But when he’s open, his teammates are confident he can score.

“He seems to always be in the right spots, available,” Pierce said after Bass scored 20 points to lead the Celtics to a 107-96 win Sunday night. “That’s going to be huge for us if he continues to play well going into the playoffs, and the great thing about it is he’s doing it all off of the hustle plays.”

In the eight games Garnett missed with an inflamed left ankle, Bass averaged 12.3 points, raising his season average to 8.3. On Sunday, he shot 9 of 12 and added six rebounds.

“He’s just efficient,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said. “Overall, I think he’s playing terrific. I think he’s in a wonderful place right now.”

Garnett had 12 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes. Pierce finished with 15 points in 30 minutes after missing Friday night’s 97-91 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers with a sore left ankle.

“Things flow a lot smoother when Kevin and Paul are out there because everything’s being run through them and everybody else is just getting what they get from them,” Bass said. “So it’s a lot better when they’re out (on the court). It doesn’t matter if I get a play called. The ball will find me and, hopefully, I just make the shot.”

Bass missed his season high by just two points and led the Celtics with eight points in the third quarter, when they hit 75 percent of their shots, outscored Washington 31-19 and stretched a 56-52 halftime lead to 87-71.

They’re still missing Rajon Rondo and Jared Sullinger, both sidelined for the season, but led by at least 10 points the rest of the way to get just their fourth win in 12 games.

John Wall led Washington with 16 points but never got to the foul line as Boston outscored Washington 17-8 on free throws. A.J. Price had 15 points and Trevor Ariza added 14.

“We play a team like this and when you’re not playing great defensively you have got to be able to make shots,” Wall said, “and we had a tough night.”

The Wizards hit just 44.5 percent of their shots. But in the second half they connected on only 41.5 percent, while the Celtics made 64.5 percent.

“It doesn’t matter what lineup (we use) or who’s on the floor as long as we’re playing the right way,” Garnett said. “That’s all my concern is, just making sure that we’re sharing the ball, playing as a team, giving up for each other, playing defensively.”

The win ended a four-game stretch against weak teams in which the Celtics lost to Minnesota, beat Detroit, lost to Cleveland and beat Washington. With five games left and the Celtics trying to move up from seventh place in the Eastern Conference, the schedule gets tougher with a home game Wednesday night against the Brooklyn Nets before a road game Friday against the Miami Heat.

Washington fell to 7-31 on the road but is 23-20 overall since Wall returned from a shoulder injury.

“Against a team like this that’s playing for something, who has a seed in the playoffs, they’re going to keep competing,” Wall said. “And they got everybody back tonight and they were clicking right away.”

A dunk by Nene with 10:24 left in the third quarter had cut the Celtics’ lead to 58-57, but they went on a 29-14 surge the rest of the period.

The Celtics began the spurt with a 14-1 run, starting with a layup by Avery Bradley. Pierce hit another layup and Bradley followed with a 16-footer. Martell Webster sank a free throw for the Wizards after Garnett was called for a technical foul with 7:57 left in the quarter. But Emeka Okafor then missed two free throws for Washington.

Boston scored the next eight points on a 14-foot jumper by Bass, two free throws by Shavlik Randolph, an 18-footer by Jason Terry and a dunk by Bass.

Ariza then scored Washington’s first field goal in nearly six minutes when Randolph was called for goaltending with 4:39 left in the period, cutting Boston’s lead to 72-60.

“We had that stretch in the third quarter where we struggled offensively and they were clicking offensively,” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said, “and that was the difference.”

Game notes

Washington forward Trevor Booker left the game with a bruised tailbone with 5:42 left in the first half and didn’t return. … Chris Wilcox had 13 points for Boston, one below his season high. … The Celtics swept the three-game season series. … Jordan Crawford had six points in 16 minutes in his first game against the Wizards since being traded on Feb. 21. He had been upset with his diminished playing time in Washington.

The post Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce return to lift Celts to victory appeared first on IdealCapper.

Boston At New York
When: 7:30 PM ET, Sunday, March 31, 2013
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Comcast SportsNet New England (Boston), MSG (New York)
PREDICTION: Knicks 111, Celtics 102

Oddsmakers currently have the Knicks listed as 6½-point favorites versus the Celtics, while the game’s total is sitting at 193½.

Veteran Paul Pierce and forward Jeff Green have excelled during Boston’s back-to-back wins. Pierce posted a triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in Friday’s victory over Atlanta, two days after falling two assists shy of a triple-double. Green had 27 points against the Hawks and is averaging 24 points over the past two games. Green has reached double digits in 10 straight games. Shavlik Randolph gave Boston 22 solid minutes in the post against Atlanta with nine points and tying his career high with 13 rebounds in just his seventh outing of the season.

Boston won its last outing, a 118-107 result against the Hawks on March 29. The Celtics covered in that game as a 2.5-point favorite, while the 225 combined points took the game OVER the total.

Team record: 38-34 SU, 34-35-3 ATS
Current streak: won 2 straight games.

The total has gone OVER in 4 of last 5 games when playing on the road against New York
is 13-4 SU in its last 17 games when playing on the road against New York
is 19-6 SU in its last 25 games when playing New York
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of last 7 games on the road

When playing on Sunday are 5-5
Before playing Minnesota are 6-4
After playing Atlanta are 8-2
After a win are 6-4

Smith has put together three consecutive 30-point outings, marking the first time a reserve has done that since Milwaukee’s Ricky Pierce did so during the 1989-90 campaign. Smith’s streak began with a 32-point outing against the Celtics and he followed up with 35 points against Memphis and a season-best 37 against the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday. “Last run I was on like this was in high school and that was too easy,” Smith said after the contest against Charlotte. He is averaging 34.7 points and shooting 58.3 percent from the field during the streak.

The Knicks were a 111-102 winner in their most recent outing at home against the Bobcats. They failed to cover the 14-point spread as favorites, while the total score (213) made winners of OVER bettors.

Team record: 45-26 SU, 37-33-1 ATS
Current streak: won 7 straight games.

is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 5 of last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 5 of last 6 games

When playing on Sunday are 4-6
Before playing Miami are 6-4
After playing Charlotte are 6-4
After a win are 7-3

The post Boston Celtics vs. New York Knicks Free Betting Pick & Matchup appeared first on IdealCapper.

Instead, New Orleans’ first overall draft choice sent the Boston Celtics out of the Big Easy with the sick feeling that accompanies a lost lead in the dying seconds.

Davis outreached Kevin Garnett and Jeff Green for a last-second tip-in, and the Hornets snapped a four-game skid with an 87-86 victory over the Celtics on Wednesday night.

“His first game-winner comes on night when he’s sick and puking and doesn’t feel his best,” Hornets coach Monty Williams said. “So kudos to him.”

Davis had missed the morning shootaround with an upset stomach. He was listed as a game-time decision and wound up with nine points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots in 28 minutes.

Ryan Anderson scored 21 points and Eric Gordon 18 for the Hornets. Gordon’s floater to win it in the waning seconds missed, but Davis followed up for the winner.

“I was really tired, but I knew my team needed me, so I was trying to fight through it,” Davis said. “I’m glad I did. It was a big win for us.”

Paul Pierce scored 11 of his 28 points in the last six minutes to nearly lead Boston back from a nine-point deficit, but missed a jumper with 16 seconds left that could have put the Celtics up by three.

Garnett, returning from a two game absence caused by a left thigh injury and the flu, scored 20 points to go with six rebounds, but took the blame after Boston’s second-straight loss for not picking Davis up in time.

“It was my block-out. I was trying to help Avery (Bradley)” defend Gordon’s drive, Garnett said. “That’s just when you’re trying to help a teammate and you’re reacting. … I’m acting off impulse as a big man to try to block shots and protect the basket and (Davis) took advantage.”

Davis said he was unaware of who stood in his way for the winning tip.

“I was just following like I was supposed to,” Davis said. “I just saw the ball. I wasn’t looking at nobody else.”

The Celtics got the ball back one last time with 0.3 on the clock, and Pierce inbounded to Garnett, who could not get off a turnaround jumper before the horn.

The loss dropped Boston into seventh in the Eastern Conference, 3½ games behind Brooklyn for the fourth seed, which carries with it home advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Nets beat Dallas, while fifth-place Atlanta beat Milwaukee to pull 1½ games ahead of the Celtics.

Boston coach Doc Rivers said the Celtics got what they deserved, adding that he could see it coming late in the second quarter when Boston “went from being a solid, good-looking team to show time.”

“We started dancing around, stopped defending. You could see our guys laughing and joking,” Rivers said. “We don’t learn because we have done this three or four times this year.”

Green, coming off a career-high 43 points in Boston’s loss to Miami on Monday night, scored 13 points, all in the first half.

Boston had been in control much of the game and led by as many as 13 after Pierce’s 3 made it 60-47 early in the third quarter.

Then Boston slumped offensively, scoring only 12 in the period, and New Orleans whittled away.

The Hornets went on a 9-2 run that included dunks by Robin Lopez and Al-Farouq Aminu, and tied the game at 65 on Anderson’s free throws late in period.

The Hornets then surged into the lead early in the fourth quarter when Brian Roberts hit a driving layup and 3. Anderson later added six straight points to put New Orleans ahead 78-69.

The momentum changed once more when Pierce worked his way inside for a layup and Garnett followed a reverse layup, igniting a 10-0 run that included four more free throws from Pierce.

After Anderson restored New Orleans’ lead with a 3, Pierce tied it with a driving two-handed dunk and followed that with a 3 to put Boston up 84-81 with 2:34 left.

That gave Pierce 11 of 15 Boston points in a span of about three-and-a-half minutes, but he finished the game with a couple of missed mid-range jumpers, giving New Orleans just enough of a window to pull out the upset.

Boston led by as many as 12 in the opening half, taking a 50-38 lead on Garnett’s layup, and the Celtics led 55-45 at halftime.

Game notes
While Austin Rivers’ broken right hand prevented him from playing against the team his father coaches, the younger Rivers said he was able to take his father out for dinner at one of celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse’s New Orleans restaurants on Tuesday. “That’s the first time I’ve ever paid for my dad,” Austin Rivers said. “The bill came and I was ready to get up. … He looked at me like, `It’s your turn now.’ It feels good. You work hard. Finally you take care of somebody that has taken care of your whole life.” … The Hornets won the teams’ only other matchup this season, 97-78 in Boston on Jan. 16. … Boston fell to 12-21 on the road and wraps up its three-game road trip with games on Friday at Dallas and Saturday at Memphis.

The post Anthony Davis’ late tip-in lifts Hornets past Celtics appeared first on IdealCapper.

“I’m just trying to stay out of the way and focus on what’s in front of me and not worry about anything else,” Smith said at the team’s shootaround Wednesday.

Smith denied having any conversations in the past 24 hours with his agent or with a Hawks front office led by general manager Danny Ferry, who made waves this past offseason by trading Joe Johnson to the Brooklyn Nets. Smith insists he’s concentrating on Wednesday night’s game against the Miami Heat, which could be his last game playing for the team that drafted him.

Selected out of high school at No. 17 overall in the 2004 draft, Smith has become a star in Atlanta. He is averaging 17.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 48 games this season.

Sources told ESPN on Tuesday that the Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics are three teams known to be in talks with Atlanta about the athletic forward ahead of Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline.

In conversations with the Bucks, the Hawks’ interest is believed to start with Monta Ellis, sources told ESPN on Tuesday, at least in part because Ellis could play next to point guard Jeff Teague.

Barring a deal that featured three or more teams, Boston likely would need to part with Paul Pierce to acquire Smith, which could well rule the Celtics out of the chase for Atlanta’s versatile forward, ESPN.com’s Marc Stein reported.

Sources told ESPN that the Phoenix Suns, who had shown interest in Smith, are not out of the running.

The post Josh Smith not worried about a trade appeared first on IdealCapper.

Carlos Boozer had 19 points and 20 rebounds, and Joakim Noah added 14 points and 13 boards as the Bulls won their 14th straight road game on a Friday. They haven’t lost since April 2011.

Rajon Rondo scored a season-high 30 points for Boston before fouling out with 1:16 to play in overtime.

Kevin Garnett had 16 points and Paul Pierce passed former Celtics star Robert Parish for 22nd on the NBA’s career scoring list by chipping in 13 points. Pierce has 23,342 points and Parish 23,334.

The post Marco Bellinelli’s late jumper gives Bulls 14th straight Friday road win appeared first on IdealCapper.

Mike Conley had 23 points and nine assists, and Allen had nine points and four of his five rebounds in the second half on Wednesday night to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 93-83 victory over the Boston Celtics. It was the fourth consecutive loss for Boston, which won its 17th NBA title with Allen in 2008.

“You come back to a team that you won a championship with, and there’s no greater feeling than coming back and getting that win,” Allen said. “Put all my feelings and emotions to the side and came out and did everything that Coach Lionel (Hollins) asked me to do.”

Rudy Gay scored 19 points for Memphis, which shot 61 percent from the floor — and 62.5 percent from 3-point range — in the first half. The Grizzlies led by 18 early in the fourth quarter, then made 8 of 11 free throws down the stretch after the Celtics made it a five-point game.

“Whatever we’re doing wrong, it’s not going to get fixed in a day,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. “That’s what happens when things aren’t going well: You’ve got to make them go well.”

Rivers was one of the Celtics that Allen sought out for a hug as the clock wound down. Afterward, in the visitors’ locker room, Allen was showing off a blood-stained Celtics uniform that he had worn in the NBA Finals; an equipment manager gave it to him.

“This is one of my jerseys they had. It almost brought tears to my eyes,” said Allen, who had played in Boston as an opponent only once before, in 2011.

“There’s still going to be one or two of those guys … I love them to death. That’s my family; like I said, it’s a brotherhood. … From the training camps in Maine to long seasons, getting the ring, raising the banner, the ring ceremony, all that. I just told them `Thanks for everything and good luck for the rest of the season.”

Paul Pierce scored 17 for Boston, but he had just one basket in the third quarter and none in the fourth while missing seven of his last eight shots.

Rajon Rondo had 11 points and 10 assists for the Celtics, who trailed by 79-61 after the opening basket of the fourth quarter but closed the gap to 83-78 with under 5 minutes to play on back-to-back 3-pointers from Jason Terry. Boston began fouling and the Grizzlies made their shots.

“We sit in here and we talk about being positive, don’t get our heads down,” Pierce said. “It’s just like any confident person: When things don’t go your way you feel the next thing is going to go your way, and that’s how this team feels.”

Memphis led by nine at the half and took a 75-59 lead after three quarters, then Marreese Speights hit a pair of baskets at the beginning of the fourth to give the Grizzlies a 79-61 lead. But Kevin Garnett scored eight points during a 17-4 run, and Boston made it 83-78 on Terry’s 3-pointers 46 seconds apart.

It was 85-78 with under 3 minutes to play when Garnett missed a pair of free throws and then committed a foul at the other end. The Celtics big man finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.

Avery Bradley returned from injuries to both shoulders for his first appearance of the season for the Celtics. He started and scored four points in 19:31. Rondo didn’t practice on Tuesday but played in his second straight after missing a game with bruised right hip and thigh.

Game notes

The Celtics lost three straight at the end of their four-game West Coast road trip — by an average of 23 points. … Garnett played in his 1,286th game, tying him with Sam Perkins for 14th on the NBA career list. … Boston rookie Jared Sullinger picked up three fouls in three minutes in the first half…. The Grizzlies had lost three of four after winning four in a row. … Memphis has forced at least 10 turnovers in 132 straight games, the longest active streak in the NBA. … Memphis reserve Jerryd Bayless sprained his left ankle in the first half and did not return. … Celtics rookie Fab Melo was in Boston to see a doctor after receiving a concussion when he ran into a hotel door. He expects to be back in Maine on Friday.

The post Grizzlies send reeling Celtics to fourth straight loss appeared first on IdealCapper.