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Celtics Wrap: Huge Second Half Lifts Boston To Blowout Win Over Knicks

NESN by Adam London on Wed, Jan 31, 2018 at 10:19PM

No Kyrie Irving, no problem. The Boston Celtics were without the star point guard Wednesday night due to a quad contusion, but the C’s had little trouble taking down the New York Knicks in a 103-73 rout. Terry Rozier shined as Irving’s replacement in the starting lineup. In his first career start, the Celtics guard also recorded his first triple-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Marcus Morris notched a game-high 20 points, while Jayson Tatum (15 points), Al Horford (14 points) and Jaylen Brown (14 points) also scored in double figures. Enes Kanter (17 points, 17 rebounds) and Kristaps Porzingis (16 points) were strong for the Knicks, but it was nowhere near enough for New York to earn the road victory. With the win, the Celtics improve to 37-15, while the Knicks fall to 23-29. Here’s how it all went down:

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

STRONG DEBUT Wednesday marked a first for Rozier, who served as the Celtics’ starting point guard in place of Irving. Rozier relished the opportunity, scoring 11 first-quarter points to help give Boston a 27-24 lead after the opening 12 minutes. Rozier found the bulk of his points from beyond the arc, converting on three of four attempts from 3-point range. Brown wasn’t too far behind his backcourt mate, scoring seven points of his own. The C’s did have some issues containing Kanter, who contributed six points and five rebounds in the first quarter.

BENCH BOOST Boston received a major second-quarter lift in the form of Morris. After only notching two points in the first frame, the veteran responded with nine in the second to help the C’s take a 50-45 lead into the break. The Knicks’ big men continued to give the Celtics trouble. Porzingis added six points in the second to swell his first-half total to 13, which led all scorers. Kanter already completed a double-double through two quarters with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

WIDEN THE GAP It was a back-and-forth affair in the first half, but the Celtics finally created some distance in the third quarter and took an 81-65 lead into the final frame. Morris continued his torrid pace with nine points in the quarter, boosting his total to 20. But it wasn’t all good for Morris in the third, as an awkward fall after a dunk forced him out of the game. Horford also had a big quarter for the C’s with seven points, while Rozier rebounded from a scoreless second frame with five points in the quarter.

LET THE ROUT COMMENCE While the Celtics’ lead entering the fourth wasn’t colossal, the Knicks’ sluggish play to start the quarter quickly allowed Boston to put the game out of hand. New York struggled mightily on offense throughout the fourth, allowing the C’s to go on an 18-0 run. In fact, the Knicks only managed to score 8 points in the fourth, giving Boston a chance to rest its starters for the final five minutes of the game.

PLAY OF THE GAME Put this Brown dunk over Porzingis on a poster.

UP NEXT The Celtics return to action Friday night for a matchup with the Atlanta Hawks. Tip-off from TD Garden is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
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Rozier, Irving-less C's dominate Knicks, 103-73

NBC SPORTS BOSTON By A. Sherrod Blakely January 31, 2018 10:21 PM

BOSTON – Filling in for Kyrie Irving, whether it’s one game or one possession, isn’t easy.

You wouldn’t know that by the way Terry Rozier stepped up in Irving’s absence.

MORE - Morris leaves game vs Knicks with hip injury

Rozier, making his first NBA start due to Irving’s right quadriceps injury suffered against Denver on Monday, made the most of his opportunity with the first group as Boston pulled away in the second half for a 103-73 win.

Rozier tallied his first career triple-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Boston also got 20 points off the bench from Marcus Morris who left the game late in the third quarter with a left hip injury suffered when he landed on it following a breakaway dunk.

New York (23-29) was led by Enes Kanter’s double-double of 17 points and 17 rebounds, while Kristaps Porzingis had 16 points.

After a relatively close first half, the Celtics seemed focused on putting the game away as soon as possible.

Boston went to work right out the gates in the third quarter, as Jayson Tatum drove into the lane for an uncontested dunk. He would finish with 15 points.

That was just the beginning of Boston’s delivering one surge after another that the Knicks simply had no answer for.

Rozier opened the game with strong play, putting up the kind of numbers that were Kyrie Irving-like with 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting which was key to Boston leading 27-24 after the first quarter.

In the second, Boston still played with a lead but the Knicks remained a mini-run away from taking the lead themselves.

After a jumper by Porzingis cut Boston’s lead to 33-31, Boston got back-to-back baskets which included a powerful baseline dunk by Jaylen Brown over Porzingis which put Boston ahead 37-31 and immediately led to a Knicks time-out.

Boston continued to maintain control of the game, but were nowhere close to putting the Knicks into a seriously deep hole at this point of the game.

Porzingis was huge, as was Kanter who had a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds by halftime which ended with the Celtics ahead 50-45.

Rozier did more than just get baskets.

He made his share of hustle plays, like in the third quarter when he prevented the Knicks from scoring on a 2-on-1 break by swiping at the ball as Porzingis went into the lane for a potential lay-up only for the ball to go off Porzingis’ leg.

Two possessions, later, Rozier drained a mid-range jumper to give Boston a double-digit lead. 67-56.

Boston (37-15) continued to surge ahead for their second straight win, and third in the last four games.

112288

Again balanced scoring with 5 players in double figures.

Got to get Nader more involved..........he is a great shooter and plays some nice defense.  He could be a key coming off the bench for a cold hand on the court come playoff time.   He proved hos shooting in the D League ........you just don't lose a natural gift.

What can you say about the Energizer Bunny...........Rozier............triple double!

Need to nail down Greg Monroe............he will put us over the top in the East.  He bring scoring and a nice inside game and can play some nice defense.  This could create some interesting line-ups with Horford and Monroe or Monroe and Theis.  At 6'11"it gives us added depth.

112288
112288

In his post-game interview, Morris said that he landed on his ass and there's no hip injury. He said his ass would be sore but we know that he's a hard ass anyway.

That is good news!

112288

Porzingis hasn`t showed me a lot of heart and most of the Knicks are putrid. Kanter is the guy I`d take if we had a choice of their guys. That being said, we saw the difference tonight between a team on a mission and a pickup team playing shirts and skins. Tatum has great skills but we are starting to see some of the ball stopping that  scouts warned of. He takes too many tough shots late in the clock because he sometimes spends too much time probing. Needs to nip those Carmelo tendencies in the bud.I know, nitpicking--- I`m sure his decision making will improve. I expected to see quite a bit of Shane Larkin tonight, not that he was needed. Brown is playing with ferocity and Theis , Morris and Baynes all add toughness. Greg Monroe, come on down.

112288 wrote:That is good news!

112288

Chris Forsberg:

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22279852/marcus-morris-suffers-bruised-left-hip-boston-celtics-game-new-york-knicks

I don't think Monroe and defense go hand in hand, just sayin'

Come playoff basketball .............the battle is down low in the paint. you win the war in the paint..........you win.

Monroe is a paint guy.........at 6'11" he can put the body on a defender and has size to rebound and protect the rim. He may not be Bill Russell on defense but on offense he will play a significant role.

If you do not have a scoring center down low, the defense will cheat and go out to defend the perimeter making it more difficult for the Celtics to get easy looks. With Monroe, the defense has to sage to defend him making it easier for Irving, Borwn and Tatum to get good looks.

112288

Watching Porzingis last night, he still appears to be very skill talented, but also still not ready to dominate
in the NBA. He just does not throw himself into the game physically enough to control the game. Even if he is never going to be a true "center" he is still pushed around by smallish centers/forwards like Theis.

For a guy who still needs lots of physical strength, I have to wonder who is advising him.

I didn't expect this.  I thought we could still win, down 3 players including a starting all-star, only 11 healthy players (10 after Morris' spill) but I didn't expect a blowout like this.

The Game Ball goes to Terry Rozier, obviously.  He is now only the 2nd NBA player in history to have a triple-double in his first start (The first one was Tony Wroten in 2013).  What a game by Terry!  He did it all.  I've oohed and ahhed for years now about his rebounding but last night he was even better.  He outrebounded Porzingis and Kanter on two rebounds last night.  Positioning and ganas, just like always, gets the job done.  Terry wanted the ball more than anybody else on the court last night.  Start me, coach!  Now trade him straight up for Anthony Davis while he's the talk of the league (jk) but isn't that what GMs do with draftees?  A college player has a great March and they explode up the draft rankings regardless of what they did before then.  Terry Rozier is still shooting 39.1% on the year and 35.7% from 3, even after that tour-de-force performance last night.  The sad news here is that this game makes it more likely he gets traded so he can get his wish to start regularly.  We know his name has come up every trade deadline except for his rookie year, this might be the year he's gone.  It doesn't get any better, from that perspective.  He's hot property right now and he has another year on his rookie contract, which will make GMs drool.

This was on Terry Rozier's Instagram account.  He's feeling it...
https://www.instagram.com/p/BepI4Tyn2BJ/?taken-by=gmb_chum12

Can I get beginning-of-the-season Baynes back?  I understand that he can't play against all NBA centers, he's not mobile enough, but he was made for centers like Enes Kanter.  They have no range and have to come into his wheelhouse.  For the 2nd time this year Kanter ate Baynes alive.  Baynes ended up with 6 rebounds but 4 of them were in garbage time.  Kanter had a double-double at halftime.

Morris with a strong game until his fall.  



The Celtics staff claimed it was a "hip injury" but Philly tough guy Mook Morris doesn't want anything to do with that politically-correct crap and insisted "it was my ass, really, not my hip".  He now wants to be a point-forward because he brought the ball up a few times.  Uh, ok, sure.  How about showing us you can pass, at all, first?

Jay King @ByJayKing
yesterday
Marcus Morris a big fan of Point Mook: "It felt good. I told Coach that we might need to go to that a little more. Let me get it up a little something and give it to Kyrie coming off pindowns and things like that."

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Jaylen with a solid game.  At this point it's all about developing consistency for Brown.
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Jaylen Brown's rating system (scale of 10) ...

Dunk on Porzingis: 5
★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

Madness of Brad for him not getting back on D immediately: 12
★★★★★★★★★★★★


Nader got his shot and did well.  He scored 10 points on an efficient 3-4, including 2-2 from 3.  He played a total of 164 minutes before last night, last night he got 28.  That's hard to do.  It's hard to go from no game rhythm, because you're not playing, to almost starter minutes and play well in them.  One thing I noticed, though, is that he doesn't look as quick as he did last year.  Well, I doubt he has gotten slower.  I think it's that NBA players are quicker than G-league players and he can't turn the corner on these guys like he could on the Fort Wayne Mad Ants (arguably the best name for a US sports team ever).  Smart's going to be out for another 2 weeks, probably.  Nader should get more shots, both figuratively and literally.  And the trade deadline is in 1 week.  Time to shine, Abdel!

Tatum, Theis and all the rest had good games.  Tatum started off rough but then found his shooting groove.  Theis was just solid, solid, solid.  Once you get past our first tier players and start looking at the bench I think I like Theis the most.

If I was a Knick fan, I'd be calling for the whole damn team to be blown up after this.  They're healthy, we were so thin we were almost translucent and we blow them out.  WAY out.  Their back court is

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400975504


Oh, the glory of being able to post Abdel Nader highlights!



And now back to the real deal:








bob



.

Bob,

You make a great point that Rozier's stock value is at an all time high, however he is a major contributor off the bench both for running the offense as well as playing defense and causing TO's. What if KI gets hurt or MS does another rope a dope with a picture frame.........we have no impact PG to run the team.

Therefore, it would be foolish for Ainge to tinker with an already successful lineup. Summer time is the time for a trade and to pickup another point guard either through a trade or the draft.

112288

Best line of the night was out of Mike Breen, talking about Rozier, with the clock ticking down in the final seconds.

"Rozier or Irving; let the point guard controversy begin."

Funny line with good timing, after a stellar game for Rozier.

In truth, as with Smart, it would be nice to see Rozier in the lineup as the primary ballhandler more, allowing Irving to play off the ball as well. With Smart nursing his injured hand, we should see it happen.

Let me mention one thing that was really different last night.

The Celtics did a great job moving without the ball and finding the open man.  There was less ISO ball.  Kyrie needs to move the ball quicker and keep the offense flowing.  

Rozier's stock is surely on the rise and if he continues to play well this year it will continue to go up.  The situation that Marcus Smart finds himself in this year will happen with Terry next season.  If the Celtics do not sign Marcus I can see Boston locking Terry up with an extension this summer.  He will still be on the radar for teams that may be looking to make a trade with Boston.

Inch for inch he is probably the best rebounding PG in the NBA.  He is an elite rebounder and he has elite level quickness.  As his PG skills continue to develop as well as consistency shooting the ball he could become a primary asset in a big time trade.

dboss wrote: There was less ISO ball.  Kyrie needs to move the ball quicker and keep the offense flowing.  

Agreed. This is something I've written about in a couple of posts recently.

[quote="dboss"]Let me mention one thing that was really different last night.

The Celtics did a great job moving without the ball and finding the open man.  There was less ISO ball.  Kyrie needs to move the ball quicker and keep the offense flowing.  

Rozier's stock is surely on the rise and if he continues to play well this year it will continue to go up.  The situation that Marcus Smart finds himself in this year will happen with Terry next season.  If the Celtics do not sign Marcus I can see Boston locking Terry up with an extension this summer.  He will still be on the radar for teams that may be looking to make a trade with Boston.

Inch for inch he is probably the best rebounding PG in the NBA.  He is an elite rebounder and he has elite level quickness.  As his PG skills continue to develop as well as consistency shooting the ball he could become a primary asset in a big time trade.[/quote

NO HERO BALL = ROTATION = BALL MOVEMENT = WINNING BASKETBALL!

112288

NYCelt wrote:

dboss wrote: There was less ISO ball.  Kyrie needs to move the ball quicker and keep the offense flowing.  

Agreed. This is something I've written about in a couple of posts recently.

I agree, but you also have to take the bad with the good. Kyrie needs the freedom and benefit of the doubt to be the creative player that he is. Last year IT was a ball dominant and creative player that led them into the playoffs, then he got injured. Last night they had to adjust to not having Kyrie. Hopefully, they'll find a happy medium.

112288 wrote:Bob,

You make a great point that Rozier's stock value is at an all time high, however he is a major contributor off the bench both for running the offense as well as playing defense and causing TO's.  What if KI gets hurt or MS does another rope a dope with a picture frame.........we have no impact PG to run the team.

Therefore, it would be foolish for Ainge to tinker with an already successful lineup.  Summer time is the time for a trade and to pickup another point guard either through a trade or the draft.

112288

112288,

Unless Danny trades for a point guard to replace him.  Why would he do that, why would he trade a point guard for a point guard?  Draft picks, of course.  We all know how much Danny covets draft picks.

Personally, I don't think TRo will be traded (although you cannot count on Danny proving me right) but there is a scenario where it could happen and we don't skip a beat.  Another scenario would be a trade for a major big.  Danny would trade Rozier and Smart and whomever to get an Anthony Davis or KAT or Embiid or such.  Once again, I don't see such a trade happening but that is the type of deal that Danny would include him.  In my opinion Danny doesn't care about this year, he pretty much stopped caring after the best laid plan of mice and GMs went astray when Hayward went down.  I believe he really cares about next year, when Hayward becomes our full-time point forward and LeBron is either 34 years old or gone to the WC or wherever.  That's when he wants to own the east, become the GSW of the east and have us be the #1 destination for quality veterans who want a shot at a ring and can't get signed by GSW or maybe Houston. Trading for a young, quality big (because it is looking increasingly unlikely the Laker pick is going to work out for us this year) sets us up at that position for years.


bob


.

Bob

I am not so sure that Danny has written this year off.

With one or 2 moves I really believe that Boston can make it to the finals.  In other words the Celtics championship run may very well start this year and continue next year.  Danny cannot wait on Hayward.  What happens if one of our stars gets injured seriously?  It is not about Hayward making this team great.

If Danny pulls the trigger on using the DPE and also makes a low risk trade like going after Evans, the Celtics will be well positioned this year.

dboss

dboss wrote:Bob

I am not so sure that Danny has written this year off.

With one or 2 moves I really believe that Boston can make it to the finals.  In other words the Celtics championship run may very well start this year and continue next year.  Danny cannot wait on Hayward.  What happens if one of our stars gets injured seriously?  It is not about Hayward making this team great.

If Danny pulls the trigger on using the DPE and also makes a low risk trade like going after Evans, the Celtics will be well positioned this year.

dboss

dboss,

When I said that Danny has "written this year off" I was referring to making any major trades because he thinks that, without such a trade, we have no shot at the Finals. I fully expect, as the reports are now saying, for him to pick up a piece like Evans or Monroe using the DPE or via a minor trade. And right now we've got as good or better a shot at getting out of the East to the Finals with or without that piece as anybody.

Sorry for any confusion.


bob


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