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Quick to the point
The Celtics [team stats] are a lot more comfortable with their championship chances today than they were three weeks ago, and the reason rests in a guy who made 2-of-17 shots in the last three games.
Sam Cassell has calmed the quiet concerns of a club that is going all-in, giving the Celts an experienced option at the point behind Rajon Rondo [stats].
No knock on the starter, but while he’s exceeded expectations, he is a second-year point guard with zero playoff experience.
Rondo has been spectacular at times, bedeviling Chris Paul in New Orleans Saturday with 10-for-15 shooting and 23 points. But that came on the heels of an 0-for-7 night with five turnovers in Dallas on Thursday.
Rondo is still the principal point, but the Celtics do feel better knowing he doesn’t bear all the pressure.
“Sam brings that element of a guy who’s been there,” Paul Pierce [stats] said. “He gives you that extra swagger. We feel his confidence in the locker room in the way he talks.
“Listen to this: I mean, honest to God, before the game (in Houston) started, Sam said, ‘Man, we’re going to go out here and win by a blowout,’ and you thought, man, this guy is a confident dude. He really believes that. And then we go out and win like we did (94-74) and he comes in and says, ‘I told y’all so.’ He just instills that confidence. He’s an extra mouth. He’s been there and done that, so you’re going to listen to him.”
Pierce then smiled and added, ‘Wait until he starts learning the plays.”
Indeed, Cassell has already been a factor, hitting the key 3-pointer in the win over San Antonio on Monday.
And even when he struggled in Dallas (1-for-9 shooting), he was still the one who found Ray Allen for the big 3-pointer late.
“Yeah, having Sam - having that extra point guard - is big for us,” coach Doc Rivers said. “But we’ve got to get it all together with him. You know, Sam comes in and our rhythm gets off track. We’ve got to get that right. So when we get back off the trip we’re going to have practice time, and I think that’ll be the most important time of the year for us.”
Cassell has evidently gotten it together with regard to the Celtics’ defensive emphasis. Recently he said, “On this team, if you don’t play defense, you don’t play - (expletive), for real.”
In Dallas, he was on the court down the stretch because he was part of a unit that was playing the best defense.
“Yeah,” he said with a laugh, “write that down. The people in L.A. said I couldn’t play defense.”
The ex-Clipper added later, “No doubt about it. It’s an issue here. It’s something that we constantly go over. We have good individuals but we also have a really good helping defense. Everybody’s helping one another out, and that makes it easier. When you know someone’s got your back and they know you’ve got their back, it makes it easier for everybody.”
Having Sam Cassell has made it easier for everyone in Green to envision themselves going deep in the playoffs.
Almost perfect
The C’s arrived home after squandering a chance to make history.
Their 10 fourth-quarter turnovers (21 for the game, leading to 32 Hornet points) left them with a loss after wins over Milwaukee, San Antonio, Houston and Dallas. Had they beaten New Orleans, they would have been the first team to win four straight regular season games against teams 20 or more games over .500.
A win also would have meant just the second time in franchise history that the Celts were perfect on a five-game road trip. The 1972-73 team did that, and the scheduling back then makes its feat even more impressive.
After winning in Chicago on Feb. 13, the 1972-73 Celts won the next night in Omaha, Neb., against the Kansas City-Omaha Kings. They had an off day before winning at Portland, Golden State and Seattle on Feb. 16, 17 and 18, respectively.
Yes, they played games on three consecutive nights. And that’s with getting up in the morning and flying commercial.
Tourney favorites
After the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, Paul Pierce [stats] (Kansas) and James Posey (Xavier) are the only Celtics [team stats] with their former schools still alive.
“We’re going to go all the way,” Posey said. “We’re going to shock the world.”
“No,” said Pierce, “Kansas is going to beat Texas. It’s going to be an all-Big 12 final.”
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