Post Game Thread - vs Dallas Mavericks, Away

[bobheckler]

3-1 road trip is pretty good.  Granted 3 of those teams are no playoff teams but still...A head-shaker in Sacto, a 17 point comeback in Portland and an almost blowout in Utah against a really good defensive team.

The refs sucked the life out of this game in the 2nd half.  WAY too many whistles, and not many good ones, both ways.  I'm saying this on a game we won too, so it isn't sour grapes.

It's amazing how a week away from the game will make you rusty.  Jae needs to get his rhythm back.  It'll happen, he'll have the all-star break to practice but he was way off last night.

29 points on 9-19, 4-10 from 3 AND 8 assists and only 1 TO.  IT continues to amaze.  The rap on him used to be that he was a high-volume, low-efficiency scorer.  Not anymore.

Brian Robb @CelticsHub
about 1 hour ago
Isaiah Thomas since returning from injury on Dec. 16: 32.5 ppg (1st in NBA) 49.5% FG 40.7% 3pt 93.1% FT (1st in NBA) C's record: 23-7
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Smart started out like a house on fire, with 17 points on 6-7 shooting, 3-4 from 3, at the half.  Unbelievable smoking hot on both ends.  Then, in the 2nd half, he went cold.  2 points on fritos, 0-4 from the field and 0-3 from 3.  I realize players who have good halfs and then come out after halftime and have another good halfs are All-Stars, that's what they do that makes them that, but what a drop off!  

Good thing Kelly had a good 2nd half to cover for him.  He had a weak first half, a few good defensive plays (e.g. two great defensive stops in the paint, on two different players, on the same possession) but stat-wise only had 2 points on 1-2 and 2 rebounds at halftime.  Ok, certainly not uplifting.  In the 2nd half, however, he elevated his game tremendously.  13 points on 5-8 shooting, 5 rebounds with 2 of them offensive and some good defensive play (Hell, even Cowens was giving him credit!  Get your umbrellas out, pigs are about to form an air force) in the 2nd half.  Brad has figured out how to get Kelly mismatches down low on pnrs and Kelly is finally figuring out how to execute them and then stick his butt out and hold his hand out for the ball.  IN FACT, other than the 3 points that came from Kelly's single corner 3 ALL of the rest of his 15 points, the other 12, came inside the restricted area.  We really don't have a true inside player since Sully left.  Amir plays inside, but I wouldn't want to see him "work" there.  He's not that offensively clever.  Smart is a remarkably good poster but he's a guard and that makes for a weird inside-out game.  Horford could/would be a good low post player if he stopped blowing bunnies.  Kelly, especially on pnrs that get him that mismatch inside, is one of our best inside players.  He isn't a bullshot player, as Sam used to refer to Sully's inside bully moves and shots, but he is getting good at getting the mismatches and taking advantage of them.  Credit to Brad for running those plays and Kelly for making them work.  12 points at the rim last night is a good night's work for most bigs in today's perimeter-oriented NBA.  Last, but not least, Kelly led the team (with Amir) in rebounds with 7.  We are not a good rebounding team, to put it mildly, and we don't have a board monster like Detroit's Andre Drummond.  What we do is spread the rebounding around.  Last night, with out top 2 rebounders with 7 boards each, we outrebounded Dallas 41-37.  Yeah, I know, Dallas is the WORST rebounding team in the league, but still, this is how we do it.  Is the bounce real?  It has been the last few games...

Brian Robb @CelticsHub
yesterday
Kelly Olynyk in last 5 games: 13.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 59.6% FG, 43.8% 3pt, 23.2 mpg.
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https://twitter.com/celtics/status/831350938627502080


Paul Flannery @Pflanns
yesterday
The ratio of Good Kelly plays to Oh, Kelly plays has trended positively for the Celtics lately.
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I don't know if this is Dirk's last year, but maybe it should be.  He isn't the same.  

Yogi Ferrell popped open some eyes last night.  20 points on 8-11 off the bench.  The undrafted kid from IU is a baller.  Maybe we have one of them too.  If so, his name is Demetrius Jackson.

We are 3rd in the league in 3pt fgas, with 33.1/game.  Houston is an insane 39+/game but Cleveland is #2 with 33.4/game.  Brooklyn is #4 and GSW is #5.  So, 4 of the top 5 3pt fga teams are also 4 of the top 5 teams in the NBA.  Only San Antonio is a top team that leans away from 3pt fgas, and that's because they have Pop's system and nobody else does.  Welcome to the new NBA.  Want to win?  Better take a lot of 3s and hit a good %.  We are 3rd in 3pt fgas, 10th in 3pt fg%.  San Antonio may be last in 3pt fga but #1, a sick 40%, from 3.  

Gerald Green was a possible scratch for last night's game, he wasn't feeling well, but he still scored 10 minutes in 14 minutes.  He is DEFINITELY coming around.

Tom Westerholm @Tom_NBA
about 5 minutes ago
Gerald Green just got what I can only assume is his first ever comparison to Bernard King, from Scal.
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Jay King @ByJayKing
about 5 minutes ago
Scal laughing at every preposterous Gerald Green make is one of the joys of covering a road game from afar.
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Adam Himmelsbach @AdamHimmelsbach
about 5 minutes ago
Gerald Green is 14 for 16 from the field over the last 2+ games. Almost all jumpers too.
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We ended the 3rd quarter up by only 1.  We outscored Dallas 28-16 in the 4th quarter.  The only Celtic to play all 12 minutes of that 4th quarter?  James Young.  5 points on 2-3 and 4 boards in 12 minutes isn't a mind-blowing boxscore but he was impactful.  He did everything right.  Has that worm finally turned?  I sure hope so, there are only 9 days left to the trade deadline.  Yeah, I still want him gone, but I'll give him credit for having a couple of good games this past week or two.


Miscellaneous:

Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
59 minutes ago
The Celtics have now played 150 road games under Brad Stevens... First 75: 21-54 (.280) Last 75: 43-32 (.573)
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Marc D'Amico @celtics
yesterday
Smart on 3-1 road trip: "We would've loved to go 4-0, but we bounced back. That's what good teams do, & we're becoming a really great team."
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Adam Himmelsbach @AdamHimmelsbach
yesterday
"Let's go Celtics" chants now from the Boston fans here in Dallas.
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Brian Robb @CelticsHub
yesterday
This is another legit road win for the Celtics. Mavs had won last 6 of 7 at home, including a victory over Cavs.
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Adam Himmelsbach @AdamHimmelsbach
yesterday
It's wild when you can hear Stevens and he calls out what's coming like 90 pct of the time. He called that exact inbounds play by Mavs.
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Rick Carlisle thinks we can make the Finals.  Here's his full statement.




According to BPI (Basketball Power Index) our odds of that happening are improving:




http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400900231






bob



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[wideclyde]

Bob,

To me, the highlight of your post has to deal with the fact that the Cs out-rebounded the Mavs last night and have been very competitive with each of their opponents on the boards for about two weeks now.

This new and improved rebounding has been a joy to watch. If these type of team rebounding performances can continue our team will continue to be much better off. Even though our defense is lagging behind last year's defense, getting equal or more rebounds each night gives our improved offense a real good chance to win in each game.

Although our rebounding has improved (and, has been a big part of winning 10 of the last 11) I still think that we need another center who can provide even more rebounding for the rest of the year and also into the playoffs.

[steve3344]

I know Dallas is a poor rebounding team, but so are we.  So it's still an eye-opener to see that the Celtics prevented the Mav's entire starting five from getting even ONE offensive rebound.  I can't remember the last boxscore where five starters got no offensive rebounds.  It's a real rarity.


http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boston-celtics-dallas-mavericks-2017021306/

[cowens/oldschool]

I know Dallas is a poor rebounding team, but so are we.  So it's still an eye-opener to see that the Celtics prevented the Mav's entire starting five from getting even ONE offensive rebound.  I can't remember the last boxscore where five starters got no offensive rebounds.  It's a real rarity.


http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boston-celtics-dallas-mavericks-2017021306/

damn maybe Kelly did transform overnight to Paul Silas?

[steve3344]

I know Dallas is a poor rebounding team, but so are we.  So it's still an eye-opener to see that the Celtics prevented the Mav's entire starting five from getting even ONE offensive rebound.  I can't remember the last boxscore where five starters got no offensive rebounds.  It's a real rarity.


http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boston-celtics-dallas-mavericks-2017021306/

damn maybe Kelly did transform overnight to Paul Silas?

Our whole team did for last night.

[bobc33]

I know Dallas is a poor rebounding team, but so are we.  So it's still an eye-opener to see that the Celtics prevented the Mav's entire starting five from getting even ONE offensive rebound.  I can't remember the last boxscore where five starters got no offensive rebounds.  It's a real rarity.


http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boston-celtics-dallas-mavericks-2017021306/

damn maybe Kelly did transform overnight to Paul Silas?

Ha ha!!!

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