Boston 6 - Texas 0

When you win on the road against a team with a 29-5 home record, in your third game in four nights, you’re doing something special. When you defeat all three Texas teams in that span, you’re doing something rare. When you go 6-0 against San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston, who have a combined record of 135-70 you’re doing something exceptional. When you do all this in a season where you’ve also swept the dreaded post Christmas road trip, you’re doing something historic. How historic? The last Celtics team to win the Texas Three Step in four days, beat all three of them at home, and sweep the West Coast trip was the 59 win 1987 team, the defending champs who saw their bid to repeat fail in a six game Finals against the Lakers .

The Cs beat Dallas on a night where their point guards shot a combined 1-16, and the whole team shot 34.5% from the field. Like the great Celtics team from the 80s, this squad finds a way to win basketball games regardless of circumstances. Ray Allen’s coming off an injury which kept him out of the last two games? Run an inbounds play for him and have him swish a three point shot with 31 seconds left and grab a two point lead. Rajon Rondo is turning in his worst game of the year, with five turnovers and 0-7 shooting in 22 minutes? No problem, just turn the reins over to Cool Hand Sam Cassell and let him make sure the right guy has the ball at the right time. The Other Two, Rondo and Kendrick Perkins, isn’t bringing much to the table point-wise? Go to Leon Powe and get your bench to outscore Jason Terry and Dallas’ bench, 26-15. Shots not falling? Get to the free throw line 35 times to the Mavs’ 24.

The Cs have now won 14 out of their last 15 games, and are getting big contributions from different players every victory. Paul Pierce turned in another sterling effort, grabbing a season high 13 rebounds and efficiently scoring 22 points on 14 shots. He also blocked three shots and dished off for three assists, without committing a turnover. Pierce has made the transformation from One Man Band to exceptional team player, knowing when to force his will on a game and when to be a just a spoke in the Celtics’ wheel. His ability to drive the ball powerfully to the rim was certainly needed in Dallas, since he missed five out of six jumpers outside the lane. He finished off five out of eight shots inside the paint, and earned 13 FTs with his aggressive play.

The Celtics have one more challenge to overcome on this road trip, a Saturday meeting with Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets for the first time this season. I have the feeling that this team will be quite stoked about sweeping the entire road trip. Boston is currently 55-13, tied for the best record after 68 games in team history. The 1973 team, the winningest in Celts’ history and the fourth highest win total in league history, won 13 out of their final 14 games to get to 68 wins. They were knocked out of the playoffs by the eventual champion Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals in seven games after John Havlicek injured his shoulder and actually played the final game shooting left handed.

Winning -- THE Most Important Criteria for MVP

I have never been one to like individual awards in team sports, but if they are going to pick award winners, they should at least get it right. I do get miffed when a player on MY team gets slighted. As a great 2008 NBA regular season enters its final month, there’s been a lot of chatter about the MVP award going to Kobe Bryant or LeBron James. Lately, two upstarts also have been mentioned: Tracy McGrady of the (formerly) streaking Houston Rockets, and do-it-all PG Chris Paul of the up and coming New Orleans Hornets.

To me, the key to figuring out who should win the MVP is the word “valuable.” The award isn’t for the highest scorer, or the best assist man, or the greatest stat stuffer in the league. The award should go to the player who is the most valuable to one of the best teams in the league. The big question, of course, is to define “value.” Is it a top flight guy who is having a slightly better than average year on a team with a great record, like Dirk Nowitzki on the 67 win Dallas Mavericks last season? Or is it the new leader of a team which has made a great turnaround, like Steve Nash in 2005, who joined a 29 win Suns team and turned them into a 62 win juggernaut? Or how about the high scoring one man band on a decent team who has a slightly better year statistically and leads his team to a handful more wins, like Allen Iverson in 2001. Or is it a dominating big man on the league’s best team, like Tim Duncan in 2002 and 2003, or Shaquille O’Neal in 2000?

This year’s MVP award is going to make the race for the Democratic presidential nomination look like a cakewalk. There are four leading contenders: Kobe, LeBron, Chris Paul, and Kevin Garnett. Who wins the award will come down to the voters’ criteria for the award. If they are looking for the most overwhelming individual player, they would have to go with LeBron James. A great player in his first few years, James is now one of the most dominant non-bigs in the history of the league. James has increased his statistical production in almost every area, scoring 30.7 from 27.3 ppg last year, grabbing 8.1 rebounds, against 6.7 in 2007, and dishing for 7.5 assists a game, compared to 6 assists last year. He’s also up in blocks, steals, FT percentage and FG percentage, at a strong 48.5%. Comparing Lebron’s season to recent MVPs, his statistical uptick of 10% in scoring and ability to engage mediocre teammates compares to AI’s MVP season in 2001. The big difference, and the reason why I don’t think LBJ should be this season’s MVP, is that his team hasn’t improved from the previous year, and is a middle of the pack team. The Cavs are on pace to win 46 games, down five wins from last year’s 51. Now Lebron can do a lot of things, but he can’t be the GM too, and even though it isn’t his fault that he’s surrounded by a less than stellar roster, superstars on sub 50 win teams don’t win the MVP, regardless of individual brilliance. If they did, Dominique Wilkins would have an improved trophy room in Atlanta. Although ‘Nique wasn’t anywhere as good a passer as James, he could score, slam, entertain and rebound with him.

The MVP with the worst record in the past 25 years was Michael Jordan in 1988 with only 50 wins. In MJ’s first MVP season, his brilliance on both ends of the court (35ppg on 53.5% shooting, 5.9apg and 5.5rpg and the Defensive Player of the Year Award) trumped Magic Johnson’s 19.6ppg, 11.9apg and 6.2rpg on the 62 win Lakers, which broke up what would have been the second of four MVPs in a row for Magic. LeBron might be a willing defender, but he isn’t a premier defender. He’s had a great year, and has been unstoppable in many games , he hasn’t led his team into the winner’s circle enough times to be MVP.

Kobe Bryant is the only other contender with overall stats similar to Lebron (28.2ppg, 6.1rpg, and 5.3apg in a system where doesn’t dominate the ball as much as LBJ), and is a much better defender (NBA First Team All-Defensive four out of the past five years). He is also on a much improved team, currently 25 games over .500, compared to a 42-40 squad last season. If this MVP race was a two horse race, I would say that his defensive brilliance and improved record would tilt things toward Kobe, although it certainly isn’t to his credit that the Lakers were able to add actual talent like Pau Gasol and Derek Fisher. Maybe LeBron needs to brush up on his off-season bitching and moaning skills to catch up to Kobe in regard to team building.

Chris Paul is the newcomer to the MVP party. His team has actually improved more than the Lakers win-wise from last season (from four games under .500 in 2007 to 24 games over now). He’s the engine of the unproven Hornets, having the ball in his hands seemingly all the time, and delivering more often than not. His 21.6ppg on 49.4% shooting is impressive for a PG, but more impressive is his 11.3 assists to only 2.5 turnovers a night. He’s tied with Nash for most assists per game in the league, and CP3 also is leading the league in steals, at 2.7 per game. Paul’s season compared favorably to both of Nash’s MVP years in 2005 and 2006. Nash was a bit more efficient scorer, shooting over 50% from the floor and 43% from three, but Paul is a better defender and has a better assist to turnover ratio than Nash did in his two MVP seasons. If Paul can lead the Hornets to the number one seed in the West, he should get strong consideration for the award, but there is one player that should get the most consideration.

That player is 2004 MVP Kevin Garnett, who has led his new team, the Boston Celtics, to what should be the greatest turnaround in the history of the NBA. The Cs stand 41 games over .500 at 54-13, and with an easy schedule the rest of the way, should be a 64 win team at the worst. That would result in an unprecedented 40 win improvement from last season. There have been players who have put up the season that LeBron, Kobe, or CP3 has in 2008, but there has never been this drastic a turnaround in the history of the league. Although KGs stats are not eye-popping (18.8ppg on a career high 53.8% shooting, 9.4rpg, and 3.5apg), his attitude and defensive abilities have totally transformed the Celtics into a defensive monster. He has spearheaded his team to the lead in all major defensive categories (points against, at 90ppg, 41.7% FG% against, 31% 3PT% against). He has infused his new team with a team oriented attitude featuring hard work, competitiveness, and selflessness. He has fostered an environment where every man or the roster is willing to fight and scrap every single defensive possession, whether it is the final stop of a one point game, or a garbage time possession with four minutes left in a blowout win. The 2007 Celtics couldn’t stop a high pick and roll with an elephant guy and a giant net, but this team’s bigs, lead by Garnett, fly around the defensive perimeter like guard dogs in a junkyard. Formerly clueless defenders like Kendrick Perkins and Leon Powe, can hedge out on pick and rolls, cover and then recover, step in to take charges, and, in Perk’s case, block shots. The whole defense is predicated on KG’s ability and attitude. No big man can play the pick and roll better than Garnett, and every teammate knows that the Big Ticket has his back if beaten on a drive.

One of the most important elements of Garnett’s Celtics is their level of competitiveness. They have the best road record in the league, at 25-8. Their winning percentage on the road (.757) is better than any other team’s overall winning rate. Think about that for a second. Their record on second nights of back to back games is an incredible 13-2. Their record in road second night B2Bs is 10-2. Teams usually just don’t win like that in the NBA. You need talent to win like that in the NBA, but you need will too. Garnett has spearheaded the will to win on this team. Dirk won the MVP last year in leading the Mavs to 67 wins, despite him not having any increase in productivity from previous season. Dallas won seven more games in 2007 than the year before, and put up the fifth most wins in league history (tied with three other teams at 67 wins). The MVP voters rightly recognized Dirk as the leader of a team with a historic regular season record.

To me, winning is the final and most important piece of the MVP puzzle, and for that reason, 2008 should not be the year that LeBron gets to wear the MVP crown. Kobe has helped his Lakers to a big improvement over last season, but he’s playing at the same (incredible) level as previous season. Chris Paul have put together a phenomenal season in leading the Hornets to a huge turnaround, which in most years would be enough to grab the trophy.

But this season, KG gets the nod. Although he plays with two long time all stars, Garnett is the leader of this Celtic team, and his brilliance and love for the game has driven the Celtics to excellence. Should Garnett be penalized because he plays with two probable Hall of Famers, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen? Or should he be lauded for sublimating his game in order to build a winning team, and getting them to do the same? A 40 win increase in 08 should be enough to tilt the MVP race in KG’s favor. The fact that the Cs were able to go 7-2 with Garnett out with an injury should not detract from his MVP worthiness. It should actually help it, because Garnett’s work with the young big men on the Cs allowed them to be very competitive in his absence. Winning has always been the basis of Celtics Pride, and Garnett has imbued this team with pride the moment he first stepped out on the floor. Talent plus pride has always equaled wins in Boston, and Garnett has brought that pride back after a generation’s absence.

I will be pissed if Garnett gets slighted in this MVP race, possibly because the voters have been swayed by the constant drumbeat from the LeBron shills who equate TV commercials with NBA success. Or the voters who feel that the excellent Kobe Bryant should finally get an MVP now that his Lakers are at the top of the league again (after he helped push them off the top with his foolish feud with Shaq). The ironic thing is that KG probably doesn’t care if he gets the MVP or not, because his entire focus has been on winning. Not statistics. Or flashy play. Good old fashioned, do whatever it takes winning. If that’s where the MVP voters’ heads are at too, KG will be raising that MVP trophy over his head in Boston in April.

Texas Toast

If any of the television pundits didn't know it earlier today when they were ball washing the streaking Houston Rockets, the Boston Celtics are clearly the best team in the NBA, and might be the most dominant team since the 72 win Bulls a dozen seasons ago. I wonder if all these sportswriters turned TV programming-filler actually have been watching the Cs much this season.

If they were paying attention, they would know that Boston was 8-3 against the playoff teams in the West before tonight's dismantling of the Rockets. They would have known that the Rockets were going to struggle to score against the best defense in the league. The Celtics beat Houston every which way: out shot them 43% to 41%, outrebounded them 45 to 35, (30-24 defensive, and 15-11 offensive), with more steals, assists, FTs made, and less turnovers. The Cs were off offensively in the first half, but after some wonderful halftime adjustments again by Doc Rivers, they put up 54 points in the half, even though they took their foot off the gas with about six minutes to go in the game. After giving up 22 points in the first, the Cs held the Rockets to 18,16, and 18 points in the final three frames. At one point, Houston had to move heaven and earth just to get a decent shot up, never mind make a basket.

Tracy McGrady, who has been getting MVP talk recently, was totally neutralized in the second half, and ended up with only eight points on 4-11 shooting. He did grab seven rebounds, all defensive, and dished out an impressive eight assists, which was seven more than (alleged) emerging point guard/gumflapper Rafer Alston. The Cs used Tony Allen and James Posey as a second skin on T-Mac, wallpapering him when he received the ball and daring him to take the ball to the bucket or dish off. He dished effectively, but didn't attack the rack, getting only two FTs, missing both. Besides flummoxing McGrady (T-Mac didn't score a single point with Posey defending him), James grabbed 10 rebounds, all on the defensive end.

The Cs again got a big offensive game off the bench, this time by the workmanlike Leon Powe, who powered his way to 21 points on only 12 shots in 20 minutes. On a team with a powerful starting line up like Boston, the bench players need to make the most of their minutes. These guys usually do. PJ Brown was able to grab four rebounds in seven first half minutes, although his offense is showing 1971 Chevy Vega rust. Eddie House passed for three assists in 14 minutes. The Cs depth overcame poor games by both PGs, with Rajon Rondo scoring only eight points on 12 shots, and only dishing off two assists. After an 0-fer first half, Rondo did make four big shots in the second as the Cs took control of the game. Rondo was ChrisPaulesque compared to Sam Cassell, who was 1-6 from the floor with only one assist to three turnovers in 21 minutes.

Kevin Garnett should get his name re-bandied around in the MVP talk with another big game in a big game, with 22 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, three steal and two blocks. Paul Pierce came up with another solid game, with 20 points, five assists and three steals, with only one turnovers against the pesky Shane Battier. The Celtics get a day's rest before trying to sweep the state Thursday night in Dallas.

Texas Three Step - Part 2

No team has swept the Texas Trio in one fell swoop since C-Webb and the Kings in four days in November of the 2001-2002 season. The Celtics haven't been able to win all three games in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio since February of 1987. The great 1986 team, considered by many to be the best team in NBA history (me included), couldn't sweep, losing the opening game in Dallas by a point, and beating the other two.

This Celtics team, currently FORTY games over .500, relishes challenges. When pundits were questioning their mettle after an easy schedule to begin the season, KG and company proceeded to sweep the dreaded post Christmas road trip 4-0. They won two road back-to-backs, first against the Kings and Sonics, then, after one night off, handling the Jazz and Lakers on consecutive nights.

This is a great team that relishes challenges. While many worry about the age of the Trinity, Pierce, Garnett, and Ray Allen have lead their team to an incredible 24-5 in back-to-back games, including 9-2 where the second game is a road game. They have swept 10 B2Bs already out of 14, and have only been swept once. The Celts actually have a higher winning percentage in both B2B games (.827) and road second games of B2Bs (.818) than overall (.803). That says a lot about the determination of this team. After tonight's big game with the streaking Rockets, the Cs play only three more B2Bs the rest of the season, with four of the six games against non-playoff teams and one against both the Hawks and Wizards. Even though the Cs will not have one home and home B2B combo all season, there's a good chance that they will win over 75% of their back to back games this season, which is incredible.

I will be stunned if the Cs don't go into tonight's game with the Rockets firing on all cylinders. This is a huge nationally televised game against a team on the second longest winning streak in league history. The Celtics are going to want to smoke the Rockets, the latest Western contender being pimped by the national media. There have been a bunch of Flavors of the Month out West this year (Jazz, Hornets, Lakers, and now Rockets), while the Cs have steadily won eight out of every ten games all season long. I'm guessing that the veterans on the Celtics must feel a bit slighted by all this attention to these Western teams while they have steadily beaten all comers. The Cs gaudy 21-4 record versus the West should be all the evidence needed that they are far and away the best team in the NBA.

The victory in San Antonio was monumental in a lot of ways. They dispatched the defending champion for the second time this season without the services of one of their all stars. They came back from a 22 point deficit on the champ’s home floor, and erased an 18 point lead in nine minutes. After fighting like crazy to get back in the game, they had an extra gear to shift to when down nine points with five minutes left. NBA teams always seem to get back into games after big deficits, but not many have the ability to overcome another lead late in the game after expending so much energy just to climb back into the game. One of the main reasons for the great comeback was new addition Sam Cassell, who seems to have the magic ability to seize the reins whenever his team is faltering, and to stick the dagger into an opponent when his team is on the precipice. Against the Spurs, he did both, all the while embracing and encouraging his overstudy, young starting PG Rajon Rondo.

The rest of the NBA should be terrified of the Celtics with a fully integrated Sam Cassell. Has any other team in recent league history had this many players who can rise to the occasion and hit the big shot? Imagine a one possession game with KG, Posey, Pierce, Ray Allen and Sam Cassell? How about a small ball line up of Garnett, Pierce, Ray Allen, Cassell and Rondo? Good luck getting stops against that line up. Or a one defensive stop needed unit of Kendrick Perkins, KG, Posey, Tony Allen and Rondo? Need a three? How’s Pierce, Ray Allen, Posey, Cassell, and Eddie House?

The Rockets get to tackle all of these line ups and more in their big showdown tonight in Houston. In their first meeting, the Cs held the Rockets, who were without Tracy McGrady, the Cs shot 53%, and really locked down Houston defensively. The Rockets, led by Luis Scola, seemed to get every loose ball, as well as 13 offensive rebounds and made a game of it before losing 97-94. I expect the Cs to actually score on Houston, who has been playing Celtics-style lock down defense during their impressive win streak. I also expect the Rockets to struggle offensively as they did in Boston, and if the Cs take care of the defensive backboard, they should end the winning streak. I see it 103-95 Boston.