Marcus Smart's words spark Celtics comeback victory

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Marcus Smart's words spark Celtics comeback victory Empty Marcus Smart's words spark Celtics comeback victory

Post by bobheckler Tue Nov 22, 2016 12:30 pm

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2016/11/marcus_smarts_words_spark_celtics_comeback_victory



Marcus Smart's words spark Celtics comeback victory

Timeout talk leads into rally



By:  Steve Bulpett



Tuesday, November 22, 2016




Marcus Smart's words spark Celtics comeback victory AP16327070124594
Credit: Associated Press
Boston Celtics' Marcus Smart, left, drives into Minnesota Timberwolves' Andrew Wiggins in the first quarter of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Nov. 21, 2016, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)




MINNEAPOLIS — For all the Minnesota Timberwolves were doing to the Celtics through three quarters last night, what Marcus Smart said in a timeout may have hit the team harder.

The Celts were being bludgeoned by the young Timberwolves, getting pounded in the paint, 50-24, and busted on the boards, 41-24, and slapped on the scoreboard, 81-68.

“Smart kind of went at us at the end of the third quarter, and that woke us up — basically saying all the right stuff, that we weren’t playing like we need to be playing,” Isaiah Thomas said. “That kind of turned the switch.”

The Celtics got aggressive, and the Timberwolves went from worthy to wobbly in one quarter, allowing the visitors to come back for a 99-93 victory.

Al Horford had 20 points, six rebounds and five assists, and Terry Rozier had eight points in the last period as the C’s ended the game on a 33-12 run. Thomas had nine of his 29 points in the frame, but the groundwork was laid by Smart, Rozier, Horford, Jonas Jerebko and Jaylen Brown. That group, and Thomas and Avery Bradley to follow, harassed the hosts into 5-for-25 shooting in the fourth, and pushed the pace while hitting enough shots to tighten the Timberwolves’ collars.

“We had them on their heels, instead of the opposite,” Smart said. “We were just getting whatever we wanted whenever we wanted.”

Said coach Brad Stevens: “You hit a couple (shots), get a couple of stops and you start feeling like you can make a run. And, you know, everything had to go right at that time. Having those guys make big shots was great for them both now and in the future, and then the way that they fought for rebounds, even though we gave up a few open shots that, if Minnesota makes, we may not be standing here talking about a win. Sometimes it’s a make and miss game in that regard, but certainly we fought for every loose ball in that fourth quarter.”

Nemanja Bjelica hit two free throws with 18 seconds left in the third quarter to give Minnesota an 81-66 lead. When Horford scored inside with 1.6 seconds left, Gorgui Dieng didn’t even bother to attempt a heave at the buzzer when he received the inbounds pass — but the Celts kept playing.

Three-pointers by Jerebko and Rozier were just face-saving hoops, right? A Horford dunk and another Rozier trey were just going to make it cosmetically close, right? But the Celtics kept scoring — all the way to a 19-0 run and an 85-81 lead.

Karl-Anthony Towns, a monster with 27 points and 18 rebounds, scored Minnesota’s first points of the fourth quarter 6:42 in, but Horford followed with a brilliant play, batting an entry pass to him out to an open Smart for a 3-point dagger.

“They were just playing harder than us the whole game before that fourth quarter, and Smart in the timeout came out and he called the whole team out,” Jerebko said. “We had to come out and just play harder than them. We kept moving the ball, kept playing together, getting stops, just kept going for loose balls, and good stuff happened.”

Thomas noted the help of Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau, who burned his last timeout with 5:31 left and his club within four.

“Thibs had called all his timeouts, so that was a big reason why they kind of ran out of gas,” Thomas said. “They were getting open shots, but they were falling short. Give us credit for playing a little harder than them and making them think a little more and getting them uncomfortable.”

That was after Smart got the Celts out of their too-comfortable zone.

“Everybody was (ticked) off at how we were playing the whole game,” Smart said. “We were getting, as we like to call it, punked, and everybody had something to say about it, and we had to change it. Everybody agreed with everybody that we weren’t playing to the caliber that we usually play at.”

Said Thomas, “That second group won that game for us. . . . If it wasn’t for them, we would have had another loss.”

Instead, it was a second straight win on this trip that concludes tomorrow night in Brooklyn.




bob
MY NOTE:  The picture shows Smart driving on Wiggins.  It doesn't say if he scored any points off it.  He was 3-9 on the night, so the smart (small "s") money says this was another empty possession from Smart.  I love every part of his game except for his offense, specifically his shooting.  If you are going to be the most inefficient scorer in the league you had better be damn near the best defensive player in the league.  He's good, absolutely, but is he DPOY-worthy?  So much for him "fixing his shot" this summer.  You can't fix "touch".  I don't see where he has a shooter's touch.  He is shooting 37.3% from the field, 32.6% over his last 5 games, and 32.8% from 3.  Our offense sucks, in case you haven't noticed.  If we are not running we have problems because our half court offense is SO inefficient.  Just shoot less, Marcus, that's all I'm asking.  Keep doing everything else just as you are, just take 6 fgas/game instead of the 10.7 fgas/game you are averaging.  That will give another 5 fgas/game to another player and just about every other player in green is a better scorer than Marcus Smart.  Less is more, especially when the "more" is coming from a terrible shooter.


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bobheckler
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