Whether it’s accurate or not, you often hear Kevin Garnett being referred to as a bully. Well, last night the Boston Celtics did what bullies do – they humiliated a weaker, defenseless opponent. The Milwaukee Bucks experienced the equivalent of having their lunch money taken and then stuffed in a locker as Boston held them to just 56 points – a record low for the shot clock era (Boston scored 87). It was an absolute defensive clinic by the Celtics who just imposed their will on the Bucks. “That’s about as humiliating a defeat as you’ll ever see,” a disgusted Scott Skiles said after the game. “They got us on our heels and took our competitive fight away from us. We pretty much just gave into it.” … How bad was it for the Bucks? Earl Barron (10 points) was the only Milwaukee player who finished in double figures. John Salmons, who seems to exist only to put the ball in the hoop, failed to record a single point … It’s interesting to see how different teams react and build off of previous games. For both squads, their last game was against the Sixers. Philly beat Boston in a hard-fought game where the Celtics let an inferior opponent get the shots they wanted. Boston responded by killing their next opponent by squeezing the life out of them with their defense. The Bucks blasted the Sixers on Saturday night for one of their biggest wins of the season, then failed to show up at all against a premier opponent in a game where they had a chance to show the league they might be a team worth paying attention to. Pretty much tells you all you need to know about both teams … The next NBA team to not show up on Sunday was Cleveland. They let Oklahoma City kick their asses up and down the court, even though the Thunder seemed to be going at half-speed for half the game. Russell Westbrook went berserker out of nowhere in the third quarter, repeatedly going right down the lane for five consecutive uncontested dunks and layups. Russ scored 14 of his 20 points in the period and blew the game wide open (OKC won by 20). Like Scott Skiles, Byron Scott was also disgusted with his team. “I’m really starting to question what type of heart we have as a basketball team,” Scott said after the game. Then when talking about Westbrook, Scott said, “He’s a great player, but it gets to a point as a team where enough is enough and somebody has to knock him on his [rear end]. It’s as simple as that, and that’s where the heart part comes in. Or are you just going to keep backing down and taking it?” … Kevin Love‘s incredible double-double streak came to an end at 53 games last night in Golden State. The Warriors were hell-bent on keeping Love from pushing the streak to 54. Read More: How did Golden State solve K-Love? Steve Nash’s bizarre injury and a Knicks’ mess at MSG…
The Warriors went out of their way to be physical with Love and insisted on double-teaming him every time he got the ball no matter where he was on the court. Kevin was clearly frustrated most of the night, particularly because he felt like he was getting beaten up and not getting any whistles. One time he grabbed a defensive rebound and was hit in the head by an elbow as David Lee flew by, swiping at the ball. Love held the ball for a few seconds before giving it up to Luke Ridnour and gave Lee a death stare as he ran down the floor … With a little over six minutes to go in the game and the Timberwolves down 20 Love checked back into the game needing four points to keep the streak going. As he walked onto the floor, Kurt Rambis grabbed Love – it looked like he told him he was going to give him a few minutes to get his points and then he was going to take him out of the game. No need for Love to get hurt in in otherwise meaningless game, right? About two minutes later, after more double teams from the Warriors, Love was back on the bench for good … After the final buzzer, Kevin walked onto the court to shake hands with the Warriors. He saw Lee, started laughing, and asked him, “Are you happy?” … The Magic smacked the Steve Nash-less Suns 111-88 in what was a pretty terrible game. Nash’s injury was listed as “pelvic instability.” Google’s search results seem to only associate pelvic instability with pregnant women so do with that what you will … The Knicks were terrible in their 106-93 home loss to the Pacers last night. Some grim stat lines: Chauncey Billups returned to shoot 0-7 from three and 4-14 from the field, with four turnovers. Toney Douglas finished with three points on 1-12 shooting from the field. It was so bad that the MSG crowd (in love with the Knicks over the past few weeks) booed loudly at the end of the game. Clyde Frazier called the crowd “pugnacious” … The NCAA Tournament seeding was announced yesterday and we already can’t wait for this thing to get started. We posted some instant analysis on the site last night right after the selection show to cover some early upset predictions and matchups to watch. We’ll be blowing out the coverage starting today so stay tuned … We’re out like streaks.
