Post Game Thread Thunder 2/9

[cowens/oldschool]

Very good game against playoff caliber Western opponent, like the way we started, both teams played fast and were hot from 3. 2nd quarter our offense got out of whack, bench did not move the ball enough, I thought Kemba was looking for his shot too much and not hitting them. Third quarter Brad must have heard me as he got the 3 wings shots right away and we took and built a lead behind them. Fourth quarter went back and forth, then we took a should have been comfortable 9 point lead at the end and gave it right back as their defense was desperate and swarming and JT tried driving into the teeth of that defense twice from top of the key and twice he lost the ball....then Marcus Smart saved us in a one possession game with the big steal!! Was a good game for us with playoff like intensity, we came together and built the lead at the end, then made mistakes, those mistakes can be corrected, so hopefully was a good learning experience.

Chris Paul showed me he’s still got it, definition of a floor general who knows how to put his teammates in best positions to win, made big play after big play to keep his team in it. JT is so talented, so smooth, has so many moves at 21, his 3 ball is rolling and so lethal now. He’s climbing the ladder in levels this year, a special player, loved his block of Noel!! Jaylen is such a force, he wasn’t lights out on fire like he can get, but what a finisher on the break, with all that speed, a good grinding performance by him. Kemba hit big shots at end and Smart was his usual pest on defense, had 4 steals, biggest one at the end.

[cowens/oldschool]

Last 10 games JT is averaging 26 points a game on 50% from 3. He could easily be a 25 point per game scorer next year....

[sinus007]

Hi,
This was a good win. Against a solid opponent.
A rare game where we had all of our big-5. Unfortunately, it's a game - JB, according to reports, twisted his ankle and will be shut down until after ASG.
Romeo still needs a lot of practice: against a solid playoff team he looked lost - 3 fouls in 5 minutes and not much more.
Really was impressed by Theis - he stood quite tall against Adams.
Another quiet but very solid and important performance by GH.
BTW, we had 3 players with double-double!

AK

[cowens/oldschool]

Hi,
This was a good win. Against a solid opponent.
A rare game where we had all of our big-5. Unfortunately, it's a game - JB, according to reports, twisted his ankle and will be shut down until after ASG.
Romeo still needs a lot of practice: against a solid playoff team he looked lost - 3 fouls in 5 minutes and not much more.
Really was impressed by Theis - he stood quite tall against Adams.
Another quiet but very solid and important performance by GH.
BTW, we had 3 players with double-double!

AK

I thought I saw him grimacing a few times after landing on one of his drives, time to get him fully healthy for stretch run and playoffs....load management time.

[bobheckler]

A win against a quality WC team is always welcome.  I was starting to have some concerns when we went down 10 points to start the 2nd half (we were down 9 but Smart got T'd up walking off the floor, so Gallinari shot a technical before the clock even started for the 3rd quarter.  So with 24 full minutes left to play we were down 10).  We were up 9 points with only 1:40 left in the game and we almost gave it away.

We finally got a fully healthy starting 5.  How'd it go?  They combined for 91 points.  The league average this year for entire teams, including their bench's scoring, is 111.2 ppg.

Jayson Tatum being named an All-Star has had an amazing effect on his confidence level, it was a confirmation that he could take anybody in the league.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that he doesn't like to give up the ball.  It is, in my opinion, perhaps his biggest remaining single point-of-failure (otherwise, he's doing great).  


Chris Grenham @chrisgrenham
yesterday
Jayson Tatum is averaging 28.8 points on 46.6% shooting over his last five games. He's shooting 53.3% from deep over that span.

Chris Grenham @chrisgrenham
yesterday
Jayson Tatum is the youngest player in Celtics history to score 25+ points in five straight games, according to @StatMuse.

I realize that's easier to do given how much younger players beginning their NBA careers are now vs old school, but still impressive given how many scorers we've had.  To be fair, Larry Legend was 23 in his rookie year.  Tommy Gun Heinsohn was 22 when he came out, Hondo was 22.  Jayson Tatum will be 22 years old on March 3rd and is in his 3rd year already.

Our clock management in the last 2 minutes was flat-out awful.  There were several times in the last few minutes when you could just see Tatum was NOT going to pass the ball.  We were up 9, the clock was our friend, and he repeatedly drove into traffic and got stripped, first by Dennis Scrotum (he's a good player, I just don't like him) and then later by CP3.  Now, I understand they were ball-hawking at that point, so the likelihood of them stealing it or getting whistled on the attempt go up, but it was the timing of their steals that I'm talking about.  Tatum got the rebound with 1:24 left, brought it up court himself (of course!) and then got stripped at 1:10.  That means he only ran :14 off the :24 clock before going full Kobe.  After 2 CP3 fritos the lead was down to 7 and there was still 1:09 left.  Jaylen missed a layup while just taking 11 1/2 seconds off the clock and Schroder came down and hit a quick 3 and that 9 point lead was down to 4 with 46.2 seconds left.  Tatum, again, drove into a pack of Thunder players and got stripped, this was the Chris Paul steal after taking just 8.2 seconds off the clock.  Brad calls a timeout with 16.8 seconds left, we're up 3 and Hayward drives to the hoop and gets blocked.  So, that's 4 offensive possessions, all involving our wings, which showed really, really poor clock awareness.  If Brad's ATO was to have Hayward go at the teeth of the defense, then he's an idiot.

Thank God for Marcus Smart.  That steal was pure winning basketball and saved the game.  He had been struggling all game because the refs were whistling him on BS.  In fact, they missed a lot of stuff, and I mean some really obvious stuff.  We won, so this isn't sour grapes, but I have no idea what game they were watching.  Whichever it was wasn't the same one I was watching, and the one I was watching was being confirmed by replay.  When the game was on the line and someone needed to make a big play who else would that be except our team's beating heart, Marcus Smart?

I think some love should be given to a player who is a key member of this team who gets usually gets very little love, Daniel Theis.  He gets panned for being "undersized", and is overshadowed by the Js, Kemba and Gordon, but I thought he played a great game against one of the league's really big centers, Steven Adams, who is HUGE.  13 points on 5-11, 11 rebounds, 5 of them offensive.  5 assists and zero turnovers.  Adams had a few moments but, for the most part, was ineffective.  He had 4 points on 3-10.  Theis was not allowing himself to be overpowered.  

We outrebounded them by 9 boards, 53-44.  Tatum with 11, Hayward with 10 and Theis with 11.  Those guys had 11 offensive rebounds between them, 11 out of 32.  That's very healthy.  Tatum padded his rebounding stats a bit in one sequence, when he missed a layup, got his miss (offensive rebound), missed the putback, got his miss (offensive rebound #2) and then scored.  I'm not saying this as a putdown, just an observation, but what really matters with this is that Tatum was beasting.  OKC could not contain him.  Padded his rebounding stats, diluted his fg% with those pointblank misses, and left the Thunder players looking at each other afterwards.  When we rebound we win, because we have a very good defense and an assortment of offensive players, but rebounding is key.  Can't score if you can't secure the ball.

Mark Murphy @Murf56
yesterday
Jaylen Brown aggravated his right ankle, went back in, and rolled the left. "Rolled other one, my left one, trying to compensate on the right one. Don’t know what side to limp on right now."

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
yesterday
Stevens says both of Jaylen Brown’s ankles are injured, but he doesn’t know what the severity is at this point. The fact that he came back out and played the rest of the game was a positive indicator.


Langford was given some minutes, his previous stint being so good.  He got humbled this time.  He picked up 3 fouls in 6 minutes, two of which were due to him jumping on head fakes.  Welcome back to Earth, rook.

I had no idea Gilgeous-Alexander was that good.

Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
yesterday
Celtics splits over the last 11 games (10-1 record): Offensive rating: 117.2 (2nd) Defensive rating: 105.5 (2nd) Net rating: +11.7 (2nd)


The Celtics are now 15-10 on the road for the year.  That's excellent.  We also have the 2nd largest MOV in the league (yes, that includes the Lakers and Clippers).  We have won 9 of our last 10.  Unfortunately Toronto has won 10 of their last 10, so we actually lost ground to them.  How ridiculous is that?  We win 90% of our last 10 games and we fall back!  

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401161428




bob


.

[dboss]

One of the best ways to measure a team is to see if they have mental toughness.  So far this year with only a few lost games, the Celtics have shown that they know how to win.

With Boston holding on to a 5 point lead with 7:16 remaining in the game Brad took both JB and JT out of the game. He brought them back with 4:37 left and the score sitting at 101-98.

There was a razor thin margin of error.

Kemba who shot poorly got hot and made some big time baskets which was the difference maker.  He scored 9 points in the last 2:50 of the game.

OKC has some good young players there.  That kid Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is special.


The Celtics are now 37-15 and 1 game back in the loss column for that all important 2nd seed.  Toronto has reeled off 14 in a row and Boston is still right there with them.


No one is catching the Bucks in absence of a catastrophe.


Two very tough games remaining before the break at Houston tomorrow and back home for a revenge game with the Clippers on Thursday.


Jaylen Brown really needs to rest those ankles so Marcus will become a factor as usual.  Romeo went for one too many up fakes last night but that is to be expected given his limited reps out there.  I think Boston will need him to play well against Houston and LAC.


JT is going to become an elite player.  It appears he has taken his game up a notch.  He is starting to look more and more like a dominant players.

[dboss]

I would not mind if Boston got IT back.  He is a scorer and could help off the bench.  I love Wanamaker's toughness and defense but he sometimes struggles bringing the ball up the court under pressure.

Who would I cut?  Probably Green

[Berlin-T]

I know Tatum is only 21, but he just has to learn to realize that you don't drive into a crowded lane early in the clock when you have a lead to protect. Those kind of brain-dead plays could have cost us the game. If he eventually gets it - and I think he will - nothing stands in his way of reaching super stardom.

Berlin-T

[dboss]

Tatum had the ball slapped away from a defender that was trailing the play with 38 seconds left.  

Hayward went for a layup which was blocked with 13.7 seconds remaining.  

In each  case possession was more important than scoring.

It took a great steal from a great player (Marcus Smart) to seal the deal.  The Celtics flirted with disaster of their own making but managed to win.

[dbrown4]

This was a very good game to watch. A lot of back and forth with the Celtics FINALLY at almost full-force sans Williams.

There were a lot of little things going on with missed free throws on both ends by players that should have been making them but lets give credit where it is due.

OKC is tough with CP3. We held our own AGAIN in the rebounding area against a beast in Steve Adams. Kudos to both Theis and Kanter. I believe I even saw Kanter block a shot on defense.

The Ice Water In My Veins Award goes to Kemba HANDS DOWN. THAT was cold!! He has that look now like he knows this team is going to win each night out. If he has to step up, he will. He needed to last night as we were pissing away the last two minutes trying to find our asses with both hands unsuccessfully.

This is what I was talking about earlier on in the year. SHOW ME something. This was the first time everyone was back for quite some time. I was expecting a little shakiness but they held the 1st Quarter. No Problem. We let the 2nd get away from us a bit but we weren't having to come from 20+ back to even things up. 3rd quarter we got things back together. The 4th Quarter was some great, edge of your seat basketball on both sides. But Kemba late in the 4th reminded me of Larry Bird. It was showtime. And he showed up. They showed all of us what is coming. Pick one. (At lunch today ESPN with Paul Pierce was on there. Volume turned down but the caption was "Who's the bigger threat in the East, Boston or Miami?" WOW!! A little earlier than I was expecting but if we come out flat against HOU, we will move to their back page again.)

Last but not least, Marcus Smart brought the dagger down for the last time. Beautiful steal. Priceless.

Now the bar gets raised higher. JB per ESPN is "has a good chance of playing in Tuesday against Houston". Don't hold our breath but it looks like the original Starting 5 will be starting for the 2nd game in a row. Expect an even better showcase. We're having to make up for A LOT of lost time. Definitely not wasted as our bench is really improving.

Houston is a a completely different beast with a Big 2 and excellent supporting cast when it wants to be. After the Jazz ripped their hearts out and stomped on them with the crazy last second desperation 3 heave, they will be looking to take it out on us.

Great Game 1 on this 3-game stretch.

db

[cowens/oldschool]

A win against a quality WC team is always welcome.  I was starting to have some concerns when we went down 10 points to start the 2nd half (we were down 9 but Smart got T'd up walking off the floor, so Gallinari shot a technical before the clock even started for the 3rd quarter.  So with 24 full minutes left to play we were down 10).  We were up 9 points with only 1:40 left in the game and we almost gave it away.

We finally got a fully healthy starting 5.  How'd it go?  They combined for 91 points.  The league average this year for entire teams, including their bench's scoring, is 111.2 ppg.

Jayson Tatum being named an All-Star has had an amazing effect on his confidence level, it was a confirmation that he could take anybody in the league.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that he doesn't like to give up the ball.  It is, in my opinion, perhaps his biggest remaining single point-of-failure (otherwise, he's doing great).  


Chris Grenham @chrisgrenham
yesterday
Jayson Tatum is averaging 28.8 points on 46.6% shooting over his last five games. He's shooting 53.3% from deep over that span.

Chris Grenham @chrisgrenham
yesterday
Jayson Tatum is the youngest player in Celtics history to score 25+ points in five straight games, according to @StatMuse.

I realize that's easier to do given how much younger players beginning their NBA careers are now vs old school, but still impressive given how many scorers we've had.  To be fair, Larry Legend was 23 in his rookie year.  Tommy Gun Heinsohn was 22 when he came out, Hondo was 22.  Jayson Tatum will be 22 years old on March 3rd and is in his 3rd year already.

Our clock management in the last 2 minutes was flat-out awful.  There were several times in the last few minutes when you could just see Tatum was NOT going to pass the ball.  We were up 9, the clock was our friend, and he repeatedly drove into traffic and got stripped, first by Dennis Scrotum (he's a good player, I just don't like him) and then later by CP3.  Now, I understand they were ball-hawking at that point, so the likelihood of them stealing it or getting whistled on the attempt go up, but it was the timing of their steals that I'm talking about.  Tatum got the rebound with 1:24 left, brought it up court himself (of course!) and then got stripped at 1:10.  That means he only ran :14 off the :24 clock before going full Kobe.  After 2 CP3 fritos the lead was down to 7 and there was still 1:09 left.  Jaylen missed a layup while just taking 11 1/2 seconds off the clock and Schroder came down and hit a quick 3 and that 9 point lead was down to 4 with 46.2 seconds left.  Tatum, again, drove into a pack of Thunder players and got stripped, this was the Chris Paul steal after taking just 8.2 seconds off the clock.  Brad calls a timeout with 16.8 seconds left, we're up 3 and Hayward drives to the hoop and gets blocked.  So, that's 4 offensive possessions, all involving our wings, which showed really, really poor clock awareness.  If Brad's ATO was to have Hayward go at the teeth of the defense, then he's an idiot.

Thank God for Marcus Smart.  That steal was pure winning basketball and saved the game.  He had been struggling all game because the refs were whistling him on BS.  In fact, they missed a lot of stuff, and I mean some really obvious stuff.  We won, so this isn't sour grapes, but I have no idea what game they were watching.  Whichever it was wasn't the same one I was watching, and the one I was watching was being confirmed by replay.  When the game was on the line and someone needed to make a big play who else would that be except our team's beating heart, Marcus Smart?

I think some love should be given to a player who is a key member of this team who gets usually gets very little love, Daniel Theis.  He gets panned for being "undersized", and is overshadowed by the Js, Kemba and Gordon, but I thought he played a great game against one of the league's really big centers, Steven Adams, who is HUGE.  13 points on 5-11, 11 rebounds, 5 of them offensive.  5 assists and zero turnovers.  Adams had a few moments but, for the most part, was ineffective.  He had 4 points on 3-10.  Theis was not allowing himself to be overpowered.  

We outrebounded them by 9 boards, 53-44.  Tatum with 11, Hayward with 10 and Theis with 11.  Those guys had 11 offensive rebounds between them, 11 out of 32.  That's very healthy.  Tatum padded his rebounding stats a bit in one sequence, when he missed a layup, got his miss (offensive rebound), missed the putback, got his miss (offensive rebound #2) and then scored.  I'm not saying this as a putdown, just an observation, but what really matters with this is that Tatum was beasting.  OKC could not contain him.  Padded his rebounding stats, diluted his fg% with those pointblank misses, and left the Thunder players looking at each other afterwards.  When we rebound we win, because we have a very good defense and an assortment of offensive players, but rebounding is key.  Can't score if you can't secure the ball.

Mark Murphy @Murf56
yesterday
Jaylen Brown aggravated his right ankle, went back in, and rolled the left. "Rolled other one, my left one, trying to compensate on the right one. Don’t know what side to limp on right now."

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
yesterday
Stevens says both of Jaylen Brown’s ankles are injured, but he doesn’t know what the severity is at this point. The fact that he came back out and played the rest of the game was a positive indicator.


Langford was given some minutes, his previous stint being so good.  He got humbled this time.  He picked up 3 fouls in 6 minutes, two of which were due to him jumping on head fakes.  Welcome back to Earth, rook.

I had no idea Gilgeous-Alexander was that good.

Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
yesterday
Celtics splits over the last 11 games (10-1 record): Offensive rating: 117.2 (2nd) Defensive rating: 105.5 (2nd) Net rating: +11.7 (2nd)


The Celtics are now 15-10 on the road for the year.  That's excellent.  We also have the 2nd largest MOV in the league (yes, that includes the Lakers and Clippers).  We have won 9 of our last 10.  Unfortunately Toronto has won 10 of their last 10, so we actually lost ground to them.  How ridiculous is that?  We win 90% of our last 10 games and we fall back!  

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401161428




bob


.

Good call that Moses beasting moment by Tatum was great, Moses did it with old man grunt power, Tatum did it with springy athleticism and length, his arms are ridiculous, he can obviously jump and he also had an equally dominant statement block right on a 7 footer. Noel thinking he could just drive right down the lane, was rudely swatted by a sky high block and even knocked down from the force as Tatum swatted all ball. Tatum is really using his length and developing the necessary tenacity, combined with his athleticism to be a defensive force all over the floor and he will jump/challenge you at the rim too. He’s discovering a lot more things he can do. He’s improving on both sides of the ball, especially his steals and blocks.

[mrkleen09]

Officiating was absolutely atrocious in this game. OKC got more of the calls, but they also got their share of fantom whistles. Very disruptive to the flow when the refs suck so badly.

JT is a superstar. Book it. Write it down. Tattoo it on your butt. He is going to be an all time top 5 Boston Celtic. I have no doubt.

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