Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
Even so, Allen wished he could have that one ball-faked lunge back.
“You know I’m going to be in bed tonight wondering what would have happened if I had just stayed with him,” Allen said. “I was actually afraid that when I jumped he was going to jump into me and I was going to foul him.
“Which he could have — but I was trying to run him off the 3, and he just stayed there. That was a tough shot, when I think about it — still being able to gather yourself to shoot that tough shot.”
Herald – Mavs don't kid around
I'm not sure if it was Ray's assignment to leave J-Kidd and double Dirk, but that's what he did and he got burned.
The final possession was chaos for the Celtics defense. The play started with KG on Dirk, Rondo on Terry, Ray on Kidd, Pierce on Marion and Perk on Chandler. When Dirk picked off Rondo with a (moving) screen, KG was forced to pursue Terry. As the Mavs got the ball to an open Nowitzki, both Perk and Ray scrambled to get to him. Ray sprinted a good 10-12 feet away from Kidd and… ball game.
I hate to keep harping on this, but it's rare to see the Celtics have such a glaring defensive breakdown.
Related links: Globe – Kidd buries Celtics | CSNNE – Kidd remains one of NBA's best | ESPN Boston – Cs tip cap to game lost
On Page 2, Jermaine O'Neal is forced to have surgery.
“Even without activity, the swelling was still there and that’s when he decided to change the course of the game plan,’’ said president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. after the Celtics’ 101-97 loss to the Mavericks. “He just has some arthritis and some loose particles in there, and that was the reason Dr. [Brian] McKeon wanted to go in there and clean it out.
“[The surgery] was exactly what [McKeon] thought and he thought that was the best solution from the beginning. It just took Jermaine a little while to get on board with that.’’
Although the procedure will allow him to play again this season, the Celtics expect his knee troubles to persist. O’Neal played 70 games for Miami last season, looking healthy after being plagued by injuries in recent seasons. Ainge said that since the summer, in the four or five MRIs that have been taken on O’Neal’s knee, his condition has worsened.
“Whenever you have arthritis in your knee and there’s bone-on-bone there’s a long-term issue there, and this surgery was not anything to fix him long term,’’ Ainge said.
Globe – O'Neal has knee surgery
Anything Jermaine gives the Celtics will be gravy. Even if he's fully recovered by playoff time, I'm not sure he'll be in any type of shape to be "productive." Consider him an insurance policy should any of the other Celtics bigs take a hit.
With the way Perk is playing, I don't think we'll notice his absence.
Related links: Herald – Jermaine O'Neal has knee surgery | ESPN Boston – Jemaine has surgery | CSNNE – O'Neal out 8 weeks
The rest of the links:
Herald – Big boost from Perk | Globe – Perkins a bright spot | CSNNE – Ray commits to 3 point shootout | Mavs reserves steal the show | WEEI – Shot down by Dallas |
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