They say when your the world champions the teams who play you give their best effort in order to prove to themselves that they are not as bad as they really are. At Madison Square Garden the Knicks did just that by beating the Celtics 100-88.

It seems as if Paul Pierce who scored 31 points is the only one on his game while his teammates are in some sort of a funk. It cannot be complacency because we know how hungry and nasty this Celtics team can be. Does this Stephon Marbury talk have the C's doubting themselves for a lack of depth and could it be becoming a distraction because the team that started the season 27-2 is definitely struggling as of late.

Last season these same Celtics had the best road win record during the regular season until the post season when the seemingly couldn't buy a win on the road. Granted it is too early to start panicking but these recent road losses does lend itself to cause for concern.

They looked O.K. in the first half with Kevin Garnett manning the boards with five rebounds and four blocked shots all while the team was shooting 54 % from the field and leading 53-50 at the half. Garnett did get kicked in the calf area and was limited to just six points. They came out of the locker room a different team as the Knicks played sound defense and jumped on Boston to take a 78-68 lead heading into the final period.

They simply outscored Boston 28-15 in the third and although Boston tried to keep it close they trailed by as much as 11and the Knicks never gave Boston a chance to get back in the game even when they tightened it up in the fourth New York just pulled away. Wilson Chandler and Al Harrington both played terrific for the Knicks scoring 31 and 30 points respectively.

In a few games this season the Celtics seem to be frustrated and could be seen arguing and yelling at each other on the bench and also at the refs. This was not the case last season but something is going on. Smiles have turned to frowns and it is very uncharacteristic for this team to lose it's poise as it has a few times this year.Were not talking about little disagreements either we are witnessing shouting matches and finger pointing but I guess after a loss to the Knicks Who can blame them for being frustrated.

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Shocker In New York! Knicks Beat Celtics 100-88
Sunday, 04 January 2009
They say when your the world champions the teams who play you give their best effort in order to prove to themselves that they are not as bad as...

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