The Celtics' Last Christmas Day Game Ever?

Since the Boston Celtics won the KG Sweepstakes back in 2007, the Celtics have been a fixture on the NBA's Christmas Day slate of games.  And ever since, we've been eagerly waiting for the games.  We open presents on Christmas morning, and then wait for the presents in the afternoon from KG, Ray Allen's traitorous body, and Paul Pierce.  One year we even traveled all of the way to Orlando to watch the game in 2009.  Ubuntu was strong back then, even if Doc Rivers believes that it happened "4 or 5 years ago".

The NBA showcases its best players and teams on Christmas Day, it even featured the Providence Steamrollers back in 1947.  The Celtics have been one of those teams now for 6 years.  But with a paltry 13-13 record leading up to this year's tilt with the Brooklyn Nets, the most intriguing thing about this game might just be whether this is the Celtics' last game on Christmas Day for a while.  Well, unless you like fights and ejections in the NBA, then you might like this Celtics-Nets games...for entirely different reasons.

Before Rondo yelled "Fight!"

See, the Celtics are mired in 8th place in the Eastern Conference, just one game ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers for that final playoff spot.  And things are just going to get worse, before they get better.  Even though KG is signed for two more years, he's on his last legs in his hall of fame career.  Rajon Rondo is such a head case, that he might be unloaded for a first round draft choice next year.  Paul Pierce has a player option for the 2013--14 season and is expected to exercise his option to stay, but after 15 seasons, he's ready to hang them up.  The rest of this team, while featuring some nice complimentary pieces like Avery Bradley and Jared Sullinger, don't really have a Plan B when Pierce and KG are done.  And no, Fab Melo is not the answer.  Suspicious signings like Jason Terry, Leandro Barbosa and Courtney Lee only serve to underscore the free fall the Celtics actually appear to be in.

And the NBA doesn't want mediocre teams on its marquee day, so the League might be moving on after the 2012-13 season.

Justin Bieber singing Little Drummer Boy before the Celtics-Nets game?   Add to that the fact that ESPN only wants to talk about the fight in that game last month.  Yep, things are getting pretty iffy in here.

Welcome to the Barclays Center!  We pick up the action in the middle of the Second Quarter with the Celtics leading the Nets 48-34.  Rajon Rondo and Jared Sullinger are leading the team in scoring with 7 and 9 points each.  The Nets seem to have come out flat and the crowd appears restless.  The Celtics take the Second Quarter by 16 points after a slow First Quarter (Apparently) and lead the Nets at halftime, 56-42.  Sullinger and Rondo both lead the team with 10 points and KG has 8 points.

The 3rd Quarter is much like the Second Quarter with the uneven pace continuing.  The Celtics go up by 21, then a brief run from the Nets leads to them only trailing by 8 midway through the Quarter.  Another run by the Celtics then pushed the game back to 15 by the end of the Quarter.  The Fourth Quarter also features some more pushing and shoving as Gerald Wallace puts on his thug mask yet again and tries to de-pants KG after a foul under the Nets hoop, with the lame excuse of trying to keep his balance.  Some pushing and shoving only led to a couple of silly Technicals and nothing more.  Ultimately, the Nets don't put up much of a fight as the Celtics prevail 93-76 in a fairly easy walkover.  Worse yet, Kris Humphries decides to keep the skirt on and registers a DNP.  Hmmph.

The Celtics may not be Christmas Day material much longer, but they sure are fighting for every last chance at remaining a marquee team.  And it can't be any worse then the Rockets and Bulls later tonight.

The Celtics Now Have The Brooklyn Nets to Hate

It wasn't that long ago that the Celtics only major rival in these parts was the New York Knicks.  Yes, I know about the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers, but those aren't geographic rivals, they are rivals of convenience, almost made up for television.  Geographic rivals, especially between New York City and Boston, take on a new dimension.  There is hatred amongst fans, players and media alike.  The games just meant a little more when the opponent was New York City.  I really don't fee that with LA or Miami.

Before this year, it was just the Knicks.  Now there are two teams in New York City that can fight each other and fight the Celtics.  When the Brooklyn Nets were in New Jersey, they were every bit as futile as their poor record would indicate.  We went to the Celtics - Nets game a couple of years ago, right when the Nets were challenging the 76ers record for fewest wins in a season and determined that indeed they were the worst team in the NBA.  Things have changed a lot since that cold, winter night back in 2010.  The Nets were purchased by Russian Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov back in 2010 and he immediately made wholesale changes, using his vast oil resources to change a moribund franchise into a go-to basketball destination.  One of those changes was to move with Jay-Z to Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn from NJ.  New York State of Mind and all. 

More importantly, the personnel has changed as well.  Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Kris Humphries and Brook Lopez now lead a team that is 4-2 in the Atlantic Division, percentage points ahead of the Celtics.  No longer are the Brooklyn Nets the Celtics' little baby, they are a legitimate team looking to compete with the Celtics and the New York Knicks for the coveted Atlantic Division spot in the playoffs (meaning the third seed).  I mean this team was 22-44 last year!

C and G are even fascinated enough to join me for this game.  And LC joins in if only to see some drama with Kris Humphries and the Kardashians (They split up a long time ago, sweetheart, I don't think any of them will be there - no matter where Dash might be).

7:30pm.  Welcome to the Barclays Center.  Nothing like a European Bank sponsoring an arena in Flatbush.  Welcome to the USA! 

Rajon Rondo is out with a bad ankle, meaning Leandro Barbosa takes the starting spot.  Immediately I think he will have a bad game since he can't come in in the Fourth Quarter and light things up, he will probably end up with 10 points on 3-12 shooting.  The Celtics are also playing a second game in two nights, which is not good for an old franchise like the Boston Celtics. 

Brooklyn, itself comes out in the most drab Black and White home uniforms.  They definitely don't look like they will light anything up.  The drabness is almost to the point that the simple design is brilliant.  I guess it's an ode to the old Brooklyn Dodgers?  The funny thing is, is that they show the banners up in the rafters and they all have the Nets colors.  Not many championship banners hanging there, by the way.  And no I don't really care about the ABA Championships.

I love the pre-game analysis about the Celtics once having the biggest team in the league with Shaq, Jermaine O'Neal and Kendrick Perkins - uh...they never played together...But in listening to Marv Albert, I'll let Steve Kerr go.  It's ok. 

The crowd seems a little more subdued than one would expect though.  I guess, for a new franchise, situated just a couple of miles from the home of another team, the team has to generate some new fans.  I'm curious whether Brooklyn-ites actually root for the Nets, rather than the Knicks.  Welcome to the new New York.