SI Extra: Celtics Over Rockets; NCAA Tournament Time Wednesday, March 19, 2008 By Mark Beech and David Sabino Thomsen: The Celtics Show Their Stuff In two nights the Celtics have cut a wide swath through the upper ranks of the NBA's Western Conference. Last night, 24 hours after beating the world-champion Spurs in San Antonio, Boston drubbed the Rockets 94-74, ending Houston's 22-game winning streak. Kevin Garnett keyed the Celtics with 22 points and 11 rebounds, but flexed most of his muscle on defense against Houston's diminutive frontcourt (Yao Ming, of course, is out for the season with a stress fracture in his foot), blocking two shots and grabbing three steals. The game was tied 40-40 at halftime, but Boston, which has the league's best record (54-13) dominated the final 24 minutes. SI's Ian Thomsen says that the Celtics are legitimate title contenders precisely because of their strong defense. "Because the Celtics have faced relatively little pressure from the other contenders in the East, some doubts have been raised about their playoff readiness," says Thomsen. "Those doubts don't hold up when you consider that Boston ranks first in the main defensive categories -- points allowed (90.3), field goal percentage (41.7) and even three-point percentage (31.5)." As for the Rockets, they'll have their work cut out for them to avoid a losing streak: They're at New Orleans tonight and face back-to-back games at Golden State and Phoenix this weekend. http://si.com/basketball/nba/viewcast/2008/03/18/index.html?contestId=2 3177&vendorId=2008031810&vendorVisitTeam=2&vendorHomeTeam=10&pageType=r ecap • T-Wolves owner: KG 'tanked it' http://si.com/2008/basketball/nba/03/18/garnett.taylor.ap/index.html • Aschburner: Hardware for some Rockets? http://si.com/2008/writers/steve_aschburner/03/18/rockets/index.html?er ef=sixtra_newsletter031908 • Photos: Longest win streaks in NBA history http://si.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0803/nba.longest.winning.streaks /content.1.html?eref=sixtra_newsletter031908 Inside SI: Big Bang Theory The first week of the NCAA tournament is all about David vs. Goliath, especially this year. "Does size matter?" asks SI's Grant Wahl. "No query is more pertinent heading into this year's fun-house mirror of an NCAA tournament, in which six genuine title contenders -- Duke, Louisville, Memphis, North Carolina, Tennessee and Xavier -- have shorter frontcourts than any national champion of the past 20 years." Beginning tomorrow those little guys will be looking to knock off teams that include some of the country's best big men, including Kansas State's 6' 10" Michael Beasley. http://si.com/2008/writers/grant_wahl/03/18/big.bang0324/?eref=sixtra_n ewsletter031908 • Davis: The All-Glue Team
http://si.com/2008/writers/seth_davis/03/18/glue.guys/index.html?eref=s ixtra_newsletter031908 • Winn: Teams to avoid in the tournament http://si.com/si_blogs/ncaa_tourney/2008/?eref=sixtra_newsletter031908 Verducci: The Tigers' Bullpen Concerns Can Detroit win a pennant with a patchwork bullpen? Relievers Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya are sidelined indefinitely with shoulder problems, and the rest of the relief corps -- including Tim Byrdak, Jason Grilli, Zach Miner, Bobby Seay and Denny Bautista -- is short on experience. "The Tigers have a closer, Todd Jones, who turns 40 in April and needs reliable setup men because he needs to start innings clean and he's not a workhorse," says SI's Tom Verducci. "Jones has 75 saves for Detroit in the past two years, but none of them involved getting more than three outs." http://si.com/2008/writers/tom_verducci/03/18/verducci.tigers/index.htm l?eref=sixtra_newsletter031908 • Jenkins: Lasorda looks back http://si.com/2008/writers/lee_jenkins/03/18/jenkins.lasorda/index.html ?eref=sixtra_newsletter031908 • Paul: Baseball goes to China http://si.com/2008/baseball/mlb/03/18/china.exhibition/index.html?eref= sixtra_newsletter031908 SI Time Capsule: The Trip to Bountiful Free agency hit the NFL 15 years ago, and stars such as the Eagles' Reggie White were more than ready to cash in. "Welcome to the American Way, NFL-style," wrote Peter King in the March 15, 1993, issue. "On March 1, when wholesale, unrestricted free agency officially descended upon the league, 298 players enjoyed their first real taste of freedom since high school. White, a 31-year-old three-time All-Pro, was the most ardently wooed of the first crop of free agents. But even middling-to-good players were thriving." White eventually signed with the Packers for four years and $17 million, and Green Bay won Super Bowl XXXI in the final year of that deal. An ordained preacher who died in December 2004, White was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in '06. http://si.com/si_online/covers/?eref=sixtra_newsletter?eref=sixtra_news letter031908 SCORES CENTRAL • NBA http://si.com/basketball/nba/scoreboards/today/?eref=sixtra_newsletter0 31908 • NIT First Round http://si.com/basketball/ncaa/men/scoreboards/divia/2008/03/18/index.ht ml?eref=sixtra_newsletter031908 • NHL
http://si.com/hockey/nhl/scoreboards/today/?eref=sixtra_newsletter03190 8 MORE FROM SI.COM • Red Sox agree to go to Japan http://si.com/2008/baseball/mlb/specials/spring_training/2008/03/19/red sox.boycott.ap/index.html?eref=sixtra_newsletter031908 • Top recruit Pryor picks Ohio State http://si.com/2008/players/03/19/pryor.ohiost.ap/index.html?eref=sixtra _newsletter031908 • Thomsen: NBA to expand replay use? http://si.com/2008/writers/ian_thomsen/03/19/instant.replay/index.html? eref=sixtra_newsletter031908 • Play Seth Davis's Bracket Challenge http://www.fannation.com/seth_davis_challenge?eref=sixtra_newsletter031 908 • NCAA tournament expert picks http://si.com/basketball/ncaa/men/2008/ncaa_tourney/brackets/experts/in dex.html?eref=sixtra_newsletter031908 • Mt. St. Mary's wins play-in game http://si.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2008/03/18/index.html?contes tId=49696&vendorId=200803180130&vendorVisitTeam=378&vendorHomeTeam=130& pageType=recap • Printable NCAA men's bracket http://www.fannation.com/seth_davis_challenge?eref=sixtra_newsletter031 908 • NCAA Tournament Film Room http://si.com/basketball/ncaa/specials/ncaa_tourney/2008/video/?eref=si xtra_newsletter031908 • Bracket breakdowns and more http://si.com/basketball/ncaa/specials/ncaa_tourney/2008/?eref=sixtra_n ewsletter031908 • King: NFL draft strategy http://si.com/2008/writers/peter_king/03/18/mmqbte/index.html?eref=sixt ra_newsletter031908 • Banks: BC's Ryan nails workout http://si.com/2008/writers/don_banks/03/18/ryan.proday/index.html?eref= sixtra_newsletter031908 • Donovan: Cubs' hopes spring eternal http://si.com/2008/writers/john_donovan/03/18/hotspot.mesa/index.html?e ref=sixtra_newsletter031908 • Thomsen: Knicks wooing Walsh?
http://si.com/2008/writers/ian_thomsen/03/18/walsh.knicks/index.html?er ef=sixtra_newsletter031908 ALSO IN THIS WEEK'S SI Jack McCallum on the Suns; Alan Shipnuck on Tiger Woods's sixth straight win; and Michael Farber on Alexander Ovechkin's quest for 60 goals. http://si.com/2007/magazine/cover/?eref=sixtra_newsletter?eref=sixtra_n ewsletter031908 DID YOU KNOW? Over the next three weeks the nation will be captivated by the drama of the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments. With two No. 1 seeds, North Carolina leads a list of 23 schools that are sending teams to both tournaments. Also included in that group is Cornell, which becomes the first Ivy League school to send its men's and women's teams to the Big Dance in the same season. http://si.com/basketball/ncaa/men/teams/cornel/?eref=sixtra_newsletter0 31908
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