On this date in 1999, the Boston Celtics signed guard Damon Jones to the first of two 10-day contracts as a late-season addition despite having no playoffs to play for.
The Galveston native was a career journeyman, undrafted out of Houston in 1997, and Boston the second of ten eventual stops for the shooter.
In his brief stay of just 13 games with the Celtics, Jones logged 5.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists while shooting 45.5 % from 3-point range.
Unfortunately for the Texan, he only shot 38.7 % overall in an era that didn’t value the three quite the same; Jones would continue on to sign with the Golden State Warriors over the summer.
Former NBA guard Damon Jones is helping out on the #celtics summer league coaching staff
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) July 16, 2012
It is also the anniversary of five victories since the season of Boston’s last championship in 2007-08. The first was a 99-93 win over the New York Knicks in 2008 in one of Isiah Thomas’ last games as head coach.
Boston beat New York while resting the Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, which likely didn’t help the legendary guard’s case to continue as coach of the Knicks.
“”You can’t always do what’s popular and what isn’t popular,” Thomas said via ESPN. “You just have to be patient. Last year keeping Doc Rivers wasn’t a popular decision, either.”
Point guard Rajon Rondo had 23 points and 10 rebounds and reserve guard Sam Cassell 22 points in the win.
The Celtics also defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in 2009 in a 100-98 nailbiter that saw Allen and Garnett rest, but Pierce hit the winning jumper and secured the victory with a 31-point performance.
We should have won the game,” 76ers guard Andre Iguodala said via the Associated Press. “They used a second unit for the majority of the game.”
Boston also beat the then-New Jersey Nets 94-82 in 2012 on this date behind a breakout performance by guard Avery Bradley that saw the Texas product score 11 of his 18 points in the third quarter to clinch the win.
“Avery got hot and we rode him,” Garnett said via the A.P.
“He gave us three big threes in that stretch to open the game, and on top of that he was playing defense and initiating a lot of energy off some of the turnovers we were getting. You couldn’t ask for anything better.”
In 2015, the Celtics defeated the Toronto Raptors in a close one, Boston winning 95-93 as a late fall-away by forward Jae Crowder with just .08 seconds remaining handed the Celtics the victory.
The win set up Boston to face the then-league-leading Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James. “Hey, to have a chance to compete against the very best in the league is a great opportunity,” head coach Brad Stevens said courtesy of the A.P. “It’s a big mountain, but it is a great opportunity.”
Finally, a year ago today the Celtics beat the Indiana Pacers 84-74 in Game 1 of the first round of the NBA Playoffs in the East.
Point guard Kyrie Irving and forward Marcus Morris Sr. led a late rally to take a 1-0 series lead against the Pacers in an often-physical contest.
“”I just try to be aggressive on the ball, be in the right spots,” Irving said at the time via the A.P. “I just really want to be aggressive and really be the head of the snake.”
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