Celtics Blow 15 point lead to Oklahoma City's JV Team (11/12/14)

I thought Houston was bad, I thought Toronto was worse....but THIS has to be the worst loss of the young season so far. The Celtics bolted to an 18-3 lead at home to an Oklahoma City Thunder team missing Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. The same team also nearly beat the Celtics by 30 last year so revenge should have been on the Celtics' minds. Instead the opposite happened, OKC outscored the Celtics 106-76 the rest of the way and ran them off the court for a 109-94 victory.

 

How did it happen? Once again the defense sucked. Reggie Jackson....yes THAT Reggie Jackson who led Boston College in scoring 4 years ago torched the Celtics for 28 points, 8 assists and 3 rebounds. Anthony Morrow was 11 of 16 from the field for 28 points and 5 rebounds. That's 19 of 31 shooting between the two of them. As a team, OKC was "held" to under 50% shooting only because of their dreadful start. Even Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka were hot from the field in the second half. Rajon Rondo returned from the screw surgery and was impressive in the first half, but seemed to not want to play D in the second.

There seems to be a serious problem developing. The team is playing absolutely no defense and after the game, coach Brad Stevens claimed his team showed no effort at all. Don't believe me?

Look at this:

Its only 7 games in the season but the Celtics have the 4th worse defense in the league and so far Stevens looks like a total clown. He refused to abandon the 3-ball which led to 1-25 shooting against Houston and nearly repeated that in Dallas. They were 5 of 20 from one point against OKC. Also, he called that timeout against Chicago with 0.2 seconds left that his own team was looking at him like "what the hell, man?" Everyone knows Rajon Rondo is uncontrollable, Doc Rivers left town because of it. Evan Turner is also a known headcase. If those two aren't going to listen to Stevens, other veterans such as Marcus Thornton and Gerald Wallace probably won't either. That's not good.

                                        "WHY WEREN'T YOU AT ELF PRACTICE????"

Here's a segue into the bawful report. Which Jeff Green showed up tonight? That's easy....this one:

Mr. Hyde for sure. Green was a pedestrian 4 of 14 shooting for 14 points, 5 rebounds and an assist, he also committed two turnovers. I don't know why he hasn't been traded yet because team leaders are supposed to take over a game. He doesn't. Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and even Paul Pierce to an extent would take over when things were going down. Criticize Bryant all you want but for better or worse he's going to want the ball with the game on the line. Green doesn't have that killer instinct and it killed them against OKC.

Avery Bradley was just 7 of 19 shooting including 2 of 9 from 3 point range. Basically the Celtics have two guards that can't shoot, how are they supposed to win? Kelly Olynyk had just TWO, count em, two rebounds in the game. Know why? OKC couldn't miss....can't grab rebounds when the shots go in. Pathetic defense by Rondo, Evan Turner, Phil Pressey and Bradley led to Jackson and Morrow shooting the lights out. Once again the bench failed to impress. Evan Turner was just 1 for 4 shooting in TWENTY minutes of court time. How do you only shoot 4 shots when you're on the floor for 20 minutes? Also, if you're trying to restore your reputation, shouldn't HE have a killer instinct? James Young was brought in for 3:31 and hit the only shot he took. Why is that bawful? Young himself isn't, the fact Stevens only used him for 3 minutes is. There has to be a reason why the kids not playing but they're not saying why. Gerald Wallace missed a 4.43 trillion by grabbing a rebound, which also negated the Fernsten as he had one foul. Tyler Zeller narrowly missed a Hamilton by hitting a shot, getting a rebound and dishing out an assist to negate 3 fouls and a turnover. Now for the nightly awards.

Marcus Thornton also sprained his ankle but it was much less severe and he did it in practice Tuesday. He joins Marcus Smart and Vitor Faverini for checkmarks for the Ellison. Dwight Powell is back from D-League (all he did was participate in a scrimmage against former alumni Chris Babb) and activated so he gets a checkmark for the Scalabrine. Phil Pressey earns the first suck differential of the season by bricking 4 times and committing a turnover for a +5.  Jackass of the Night is easy, Jeff Green.  As the Thunder struck, pun intended, Green went into hibernation. This is supposed to be their big scorer and he disappeared down the stretch. Tim Grover, the legendary personal trainer would be aghast by Green's reluctance to take a game over. He's obviously not a cleaner.

                                             Better hide your face Jeff, you're Jackass!

Were there any positives? Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk had solid but not spectacular games. Sully posted a double-double of 14 points, 11 rebounds and fell four assists short of the triple. Olynyk had 14 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists. Rajon Rondo narrowly missed a triple double with 20 points, 12 assists and 9 rebounds plus 2 steals. Avery Bradley had 17 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a block. Brandon Bass hit two free throws and the only two shots he made. Can't really crap on him if he didn't make a mistake.

Final thoughts:

This one stinks. The Thunder were playing their third game in four nights, the second night of a back to back...on the road...without Westbrook and Durant....and still murdered the Celtics. Not only that but the coach is saying the team showed no effort. Once again they were dreadful from three 9 of 33 and Stevens refuses to change anything. The mark of good coaches is to adjust when things aren't working. Combined with the Houston game, that's 10 of 58 shooting a 3 in those two games alone, you gotta be kidding me. Also, the point guards are lighting up the Celtics....and guess who's up next this Friday? Lebron James, Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Good grief...they may lose by 40.