Wednesday NBA Selections

Tonight:
Pacers / Washington Under 204.5
Jim O’Brien can make a difference for this team. He won’t be on the floor but he will get his team to play well enough to get a win out of the gate and beat the Wizards. This is from the latest from the star on how O’Brien will play this team this year. If you think O'Brien is going to turn the new Pacers into the Phoenix Suns, don't hold your breath. These are O'Brien's own calculations: When Jermaine O'Neal is in the game, he will call set plays about 45 percent of the time and run the motion offense the rest of the time. When O'Neal is not in the game, taking away the Pacers' only true low-post threat, O'Brien will call plays roughly 40 percent of the time. I am not ready to take on the Pacers at home as a dog, but like the under.

Sixers +7
The Raptors are a good team, but Philly may surprise a few folks this year. Not ready to say they win this game tonight but will take the Raptors ATS. Philadelphia is 15-3 ATS away with a total of 180 to 189.5 points. The matchups are even in this one and this inflated line is off the good run by the Raptors and the rebuilding of the Sixers.

Memphis +6
The Spurs had a big win last night and have to travel to face Memphis on the road. The Spurs are a quality teams and NBA teams are no strangers to travel but the Grizzlies may win tonight. Grizzlies are great at home as a dog before a division game (25-15ATS) and the Spurs have a tough spot or two themselves in this game. The Grizzlies have never won a home opener and so motivation will not be a problem tonight.

End of A Comeback

NEW YORK -- Allan Houston ended his comeback attempt with the New York Knicks on Saturday, saving Isiah Thomas from possibly having to cut one of the top scorers in franchise history.
Houston rejoined his former team late last week, two years after he was forced to retire because of chronic knee pain. However, the Knicks already had the maximum 15 players under contract, and Thomas said he only gave the 36-year-old guard an invite to camp because of his history in New York.

Sportsbook.com has listed the Knicks as +3000 longshots to win the Eastern Conference.
Houston's chances were even slimmer because he didn't join the team until 10 days after practices began. He cited the timing issue in his decision to walk away again.

''While my body and my knees, in particular, feel fine, I know what is required for me to be truly effective in the NBA again, and it involves a timing and progression that would not be fair to Isiah and the Knicks right now,'' Houston said in a statement released by the Knicks. ''With the season opening less than two weeks away, I think it is best for the team to move on without me. I appreciate the opportunity that Isiah and the Knicks have given me, and I wish the team nothing but success.''

Houston played only six minutes in his lone preseason appearance Wednesday at Boston, then sat out a game at New Jersey the next night.
Houston spent nine seasons with the Knicks and is fourth on the team's career scoring list. He said upon his return that he didn't think he would try to latch on with another team if he didn't stick with the Knicks.

Trades change the Landscape

By Tuesday night the wagering landscape had changed on many fronts and the fallout in most cases will not be known for some time with immediate consequences felt at off-shore sportsbooks and casinos in Nevada because of trades in the NBA and Major League baseball that transpired.

The most widely known is the Kevin Garnett trade from the Land of 10,000 Lakes to the banks of the St. Charles River. The impact of two former Celtics players, now recognized as bubbling general managers, was easily identifiable on the Richter Scale of at least 8.3.
Minnesota’s GM Kevin McHale was never going to win a title with Garnett, not because of K.G.’s lack of skill, but because of his lack of skill in securing enough quality players that fit with the former prodigy. The excuses of having to pay Garnett too much money falls on deaf ears since it has been done in a variety of sports including the NBA. For all of wonderful qualities Garnett has, he never seemed to be the greatest of stars making others around him better. Maybe his former Timberwolves teammates didn’t have another gear to reach down to improve, yet in the end the hard working Garnett was like Lionel Ritchie, better known as solo act than in a group.
This deal works wonders for Kevin McHale staying employed in the Twin Cities as he probably buys himself three years. With a completely new cast, he can spread his arms out with palms up like he did as a player and say “What, me screw up?”

The crestfallen look on Danny Ainge’s face after not getting the number one or two draft choices from the lottery was much like Phil Hellmuth’s look going all in with pocket aces and losing on the “River” card to a straight flush. To Danny boy’s credit, he realized doing TV commercials in Massachusetts and Arizona was not what he wanted to do the rest of his life and like a poker player, showed his funambulism going “all in” trying to acquire pieces to place with Paul Pierce. (Say that fast five times) Oddmakers across the world adjusted the Celtics chances winning the Eastern Conference anywhere from 50-75 to 1, to 7-2 and now are the betting favorite at 5-2 at Sportsbook.com.
Opinions are varied as to how this might play out. StatFox Steve said this “The Celtics trade for Garnett was a coup for GM Danny Ainge. Not one of the numerous players he unloaded will ever amount to anything close to the "Big Ticket". K.G. immediately puts this team on the map as a contender in the Eastern Conference, similarly to the way Shaq did when he came to Miami. Paul Pierce-Ray Allen-Kevin Garnett is as good of a threesome as there is in the entire league, assuming Pierce can roll with the changes of not being "the man" anymore. While the 5-2 odds at Sportsbook.com to win the East may be a bit overzealous, there is no question that this is a serious contender now. Not only did Ainge pickup elite players in Allen and Garnett, he also got two of the league's most respected citizens, a rarity in this day and age.”

A larger problem comes into play for head coach Doc Rivers. Besides Garnett who plays defense for Boston? Ray Allen was not on anyone’s all-defensive team in his prime, now after a couple of ankles surgeries, hmmm. Paul Pierce has taken a great deal of punishment going to the baskets all those years and has not been able to stay healthy the last couple of seasons. If either or both get hurt, Garnett has much the same situation as he had in Minnesota, just wearing different uniform. Boston in the NBA finals, about as likely as Tom Brady deciding to play quarterback left-handed.

Celtics face familiar foe in Minnesota

LONDON - Staying in the same London hotel with employees from the company that recently sent you packing may seem odd, but the former Celtics who were packed off to Minnesota seem to be enjoying it.

The Timberwolves have seven ex-Celtics on their roster, five coming July 31 in the deal that brought 10-time NBA All-Star Kevin Garnett to Boston. Garnett will face the team he played for for 12 seasons Wednesday night at the soldout O2 Arena and the former Celtics will face their old team for the first time.

"It's not really weird," said Timberwolves guard Sebastian Telfair, who played for the Celtics last season. "It's business. It's good to see some of the old guys. A lot of those guys took care of me. I bumped into a lot of the old staff. It's been pretty cool."

Al Jefferson, who played for the Celtics from 2004-07, said: "It felt like old times going to each others' rooms and seeing each other."

Telfair, Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, and Theo Ratliff and two first-round draft picks were dealt to Minnesota for Garnett. Those ex-Celtics played on the second-worst team in the NBA last season, enduring a franchise-worst 18-game losing streak.

Coach Doc Rivers said despite last season's struggles, the Celtics had a strong bond. Rivers and several other members of the Boston organization visited with the ex-Celtics during team dinners last night and bumped into one another all over the hotel.

"I talk to Al every once in a while," Rivers said. "I had a relationship with them all. Some I had to push more. Some loved it or some didn't. You just had to understand that it was coaching. They are all so young [except Ratliff] and have a chance to have a really bright future.
"Our guys got along last season. There was no blowup with players amongst the coaches. We had a close-knit group because of what we went through."

Said Green recently: "I thank Boston for everything they did for me. They were the first team that gave me a shot when I dropped a few slots in the draft."
Of the players dealt for 2004 NBA MVP Garnett, the one with the biggest upside appears to be 6-foot-10-inch, 256-pound Jefferson. The 22-year-old averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds last season.

"He can be a terrific scorer," Rivers said.

While the teams will meet Wednesday, Rivers expects a more emotional atmosphere when Garnett returns to Minnesota Feb. 8 and the former Celtics return to Boston Jan. 25.
"For Kevin it's going to be huge in Minneapolis," Rivers said. "Whenever you play with teammates there is passion because you want to beat your friends."

Green is looking forward to his return to Boston and seeing his old fans, but he expects an intense exhibition game Wednesday with a "family reunion" feel to it.

"It's going to be fun, but it's going to be competitive, I can tell you that much," said Green.
Said Jefferson: "It's going to be fun."

Rivers canceled practice because the team didn't arrive at the hotel until 4:15 a.m. yesterday. It was the first day off for the Celtics since training camp began Sept. 30. He said the majority of the players did not receive their bags until around 6 a.m.

"We wouldn't have got anything out of [practicing]," Rivers said.
Rivers watched the film of Saturday's 89-85 exhibition victory over the Raptors in Rome on the plane to London. He was impressed with the defense the first three quarters, but he said the team's transition defense needs improvement. He added that the ball movement was "great" and the scoring droughts took place when the offense became perimeter-oriented. Rivers also pointed out that outside of being in foul trouble, starting center Kendrick Perkins (8 points, 8 rebounds) "played terrific."

"Everyone played real well," Rivers said.
And the Celtics players were particularly excited when guard Tony Allen tomahawk-dunked against Toronto because it was Allen's first dunk since training camp began. Allen missed the last 48 games last season after undergoing left knee surgery. Although Allen came up limping afterward, Rivers said team doctor Brian McKeon said he was "fine."
"After he did it, he was scared to let go of the rim," Rivers said. "We hadn't seen that in camp or anything. That's why the bench was so happy. I was shocked."

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