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Irving gets hit in face, Celtics hold off Hornets 90-87

ESPN BOSTON

BOSTON -- Jayson Tatum had 16 points, Shane Larkin added 16 off the bench and the Boston Celtics overcame an injury to Kyrie Irving and a 12-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Charlotte Hornets 90-87 on Friday night.

Terry Rozier finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists, playing an increased role after Irving left the game in the first quarter after taking an elbow to the face. Jaylen Brown added 10 points and 13 rebounds.
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The Celtics extended their win streak to 11 games. Charlotte has lost four straight.

Celtics center Aron Baynes' elbow inadvertently struck Irving when Baynes was landing after a rebound attempt. Irving fell to the floor and was bleeding from the nose as he was escorted back to the locker room. Irving was ruled out for the rest of the game while he was monitored for possible concussion symptoms.

Kemba Walker led the Hornets with 20 points and 11 assists.

Celtics trailed by 12 after three quarters, but opened the fourth on a 16-3 run and took the lead with 4:05 to play on a basket by Brown.

The lead grew to five before Walker's three-point play got the Hornets back within 86-85. Marcus Morris connected on a jumper, but Walker responded with a driving layup to get it back to a point.

Boston called timeout, but Rozier accidently stepped out of bounds on the ensuing inbounds play. Walker dribbled the clock down, but his jumper bounced off the back of the rim and was rebounded by Rozier. He was fouled and sank two free throws with 3.6 seconds left.

Charlotte struggled throughout the final period, going 4 of 20 from the field and committing six turnovers.

With Irving out, Charlotte took advantage against Boston's reserves, stretching its lead to as many as 18 in the second quarter and taking a 16-point lead into halftime.

BANGED UP

Irving's injury is the latest stroke of bad luck for a Boston starter. Starting forward Al Horford missed his second straight game with a concussion. And, of course, Gordon Hayward is out for the season after a gruesome leg injury on opening night.

SLOW START

The Celtics opened just 1 of 11 from the floor, and that first made field goal never made it through the hoop. Brown was credited with a basket when Howard was called for goaltending with 8:58 left in the first quarter, cutting Charlotte's lead to 9-2.

Boston's first field goal to actually fall through the basket came from Morris more than halfway through the quarter.

TIP-INS

Hornets: Charlotte's 57 points in the first half were the second most the Celtics have allowed in the first half this season, one fewer than Milwaukee scored in the opening half of a 108-100 win on Oct. 18. ... Nicolas Batum (sprained left elbow) and Treveon Graham (right quad contusion) both sat out.

Celtics: Shot just 33 percent (14 of 43) in the first half. ... Coach Brad Stevens said Horford is "doing way better" but wouldn't speculate about his availability.

UP NEXT

Celtics: Host Raptors on Sunday.
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Celtics rally in fourth quarter to beat Hornets, extend win streak to 11 games

NBC SPORTS BOSTON By A. Sherrod Blakely November 10, 2017 10:16 PM


BOSTON – When Gordon Hayward went down with a season-ending ankle injury, the Celtics quickly regrouped.

Losing Al Horford for a game, they still managed to find a way to win in his absence.

But when the final member of Boston’s Big Three, Kyrie Irving, went down less than two minutes into Friday’s game against Charlotte with what’s being monitored as a possible concussion, you had to believe … this is it right?

The streak is good as gone tonight, right?

For most of the game, it seemed that way.

And then came the fourth quarter which is when the Celtics’ defense went into full-blown lockdown mode which generated a fat run that paved the way for an improbable 90-87 win.

Boston (11-2) extended its league-best winning streak which now stands at 11 in a row. The victories have come in an assortment of ways, but Friday’s win was arguably the hardest to secure.

After a Kemba Walker lay-up cut Boston’s lead to 88-87, Boston’s Terry Rozier stepped out of bounds.

On the ensuing Charlotte possession, Walker got a defensive switch in which he was being defended by Marcus Morris.

Morris’ defense was clutch, forcing Walker into a tough shot that had no chance to go in with the loose ball ultimately winding up in the hands of Rozier.

Rozier, who had 15 points off the bench, sank a pair of free throws with 3.6 seconds to play.

After a Hornets timeout, the inbounds pass was deflected with Charlotte unable to get a shot off in time.The comeback began in the fourth quarter.

After trailing by as many as 18 points, the Celtics began the fourth with a 10-1 run to come within 77-74 following a 3-pointer by Jaylen Brown.

He wasn’t done.

Boston scored six of the game’s next eight points, capped off by a Brown driving lay-up that put Boston ahead 80-79 with 5:25 to play. He would finish with a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds.

A jumper by Boston’s Shane Larkin hit the back of the rim, took a ridiculously high bounce before deciding to drop through the nets, gave Boston an 82-79 which was soon followed by missed shots by both teams.

Larkin finished with a season-high 16 points on 5-for-8 shooting.

Rookie sensation Jayson Tatum, a game-time decision due to a sore right ankle, had a strong game as well with 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting.

But as good as the win was for the Celtics, there was a bittersweet taste about it because of Irving’s injury.

He was hit with an inadvertent blow from teammate Aron Baynes that has the Celtics monitoring Irving for a possible concussion which means his return to the Celtics is very much in the air.

Irving would be the second Celtics player this week to enter the league’s concussion protocol program, joining Al Horford who has missed the last two games but appears close to returning possibly as early as Sunday against Toronto.
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80 - 2 THE DREAM LIVES ON!

This team is not only building confidence.........they are also building heart!

This team is becoming a beast on the court.........wait until we have all our starters back.............its going to be a nice Spring indeed!

112288

What's amazing is Brad Stevens went to the 19-year old rookie in the last 2 minutes for points.

I think those who watched the game could clearly see that even though Tatum's physique is still not fully developed, he can drive to the basket and finish.

That's a 19-year old kid against NBA players who are grown men.

In 2 years or maybe next season, Tatum will be a beast.

Larkin learned that back of the rim shot from Don Nelson. All you oldtimers will remember what I am talking about.

fierce wrote:What's amazing is Brad Stevens went to the 19-year old rookie in the last 2 minutes for points.

I think those who watched the game could clearly see that even though Tatum's physique is still not fully developed, he can drive to the basket and finish.

That's a 19-year old kid against NBA players who are grown men.

In 2 years or maybe next season, Tatum will be a beast.

It certainly was a good game for his development.

Amazing to have come out of that game with a win for the Celts. Really gritty win for any team but special for such a young team.

Despite horrendous shooting.......we never let them get too far ahead although 18 is pretty bad.

A month ago who would have dreamed that we'd be playing for 11 in a row without Hayward, Horford and for most of this game Irving, unbelievably really.

I can only imagine just how good we could be when everyone is healthy but for now we are getting valuable minutes and contributions from deep in the bench.  

Think I heard Steve Smith on NBA TV mention our players are just not intimidated by anyone. We may not always shoot well (obviously) but we play hard tough defense. So many of our guys can defend multiple positions too. Young ones  Looking more like a bunch of season vets than rooks and second year players.

beat

Another gritty, grind itout, come from behind win for the Celtics. No NBA team has ever started 0-2 and then won 11 straight.

We have to stop injuring our own players.

Tatum keeps playing and contributing to the win. While he may not be our team MVP, he is playing like one.

Shane Larkin was as responsible for this win as anyone else. 16pts on 5of8, 2of3 from deep and all four fritos,A big +15 for the game. All of this in only 17 minutes.

Smart put in a real stinker. Only 8pts on 3of16 shooting for a whopping 18.8%. Of course that is better than his 0%, 0-7 from 3 point land. Only one rebound in 34 minutes played. Not a typical game from Marcus but exactly the kind of game that I complain about from him. He is only listed as having 2 turn overs but in reality how many missed shots ended up with a Charlotte basket? Please stop trying to do too much, Marcus. Your role should be making your team better as evidenced by a respectable 7 assists.

TRo didn't have a great game either but at least he produced. 15 points and seven rebounds. But he only shot 25^ from the field.

I continue to like Theis.

Jaylen continues to struggle from the field but he also continues to produce. 10 points and 13 rebounds. He even hit 3of4 fritos.

When this team even comes close to playing the right way they win. As Brown said a while back. "Coach wants us to be on the same page even if it isn't the right page."

These are the games that a championship caliber team wins.

These players respected their coach, the GM, the Celtic tradition, and themselves. Celtic pride in full display last night so very proud of them.

This team is starting to remind me of the Cowens era teams of the 70s. Tough as nails determination, with everyone ready to step up and plug whatever leak pops up in the dam.

I couldn't watch the game live, I'll do that tonight. During the game, I was keeping tabs on the game by reading the Game On thread as well as watching the Yahoo box score and game stream.

I kept reporting on the game to Janie and she said it felt like the old times, listening to the game on the radio. Because of the many posts on the Game On thread that were about the horrible refs, I came across as a weak version of Johnny Most. I did call Howard a cold blooded assassin, LOL, I had to explain that one to her.

I will watch the game tonight and try to read the Game On thread at the same time. Rosalie wrote last night, "Just let me know if you think we were just a bunch of homers with these ref''s or if you think they were as bad as we did". I will keep that in mind.

11 in a row. Wow.

Go Celtics!!!

Most people said "Shane who" when Danny signed Larkin. After the preseason, Stevens and Danny both said that at some point in time, Larkin would help win a game for the C's. Well, that game came earlier in the season than we all expected.

Game ball to him, he kept his head in the game and hardly made any bad plays. Jason Tatum comes in a close second, without his scoring, we never would have won. I have said it over and over, he has ice water in his veins. The way he is playing, you hardly realize he is a rookie.

This was a great win for the team, without three big players.
I know we have to stop referring to Hayward as one of the starters, but, can you imagine this team with Hayward, Irving and Horford playing at the level they are capable of. I would not be afraid of GSW. We would give them a good run, I am not naive enough to believe we would beat them this year, but, watch out next year, the best is yet to come.

If the come from behind win in OKC was a signature win what was this one?  Capital "S", Capital "W"?  I'll be honest, I didn't think we could do it, we struggled to even get it under 10.  Until the end, which is the only time it really matters being ahead.

I know it's early and all, but if Brad Stevens isn't the runaway frontrunner for Coach of the Year then God isn't a Celtic fan and we all know that's not true.  Design a team offense to run through an All-Star player.  Lose that player 5 minutes into the season.  Use your first non-game day off to re-think your plan.  Go on 9 game winning streak.  Lose your 2nd All-Star to a concussion.  Win anyway.  Lose your 3rd and final All-Star, go down 18 points and still win.  14 players on the roster, 3 out, 3 starters/rotation players en route to a 20% shooting.  Brad says "hold my beer".

Here's two examples of Brad Stevens' coaching leadership:  he put Yabusele in to foul Dwight Howard.  He doesn't foul him and the Hornets hit a 3 instead.  Brad is SCREAMING "FOUL HIM!!!".  Yabby fouls Howard BUT he did it under 2:00 left in the half and that gives Howard 2 fritos AND the Hornets the ball out of bounds.  VERY dumb ball by Yabby.  Cool as a cucumber Brad Stevens' post-game response?


Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA

yesterday

Stevens on Yabu messing up hack-a-Dwight in 1st half: "He’s new to the NBA...What that really boils down to is horrible coaching. Because he should know what he’s supposed to do when he goes in and he should know when he can’t do it. So that’s not his fault, it’s ours.
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Here's the 2nd one.

Jay King @ByJayKing

yesterday

Terry Rozier said Stevens told the Celtics they were gonna win the game when they were down 15: "And this place is gonna go crazy," Stevens told them.
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We have several players who are veteran professionals but who are new to the Celtics and Brad Stevens like Marcus Morris, Kyrie Irving, Aron Baynes and Daniel Theis.  They've seen things, they've played under multiple coaches.  If they weren't true believers after the OKC game they are rabid zealots after last night.  Whatever minute infinitesimally small shred of doubt they might still have had has been swamped by what happened last night. 


Brian Robb @BrianTRobb

yesterday

Marcus Morris on Brad Stevens: "He's a guru."
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No practices means it's all in-game coaching.


Adam Himmelsbach @AdamHimmelsbach

about 9 hours ago 

During this 11-game winning steak the Celtics have really developed chemistry with some great practices. (Just kidding they haven’t practiced in 19 days)
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Not only no All-Stars but Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier combined for 9-42, 21%.  The team took 84 fgas, so these 3 players took half of them.  I realize that, Kyrie going out, it was up to everybody else to pick up the offense but why would one of the worst shooters in the league think that meant him?  Marcus Smart has no conscience.  3-16, 0-7 from 3.  And it never occurred to him that maybe he should shoot less.   Jaylen grabbed 13 rebounds, so he did something else.  He also played good defense. Rozier had 7 boards and 4 assists and 2 steals.  

Tatum and Morris bailed our asses out.  Morris almost cost us the game with a rushed 3 that turned into a +1 at the other end, but then he hit a bucket to get some of it back and played excellent, excellent defense on Kemba Walker on their last real possession.  Alone on an island on top with Walker and he forced him into a contested jumper with the clock almost gone.  Tatum hit some jump shots and drove a few times to the rim.  I've noticed that he seems to get the ball caught against his chest when he picks up his dribble, he doesn't get it straight up into his hand.  Nitpicking aside, he scored some big baskets when we needed them including a KG 20'er.  The kid can play and it's only his 13th game and, I think, it's his first playing the 3.

But the Game Ball has to go to Shane Larkin.  He moved the needle more than anybody else.  We were stunned with the loss of Irving, just as we were stunned for most of the game vs Cleveland with the loss of Hayward, and heading for a big loss and Little Larkin came in with energy and made stuff happen.  He hit big shots.  He played extremely pesky defense on Walker.  He ended up tied with Tatum for Celtic high scorer with 16 and he did it in only 17 minutes vs Tatum's 31.  I was down on him in pre-season, not all that hot on him in the beginning of the regular season but he's turning me around.  A couple of good games for Shane.

Here's the Hornets' shot chart in the 2nd half.  Notice how few shots were taken in the paint, how many were outside shots and how few of them they made.  11-39.




Gary Washburn @GwashburnGlobe

yesterday

#Hornets were 11-for-39 FG (28.2 %) in the second half with 11 turnovers. No CHA player besides Kemba Walker converted a FG in the final 13:46 of the game.
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Jay King @ByJayKing

yesterday

Stevens: "Our defense went up to a different level in those third and fourth quarters."
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I try not to talk about the reffing after a loss, it sounds like sour grapes, but we won so I'm off the leash.  It sucked.  Some of the worst referreeing I've seen in a long time.  Joey Crawford, who now travels around for the league and grades the officials was in the house last night.  I'm sure he had a lot to write about.


Adam Himmelsbach @AdamHimmelsbach

yesterday

Theis: "Everyone plays for each other. Offensively and defensively, everyone’s just fighting for each other."
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Jay King @ByJayKing

yesterday

Terry Rozier: "We’re just going to do what we do no matter who we got. No matter who we’re going to play with, we’re going to play hard.”
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Adam Himmelsbach @AdamHimmelsbach

yesterday

Theis on atmosphere: "It was so loud. It’s the extra push at the end we needed."
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Welcome to Boston, Daniel Theis.  Think this is loud?  Wait until the playoffs...


The years are cut off, they are 2008, 2010, 2009, 2009, 2017.  Pretty good company, those years' teams...







http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400974921



















If Smart hadn't confronted Howard they would not have reviewed this and called the technical on Howard.  As it is they blew the initial call on Nader anyway.  Note, the ref on the baseline, with the shot right in front of him, didn't call the foul.  It was the outside official on the weak side of the court out near the arc who did.









bob


.

If you compared the stats for both team without knowing the final score it would be hard to imagine that Boston won the game.

The grit factor does not show up in the box score.  The mental toughness does not show up in the box score.  The genius of coach Stevens does not show up in the box score.

When you look at this game in it's totality it was an ultimate team effort where every single player on the court and on the bench refused to lose.

Last night our savior was Shane Larkin.  When Danny signed him it was a head scratcher.  I did not see the value of adding a 4th PG to this team.  Well once again Danny is ahead of the curve and coach Stevens knows how and when to use Shane.  I mentioned in another post game thread that he is an excellent on the ball defender.  He has quick feet and gets over the top of picks better than any of our PG's.  Last night he went into his offensive bag of tricks and carried us during crucial possessions.  He knows how to run our offense.  Shane Larkin is only 25 years old yet brings a measure of veteran leadership to the team.  I'm tipping my cap to Shane.

Daniel Theis  played 17 valuable minutes last night scoring 7 points with 4 rebounds, a steal and a big time block shot.  He is not the type of player that you should use to foul the hack-a-Howards of the world.  I love how he plays in the 1-5 P and R.  He has room to improve and as the season progresses I have a feeling that brad may run a few more plays for him.

At what point in the game do you come to the conclusion that you should avoid taking shots?  At some point the line is crossed between playing tough defense and killing your team's offense.  

During the game on thread Bob posted that he begged Marcus not to shoot and I posted at the same time please, please please stop shooting.  To his credit which is probably more to the credit of coach Stevens, he started to run the 1-3 P and roll with Tatum.

Can you believe that we got this kid?  19 years old and he plays like a veteran.  He made big time shots for us from the outside and taking it to the hoop.  I think that he is probably our 2nd or 3rd most reliable offensive player and Brad should run significantly more plays for him like he did last night.    Jason needs to get more shots and the only way that is going to happen is when brad runs more two man games with him as the primary scorer.  I know he is just a rookie but the kid is a flat out baller.  Jason is 7th on the team in FGA.  Is Brad ready to put the rock in his hands and let him go to work?

Terry Rozier is one helluva rebounder.  He is more of a scorer than a shooter but we need for him to be both.

Baynes knocked the crap out of Kyrie last night and did not even realize what he had done.  Baynes is not an option to play defense on anyone when the other team's center can make 3 point shots.  I have mentioned this now several times.  Last night Brad had to pull him from the game because the tank was killing us from deep.  This is not a knock on Baynes.  He is an old school traditional center whose effectiveness on both offense and defense comes inside the painted area.  Matching up with Howard or other big low post centers makes sense.  Brad needs to avoid putting him in situations where he can be exploited.  The bottom line is that he is not a full time center but an excellent option to utilize when the opposition is big and is running offense in the post with their center.

Marcus Morris made a bonehead play last night after the Celtics secure an offensive rebound.  He took a wide open 28 foot 3 pointer with 52 seconds left and with 12 seconds still on the shot clock.  At that point in the game the clock was our friend and we really did not have to score.  However the next time down Morris knocked down a beautiful jumper from the left.  His salvation was fully complete when he was isolated one on one with Kemba and force him to miss a game tying 3 point jumper.   Morris is a solid defender and he can score the basketball.  His addition was another great move in the off-season by Danny Ainge.

The Celtics won 11 in a row but they are not an elite team quite yet.  They are an elite defensive team and they are as mentally tough as any team in the league.  Once their offense catches up with their defense they will be an elite team with a championship level pedigree.

dboss

Bob,

You wrote,

I've noticed that he seems to get the ball caught against his chest when he picks up his dribble, he doesn't get it straight up into his hand. 

I have noticed that in the past, especially when he drives through the paint. It may be on purpose. It protects the ball in traffic and may lead to less turnovers. As long as the ball gets into his hand at the end of the drive is what's important.

We'll have to keep an eye on that move. It may be a good thing for some of the other guys on the team to add to their game.

gyso

where do you think they would be if the entire team were playing? All fifteen players currently signed? This includes Hayward. It is so hard for me to push him aside even though i know he probably is gone for the season. If he comes back in the playoffs, it will be to just get him acclimated to getting bumped around and pushing off that let. 15 minutes a game. I wonder if it is even worth it. Judging from the shooting he is doing on the court, he may even be better than he was before. He is shooting from all over the court, side to side, three pointers, inside, all different shots. Good for his psyche.

My point is that we have no where to go but up. why take a chance. But I have a hard time not seeing him on the bench. I was so looking forward to him in green!

I love the make up of this team, hard nosed, listeners, and fighters. We are on the road to #18, if not this year then right around the corner. Your summary of each of the players was spot on, except I saw that you left out Brown. I know he is struggling offensively but his rebounding is so strong, something we lacked last year. His shooting will come, I am convinced of that He is not Marcus Smart offensively.

Rosalie

The Celtics have the #1 defense in the NBA, giving up only 94.0ppg.  The #2 team, Memphis, gives up 98.0ppg.  4 points is a big difference.  We're #1 and it's not really very close.

Team +/- (NOT individual player +/-) is a measure of how strong your team is.  Are you winning a bunch of close ones or are you blowing teams away.  Our +/-, points our defense gives up - our team ppg scored, is a -8.8.  That's good for #2 in the league, only behind #1 GSW's -11.3.  Who's behind us at #3?  Another pretty good team, the Houston Rockets with a -6.4.  

We have the #2 lowest Opposition fg%, a hair behind Memphis.  We are #2 lowest in opposition 3pt fg%.

These are all very, very good numbers.


bob


.

Excellent analyses all.

Hi,
I guess Celtics are turning into Patriots: next man up.
I only hope that we won't have any more injuries - enough is enough.
As for the game ball, I think it should go to Brad.
What a gritty win!

AK

This team simply finds ways to win. Even in games where we shouldn't be able to mount a victorious comeback.

In each game, someone else is stepping up. I have to say that Shane Larkin has really grown on me. Early on, I wasn't too fond of his play. He wasn't running the offense and it was a bunch of freelance, "I'm just trying to make the final roster" basketball. But over the past few games, he's shown a lot of growth and is becoming a solid contributor, and a much needed spark.


KJ

The Celtics snatch victory from the jaws of defeat on the same night the Bruins snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Fitting.