A win is a win is a win is a win: Bulls 69 - 71 Celtics

Brandon Bass had his best game of the season.

If you ever find yourself in a debate where you have to defend the argument that "you only need to watch the last few minutes of a basketball game," well, here's your perfect case. This was an horrendous game for 3.5 quarters. Seriously. It wasn't that both teams were great defensively, the defense was actually mediocre for both teams' standards. It was just horrible, horrible offense as both teams missed open shots and easy buckets, wasted transition opportunities and made quite simple mistakes. Let me give you just one piece of statistics and you'll know: The Celtics were shooting 29% at one point and the game was a tie. It was that bad. Yet somehow, this game of schmotzygrabs (well, it sure wasn't basketball) produced one of the most exciting last minutes of the game.

Here's what happened: The Celtics have butchered a play but KG scored a last millisecond shot to give us a 3 point lead. Then the Bulls tried a three pointer, but we failed to grab the rebound (because of course we did) so Boozer tipped it in and it was a one point game again. Paul Pierce made two free throws, so with 10 seconds left we had quite the upper hand. Then this one official called a really bogus foul on Bradley when he was putting pressure on Nate Robinson, the second such call of the night. So Bradley fouled out and was replaced by Jason Terry. Robinson converted his first, missed the second intentionally and we couldn't get the rebound again (because of course we couldn't) and the ball made it to Belinelli somehow (because of course it did) but he was blocked by JET to end the game. Yes, Jason Terry has made two very significant defensive plays in our last two wins. Think about that.

Let me throw in some more statistics to make it look like a proper recap: It was Bass who carried us tonight as he scored 14 points (6-13) and grabbed 9 boards. Green's aggression at times (4-4 from the line with 2 blocks and 5 rebounds) and Terry's (12 points, 2-4 from downtown) critical plays in the last quarter also deserve praise. Kevin Garnett was asleep for the first half, but he woke up in the second to give us 12 points and 11 boards. Pierce had a terrible shooting night as he made 2 of 12, but the last shot he made was a crucial 3-pointer so he gets a pass.

The most interesting part of the game was Mike and Tommy's brief interview with Ainge during 2nd quarter:

- Remember Pierce's shooting slump? Apparently he was playing with a pinched nerve on his neck (and if you have ever suffered from one, you know that it hurts really bad at times).
- The Celtics are indeed looking for players all around the world, but it is difficult for players to get out of their contracts in Europe. The basketball seasons in Australia and China are almost over, so there's that, but we'll likely try to find some gems from NBDL.
- Rondo has his MCL fixed also. It wasn't torn or anything, but it was slightly damaged, so that's the silver lining of his injury, I guess.