Welcome to the Garden
TD BANKNORTH GARDEN — Welcome to the Garden, where the Boston Celtics (31-9) will take on the New Jersey Nets (19-19) at 7:30 p.m.
Eddie House is on the floor right now doing his pregame shooting, and he is absolutely lighting it up from deep. Makes you wonder why the Celtics ever try to make him do anything else. He’s a shooter, period.
“Take it easy on us tonight, please,” Nets coach Lawrence Frank yelled to House as he was walking off the court. “Miss a couple.”
One of the more gregarious coaches in the league, Frank stood and talked to Celtics assistant coach Kevin Eastman for a long time while House warmed up. Topics of conversation included just about everything New England has in common with New Jersey: Eric Mangini, the Atlantic Division, and Brian Scalabrine.
The Celtics rookies, Bill Walker and J.R. Giddens, are making themselves right at home since being called up from the Utah Flash. They’ve both completed their pregame routines already, and Giddens is taking advantage of the free buffet in the media workroom.
The Nets come into this game in second place in the Atlantic, trailing the Celtics by 11 games. It’s hard to believe this is the first meeting of the season between these teams (doesn’t it seem like the C’s have played the Knicks and Raptors about 15 times already?) The Celtics travel to New Jersey to play the Nets again on Saturday night.
The point guard matchup should be a great one tonight, with Rajon Rondo squaring off against Devin Harris. Don’t blink or you might miss something.
It’s pretty quiet right now on the parquet, but the locker rooms open at 6 p.m. We’ll have plenty of pregame reaction from both teams shortly. And don’t forgot about the live chat during tonight’s game.
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