Celtics Lose to Hawks: 88-83

The Celtics lost a close game to the Hawks on Friday night, 88-83.

Paul Pierce led all scorers with 25, Rondo finished with 13pts/10 rebs/5 assists. For the Hawks it was Crawford with 20pts and Johnson with 19 as they won a chippy game in Atlanta.

Pierce went 8-15 for 25 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists and was given a technical foul in the 1st quarter for a shove against Joe Johnson of the Hawks. Johnson fouled Pierce who thought it was a hard foul and gave a light shove to Johnson, the official standing next to him immediately gave Pierce the technical. From that point on it was relatively chippy and Jermaine O'Neal in his 2nd game back was given a double technical along with Zaza Pachulia.

The Celtics trailed 21-23 to the Hawks, but outscored them 31-21 in the second quarter to lead 52-44. The second half was back and forth with a frustrating fourth quarter where the Celtics scored just 15 points to Atlanta's 26.

The Celtics (52-23) played in Atlanta on the second night of a back-to-back, Thursday night they played in San Antonio where they beat the Spurs. The next game for the Celtics is at home on Sunday, April 3 at 6pm where they take on the Pistons. The Celtics are 2-4 in their last 6 games.

After tonight's game Boston is in the third spot in the conference falling a half game behind Miami who blew out Minnesota 111-92. They now trail 3 games out of the number 1 seed in the East. Chicago leads the Eastern conference by 2 1/2 over Miami.

Video: The Rajon Rondo Show vs the Spurs

22 points, 14 assists, 5 rebounds, 0 turnovers

To check out the full index of Celtics videos and mixes click here.

Krstic Out, Rasheed In?

The Boston Herald is reporting that it appears as though Nenad Krstic suffered a partially torn MCL when he twitsted his knee last night during Boston's 107 - 97 win over the San Antonio Spurs. This is a preliminary evaluation and Krstic will undergo an MRI and further evaluation to assess the damage.

However, it looks as though our trusty GM already has plan in mind. They spoke with Danny Ainge earlier today, and here is what he had to say:

"Although Shaq is scheduled to be back shortly and Jermaine O'Neal was in action last night, Krstic's injury puts us in a vulnerable position should one of the O'Neals aggravate their injuries during the post-season. With Troy Murphy also out with an ankle injury, I have reached out to Rasheed Wallace to add increased depth to our line-up of bigs."

More after the jump....

Big Man Issues Worsen With Krstic Knee Injury

With only eight games remaining in the regular season, current starting center Nenad Krstic buckled his own knee while on offense in last night’s win over the Spurs, and the injury woes of Boston’s big men are worse than ever. Krstic has started all of his eighteen games for Boston and was the only true center on the team for each of those games.

Luckily, Jermaine O’Neal returned last night in his first game since January, chipping in eleven decent minutes, but without the dominant defensive presence he will need to have for a successful Celtics’ playoff run. With Shaq’s return forever seeming just a few games away, the trading of Kendrick Perkins and frequent injuries to Boston’s big men have destroyed the dominant inside presence they once had.

Krstic is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Saturday, and likely will not return until Tuesday’s game against the 76ers at the earliest. That means that when the Celtics take on the Atlanta Hawks tonight and the Detroit Pistons on Sunday, it will be up to 6’9 Glen “Big Baby” Davis to stop their respective young and explosive centers, Al Horford and Greg Monroe.

Celtics Look to Finish Road Trip With a Win in Atlanta

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Boston Celtics (52-22) at Atlanta Hawks (43-32)
Friday, April 1
8:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game #75,  Road Game #38
TV:   ESPN,  CSN-NE, NBAC
Radio:  WEEI,  WQXI, 99X FM
Philips Arena 
Referees:  Monty McCutchen, Tony Brown,  Jason Phillips

This is the 3rd and final meeting between these two teams. The Celtics have won both games so far, one in Boston and one in Atlanta.  Last Season  the Hawks won the season series 4-0.  It marked the first time since 1998-99 season that the Celtics had been swept by the Hawks and only the fourth time since the 1960-61 season that the C’s had failed to win a game against Atlanta.

The Celtics finally got one of their big men back as Jermaine O'Neal played his first game against the Spurs but lost another as Krstic went out with a knee injury in that same game. Krstic is headed for an MRI but no word on how serious the injury is at this time.  So just when the Celtics thought they were going to get some depth at center, they lose another center to injury.

Howlin Wolf episode 128

The pack got together and talked about a near win against boston, talked to Jay from Tunnel of "K" Love and pleaded to lose the rest of the season in hopes of another point gaurd with the number one pick.

Celtics/Spurs Post Game Videos

Pierce and JO interviews after the jump.

Comments from the Other Side - Spurs 3/31

It was interesting following the comments on the Spurs boards during this game.   Talk about fans with a split personality.  They went from supreme confidence in their team to wonder if they were going to win another game this season.  Pop went from a genius to a moron and Doc from a poor man's busted Pop to a very smart coach.  They clamored all game for Splitter and when they finally got him,  they complained about how poorly he played.  One thing is constant though.  There are Celtics fans everywhere and they complained about the C's fans in the building.   No wheelchair or old jokes - guess because they have their share of old guys too.  Enjoy today's Comments from the Other Side......

Spurs Must Win

I'd like to see Duncan and Manu suit up but not start. Insert Manu in case of emergency, and Duncan in case of double emergency..

The Lakers have a 2-game lead on Boston, and that's not likely to change given their schedules down the stretch. A Boston win (and a Laker win today) puts the Lakers 2 (or 2.5, whatever) games behind the Spurs with 7-8 still to play. Tonight won't be the last time I root for the C's this year either. I'll be pulling for them in the first 3 rounds of the playoffs, cause there is no team I enjoy watching the Lakers beat more than the Boston Celtics.

Lakers fans rooting for the Celtics is magnificent. That's the most hopeful thing I've heard all day.

The Great Wall of Boston

Maybe my favorite Celtics play all year long. Video courtesy MrTripleDouble10.

Celtics 107, Spurs 97 Highlights

Box Score after the jump.