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Boston Celtics Wrap: Boston’s Offense Struggles Without Kyrie Irving In Loss To 76ers

NESN by Nicholas Goss on Thu, Jan 18, 2018 at 9:26PM

The Boston Celtics have played a lot of great games this season, but Thursday night’s matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers at TD Garden certainly was not one of them. The C’s trailed by double-digits most of the night and ultimately fell to the 76ers 89-80, giving Boston back-to-back losses at home for the first time all season. Kyrie Irving didn’t play because of a shoulder injury, and it showed in the lack of offense from the Celtics, who shot just 41.1 percent from the floor and hit seven of their 29 3-point attempts. Joel Embiid easily was the best player on the floor. The 76ers center scored a team-high 26 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. The Celtics fall to 34-12 with the loss, while the 76ers improve to 21-20. Here’s how it all went down.

STARTING FIVE PG: Marcus Smart SG: Jaylen Brown SF: Jayson Tatum PF: Al Horford C: Aron Baynes

SHORTHANDED Irving (shoulder) and Guerschon Yabusele (illness) were not available to play.

SLUGGISH START Turnovers (seven by Boston) and sloppy play highlighted the first quarter. The C’s led 8-2, but poor shooting by Boston allowed the 76ers to take a 16-14 lead with two minutes to play in the quarter. The teams traded baskets over the last few minutes and Philly took a 21-19 lead after 12 minutes. Al Horford led the C’s with six points on 3-for-3 shooting. Marcus Morris had five points off the bench, but had to leave the game briefly after an inadvertent elbow from teammate Daniel Theis caught him in the face and caused bleeding.

UGLY BASKETBALL The second quarter didn’t start well for the Celtics, as head coach Brad Stevens called a timeout just 15 seconds into his team’s first possession. He lit into his team on the sideline, presumably for their poor execution offensively. A Dario Saric 3-pointer gave Philly its largest lead at 28-23. The 76ers soon pushed their edge to 39-23 after forcing an 11th turnover by the Celtics. The Celtics kept turning the ball over and missing shots, and the 76ers took advantage with a 9-0 run that saw their lead upped to 34-23. Boston went on a 9-3 run to get within 37-32, but Philadelphia closed the half with a 39-32 edge. It was the worst half of basketball of the season for the Celtics, and honestly, both coaches will want to destroy the game film after this one. These teams combined for 26 turnovers in the first half, and neither club shot well from beyond the arc, as Boston went 2-for-13 and Philly went 3-for-9. In fact, the Celtics had more turnovers (15) than points (13) in the second quarter. Horford (eight points) and Morris (seven points) paced the C’s offense, while Saric (nine points) and Joel Embiid (eight points) led the Sixers.

EMBIID GOES TO WORK Five quick points to begin the third quarter pushed the 76ers’ lead to a game-high 12 points. Philly kept attacking and eventually swelled its edge to 48-34, and then 56-39. The Celtics finally shot a free throw 32:31 into the game. The rest of the quarter was very ugly for the Celtics, who trailed 71-53 through 36 minutes. Boston’s 53 points were its lowest total over three quarters all season. Embiid scored 10 points in the quarter to pace Philly.

COMEBACK FALLS SHORT The Celtics trimmed the lead to 86-79 as part of an 11-2 run. Boston had a few 3-point attempts on ensuing possessions but came up empty. The C’s comeback bid fell short as a result. Horford and Morris led the Celtics with 14 points apiece, while Embiid led all scorers with 26 points.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT An impressive block by Tatum.

UP NEXT The Celtics won’t be back in action until Sunday when they host the Orlando Magic at TD Garden at 1 p.m. ET.

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Embiid dominates as Kyrie-less Celtics fall to 76ers, 89-80

NBC SPORTS BOSTON By A. Sherrod Blakely January 18, 2018 8:31 PM

BOSTON – For most of this season, the Boston Celtics have been a streaking team … but not like this.

The Celtics’ 89-80 loss to Philadelphia (21-20) was their second straight defeat.

For Boston (34-12), it’s only the third time this season they have lost back-to-back games.

Win or lose, the one thing we’ve come to expect from the Celtics all season is that they will make things interesting down the stretch.

Despite Philadelphia leading for most of the game, Boston began to pick up the pace in the fourth and had multiple opportunities to close the gap and position themselves for yet another improbable comeback.

Jaylen Brown did his part in the fourth with big plays at both ends of the floor, including a 3-pointer with 2:23 to play that cut Philadelphia’s lead to 86-76 which led to a Sixers time-out. He would finish with 12 points along with four assists and three rebounds as he along with the rest of the Celtics tried to make up for the absence of recently named all-star Kyrie Irving who was out with a left shoulder injury.

Boston’s fourth quarter comeback continued, as Jayson Tatum drained a 3-pointer that made it an 86-79 game. He had 11 points on 4-for-11 shooting

But the Celtics could not get any closer.

Too many missed shots and too many turnovers (19) proved to be too much for the Celtics to overcome against a Sixers team that they had beaten in each of their three previous meetings this season.

The Celtics were down by as many as 17 points (56-39) in the third quarter, the kind of deficit this Celtics team has seen plenty of times and often, been able to conquer.

A jumper by Marcus Smart, followed by a pair of free throws by Marcus Morris and a lay-up by Shane Larkin after a Celtics steal and just like that, Boston’s deficit was down to 56-45.

Sixers coach Brett Brown has seen this re-run before and quickly called a time-out, knowing the game’s momentum was tilting towards the Celtics who we’ve seen often go on game-altering runs.

Coming out of the time-out, Philadelphia got the ball in the hands of Joel Embiid who was soon fouled by Daniel Theis.

Boston was rotating its three bigs – Al Horford, Aron Baynes and Theis – frequently on Embiid.

It didn’t matter.

Embiid, who learned shortly before tip-off that he would be a starter in next month’s All-Star game, played like one most of the night. He had a double-double of 26 points and 16 rebounds along with six assists.

When he wasn’t giving Boston problems in the paint, he was finding holes in their defense when they paid too much attention to him and not enough to his teammates who far too often were left wide open.

The Celtics’ struggles down the stretch were in sharp contrast to how the game began.

Boston scored the game’s first six points before the Sixers got on the scoreboard and continued to make plays at both ends that culminated in Philadelphia leading 21-19 after the first quarter.

The second quarter was all about the defense of both teams, each making life extremely difficult for the other offensively.

But the Sixers continued to do just enough to maintain the lead, with Dario Saric and Joel Embiid combining to score 11 of Philadelphia’s 18, second-quarter points.

Limiting a team to less than 20 points scored in a quarter is a clear sign of good play defensively, the kind of defense that we’ve seen be good enough for Boston to chip away at a deficit.

But Boston could only muster 13 points in the second quarter, the clearest indicator of the game how much Boston missed Kyrie Irving who did not play because of left shoulder soreness.

At the half, Boston trailed the Sixers 39-32.
112288

It was ugly from the initial tip to the final buzzer.

Ya I hear it time and again .......heroic effort this heroic effort that..........how about stink ball basketball.  You are missing your starting point guard and the wheels come off!  Maybe we are not that deep of a team and bench.

We are 25th or so in the league in scoring..........That's terrible........and if it was not for our defense we could be just above the 500 mark.  Hayward will help but ya still need a sniper coming off the bench to stem any run by the opposition.  February trade deadline will prove interesting as well as free agency.

What is painful to see is Horford getting killed underneath the basket by bigger and stronger centers.  God awful tonight and the game before.

What is troubling is the NBC sports headline posted above - Embiid Dominates...............didn't we see that same headline from the last game...................Davis Dominates!!!!!!!!!

Again I said that Danny must seek a true center and move Big Al to power forward.

I would not mind getting Noel to give it a try if he comes at a reasonable price.  If not, a big in the draft using LA's pick would potentially solve the problem.

112288

A combo platter of ugly by The Celtics, and a preview of things to come from The 76ers.

Boston flat-out failed to execute any aspect of the game cleanly, until it was too late. Kyrie or no, the team is capable of a much better brand of basketball. Still showing the need for a center and one or two additions to the bench. Call it extended jet-lag; I'm sure they'll come around by Sunday.

Hit by the injury bug all season, like Boston, Philadelphia is starting to show signs of the Hinkie Tank Job/The Process paying off. Not even the best game out of Simmons. They're going to be extremely tough by next season.

Embiid is maybe the best young big man in the NBA now. Will he ever play a full season?

Simmons still can't shoot outside of 10 feet.

and Fultz...well he still can't shoot at all.

so until those three things change I am not worried about a 500 team in Philly.

I keep saying we are NOT going to be players in Free agency over the next few years. for good or bad Danny has spent his FA money on Horford and Hayward. Irving's soon to be MAX extension makes three.

Trades and draft picks are were any real help can come from next year. Any FA's from other teams will be vet minimum, where you CAN find fill in help at times of course.

Despite many in pre-season thinking Baynes was going to become a starting NBA center (after being a BU his whole career), we now can see what he is.

Lack of depth has been a problem since Hayward went down. When we are short one of our rotation players, we fall behind the old eight ball.

we have basically an 8-9 man rotation
Horford
Irving
Tatum
Brown
Smart
Morris
Rozier
Baynes
Theis

The rest of our roster should not be getting NBA minutes on a top Team, frankly.

Perhaps Danny can swing a rotational player with the DPE he still holds, I think he will myself when a player he thinks can help becomes free.

True. We have a 9 player team.

The J's didn't get the job done.  They needed to step up in Kyrie's absence and they didn't.  Tatum was 4-11 and Brown was 4-12.  8-23 is bad, period, especially when one of those players is supposed to be a scorer.

Smart, on the other hand, was 6-11.  Wuh?  Clearly, Smart shoots better when he starts than when he comes off the bench.  The rest of his game is the same, it's his scoring that improves when he starts.

Down 21 and we still almost pulled it off.

This game makes me wonder if Danny should get another center.  Then I think "nobody can handle Embiid when he's on like this!".  That's why he's starting the All-Star game.  Scoring, however, is another story.  We are not a good offensive team and haven't been for a while.  Our bench scoring is very trick-or-treat.  Last night would have been a perfect game for Brad to insert Gerald Green here and there and that might have been all we might have needed to close it up.

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400975409



bob



.

Last night would have been a perfect game to insert Lou Williams into the lineup.

I don't know dog.  The walk is off the carriage is wrong!

In an attempt not to blow this loss out of proportion, Boston had an off night.  Philly was not much better.  Even without Kyrie this was a winnable game.  Yes Boston turned the ball over a lot but even that factor was more than offset by Philly's turnovers.

I want to know why Baynes who played only 15 minutes with 4 rebounds and a block is still being underutilized when we go up against teams with big physical centers?

I want to know why the Celtics do not play fast break basketball as they recorded only 8 fast break points?

As much as I love this team the Celtics offense is really not as good as it should be because Brad is not taking advantage of all the tools he has in the box.  Fast break basketball can level things off when the offense is sputtering.

Horford is going to get abused most often when he has to check a legit center.  That is clearly the missing piece on this team and that problem is only exacerbated when the only true center that you have plays 15 minutes.  Sorry but that is not good coaching.

It is a good thing for the Celtics that none of the top teams have great centers.

In absence of a trade Boston should be looking to address the center issue in the 2018 draft.

dboss

dboss wrote:I don't know dog.  The walk is off the carriage is wrong!

In an attempt not to blow this loss out of proportion, Boston had an off night.  Philly was not much better.  Even without Kyrie this was a winnable game.  Yes Boston turned the ball over a lot but even that factor was more than offset by Philly's turnovers.

I want to know why Baynes who played only 15 minutes with 4 rebounds and a block is still being underutilized when we go up against teams with big physical centers?

I want to know why the Celtics do not play fast break basketball as they recorded only 8 fast break points?

As much as I love this team the Celtics offense is really not as good as it should be because Brad is not taking advantage of all the tools he has in the box.  Fast break basketball can level things off when the offense is sputtering.

Horford is going to get abused most often when he has to check a legit center.  That is clearly the missing piece on this team and that problem is only exacerbated when the only true center that you have plays 15 minutes.  Sorry but that is not good coaching.

It is a good thing for the Celtics that none of the top teams have great centers.

In absence of a trade Boston should be looking to address the center issue in the 2018 draft.

dboss

dboss,

I agree with just about everything you've said.  I don't think we should blow this out of proportion either although the loss of a single player shouldn't derail a good team.  San Antonio is still doing ok despite the loss of Kawhi.  We DEFINITELY should be running more.  What's the point in being a young team if you don't run?

"It is a good thing for the Celtics that none of the top teams have great centers."   Cause and Effect?  Is this a coincidence?






bob






.

We need height - Jarell Eddie is 6'7"

112288

Bob

Cause and Effect?  Is this a coincidence?

Yes I think it is a coincidence.  9 out the the 16 teams that are in the playoffs as of today have centers that are as good and in some cases better than the centers on the Celtics.  First we would need to acknowledge that Al Horford is a PF and not a center or at the very least that he is a PF that plays center.

Golden State is the class of the league and they do not play their true centers much but unlike Boston they are a top fast break team so slow teams with big centers cannot keep up with them.

Here is the bottom line.  The Celtics are clearly a small ball team much in the same vein as Golden state.  Athletically they (Celtics) have the stamina and the speed to run up and down the court with any team in the NBA.

However Golden state has better overall ball handlers than Boston.  Golden State fast break can be triggered by multiple players but Boston's cannot.  Conceptually brad wants  whoever gets the rebound to go and push the pace.  They will not be an effective fast break team with that scheme because several players are challenged end to end ball handlers and passers.

Therefore a more traditional fast break scheme should be implemented where you get the ball to Kyrie and everyone fills the lane running at full speed.  I think that Jason Tatum  could also initiate the fast break in a point forward role.  Larkin could also push the pace as well as Rozier although Rozier has yet to figure out what to do with the ball even though he gets from one end of the court to the other as fast as any player on the team.  

I do not like Al Horford or Jaylen Brown or Morris or even Smart running the break.

It is probably too late to implement a fast breaking scheme.  Brad is a terrific coach but he is still stuck on some questionable concepts like everybody should take an open 3 pointer and everyone should begin the offense off of a rebound or defensive stop.

Everybody don't do everything well.

dboss

DBOSS,

Good post............however things evolve and I believe Golden State is in the final trend in the NBA where most teams went small ball with mobile centers who can run..........OKC and Durant is a perfect example of this going back 5 years.

However trends do fade and new trends appear and I believe we are in a new era where teams are going back to traditional power centers who can score - rebound and rim protection.

For the Celtics to sustain their rebound and become a dominate force in the NBA for years to come, we need to get that POWER CENTER! You know maybe Cousins for the right price! You know he is a 2018 / UFA!!!!!!!!!!

112288

Bad game all around. Perhaps the worst team performance of the season to date.

Poor shooting, far too many turnovers, dominated on the boards, weak interior defense even if they only gave up 89 points. Ouch.

On to the next game.

I feel that all the above posts explain everything. The roster is only nine deep for quality. The Celtics' offense is too one-dimensional. If everyone is going to shoot threes, then only have players capable of hitting them? Baynes took one. Smart keeps launching them at 29%.

Perhaps positionless basketball is part of the problem. Remember that time Rondo was out and the team got better without a point guard? That lasted until teams adjusted. It was a gimmick. Last night reminded me of when the team fell back to earth after the initial winning without Rondo.

Irving is not a traditional pg. He is not as effective as Isaiah but perhaps close enough. The key to this being a big win year has been the ball distributing skills of Horford to compensate.

It's tiring to point out Marcus Smarts' pg flaws without getting attacked. I'll try this again. In each of Marcus' four years, his assist to t.o. ratio has dropped. I will do the math.

2014-15 .... 2.38
2015-16 .... 2.31
2016-17 .... 2.30
2017-18 .... 1.84

His shooting has not improved. His free throw percentage this year is down to 72.6%. Last year it was 81.2%.

Smart is a good player. I'm not saying he isn't. But he definitely hurts the team a lot on offense. He is the backup pg who cannot be relied on. And there is no one else to backup Kyrie. Rozier and Larkin aren't those guys, at least yet. Larkin showed some signs of pg ability.

It's not just one game. Smart is either in a year long slump or is a big negative on offense.

Evan Turner and Phil Pressey could have willed the win last night. Good teams still need a traditional big and players with old-school pg skills. I don't care if the claim is made that this is now the era of positionless basketball. To me, it is losing basketball without Kyrie and Al Horford as a healthy two-headed pg monster.

This is why I said maybe trade Rozier for Rondo. It doesn't have to be former Celtics, but this team is lacking for point guards. I am talking about the ability to get assists with few turnovers. Maybe this is called pace. The C's win last night if Rajon was filling in for the injured Irving.

I think Smart was exposed last night. The loss isn't on him. I'm not scapegoating him. It is what it is. It could be Danny's fault for how he constructed the roster or he was expecting much better pg results from Marcus.

The Celtics had 13 assists and 19 turnovers. Smart had one assist and four turnovers. That's why the game was lost. Smart needs to develop his pg skills if he wants a big contract, not regress at them.

sinus007 wrote:112288 and Dboss,
Please allow me to disagree with you.
A dominant center is a very nice and potent tool. But current NBA is moving into a different direction. As an example - GSW - no center; the other team is Cavs (sorry, I don't consider semi-crippled Bogut, Pachulia, Mozgov, etc very good, let alone dominant centers).
Some teams, including Celtics, try to follow GSW. BTW, I don't think it's a trend, it's more of a natural selection. I don't follow other teams, just Celtics. At this point, I believe they are progressing on the way to get  on GSW level. Considering that they have the second best record with one sophomore, one rookie (these two have tons of potentials but still a year or two from utilizing it) and one lost-for-season (all-star level) wing, I say we're in pretty good shape.
Sure, if Danny could get Boogie or produce a miracle in the form of Brow that'd be great. But probability of that is very, very low.
Another argument is this. With the current state of affairs in Cleveland Celtics have a very good chance to get into the Finals. On the West, I doubt that there're teams that have serious chances to beat GSW. So, we have chance to play GSW but in order to beat them we have to use their own weapon - all others, as we saw in the last few years, don't work.

AK

Sinus you indicate disagreement however I see no comments regarding my post.

Dboss

112288 wrote:DBOSS,

Good post............however things evolve and I believe Golden State is in the final trend in the NBA where most teams went small ball with mobile centers who can run..........OKC and Durant is a perfect example of this going back 5 years.

However trends do fade and new trends appear and I believe we are in a new era where teams are going back to traditional power centers who can score - rebound and rim protection.

For the Celtics to sustain their rebound and become a dominate force in the NBA for years to come, we need to get that POWER CENTER!  You know maybe Cousins for the right price! You know he is a 2018 / UFA!!!!!!!!!!

112288

112288

I really do not think that the trend will end. If a team has a chance to draft a stud center they will do so but unless that center can play facing the basket and extend his range he is less likely to be effective.

The main reason why the trend is not going to end is because the 3 point shot has become a significant part of the modern NBA offense. Secondly, we are seeing more Centers and Power Forwards with both guard and wing skills. Third, the implementation of legal zone defenses has stymied traditional low post offenses.

I do agree that we need a big center. However I do not think the primary reason is on the offensive side of the ball. The NBA is a perimeter game now.

This is just my opinion.

dboss