Celtics return home after west coast trip

By Ryan Hannable

The Celtics will return home tonight as the face the Dallas Mavericks at the TD Garden. They are coming off of their first west coast trip of the season. They have another one in February. The Celtics went 3-1 on the trip, with their only loss coming to the Phoenix Suns. That game the Celtics really were never in from the start and Doc Rivers as well as Kevin Garnett were ejected.

The biggest win on the trip came last Sunday as the Celtics defeated the Lakers by a convincing 13 points. Kobe Bryant went off and scored 41, but the Celtics showed why basketball is a team game and not just how one teams star player performed. It was the Celtics first trip back to the Staples Center after last seasons game seven loss of the NBA Finals. The Celtics got the win, but the real revenge would come if the Celtics were to beat the Lakers in the finals this year. For now it was just a nice regular season win.

The Celtics have six games remaining before the all-star break, and it is a pretty tough six. The good news is that five of the six are at home. The Celtics face the Mavericks and Magic at home, before going on the road to play the Bobcats. They then come home and finish the first half of the regular season at home against the Lakers, Heat and Nets. This will be a tough way to end the first half as five of these six teams are playoff teams, but these are the games that get the Celtics veterans going and excited. This stretch of the next two weeks could be some of the best basketball the team has played all season.

Check back next week for my weekly Celtics column. Feel free to email me at ryanhannable@yahoo.com with any questions/comments. Follow me on Twitter at Hannable84.