Larry Bird is one of the best players in NBA history and he played his whole career with the Boston Celtics.  He played 13 years for the Celtics and he averaged 38.4 minutes, 24.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game.  Despite never looking like the most athletic player on the court, Bird had an awesome skill set.  He played good on defense, he was a good shooter from long range, a good rebounder and he was a really good scoring machine.  Bird is #8 in games played (897) in Celtics’ history.  He is also #2 in points scored (21,791), #4 in 3-pointers made (649), #4 in rebounds (8,974), #3 in assists (5,695), #1 in steals (1,556) and #3 in blocked shots (755).  Bird won three regular season MVP Awards for the Celtics and he was also the MVP of the NBA Finals twice for the Celtics.  Larry Bird is one of the five best players my eyes have ever seen and I’m 41 years old.

25-year old Rajon Rondo turned into a pure point guard last season for the Celtics.  Rondo played in 68 games (all starts) for the Celtics last year and he averaged 37.2 minutes, 10.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 11.2 assists and 2.3 steals per game.  He has now played in 384 games (331 starts) in his first five years with the Celtics and he is averaging 32.0 minutes, 10.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 1.9 steals per game.  Despite only being with the Celtics for five years, he’s already starting to show up in the franchise record books.  He is #5 in steals (748) and #9 in assists (2,903) already in team history and he’s going to be moving way up on those lists down the road.

The Boston Celtics have signed 49-year old head coach Doc Rivers to a 5-year, $35 million dollar deal.  Rivers led the Celtics to a 56-26 record (68.3%) during the regular season and they were 5-4 (55.6) during the post-season in 2010-11.  Rivers has been very successful in charge of the Celtics.  In his 7 years with the team, the Celtics are 336-238 (58.5%) during the regular season and he is 46-34 (57.5%) during the post-season.  Rivers has the respect of the veteran roster for the Celtics and he is probably the right guy to handle a team in transition as I don’t see Ray Allen, K.G. and Paul Pierce playing another five years.  Rivers now has a 507-406 (55.5%) record in his career as a NBA head coach and he is 51-44 (53.7%) in the post-season.

The Boston Celtics outrebounded the Heat 50-38 and they were up 87-81 late in the game last night…but that’s when the roof caved in.  The Heat scored the last 16 points of the game last night and LeBron James had the last 10 of them, which did the Celtics in.  Ray Allen led the way for the Celtics last night with 18 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.  Kevin Garnett had a very solid game with 15 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot.  Paul Pierce (12 points) and Delonte West (10 points) also pitched in for the Celtics last night.  The Celtics lost this series in five games to the Heat.

The Boston Celtics just seemed to run out of steam last night in overtime where the Heat outscored them 12-4!  The Celtics were also outrebounded 45-28 and that also didn’t help things at all.  Paul Pierce led the way for the Celtics last night with 27 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocked shots.  Ray Allen pitched in with 17 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal last night.  Rajon Rondo and Delonte West each had 10 points apiece last night.  The Celtics are now down 3-1 in this series and they are in full blown desperation mode.

Rajon Rondo isn’t playing his best basketball against the Miami Heat but he is a true warrior.  He had his left elbow dislocated in Game #3 against the Heat due to a cheap shot.  He went into the lockerroom, had it popped back in….and then he returned to the game playing with essentially only his right arm.  With that in mind, he played pretty darn well as he inspired his team and the crowd.  He is vowing to play tonight but we’ll see.  Rondo has played in 3 games against the Heat so far in his series and he is averaging 36.3 minutes, 11.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 10.0 assists and 1.7 steals per game.  He is only shooting 13 for 33 (39.4%) from the floor in this series and it’s hard to see him improving to much on that number because of his injury.  Rondo has now played in 7 games (all starts) in the playoffs so far this year and he is averaging 39.6 minutes, 15.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 11.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game.  Rondo is the heart of the Boston Celtics, so here’s to hoping that he will play tonight.

The Celtics shot 50% from the floor and the three point line (9 of 18) and that was a big reason for the impressive win last night.  The Celtics surged in the second half as they outscored the Heat 53-35.  Kevin Garnett got into the phone booth before the game and turned into Superman.  He led the way for the Celtics in this game with 28 points, 18 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocked shots on 13 of 20 shooting from the floor.  K.G. turned Chris Bosh into a pathetic player on the defensive end of the court last night.  Paul Pierce outplayed LeBrick last night as he finished up with 27 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.  Ray Allen only shot 4 of 11 from the floor last night but he still finished up with 15 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists.  Delonte West pitched in with 11 points and 3 assists in 25 minutes off the bench.  Rajon Rondo dislocated his left elbow in the third quarter when Dwyane Wade yanked him down to the basketball court.  Rondo proved what kind of warrior he is by coming back shortly after getting his elbow popped back into place and he played well using just his right arm.  Rondo finished up with 6 points, 3 rebounds, 11 assists and 1 steal last night.  The Heat are still up 2-1 in this series but the Celtics are feeling pretty good about themselves after last night’s game.

The Celtics just couldn’t stop the Big Three of the Heat who dropped a combined 80 points on them last night, and it cost them this game.  Rajon Rondo led the way for the Celtics in this game with 20 points, 6 rebounds, 12 assists and 1 steal.  Kevin Garnett (16 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot) and Paul Pierce (13 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist) also had solid games for the Celtics last night.  Jeff Green (11 points) and Delonte West (10 points) also pitched in for the Celtics last night.  The Celtics are now down 2-0 as this series shifts to Boston over the weekend.

The Celtics looked flat yesterday as the Heat raced out to a 51-36 lead at the half.  Ray Allen was on his game as he led the way for the Celtics yesterday with 25 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal.  Paul Pierce also had a solid game with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal before getting tossed late in the game on a B.S. technical call.  Delonte West pitched in with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists in 26 minutes on the floor.  The Celtics are down 1-0 in this series as it seemed like the Heat got every single call in this series.