Celtics close, but closure would seal the deal
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Forget frustrating. Try exhausting. After another late-game collapse and another inconsistent performance, Doc Rivers repeated his belief that the Celtics are "close." Rivers thinks the Celtics will play winning basketball, hold double-digit leads until the final buzzer, and fix defensive miscues, though "close" could mean February, March, April, or next November.
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The Celtics' illustrious history has included several big men who could pass. Larry Bird was probably the best. Bill Russell , Dave Cowens , and Antoine Walker weren't bad, either. And, eventually, don't be surprised if Kevin Garnett is mentioned in that group.
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The Curse of the Pitino is safe for another season . . . unless, of course, the Celtics happen to get to the NBA Finals and meet the Spurs.
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The two best success stories of 2007-08 were in Boston last night. The Celtics, well, were expected to be good, maybe not this good, but still pretty good. The Trail Blazers? After Greg Oden went down for the season, a lot of people figured they'd make marginal gains, if any, over last season (when they went 32-50) and would be ...
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There was good news and bad news for the Celtics last night at the FleetCenter.
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Before last night's 106-102 loss to the Raptors, Celtics coach Doc Rivers happily remarked how his team finally seemed fairly healthy again. Rivers should have known better than to make such a pronouncement, or at least knock on wood after he did.
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The Boston Celtics won their ninth  successive game and raised their NBA-best record to 29-3 on  Saturday, ending the Detroit Pistons' 11-game winning streak  with a 92-85 road victory.
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The Celtics know how quickly fortunes can change in the NBA. In two days, Boston went from first place in the Atlantic Division to fourth. In the span of 48 minutes last night at Air Canada Centre, the Celtics were up in the first quarter, down in the second, on the way up in the third, and back ...
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Obviously, the main draws for James Posey to sign as a free agent with the Celtics were the chance to play with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen, and the possibility of a legitimate run at an NBA title. As for playing on the NBA's best defensive team thus far, that has been a bonus.
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Since the late '80s, the Celtics have employed a succession of basketball coaches who vowed they would make their basketball team run.
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Even with Kevin Garnett back on the floor, the Celtics' dominance against the Western Conference came to an end last night.
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When the turnover count hit 20, the Boston Celtics were in trouble. Now, the team that had been routing the NBA has lost two out of three.
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WALTHAM -- For every fourth quarter in which the Celtics falter, as they did against the Kings Sunday night, coach Doc Rivers can point to a recent game in which they finished strongly. Chicago. Orlando. Minnesota.
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Those trade rumors will be finished for the season by Thursday afternoon. The Miami Heat's injury woes, on the other hand, seem as if they're here to stay.
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The NBA is reviewing film of the Celtics-Knicks game Monday night that included physical incidents involving most notably Boston's Paul Pierce and Tony Allen . A decision on possible discipline could be made today.
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OK, there's the Pistons in the Palace tomorrow night. That's no day at the beach. But after that, well, it looks like the Celtics have a good chance to make up some ground in the not-so-hot Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference.
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Not entirely comfortable reviewing the first six weeks of the season, the Celtics nonetheless go back to that point when discussing the origins of their current five-game winning steak. The Celtics contend their recent run of success has its roots in the close and not-so-close losses that resulted in a slow start. When Greg Oden in the lottery seemed more ...