It was very easy to pinpoint how the Celtics lost this one. They shot 25 three pointers and connected on....wait for it.....ONE. Yes, ONE FOR 24 SHOOTING A THREE. The NBA record for futility beyond the arc was 0 for 22. The Celtics were 0 for 21 when Jeff Green let one loose.....and it went in. The one time fans didn't want it to go in and it did. Even though the game would have turned out different, had the Celtics hit even hit a few here and there, it would have been far more interesting than the blowout in turned into. I'll say it one more time...ONE FOR 25 shooting 3's.
As if that wasn't bad enough, the Celtics played swiss cheese defense in the 1st quarter. The star of the game was not Dwight Howard, James Harden or even Trevor Ariza. No, the Celtics were done in by the immortal TERRANCE JONES!
Don't get me wrong, Howard and Harden played extremely well. Howard had 14 points, 8 rebounds and blocked 2 shots. Harden had 26 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and a block. Still, you EXPECT numbers like that....what you don't expect is 25 points and 10 rebounds out of Terrance Jones. In terms of rebounds, the Rockets won the battle 49-44 but nearly every Rockets starter came close to 10.
Another factor that led to the downfall was clearly coaching. The Celtics were 0-fer shooting three's in the first half. Rather than scrap the plan and say "Hey guys let's try something else", coach Brad Stevens stuck to his guns and let his squad continue to fire blanks. It was 81-62 going into the 4th quarter and it was pretty much garbage time the rest of the game. Why Stevens refused to part with the Bombs Away Offense and simply attack the basket, we won't know.
As for the Celtics themselves, they were almost all bawful. They shot 37.8% as a team and were outshot 40 to 18 at the line. Even thought the final score wasn't as close as it seemed, a 22 free throw advantage in a 14 point game is pretty big.
To answer the inevitable question on which Jeff Green showed up tonight, this face says it all.
Mr. Hyde showed up big time as he did have 17 points but missed 12 shots, fouled twice, turned the ball over once and got destroyed by Terrance Jones on defense.
Were there any bright spots? Jared Sullinger had a decent game when he wasn't jacking up 3's, he finished with 14 points 9 rebounds and picked up a tech for jawing with Dwight Howard. Radio announcers Sean Grande and Cedric Maxwell said if Jeff Green could play as nasty as Sullinger does, he'd be unstoppable. James Young saw his first NBA action and went 3 for 3 with 6 points along with a rebound and a block. Tyler Zeller had 8 points and 4 rebounds which is pretty good for the circumstances. Marcus Thornton, Brandon Bass and Evan Turner combined for 25 points which normally would be good production, but again...the 1 for 25 on three's and all. It was nice to see old friends Kevin McHale and Jason Terry again as well. If the Celtics had to lose, at least it should be to old friends. Also Nick Johnson for the Rockets got his first NBA rebound tonight. Guess who his uncle was.....this guy:
Bawful report:
Everyone can be included here but not for the nightly awards. Phil Pressey saw his first NBA action and narrowly avoided a 3 Trillion by dishing out 2 assists. Marcus Smart narrowly avoided a +9 suck differential by hitting two free throws, pulling down a board and dishing out an assist. Rajon Rondo had 10 rebounds and 8 assists but scored just 4 points on 2 of 7 shooting and turned the ball over 5 times. Avery Bradley was just 3 of 11 shooting with 5 fouls and he let James Harden dance all over him. Kelly Olynyk had just 8 points and 5 rebounds as he was outplayed by Dwight Howard. The bench scored a combined 41 points but they also combined with the starters to miss 61 shots. Now for the nightly awards.
Vitor Faverini and Dwight Powell get checkmarks for the Ellison Award. Gerald Wallace collects another DNP-CD. Jackass of the Night is easy.....Jeff Green. As mentioned earlier, he missed 12 shots, fouled twice, turned the ball over and was walked all over by Terrance Jones. He's supposed to be the leader of this team but once again he failed to take the game over when things were getting out of hand.
Final Thoughts:
Well that was basketbawful to say the least. The Celtics haven't won a road game against the West since February 2013....which means a year a and a half ago. Still, the silver linings are once again the bench played well and it took astronomical amounts of suckage to go 1 for 25 from the 3 point line. The schedule is not kind at all to the Celtics in the early going. They had to play the Nets opening night, in Houston tonight, in Dallas on Monday, Toronto on Wednesday, Indiana on Friday, in Chicago next Saturday, against Oklahoma City on the 12th, against Cleveland on the 14th and against Phoenix on the 17th. 9 straight games against last year's playoff contenders (Phoenix missed the playoffs but went 48-34, would have been a top seed in the east). The Celtics would be lucky to be 3-6 by the time they roll into Philadelphia on the 19th.
As I mentioned before, their next game is Monday in Dallas. They may not be the same team that toppled the Heat in 2011 but they do have a good core in Tyson Chandler, Dirk Nowitzky, Jameer Nelson, Monta Ellis and Chandler Parsons. It could come down to a battle of the benches to see who decides that one. It would be nice if the Celtics have more success with the 3-ball too.
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