Celtics coach Brad Stevens explains decision to skip timeouts

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4721331/stevens-explains-decision-to-skip-timeouts





Celtics coach Brad Stevens explains decision to skip timeouts

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Celtics head coach Brad Stevens stands by his late-game decisions Friday against Golden State. AP Photo/Charles Krupa



Chris Forsberg, ESPN Staff Writer




BOSTON -- With two potential final-shot opportunities during Friday night's showdown with the Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens twice elected to play without a timeout and stood behind his decision after a 124-119 loss at TD Garden.

"Both times I wanted us to come in, slip out of a pick and roll, and just play," said Stevens. "Because you let [the Warriors] get set, they’re so long, they switch things, they make it really difficult on you as you saw even in the side-outs. They’re very physical. And we had the ball with unique time, because all I would do is call something, get it in, and run the clock down."

At the end of the fourth quarter, the Celtics forced a Stephen Curry miss with 23 seconds to play and had a chance for the final shot with the game tied at 103. Instead of a timeout, Stevens shuffled to halfcourt and tried to direct players into place. Isaiah Thomas went isolation from above the arc, but his pull-up 3-point attempt with 4 seconds to play was swatted by Shaun Livingston.

The Celtics actually got another last-gasp chance with 0.7 seconds to go, but Kelly Olynyk's desperation fadeaway missed everything (all while Avery Bradley might have had a lob opportunity at the rim while curling off Olynyk's screen).

At the end of the first overtime, the Celtics again forced a Curry miss with 23 seconds to play in a game tied at 110. Instead of an isolation, Thomas came off a Jared Sullinger screen and snaked into the lane, but he couldn't will home a little one-armed floater over Andrew Bogut that hit the front of the rim.

"Obviously, the first regulation shot got blocked, so that’s not as good as the second one," said Stevens. "The second one was a great move, great look. If you got a chance to beat those guys on that look, I think you’d take it every time."

The Celtics had mixed results in after-timeout sets against Golden State, particularly late in the game. But it's fair to wonder in the aftermath if Boston might have generated a better look at the end of regulation if Stevens had called timeout and drawn something up (particularly given the fact that he was trying to direct traffic from center court when he had a timeout available).

The flipside, of course, is that if Thomas hits either of those two shots, Stevens emerges as a genius for letting his team play through. He is naturally second-guessed because Boston ultimately fell in the second overtime (only after Jae Crowder's potential tying 3-pointer was off the mark late in the second extra session).

Said Olynyk of the late-game looks: "I had one at the end of regulation. That was a good shot I had to get off quick obviously with [0.7] or whatever on the clock. I obviously missed it. I thought Isaiah got a great floater at the end of one of them. Evan got a great look. And that three by Jae, that was a makeable shot. They’re all great looks. We’ve just got to knock them down."

The fact that Boston had so many opportunities to steal Friday's game and end the Warriors' 23-game winning streak made the loss sting a bit more.

We put ourselves in situations to win," said Turner. "Coming up short is always rough."



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