Boston
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
Since tonight is Boston's last home game before the trading deadline, the question on everyone's mind is: whither the Glove? Is this Gary Payton's final Celtic home game? What about Marcus Banks, Jiri Welsch, or any of the host of others whose names have been bandied about in various trade rumors? Yesterday's film session seemed almost to be a tribute to Payton as the Celtics replayed antique footage involving a steal by Doc Rivers on a young Payton. He seems happy here and says all the right things, which given his recent "Trash Talker" award and his reputation, probably means he believes it. Who would have thought back in the summer there would be so much love for the Glove?
Payton has been perhaps the most important member of the Celtics. He's not the best player (Paul Pierce) and he's not the future of the franchise (Al Jefferson). He's not even the turnaround story (Ricky Davis) or the most exciting player (Tony Allen). But he is the most important.
He not only tutors and mentors the young point guards in Marcus Banks and Delonte West, a feat which by itself should earn him heaps of adoration from Boston fans who saw what Banks was like last year without such guidance, but he has also provided the veteran shoulder for Pierce to lean on when things were not going so well either for him individually or in the evolution of the team.
Without Payton, the Celtics would not likely either be at .500 or in second place in the Atlantic. Technically, they are tied for first with their record, but Philadelphia has owned them so far this year with Boston down 0-2 in the series, so they would, as of right now, lose the tiebreaker. In order to win the tiebreaker, the Celtics would have to win the two remaining Philly games plus have a better conference record. That does seem feasible.
NEXT GAME
The Boston Celtics (26-26, second in the Atlantic) host the Memphis Grizzlies (30-22, fourth in the Southwest) for their final game before the All-Star break TONIGHT, Wednesday, February 16th, 2005. The game starts at 7:00pm Eastern and will be broadcast on Fox Sports New England and NBA League Pass. Tickets are still available at the GoldenPalace.comCenter (so renamed for about thirty-five thousand smackers). The Celtics will also be selling $2 "I am a Celtic" wristbands before the game to support the children's charities sponsored by the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation. You can rest assured I have already purchased mine here. You should hurry and get one too because it seems they already have a backlog of orders.
TEAM NOTES
The FleetCenter, excuse me, the TerriersCenter today, and the GoldenPalace.comCenter tomorrow, will be renamed every day until February 28. For about $3,000, you can have it named after you. The winner for the big prize -- tomorrow's home game against the Grizzlies -- was the Golden Palace Casino for an astonishing $35,000. Most other days got auctioned off for one-tenth that price, and there are still some dates left.
Check outwww.fleetcenter.com for links to the auction site.
The remaining auctions expire tomorrow morning so this will be the last chance of your lifetime to have the whole building named after you.
INJURY UPDATE
Big Al Jefferson(high ankle sprain) andMichael "Yogi" Stewart ("knee") are on the injured list. It turns out Big Al actually ran some hard practices that past couple of days and may indeed be activated for tonight's game. It seems at first blush like that would be a major strategic mistake given that if he misses this game, he has a lot more "free" time to recover, but it will be a game-time decision, so we'll see.
Peter May ofThe Boston Globewrites: Take a good look at No. 20 in white tonight. It might be the last time you'll see him as a Celtic in Boston.The Celtics host Memphis and then are off until Tuesday, two days after the All-Star Game in Denver. They begin a four-game road trip that night in Los Angeles against the Lakers and won't be back home until Feb. 28, four days after the trading deadline. Will Gary Payton be with them when they have a rematch with the Lakers March 2 at the FleetCenter? Only Danny Ainge can answer that question, and he won't talk about it.
Peter May ofThe Boston Globealso writes: Payton himself recently offered up Sacramento and Minnesota as possible destinations.Given what we've seen lately of the Timberwolves and the Kings' rather meager bench, either team could use Payton. Indiana might be interested as well as it tries to get back into the Eastern elite. But do any of these teams, or any other, have what Ainge probably would want: a young talent who can be developed, a No. 1 pick, a player with an expiring contract, or all of the above?
Mark Murphy ofThe Boston Heraldwrites: No matter how often they hear about it, there hasn't been a tangible way for the Celtics' younger generation to appreciate just how long their 36-year-old point guard has been in the NBA. So coach Doc Rivers sent video coordinator Jamie Young off in search of some classic Gary Payton video, and played the result for the team at the end of yesterday's practice. Within seconds players were falling into each other from laughter at the sight of Rivers, in a Clippers uniform, stealing the ball from Payton.Just as quickly Rivers pulled up short of the basket with a tightened hamstring. He never did make the layup. That was 13 seasons ago, during Rivers' only season as a Clipper, when Payton was in his second year in the league.
Mark Murphy ofThe Boston Heraldwrites: Perhaps Al Jefferson has some of that Terrell Owens magic in his ankle after all.The Celtics rookie ran hard in his second straight day of practice, without missing a moment of yesterday's intense session. Celtics coach Doc Rivers, as a result, may be a believer in Jefferson's ability to heal quickly from a severe right ankle sprain that has kept the forward out of the last 10 games. Rivers left open the possibility that Jefferson could play in tonight's game against Memphis, though the final call won't be made until gametime
Sasha Talcott ofThe Boston Globewrites: Online casino Golden Palace hit the international media jackpot last year when it agreed to pay $28,000 for a grilled cheese sandwich with an uncanny likeness to the Virgin Mary. Today in Boston, it will put its name on what it hopes will be an equally visible prize: the FleetCenter. The online casino -- licensed in Canada, run from Antigua, with a chief executive based in the United Kingdom -- bid $35,099 to win an eBay auction to rename the center for a single day.It will change the name on the FleetCenter's website to the GoldenPalace.comCenter, and its name will grace the building's Jumbotron and play on its automated phone system.