Post Game Thread - vs Orlando Magic, Home

[bobheckler]

http://www.csnne.com/boston-celtics/stars-studs-and-duds-avery-bradley-contributes-both-ends



Stars, studs and duds: Bradley contributes on both ends


March 21, 2016, 11:15 pm











BOSTON – Isaiah Thomas had yet another big night scoring the ball. Kelly Olynyk was (finally) out of his shooting funk.

But for most of Boston’s 107-96 win over Orlando, it was Avery Bradley more often than not delivering a right-on-time basket to keep the Magic from getting any serious thoughts about making a potential comeback.

“He’s been good for us for a long time,” said Celtics head coach Brad Stevens. “He continues to make big plays down the stretch for his team. We need him, obviously.”

Especially on Monday night when there were multiple occasions when the Magic (29-41) seemed one defensive stop away from making the Celtics squirm just a bit.

Orlando cut Boston’s lead to 94-88 with 8:03 to play following a driving reverse lay-up by Victor Oladipo.

Bradley drained a 19-foot jumper (Amir Johnson on the assist) to give Boston some much-needed breathing room.

Oladipo, who led Orlando with 25 points, made it a four point game (98-94) with a 17-foot jumper, only for – you know it! – Bradley to drive into the lane and finish with a short driving hook shot that pushed Boston’s lead to 100-94.

And in the final seconds of play, it was only fitting that Bradley sealed the victory with a pair of free throws with 28 seconds to play.

“He guarded Oladipo for a lot of the night,” Stevens said. “It’s hard to play 37 minutes on back-to-back (games) the way that he did, and contribute the way he did on both ends.”

Here are the Stars, Studs and Duds from Monday night’s game:


STARS

Celtics backcourt

Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley dominated play most of the night. And when it mattered most, they were the ones carrying the Celtics to victory down the stretch. They combined for 45 points (Thomas had 25 and Bradley had 20), which included them scoring 13 of the team’s 16 fourth-quarter points.

Victor Oladipo

There wasn’t much that went Orlando’s way Monday night, but they certainly had to like the play of Oladipo. He led the Magic with 25 points which included a long jumper with 2:43 that brought Orland within four points. That would be as close as the Magic would get for the remainder of the game.


STUDS

Kelly Olynyk

The shooting funk he has been in since returning from a right shoulder injury was going to end at some point. The 7-foot big man was a major matchup problem for Orlando, a big factor in him scoring 22 points on 7-for-12 shooting.

Amir Johnson

Johnson is starting to show why the Celtics were so quick to pay him $12 million which was significantly more than any other team was willing to fork out for him. The 6-foot-9 Johnson has really stepped up his defensive game in terms of limiting shots and rebounding of late. And the last two games, the Celtics are finding him frequently for easy scores. Against the Magic, he had his sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds along with two assists and a game-high three blocked shots.


DUDS

Marcus Smart

You love what he brings to the floor defensively, but he is in the middle of a major shooting funk right now. Against the Magic, Smart had just three points while missing 10 of his 11 shot attempts. Some of the attempts were on drives to the basket while drawing contact but not getting a foul called. But far too many of them are 3-point misses on open or lightly contests attempts.

Brandon Jennings

Jennings had little to no impact all game for Orlando, scoring just two points while shooting 1-for-5 from the field.



------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



http://greenstreet.weei.com/sports/boston/basketball/celtics/2016/03/21/isaiah-thomas-dazzles-as-celtics-shut-down-magic/




STUDS AND DUDS: ISAIAH THOMAS DAZZLES, CELTICS SHUT DOWN MAGIC

03.21.16 at 9:54 pm ET

By Sam Packard





Mar 21, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas (4) is guarded by Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon (00) during the second quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas jumps over slam dunk runner-up Aaron Gordon during the C’s win over the Magic. (Greg M. Cooper/USA Today Sports)



Maybe Isaiah Thomas was auditioning for a video game?

The 5-foot-9 guard was sensational en route to a 107-96 Celtics victory over the Magic on Monday night at the TD Garden.

Thomas finished with a game-high 28 points, adding seven assists and five rebounds. In addition to a number of highlight layups and assists, he attacked the basket and got to the free throw line, where he finished 11-of-12.

After both teams struggled to knock down open shots in a relatively ugly first half, the Celtics offense exploded for 35 points in the third quarter. Evan Turner dominated, scoring 11 of his 16 points and even knocking down his second 3-pointer of the game. After opening the season 11-for-69 (15.9 percent) on 3’s, Turner has made 6-of-11 since the All-Star break.

With Thomas and Turner on the bench to open the fourth, the Celtics struggled to score points, finishing with only 16 points in the frame. The Magic cut the deficit to just four with two minutes remaining, but Avery Bradley’s clutch shooting put the game out of reach. Thomas then sealed the game, stretching the C’s lead back to nine with a lay-in high off the glass with 37 seconds left.

In a tremendous sign for the Celtics, Kelly Olynyk played his best game since returning from his shoulder injury, scoring 22 points, including shooting 4-of-6 from 3. Amir Johnson continued to play well in Jae Crowder’s absence, finishing with a double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds).

Victor Oladipo led the Magic with 25 points in the loss, while Evan Fournier, Aaron Gordon and Andrew Nicholson also finished in double figures for Orlando (29-41).


With the win, the Celtics (41-30) already have increased their win total from last season with 11 games left to play. They pulled even with the Miami Heat (40-29) and Atlanta Hawks (41-30) for the third seed in the Eastern Conference. The C’s will try to extend their two-game win streak when they host the Atlantic Division-leading Raptors on Wednesday night.

For a complete box score, click here. http://weei.stats.com/nba/boxscore.asp?gamecode=2016032102&home=2&vis=19&final=true

To go beyond the box, read on.

STUD OF THE NIGHT: Isaiah Thomas

Since the Magic had no answer for him on Monday night, Thomas decided to create his own challenge. He didn’t just score; he put on a show. In each successive drive to the basket, I.T. tried to outdo himself with an even fancier move. First, it was fancy behind-the-back drives, then through-the-leg passes and sky-high floaters. Thomas was absolutely electric.

DUD OF THE NIGHT: Marcus Smart

He continued his poor shooting, finishing 1-of-11 from the field. He has yet to realize he is not a good shooter, missing all five of his 3-point attempts. Smart got his three points only by attacking the basket on consecutive possessions in the second quarter.

VINE OF THE NIGHT:

https://vine.co/v/

WHINE OF THE NIGHT: Bench scoring

Other than Olynyk, the second unit really struggled to generate offense, contributing only three points. With Turner in the starting lineup, the bench lacks a dynamic playmaker. While Terry Rozier did a decent job in his 14 minutes, he just isn’t a threat to create at this point in his career.

STAT OF THE NIGHT Fast-break points

The Celtics scored 29 fast-break points on 10-of-11 shooting, and 24 of them came in the first half. The C’s did an excellent job getting out in transition, especially after Orlando misses, as only 13 of those points came off Magic turnovers.

@ OF THE NIGHT: Fauria makes an impression

Follow

WhiteBlackFrankWhite
‏@SamPackardNBA
NBA Hall of Famer Satch Sanders does not seem impressed by the antics of @christianfauria



RETWEETS
14
LIKES
31
Kevin GallantBradMike PetragliaKevin WinterCeltics NationMerrimack TweetsRobb MartinJoe CorkeryZibi
5:44 PM - 21 Mar 2016



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=400828933



Celtics strong down stretch, hold on to beat Magic 107-96

11:02 PM ET




BOSTON -- Isaiah Thomas had 28 points and seven assists and the Boston Celtics held on to beat the Orlando Magic 107-96 on Monday night.

Avery Bradley had 22 points and nine rebounds and Kelly Olynyk had 22 points in his fourth game back from a right shoulder sprain to help the Celtics even the season series with the Magic at two games each.

Boston led by 14 early in the fourth quarter and ended the game on a 9-2 run after having its lead cut to four. It was the Celtics' first home victory since their 14-game home winning streak was snapped on March 11.

Victor Oladipo led Orlando with 25 points and eight rebounds.

The Magic have lost four straight and eight of their last 10.

Injuries to key starters on both sides provided a different feel in the final matchup of the season between the teams.

Orlando's frontcourt was missing center Nik Vucevic, who has been out with a groin injury since March 7.

The Magic saw a different look from the Celtics as well, with starting forward Jae Crowder out for the fifth straight game because of a sprained right ankle.

The Celtics hit nine of their first 10 shots coming out of halftime to take their first double-digit lead of the night.

But Boston started 1 for 10 to begin the fourth quarter, allowing the Magic to quickly cut that deficit in half and get back into the game.

Boston came out sluggish, missing its first seven shots of the night. It also didn't help itself with six first-quarter turnovers.

Things changed after the Celtics began to push the pace and get easy baskets in transition. In one sequence that brought the TD Garden crowd to its feet late in second quarter, Thomas was able to find a streaking Bradley with a baseball pass for an easy layup.

It was two of 24 fast-break points Boston scored in the first half, compared to just 10 for the Orlando.

TIP-INS

Magic: Vucevic missed his ninth straight game. Orlando is now 2-7 since his Vucevic's injury. ... Orlando dropped to 4-12 in the second game of back-to-backs this season.

Celtics: Boston has won 11 straight home games against the Magic. ... The Celtics improved to 10-6 in the second game of back-to-backs this season.

UP NEXT

Boston hosts Toronto on Wednesday night.

Orlando continues its four-game road trip at Detroit on Wednesday night.



bob



.

[bobheckler]

Kelly had his stroke last night.  Good thing too.  7-12 and 4-6 from 3, 2 assists, 0 turnovers and 2 steals.  It's when he plays like this that you see why Brad puts him in.  He's still working off 12 games worth of rust, but he took his shoulder protection off last night, so maybe that's a sign he's finally feeling safe.

It's a good thing Kelly had his stroke because Marcus Smart sure as hell didn't.  1-11, 0-5 from 3.  I know he makes some outstanding defensive plays but his offense is SO bad I'm starting to sour on him a bit.  Then again I soured on Turner and he turned it around.  Maybe that's what will happen with Smart now that I've said this.  I sure hope so because he's shooting under 35% on the year and 30% in his last 10 games.  This is a scorer's league now.  Every time Smart shot, our lead shrank.  After yet another horrendous miss by him he stopped to complain to the ref about a non-call and Brad pulled him and put, I think, Rozier in.  A definite statement by Brad.  He told everybody to forget about the refs.  

Sully had a crappy game too.  After a great game vs Philly (BFD), he put up a 5 point, 3 rebound stinker, and no Nikola Vucevic neither.  Back up center DeWayne Dedmon outplayed him.

You would have thought the Orlando short, quick point guard corp of Brandon Jennings and Elfriid Payton would give IT fits but instead it was him to did it to them.  He outplayed the two of them, combined, times 3.  I swear, though, there are times where I would just love to know what is going through his mind.  He gets into situations that any reasonable person would fear to tread.  There's a limit to fearlessness, and then it edges into recklessness.

Bradley with the marquis matchup of the night vs Victor Oladipo.  What a great battle.  Both played great.  Bradley with some BIG baskets to pull us away from a 4 point game to a safe lead towards the end.

Amir with a work horse game.  He cleans up nice, just like he did for Toronto.  A perfect pnr recipient in a pnr league.  NOT pick-and-pop, though, and that's a serious weakness in his game.

29 fast break points.  That's awesome.

54 points in the paint.  I'd say that's awesome too, except that Orlando had 54 in the paint too.  NOT good to give up that many.

We now have more wins than all of last year with 11 to go.  It'll be a tough stretch but we've got to get our heads right for the playoffs.  The only addition from last year is Amir, everything else is just continuity, chemistry and organic growth.  I'd be willing to give Amir credit for a win or two, but not more than that.  We're in the black, year over year, as of last night.


bob



.

[cowens/oldschool]

bob 1 or 2 games? you've got to be kidding me? he has been so steady, he doesn't carry us offensively, but he does alot of the little things that don't show up on the boxscore and is our best defensive big. If we don't have him and his timely scoring and rim protection it would have meant more minutes for KO and Zeller and our defense would be much weaker. I don't know how many more games we won this season because of Amir, but it is easily more than 1 or 2.

[beat]

Didn't force many turnovers and during a stretch in the first half we sure appeared to be turning it over way too often, I pray and hope to see a win in person tomorrow, but we need to take care of the ball and force Toronto into a few and hopefully some easy hoops.

beat

[Sponsored content]