Before the game the Celtics had a pre-game ceremony to honor Isaac Austin, the surefire lottery pick who's career ended before it began due to a serious disease. He was presented with an honorary Celtics jersey as the Garden faithful gave him a standing O. I once said during the draft that if the Celtics had an extra second round pick, they would have taken Austin just like they drafted Landon Turner with their final pick in the 1982 draft.
As for the game, quite simply the Nets played ZERO defense. The Celtics used a complete team effort to put up 121 points with 8 out of the 10 players scoring in double figures. In fact, there wasn't a single bawful player. All 10 players scored, rebounded and assisted plus kept the vaunted Nets offense of Deron Williams and Joe Johnson to a minimum. Rajon Rondo said there was a 79% chance he would play. I'll say he played alright....13 points, 12 assists and 7 rebounds, falling just short of a triple double. A lot of people said he would be detrimental to the new team philosophy of spreading the ball but the game was over in the 3rd quarter. If this is how things are going to go for the season, its definitely better when he's in the lineup than out of it.
The game began with a rousing ovation for Kevin Garnett although Joe Johnson got the shaft. I guess KG's 396 regular season games, 84 playoff games and a championship leave a better impression than Joe's 48 games.
Right from the start the Celtics attacked defensively and Jeff Green picked up the first foul of the season 16 seconds into the game. Still, the Celtics pounced on every rebound and used their speed advantage to push the action. The first points of the season came on a Jeff Green shot off a rebounded Kelly Olynyk miss. KG was called for his first moving screen of the season a minute and a half into it. The first 3 pointer was from Avery Bradley and that's enough firsts. The Celtics opened a 5-2 lead and never relinquished it. What was a breath of fresh air throughout the first quarter was the Celtics asserting their will on the offensive glass. Avery Bradley picked up two quick fouls and Marcus Smart was summoned off the bench halfway through the first quarter. Smart would finish with a respectable 10 points but his 4 steals and total harassment of Deron Williams kept Brooklyn from finding a rhythm in their offense all game. Eric Turner, the onetime Philadelphia villain entered the game and found Olynyk for a two point shot. The Celtics ended the first quarter 32-23.
The bench was a big strength for the Celtics. Brandon Bass, Tyler Zeller, Evan Turner, Marcus Smart and Marcus Thornton combined for 44 points, 2 blocks, 12 rebounds, 9 assists and 7 steals. Turner fell 3 rebounds and 5 assists short of a triple double, who saw THAT coming? Also, the team scored over 30 points in the first three quarters for the first time since 2002. It was 101-72 to end the third quarter and the rout was on.
The defense was able to limit Johnson and Williams to 13-35 shooting combined. In fact, if it wasn't for Mirza Teletovic catching fire (20 points on 8 of 11 shooting) the Celtics would have won by 30 going away. It was a complete team effort in the victory which is why the Celtics leading scorer only had 19 points (Kelly Olynyk). It was only one game, of course, but the smothering defense displayed could win them more games than expected if its consistently good. It wasn't even the Bombs Away Offense as they were only 8 of 22 shooting 3's.
Lastly, which Jeff Green showed up tonight...Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?
I'd have to go with Dr. Jekyll tonight. He had 17 points with 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. This was not a game he was asked to take over so he performed well to the situation.
Now for the Bawful report:
In terms of the actual game, nothing! Seriously, all 10 players played well.
There's the key word though...10 players. 2 guys were inactive and 3 guys didn't get into the game. Vitor Faverini and Dwight Powell get checkmarked for the Ellison Award while Gerald Wallace, Phil Pressey and James Young gets checkmarked for DNP-CD's. That's about it, the guys who got into the game played well.
Hell the only reason Wallace, Pressey and Young didn't get in is the team fell asleep to begin the 4th quarter and barely woke up. Had they maintained a 20-25 point lead for most of the 4th quarter I'm sure Young would have saw some action. Then again, he's been dealing with a hamstring and Wallace is still recovering from his knee surgery so that could have been precautionary. Don't know why coach Stevens left Pressey to rot on the bench though with a double-digit lead with minutes remaining.
Hero of the night is a tough one. Again, in a team game where everyone played well its hard to choose just one guy. I'm gonna have to go with Rajon Rondo under the circumstances. He was expected to be out a month and he damn near had a triple double in the season opener. If he plays the majority of the season, no one will remember he broke his hand before the year started. Tonight he was brilliant and his passing led to several open buckets, so here's to the hero!
Final Thoughts:
If this is the formula they'll use to win ballgames, I'll take it. It won't be pretty but it may be successful. Since they don't have the one guy to take the game over like a Kobe Bryant or a Paul Pierce down the stretch, they're going to have to play like the 2001 New England Patriots in terms of team play. 8 guys scored 10 points or more, not one guy stood out but they got the W.
It was good to see Rondo back to his usual self and it was great to see the new guys such as Turner, Thornton, Zeller and Smart step up big. Truth be told I HATED the Turner signing because of his past but if he's actually matured, he was a number 2 overall pick for a reason.
The next game will be a real test as the Celtics travel to Houston to play a Rockets team that has arguably the best center in Dwight Howard and best shooter in James Harden. Also, their head coach is this man:
Let's see if this win was a fluke or if they got something going here.
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