Celtic Green = Luck O' the Irish

Call it the luck o' the Irish. The Boston Celtics (decked out in special St Patty's Day green jerseys) survived a huge test on St. Patrick's day/night as they overcame the champion San Antonio Spurs to win by 2 points. The Celts were missing Ray Allen due to injury, but recent acquisition Sam Cassell provided his experience in the backcourt to help the Celtics pull out the win. Paul Pierce, KG and Rajon Rondo each scored 20 or more points with Sam I Am adding 17. The Celtics move to an impressive 53-13 record on the season.

It's been said by many an analyst that the Celtics would need to show they can defeat West conference teams. They've been able to defeat Dallas and San Antonio among others, showing that the Celtics can definitely hold their own. It may be due to once again, their huge offseason pickup, Mr. Kevin Garnett.

KG's faced most of these same West Conference foes over the past several seasons. Garnett was a steady producer of many stats out West for years and competed with the teams more than the 2 times the Celtics will. Give the Celtics a definite edge there. KG's played Duncan more times a season than the Truth, Paul Pierce. KG also holds playoff experience against several of the top superstars out West. While it's not the biggest reason for Boston's success out West, you'd have to consider it a strong reason for it.

Manu Ginobli was the high scorer for the Spurs with 32 as Parker added 17 points, 8 assists. Duncan had a subpar night with just 10 pts and 8 boards. With the loss, San Antonio is now in 6th or 7th place out in the highly competitive Western Conference.