Post Game Atlanta-Away

https://www.masslive.com/expo/sports/erry-2018/11/83989d7b2d7063/boston-celtics-roll-atlanta-ha.html

Boston Celtics roll Atlanta Hawks 114-96: Gordon Hayward improves, issues at the rim, plus 10 things we learned

1. Kyrie Irving: Unbothered by Trae Young.
The Atlanta Hawks rookie couldn't do much defensively against Irving when he was matched up with him 1-on-1, and he could do even less when Irving was motoring around screens. The first Celtics bucket of the game was a post-up spin move by Irving, followed by a triple with Young completely out of his line of vision.

Young did the Celtics a favor early, since the shots started dropping and Boston started to feel more comfortable. He can do a lot of things and his future is bright, but his defense -- particularly against other star guards -- could probably use some work.



Here's what we learned about the Celtics in the first half: one hot shooting quarter hasn't changed this team's underlying issue: it never gets to the rim. The result? Going 16/25 in the first quarter, followed by going 4/18 in the second.


2. Getting to the rim is a real issue.
Bontemps makes a a solid point, and a very important one: When the defense doesn't collapse to the basket, the offense has a harder time getting clean looks. Even if drives lead to jumpers, the jumpers tend to be better.

The Celtics have to get a little more aggressive going to the basket.

3. Aron Baynes is a nice fit next to Kyrie Irving.
Irving is often his best when he comes off a screen or a hand-off and gets a little separation moving into space. Perhaps no other player on Boston's roster creates that space better than Baynes, who simply takes up a lot of room wherever he is standing. That means more effective screens, whether the defender runs into him or manages to maneuver all the way around him.

Baynes may not be the permanent starter, and certainly the Celtics are unlikely to look as good in other games as they did at times on Friday. But Baynes and Irving are a nice pairing.

4. Semi Ojeleye looked better.
At this point, judging Semi Ojeleye's performance on how many 3-pointers he makes doesn't really do him justice. Instead, assessing him on how well he defends in the paint and how he rebounds probably makes the most sense. On Friday, Ojeleye did both of those things well.

Ojeleye's body is such an advantage in the paint. On the glass, opponents bounce off of him. When he gets the ball under his own basket, he can finish through contact. Against Atlanta, we saw flashes of the effective small-ball five Brad Stevens believes Ojeleye could develop into.

5. The quarter-to-quarter frustrations are real.
We've said it before, but to reiterate: Ebbs and flows are natural in an NBA game, but the Celtics have stretches where they look like the 2017 Golden State Warriors, and they have stretches where they look like the 2018 Washington Wizards.

Sometimes, those shifts happen from quarter to quarter. Sometimes, like the third quarter on Friday, the Celtics vacillate between excellent and awful in three-minute stretches.

At this point, having a mediocre stretch after a great one would be an upgrade over some of Boston's cold streaks. Fortunately for the Celtics, the Hawks were never able to fully take advantage of the struggles.


6. Jayson Tatum punched this one.
Probably the loudest basket of the game belonged to Tatum.

7. Gordon Hayward keeps looking better and better.
Defensively, Hayward's contributions are increasingly obvious -- he's playing more and more fluidly, and he's even showing a little bit of explosion when opponents challenge his shot-blocking, while still forcing turnovers with his aggressive play in passing lanes.

On offense, things are coming back little by little. He buried a three and a near-three in the first half, and he even finished at the rim with a dunk in the second (he told MassLive earlier this week that he often dunks in scrimmages to remind himself to play with force).

There are only so many encouraging things a team can take from a double-digit win over the Hawks, but any sign of progress from Gordon Hayward is important at this point.

8. Don't overreact to Horford's absence.
There were unnamed Boston sports media personalities on Twitter Friday evening suggesting Al Horford's absence was the reason the Celtics beat the Hawks comfortably.

Let's be very clear: The Celtics beat the Hawks because the Hawks are bad. That's not to say every game against a bad team is guaranteed (witness Wednesday's loss to New York, for example), but Horford's absence did not make the Celtics better, even though he hasn't been at his best this season.

The Celtics need Al Horford back and fully healthy. Anything less than a fully healthy Horford is a problem for Boston.


Tom Westerholm

@Tom_NBA
Daniel Theis managed to foul out in 16 minutes, which is pretty impressive.

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7:38 PM - Nov 23, 2018
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9. Daniel Theis played pretty well, but he accomplished this.
To be fair, one of Theis' fouls was a big block in transition, for which he got whistled, and the Celtics are sending him onto the court to be physical. He's going to be whistled for fouls.

Still, this was pretty funny.

10. Tomorrow's game might be telling.
The Celtics needed this win, and they got it, even if some of the issues they have demonstrated all season continued to look worrisome. Now the greater test remains: Can they string together a few games in a row in which the offense can consistently put up enough points to match the successful defense?

The first test is in Dallas, a team likely bound for the lottery. The second is in New Orleans, where a player who can make a strong case as the best in the league awaits.

For now, Boston is back above .500. That shouldn't feel like an accomplishment 19 games into the season, but here we are.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2018/11/celtics_finally_back_in_black_rout_hawks

Celtics finally back in black, rout Hawks
Green pick good Friday to end skid
Steve Bulpett Saturday, November 24, 2018

ATLANTA -- It was a coincidence the Celtics wore their black uniforms on Black Friday. But after being left black and blue by seven losses in their previous 10 games, they were determined to finish in the black here at the start of a three-game road trip.

And they were never in the red on the way to a 114-96 victory over the hardly hearty Hawks.

Sure, one might question how much meaning can be applied to a triumph over the now 3-16 Atlantans, who got just five points from prized rookie Trae Young. But, hey, the Celts had just had their lunch eaten by a Knicks outfit that arrived at the Garden with a 4-14 record.

In other words, they weren’t about to look an easy win in the mouth.

“We did what we were supposed to do at the start of a business trip,” said Kyrie Irving after scoring 11 of his 13 points in the opening quarter to set the tone.

It was, for all intents and purposes, a first round knockout. The Celtics had a 7-5 lead three minutes in. Then they bid the Hawks adieu. With Irving aggressive from the get-go, the C’s pulled away quickly. It took fewer than nine minutes to lead by 20, and by the end of the period they had a 45-23 advantage.

It was easily their highest first quarter of the season (34 at Denver) and best period overall.

Irving hit 3-of-4 treys, and the C’s shot an impressive 65 percent overall from the floor. And they were even warmer from long distance, hitting 8-of-12 treys (66.7 percent). They hit nine straight shots in one stretch -- and the last four were all 3-pointers, the final two by Marcus Morris, who got the start in place of Al Horford (left knee soreness).

“It was something we needed,” said Aron Baynes, who opened at center and had a team-high 16 points in 23 minutes. “Our offense hasn’t been rolling over the last, I don’t know, eight games? We’ve had a pretty dry spell. We’ve gotten good looks, but it hasn’t been dropping, so to see it go through the hoop a few times tonight to begin the game was a good thing.

“We’ve still got a lot of room for improvement, but it’s better to learn when you’re winning than to learn when you’re losing, for sure. It was a pretty concerted effort to come in here and play the right way.”

When Terry Rozier threw in a trey with 6:21 left in the second quarter, the Celts had a whopping 29-point lead and Shamrock life was good.

Maybe too good.

Playing as if the outcome had already been decided and the only thing at stake was personal stats, they began to look more like the team that had drawn boos in its own house 48 hours prior.

That Rozier shot was the Celts’ last made field goal of the half. They went 0-for-7 with five turnovers, producing just five points from the free throw line as the Hawks went on an 18-5 run to get within what would, under most other circumstances, be a manageable 61-45 spread.

Jaylen Brown drove in hard from the right for a dunk on the first possession of the third quarter. Then Jayson Tatum fed Baynes for another dunk, and Brown stole the ball from Young and fed Tatum for a fast break layup. After two Taurean Prince free throws, the C’s scored nine more in a row, with Tatum’s jam of a Morris missed trey the highlight.

“It was a bit of a battle against human nature after the first quarter, you know, being up,” said Baynes. “But it’s about us trying to put together a full 48. We still haven’t been able to do it this year, and I think if we can manufacture that, then we’ll be good for the rest of the season.”

The keys to getting there?

“Just not being complacent, not being satisfied,” said Irving. “Obviously Atlanta has some good competition, but we’re going to be going against some better competition tomorrow in Dallas. They’re going to give us a fight. They pretty good on their home floor (7-2 there, 1-7 on the road).”

a WIN!!!!!

one at a time.

No mention of the cameo appearance of Robert Williams.  Individually speaking, it was a fine showing.

Final stats from the box score:

3 rebounds, 4 points on 2-2, one block.  No turnovers.

He played more than 8 minutes (8:37) and had a +/- of -7.  I don't read too much into that stat, but the Hawks did make a run at the Celtics when he was in.

I'd like to know why he didn't play more, with Horford out and all.  Baynes was in during garbage time and that shouldn't have happened.

gyso

Game Flow:

A win is a win is a win, and we desperately needed to bounce up off the bottom which was our loss to NY, but I wasn't that impressed with this win.

We had an amazing first quarter but lost the next 3 quarters by a net -4.  This means that if the first quarter had been even close, say 30-25, this would have been a dogfight against one of the worst teams in the NBA.

They got 54 points in the paint.  We average giving up 45.3/game.
They scored 24 points off of turnovers.  We average giving up 13.3/game.
Against the 22nd offense in the league.  We're 4th best defense, and we gave up those numbers.    

We haven't been able to throw the ball in the ocean lately.  We still only shot a very weak 32.5% from 3 last night, so don't drop the balloons quite yet.  What saved us is that Atlanta shot a Celtic-like 17.1% from 3.  I can't help but wonder what would have happened if Kent Bazemore hadn't gotten injured and only played 10 minutes.  Or if Taurean Prince, who is averaging 15ppg and is shooting 34.5% from 3, hadn't only scored 2 points on 0-7 shooting.  What would this game look like if he just shot his average?  Not a great game, just his season-to-date average.  Now do you start to understand why I am underwhelmed by this victory?  A nice 30 point first quarter, instead of a 45 point one, and this game could have turned.  A healthy Bazemore and an even minimally effective Prince and this game could have turned.  And, no, it wasn't our amazing defense that made Prince go oh-fer.

Irving 4-11.  He's shooting 31.3% from 3 over the last 5 games.

Theis looked ok, better every game, but he fouled out in 16 minutes so his timing isn't all back.

Hayward was solid, and also looking better and more comfortable every game. 2 blocks. I must say I have not only been far more impressed with Hayward's defense than his offense, I'm more impressed with his defense than I thought I would be. He is actually a pretty good defender.

I agree with the thoughts that are saying our Human Victory Cigar, Robert Williams, didn't embarrass himself.  He only played 9 minutes, so we should read too much into his -7 +/-.  We need a few more blowouts so he can get minutes vs real talent and not the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.

Semi was 3-11, 1-5 from 3.  I liked his offensive aggressiveness, he put the ball on the floor and attacked the rim.  He is SO strong he absorbed contact and still finished pretty well.  He isn't a creator, as Cowens pointed out on the Game On! thread, but he is a baby Brahma Bull going north-south.

In Dallas tonight.  Interested to see how we, and who, defends Doncic.

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401070949






bob



.

I'm with BobH's first sentence. I could reference Mr. Wolf from the Bonnie Situation scene from Pulp Fiction with the corollary quote to what Bob said, but it would be highly offensive. But it would be right on the money. Nice win, but let's not start purchasing tickets to the Finals just yet.

Most impressive? Inside Out...at least for a quarter at a time. And actually it was (Outside) Inside Out. Jaylen's behind the line left head fake then charge to the right to the open basket for a dunk must have happened a thousand times last night.

I thought for a second I was watching Milwaukee which has this down to a T and probably the sole reason they are leading the league. The first 20 plays were all at the hoop and we were either scoring easily, getting fouled in the act or And Oneing. Could not believe it.

The 2nd quarter came along and then I remembered...Old Habits Die Hard. And a 29 point lead evaporated in a few minutes down to a 13 point lead. Nothing but 3-bombs. Enough bricks to build a shopping mall.

I wonder what would happen if BOS abandoned the 3 for a game? I would bet my wife's paycheck they would blow our opponents out by 40, including MIL, TOR, GSW. That's just where this game was going if they had held out for just another quarter before the bombing brigade checked in.

Maybe Horford should come off the bench along with Hayward for a while. I think I saw more jump shots from inside the line and layups/dunks in this game than I have all season. It was all within a quarter as well. Yes, ATL is horrific. And yes, I'm exaggerating, and yes this is only one game, but that was actually fun to watch! We'll see if anything was learned from this tonight against DAL.

Hayward is looking better and better...coming off the bench. Would we like to have another guy besides Rozier coming off the bench who can put up 20? Morris and Hayward have been complementing in the rotations. But when Morris starts as in last night, he puts up 8, far less than what he contributes when he comes off the bench. Hayward is appearing more solid coming off the bench as he rehabs. If you have Rozier, Morris and Hayward on the 2nd team, you almost have Big 3 Jr.

On to DAL. Should be interesting. I'm still predicting we go below .500 for a stretch before this all gets figured out. Hope I'm completely wrong. But this was a step in the right direction.

db