ekansekans's blog: "df"

BOSTON -- The Celtics lost Rajon Rondo for the season. They havent lost since. Boston improved to 2-0 since Rondos season-ending knee injury with a 99-81 win over the Sacramento Kings as Paul Pierce led a balanced attack with 16 points Wednesday night. Now the Celtics know they can be successful, in the short term anyway, without the player chosen as the starting point guard for the Eastern Conference in next months All-Star game. "Its always nice to get off to a start like this," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. Rondo was injured late in a 123-112, double-overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks last Friday night. Boston won another double-overtime game on Sunday, 100-98 over the Miami Heat, breaking a six-game losing streak, their longest in six seasons. An MRI taken that day showed that Rondo had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. No single player can replace his NBA-leading 11.1 assists per game. But four Celtics had at least three assists on Wednesday as the Celtics totalled 22, just under their average of 23.1 entering the game. "It has to come from a number of people," said Pierce, who had 10 rebounds and four assists. "A lot of people have opportunities to step up. The way we move the ball, the way we spread the court, thats the way we need to play. Nobody had the ball for more than a couple of seconds." Playing one of the NBAs worst teams certainly made that easier as six Celtics scored at least 11 points. The Kings (17-30) began the night allowing a league worst 103.2 points per game and fell to 5-18 on the road. But they did beat the Celtics 118-96 in Sacramento on Dec. 30. "We were more lackadaisical today," Kings rookie forward Thomas Robinson said. Tyreke Evans had 19 points and 11 rebounds and DeMarcus Cousins scored 13 for the Kings, who were competitive most of the game, except for being outscored 37-14 in the second quarter. "The (Celtics) bench came in, pushed the game to another level," Kings coach Keith Smart said. "You have to make up so much ground from that second quarter." The Celtics improved to 22-23 and maintained their three-game lead over the Philadelphia 76ers for the final playoff spot in the East. They scored the first eight points of the game, but a driving dunk by Evans gave the Kings their only lead, 24-22, with 15.9 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Then the Celtics hit their first 14 shots of the second. By the time Avery Bradley missed, a layup with 2:29 left in the half, the Celtics had built a 54-36 lead. "I didnt know that," Rivers said. "Thats how we have to play overall, just simple, good basketball. Pass the ball. Move the ball." Bostons dominance was so thorough that its bench made 15 of 21 shots in the first half while Sacramentos entire team went just 14 for 40. "The responsibilities of Rondo are going to be consolidated through everybody," said Kevin Garnett, who had 13 points, nine rebounds and a team-high five assists. "Five guys that were on the floor at any time were aggressive and thats what its going to take." Boston had an impressive 16 assists in the first half, even without Rondo. Garnett scored 11 points and Green had 10 as each hit all five of his shots before intermission. The Celtics charged to a 59-38 halftime lead as they hit 62.5 per cent of their shots. They led by at least 14 points the rest of the way. Boston won despite losing another starter when forward Jared Sullinger left just over four minutes into the game with back spasms and didnt return. Sullinger was drafted 21st last year by the Celtics, but might have gone higher if he hadnt suffered back problems at Ohio State. "Hopefully, he doesnt miss games," Rivers said. The Celtics led 80-56 before layups by Robinson and Evans cut that to 80-60 after three quarters. A three-point play by Cousins made it 90-76 with 5:44 remaining, but the Kings came no closer. Substitutes Brandon Bass, Jeff Green and Jason Terry had 12 points each for Boston. Courtney Lee started in place of Rondo and finished with nine points and three assists. But the Celtics will have much tougher opponents than the Kings. "Everyone always says when you lose a star player, you have other guys step up and you have ball movement," Smart said. "But, obviously, your superstars win the close, tough games, and thats what youll miss with Rondo -- the guy that can win a ballgame when the game is tight against a heavy-hitting opponent." Notes: The Celtics have two games left in their four-game homestand, against the Orlando Magic on Friday night and the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday. ... Garnett played in his 1,300th NBA game. ... The Kings had just 13 assists. Authentic Kaepernick Jersey . The Nationals had exhausted their bullpen and had a starting pitcher warming up. Kaepernick Womens Jersey . "Guess were going to have to start taping ankles away from the ballpark, too," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. Patton is part of an outstanding bullpen that has kept Baltimore in contention for a playoff berth. http://elevatedcolor.com/new.html . Roddick converted only two of 13 break-point chances but dominated with his serve, as often happens at Wimbledon, where hes a two-time runner-up. "I served really well," he said.Andrew Ranger held off J.R. Fitzpatrick and Scott Steckly in a green-white-checker finish to pick up his first NASCAR Canadian Tire Series win of the season taking the ICAR Lucas Oil Grand Prix presented by Budweiser on Sunday at Circuit ICAR. Ranger, a two-time series champion out of Roxton Pond, Que., took the lead in his No. 27 Dodge/GC Motorsports Dodge from D.J. Kennington on Lap 7 and remained out front the rest of the way to pick up his 17th career win in the series. It was his 12th on a road course with seven of those coming in his home province of Quebec. Ranger has three wins each at Montreals Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and Circuit de Trois-Rivieres in Quebec while this is his first triumph at the Mirabel track. It wasnt a prototypical win for Ranger, though. In his previous 11 road-course wins, the 25-year-old had an average starting position of second. However, after weather forced the cancellation of qualifying on Saturday, the field was lined up per the series rule book which gave Ranger a start from the 16th position. "This was a great win. We have a new team this year and to get the first win of the season is special," said Ranger. Battling Fitzpatrick for the win is nothing new for Ranger, but he was able to handle all of the challenges throughout the race. "My car was really good and my times were consistent, but it took a couple of laps to get going on the restarts," said Ranger, who is the series all-time leader in wins with 17. "(Fitzpatrick) always races hard and I knew he would make some runs on that last restart. He did, but I was able to hang on." Fitzzpatrick, who trailed Ranger to the line by .dddddddddddd507 seconds, followed his season-opening win two weeks ago with a runner-up finish after battling back from an early spin. "I made a couple of mistakes early on that created some issues for a couple of other guys and for that Im sorry," said the 24-year-old Fitzpatrick. "Once I settled down we were able to work our way back up from 15th or something." Steckly rebounded from an early penalty for rough driving to finish third after getting the start from the pole position. He clearly disagreed with the penalty call, but was diplomatic afterward. "We started first and finished third," said the defending series champion. "It was a good day for the Canadian Tire car." Last seasons Rookie of the Year Louis-Philippe Dumoulin finished fourth for his second straight top-five finish while Kennington followed in fifth. Alex Labbe finished an impressive sixth in his series debut trailed by Jean-Francois Dumoulin in seventh. Jeff Lapcevich, Ron Beauchamp Jr. and rookie Martin Roy completed the top 10. The race was slowed due to caution four times for 10 laps and the lead change between Ranger and Kennington was the only one in the 31-lap race. In the point standings, Fitzpatrick was able to retain his place at the top, but has just a one-point advantage over Ranger. Both Kennington and Steckly sit seven points back. The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series takes on an oval track for the first time in 2012 in its next outing on Saturday, June 16 on the Speedway at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ont. ' ' '