In yesterday’s blog I may have been a little over confident that the Celtics would bounce back from their loss to Miami on Monday night. The team was up 55-46 going into the half, but a strong comeback in the 3rd quarter helped New Orleans make the comeback win against the veteran C’s. (more)

After a tough loss on Monday that saw Miami overcome a 17 point lead, 43 points from Jeff Green, and being down with just 90 seconds to play the Celtics look to take their frustrations out on the struggling Hornets. (more)

Rajon Rondo racked up 10 assists for the fourth straight game and more importantly extended his contract as the Boston Celtics defeated the New Orleans Hornets 97-87 Sunday at the TD Garden. His new contract promises at least $55 million over the next five years.  All-Star PG Chris Paul on the other side of the court last night led the Hornets with 22 points and eight assists. Despite his efforts, New Orleans simply couldn’t hang with the Celtics through all four quarters. “They are on top; we are on the bottom. We want to get where they are,” said Paul. “I am a huge advocate for the Boston Celtics. They’ve established themselves as a team that won’t beat themselves.” Paul Pierce led the C’s in scoring with 27 points. Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen came up with 17 and 14 each. Boston will now travel to Philadelphia to square off against the 76ers on Tuesday before facing the Timberwolves in Minnesota the following night.  Their next home game will be on Friday, November 6th when the Phoenix Suns come to town.  Boston Celtics tickets are available now with us at AceTicket.com!

Atlanta Hawks 81, Miami Heat 71. Azaza Pachulia dominated the glass for the Hawks with 18 rebounds, helping Atlanta regain their home court advantage with a 81-71 win over the Miami Heat.  The Hawks scoring was basically split between Bibby, Johnson, and Smith scoring 15, 14, and 13.  Atlanta coach Mike Woodson stated that Pachulia was the crucial factor to the win.  “Zaza was huge throughout the whole game,” said Woodson. “I mean, 18 rebounds, 12 points for us, and we needed all that tonight to survive.”  Dwayne Wade scored 22 for the Heat and Jermaine O’Neal contributed 20, but Miami was never ahead and only shot 38 percent. Denver Nuggets 121, New Orleans Hornets 63. Carmelo Anthony led the Nuggets with 26 points and was taken out in the fourth quarter due to the 58 point blow out over the New Orleans Hornets.  The victory matched the biggest lopsided contest in NBA playoff history, which came in 1956 when the Minneapolis Lakers beat the St. Louis Hawks 133-75.  The Hornets will need their All-Star point guard Chris Paul to step up in order for them to stay in the series.  The Nuggets held Paul to just 4 points and 6 assists.  Denver leads the series 3-1. Los Angeles Lakers 107, Utah Jazz 96. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to finish the series in 5 games with 31 points against the Utah Jazz last night at the Staples Center.  The Lakers were in control the whole game, winning every quarter in scoring aside from the fourth.  Utah made a run at the end cutting the 20-point deficit to just six with 3:15 remaining.  From there Lamar Odom came up with two clutch finishes after LA kicked in its defense to officially decide the series.  “We out did them,” said Lakers head coach Phil Jackson. “I thought it was a disappointment to them but they played hard; they played together and you have to give them credit.  I thank them for giving us a run and a good, hard series.” 2009 NBA Playoff Tickets are available now!

After losing their last two contests at home to the Lakers and Spurs, the Boston Celtics found a way to come together and defeat the Hornets 89-77 in New Orleans.  Paul Pierce led the C’s in scoring with 30 points, and Garnett added 14 points while pulling down 10 boards.  Eddie House chipped in with 12 points, scoring eight in the final period as he filled in well for Ray Allen, who missed the second half after hyperextending his thumb. Chris Paul returned last night after missing 4 games due to a right groin strain.  He finished with 13 points and five assists in his 32 minutes played.  David West and Hilton Armstrong scored 15 and 14 despite the Hornets coming up short. Last nights game marked the first of six straight road games against Western Conference teams for the C’s.  Ray Allen is due to come back tonight as the Celtics travel to Dallas to match up against the Mavericks at 9:30 p.m.  He will also be recognized as an All-Star due to the recent injury of Orlando’s Jameer Nelson.  Look for the Big 3 Sunday night as they represent the Eastern Conference in the 2009 All-Star game. Boston Celtics tickets are available now!