POST GAME CLEVELAND - HOME

Celtics score dramatic win over Cavs

BOSTON HERALD

Mark Murphy Wednesday, March 01, 2017

Isaiah Thomas, speaking for himself recently, said he has his eyes on Cleveland and top seed in the Eastern Conference.

After Wednesday night’s 103-99 win over Cleveland, the Celtics can now dream a little bigger, like their point guard.

Jae Crowder, Avery Bradley and Thomas all hit 3-pointers in the last 2:06, each time for the lead. And when Bradley, going over his minutes restriction with 22, pressured Kyrie Irving into a miss following two Thomas free throws, the Celtics were able to close out from the line.

Though Thomas produced a rarity — three straight missed free throws — earlier in the fourth, he combined with Crowder to hit four straight from the line in the last 28.9 seconds.

Thomas, with his best performance in the last four games, finished with a game-high 31 points, including eight points in the fourth.

But this time he had help from Al Horford (10 rebounds, 10 assists, nine points), who missed a triple double by one point, and Jae Crowder with a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Irving and LeBron James each scored 28 points.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Celtics close out the game strong, pull out a 103-99 win over Cavs

CSNNE By A. Sherrod Blakely March 01, 2017 10:40 PM


Marcus Smart was mic'd up for Monday night's game against the Hawks. Here are some of the best moments.

BOSTON – For most of this season, the best teams in the East have gotten the better of the Boston Celtics.

They have had their share of good but not good enough performances against teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers, but have consistently failed to seal the victory.

That all changed on Wednesday night as the Celtics pulled out a 103-99 win over the Cavs.

Isaiah Thomas led all scorers with 31 points while LeBron James had a triple-double of 28 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for the Cavaliers.

Boston (39-22) snapped a three-game losing skid to the Cavs in addition to handing Cleveland (41-18) its first loss to a team from the Atlantic Division this season.

A pair of free throws by Thomas put the Celtics ahead 101-99 with 28.1 seconds to play.

Newly acquired Cavs guard Deron Williams had a wide open shot from the corner that rimmed in and out before being rebounded by the Jae Crowder with four seconds to play.

Crowder, who had a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, made both free throws after being fouled to seal the victory in what was a wild finish that was anyone’s for the taking.

Thomas began the fourth quarter on the bench, but entered play with 10:02 remaining and the score tied at 76.

Three-pointers by James and Richard Jefferson were bookends to a 3-ball from Boston’s Jaylen Brown, leaving the score 82-79 in Cleveland’s favor with more than eight minutes of action still left in the game.

Avery Bradley, who remains on a minutes restriction, checked back into the game with 3:28 to play and Boston trailing 92-90.

His task was clear: limit Kyrie Irving who had 24 points at the time on 9-for-15 shooting. Irving finished with 28 points on 10-for-19 shooting.

Boston being on the cusp of victory was a far cry from how the game played out through the first three quarters, with the Celtics doing what they’ve done time and time against teams like the Cavs which is play well but not well enough to get the victory.

The Celtics spent most of the first half playing catch-up, an all-too familiar position Cleveland tends to put most of their opponents in.

But the Celtics fought their way back into the game, and tied it at 41-all following an Isaiah Thomas 3-pointer.

The two went back and forth the rest of the half which ended with Cleveland clinging to a slim 50-49 lead.

Boston continued to stay within arm’s reach of the Cavs, leading by as many as two points (59-57) following a 3-pointer by Al Horford.

Both teams put on the kind of performance you would expect from the top two teams in the East, with the Celtics going into the fourth clinging to a slim 74-71 lead.

112288

GREAT WIN!!!  Boy, did we need this one, and against an extremely high quality opponent.

Bradley was an inefficient 4-11 but his defense on Kyrie Irving was unreal.  You'll never seen better man-to-man defense on him than what we saw Bradley deliver.

Triple team IT in the 4th quarter.  Expect to see that from now on.  That means we have to execute, we have to move without the ball and we have to hit our shots.  We, not him.  An extremely rare 6-10 from the line, including 3 straight misses.

Horford 1 point away from a triple-double.  10 assists and only 2 TOs for a center is positively remarkable.  3-6 is not enough fgas for him, not when he is shooting relatively well.

Crowder 17 points on 5-10 and 10 boards.  He has been really rebounding well lately.  His last rebound got him to the line where he calmly hit both fritos to make it a 4 point game with 4 seconds left, winning it.    

Kelly was a factor.  He had 10 points on 4-5 and they really didn't know how to handle him.  He got 5 fouls but some were pure ticky-tack and at least one was a phantom.  I hope Cowens and ktronic watched this game and saw some of the defense Kelly played against LeBron, of all people, when we got caught with the mismatch.  He'll never be a lockdown defender with those alligator arms but he has become a pretty good position defender and he forced LeBron to pass out, even though he was in the paint, at least twice because he was beating LeBron to the spot.  No, I'm not lying.

Brown with a couple of rookie mistakes, but 7 rebounds.  This was a big game for him, he was defending the greatest player of his generation.  Two years.  Two years and he is going to open a lot of eyes.

We outrebounded them 47-41.  I don't see that happening again once Bogut starts getting minutes.  Him and Thompson on the floor together is going to make for a very, very difficult front line matchup for everybody on offense against them.

29% after 1, 46% for the game.  

They had 91 fgas.  TOO many possessions to give up vs Kyrie and LeBron.

LOVE Rozier's rebounding and defense, 5 boards in 10 minutes.  Another 0-5 night for him, he's shooting 37.9% on the year.

Smart taking two straight offensive charges straight into his chest.  He is not going to be playing very far into his 30s, so enjoy it while you can.  His body takes a beating every game.  4-9 shooting for 9 points.  I'm quite happy with that.  8 assists and 1 TO and his usual ferocious defense.  He should post up every guard in the league.

Cleveland had 3 players in double digits:  LeBron (28), Irving (28) and Derrick Williams (13) and two players close.  Either one of Irving or LeBron gets injured and they will fall apart.  We had 4 players in double digits and 3 players close.  More balanced scoring despite (because?) of their triple teaming the ball out of IT's hands?  When we hit our shots we are very good and, on the season, we are one of the top catch-and-shoot teams in the league.

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400899432



bob

THE WINNING MARGIN SHOULD HAVE BEEN HIGHER.....I GUESS STERN PASSED DOWN TO SILVER THE COMMAND....JAMES SHALL WIN NO MATTER WHAT!


THE REF'S ARE BOGUS AND THE CALLS TONIGHT WERE RIDICULES !!!!!!!!

IN A YEAR MAYBE 2 WE WILL OWN THIS LEAGUE WITH ALL THE PLAYERS WE ARE ACCUMULATING....ALL YOUNG AND ALL VERRRRRRRY GOOOOOOD!

GO CELTICS!!!!!!!!!!!

112288

second half was one of the best games I've seen this year to date.

back and forth with neither team backing down.

Great game and agree 100% with Rich. Celtics beat the Cavs AND the Refs - and did it in style.

The more IT sees these kind of schemes now - the time he has to dissect them and learn to work around them. He did a great job last night, and didnt force too many shots.

I know not everyone here agrees - but IMO, any important minute Brad gives to a player who wont be here in a year or two, is a wasted minute. That is why I dont see giving up assets for rentals like Bogut.

The Celtics are still not likely ready to win it all - so let Rozier, Brown and Smart learn on the fly, taking their lumps and growing from the experience. All of this grinding will pay off in a season or two, when Jaylen is going for 15 and 10 every night and Rozier is running the point -with IT playing off the ball.

heroball can help but teamball wins in roundball

Once the Celtics fully accept the responsibility IT won't have to deal with triple teams and we can advance to the EC finals where Cleveland can be had. This team will soon be back to full strength and AB proved last night what a difference maker he can be. But it can't be at the expense of Brown's minutes who is emerging as a future star right before our eyes. He will be a consistent player by the end of the season, much better than he is now. He is taught and then allowed to play the right way.

I think Rozier is being showcased and will be the guard out if the C's go with Ball or Fultz. He has a complete game but it has suffered by not getting the playing time he needs. There has to be some kind of trade this summer and players like Rozier and Young need to prove they are worth more than a bag of balls.

I don't know if this constitutes a signature or statement win but it sure is an important win especially with the road trip coming up. This is the time to start a new winning streak and remember how to play team offense and especially defense. Let's make some noise and stop their talk about our assets and make them deal with reality.

17goingon18

Wow....guess we are watching a different game. If IT hasnt earned his money the last two seasons, I dont know what it would take to do so.

IT has earned every dollar because he is on a team friendly contract.

In all fairness, he can't be evaluated yet. His past two years are great but he is vulnerable to triple teaming and if that is what prevents the Celtics from advancing then things will be done differently. IT may be good enough to make up for the rosters short comings but that is better served by a focus on team ball and not a reliance on a guy who is 5'9". Happy if he proves me wrong but that's a discussion for after the playoffs. For him to be worth max money he has to be better at making his team mates better and that will be even more important next year with at least 4 new incoming players. It is inevitable that IT will eventually be upgraded.

Some of you guys make me laugh.  Being the leading scorer in the NBA in the 4th quarter, second leading scorer in the NBA already proves you wrong.  Unless you are signing Westbrook or Curry - it is NOT possible to upgrade, not sure what some of you guys are talking about.

Every player has limitations, if you add another primary scorer like Gordon Hayward and some help on the boards next to Horford - Thomas is STILL an all star and 25 PPG player in this league.

The Celtics without IT at this point are battling to make the playoffs vs pushing Cleveland for the first position.  Isaiah has nothing to prove to you or anyone else at this point.  Pay the man.

well........ if Horford is worth max money then IT is worth twice that.

better back up that brinks truck Danny....your gonna need it.

HERE IS A SUGGESTION > JIMMER FREDETTE IS COMING BACK NOW AND LOOKING TO HOOK UP WITH AN NBA TEAM FOR A RUN IN THE PLAYOFFS. HE IS IN A 1 CONDITION JUST FINISHING HIS STINT IN CHINA LEAGUE AVERAGING 37.5 PPG.

HE ISN'T RUSTY!

HE IS 94% FT SHOOTER AND 40% FOR 3 PTERS.

HE WOULD BE A GREAT COUNTER TO TAKE PRESSURE OFF OF IT AND ADD A 3 PT WEAPON TO COUNTER KORVER ON CLEVELAND.

112288

Fredette, interesting thought.

Here we have THOMAS, a proven elite scorer, and some are fantasizing about replacing him with a 19 or 20 year old draft pick whose future career is completely speculative. And even if he does become a super scorer, like Thomas, would you like to predict the year that he will be putting up those Thomas like numbers.

swish

swish wrote:Here we have THOMAS, a proven elite scorer, and some are fantasizing about replacing him with a 19 or 20 year old draft pick whose future career is completely speculative. And even if he does become a super scorer, like Thomas, would you like to predict the year that he will be putting up those Thomas like numbers.

 swish

Could not agree more - and was just about to post something very similar.

#1 - We are not in rebuild mode - we are in - add a few more pieces and then make a run for a few years mode.
#2 - There is no reason why Fultz, if he is as good as advertised - cannot play the 2.  Good players dont have numbers anyway - we see Smart playing the 3 and even 4 on occasion, as the game opens up - athletes matter not positions.
#3 - by the time Fultz (or anyone else) is ready to take over the leadership of this team - Thomas will be 31 or 32, and that would be a fine time to move him.  But for the next 3 to 4 years, IT should play a big part of this team.
#4 - and this is my Marketing self coming out.  The Boston Celtics are sitting on a GOLD MINE with Thomas.  He is a great person, great player, great in the community - he is a dream for a team to promote behind.

IT will be resigned for close to max.  Danny would be stupid not to do so.

Others have said what I`m thinking. The second leading scorer in the league despite the lack of another major scoring threat, good assist to turnover ratio, finishes at the rack ( yes, I know, he`ll get blocked occasionally) and king of the fourth----he`s a phenomenon , and he is definitely worth a maximum contract. Horford, not so much, although he seems to be coming out of his funk.

I'm in line with MrKleen, Swish and Jr.  I'll take a proven bird in the hand over 2 unproven, untested unknown birds in the bush.

Short of being #2 scorer in the league (#1 if you adjust for usage, Russell Westbrook has the ball in his hands almost all the time) and probably in the top 3 for MVP consideration, what more do you want?  All-Defense too?  You gotta be MJ or Kobe to do that.  Even Bird, for all his unassailable HOF greatness, never got above All-Defensive Second team (and that was primarily as a help defender, not as a man-to-man defender).

He's a 2x All-Star.  He seems to be well-liked and respected around the league by players (ok, maybe not Dennis Schroder).  He is the best recruiter we have.

In order to win, you need more than one go-to guy.  In a sport with only 5 players on the court at any one time it is NOT a democracy where you can just win by throwing more players at the opposition and just swamp them.  You need the guy who wants the ball, who has the cojones to take one big shot after another, who is not afraid of the moment, and who has the skill to hit the shot.  You need an Alpha dog.  Smart has everything except the last (even then, he's pretty good in the clutch, it's the rest of the game he cannot shoot in).  If Smart could shoot like Jimmy Butler he'd leapfrog right over All-Star and become a living god. Name another player we have that has all of those qualities, besides IT?  We hoped Al Horford would be that guy but we have seen that he misses a lot of easy shots when pressure is on.  Our problem isn't that our go-to guy is going to want a lot of money, ALL go-to guys do, our problem is that we only have one go-to guy and we need another, as in him and at least one more.  Swapping out IT for another player still leaves us with just one, and we need another.  

And yes, he's going to cost a shitload of money too.


bob


.

No question that IT's defense is his weakness, hes lucky hes on a team that has personnel to cover up alot of his shortcomings with very good/great defenders at all the other positions. Smart and AB are the 2 best guard defenders in the league, Crowder is a strong defender and Jaylen's defense is getting better and better every game....on any other team his defensive weakness would be way more exposed.

dboss wrote:

swish wrote:Here we have THOMAS, a proven elite scorer, and some are fantasizing about replacing him with a 19 or 20 year old draft pick whose future career is completely speculative. And even if he does become a super scorer, like Thomas, would you like to predict the year that he will be putting up those Thomas like numbers.

 swish

Be nice my friend.  Suggesting that If Boston drafts Fultz, IT may be gone is not a fantasy.  It is not something I want to happen but simply something that could happen. Given the money factor and others considerations.  Just so that we are clear, all superstars were 19 or 20 years old.  Fultz may very well be that next superstar and the 2017 draft gives the Celtics a good chance of drafting that level of player. That would be a rare position for this franchise to be in.  

dboss

dboss

"Suggesting that If Boston drafts Fultz, IT may be gone is not a fantasy. It is not something I want to happen but simply something that could happen."

Based on your above statement I would think that latching on to another proven star this summer would be a priority for Danny - if indeed Thomas were to move on. With out Thomas we could very well be a non contender in a hurry and then its back to a youthful rebuilt and all the uncertainty that goes with relying on a roster laced with a bunch of kids. We are close enough now to warrant making an all out effort to win it all in the next 2 years. Use those high draft picks for the star(s) that could make it happen now - not down the road a way, if ever. Its all about opinions dboss - and Danny has the only opinion that matters

swish

cowens/oldschool wrote:No question that IT's defense is his weakness, hes lucky hes on a team that has personnel to cover up alot of his shortcomings with very good/great defenders at all the other positions. Smart and AB are the 2 best guard defenders in the league, Crowder is a strong defender and Jaylen's defense is getting better and better every game....on any other team his defensive weakness would be way more exposed.

cowens

Here are some numbers comparing the 6 Guards that rank in the top 20 in scoring this year (all of the below figures are for the 2016-17 season)

The numbers below represent the percentage points that the player being guarded by the below list of players shot against the league and against the player.

  Thomas - The man he was guarding shot 1.3% points higher against him then he did against the rest of the league.
  Lillard  -  The man he was guarding shot 2.2% points higher.
  Harden -  The man he was guarding shot 2.4% points higher
  Lowry -    The man he was guarding shot 3.1% points higher.
  Westbrook - The man he was guarding shot 4.2% points higher.
  Irving -     The man he was guarding shot 4.8% points higher.

Not bad for a player with a reputation as a bad defender

  swish