Games don't get much uglier than they did Wednesday night at the Garden if your'e a Celtics fan. Doc Rivers has had the team focusing strictly on defense the last three days of practicing, and it showed. The Nets shot a mere 40% from the field, and a brutal 65% from the free throw line. The problem is the Celtic forgot to show up on the offensive end, scoring only 83 points on 43% shooting of their own. All of this was overshadowed by an altercation during the last minute of the first half during a Kris Humphries hard foul on Kevin Garnett. After Garnett went to the floor, Rajon Rondo got in the face of Humphries and shoved him. Humphries retaliated and things escalated. Rondo and Humphries were ejected from the game (ending Rondo's double digit assist streak at 37), Gerald Wallace and Kevin Garnett also received technical fouls for the scuffle (Wallace was ejected as well because it was his second technical of the game). Suspensions are in the near future for most of the players involved. Rather than using this as inspiration for the second half, the Celtics came in flat out of the locker room and Brooklyn ran away with it. So once again we did not get to see the point guard matchup we all wanted to see between Rondo and Deron Williams, but tonight proved that the Nets are for real. They played hard on defense, and showed that they have the depth to compete in what may now be the deepest division in the NBA. Andre Blatche, Jerry Stackhouse, and C.J. Watson combine for 47 points off the bench, and easily picked up the slack after the departures of Humphries and Wallace. The Celtics on the other handle struggled to get the offense on track with Rondo missing, and a horrible night from Paul Pierce did not help. Pierce was 4-13 from the field and only 6-11 from the free throw line. Needless to say the Christmas day game in Brooklyn between the two just got a lot more interesting after the brawl tonight. But with the Nets 2-0 this season against the Celtics, this time it will be the Celtics trying to prove that they are still in the mix to compete in the East.
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