Post Game Thread - 3rd Round Playoffs, Game 3 vs Heat

[bobheckler]

Both a satisfying and unsatisfying victory.  Satisfying in that we won.  Satisfying in that we went up 20 on them and there wasn't much they seemed to be able to do to stop us.  Satisfying in that we finally handled the zone well.  UNsatisfying in that the 20 point lead got nibbled away until it was down to 5 with a minute or so left.  The  itch to bury them deep, and keep them deep, didn't get scratched.  Nevertheless, it was a very comfortable, safe 11 point victory.  Speaking for myself I was confident towards the end because I knew they were going to have to start fouling us to stop the clock and we are a good frito shooting team.

Jaylen with an excellent bounce back game.  I think Smart needs to curse at him more, it seems to work.  11-17 is more in line with the type of shooting % we've come to expect from him.  He also played stellar defense on Duncan Robinson, who had a rough game.  Robinson only had 8 fgas, 4-8 from 3, and 5 fouls.  Jaylen was stuck to him like glue.

Tatum also with a good game, both our J's were "on".  While I wasn't happy with Tatum's gambling defense he did have 14 rebounds, 25 points and, I believe, a career high 8 assists.

Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP
That’s Jayson Tatum’s 6th consecutive 20+-point game, the 24th of his playoff career.

Only Kobe and Lebron have more.

Let’s say that again…

…only Kobe…and LeBron…have more.



Kemba, likewise, with a "Kemba game".  Finally.

The difference maker, however, was Gordon Hayward.  We are like a completely different team with him.  It's not just the scoring threat he adds, in fact he only had 6 points on 2-7, it's coherency.  Our series comeback, in my opinion, will rely heavily upon Gordon Hayward's contributions, mostly from his steadiness.

Chris Grenham @chrisgrenham
2 hours ago
Marcus Smart guarded Goran Dragic for 14.9 partial possessions last night, more than any other Celtic defender.

Smart held Dragic to 0 points on 0-of-2 FG over that span, per the NBA’s tracking data.

Marcus also had 20 points, with half of them coming in the form of frito daggers in the final few minutes.  He was a perfect 10-10 from the line.

85 total fgas, 44 of them 3s for Miami.  If you can defend the arc and prevent the pnr they can be beaten.  That's what we did last night, we held them to 27.3% from 3.  Bam had a great game but it wasn't the pnr fest they've been enjoying until last night.

64 total ftas last night.  That's a lot of whistles.

17 fast break points for us vs 13 for them.  That makes me very happy, indeed, since they are all about speed over size.

Much was made of the Heat's come from behind victories in Games 1 & 2, as there should be, but you cannot keep digging yourself into a hole like they do and expect lightning to keep striking the same place every time, we've seen that happen enough with ourselves to know that, and Jimmy Butler knows it too.



If we win Game 4 it's a new series, and they'll be panicked.  Dragic and Iggy are senior citizens, Butler's in his prime, but Herro and Robinson and Bam are young'uns.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401245395




bob


.

[dboss]

The Celtics finally won a game last night against the Heat, 117-106

JB, JT, KW and MS all scored 20 + points.
 
GH returned and played 31 minutes.  After the game he said he was tired which is to be expected after the extended 5 week absence.  His presence was needed.  He scored 6 points with 4 assists and 5 rebounds.  He also had 3 steals and 1 block.

Anybody figure out why Brad does not call timeouts even while the other team is going on an extended run?  Here we are up 20 (100-80)  with only 7:43 left in the game and the Heat start peeling away at our lead.  Brad does nothing to change the flow.  When they cut the lead down to 5 (109-104) I got nervous. The Celtics lost 2 games because they could not hold onto a lead and it sure looked like it was happening again.  The ill advised decision by Marcus to drive into the middle and attempt a shot with 15 seconds still on the shot clock are the type of plays that will lose games for you.

The Celtics dominated this game through 3 1/2 quarters but if they want to win this series they will need a full 48 minute effort.
 
Game 4 is not until Wednesday so they have a few extra days to put a second coat of paint on.

I really did not know that Hayward would be moving so well.  If he feels good on Wednesday I would put him back in the starting lineup.  The reason is obvious.  Tyler Herro is their main guy off the bench.  Hard to wrap my head around that because he is just a rookie.  He needs a full time assignment so I would mirror him with Marcus Smart.   Also once you put GH in there with Jayson and Jaylen it lets Jaylen move back to the SG where he is dominant.

The Celtics also need to figure out what to do about Bam.  He went for 27 points and 16 rebounds  (4 offensive)  They are dominating us in the middle.  Theis is a foul machine.  GWill cannot do much for us in the middle and Kanter runs the floor like he is running on egg shells.  It is so weird.
 
Maybe we should throw RW in there off the bench in game 4.  Change up on a few things because they will be looking to change up on us.
 
Kemba Walker shot the ball much better on his way to scoring 21 points but his overall decision making and execution is still not on a high level.  He had 4 turnovers and only 2 assists.

[dboss]

BobH

I think you got something wrong here

"Jaylen with an excellent bounce back game."

Jaylen scored 21 points in game 2 while shooting 8-14 (57%).  He also had 6 rebounds, 2 assists and only 1 turnover.  The team had 20 turnovers in game 2 and Marcus had 4 of them.

You cannot have a bounce back game unless the previous game was bad.  And Marcus Smart had nothing to do with Jaylen's game last night.  

I'm just saying.

[RosalieTCeltics]

I think what Bob was referring to was a defensive bounce back. Jaylen made alot of questionable decisions on defense in game 2, it just was not like him at all. And, he hit two three pointers when they were making a run with ? minutes left. Miami let their guard down, and he hit those shots. I think last night was an overall Jaylen game, offense from the start, defense all night long. It was obvious he got under Crowder's skin, as Crowder was not as big a factor in last night's game.

They all played well, it is those let down's that are going to kill them if they cannot get things under control. Long threes, long rebounds that set Miami up for instant three pointers. Like Brad says, a 17 point lead is like 8 with Miami.. they are so deadly from the three point line. Smart did a great job on Robinson, and just having Gordon on the floor was so refreshing. He has a way of calming them down.

This is just one game, Butler is playing head games saying Boston has the momentum. He knows the Celtics have to win the next game to even things up and start again from the beginning. Let's see if they have it in them. Three days off, maybe good, but it may be bad too.
I wish they were keeping the schedule going, every other day. But, the guys may relish this time off to get their bodies ready for the battle ahead

[dbrown4]

Yep, Rosalie, I was a little shocked at the time off but it is what it is for both sides. Probably helps us more with Hayward getting some additional time off for final touches on conditioning. MIA going to waste this time thinking nothing has changed for them. They'll go looking for the OG counter defense notebook only to find it never existed in the first place since he was out a good portion of the regular season and missing in the bubble for a long time. In reality, nothing has changed for them so far in the bubble.

I hope this will befuddle MIA as much as their zone bs has done the same to us, only we had time to figure ours out and they don't.

db

[sinus007]

Hi,
Yes, it was a good game. Much more focus on BOS side.
Still, quite a few defensive mishaps but on offense Celtics started to break MIA's zone.
I think coach Spo made a mistake - he didn't adjust their game plan (on defense) for the presence of GH. I'm not sure if he can. I hope Gordon is better stats wise in the next game.

AK

[Shamrock1000]

Glad we won, but Miami's run at the end of the game looked all too familiar. Ultimately, the guys on the court are responsible for what happens on the court, but Brad might want to think about trying something other than letting them play through these droughts. Given our weak bench, I suppose his options are limited, but maybe a time out would slow the momentum, or give him a chance to remind the Celtics of how they built the lead in the first place. Gordon's return may help - will give Brad more substitution options.

Celtics did a better job against the zone - making outside shots helps, as does getting stops that prevent the other team from having a chance to set up the zone. To Miami's credit, one of the reasons their zone is so effective is that those guys are fast to get back out to shooters on inside out plays. They are a good defensive team.

Bam continues to dominate. As Dboss suggested, why not give The Time Lord some run? He has been playing well in the playoffs, and what the Celtics have been doing isn't working.

I read that we have led for 101 out of 144 minutes in this series. I suspect the situation was similar in the Toronto series. That tells me we are the better team. It shouldn't be this close, and it troubles me that we keep blowing leads. Brad and the team have to figure out how step on the opponents neck.

[dbrown4]

shamrock,

It appears Brad is trying to take a page out of Phil Jackson's playbook. He would never call a timeout to bale his team out. His philosophy (no pun intended) was you're an adult professional getting paid gazillions of dollars to throw a basketball around. You figure this problem(s) out on the court. I'm not bailing you out.

Now it worked for Phil. Lakers have the championships under him to prove it. Brad...not so much but this looks like he's going to continue this until we figure everything out on the court and have this be his permanent MO.

db

[Shamrock1000]

shamrock,

It appears Brad is trying to take a page out of Phil Jackson's playbook.  He would never call a timeout to bale his team out.  His philosophy (no pun intended) was you're an adult professional getting paid gazillions of dollars to throw a basketball around.  You figure this problem(s) out on the court.  I'm not bailing you out.

Now it worked for Phil.  Lakers have the championships under him to prove it.  Brad...not so much but this looks like he's going to continue this until we figure everything out on the court and have this be his permanent MO.  

db  

It's funny you mention Phil - I was thinking about him as I was typing. I think it worked a little better for Phil because both his Chicago and LA teams had a lot of grizzled veterans, and strong-willed stars like MJ, Kobe, etc, etc. Celtics are still incredibly young, especially their best players.

[dbrown4]

True. I'm guessing Brad is planning for the future!

db

[dboss]

Glad we won, but Miami's run at the end of the game looked all too familiar. Ultimately, the guys on the court are responsible for what happens on the court, but Brad might want to think about trying something other than letting them play through these droughts. Given our weak bench, I suppose his options are limited, but maybe a time out would slow the momentum, or give him a chance to remind the Celtics of how they built the lead in the first place. Gordon's return may help - will give Brad more substitution options.

Celtics did a better job against the zone - making outside shots helps, as does getting stops that prevent the other team from having a chance to set up the zone. To Miami's credit, one of the reasons their zone is so effective is that those guys are fast to get back out to shooters on inside out plays. They are a good defensive team.

Bam continues to dominate. As Dboss suggested, why not give The Time Lord some run? He has been playing well in the playoffs, and what the Celtics have been doing isn't working.

I read that we have led for 101 out of 144 minutes in this series. I suspect the situation was similar in the Toronto series. That tells me we are the better team. It shouldn't be this close, and it troubles me that we keep blowing leads. Brad and the team have to figure out how step on the opponents neck.

Rock

Teams run hot and cold.  My biggest criticism is that Brad continues to sit on time outs instead of using them to change the momentum of the game during key stretches.   We were up 16 at 104-88 with 5 minutes left in the game.  They cut our lead all the way down to 5 points.  The Celtics did not take a timeout until there were only 29 seconds left in the game and we were up by 7.  When a team goes on a run you have to call a timeout.  Given the fact that we lost the first 2 games after having leads you would think that Brad would have used his timeouts.  He did not use them well in games 1 and 2 either.

Great coaches know when to micromanage a game and when to let the boys just keep playing.

I know people get upset because I mention these things but if we lose the ECF for the 3rd time in 4 years there will be a whole lot of upset fans.  

We have had 6 coaches that have won a championship.  Brad has yet to prove that he is capable of coaching this team well enough to win a title.

[dbrown4]

dboss,

Red, Bill Russell, Bill Fitch, KC Jones, Doc Rivers and ....I'm drawing a blank! Early mid 70's maybe?

db

[sinus007]

dboss,

Red, Bill Russell, Bill Fitch, KC Jones, Doc Rivers and ....I'm drawing a blank! Early mid 70's maybe?

db

Hi,
Tommy

AK

[jrleftfoot]

Teams make runs in the NBA. I never felt the outcome was in doubt down the stretch. Maybe Marcus should have killed clock instead of attacking, but his two free throws to stretch it to 7 pretty much sealed the deal . He was 10 for 10 fom the charity stripe and that certainly helped maintain a lead. Like several other posters, I would like to see Stevens use his timeouts to change momentum, but he's a quietly stubborn guy. He still insisted the zone was the way to go after the OG miracle shot annd said they will continue to employ it in those situations.

[dbrown4]

Thank you, Sinus! My bad! Should have known that!

db

[dboss]

Teams make runs in  the NBA. I never felt the outcome was in doubt down the stretch. Maybe Marcus should have killed clock instead of attacking, but his two free throws to stretch it to 7 pretty much sealed the deal . He was 10 for 10 fom the charity stripe and that certainly helped maintain a lead. Like several other posters, I would like to see Stevens use his timeouts to change momentum, but he's a quietly stubborn guy. He still insisted the zone was the way to go  after the OG  miracle shot annd said they will continue to employ it in those situations.

Foot

I kept watching the lead shrink and when it got down to 5 it was just a 2 possession game. I was confident we would win but I was nervous given what has happened so far in the playoffs including 2 overtime losses, a buzzer beater and how we have let teams back in the game too many times.

If you play with fire, sooner or later you are going to get burnt and this team has already felt that. We have little margin for error. Great coaching impacts close margins.

But you are quite right that Stevens has a stubborness about him.

The good thing is that his rotation has a lot more flexibility with the return of Gordon Hayward.

[jrleftfoot]

You're right, dboss; it got a little hairy there for a quick minute. If the foul hadn't been called on Smart's drive, it could have gone south, but they were in a position where they pretty much had to foul. Maybe I should have been more nervous than I was  

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