NBA – Boston Celtics stays strong at the end of the season

Doc Rivers, the head coach of the Boston Celtics, is well aware of the fact that he has one of the most experienced squads in the NBA. He is also quite familiar with the downside of such an extensive experience in the professional circuit: his players are old. And yet, he has managed to find a good balance overall and the Celtics at 46-15 for the season, and 19-10 at home still stands strong this late of the season. But not without a couple inconveniences that the squad has managed to overcome brilliantly.

For starters, on Sunday at their visit to the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, the Boston Celtics came out to the field with only nine players on uniform. Still, relying heavily on the experienced (and aged) Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, the Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks 89-83.

Paul Pierce scored 23 points, recorded 5 boards, 4 assists and 1 steal and 1 block while Kevin Garnett added 14 points and 11 rebounds and Ray Allen was the man in charge of hitting the go-ahead jumper for the Celtics. But it really was all about the defense. The Celtics were capable of holding back the Bucks and keeping them from scoring a single field goal in the last three and a half minutes of game time. Boston has managed to win its fifth consecutive game and is still atop of the Eastern Conference, three games over the Chicago Bulls and 4 over the Miami Heat that has recently been stuck in a series of unhappy endings, dropping way too many games. Just for the record: Miami just recently lost its 5th straight game and sixth in eight games since the All-Star break.

Boston got 17 points from Nenad Krstic and 11 points from Jeff Green, two of the Celtics’ five new players acquired in the last 10 days. Because let’s face it, Doc Rivers is certainly going to need more than 9 players available if he wants to survive the Playoffs and once again take a shot at the NBA National Championship.

Brandon Jennings scored 23 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists and 3 steals while leading the Milwaukee Bucks to yet another disappointment at home. The Milwaukee Bucks have lost 12 of the last 16 games they played and holding a 23-38 season they are far from turning this season into something even close to a success.

Boston has many injury problems that they need to deal with soon. The injury list includes the likes of Jermaine O’Neal (left knee), Shaquille O’Neal (right heel), Delonte West (right ankle), Glen Davis (left knee) and Von Wafer (right calf). In an attempt to bring in some additional backup, the Celtics signed guard Carlos Arroyo on Sunday, but he will not be joining the team unitl Monday. Nenad Krstic, who scored 11 points against the Milwaukee Bucks, was acquired on Feb. 24 at the trading deadline along with Jeff Green for Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson.

The Celtics will play the LA Clippers in a matter of hours before hitting the road on Friday for their game against the Philadelphia 76ers. As of press time, the Celtics are a 9.5 point favorite on the NBA betting spread against the Clippers for tonight.