Beating the trade deadline by minutes, a couple of deals have come down the pipe according to tweets by Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo Sports:

Boston has agreed to send Kendrick Perkins to OKC for package that includes Jeff Green, sources tell Y!

Houston has traded Shane Battier to Memphis for (Hasheem) Thabeet and a first-round pick, source tells Y!

Oklahoma City will also send Nenad Krstic to Boston for Perkins while Nate Robinson goes to the Thunder.

[PhotoSource: the Bleacher Report]

Boston Celtics second year star, Delonte West, wants to show you how it’s done, how he rolls with his #1 girl.  In an interview with ESPN’s Louise K. Cornetta of Page 2, Delonte shares his guide to romancing the ladies.  And I must say, the ‘yacht’?  Very nice touch, sir.  Very nice indeed.

With Valentine’s Day upon us, a man has a lot of pressure to show the lady in his life a perfect night. Delonte has his own version of what a romantic night should entail. Not every guy believes romance includes your date getting eaten by a shark or includes fast food for dinner, but the man who is hoping Beyonce reads this and calls him shares his ideal romantic night with ESPN’s Louise K. Cornetta.

“I’ve got the white SL 500. I would tell her, she would have to wear white. She must have on a white dress, because I’m going to have on white. I’d have told her in the note, she has to wear her hair a certain way, just the way I like it. So, I pick her up in my white convertible. From there, I’d have the music pumping on the radio. The Jim Jones pumping, you know, ‘Summer in Miami’ song pumping. Got to keep a little gangsta, you can’t be too soft. You can’t be in there playing some guy that’s crying, talking about don’t leave me and love me baby, wah wah and all that.”

Oh, and it gets so much better from there.  In involves R. Kelly and Popeye’s Chicken.  Guys, pay close attention.  Don’t miss out on Delonte’s dream date.  The one he’s hoping Beyonce notices…but presumably Jay-Z doesn’t.  He does realize they’re married, right?

[Photo Source: Boston Celtics Report]

The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers.  They…well, they don’t like each other very much.  So when Boston’s Ray Allen broke the record for career 3-pointers early in the game, LA wasn’t exactly going out of their way to congratulate him.  In fact, it might have given the Lakers that little burst of motivation they needed to power past their cross-country rivals to a 92-86 final score.  According to Yahoo Sports:

Allen became the NBA’s career leader in 3-pointers in the first quarter, but Bryant later put him on the bench in foul trouble during his big second half that rallied Los Angeles from an early 15-point deficit.

…Allen hit two 3-pointers to pass former Indiana Pacers star Reggie Miller (2,560), who was sitting courtside calling the game for TNT. But Allen made only one more and had 20 points after scoring 12 in the first quarter.

“I almost felt a little embarrassed because there was so much attention surrounding this 3-point record,” Allen said. “It was so overwhelming, but it was a great moment. I’ll remember this for the rest of my life.”

He’d probably remember the game even better if the Celtics had won.

[Photo Source: NBA Dunkers]

Despite sporting an 18-27 record, trailing the Eastern Conference leading Celtics by 17 games and firing their head coach Jim O’brien, the Indiana Pacers have decided to keep former Celtic great Larry Bird on as team president…at least until the end of the season.  Sports Illustrated reports:

Owner Herb Simon told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he believes Bird has performed well under difficult circumstances, and he could be back next year.

“I still have an incredible amount of confidence in Larry and his basketball acumen, his winning tradition,” Simon said. “The way he deals with the basketball side is the way I believe it should be done. I’m very satisfied.”

…Bird took full control of basketball decisions after the 2007-08 season, when former CEO Donnie Walsh left to become the New York Knicks‘ president. The Pacers went 36-46 in 2008-09 and 32-50 in 2009-10.

“Even though he’s had some tough years, there’s a lot of reasons that we can explore, why we’ve had such a tough time,” Simon said. “He was left a very difficult situation – no cap room, big contracts, a lot of problems he had no control over.”

This is the final year of Bird’s contract. Simon says he and Bird will meet after the season to discuss the future. He said Bird’s desire to remain in the role will carry significant weight.

Is this just another of example of a former player who can’t hack it in the front office?  Perhaps.  But the Pacers have gone through some tough times since Bird was hired in 2003.  After the 2004 brawl with members of the Detroit Pistons, the Pacers traded and/or let go several talented players who were discipline problems.  Of course, that was half-a-decade ago, so the time for excuses is quickly coming to an end, if it hasn’t already.

Even if Bird turns out to be a failure in basketball management, at least he’s leaps and bounds better than some other player-turned-management types.  Matt Millen did nothing but drive the Detroit Lions into the ground.  He was so bad, even he admits that he ’stunk’ at his job.

[Source: SBNation.com]

It is the season that never seems to end.  There are only 80 games per team, but the post-season in the NBA makes it seem like 160.  So how do good NBA teams keep up their hot runs or bad teams find the the will to get off the snide?  Nobody really knows.  Again, it’s a ridiculously long season.  But at least we know who’s got their “mojo” working and who needs to pick up the pace the next couple of months because ESPN has released this week’s Power Rankings.

If you don’t have time to read the details, we at Sportscasm are happy to give you a glimpse of the list, just to see where your favorite team ranks – or to help you decide which way to bet the next time the Lakers play the Suns.  Check out the Spurs and the Celtics battling for the top spot.

1. San Antonio Spurs
2. Boston Celtics
3. Chicago Bulls
4. Miami Heat
5. LA Lakers
6. New Orleans Hornets
7. Dallas Mavericks
8. Orlando Magic
9. Oklahoma City Thunder
10. Denver Nuggets
11. Portland Trailblazers
12. Memphis Grizzlies
13. Phoenix Suns
14. Atlanta Hawks
15. New York Knicks
16. Utah Jazz
17. Philadelphia 76ers
18. LA Clippers
19. Houston Rockets
20. Milwaukee Bucks
21. Charlotte Bobcast
22. Golden State Warriors
23. Sacramento Kings
24. Detroit Pistons
25. Indiana Pacers
26. Minnesota Timberwolves
27. New Jersey Nets
28. Washington Wizards
29. Toronto Raptors
30. Cleveland Cavaliers

C’mon Cavs.  Lebron left months ago.  It’s time to get over it, pull yourselves together and get back to work.  Wizards and Raptors, don’t think we don’t have our eye on you guys as well.

[Source: Nerds on Sports]

Kevin Garnett was injured Wednesday night as the Celtics played the Pistons.  But apparently his injury has nothing to do with his reconstructed knee, according to ESPN Boston.  Doc Rivers,  the Celtics head coach, told reporters he’s “not that concerned”:

“I don’t think it’s bad,” said Rivers. “I’m not that concerned. He’s going to miss games probably — I don’t know how many — but I don’t think it’ll be that long. Listen, it happens.”

“The way he did it, I thought the knee or Achilles,” said Rivers. “You’ve heard me say it before, an injury when no one is around, that’s usually a severe one. I was thinking it was a bad one, but let’s hope not. I don’t think it is, but we’ll find out later.”

The official word from the Celtics is that it is a “muscle injury to the outside of his right leg, below the knee and above the ankle”.  The team also stated Garnett will get an MRI tomorrow.

[Source: NBA Dunkers]

The Boston Celtics Paul Pierce took to his Twitter account (@paulpierce34) on Thursday night after the Celtics’ dominating win against the Miami Heat to take a jab at LeBron James and his ill-fated ‘Decision’ this past summer where James infamously stated, “I’m going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.”

In the Tweet after the Celtics 112-107 win over the Heat, Pierce simply said:

“It’s been a pleasure to bring my talents to south beach now on to Memphis”

LOL! It doesn’t get much more direct and funnier than that.

ESPN’s Bill Simmons quickly added via Tweet:

Oh sh*t! It’s on like donkey kong. RT @paulpierce34: It’s been a pleasure to bring my talents to south beach now on to Memphis

This insta-feud between the Celtics and Heat is quickly turning into entertaining basketball and and off the court.  Now if only the Heat could be competitive on the basketball court it would be even better.

The Celtics are now 2-0 against the Heat this year.

NBA basketball thug Kevin Garnett, known almost as much for his over-the-top trash talking than his play these days for the Boston Celtics, crossed a line he shouldn’t last night with Detroit Pistons forward Charlie Villanueva when he called him a ‘cancer patient’ based on how he looks during the game.

Villanueva took to his Twitter account early this morning to call out Garnett for his outlandish and despicable taunt:

Villanueva went on to Tweet why the low-class, insensitive jab pissed him off:

Garnett has been a glorified thug on the court for several years, perhaps his entire career. His unintelligible rant after he won a title with the Celtics a few years back was eye-opening.

Kevin Garnett just lacks common sense. Obviously, nothing seems off limits to him.

I’ve seen KG play several times in person, and even once with him sidelined in street clothes, and it’s always the same, him yelling and screaming obscenities at other players, no matter if he is on the court or not.  He didn’t give a damn if there was dozens of kids sitting in the lower bowl of the arena that could hear every word he was yelling at his opponents.

Almost all of us have lost a close friend or family member to cancer. It is ugly, disgusting, and doesn’t discriminate who it strikes.

There are some things in life, cancer for sure being one of them, that you don’t joke about or use to talk trash to another human.  I am not sure I am a believer in karma, but I do believe cancer, unfortunately ends up reaching and claiming people close to us at one point or another.

Hopefully, some good can come out of this sad incident.  Garnett will apologize. The NBA might even fine him.  I just hope he is sincere in his apology.

Follow Charlie Villanueva on Twitter

UPDATE: Kevin Garnett has responded and lies claims that he said Charlie was cancerous to his team and the league.

“I am aware there was a major miscommunication regarding something I said on the court last night,” Garnett said in a statement from his representatives released by the Celtics. “My comment to Charlie Villanueva was in fact, ‘You are cancerous to your team and our league.’ I would never be insensitive to the brave struggle that cancer patients endure. I have lost loved ones to this deadly disease and have a family member currently undergoing treatment. I would never say anything that distasteful. The game of life is far bigger than the game of basketball.”

First, I think Garnett is lying. Secondly, his explanation is not much better than what Villanueva claims he said.