weekend they beat the Philadelphia 76ers 102-92.  Kyrie Irving was fined $25,000. According to  yahoosports.com , league Vice President Kiki VanDeWeghe said, "Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving has been fined $25,000 for using inappropriate language when responding to a fan.”  The fan was yelling “Kyrie, where's LeBron" as Kyrie was headed to locker room.  Irving said something to the fan and it was caught on video.” Some fans try to get under the skin of a player.  It happens at all sporting events, especially when the team is on the road.  In this case the fan annoyed Kyrie Irving.  All Irving had to do was walk away and ignore the fan.   His teammates could have told him not to worry about what the fan was saying and keep walking.  The event staff might have sa...

© 2107 Jordan Long Sports-Scoop.com | Sports with Attitude! On July 14th, 2017, the Boston Celtics signed prized free agent, small forward Gordon Hayward.  The contract was 4 years, $128 million, paying him $32 million a year.   The hope was that Hayward would be a scoring threat, run the offense, and play defense.  Boston had championship aspirations for this year.            On Tuesday, the Celtics traveled to Cleveland to take on the Cavaliers to open their season.  It was the first time to see Hayward in a Boston Celtics uniform.  Unfortunately, his debut lasted only 5 minutes.  Hayward was going up for an alley-oop pass with 6 minutes and 45 seconds left in the 1st quarter.  When he was jumping up, Cavaliers small forward LeBron James knocked the basketball away while playing defense to prevent an easy score.  Hayward collapsed under the basket.  He was moved from t...