Rejuvenated Celtics expect happy new year
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The Boston Celtics will hit the new year with the NBA's best record and a belief that more is still to come. "We haven't played our best basketball and I think most of the guys in this locker room will say that," veteran guard Ray Allen said recently after his team's home victory over the Orlando Magic.
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When it comes to rebounding and the Celtics, the more things change, the more they stay the same. In the first two games of the season, the Celtics struggled on the glass after briefly improving their performance in that area during the preseason.
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When reached yesterday in Nairobi, Theo Ratliff said he feels "as strong as ever" and "confident" as he continues rehabilitation from back surgery. Ratliff expects to play next season, though he doesn't know if he'll be playing for the Celtics.
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The Celtics, who have the best record in the N.B.A., won their second game of the season against the Nets , who had won six of their previous seven.
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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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Hey, you take them when, and where, you can get them. And that means a road win over the expansion Charlotte Bobcats at the midway point of the 2004-05 season -- a down-to-the-wire, white-knuckle win -- suits the Celtics just fine.
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Memo to all you fallen-away Celtics fans: It's better. They lost a 100-99 game to the Denver Nuggets at the Fleet last night, but I'm still telling you that things are better.
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Gary Payton's offseason was marked by a cross-country trade, a missed deadline for taking a physical and an arrest for investigation of driving under the influence. Now the people who run his new team, the Boston Celtics, are eager to see the point guard on a basketball court.
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The Boston Celtics added seven-time all-star Ray Allen and subtracted any reason for not being a contender. They also made Paul Pierce one very happy aging star.
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Winning streak. The last time the Celtics (15-42) uttered those words, it was mid-December. Not coincidentally, it was days before Paul Pierce went down with a stress reaction in his left foot and the team took a precipitous turn for the worst, the bottom of the NBA standings.
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It sounds as if Celtics director of basketball operations Danny Ainge has been listening to one of those self-improvement tapes that repeat positive mantras. The message? &quot;I am happy with my roster. I am happy with my roster.&quot; It's clear he will go to great lengths (or is that great pains?) to convince fans and reporters that he is comfortable ...
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By GERRY CALLAHAN  There is, of course, no telling how the Ping-Pong balls will bounce come lottery day, but something unusual happened to the Boston Celtics last year. They got lucky.
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TORONTO - Injured Celtics guard Ray Allen is projected to return for Wednesday's Eastern Conference showdown against Detroit at TD Banknorth Garden.
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As far as predictions go, the one Gary Payton made on the Celtics' recent road trip was far from bold. "In 40 to 45 games we'll get it together." That means a month from now Boston should be a measurably improved team, a cohesive unit cured of the inconsistencies that too often lead to losses.
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Reggie Miller closed the door on a comeback, declining the Celtics' invitation to return to the NBA. Miller, who turned 42 yesterday, determined his body could handle the rigors of an 82-game schedule. But Miller told Danny Ainge he didn't want to deal with the mental grind.
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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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With Allen Iverson asking for a trade out of Philadelphia, the Celtics generated buzz around Boston yesterday for the first time in awhile.