As the NBA season came to a close, most Celtics fans have been looking towards the offseason and all the possibilities that could happen to this team after their 25-57 start. I took the opportunity to look back at the season as well as look ahead to the NBA Draft and the offseason. I interviewed CelticsBlog.com writer Kevin O’Connor and CelticsLife.com and WEEI Green Street blogger Julian Edlow to get their thoughts on all things Celtics.
Jess Thomas: What are your opinions on the season as a whole?
Kevin O’Connor: The season was a success for the Boston Celtics. Brad Stevens managed to establish his identity onto the team, one that works hard and makes progress each and every day, which was the biggest question mark going in. Obviously the team struggled, but that will be a good thing in the long run since there is a good chance they draft a quality player or trade the pick for a proven one.
JT: What was the most satisfying aspect (in a season not full of them) for you this year?
KO: For me, it was the fans. I think it’s amazing that the Celtics had the 11th best attendance (97.2%) in all of the NBA. Other bottom-feeder teams couldn’t fill up the building yet TD Garden was packed every single night. Fans were crazy and some games it was like a playoff atmosphere. It speaks to the loyalty of the fans, but also to the character of the Celtics team and organization.
Now that the Celtics season is over, it is time to reflect.
I brought in Celtics fan and analyst Sam Shepherd to break down the season for the Green. We cover topics such as the Celtics MVP this season as well as grades for various players.
Will Rajon Rondo be wearing this uniform in the future?
Photo courtesy of Jess Thomas
We also look towards the future to potential players the Celtics could go after in the future, how many players from this team will stick around and how the team will fare next season. Enjoy!
The Boston Celtics (25-56) and Philadelphia 76ers (18-63) played a wild last 1:24 of the second-to-last game of the season on Monday as it was a fight to the finish. Philly prevailed 113-108 to win the season series 3-1 over Boston, but it would not be easy. It featured two failed inbounds passes, a foul on a three-point attempt, and three video replay reviews, one of which would uphold a three pointer by Chris Johnson that would have tied the game. His foot was out of bounds and the Celtics lost because of it.
Check out this video from 1:00 to 1:20 for a few of the crazy plays at the end of the game.
Storyline of the night: This game was very back and forth. The score was tied at 33 after one quarter, with high shooting percentages and not much defense played. The second quarter was extremely ugly, with Philly outscoring Boston 34-17 and taking a 67-50 lead into the break. Philly had 46 points in the paint in the half. The script flipped in the third quarter, with Boston taking the 34-19 edge in points and getting within two, at 86-84, after a 19-4 run to end the quarter. The game was close throughout the final quarter all the way until the final possession where Johnson tied the game with 0.9 seconds left, only to find out that he was called for stepping out of bounds.
Highlight of the night: The whole last 1:24 was a highlight in and of itself. But the real highlight was Kelly Olynyk’s career night. He scored a career high 28 points, hitting big shot after big shot. He also had nine rebounds. On Saturday, he had a career high 25 points, only to break it two nights later.
Turning point: The 19-4 run to end of the fourth quarter was a big point, as the Celtics actually made it a ballgame, when it looked like Philadelphia had the potential to run away with it.
Positives:
Olynyk, Avery Bradley, Jeff Green, and Rajon Rondo led the way for Boston. Olynyk, Bradley, and Green combined for 78 of the 108 points and Rondo had eight points, 11 rebounds, and 14 assists. These four guys spurred the comeback and kept the C’s in it till the end.
It was impressive that the team dug in deep to avoid getting routed by Philly. Bradley has four straight games of 20+ points.
Negatives:
Philadelphia shot 54 percent from the field. Boston has no answer for the 76ers inside game without Jared Sullinger and Kris Humphries in there, especially in the first half when Philly had 67 points.
The C’s committed 17 turnovers.
Michael Carter-Williams torched Boston for 21 points, 14 rebounds (career high) and six assists on 9-13 from the field.
Losing three out of four to the lowly 76ers is a big negative.
Boston now has one game remaining on the 2013-14 schedule. It has been a rebuilding season with many ups and downs (but mostly downs). Coach Brad Stevens definitely proved that he is here to stay for the future and much change is sure to come in the offseason. Boston will close out the season at home against the Washington Wizards at 8 p.m., which will be a game that could decide lottery position.
The Boston Celtics (25-55) seem to be getting stronger as the season draws to a close. They routed the Cleveland Cavaliers (32-48) 111-99 Saturday night to sweep a back-to-back against the Bobcats and Cavs. This is the first two game winning streak since March 7 and 9 against Brooklyn and Detroit. The Celtics were without Rajon Rondo (shin), Jared Sullinger (ankle), Jerryd Bayless (knee), and Kris Humphries (knee). No one would ever know it as Kelly Olynyk, Avery Bradley, Jeff Green, and Brandon Bass stepped up in their place. They scored a combined 88 points.
Storyline of the night: This one was a blowout right from the start. The Celtics led 28-18 after one quarter and before anyone could blink an eye, they were up by 15 and would not look back from there. Olynyk had 20 points and eight rebounds in the first half. Bradley had 15 points in the half. Olynyk finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds in 39 minutes as he started the game.
Highlight of the night: Phil Pressey threw down a put-back dunk after a Chris Johnson missed layup early in the second quarter. Who knew Pressey had such ups?
Turning point: The Celtics led by 18 at halftime. Instead of losing the lead, Boston scored the first eight points of the third quarter to extend their lead to 68-42 with 10:38 left in the third. They would take a 31 point to the final quarter. Their biggest lead was 33 points.
Positives:
The Celtics had 14 assists on 22 baskets in the first half. The offense was efficient and smooth. Boston scored 60 points in the first half.
Bradley finished with 25 points on 9-15 from the field and 5-6 from three. He is 13-16 from the arc in the last three games. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Pressey dished out 12 assists tonight, doing his best Rondo impression without the star guard in the lineup.
The Celtics held the Cavs to only 41 percent shooting. That was including a 41 point fourth quarter. A solid defensive effort.
Negatives:
Well, I have to say giving up 41 points in the fourth quarter. It makes sense though, since Boston only had nine players available to play, they were bound to be tired. Boston has not had a blowout even close to this big, so negatives are not necessary in this post! And this was a road win. That hasn’t happened since February 10 against Milwaukee.
Boston has two more games on the schedule. They play the Philadelphia 76ers in Philly on Monday at 7 p.m. The season concludes on Wednesday at home against the Washington Wizards at 8 p.m. In case anyone was comparing seasons, this Celtics team surpassed the 2006-07 squad in wins with 25.
The Celtics (24-55) found out before the game that Rajon Rondo would not play this game because of a bruised left shin. Well, despite not playing with their star, Phil Pressey stepped up in his place and the Celtics pulled out a back and forth victory over the Charlotte Bobcats (40-39) 106-103 to snap their long nine-game losing streak. They executed late in the game, going on a 10-2 run to take a seven point lead late in the game before hanging on for the win.
Storyline of the night: The offense was clicking for both teams in this game of runs as each team cracked the 100 point plateau. Each team shot over 50 percent for the game and the Celtics after blowing a lead, figured out a way to stick together and finish the game together with balanced offense.
Highlight of the night: Tonight was the Pressey highlight reel. He was dishing assists left and right in the first half. He wrapped a pass around Josh McRoberts in the second quarter to Bass for a basket. He also threw a behind the back pass to Avery Bradley for a three pointer. In the third quarter, he got a steal after harassing Chris Douglas-Roberts and gave it to Olynyk for a basket that put Boston up 83-75 at the time. He also came up with the biggest tip of the game, as the Celts led by one and after Jared Sullinger missed a three, Pressey tipped the ball to Brandon Bass, essentially securing the victory. He finished with 10 points, 13 assists, five rebounds, and three steals.
Pressey with 13 assists tonight. His O-board tip to Bass on last possession won't show up in box score.
Turning point: After Charlotte made a comeback when the Celtics led by 13, Boston countered with a 10-2 run to take a 104-97 and they would not relinquish the lead from there.
Positives:
Six player scored in double figures tonight. Bradley had 22 points, Sullinger had 20, Bass and Jeff Green each collected 18.
The Celtics shot 11-23 from beyond the arc. This is the third straight contest that Boston has made 10 or more threes.
Nobody missed a free throw tonight. The team was a perfect 13-13, including two huge ones by Sullinger with two seconds remaining.
The ability to actually execute late and finish off a victory. These have been few and far between and it was refreshing to see it happen against a playoff team.
Negatives:
Boston had nobody to stop old friend Al Jefferson. He lit up the Celts with 32 points and 10 rebounds. It would not be enough to win. He shot 16-26 from the field.
The Celtics had 20 turnovers, which is the most in the last handful of games.
Jerryd Bayless sprained his knee late in the game and did not return. I wouldn’t be surprised if he sat out the last three games.
Despite winning, Boston still allowed Charlotte to shoot 50 percent from the field.
With the victory, Boston moves one game ahead of the Orlando Magic for the third worst record in the Eastern Conference. With the loss, Charlotte falls one game behind the Washington Wizards into seventh place in the East.
Boston will play the Cleveland Cavaliers, another lottery team, tomorrow night on the road at 7:30 p.m. This is a road game. Boston’s last home game will be Wednesday, April 16 against the Wizards. If the Celtics win one of their last three games, they will finish with a better record than the 2006-07 Celtics.
A slow start and no defense by the Boston Celtics (23-55) had fans saying “Same old, same old.” Very impressive second and third quarters had fans thinking maybe something would be different tonight and the Celtics could pull out a rare road victory. That was looking like it would happen until the Atlanta Hawks (35-43) exploded on a fourth quarter surge and taking the win 105-97 behind Jeff Teague (19 points) and Kyle Korver (17 points)
Storyline of the night: The Hawks had a monster first quarter, scoring 32 and shooting 77 percent (14-20) and 100 percent on three pointers, setting the tone for the game. The Celtics went on a hot streak in the middle part of the game, but the Hawks, fighting for a playoff spot were too much to handle at home and overpowered Boston on offense and defense in the final five minutes.
Highlight of the night: Celtics.com writer Marc D’Amico tweeted: Rajon Rondo just threw the most ridiculous one-handed assist in transition I think I’ve ever seen. Wow. 11:20 mark, third quarter #SCtop10
I think that explains all we need to know for highlights.
Turning point: The Celtics led 89-80 with 5:30 left in the game and then it all fell apart. Atlanta went on a 19-3 run to take a 99-92 lead. They would not look back from there and took the contest by eight.
Positives:
The second and third quarter efforts by the Celtics should not be overlooked. After trailing by nine after one quarter, the Celtics went on a 19-10 run to finish the first half, and only trailed by five at the half. They also went on a 16-4 run to finish the third quarter and took a 77-70 lead going to the final 12 minutes.
Avery Bradley came back after missing a three games for an Achilles injury and looked like he hadn’t missed a beat. He scored 24 points on 8-16 from the field and 4-4 from the arc.
Rondo was also on point as well with 19 points, 12 assists, four rebounds, and three steals.
Negatives:
Allowing the Hawks to shoot 77 percent from the floor in the first quarter is inexcusable in the NBA.
It’s pretty much a broken record every time. Late game execution was once again a problem as Boston led by seven points with just five minutes left, but ended up losing by eight. They were outscored 25-8 in the last 5:10 of the game.
Boston has now lost nine games in a row, but the silver lining for tanking fans: The Celts have now fallen into a tie for third worst record in the NBA. So maybe they’ll get a good draft pick! For fans who want the team to improve and win a few games, it was just another case of close but no cigar, which is the motto of the season.
C's have done what many thought was impossible – catch the Magic. Down the stretch they go!
There are four games left of the season. The next game is on Friday against the Charlotte Bobcats (40-38) at home. The ‘Cats are currently in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, so the Celtics will try to spoil a little of their fun too.
The Celtics have had a troubling season in a rebuilding year in 2013-14. I brought in Celtics fanatic Greg Fraser to talk about the season and the future for this Boston team. This is a must-listen!
Greg is a Framingham State University alum and former WDJM 91.3 FM radio DJ as my co-host on The Sports Huddle. He is passionate and very knowledgeable about the Boston Celtics and attends many games per year. Enjoy his thoughts about the team this season, what to look for in the offseason with personnel decisions, and what will happen in the future. He even has an bold prediction about former Celtic great Paul Pierce.
The Boston Celtics (23-51) ran out of gas in the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bulls (42-32) as the Bulls continue to push for the third seed in the Eastern Conference with a 94-80 victory tonight. These teams played each other last night, but you would not have known it if you watched how the Bulls played. The Celtics… well that’s another story, as they could not find the basket for most of the final quarter, losing their 10th straight road game and their 10th of the last 11 games.
Storyline of the night: Just like last night, this was a close game throughout three quarters. Boston led by two at halftime and Chicago led by one at the end of three. I sound like a broken record at this point, but the Celtics once again had trouble with late-game execution and it came to rear its ugly head again as Chicago ran away with it.
Highlight of the night: This game was all about Rajon Rondo debuting in the broadcast booth. Since he did not does play back-to-back, he was invited to be the color analyst for the first half of this one with Mike Gorman. All eyes were on Rondo, including the Bulls mascot:
Turning point: The Bulls started the fourth quarter on a 17-2 run, extending the lead from 71-70 to 87-72. There was no looking back from there and the Celtics never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.
Positives:
Brandon Bass was the main bright spot for Boston tonight as he contributed 18 points and nine boards on 7-10 field goals. He also had four blocks.
Brad Stevens on Brandon Bass' performance tonight: "I just complimented him in front of everyone in the locker room. He deserved that."
Jerryd Bayless buried four three pointers and finished with 18 points and five assists.
Phil Pressey was solid tonight with nine points and four steals.
Negatives:
Defense was once again a problem, with Boston unable to stop Chicago when they needed stop the most, in the fourth quarter.
D.J. Augustin didn’t score 33 points like last night, but he did dish 11 assists out, remaining a pain in Boston’s side.
After not having any turnovers in the first quarter, the Celtics ended the contest with 16.
Slow starts in quarters plagued the Celts tonight. They didn’t score for the first three minutes of the third and fourth quarters tonight.
Having Rondo in the broadcast booth tonight didn’t help in the assist department. Chicago- 28, Boston-17.
Cause of concern: Avery Bradley sat out the second half due to a sore ankle. This can’t be good news for Boston as the saga continues in the “Can Avery Bradley stay healthy” sweepstakes.
And with this loss, sorry fans, you will officially not be seeing the Celtics play past April 16 this season.
The Chicago Bulls (41-32) defeated the Boston Celtics (23-50) 107-102 on Sunday night in a game that neither team led by more than seven points in the first of two straight games between these two teams. Bench player D.J Augustin scored a career-high 33 points in the victory, hitting big shot after big shot for the Bulls. With the loss, Boston has now lost 50 games this season, something that has not happened since the 2006-07 season.
Final: 107-102, Bulls.
Career-high 33 for D.J. Augustin
It is just the 6th 50-loss season in the 68-year history of the Boston Celtics.
Storyline of the night: This was a close, competitive game throughout as Boston led 26-25 after one, Chicago led 51-50 at halftime and Chicago led 78-77 after three. As has been the case for the Celtics for the entire season, they struggled with late-game execution. Turnovers in the last few minutes were the killer for Boston, as they couldn’t quite pull out the win tonight.
Highlight of the night: Jeff Green buried a three-pointer at the buzzer of the first quarter. Also, Augustin’s 33 points and a 13 point, 13 assist, eight rebound effort from Joakim Noah were highlights.
Turning Point: With the score tied at 96, Augustin buried a three pointer to give the Bulls a three-point lead that Boston could not match.
Positives:
The Celtics had a very nice spread of offense. Rajon Rondo had 17 points, Green and Jared Sullinger had 16, Kris Humphries had 14, Brandon Bass and Jerryd Bayless each had 12.
Sullinger collected his first double double since February 21, with 16 points and 10 rebounds. He also gave Boston a glimmer of hope at the end with two three’s.
Boston outrebounded Chicago 39-31.
Negatives:
Chicago shot 52.9 percent (37-70) from the field in a high-powered offensive affair.
Allowing Augustin score 33 points on 10-14 shooting… but it isn’t so crazy because he has improved.
D.J. Augustin's career-high 33 is the 4th highest against Boston this year, and the most off the bench vs. Boston since '06 (J. Crawford).
The frustration for coach Brad Stevens is mounting, as he looks for answers to try to win games. Boston has now lost nine of the last 10 games, with the only win coming against Miami on March 19.
Stevens on if he's more frustrated than usual: "It's not easy to be the team that's 23 and whatever we are. I (have) to lead by example."
Boston will get back at it on Monday against these same Chicago Bulls on the road. Rondo will be the color analyst with Mike Gorman for the first quarter of the game. Make sure to tune into CSNNE for the game.
In a game that looked like it was going to get away by the end of the third quarter, the Toronto Raptors (41-31) staved off a raging Boston Celtics (23-49) comeback to clinch a playoff bid for the first time in six years. With the win, Toronto takes three out of four games from Boston this year after back-to-back wins Wednesday and tonight. Amir Johnson banked home the game-winner off a rebound of a missed layup with seven seconds left in the contest, a heartbreaker for Boston.
Storyline of the night: This game was full of offense and was a game of runs. The Celtics hung with a good Raptor team and looked very impressive on offense, shooting over 50 percent and scoring 100+ points, but it was not enough to squeak out a rare road win.
Highlight of the night: With 47 seconds left in the game and the score tied at 103, the Raptors were on a fast-break, flying down the court and Jeff Green came up behind DeMar DeRozan and swatted the ball into the stands for his most impressive block of the year. The time that it happened made it even more crucial.
Turning point: The Celtics were trailing 85-73 heading into the fourth quarter with Toronto and DeRozan seemingly on a mission to pull away in this one, but Boston climbed right back into the game on the back of Jerryd Bayless, who scored 14 points in the fourth.
Positives:
Bayless came alive in the fourth and finished the contest with 20 points, singlehandedly keeping the Celtics with the Raptors as DeRozan was making basket after basket.
The shooting percentage was one of the highest of the year for Boston. They shot 52.6 percent (40-76) for the game and held the Raptors to 46.5 percent after they shot 57 percent in the first quarter.
Green had 12 points in the first half and finished with 16. He also had the monster block in the end.
The bench was solid again for Boston, scoring 49 of the 103 points. Bayless had 20, Jared Sullinger had 11 and Kelly Olynyk had 10.
Boston outscored Toronto 30-20 in the fourth quarter.
Negatives:
The defense wasn’t working for most of the game as the Celtics gave up 56 points by the half and 85 after three quarters.
Turnovers were an issue in this game. Boston had 16 turnovers and Toronto had 10. Most of the Celts’ were in the third.
DeRozan would not be denied tonight, as he scored 30 points (24 in the second half).
One down, one to go. The Boston Celtics (23-48) fell to the Toronto Raptors (40-31) Wednesday night 99-90 in Boston. The teams will do battle in Toronto on Friday in the second game of a home-and-home. Boston made the game interesting in the end with 19 fourth quarter points for Jared Sullinger (remember last home game against Toronto? this guy can play against this team), but ultimately with two dagger three pointers, the Raptors pulled away and broke their 11-game losing streak in Boston.
Storyline of the night: The Raptors played better all night long. They took a 55-46 lead at halftime and extended it to as many as 15 early in the third quarter, which proved to be just a bit too much for Boston, who needed a monster Sully effort to get within three points at the end.
Highlight of the night: Rajon Rondo made a clean theft late in the fourth quarter, which led to Chris Johnson free throws and the Celtics only trailed by four at that point. Another highlight would be Sullinger’s 19 points in the fourth, including 12 in a row.
Turning point: The Celtics trailed by 15 to start the fourth quarter as Terrence Ross buried a three at the buzzer of the third, putting Boston into a deeper hole. Boston began the fourth on a 13-2 run to get back to a 79-75 score. The rest of the game was close before Toronto shut the door on Boston’s comeback.
Positives:
Rondo had 10 assists and 9 points at halftime. His 10 assists happened in just 15 minutes. He finished the contest with 15 assists after returning to the game after being elbowed in the face and receiving nine stitches between his eyes.
Sullinger’s 26 points after only scoring seven in the first three quarters. He has so much potential.
Johnson had 13 points and brought the energy all night long.
Avery Bradley had a nice game with 16 points. That is back-to-back solid scoring games for Avery as he seems to be very comfortable after missing time with an ankle injury.
Boston only committed nine turnovers and forced 16 from the Raptors.
Negatives:
The Raptors shot 50 percent in the first half (19-38).
Toronto outrebounded Boston 48-36, including 11 offensive rebounds.
The Celtics shot poorly in the third quarter, only scoring 16 points and they had very low energy.
Where was the frontcourt tonight? Brandon Bass, Jeff Green, Kris Humphries scored a combined 14 points and shot 6-18.
Funny quote of the night:
"I'm an honest guy! Except when it comes to the referees!"
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) March 27, 2014
Boston did not look too good for a team that had four days off from games, but regardless, they will get back at it on Friday against these same Raptors, trying to gain revenge. After that, Boston will play back-to-back games against the Chicago Bulls on Sunday and Monday. Stay tuned!
The road has not been a kind place to the Boston Celtics (23-47) this season as they dropped to 8-26 away from the TD Garden after falling 114-98 to the Brooklyn Nets (36-31) on Friday night. It was Brooklyn’s 11th straight home victory and Boston’s eighth straight road defeat. Avery Bradley had a career-high 28 points in this one, but it was far from enough against a strong Net club.
Storyline of the night: Where’s the defense? Brooklyn shot 56.4 percent from the field and dropped 114 points, including 62 in the paint. They only average 37 points in the paint for the season. Joe Johnson would not be denied in this one, finishing with 27 points on 10-16 shooting and 6-8 from three. Ugly defensive basketball for the Celtics, showing poor effort tonight.
Highlight of the night: Avery Bradley scored 13 straight points in the late first and early second quarter and did not miss in that period. He was unconscious and kept the Celtics in the game in the first half.
Turning point: The Celtics stuck around for a while, but Brooklyn extended the lead to 79-63 with 6:36 left in the third quarter and would not look back from there. This was the same score that Brooklyn ended up winning by.
Positives:
Bradley’s career-high 28 points was fun to watch and inspiring after he went out of the game after injuring his ankle briefly. Besides Rajon Rondo dropping 12 dimes and scoring 12 points, there wasn’t too many more positives to squeeze out of this one. Bradley sure got the Twittersphere excited.
Avery Bradley with that "sign me to an extension" 18 points in 13 minutes vs #nets. #celtics
Starting off the game poorly set the tone for the rest of the game. Brooklyn scored 34 points on 68 percent shooting. They also collected 20 of their points in the paint in the first (six for Boston). The second half was not much better, with the Nets dropping 30 points totaling 64 in the half.
The Nets are one of the worst rebounding teams in the league and managed to outrebound Boston 39-37. Once again, poor effort.
Despite Rondo’s 12, Brooklyn still outassisted Boston 30-20.
Brookyn shot 9-17 from three.
Quote of the night goes to a humorous Brad Stevens:
Stevens on Avery's 2nd Q after re-tape: "We're going to send him out and back to the locker room every game so that he hits shots like that"
Old friend Paul Pierce had a nice night with 14 points on 6-10 shooting.
Boston will get a much-needed break as they are off until Wednesday against the Atlantic Division leadingToronto Raptors. The Raptors have had a very solid season. The Celtics’ next two games will be against Toronto.
The Boston Celtics (23-46) split the first two games of the season series with the Miami Heat (46-20) coming into Wednesday night’s battle at the TD Garden, including a Jeff Green game-winner all the way back on November 9. On this night, we received the news that Heat superstar LeBron James would miss the game with back spasms. Miami still most likely has a better team than Boston even without James, but Boston came away with the 101-96 victory with a strong second half effort, snapping their five-game losing skid.
Storyline of the night: The Heat had a great first quarter, where they took a 34-22 lead on 70 percent shooting. However, the Celtics outscored Miami 31-25 in the second, 27-19 in the third, and 21-18 in the fourth quarter to steal a game from the Heat, who are currently second in the Eastern Conference. The game had a playoff-like feel with the crowd on their feet in the final minute of the contest because Celtics fans, no matter the season, love beating the Heat. The Celtics beat the Heat two out of three games this season, only one of three teams that have taken a season series against Miami. This is only the second season series that Boston has won all season (Orlando).
Highlight of the night: Early in the second half, Rajon Rondo, with the defense collapsing on him, threw a no-look pass to Green who was streaking towards the basket.
Turning point: The Celtics climbed back early when Miami took a 14-point lead early the second quarter. I think it was the turning point because the game was close throughout the rest of the contest. Boston didn’t let a poor first quarter discourage them.
Positives:
Rondo put the team on his back tonight, especially at the end, finishing with nine points, 10 rebounds, and 15 assists. He was one point away from a triple double. He made two baskets in the last two minutes of the game, leading the Celtics to victory against a team he loves to defeat.
Brandon Bass played a very nice game with 18 points on 8-12 from the field (12 points in the third). Brad Stevens liked what he saw from Bass.
Stevens on Bass: "I thought this was Bass' best game in a while. I thought he was really engaged late (in the game) defensively."
Avery Bradley made a career-high six three pointers tonight, finishing with 23 points on 8-13 from the field. He was 6-9 from three.
Three pointers in general were huge for Boston as it allowed them to come back in the second quarter. They finished 13-28 (46 percent).
After shooting 33 percent in the first quarter, the Celtics ended up outshooting Miami 50 to 49 percent.
Quarters two-four were very impressive for Boston. The Celts outscored Miami 48-37 in the second half.
Jared Sullinger had 14 points and four rebounds.
Negatives:
The first quarter was a struggle. Miami shot 16-23 (70 percent), outrebounded Boston 17-8 and had 15 assists (eight for Mario Chalmers). Udonis Haslem had his best game in years with 14 points including 10 in the first quarter. His season high was seven before this game.
Haslem has put up 14 points on 7–8 shooting: "You sure that's not #LeBron James in disguise?!"
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) March 20, 2014
The Celtics only got one steal. Miami got nine.
Miami won the battle in the paint with 50 points in the paint compared to Boston’s 20.
Boston can enjoy this nice victory before heading back on the road to Brooklyn to face the Nets on Friday night. The game will be at 7:30 p.m. on CSNNE. There are now 13 games left this season. After Friday, Boston doesn’t play until Toronto on Wednesday.
The Celtics (22-45) fell to the New Orleans Pelicans (27-39) 121-120 in just their second overtime game this season in what was perhaps the most entertaining and thrilling game of the 2013-2014 season. This game had all kinds of exciting moments, most notably Anthony Davis burying a jumper to give New Orleans a 112-110 lead with 1.4 seconds left and Kris Humphries hitting a fallaway contested jumper as time expired in regulation, sending it to overtime. Boston lost their 19th straight road game to the Western Conference.
Storyline of the night: Anthony Davis and Jeff Green. Davis had a career-high 40 points and 21 rebounds, which is the first 40/20 game in the NBA since Dwight Howard in 2012. It was also the highest point total a player got against the Celtics this season. Green tied a season-high with 39 points on 12-23 field goals and had big basket after big basket. He hit three huge free throws to tie the game at 110 in regulation and a three point play when the team was down 121-117 with time running down in overtime. Offense was at a premium tonight all night long, as Boston tied their season-high in points.
Highlight of the night: No question the winner is Humphries’ fallaway jumper to tie the game in regulation and send it to a thrilling overtime.
Turning point: After getting down 102-89 with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, Boston didn’t give up and came all the way back to force overtime. The rest took care of itself.
Positives:
Jeff Green. Stellar game from Green. 39 points, six rebounds, 12-23 from the field, 4-7 from three, 11-12 from the line. He had 20 points in the first half and and a huge fourth quarter.
Humphries had yet another solid game with hustle, hard work and big shots. He had 16 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and, of course, the shot to send the contest to OT (over Davis, incredible).
Three point shooting. Boston finished at a 12-26 clip (46.2 percent) but earlier in the game was 9-13.
Despite opposing Davis, Boston outrebounded New Orleans 49-44. Along with Humphries’ 12, Jared Sullinger had nine, and Rajon Rondo had eight.
The Celtics’ bench had an impressive 46 points. The Pelicans had 19. Hard to get bench points when Davis scores 40 and Tyreke Evans dropped 26.
Sullinger had 14 points and nine rebounds, including two big three-pointers. Avery Bradley looked even better coming off an ankle injury in his second game back with 12 points on 5-9 shooting.
Three point defense was solid. The Pelicans only shot 3-15 from three.
An offensive gem of a first half. Boston scored 39 points in the second quarter and led 64-57 at the half.
Negatives:
Execution on the final play of the game. With the Pelicans up 121-120 with six seconds left, Boston needed to foul New Orleans to have a chance to tie the game back up. Instead, Davis received the ball and Boston got crossed up and no one ended up fouling anybody and the game was over. Tough way to lose. Green couldn’t believe it as he just put his hands on his head for a while, unsure of what happened.
Defense was an issue. New Orleans shot 50 percent and scored 121 points.
Third quarter and first half of the fourth quarter could have been better. Boston was outscored 27-20 in the third and New Orleans began the fourth on a 16-5 run.
New Orleans got 70 points in the paint.
Quote of the night:
Brad Stevens on Anthony Davis: "I think he's unreal… If there are 10 better players in the league I haven't seen them."
Just want to reiterate about Anthony Davis one more time. No player has scored 40 points and collected 20 rebounds against Boston since Shaquille O’Neal in 2003. Truly incredible stuff from Davis.
Boston now has a 1-1 record in overtime.
Rondo dished off 14 assists to accompany eight rebounds and six points. He only shot 3-14. He logged 44 minutes and will not play on Monday.
Davis, Evans, and Eric Gordon combined for 85 of N.O’s 121 points. Davis played 47:42, just 18 seconds shy of a complete regulation game.
Boston will be right back in action tomorrow night against the Dallas Mavericks (40-27). Dallas beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 109-86 on Sunday night in OKC. Monday’s contest against the Mavs will be Boston’s last chance to get a road victory versus a Western Conference foe. Watch it on CSNNE at 8:30 p.m. Monday.
Well… that didn’t end right. The Phoenix Suns (37-28) finished Friday’s game on a 7-0 run in the last 54 seconds to down the Celtics (22-44) 87-70 in the TD Garden. The loss is Boston’s third straight. After getting down early, the Celtics hung around and made it a close, exciting game before falling apart with their execution in the very end. It’s just another chapter in this “close but no cigar” season.
Storyline of the night: This one is easy. Nobody seemed to be able to make any shots for the Celtics, but they still had a chance to win it at the end somehow. Boston shot 30.9 percent from the field (29-94). Bad shots at the end of the game cost them in the end.
Highlight of the night: Early in the second quarter, Phil Pressey threaded the needle to Kris Humphries and he threw down a hard jam around a defender.
Turning point: With the game tied at 80, Eric Bledsoe missed a jumper, but 7 foot 1 center Alex Len tipped the rebound in and was fouled. The Celtics would not score again.
Positives:
Humphries again was solid with a team-high 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Boston won the rebounding battle with 56, including 19 offensive boards, which is something this team has become very adept at.
Avery Bradley in his return from an ankle injury looked decent, with nine points on 4-12 shooting in 16:38. The important part was that he wasn’t shy in taking his jumper.
Boston shot 19-21 from the free throw line.
The transition defense improved throughout the game, as Phoenix’s shooting percentage dropped from 57 percent in the first quarter to 42 percent for the game.
Negatives:
The shooting percentage for Boston was horrendous. In addition to the 30.9 percent shooting, the team shot 3-21 from beyond the arc. Phoenix was not much better from three, as they shot 5-26.
Jeff Green had nine points on 2-14 shooting. He missed two threes late and looked disengaged the entire game. He also apparently texted throughout his postgame locker room interview as well. Classy.
After hanging around for the whole game, letting Phoenix take over in the end shows that the team still has a long way to go in terms of improvement.
Quote of the night: Brad Stevens said, “We didn’t play with any poise. … the last 40 seconds were awful.”
This was the most angry I have seen the coach after a loss. Maybe losing is getting to him.
The Celtics fall to 4-24 versus the tough Western Conference this season now. They will face the New Orleans Pelicans (26-39) on Sunday and the Dallas Mavericks (39-27) on Monday, both on the road. The Celtics have yet to defeat a Western Conference foe on the road this season. Their best shot might be Sunday since Rondo will miss Monday’s game and the Pelicans are much inferior to Dallas.
What did you guys think of the Celtics’ St. Patrick’s Day sleeved uniforms?
The Celtics (22-43) played a great third quarter on Wednesday night, but with no Rajon Rondo and the second night of the back-to-back, the New York Knicks (26-40) offense was much too hot to handle as they defeated Boston 116-92 in the Celtics worst home loss since 2007. Boston has now lost two games in a row after a modest two game win streak.
Storyline of the night: The Knicks shot the lights out of the ball, especially in the first half where they shot 60.5 percent from the field, including 90% (9-10) from three and they scored 68 points.
Highlight of the night: Early in the third quarter, Tim Hardaway Jr. was taking off for a big slam, but Kris Humphries soared through the air to swat the ball away.
Turning point: I would say that there was two turning points in this game. One would be the whole first half where the Knicks took a 68-48 lead to the halftime break. Another would be when the Celtics came back in the third quarter on the back of Jeff Green and cut the lead to 84-75, the Knicks would not allow Boston to climb any closer, shutting the door.
Positives:
1.) Jeff Green scored 27 points, including 17 in the third, where he single-handedly tried to will the Celtics in a comeback.
2.) Kris Humphries had another nice game with 15 points and five rebounds in only 20 minutes of time.
3.) The team only had 11 turnovers. Unfortunately, the Knicks only had eight.
Negatives:
1.) The Knicks shot 52.5 percent from the field and 57.9 from the three point arc. They also shot 87.5 percent from the line.
2.) New York outrebounded Boston 47-38 despite big men Tyson Chandler and Amar’e Stoudemire being out.
3.) The Knicks stole the ball 11 times to Boston’s four and outblocked them seven to two.
4.) Spot starter Cole Aldrich got a double double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Celtics will look to regroup on Friday at home versus the Phoenix Suns (36-27). Rondo will be back and reports indicate that Avery Bradley will be making his return to the team after missing 17 of the last 20 games due to an ankle injury. Old friend Gerald Green will be visiting the Garden, as he is having his best season of his career by far. He isn’t just known for this dunk contest with Boston anymore:
In perhaps the Celtics’ best complete game in some time, Boston looked like the team with the best record in 2014 in a 91-84 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday. The Nets had a 20-8 record this year coming into the game and the Celtics had lost six of their last seven games. In this game, however, Boston showed poise and maturity on their home floor in a game that shows that the team has the capability of playing really well.
Storyline of the night: Well, besides Paul Pierce returning to Boston for the second time since being traded last summer, the storyline is that the Nets shot 0-17 from the three point arc in the first half and 4-30 for the game. This allowed Boston to severely outrebound Brooklyn.
Highlight of the night: There were two in my opinion. One highlight was a spin move and layup by Kelly Olynyk with 8:30 left in the second quarter that left the defender in the dust, lost in a sea of flowing blonde hair. Another highlight was a Jerryd Bayless double clutch running basket at the shot clock buzzer early in the fourth quarter to give the Celtics an 82-71 lead.
Turning point: After Brooklyn was on a 22-6 run to get back to within two at 70-68, Jeff Green buried a basket while getting slapped on the head for a three-point play. This stopped the Nets’ momentum and the Celtics never relinquished the lead.
Positives:
1.) Rajon Rondo hit three three-pointers in the first quarter and ended up finishing with 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the game in one of his more impressive contests this season.
2.) The Celtics played a very solid first half, taking a double digit lead to the break at 53-41. As I said earlier, they held Brooklyn to 0-17 from downtown in the half.
3.) Bayless continues to show that he should remain a starter with another solid game of 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
4.) Boston outrebounded Brooklyn 62-37, namely because of all of the missed threes from the Nets.
5.) The Celtics led the game after every quarter, which is something that can not be said for too many games this season.
Negatives:
1.) The Celtics turned the ball over a season-high 28 times (7 from Rondo).
2.) Boston had 28 fouls and two players fouled out (Sullinger and Olynyk), but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing! Fouls means aggressive defense.
Video of the night: Paul Pierce talking about Rondo’s Birthday-Gate incident
Quote of the night: Brad Stevens in his postgame press conference said: “I’d like to say it was outstanding 3-point defense, but I think when you re-watch it, it’s a lot of open 3s they missed.”
And a bonus quote from Paul Pierce about Rondo, “Our kids still hang out together. They hung out for his birthday, actually.”
The Celtics are back in action on Sunday at 6 p.m. as they take on the Detroit Pistons at the TD Garden in the fifth game of the home stand. Boston is 2-2 on the current home stand and will look to get a winning record against the Pistons.
The Golden State Warriors (38-24) came to the TD Garden in their sixth and final game of a road trip to take on a supposedly rested Boston Celtics’ (20-41) team that had not played in three days. The opposite looked to be the case as the Warriors ran the Celtics right out of the building by a final of 108-88, leading by as much as 31 at one point. This was the Celtics’ worst home loss of the season. It was so bad, the crowd chanted “Let’s go Tupac” after a Tupac Shakurlook-alike was shown in the audience. They also chanted “Scal-a-bri-ne” for former Celtics player and analysis Brian Scalabrine, who is now an assistant for Golden State.
Storyline of the night: The Warriors, known for their three-point shooting, scored 58 points in the paint (including 38 in the first half) on Wednesday. Boston trailed 61-40 at the half.
Highlight of the night: The highlight for the Celtics was not in the game, but actually a feel-good story. Louis Corbett, a 12-year old from New Zealand, was the Celtics’ guest after owner Wyc Grousbeck’s wife saw Twitter abuzz with information about this boy. He has a rare eye disorder that will slowly make him lose his eyesight as time goes by. His number one goal on his wish list was to see the Boston Celtics, his favorite team, in person. He met many players and was honored on center court during a timeout. See the video on CSNNE.com here.
Turning point: There wasn’t a specific turning point in this game. The turning point was the beginning of the game when the Warriors began the game on a 12-2 run. The Celtics had too many turnovers and allowed far too many points in the paint to beat a very good Western Conference team. Golden State scored 30 points in the first quarter without making one three pointer. This should have been a warning sign for Boston.
Positives:
1.) Kelly Olynyk, coming back from a toe sprain that kept him out for a few games, had an inspiring night in a game where not much effort was shown by the rest of the team. He had 19 points on 6-12 from the field and 3-6 from downtown. He did all of this in only 27 minutes of game action.
2.) Since the game was a blowout, we got to take a look at the bench. Chris Babb, who was signed to a 10-day contract, scored his first career points and finished with five points and five rebounds. Phil Pressey, whose playing time has declined since Rajon Rondo came back, scored seven points and dished out five dimes in just 10 minutes. The team, led by the bench scored 34 points in a mop-up role in the fourth quarter.
Negatives:
1.) Despite having 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds, Rondo had seven turnovers, which was a thorn in the side of the Celtics. They had 22 turnovers to Golden State’s 11.
2.) The fact that the team lost by 20 points and the Warriors only shot 5-28 from three point land.
3.) The Celtics still only shot 39.5 percent from the field (30-76) despite shooting 56 percent in the fourth quarter.
4.) The interior defense was horrible, allowing 58 points in the paint.
5.) Jeff Green disappeared with only four points on 2-7 shooting.
Former Celtics Jordan Crawford and Jermaine O’Neal returned to Boston on Wednesday. O’Neal played sparingly over two seasons for Boston and Crawford was traded earlier this year after playing good basketball for the Celtics. Crawford looked to be having a blast on the court, scoring 15 points on 7-12 shooting in 19 minutes, including chucking up a few deep threes. O’Neal picked up seven points in 12 minutes.
The team will look for much more effort and improved defense on Friday as the Brooklyn Nets come to Boston for the second time this year. This will be the second time Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett return to the Garden after playing 15 and six years, respectively, for the team. If you missed the first time they came back on January 26th, click here for the video tributes.
Tweet of the night, from CSNNE’s Celtics Insider, A. Sherrod Blakely:
In an impressive effort, the Boston Celtics (20-40) fall to the NBA’s cream of the crop, the Indiana Pacers 102-97 in Boston on Saturday night with help from a three-pointer that was taken away from Rajon Rondo.
Storyline of the night: The Pacers shot 50% (39-77) and outscored the Celtics 26-19 in the fourth quarter to hold off the pesky, undermanned Boston squad.
Highlight of the night: At the end of the third quarter, Kris Humphries dunked home a buzzer-beater to put the Celtics up 78-76 heading to the fourth quarter.
Turning point: Rajon Rondo appeared to hit a three-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer to put the Celtics up 93-90 with 4:37 left. It was reviewed two minutes later at the next timeout and was ruled no basket because he did not get the shot off in time. The Pacers pushed ahead and stayed ahead following this.
Positives:
1.) Humphries had a big evening with 18 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. Brandon Bass also scored 16 points on 7-13 shooting.
2.) Jeff Green had 27 points on 10-22 shooting, leading the Celtics back into the game after trailing by seven at the half.
3.) Rondo neared a triple double with 12 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds.
4.) The Celtics outrebounded Indiana 41-38, outassisted 25-19 and only had eight turnovers.
5.) Jared Sullinger scored 10 points and six rebounds in his return from a mild concussion.
6.) Boston played a great third quarter, coming back to take the lead after outscoring Indiana 30-21.
Negatives:
1.) The Celtics allowed the Pacers to shoot 50%.
2.) Finishing games still is an issue for Boston, as Indiana outscored them 26-19 in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
3.) The team has lost six of the last seven games to fall to 20-40.
There were really few negatives from tonight’s game. This was a gutsy effort by a team without Avery Bradley and Kelly Olynyk. They also received news that Gerald Wallace will miss the rest of the season with knee and ankle surgeries coming as well as Vitor Faverani most likely not coming back any time soon.
The team will now have three days off before they look to rebound against the Golden State Warriors in the third game of their current five-game homestand. The Warriors are coming off a rout of the New York Knicks on Friday. The contest will be on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
Some might see this as old news now, five days later, but whenever Rajon Rondo is involved in anything, there is bound to be some chatter about it.
Rondo, reportedly did not travel with the team to the Celtics’ tilt with the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night at the Sleep Train Arena. He was not scheduled to play this game, as it was the second night of a back-to-back following a game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.
The only problem with this is that Rondo was not given permission to not travel with the team.
Saturday happened to be the Captain’s 28th birthday, so he decided to stay in L.A. to celebrate his birthday and have a party according to multiple sources.
It has not yet been decided if there will be any punishment for Rondo, but it seems like the team is leaning towards no punishment, with no word yet suggesting that there will be.
According to the Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett, Rondo said, “We already talked about it, there’s nothing to talk about.”
However, Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge wasn’t as quick to write this situation off as nothing. Ainge told Bulpett, “I plan on talking to Rondo when he gets back to town. I’ll find out more about what went into it, and then we’ll handle it internally.”
I see both sides of the story. I believe Rondo should be a leader and a role model, especially after being named the team’s 15th captain this year. This behavior isn’t showing good teamwork and sportsmanship. On the other hand, he has never really had any problems like this before, and was not scheduled to play this game, so I think it is also something that the team could just look past.
Fair or not, Rondo is a star, which may allow the Celtics to move on and not worry about this situation, not giving out any penalties.
I predict that the organization and Rondo will talk about it and work it out and they will decide on no penalty. If anything, there may be a small fine, but nothing like a suspension. I don’t think there will be anything, however.
Jess Sayin'... 