Update - Jeff Green offers his thanks for the kind words and prayers from everyone and makes an optimistic promise. We're all rooting for you Jeff.

Twitter / @unclejeffgreen:

Thank u everyone for ur thoughts and prayers...much appreciated love u all..and I'll be back soon stronger and better than ever I promise

---

This is scary; be well Jeff.

BOSTON - The Boston Celtics announced today that forward Jeff Green will undergo surgery on Monday January 9, 2012 at the Cleveland Clinic and will miss the 2011-12 season.

A team of leading cardiac specialists who consulted with Green and the Celtics indicated that surgery should completely repair Green's condition and that he can expect to resume his NBA career next season.

During his team physical Friday, December 9^th, an aortic aneurysm was detected. As a precautionary measure, Green underwent extensive additional testing, after which doctors recommended surgery.

"While we are saddened that Jeff will not be able to play this season, the most important thing is his health, and we were fortunate to have access to an amazing team of specialists to evaluate Jeff's case," said Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge. "The entire Celtics family supports Jeff during this difficult time in his career."

At Jeff's request, neither Jeff nor the Celtics will have any additional comment at this time.

See also: What Green's loss means to the Celtics - Chris Forsberg - Boston Celtics Report

The Seal Sensibility:

There are a dozen types that fail: the weight-lifting meatheads who think that the size of their biceps is an indication of their strength, the kids covered in tattoos announcing to the world how tough they are, the preening leaders who don't want to get dirty, and the look-at-me former athletes who have always been told they are stars but have never have been pushed beyond the envelope of their talent to the core of their character. In short, those who fail are the ones who focus on show.

Almost all the men who survived possessed one common quality. Even in great pain, faced with the test of their lives, they had the ability to step outside of their own pain, put aside their own fear and ask: How can I help the guy next to me? They had more than the "fist" of courage and physical strength. They also had a heart large enough to think about others, to dedicate themselves to a higher purpose.

I'm certainly not trying to trivialize the sacrifice, hard work and dedication of our military by comparing SEALs to guys who play a game for our enjoyment (so please don't make those comments), but the two passages above struck a familiar chord and to me, highlighted the juxtaposition of Elbow Game and Bosh going out Like a Bosh with a sore neck and..."jitters."   It will be interesting to see how Bosh plays tonight and more importantly how much the crowd gets on him...

What if Andrew Bynum did not go over the back of Kendrick Perkins in Game 6 of the Finals last season?  Does the trade sending Perk to the Thunder still happen?  Maybe not.  In that alternate reality, its quite possible, some would say likely that the Celtics defeat the Lakers and we're talking about banner number 19 this season and a repeat title for the still undefeated-in-the-playoffs Starting Five.  

In this alternate reality, the Celtics don't need to stock up on O'Neals in the offseason and instead can focus on adding depth in the wings.   Depth that would be sufficient should Marquis Daniels, the primary backup to Paul Pierce, is injured - or maybe even Tony Allen decides to take the hometown discount for another round of Salmon and Mashed with the guys and a shot at a third title.  In this scenario, Danny wouldn't have to trade his most tradeable chip to chase small forward depth (one may argue though that Perk would demand even more money this offseason as a starter on a two or three time champion, making him still likely to be traded - and that's totally possible). In this world, Perk probably sits tonight in a hotel room in L.A., getting ready to face the Clippers with his Brothers instead of watching his new teammates get plastered by the Magic in OKC.  

What if Gilbert Arenas did not bring a gun into the locker room on Christmas Eve 2009? (hang in with me here - I know this is going to be a bit of a stretch)   Does Quisy still end up on a stretcher, being carted off the court following a freak accident involving Marquis' neck and Gilbert's chest?  Possibly not - Gilbert ended up on the Magic because he was a pariah following his return to the league from his lengthy suspension and the Magic took a flyer on him.  He may not be on the Magic at all right now - if Gil doesn't get suspended, the Wiz probably don't have John Wall and Arenas probably isn't traded to the Magic.  As Danny mentioned in his interview on WEEI yesterday, the injury to Marquis' really set this trade in motion.  Without Arenas in the exact position he was in at the time, maybe Marquis's neck is never hurt.

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From out of nowhere, Woj is reporting that the Celtics are trading Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to the Thunder for Jeff Green and Nenad "Curly" Kristic.  

Guess the undefeated starting five comment Doc made last June had no meaning after all...

The Thunder also traded D.J. White and Morris Peterson for Nazr Mohammed, but who knows if that's at all related to the Perk/Nate trade.  

UPDATE #1 - From Woj's Twitter:

WojYahooNBA: Boston has traded Semih Erden and Luke Harangody to Cleveland for a second-round pick, source tells Y!

We should all assume something else is going down, as that seems like a total fire sale.  

Update #2 Gary Washburn is reporting that the Celts get the Clips 2012 1st rounder (that OKC acquired in the Eric Bledsoe deal)

gwashburn14: According to a source, the Celtics will also get the Clippers 2012 first-round pick out of the deal #celtics

Maybe Danny is stocking up for a run at a Dwight Howard sign and trade in 2012 (really digging for a bright side here).

Update #3 Blakely reporting maybe Murphy + mystery wing will fill the Erds / Luke roster spots.

SherrodbCSN: League source tells me that the #Celtics looking to add Troy Murphy and possibly another wing player.

Update #4: Ken Berger is reporting Marquis Daniels has been sent to the Kings for cash so that the Kings can get above the minimum salary threshold.  

KBerg_CBS: Celtics have agreed to send Marquis Daniels to Sacramento for cash, source says.

Update #5:  In a unsurprising tweet whose sentiment is shared by many Celtics fans, Woj is reporting: 

WojYahooNBA: As you'd expect, Celtics vets are livid over trade of Kendrick Perkins, sources say. He's the tough guy, enforcer. But BOS can't pay him.

Update #6: Is Danny feeling a need for Sheed?  A. Sherrod Blakely thinks it's possible:

Boston may also bring back Rasheed Wallace, who has remained in the metro Boston area after retiring following Boston's Game Seven loss to the Lakers in last year's NBA Finals.

Although he told CSNNE.com this past summer that his NBA career was a "wrap like Christmas," sources have indicated recently that Wallace might have a change of heart if the C's had a roster spot become available.

... but David Aldridge disagrees:

daldridgetnt: Told Cs will NOT be re-signing Sheed. Gotta be Murphy after buyout.

Multiple sources saying that the Celtics and Ray Allen have agreed to a two-year deal for $10 million per season with the 2nd year a player option.  

So far this off-season Danny has signed both Ray and Paul to reasonable deals, and kept Doc.   Those were priorities 1,2 and 3 (you pick your own order).  Now lets get some front court help to fill the void while Perk rehabs.   Get to it Danny, you're on a roll so far.  

Update: Jessica Camerato reports that despite being recruited by LeBron James to join Wade and Bosh in Miami to form a "Dream Team" Ray chose to stay with the Celtics.  Phenominal.

"I'm happy to be returning as a Celtic," he told WEEI.com via text message. "There's no other place I wanted to be."

"I believe I'm so far ahead of the game that I'm able to play longer," he told WEEI.com during the regular season. "People look at basic standards of guys my age at 34, like some guys at 34, there's no way they could play basketball right now. And I'm thinking at my age now, I can go even a few more years doing what I'm doing the way I'm doing it because for me, it's not rocket science."

Rajon Rondo headlines this week's Sports Illustrated, with a feature article on his development over the last four years.  I think the Sports Illustrated jinx is a thing of the past so should all rest easy (will just gloss over last night as well...).  

Well deserved kudos for Rajon who clearly has been the star of the Eastern Conference playoffs (and maybe the best player in the whole league depending on how you feel about Neckbeard or Mr. White Tunic).

One question for SI though, how do you not use a snazzy picture of Rajon ending Jason Williams' NBA career last Saturday? 

From our very own Master Po, with a little help from lon3lytoaster and Ltimecfan

2nd after the jump

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Hopefully this is making a mountain out of a molehill, but WEEI's Green Street blog is reporting that Paul Pierce knocked knees with Shelden Williams and limped off the court.  

The injury, according to head coach Doc Rivers, didn't appear serious. But it was enough to force him out of the final moments of practice.

"It's starting to feel better, I hope he's fine," Rivers said following the session. Pierce was spotted at the end of practice with ice on his right knee - the same one that forced Pierce to the sidelines for five games around the holidays with an infection.

"He got kneed [in] same exact spot," Rivers said. "It's just amazing the luck right now with things like that."

Just a couple of nights ago against the Nets, Paul banged this same knee twice as well.   There doesn't seem to be any word about his availability for tomorrow, so I would assume he's fine I suppose.  

Video of practice with Pierce going off and Doc's commentary after the jump.   Hat tip to Red's Army for finding the video.  

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Our pal TenaciousT tipped me off to a rumor that Mark Spears floated at the bottom of his recent column.   Anyone interested in a (very) undersized two guard with a questionable attitude?   

The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers are among the teams who have expressed some interest in New York Knicks guard Nate Robinson(notes), league sources said. Robinson's base-year status, however, makes it difficult for any trade and the Knicks are said to be reluctant to ship Robinson to an Eastern Conference team, further complicating the Celtics' efforts to land him.

Have at it on the Trade Machine, I couldn't find a combination that worked, got bored and gave up.   Personally, I'm not interested, we already have the real Kryptonite for Duuuhhwight anyone, Kendrick Perkins, but more importantly I really do not like Nate's game.   He needs the ball to be effective, and that's not how the Celtics offense works.    On the positive side, it sounds like he really wants to play in Boston, but that's about all I've got.  

And the winners of our first T- Mobile ticket giveaway are:

BadNewsBarnes  |  JoeB  |  PorkyAppleyard  | HC04  |  JackF  |  celtsrule  |  greenoide  |  henke1491 |  sillyspheres  |  Tai 

Congrats to you all, you've each won two tickets to the game versus the Mavericks on Monday. To the 10 above if you did not receive an email from me earlier today, please send me one (green17_@ _celticsblog.com).   Enjoy the game.  

Huge thanks to our new sponsor T-Mobile, who supplied these tickets.  And thanks to everyone else who responded.  Please note though for those who were unsuccessful,  we also have another 10 pairs to giveaway for the game on January 25th versus the Clippers. Keep an eye out for another trivia contest post early next week, and also our new feature the T-Mobile Player of the Week which will pop up on Monday.

This post is sponsored by T-Mobile

Exciting news for CelticsBlog, we have been chosen, along with five other NBA blogs, for sponsorship from T-Mobile.   Now, you may ask what that means for you, the reader....

Well, it means that we were chosen because T-Mobile is the official wireless sponsor of the Celtics, they felt that CelticsBlog is an important outlet for Celtics fans to discuss the team and interact, and they want to reach out to us NBA fans.  Really its a kudos to all of you who have helped us develop this site into a wonderful online community for Celtics fans.  

However, most importantly, it means that T-Mobile is providing us with tickets to give away for upcoming games, including this coming Monday.  I'll repeat that:  

T-Mobile is providing us tickets to give away for upcoming games, including vs. the Mavericks on Monday

In addition to the ticket give aways, they will also sponsor a new weekly feature, T-Mobile Player of the Week, which we will debut next Monday.   You will also notice some new T-Mobile ads on the site in the coming days.  

The ticket giveaway details follow below the jump.  

Bumped this up as we will accept entries for the next hour.   "Answers" after midnight will be excluded from the drawing.  

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Bill Walker, Brian Scalabrine and Tony Allen are all prominently featured in NBA.com's Top Ten plays of the night.   The footage of Scal celebrating Billy's dunk may be my favorite thing from this season.  You'll have to wait through a few other highlights to get to the good ones.   Enjoy.

Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports has a great article on Rajon Rondo.   A few highlights:

The Celtics gave Rondo a new deal and don't appear to have any interest in trading him. Not only is Rondo playing like an All-Star this season, the 23-year-old point guard also just might be the Celtics' most valuable player.

"He's been dominant, he's been amazing," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "He's had an unbelievable year so far. He's been a leader. He's been the best defender at times.   He's done everything for us."He does so many things that I don't know how you can lose what he does with our team. He sets the table every night. He's been absolutely perfect."

"I'm definitely glad it's over now," Rondo said. "I'm getting sleep. You don't have to play with [the stress]. If I play bad, I get a bad contract? If I play good, I get a good contract? There are so many ups and downs and you can think about the contract throughout the season. Now, I can just play."

Additionally, Jessica Camerato at WEEI's Green Street blog has a wonderful interview with Rondo on the art of the dime.  

"I think that stands out the most on the court, unselfishness. It's not necessarily ball handling, it's being unselfish for your teammates, sacrificing for your teammates. My situation is me giving up the ball to make somebody better. KG and Perk just defensively helping out when I may get beat off the dribble, their unselfishness just to come over and help makes me look better or maybe not look as bad as I was on defense. So for a team to be a great team, I think you have to have a lot of people sacrifice a lot of things. We had the Big Three that came in, all leading their teams in scoring, they all had to sacrifice shots. They all did a great job of it. It's not just me. It's the whole team. It's the whole team concept. That's where Ubuntu comes in. I can go on and on about it."

As of this morning Rajon is:

• 4th in the league in Assists (9.6 per game)
• 1st in the league in Steals (2.5 per game)
• Averaging a career high of 14.1 points per game, 3 points better than his average from last year
• Averages 4.1 boards per game, 4th among all Point Guards

Quoting Doc from ESPN Boston:

"I'm pretty sure [Garnett will return] in the next 10 days," Rivers said. "He started working out today for the first time, now it's just a conditioning thing. We want to make sure he gets strong, gets back in shape. He literally hasn't done anything. We figure about 10 days to two weeks, but I figure it's more like 10 days with him. Trying to hold him down for those extra four would be extra difficult."

Below is the schedule for January.   If Kevin Garnett is only 10 days away, that puts him back in time for the Portland Trailblazer game on the 22nd.  If he's out the full two weeks, it looks like KG would come back versus Orlando on the 28th.  Assuming the latest estimate is correct (the prior estimate had KG back this coming Wednesday vs the Nets, so take a giant grain of salt here), it looks like KG would be back, but probably still rusty, when the Celtics face off against the Unbeatable Hawks and the Lakers.  

For this Lakers game, Paul Pierce's Truth Foundation is holding a raffle for a luxury suite.   Details of how to participate are below the jump.

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Well, at least one Boston team came to play today.   The Celtics were able to overcome their (anecdotal) early game blues and defeat the Raptors 114 to 107.   This was a game of runs, the Celtics were able to extend the lead into the low teens a few times, and then the Raptors would rattle off a few buckets to bring the gap into the 7-8 point range, just enough so that the Celts could not relax.   The Raptors made one last run, dropping the Celtics' lead to four before some clutch free throws from Perkins and a jumper from Pierce sealed it.  

Two players really stood out in this one.  Rajon Rondo and Rasheed Wallace.  

Coming off a Hawks game where Rajon did not appear to be his usual disruptive self, this afternoon Rajon domindated the game, producing a triple double of 22, 10 and 13.    Really all that needs to be said is Vote Rondo.

Greg Payne wrote an article after last time the Celts and Raps faced off on how Rasheed Wallace dominates the Raptors.   That trend continued today as Rasheed put up is best production with the Celtics, with 29 points (5 of 7 from three) and 8 boards, plus a huge steal with just over a minute to go and the Raptors down six.  I wish we could bottle this Rasheed.  

Update: Box and video highlights after the jump.  

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So that happened.  Ray slipped after recieving an inbound pass with 5 seconds to go in a tie game, thereby allowing Wade to repeat his game winning dunk routine.   With the game seemingly over, Doc pulls the old lob to Rondo from the playbook....and it worked.   Great screens, great pass from Paul and fantastic finish by Rondo to tie it as the buzzer sounded.

Bringing it to overtime, which was thankfully way less exciting as Rajon Rondo'd the Heat in the extra five minutes.

• The box score doesn't tell the whole story, but Paul Pierce was very, very rusty.  The most obvious play was the good old PP-iso with 20 seconds to go in the fourth.   Paul couldn't get off a quality shot against the oft-traded Q-Rich and effectively turned it over.  Really it was a poor decision on Paul's part.  He was clearly off tonight, he should not have called his own number, but he's the captain so he gets the benefit of the doubt there.  
• Rasheed Wallace had a killer stretch late in the third quarter where he was the best player on the Heat and single handedly demolished his teammates.  The stretch included tipping in a Wade jumper, a bad inbounds pass to Rajon, an ill advised pull-up brick three, an offensive foul, and a poor rotation leading to an open jumper for Haslem.   Coincidentally, the Celtics lost their lead during this stretch, which was the turning point of the game, for quite awhile.
• Ray Allen picked up his third and fourth fouls in the third quarter.  I've never seen Ray react as negatively to a foul call as he did on the third foul.  And rightly so.   For stretches there, I thought I was watching the 2006 NBA finals with the Celtcs playing the role of the Mavericks and Joey Crawford being the bright shining star that we all want to grow up to be.....Would any NBA fan be sad if Joey just went away?
• ....And then amazingly, Rasheed atoned for his prior hoops sins.   He rained in threes.  Some still ill-advised, but whatever they went in this time.   He grabbed a key loose ball setting up Rondo for a drive which gave the Celts a two point lead with two minutes to go
• Ray Allen had a weird line.  9 early points, and then due to his foul troubles, he didn't score again until the 4th when he started throwing daggers.    That late turnover though was quite unlucky for Ray and nearly doomed the night.
• If Rajon Rondo isn't an All-Star this year, then I don't know what one looks like.  25 points on 12 shots, with a frothy 7 for 8 from the line.   Rajon's eight assists were largely offset by a very uncharacteristic six turnovers, but Rajon hit so many key buckets in this game, including 4 huge points in OT.   That floater is AUTOMATIC.  Vote Rondo!  
• The Celtics were killed tonight by offensive rebounds (17) and turnovers (24, but it seemed like 400).  
• The Heat also did things.  Wade had 41 points, Haslem is killer from the baseline.  These guys will tell you more I'm sure if you're really interested.   Peninsula is Mightier

Box after the jump

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Paul Pierce spoke to reporters before the game.  WEEI has audio, but this quote really summarizes the story:

"It was a situation I got home and I was sort of sitting back and relaxing and then sort of felt a slight pain in my knee and then over a 10-to-15 minute period, it just got worse and worse," Pierce said. "It went from just kind of hurting to sore to bad to extreme in like a 15-minute period, which was crazy.

"I called Eddie Lacerte about 1:30 in the morning and he knows I never call him unless it’s really bad. So, he came over to the house and checked it out. We went to the hospital that morning, doctor checked it out and we did the surgery. An infection somehow got into my leg."

Pierce said after his first surgery on Dec. 23 his white blood cell count skyrocketed to 40,000 indicating an infection. The doctors then went in on Christmas Day to clean it out again and isolated the infection. He said he doesn’t have a particular game in mind for a return.

Red's Army speculates the infection came from a cut on Paul's foot the week before.   It seems Paul's return date is still uncertain.   He's still not running and doesn't have a full range of motion yet, but it doesn't sound like Paul will be on the shelf for too long.  

ESPN Boston has a quote from Doc that Kevin Garnett will be out another 10 days.

"KG's still 10 days, maybe, I don't know," said Rivers. "I have no idea, I honestly don't. There is some history with hyperextended knees that we kind of know that it takes at least two weeks, sometimes three. We know it won't be longer than that, but we don't know how quickly. There's a history there -- not with [Garnett] -- but with league history."

That would put KG out probably until the Nets game on January 13, and means he would miss both games against the very legit Hawks (Jan 8th and Jan 11th).