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The Europe Live opener saw the Celtics beat the Raptors in front of Andrea Bargnani’s home crowd. Two of Boston’s Big Three looked good; Paul Pierce and his new baldie dropped 21 points and Kevin Garnett posted a 19-16 line, but Ray Allen was throwing up a lot of bricks … Garnett played like he was possessed. On one tip dunk he got so high he could have climbed into the rim … Boston’s X-factor this year, Rajon Rondo, didn’t look bad but didn’t look great either. He handed out 6 assists and made just one turnover, but his 2-for-7 shooting isn’t what the C’s need. And there was a couple times when Rondo over-dribbled and got caught in a trap. Still, consider this is the first preseason game of his second NBA season, played in a strange arena, and he was facing a good Toronto backcourt. We’ll cut Rajon a break for now … The Celtics starters played a lot of minutes for a preseason game — KG, Pierce and Ray each played 30-plus — but that makes sense considering they need to get used to playing with each other … On the other side, Jason Kapono looks like he’s been playing with the Raps for years. He stuck a couple jumpers and blended right in …
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The Italian Job
Celts impress in opening act
Celts impress in opening act – BostonHerald.com
“It was interesting because they wanted to double Kevin down on the post, and I had a lot of open shots – shots that I haven’t had open in a long time,” said Allen, who was off the mark a bit, shooting 4-for-13. “Paul kept his man occupied, so it was definitely a different look. You can tell that they had to respect each one of us on each play.”
globesports.com: Celtics embark on rebuilding phase
The Raptors were in the Celtics’ shoes last season — less the three big stars — and after handing out the name tags in training camp, they started the season 7-14.
Staying largely the same has been welcomed. “It makes a big difference, we know we have a really good thing going here and we’re trying to improve and continue the whole thing,” Bosh said. “I think it’s very good. You have to have chemistry on offence and defence.
“Boston might come in and have great chemistry off the bat, but you can’t rush it. Sometimes it’s not going to be the best situations and people get frustrated with that and tend to ask, ‘What’s going on?’ It happened with us. If they don’t come out and start the season spectacularly, people are going to wonder why.”
TheStar.com | Sports | Celtics’ `Big Three’ creating a buzz in the NBA
Will it be easier him to flourish with the Boston Celtics? Without a doubt, says one of his closest friends in basketball.
“Oh, yeah, without a doubt because he has no ego,” Sam Mitchell said yesterday of Garnett, who makes his debut for Boston alongside Paul Pierce and Ray Allen this afternoon against the Raptors.
“Kevin doesn’t have to take the last shot, he doesn’t have to, quote-unquote, `be the man.’ He’s been the man and he’s always going to be the man to a certain extent because of how good he is and who he is and that’s never going to change.
“But he doesn’t have to feed his ego like that. I know the only thing important to Kevin is trying to win basketball games and compete for a championship.”
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