POST GAME NEW YORK - AWAY

C's can't stop Kristaps, lose 120-114 to Knicks

A.SHERROD BLAKLEY


NEW YORK – On a night when hearts were heavy among the Boston Celtics, and the need to taste victory was high, the Celtics remain a thirsty bunch following Tuesday’s 120-114 loss to the New York Knicks.

The basketball gods did their part in tilting the scales in the Celtics’ favor as the Knicks (20-20) had to play without their two best players down the stretch.

An ankle sprain took Carmelo Anthony out of the mix for good just 19 seconds into the third quarter, but not before he had 17 points.

Rookie sensation Kristaps Porzingis had 26 points on 10-for-18 shooting, but he fouled out with 2:44 to play.

Even with them out down the stretch, the Celtics still couldn’t manage to cool off the Knicks who were led by Arron Afflalo’s 24 points.

Boston (19-19) has now lost four in a row and six of their last seven.

The Celtics had nearly a half of play against the Knicks without Anthony, who suffered a right ankle sprain in the second quarter and left for good just 19 seconds into the third quarter.

His absence was certainly a plus for the Celtics, although it took a while for the Celtics to truly capitalize on Anthony’s absence.

Boston went with a small ball lineup of Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart, Jae Crowder and Amir Johnson.

Evan Turner put the Celtics ahead 95-93 with 7:12 to play, but New York’s Robin Lopez tied the game on the ensuing possession.

And there they were, going back and forth in a tightly contested game in the fourth quarter, the kind of game we have seen the Celtics succumb to defeat recently.

Unfortunately, Tuesday’s game was a mirror image of previous games of late as Boston failed to make the necessary plays at either end of the floor, when they needed them most.

Both teams opened the game with a flurry of baskets with neither team showing much resistance defensively.

After Jae Crowder put the Celtics ahead 19-18 with a 3-pointer, New York came back with a 12-2 run that allowed them to lead 36-27 after one quarter of play.

Both teams cooled off considerably from their red-hot shooting in the first quarter (they were a combined 25-for-41, or 61 percent in the first quarter).

But the Celtics were unable to cut into New York’s lead courtesy of some strong play from rookie of the year front-runner Kristaps Porzingis and perennial all-star Carmelo Anthony.

All was going well for the Knicks until Anthony, who had 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting, suffered a right ankle sprain in the second quarter. He started the third quarter, but headed for the bench mere seconds into the quarter and did not return.

Team officials said X-rays on his right ankle sprain were negative.
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STUDS AND DUDS: CELTICS LOSE THEIR FOURTH STRAIGHT, FALL TO KNICKS WITH MELO AND PORZINGIS ON THE BENCH

By WEEI
The New York Knicks defeated the Boston Celtics 120-114 on Tuesday night in Madison Square Garden. The loss is the Celtics fourth in a row and their sixth in seven games. The (19-19) Celtics fall to .500 and are now 9th in the jammed packed Eastern Conference.

Carmelo Anthony and rookie Kristaps Porzingis dominated the first half, combining for 28 points in the first quarter. The seven-foot Porzingis hit three of his first four attempts from three, including one from Steph Curry range of 25 feet. Anthony did an excellent job playing off the ball, knocking down five of his first shots. The pair finished the half with 37 points on a extremely efficient 64% shooting.

Surprisingly, neither Carmelo or Kristaps had a large impact on the second half of the game. Carmelo, who sprained his ankle after running into a referee in the second quarter, was only able to play 19 seconds in the third quarter before pulling himself out of the game.

To start the half, Brad Stevens decided to play small ball, putting Marcus Smart in for the struggling Kelly Olynyk. Smart, who was giving up nearly a foot to the Latvian MonStar, did an excellent job playing physical aggressive defense. Porzingis only played only 8 minutes in the second half, after he picked up two early fouls to begin the quarter.

The small lineup of Smart, Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, and Amir Johnson was able to slowly pull the Celtics back into the game. Isaiah Thomas took advantage of the extra space on the floor by repeatedly attacking the paint and getting to rim. He scored 16 of his game-high 34 points in the quarter.

Without Carmelo or Porzingis, Aaron Afflalo carried the Knicks in the second half, scoring 10 points in both the third and fourth quarters, while Jerian Grant and Robin Lopez were also in double-figures.

Perhaps due to the aggressive defense of the small ball lineup, the Celtics also found themselves in foul trouble late in the game. Marcus Smart finished with five fouls as the Knicks shot 27 of 30 from the free throw line.

The Celtics take on the Indiana Pacers in front of a national audience on ESPN on Wednesday night, as they take on Paul George at the (22-16) Indiana Pacers.


STUD OF THE NIGHT Jared Sullinger

Like a classic TRL Video, Isaiah Thomas is now retired from winning the Stud of the Night Award. He was obviously the Celtics best player on the court, but I don’t know how much more there is to say about his contribution to the team.

Instead, I will bequeath Jared Sullinger the Stud of the Night. Sully grabbed six boards and added twelve points in the fourth quarter and was one of the major reasons the Celtics were able to hang in the game.

DUD OF THE NIGHT Kelly Olnyk

Olynyk is a perfect microcosm for the Celtics season. He has the potential to be very good and often flashes moments of brilliance, but ultimately he is not consistent enough and is prone to ugly performances.

Tonight we got the bad Kelly. He got abused early by Porzingis and was unable to get anything going offensively. He had three fouls and committed one really stupid traveling violation. He did not play in the second half.

VINE OF THE NIGHT Amir Johnson stars in “Shoe Tomfoolery”


WHINE OF THE NIGHT Tonight Evan Turner attempted five three-pointers. Even though Turner is notoriously bad from deep, I have no problem with his shot selection. I think he generally makes the smart basketball play and only takes them when he is open. Only his final missed three, The Logo decided to admire his shot and hold his follow through rather than getting back on defense. This resulted in Derrick Williams scoring a momentum killing wide open dunk in transition.

STAT OF THE NIGHT Knicks Shooting Percentage The Knicks shot 67% in the first quarter and 72% in the fourth. To quote a famous guy, “Its hard to win games when the other team is quite good at putting the ball in hoop at an efficient rate.”

112288

NO BALANCED SCORING!

WISH WE HAD A TOP 5 LAST YEAR!

112288

112288

No time to dispair. Sit back and watch the ongoing rotation circus.

In that spirit I would have given Zeller a start and put him on the Android twin.  Then Amir could check the Zinger.  That young man can flat out ball.

It became clear early on of the bad mismatches at 4 and 5.  Poor Kelly cound not close out the perimeter as usual.  And his freakin offense is half asleep.  

Kudos to Smart for his battle to cover the Zinger.

Brad.....bring Mickey up ...Please.   Look... The rotation circus needs to include him as well.  

The Lack of chemistry is concerning.   Until the rotation is settled upon, this team can only be inconsistent.  

The Knicks put up a lot of points.  The kid Grant played well.  He would have been my pick over Rozier as mentioned in one of the draft threads.  The triangle offense seems to be developing nicely even when Carmelo got dinged.

The Celtics played hard tonight but as you can see, they are in a 4 game funk.

Dross

dBoss

Ah Yes Mickey!   Well perhaps its time to insert some of the rookies and see what happens.

I am afraid players now are questioning Stevens....not a good sign.  He may not go anywhere but players may begin to quit on him.  Hope I am wrong.

112288

Danny created this problem when he over loaded the team with Power Forwards.

Time for some trades.  Danny get on the phone and don't hang up until you get a deal.

Dboss

112288 wrote:NO BALANCED SCORING!

WISH WE HAD A TOP 5 LAST YEAR!

112288

me too, we have too many young guys already in the backcourt, did we really need Rozier? in one year Phil Jackson has already passed us in the rebuild.

Porzingis played eight second half minutes.  Carmelo played one.  And the Celtics only committed 9 turnovers and shot 49% for the game.  A sure win, right?  Nope.

Knicks put up a rotund 120 points against us and we lose.

Here's when I was convinced we would lose:  When I looked at the starting lineups and realized I would trade each of our starting frontcourt players for his Knick counterpart.  We started Crowder, Amir and KO.  They started Porzingis, Carmelo and Robin Lopez.  That's three for three and all go in favor of the Knicks.  When two teams play and you would trade each of one team's starting frontcourt for their opposite opponent at that position, the team with the completely better frontcourt is almost always going to win.

And guess what?  The Knicks starting frontcourt outscored Boston's 57-37.  With Porzingis and Melo playing 9 combined second half minutes.  Porzingis destroyed Boston in the first quarter with 16 points.  That 57-37 starting frontcourt advantage for NY was accomplished with both of them playing the exact same combined minutes: 70.5.

By the way, Turner shot 1 for 5 on threes (and why is that long distance disaster even ATTEMPTING 5 threes in a game?) and he unbelievably INCREASED his 3-point percentage with that 20% tonight!  He's now a scintillating 9 for 56 from downtown.  16%.

With IT's ugly one for eight shooting on threes tonight he's down to 32% for the season.  If you can't shoot at least 35-36% on threes you shouldn't be taking a ton of them.  IT projects to taking 500 threes for the season.  He came to us as a 36.5% career three point shooter but when asked to mostly start and play prime time minutes with defenders keying on him, his percentage has dropped to a below average level.  And below average (actually way below average) describes his defense because, as a starter, he's a significant defensive liability.  He's exciting to watch when he makes his shots but overall he's just another volume shooter who more often will shoot you out of a game than conrtribute to a win.  Plus, the people he guards will have a field day.  Look what Jerian Grant did to the Celts in the fourth quarter - 10 points, 6 assists.  Not sure how many of those came directly against IT but, it's a nightly problem.

As is being outclassed by opponents' frontcourts almost every game.  I'd take every one of the Knicks' trio over ours.  And that's why we lost.  As for our frontcourt guys?  Get rid of the whole lot of them except Crowder.  Keep Amir but don't start him.  He's only starting now because of how weak we are upfront.

This is a thoroughly mediocre team.  When Rambone said he thought the C's would win 55 games with this uninspiring collection of average talent loaded with a roster full of mostly lousy shooters I couldn't believe it.  Delusional was the word that came to mind.

Bring on the lottery and trades.  There's mucho work to do.  And I know Danny knows it now.

One final thought - I hope Melo can play tomorrow night on his sore ankle against Brooklyn.  Go Knicks.

Lakers beat New Orleans tonight to notch win #9 for them and creep closer to the Nets who have 10.

And the Mavs lost at home tonight (to the Cavs) so that helps too.

Overall, a good night for all our upcoming draft picks. Including the game against the Knicks.

Remember, it's all about the future and getting that next championship as soon as possible. It's not about now. This current team is going nowhere. Unless there's a big in-season trade for Cousins.

steve3344 wrote:Porzingis played eight second half minutes.  Carmelo played one.  And the Celtics only committed 9 turnovers and shot 49% for the game.  A sure win, right?  Nope.

Knicks put up a rotund 120 points against us and we lose.

Here's when I was convinced we would lose:  When I looked at the starting lineups and realized I would trade each of our starting frontcourt players for his Knick counterpart.  We started Crowder, Amir and KO.  They started Porzingis, Carmelo and Robin Lopez.  That's three for three and all go in favor of the Knicks.  When two teams play and you would trade each of one team's starting frontcourt for their opposite opponent at that position, the team with the completely better frontcourt is almost always going to win.

And guess what?  The Knicks starting frontcourt outscored Boston's 57-37.  With Porzingis and Melo playing 9 combined second half minutes.  Porzingis destroyed Boston in the first quarter with 16 points.  That 57-37 starting frontcourt advantage for NY was accomplished with both of them playing the exact same combined minutes: 70.5.

By the way, Turner shot 1 for 5 on threes (and why is that long distance disaster even ATTEMPTING 5 threes in a game?) and he unbelievably INCREASED his 3-point percentage with that 20% tonight!  He's now a scintillating 9 for 56 from downtown.  16%.

With IT's ugly one for eight shooting on threes tonight he's down to 32% for the season.  If you can't shoot at least 35-36% on threes you shouldn't be taking a ton of them.  IT projects to taking 500 threes for the season.  He came to us as a 36.5% career three point shooter but when asked to mostly start and play prime time minutes with defenders keying on him, his percentage has dropped to a below average level.  And below average (actually way below average) describes his defense because, as a starter, he's a significant defensive liability.  He's exciting to watch when he makes his shots but overall he's just another volume shooter who more often will shoot you out of a game than conrtribute to a win.  Plus, the people he guards will have a field day.  Look what Jerian Grant did to the Celts in the fourth quarter - 10 points, 6 assists.  Not sure how many of those came directly against IT but, it's a nightly problem.

As is being outclassed by opponents' frontcourts almost every game.  I'd take every one of the Knicks' trio over ours.  And that's why we lost.  As for our frontcourt guys?  Get rid of the whole lot of them except Crowder.  Keep Amir but don't start him.  He's only starting now because of how weak we are upfront.

This is a thoroughly mediocre team.  When Rambone said he thought the C's would win 55 games with this uninspiring collection of average talent loaded with a roster full of mostly lousy shooters I couldn't believe it.  Delusional was the word that came to mind.

Bring on the lottery and trades.  There's mucho work to do.  And I know Danny knows it now.

One final thought - I hope Melo can play tomorrow night on his sore ankle against Brooklyn.  Go Knicks.

Very astute analysis, Steve3344, spot on.

One other thing. Am I the only noticing this: the more points IT scores the more the loses pile up. Just a coincidence?

Berlin-T

on that frontcourt note:

think how the Celtics would be different with Robin Lopez here instead of Amir.

I like Amir enough and he does give good effort, but like Bass when forced to play against real NBA centers he comes up wanting most times.

I mean, are you telling me that Danny couldn't come up with an additional $1M for Robin?

That Robin wanted to play so badly for the Knicks, that Boston had no chance at him?

I am beginning to agree with Cowens, that Danny may have a blindspot for NBA big men.


we never had a chance to get Porzinis (though Bob would have been a happy man on draft day), but Ainge could have gotten Lopez IMO.


we'll see in the next few months I guess.

ah well....

I think that when we go up against teams with bigger centers it is a perfect opportunity to play Tyler Zeller.  If that is not the case then why the hell is he on the team?  He is our only true center.  Last night was a good example of how matchup problems can impact the game.

Amir is our best defender at the 4/5 spot.  He is solid although un-spectacular.  He provides flexibility because he can play PF as well as center but not really effective going against a center that is substantially bigger than he is.

Lopez was there but DA did not want him.    

By now we all should have a pretty good idea regarding team needs.

We need better perimeters shooters and we and we could really use a player not named IT that has the ability to take and make big time shots when the game is on the line.  That elusive rim protector would be a plus and although Jordan Mickey is undersized to play the post he is definitely a player that can impact the game with his shot blocking ability.

Trading season is here.  Despite opportunities to make some moves we should not expect that Danny can pull off a big time trade for a high end player.  I think we will continue to see marginal player upgrades on the fringes.

The Celtics need a young stud to build the team around.  Trades can sometime bring forth that player but our best hope for adding the young stud will more than likely be found in the draft over the next 3 years.

The question is are you willing to wait a few more years for the talent level to improve or are you looking for a change sooner.  Are we looking for a transaction or two that provides the Celtics with a long term competitive edge?

Danny really needs to address all of the sort comings on this team.  At this point I am not sold that either RJ Hunter or James Young can provide a level of consistency shooting the ball.  Both Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier were drafted with the knowledge that they were inconsistent shooters.  Sullinger and KO continue to be up and down players as neither one of them has shown the skill level to be consistent solid starters on this team.  But there should be no secrets here.  The pre-draft scouting reports provided every team with a solid analysis of these players' capabilities.

I really hate to see the Celtics lose to the Knicks.  But truth be told, The Zen Master has assembled a pretty good team including the real possibility that Poizingis is a franchise player that will keep them in the mix for years to come.


dboss

steve3344 wrote:Porzingis played eight second half minutes.  Carmelo played one.  And the Celtics only committed 9 turnovers and shot 49% for the game.  A sure win, right?  Nope.

Knicks put up a rotund 120 points against us and we lose.

Here's when I was convinced we would lose:  When I looked at the starting lineups and realized I would trade each of our starting frontcourt players for his Knick counterpart.  We started Crowder, Amir and KO.  They started Porzingis, Carmelo and Robin Lopez.  That's three for three and all go in favor of the Knicks.  When two teams play and you would trade each of one team's starting frontcourt for their opposite opponent at that position, the team with the completely better frontcourt is almost always going to win.

And guess what?  The Knicks starting frontcourt outscored Boston's 57-37.  With Porzingis and Melo playing 9 combined second half minutes.  Porzingis destroyed Boston in the first quarter with 16 points.  That 57-37 starting frontcourt advantage for NY was accomplished with both of them playing the exact same combined minutes: 70.5.

By the way, Turner shot 1 for 5 on threes (and why is that long distance disaster even ATTEMPTING 5 threes in a game?) and he unbelievably INCREASED his 3-point percentage with that 20% tonight!  He's now a scintillating 9 for 56 from downtown.  16%.

With IT's ugly one for eight shooting on threes tonight he's down to 32% for the season.  If you can't shoot at least 35-36% on threes you shouldn't be taking a ton of them.  IT projects to taking 500 threes for the season.  He came to us as a 36.5% career three point shooter but when asked to mostly start and play prime time minutes with defenders keying on him, his percentage has dropped to a below average level.  And below average (actually way below average) describes his defense because, as a starter, he's a significant defensive liability.  He's exciting to watch when he makes his shots but overall he's just another volume shooter who more often will shoot you out of a game than conrtribute to a win.  Plus, the people he guards will have a field day.  Look what Jerian Grant did to the Celts in the fourth quarter - 10 points, 6 assists.  Not sure how many of those came directly against IT but, it's a nightly problem.

As is being outclassed by opponents' frontcourts almost every game.  I'd take every one of the Knicks' trio over ours.  And that's why we lost.  As for our frontcourt guys?  Get rid of the whole lot of them except Crowder.  Keep Amir but don't start him.  He's only starting now because of how weak we are upfront.

This is a thoroughly mediocre team.  When Rambone said he thought the C's would win 55 games with this uninspiring collection of average talent loaded with a roster full of mostly lousy shooters I couldn't believe it.  Delusional was the word that came to mind.

Bring on the lottery and trades.  There's mucho work to do.  And I know Danny knows it now.

One final thought - I hope Melo can play tomorrow night on his sore ankle against Brooklyn.  Go Knicks.

you should post more often Steve, written like a true pro.

cowens/oldschool wrote:

steve3344 wrote:Porzingis played eight second half minutes.  Carmelo played one.  And the Celtics only committed 9 turnovers and shot 49% for the game.  A sure win, right?  Nope.

Knicks put up a rotund 120 points against us and we lose.

Here's when I was convinced we would lose:  When I looked at the starting lineups and realized I would trade each of our starting frontcourt players for his Knick counterpart.  We started Crowder, Amir and KO.  They started Porzingis, Carmelo and Robin Lopez.  That's three for three and all go in favor of the Knicks.  When two teams play and you would trade each of one team's starting frontcourt for their opposite opponent at that position, the team with the completely better frontcourt is almost always going to win.

And guess what?  The Knicks starting frontcourt outscored Boston's 57-37.  With Porzingis and Melo playing 9 combined second half minutes.  Porzingis destroyed Boston in the first quarter with 16 points.  That 57-37 starting frontcourt advantage for NY was accomplished with both of them playing the exact same combined minutes: 70.5.

By the way, Turner shot 1 for 5 on threes (and why is that long distance disaster even ATTEMPTING 5 threes in a game?) and he unbelievably INCREASED his 3-point percentage with that 20% tonight!  He's now a scintillating 9 for 56 from downtown.  16%.

With IT's ugly one for eight shooting on threes tonight he's down to 32% for the season.  If you can't shoot at least 35-36% on threes you shouldn't be taking a ton of them.  IT projects to taking 500 threes for the season.  He came to us as a 36.5% career three point shooter but when asked to mostly start and play prime time minutes with defenders keying on him, his percentage has dropped to a below average level.  And below average (actually way below average) describes his defense because, as a starter, he's a significant defensive liability.  He's exciting to watch when he makes his shots but overall he's just another volume shooter who more often will shoot you out of a game than conrtribute to a win.  Plus, the people he guards will have a field day.  Look what Jerian Grant did to the Celts in the fourth quarter - 10 points, 6 assists.  Not sure how many of those came directly against IT but, it's a nightly problem.

As is being outclassed by opponents' frontcourts almost every game.  I'd take every one of the Knicks' trio over ours.  And that's why we lost.  As for our frontcourt guys?  Get rid of the whole lot of them except Crowder.  Keep Amir but don't start him.  He's only starting now because of how weak we are upfront.

This is a thoroughly mediocre team.  When Rambone said he thought the C's would win 55 games with this uninspiring collection of average talent loaded with a roster full of mostly lousy shooters I couldn't believe it.  Delusional was the word that came to mind.

Bring on the lottery and trades.  There's mucho work to do.  And I know Danny knows it now.

One final thought - I hope Melo can play tomorrow night on his sore ankle against Brooklyn.  Go Knicks.

you should post more often Steve, written like a true pro.

I agree. 100%.


bob


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Just when you think you hit bottom, you drop a bit more.  It's not just that we couldn't beat the Knicks with Melo and Porzingis, it's that we couldn't beat them without them.  We had a 1 point lead and Porzingis just fouled out with 2:44 left.  We got beat by Aaron Afflalo, Derrick Williams and Jerian Grant.  Grant had 6 points and 2 assists in the last 2:44.  The Knicks were 5-5 from the field and 4-4 from the line in the last 2:44 without Porzingis and Melo.  We were 3-6 in the same period.  We didn't stop Jerian Grant, a rookie shooting 36% on the year and averaging 5ppg.  He got his season average, plus, in under 3 minutes.  That's not their front court superiority, that's our back court not getting stops.  

It got very chippy out there, very chippy.  Credit to both teams for Tommy Points and floor burns.

Had the NY feed.  Frazier was asked "which Celtic did he respect the most?".  His answer was Russell.  He was then asked "which Celtic did you hate the most?".  His answer was that he didn't hate any of them, it was always respect.  He just wanted to win.  Way to keep it classy, Clyde.

1.  Porzingis with 16 points in the 1st quarter, 20 at the half one 7-12, 3-7 from 3.  What are you gonna do when a 7'3" guy, who can put the ball on the floor if you get up on him, is shooting like that?  He ended up with 26 points on 10-18 and 27 minutes.  But he had to sit a lot in the 3rd and most of the 4th with foul troubles.  The 2nd half started with Smart guarding him.  Gotta give Brad credit for thinking outside the box, but after a few possessions the Zinger figured it out and just turned and shot over the 6'4" Smart.  Zinger fouled out, but he fouled out because of Sully.

2.  Sully finally had a good game.  He only had 2 points after 3 on 1-3 and 2 rebound, but really took off in the 4th with 12 points on 5-7 and 5 boards.  So, what does Brad do?  He takes Sully out.  Sully was "pulverizing" the Knicks, according to Walt Frazier, and Brad sits him down.  I am becoming increasingly confused, and therefore increasingly critical, of Brad's decision making.  Sully was overpowering everybody, and Brad benches him.

3.  Smart made some more bone headed plays.  Smart's offense is still horrible.  Another 2-7 night for him, with 3 misses right at the rim.  Sam always used to talk about how Bradley had trouble finishing at the rim, Smart was 1-4 from right in front.  His jumpshots were, as usual, way too strong to have a chance of a shooter's bounce.  He has no shooting touch, at all.  A ferocious defender, borderline incompetent on offense.  He didn't stop Afflalo and he got eaten up by Grant too.  

4.  Evan Turner with a brutal 3-10 night.  Between Smart and Turner that's 5-17, or 29%.  When two players are taking almost 20% of the team's fga and they are shooting under 30%, don't you think the coach should recognize that and make changes?  Turner was 1-5 from 3.  Turner said, after his short stint in Indy, that "putting him in the corner and waiting for the ball so he could take a 3 was stupid".  Well, that's exactly what he's doing.  Since he's the one who pointed that out, I'm going to assume he's doing it now because that's where he wants Turner to be, and that's stupid.

5.  Aaron Afflalo was able to do whatever he wanted.  He wanted, and got, a 10' fadeaway from the middle of the lane again and again and again.  Crowder, Turner and Smart were all put on him and they couldn't stop him.  How about a double, Brad?  How about making someone else on their team beat us?  Afflalo is averaging 14ppg this season and he had 24 last night on 50% shooting.  Part of this was Afflalo being in the zone and some of this I put on Brad.  

6.  Amir and Lopez played to a draw, in my eyes.  Considering Amir is playing out of position, that's not bad.  Both had their moments.

7.  Another game where fritos made a difference.  They only took 4 more ftas than us, but they 90% of theirs while we only hit 81% of ours.  81% isn't bad, 90% is excellent, but it's little things like that.  6 more points for them on fritos.

8.  Thomas was 11-23, 34 points.  8 assists and only 2 TOs.  If anybody else in the league did that he'd be the first story on SportCenter and their fans would be crowing.  If he scores a ton of points on good fg% he's being questioned and when he scores on poor fg% people say he's killing us and if he doesn't have a good scoring night people ask why he isn't shooting more.

Our defense gave up 53%.  Some of it was to a 7'3" player shooting from 26' but a lot of it were stoppable mid-range jumpers by Afflalo.  We weren't beating people to their spots, we weren't stopping them from going to their spots.  Credit to Afflalo, he was hitting some big time shots, but we didn't throw him any curves neither, and that's Brad's fault.  He'll throw a curve at Porzingis by putting Smart on him but he won't/doesn't throw a curve at Afflalo by doubling him?  He's averaging 1.8 assists/game.  He's not a good passing guard.  Make him pass out of a double and force someone else to hit the big shot.  

As far as 20/20 hindsight goes, with getting a top 5 pick last year, we would have had to win only 14 games to be in line for that.  That means that instead of going from 25 wins to 40 we would have had to win 40% fewer games.  It's hard to tank that badly.  You need to practice, like the Sixers, to do it.  Saying it is easy.  Doing it not so much.  Think last night is painful?  Imagine an entire season of this.

Danny knows he needs to start trading.  That's why he offered Amir and Jonas two 1-year deals.  That's one reason why he got David Lee.  Part of it was that Lee can still play, some, and Wallace was/is "stick a fork in him" done.  What comes next is for other teams to fish-or-cut-bait on their seasons.  Are they playoff bound and want to fill a few holes?  Are they ready to admit they're not going anywhere and need to rebuild and start young again, selling off older veterans for youth and draft picks?  The trade deadline is February 18th, 5 weeks away.  Another 2-3 weeks of this and then the AP wire will start sizzling.


bob


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