The Celtics hit the boards tonight as they outrebounded the Knicks 54-38 and it was a big reason for the win. Paul Pierce led the way for the Celtics tonight with 25 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists. Kevin Garnett was outstanding inside tonight with 24 points and 10 rebounds in only 29 minutes on the floor. Glen “Big Baby” Davis was outstanding off the bench in this game as he finished up with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assist in only 24 minutes on the floor. Rajon Rondo only shot 4 of 12 from the floor but he still got a triple/double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and a stunning 24 assists. The Celtics are now 2-1 on the year.

Excuses are for losers, but it just seemed like the Cavs wanted this game more, plus the Celtics looked tired in the 4th quarter after playing last night as the Cavs outscored them 27-14 in the final period. Rajon Rondo led the way for the Celtics in this game with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals. Glen “Big Baby” Davis had another solid game off the bench for the Celtics tonight with 14 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal. Paul Pierce was not at his best in this game finishing with only 13 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists. The Celtics are now 1-1 on the year.

The Celtics won with defense tonight as they held the Miami Heat to 36.5% shooting from the floor. They really shut down D-Wade and Chris Bosh who combined to shoot 7 for 27 from the floor and they had 21 points between them. Ray Allen led the way for the Celtics tonight with 20 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist on 5 of 8 shooting from three point range as he hit a lot of key shots late in this game. Paul Pierce was solid as usual with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists tonight. Glen “Big Baby’ Davis was solid off the bench in 29 minutes as he shot 6 of 7 from the floor to finish up with 13 points and 5 rebounds. Kevin Garnett only shot 4 of 11 from the floor and he turned the ball over 7 times, but he still finished up with 10 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. K.G. also played great defense on Chris Bosh. Rajon Rondo was only 2 of 9 from the floor for 4 points in this game but he also had 5 rebounds, 17 assists and 2 steals. The Celtics are now 1-0 as they have sent a message to both the Miami Heat and the NBA that they are a team to be reckoned with this year.

The Celtics will be without SG/PG Delonte West for the first 10 games of the season due to a league suspension. The Celtics knew about this suspension when they signed him so they are obviously o.k. with it. Marquis Daniels will back up Ray Allen at shooting guard until West is ready to return so they should be in good shape until West returns to action.

The Celtics were 50-32 last season and despite adding guys like Jermaine O’Neal & Shaquille O’Neal it would be foolish to think that some of the veteran players aren’t going to need nights off during the season for rest or injuries. I fully expect the Celtics to be a great basketball team and I expect them to win around 50 games again in 2010-11. So I would have to bet the under on the wins. The number I would be more happy with is the fact that they are 9-1 to win the NBA Championship….as that is a bet worth making.

49-year old Doc Rivers thought long and hard before deciding to return as the head coach of the Celtics in 2010-11. He wanted to start spending more time with his family be he decided to postpone that decision for at least one more year. Rivers led the Celtics to a 50-32 (61%) record during the regular season and he was 15-9 (62.5%) in the post season as the Celtics lost in seven games in the NBA Finals. In Rivers six years with the Celtics he has compiled a 280-212 (56.9%) during the regular season and he is 41-30 (57.7%) during the post season. Rivers led the Celtics to the NBA Championship during the 2007-08 season and he’s hungry to get them back for another shot this year. Rivers has a career record of 451-380 (54.3%) during the regular season in his NBA career and he is 46-40 (53.5%) in the post season. Rivers’ biggest job will be watching minutes this year to have his team ready for another championship run.

32-year old Jermaine O’Neal and 38-year old Shaquille O’Neal will share the center position with Kendrick Perkins out for more than the first half of the 2010-11 season. Jermaine O’Neal will likely play more than half of the game at center. He played in 70 games (70 starts) for the Heat last season and he averaged 28.4 minutes, 13.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game. Jermaine O’Neal has now played in 862 games (646 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 28.4 minutes, 14.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.9 blocked shots per game. Jermaine O’Neal will likely get 25-30 minutes at center this year.

Shaquille O’Neal wasn’t healthy most of the year for the Cavaliers but when he played he looked good still. Shaq played in 53 games (all starts) for the Cavs last season and he averaged 23.4 minutes, 12.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. He has now played in 1,170 games (1,161 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 35.2 minutes, 24.1 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.3 blocked shots per game. Shaq is likely only going to get 20-25 minutes a night but I think he will be effective.

25-year old Kendrick Perkins tore up his knee in the NBA Finals last season and he won’t be back for quite a while. Perkins played in 78 games (all starts) for the Celtics last season and he averaged 27.6 minutes, 10.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.7 blocked shots per game. He has now played in 442 games (328 starts) in his 7 years with the Celtics and he has averaged 22.2 minutes, 6.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.4 blocked shots per game. This injury was a bad break for Perkins as he had his best year of his career in 2009-10 for the Celtics.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CELTICS CENTERS IN 2010-11: B

34-year old Kevin Garnett is the present and 24-year old Glen “Big Baby” Davis is the future at power forward for the Celtics. K.G. played in 69 games (all starts) for the Celtics last year and he averaged 29.9 minutes, 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Garnett has now played in 1,124 games (1,087 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 37.1 minutes, 19.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.6 blocked shots per game. Even though Garnett is nowhere near as good as he was with the T-Wolves, he’s still a very good power forward.

Glen Davis played in 54 games (1 start) for the Celtics last season and he averaged 17.3 minutes, 6.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. He has now played in 199 games (18 starts) in his three years with the Celtics and he has averaged 17.6 minutes, 5.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. “Big Baby” needs to stay healthy this year for the Celtics so that they can watch K.G.’s minutes and keep him healthy.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CELTICS POWER FORWARDS IN 2010-11: A-

33-year old Paul Pierce just keeps rolling along for the Celtics. He played in 71 games (all starts) for the Celtics last season and he averaged 34.0 minutes, 18.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He has now played in 884 games (881 starts) for the Boston Celtics and he has averaged 37.3 minutes, 22.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game. While Pierce might not be able to carry the Celtics anymore….he doesn’t have to as the team is loaded with veteran talent. I see no reason to think that he won’t have another good year in 2010-11.

22-year old rookie Luke Harangody could get a chance to back up Pierce this year. He played in 30 games (25 starts) for Notre Dame last season and he averaged 21.8 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. He played in 129 games (108 starts) in his four years in college and he averaged 19.2 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.

Marquis Daniels also could get some playing time at small forward as well as shooting guard in 2010-11.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CELTICS SMALL FORWARDS IN 2010-11: A-