Post Game Thread - vs Cleveland Cavaliers, Home

[bobheckler]

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4721371/avery-bradley-to-teammates-in-cavs-loss-were-not-playing-hard-enough



Avery Bradley regarding loss to Cavs: 'We're not playing hard enough'


12:49 AM ET


Chris Forsberg
ESPN Staff Writer




BOSTON -- Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens was wrapping up a news conference in which half of the questions he fielded concerned Boston's cringe-worthy offense during an 89-77 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was noted to Stevens that, according to the NBA's player-tracking data, Boston owns the worst effective field goal percentage -- a metric that measures field goal percentage while adjusting for the value of a 3-point shot -- of any team in the league on what the NBA defines as "wide-open shots," or shots taken with a defender 6-plus feet away.

"Thanks for that uplifting stat," deadpanned Stevens, whose team ranked 29th overall while shooting just 37.7 percent on wide-open shots through 23 games and was dead last with an effective field goal percentage of 49. For means of comparison, the Golden State Warriors shoot league bests at 53.3 percent overall and 71.1 effective field goal percentage.

The Celtics' offense has shown recent signs of improvement, particularly with Isaiah Thomas in the first unit, but Boston really struggled shooting the ball Tuesday night. Boston shot 37.8 percent in the first half and somehow owned a six-point lead at halftime. But things actually got worse in the third period when Boston shot 22.7 percent (5-of-22 overall) and missed 10 of the 11 3-pointers it hoisted as the Cavaliers started to pull away.

Frustrated by Boston's inefficient offense, guard Avery Bradley told his teammates that Boston simply wasn't playing hard enough as the game started to slip away.


Isaiah Thomas was aggressive in looking for his shot on Tuesday, but he didn't make very many of them. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
"I don’t feel like the entire game we were playing hard -- hard enough," Bradley said. "I even said it during a timeout. I was like, ‘Man, we’re not playing hard enough.’ Playing against a team like this, we have to play hard every single possession. We have to understand every single game that every possession counts."

The Celtics took decent care of the ball but rarely made the extra effort to generate a better shot opportunity. The result? Boston shot a season-low 32.2 percent overall and missed 23 3-pointers (finishing 9-of-32 beyond the arc or 28.1 percent).

"Their defense was great, but we’ve got to challenge them better, and we didn’t challenge them offensively enough," Stevens said. "I thought we were really connected and really locked in defensively as a group; I did not think that was the case on offense. But certainly they play a part in that and they’re a good defensive team."

Thomas was one of the few who managed to attack the basket with regularity, but he finished 3-of-15 with only 12 points over 27 minutes.

"You could tip your hat to their defense, but for the most part, I feel like we got the shots we usually make, those were shots we usually get," Thomas said. "Individually, myself, I got most of the shots I usually knock down. You gotta tip your hat off to them. They are a great team. They played harder than us, especially in the second half."

For the Celtics, it was a disheartening effort against a team that they were eager to show just how much they had improved from last season, when Cleveland swept the Celtics out of the first round of the playoffs.

"It’s frustrating for me," said Bradley, who scored a team-high 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting. "I’m pretty sure I can speak for everyone ... we definitely didn’t play well tonight."

So what happened to Boston's offense?

"Obviously, we all want to win the game. But sometimes we just don’t move the ball as well as we do all the time," Bradley said. "It hurts our team at times. That’s speaking for everyone, including myself. We just have to be disciplined enough to know that playing a team like this, you have to continue to move the ball to get the best shot. It’s hard some games. But if you sacrifice that and pass up a good shot for a great shot, it’s good for our team. And we have to understand that."

Echoed Jae Crowder: "We never got any real momentum in the second half, offensively. We took bad shot after bad shot. They got up by 10 and we never had any traction after that."

Cleveland's length and activity certainly bothered Boston, but neither Stevens nor his players used it as an excuse.

"You’ve got to go around them. You’ve got to create a better pace about you," Stevens said. "And we just didn’t -- I felt like in the first half we didn’t have much pace. We didn’t have much movement. We had that one stretch where we had some good cutting and some good playing from the second unit at the end of the first [quarter], early second. But other than that, I thought, for whatever reason, we were in mud a little bit on offense."

Echoed Crowder: "They’re not the biggest team in the league we’re gonna face. But they played hard on the defensive end and we got real stagnant with the ball. We tried to make a play one-on-one every time, so we have to get back to the basics on that."


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http://greenstreet.weei.com/sports/boston/basketball/celtics/2015/12/15/studs-and-duds-lebron-james-cavaliers-win-ugly-over-celtics/#more-74001


STUDS AND DUDS: LEBRON JAMES, CAVALIERS WIN UGLY OVER CELTICS
12.15.15 at 9:50 pm ET
By Ben Rohrbach


After taking a 46-40 lead into halftime, the Celtics were outscored by 18 in the second half, and the final outcome of an 89-77 loss to LeBron James and his Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers should have been a lot worse.

LeBron James
LeBron James

Cleveland (16-7) shot 51.3 percent to the C’s 26.2 percent after the break, turning what initially was a hard-fought playoff rematch into an ugly laugher of a game. The Celtics fell to 14-11 and seventh in the East with the loss.

Avery Bradley led the Celtics with 17 points, but required 15 shots to get there. Likewise, Jae Crowder scored 14 points on 13 attempts and Isaiah Thomas netted 12 points on 15 shots. They were the only three C’s in double figures.

For the complete box score, click here. To go beyond the box, read on.

STUD OF THE NIGHT: David Lee?

Even if he wasn’t much help on defense, at least Lee did some work in the post offensively. He collected eight points on 4-of-8 shooting, adding four rebounds and three assists in 18 minutes off the bench. He finished the night as the C’s only player with a positive plus/minus.

DUD OF THE NIGHT: Take your pick.


The Celtics couldn’t buy a bucket. The starting lineup was a combined 17-of-54 from the field (31.5 percent). Thomas (3-15 FG) and Jared Sullinger (2-9 FG) were particularly brutal, but nobody on the C’s played particularly well.

VINE OF THE NIGHT:



WHINE OF THE NIGHT: Oh, shoot.

Before the season, Celtics president Danny Ainge told reporters gathered for media day he felt like he assembled an improved shooting team this season. We’re more than a quarter of the way through the season, and the verdict isn’t so good. The Celtics rank 23rd in field goal percentage (43.5 percent) and 3-point percentage (33.2 percent). Yet, only the Rockets and Warriors attempt more 3’s than the C’s. The Celtics feature six players who average at least one 3-pointer per game and shoot worse than 30 percent from beyond the arc: Marcus Smart (23.8 percent on 4.7 3-point attempts per game), R.J. Hunter (26.7% on 2.1 3PA/G), Jared Sullinger (29.8% on 2.0), Evan Turner (13.9% on 1.5), Amir Johnson (26.1% on 1.0) and James Young (25.0% on 1.0). Imagine the possibilities if they could only shoot.

STAT OF THE NIGHT: 44-24.

That was the difference in paint scoring between the two teams. LeBron James (24 points, 7 rebounds) got to the rim with little help from Celtics bigs, and when the defense did collapse on him, he repeatedly found teammates on the perimeter. Kevin Love also reached 20 points in his revenge game against Kelly Olynyk.

@ OF THE NIGHT:


NOTE OF THE NIGHT: Getting even.

James improved to 23-17 in his career against the Celtics in the regular season. Including the playoffs, he now owns a 40-29 record against the C’s in his career and has an 8-2 mark opposite Boston in the Brad Stevens era.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: LeBron James on his rivalry with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.

“It was great. Like I continue to say, at one point, when I write my book, they will have a chapter. Paul, Ray, Perk, KG ‘€” what they helped do for my career.”


bob


.

[bobheckler]

If we can play hard and win the 2nd game of a back-to-back why can't we play hard and win the  first game of a back-to-back?


"Cringeworthy offense" indeed.  32% is not going to get it done.  Crowder showed up, Bradley showed up and Lee showed up.  Everybody else couldn't buy a bucket and they're all multi-millionaires.

We had a couple days off, so it wasn't physical fatigue, but maybe mental fatigue is setting in a bit.  We've been playing a lot of games in a tight stretch of time.  Then again, maybe we just sucked.

1.  Bradley played about as hard as he could.  He was Celtics high scorer with 17 points on a decent 5-12 shooting and a low-for-him 3-10 from 3.  He worked.  He did his job.  Why does it keep falling on his shoulders?  Because nobody else is stepping up, that's why.  

2.  His back court mate, Isaiah Thomas had an eminently 3-15 night.  You know, the usual trick-or-treat from IT, last night it was 'trick' night.  Nothing he did worked last night.  After setting a career high 13 assists in the previous night he has 4 last night.  And he didn't even have to play defense against Kyrie Irving.

3.  David Lee did what veterans do, they stay ready and when their number is called they go in and take care of business.  He was probably our only big who looked like they knew what the Hell they were doing out there last night.  4-8 for 8.  Considering we shot 32% as a team we probably should have just put the ball in his hands and let him do wevertf he wanted to do with it.

4.  Kevin Love tortured Amir.  I never thought of Love as an inside threat but Amir could not stop him last night.

5.  Another shitty night for Sully.  2-9 for 5 points.  Over the previous 10 games he has averaged 8.5ppg on 38% shooting, but in the last 5 games he is averaging 7.4ppg on 31% fg%.  A definite offensive slump for Sully.  His counterpart last night, the massive Timofey Mozgov had 9 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks in fewer minutes.  

6.  Jonas Jerebko plays soooo hard, it's a shame to see his shooting leave him like this.  Jerebko had the ball in the corner.  LeBron ran out to run him off the 3pt line, Jonas dribbled up and LeBron didn't even bother to stay with him, he just took off up court.  How's that for having your shot disrespected?  Jerebko, right on cue, missed the wide-open 14'er.  I should pick on him, everybody missed open shots last night.  And that's another difference between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics.  When their offense was able to create the shot they wanted, they made us pay.  We didn't.

7.  Crowder played hard too.  Not a great shooting night, 5-13 but 4-9 from 3, but 5-13 is still better than the team shot.  He forced LeBron into a couple of fadeaways that missed.  Those fadeaways, though, were something else.  He "faded" 8-10', and they still almost went in.  When you're banking on him taking shots that only MJ in his prime could hit, you know you are in a game with limited options.

8.  Kelly Olynyk, the guy who looked like he was finally breaking out, was a 22 minute hole in the parquet floor last night.  A "hole" lotta nothing.

9.  Turner made some noise, but he is not a guy we want to be carrying us.  He missed a wide-open jumper too.  He should not be allowed to take a 3 unless there are less than 2 seconds left on the shot clock.  That's what Rosalie said on the Game On thread last night and I am 100% behind that.

10.  James Young has leapfrogged over RJ Hunter in the depth chart.  He missed his shots, just like everybody else, but he was not having a good game on defense.  He isn't completely losing people like he used to, but his spacing is off.  He trailed Shumpert across the lane and Shumpert got fouled.  He backed too far off of Shumpert a few times, cheating on the weak side defense, and Shumpert got, and hit, wide-open 3s.  Young got 5 rebounds.  One of those he ripped right out of Tristan Thompsons' hands.  That is like taking deer meat out of a hungry wolf's mouth.  I gotta give him credit for that, that was a real man's rebound, but his rebounding came because he was falling off his man at the perimeter.  

11,  LeBron is the best player in the league.  The only players in the league that can even come close to matching up with him are Kawhi Leonard and Draymond Green.  What this means is that a perimeter pick for him either opens up a driving lane against a slower or smaller player, or it forces his primary defender (in our case, Jae Crowder) to fight over the screen while the screen's defender steps out enough just enough to stop him from turning the corner but not enough where the screener can roll or pop free.  I know, that's the way all pnrs or pnps defenses work, but it's especially tough when the ball is in the hands of a player as special and versatile as LeBron. You have to be quick, very very quick, on both the jump out, the fight over the screen and the jump back to the picker.  We weren't last night.  Tommy was mocking him mercilessly all night, claiming he was "crying".  Well, the refs did let him get away with stuff.  He bounced Jae into the 2nd row, took off for a layup, and there was no foul called.  Some really, really obvious "don't call fouls on LeBron".  The man is 6'8", 265# and can run and jump like a gazelle.  Why does he need additional help from the refs?  

Not much need of a stat roundup, they beat us almost across the board.

Well, we are just about where we thought we are.  We're better, maybe even good, but not great or almost great.  We have to be firing on all 8 for 48 to beat a team the caliber of GSW or Cleveland.





bob


.

[Outside]

Player and ball movement were terrible.

When they got open shots, they didn't hit nearly enough of them.

They settled for way too many threes, especially considering how poorly they were shooting them.

Ballgame.

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