Its becoming a broken record how awful the Celtics defense truly is, especially in the 4th quarter. That's on coaching as much as it is the players. When you're not ready to make adjustments with the game on the line, you fail as a coach. In the 4th quarter Kyrie Irving and Lebron James took over. The Celtics used a balanced attack to counter but without any rim protection, you can't win. With 5 minutes left it was 114-106 Boston and Jeff Green went for the kill shot....and missed the 3 badly. James got the rebound and Irving fired a 3, the Celtics rebounders were so lazy Irving got the rebound back and dumped it to Shawn Marion for a 2. The Celtics called time and Jared Sullinger hit a shot to make it 116-108 with 4 minutes left, all they needed was defense. Marion hit a layup and Sullinger traveled. Joe Harris made a 3 and Evan Turner got called for traveling. Two turnovers 30 seconds apart. Love missed a shot, Rondo got the rebound and hit the shot to keep the lead 118-113 with 2:29 left. With the game on the line, Lebron hit a bucket with 2 minutes left, Rondo missed, Kevin Love got the rebound and James hit again to cut the lead to 1. Avery Bradley fumbled the ball out of bounds for their 3rd turnover in as many minutes (they had 14 total) and the refs gave James a shady foul call on a nearly uncontested layup. Evan Turner got whistled and James hit the free throw to give the Cavs a 120-118 lead. Once again, all they needed was a basket and Olynyk fired up a three that missed badly, rebounded by James. Olynyk got called for the foul at the other end and Kevin Love made one of two free throws, 121-118. Needing a 3 to tie the game, Love alertly fouled Sullinger who hit the first free throw but conked the second. Luckily the refs made up for their earlier call on Turner by calling a loose ball foul on James when Jeff Green got the rebound. By the way, this is the first time I've mentioned Jeff Green meaning he did absolutely nothing to this point when the game was slipping away. Green did manage to hit the two free throws to tie the game with 43 seconds left, but, as usual....James was "fouled" by Rondo with 36 seconds left. Still, James bricked the second free throw and Sullinger gobbled up the rebound with 35 seconds left trailing 122-121. Rondo then fumbled the ball out of bounds for yet another turnover with the game on the line. Irving went for the kill shot but missed the layup and Bradley got the rebound with 7 seconds left. Rondo got the ball and held it....and held it...and held it...ERRRRRRRRRRRR! Didn't even get a damn shot off and the game was over.
Now time for the bawful report. Offensively the team really played well, hitting 54% as a team. Once again the problem was defense, especially in the 4th quarter. Kevin Love had a double-double, Lebron James scored 41 and Kyrie Irving had 27. Point guards are just lighting this team up, so much for Avery Bradley's defense. The only 3 players who didn't make double figures (that got in the game) were Dwight Powell, Tyler Zeller and Rondo. Which leads to the nightly awards. Vitor Faverini and Marcus Smart get checkmarks for the Ellison while Gerald Wallace, Phil Pressey and James Young get checkmarks for the Scalabrine. Dwight Powell made his NBA debut by logging just 2 seconds on the floor, earning an ultra rare SUPER MARIO GALAXY!
Jackass of the night is easy, Rajon Rondo. Mr. Triple Double did have 16 assists and 8 rebounds but a paltry 6 points on 3 of 10 shooting with a crucial turnover when it counted. Also, not getting a shot off when the game was on the line is inexcusable. Kyrie Irving also hung 27 on him.
Were there any positives? Again, offensively everyone played well except Powell. Kelly Olynyk had 21 points, 6 rebounds and an assist. Jared Sullinger had a double-double with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists. Rondo had 16 assists and 8 rebounds. Avery Bradley had 12 points, 2 assists and 5 rebounds. Jeff Green had 19 points 3 rebounds, an assist and a steal. Evan Turner had 12 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds. Brandon Bass had 12 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal. Marcus Thornton had 12 points, 2 rebounds and an assist. Tyler Zeller hit 4 of 5 shots for 8 points.
Final Thoughts:
Another home loss that should have been a win. Once again the team played no defense and was out-hustled down the stretch. You have to wonder if they're listening to Brad Stevens or if his style doesn't work with them. They're pretty much firing at will and have no set direction on a style of offense. They still don't have the one guy that can take a game over because Rondo is a lousy shooter and Jeff Green doesn't have the heart. Maybe Ainge will trade for or draft a legit "cleaner" as Tim Grover would say. For now, this team can't play defense and they're getting out-worked. That's not a recipe for success. Also, why do they not play James Young? Is he not getting the playbook or did he tell Stevens to screw one day? There has to be a reason Stevens has gone Doc Rivers on him. Maybe we'll find out soon. Next game is Monday night at the Garden against the Phoenix Suns. Another team that can't play defense...yippie.
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