POST GAME HOUSTON

WEATHER FORECAST FOR BOSTON

Severe weather alert!

Cold wave warnings in effect with a hard freeze advisory for the foreseeable future!
Bring all plant and livestock into shelter to prevent permanent damage!

112288

i am in the damn hospital and didnt see anything. What happened? Just the usual old guy december crap...did kg play? Sam says it'l take a while to tack up.

I aint too worried about it. But look forward to readin yalls input

Jeb

No KG and you can ditto Saturday night. No creativity, no hustle NO ENERGY.

Celtics caught off guard by Rockets, 108-102

January 10, 2011, 9:57 pm
Mon, Jan 10
Final 1 2 3 4 Tot
Houston 27 23 30 28 108
Boston 22 27 25 28 102
Preview | Box | Head to Head | Recap
Leaders Houston Boston
Points A. Brooks 24 2 tied with 19
Rebounds L. Scola 9 2 tied with 7
Assists K. Lowry 8 R. Rondo 12

By A. Sherrod Blakely
CSNNE.com

BOSTON — The Houston Rockets continued to do what few teams have been able to do consistently - win in Boston - in handing the C's a 108-102 loss.

Boston (28-9) has now lost two in a row, and continued a trend of losing to the Rockets at home.

Houston's win on Monday was its third straight at the Garden, and eight in their last 10 matchups in Boston.

The Rockets came in having lost four straight, in large part because they could not put away teams down the stretch.

In those four losses, Houston (17-21) led by nine or more points in every game.

The Rockets seemed on the verge of yet another collapse.

After leading by double digits with about a minute to play, the C's found themselves down 106-102 with 18.5 seconds to play following Rajon Rondo forcing an eight-second violation ... or so we thought.

The officials got together briefly, and said that an inadvertent whistle was blown, and it was Houston's ball.

That would be the last gasp the C's had at stealing a game that, frankly, they didn't play well enough to win.

Houston's success was fueled by some scorching-hot shooting in the second half.

After shooting 45 percent (18-of-4) from the field in the first half, the Rockets connected on 21-of-34 (61.8 percent)

Houston was led by Aaron Brooks' game-high 24 points.

Boston got 19 points from Marquis Daniels and Ray Allen, whose 3-pointer with about two minutes to play cut Houston's lead to 106-99.

The Celtics were hopeful that Kevin Garnett, who has missed the last seven games after suffering a right calf strain injury at Detroit on Dec. 29, might play.

But C's coach Doc Rivers announced before the game that Garnett was out, and that he might return to the lineup on Wednesday against Sacramento.

One of Garnett's greatest qualities is that he always plays with great energy.

That was very much in short supply on Monday, as the C's continued to perform at a lackluster level without their defensive catalyst.

His replacement, Glen Davis, continued to struggle with his shot.

Even more significant was Davis' problems defensively against Luis Scola.

Scola only had 12 points, but the bulk of them came during a critical stretch in the third quarter that resulted in Houston extending their one-point lead at the half, to six points going into the fourth quarter.

His struggles defensively mirrored the entire Celtics team, which once again allowed a team to shoot better than 50 percent from the field.

112288

thanks 11

bummer...they'll get it sorted, to many great guys and players

Am I the only one getting tired of these 20 minute 2 rebound performances from Shaq?

Nate 24 for 72 his last ten games, 33.3%. Just when we needed guys to pick up the scoring slack with KG out.

STEVE YOU GET A TOMMY POINT FOR THAT!

YOUR RIGHT!

112288

Jeb

Just some more feed back from the game for you from ESPN BOSTON

BOSTON -- Rapid reaction after the Houston Rockets defeated the Boston Celtics 108-102 Monday night at the TD Garden:

HOW THE GAME WAS WON
Aaron Brooks returned from injury to score a game-high 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting, hitting five 3-pointers while handing out five assists over 36 minutes as the Rockets snapped a five-game losing streak. Ray Allen and Marquis Daniels each scored 19 points for the Celtics, while Paul Pierce added 16 points. Boston shot 50.7 percent (38-of-75), but the Celtics' defense struggled, allowing the Rockets to shoot 52.7 percent (39-of-74).

TURNING POINT
The Celtics trailed by six entering the fourth quarter and were unable to generate stops over the first nine-plus minutes. The Rockets connected on eight of their first nine attempts in the quarter, the lone miss being tipped back in. Pierce missed a layup that would have cut Boston's deficit to six and Brooks drilled a monster 3-pointer at the other end to push Houston's lead to 101-90 with 4:26 to go. Boston's first honest-to-goodness stop (no second-chance bucket or free throw attempts) of the quarter didn't come until 2:31 remained in the game.

STAT OF THE GAME
The Rockets lit up the 3-point line, connecting on 10 of 20 attempts beyond the arc, putting Boston in a double-digit hole in the second half and preventing any sort of rally.

UNSUNG HERO
After dropping 24 points here in Houston's win last April (connecting on 6 of 8 3-pointers), Chase Budinger produced another fine outing as he hit 5 of 6 shots, including 3 of 4 triples, while scoring 13 points in 18 minutes off the bench.

WHAT IT MEANS
Another post-Christmas swoon? The Celtics dropped their fourth game in nine tries, including their second home loss in 11 days. Not exactly the way to kick off a six-game homestand that only gets more challenging down the road (Orlando and Utah loom next week). Boston's typically stout defense clearly misses Kevin Garnett, but the silver lining is that he could be back as early as Wednesday's game against Sacramento.

steve3344 wrote:Am I the only one getting tired of these 20 minute 2 rebound performances from Shaq?

I had thought he was making KG's life easier around the basket,maybe it was really the other way around?

cowens/oldschool wrote:

steve3344 wrote:Am I the only one getting tired of these 20 minute 2 rebound performances from Shaq?

I had thought he was making KG's life easier around the basket,maybe it was really the other way around?

In 7 of his last 10 games Shaq's had 2 rebounds or less. And it's hard to get less...

steve3344 wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:

steve3344 wrote:Am I the only one getting tired of these 20 minute 2 rebound performances from Shaq?

I had thought he was making KG's life easier around the basket,maybe it was really the other way around?

In 7 of his last 10 games Shaq's had 2 rebounds or less. And it's hard to get less...

easily the worst rebounding stretch of his career

cowens/oldschool wrote:

steve3344 wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:

steve3344 wrote:Am I the only one getting tired of these 20 minute 2 rebound performances from Shaq?

I had thought he was making KG's life easier around the basket,maybe it was really the other way around?

In 7 of his last 10 games Shaq's had 2 rebounds or less. And it's hard to get less...

easily the worst rebounding stretch of his career

He can barely move and he can't jump. But at 7'1" you'd think a few more boards would find their way into his paws than two per night. Especially without KG there to vacuum them up.

The Celtics are in a funk

dboss

dboss wrote:The Celtics are in a funk

dboss

seems shrek and donk have lost their mojo. Still it was winnable as bad as they played so twist left instead of right and we can start to win some of the close ones again.

Too much pride and talent and dedication on this years model to cause me too much worry.

Seems Glen is shootin too much, way too much. But while back he was makin em and we all felt like proud papas and he will make them again. But I think he needs to set more big picks and get back to banging some too.

All jumpers is never good and wont beat any team in this a good league consistently.

Actually as a team we shot 50%,so the real problem was the defense,Budinger and Brooks lighting it up from the 3,those guys were unconcious and we still coulda pulled this out.....just couldn't get stops until last minutes of the game.Overall team looking fatigued,we have been playing great,but really need all our parts.

Hi,
I didn't watch part of the 2 and 3 quarter but it looked to me that the Celtics' defense was up and running only for the first 3-4 min of the 1st and the last 2-3 min of the 4th.
As 112288 noted, this game was very similar to the game in Chicago: flat, flat, flat.
I hope nobody here will have to start "What's wrong with Celtics" thread.

AK

This should shed some light on everything. Cowens & Sinus 007 are right!

Rivers: Worst defensive effort in years
Link|Comments (0)Posted by Julian Benbow, Globe Staff January 11, 2011 12:10 AM

The Celtics let the Rockets shoot 52.7 percent, giving up 100 points for the third time in four games in a 108-102 loss.
Even though the Celtics are waiting on Kevin Garnett, the key component of their defense, to return from a strained right calf, coach Doc Rivers said their 108-102 loss to the Rockets had nothing to do with Garnett's absence.

This was about starters not showing up. About a defensive-minded team losing it's religion. About a championship-driven team forgetting that every game can mean the difference between Game 7 on the road or at home.

It's not about midseason lulls. Not when they competition's scorching. Miami and Orlando have both won 9 of their last 10. The Celtics are .500 over the past 10 games.

This was about a team being in cruise control, Doc Rivers said, and thinking they could get away with it.

Instead, a team on a five-game losing streak came in a shot the lights out, getting 24 points from Aaron Brooks and dealing the Celtics just their third home loss.

After letting the Rockets shoot 52.7 percent, Rivers said, "I told our guys I thought overall it was probably our worst defensive effort in three, four years as far as overall effort ... That’s a mental mindset and it starts with me. I’ve got to somehow figure out a way of getting them to see the urgency of the whole season and not the single game.

"To me, you can see them thinking about the individual game and not the ramifications of the entire season. Playing Game 7 on the road, not just in the Finals if you make it there, but in the playoffs. In the East, which is going to be difficult. This year’s not like last year where you can coast. You don’t have home court this year, you could go home.”

For the third time in four games the Celtics let an opponent run up 100 points. They're coming off a game where they let Derrick Rose score 36 points, the second biggest individual scoring night the Celtics have allowed this season behind the 39 that Amare Stoudemire rang up last month at Madison Square Garden.

The Rockets put seven players in double-figures, drilling 10 of 20 3 pointers.

"I don’t like where we’re at right now, because we’re in this cruise control and we think we’re going to show up and win," Rivers said. "When you’re shorthanded, that’s not going to happen."

Allen sore after fourth-quarter fall
Ray Allen just took a nasty spill in front of the Celtics bench and early in the fourth quarter and immediately came off the floor at the next dead ball.

He stayed on the bench from the 10:56 mark to the 5:40 mark, and said that even though he couldn’t feel the pain when he was on the floor, after the game his left side was sore.

“I just took a hard hit, and kind of collapsed on the side,” Allen said. “I’m sore, I’ll feel it tomorrow. My shoulder but kind of my side, you got so much adrenaline running that you don’t really feel it, once I got in the back I felt it.”

Doc to drop Davis' minutes
Glen Davis took a team high 14 shots and also played a team-high 38 minutes, both of which were too high for Rivers’ liking.

Since Garnett went down, Davis’s minutes have spiked, but his performance has been up-and-down.

“He’s getting too many minutes, quite honestly,” Rivers said. “Thirty-eight minutes is too many for Baby. We don’t have a lot of options right now; Luke (Harangody’s) playing okay but we may have to go small. But that’s too many minutes, and that’s on me. Baby shouldn’t play more than in the thirty-range, because I think the fatigue is bothering him.”


Celtics effort tough to defend

By Mark Murphy
Tuesday, January 11, 2011 - Updated 36 minutes ago
+ Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email
E-mail Print (5) Comments Text size Share Buzz up!
Lackluster can be a contagious frame of mind.

The sluggishness the Celtics [team stats] exhibited Saturday night in Chicago followed them home for a 108-102 loss to the Houston Rockets last night at the Garden.

Where poor ball movement sunk the Celts against the Bulls, an inability to get in the way of any Rocket with the ball was their undoing last night.


Though the Celtics finally got their offensive act in order with an 11-for-18 fourth quarter, the Rockets had already taken off.

Houston shot 10-for-15 over the same stretch, including an 11-point, two-trey burst from Aaron Brooks over the last 10 minutes, to hand the Celtics a second straight loss for only the third time this season.

It’s doubtful that either of the previous two slides left this kind of distaste on the mouths of every Celtic, especially the coach.

“It was probably our worst defensive effort in three, four years,” Doc Rivers said. “And it’s on the starters, not the second unit. They actually got us back into the game in the first half and second half. All they did was come in and play hard.

I told our starters that when we’re down men like (Kendrick Perkins [stats]), Delonte (West) and Kevin (Garnett), our second unit needs your help. It shouldn’t be the other way around.”

Instead, the starters wasted one of reserve Marquis Daniels’ finest nights, a 19-point (on 7-for-8 shooting), seven-rebound performance that was, according to Ray Allen, “our one bright light tonight.”

Worse still was the fact that Houston lacked one of its own stars, Kevin Martin. Instead, Brooks, coming off a prolonged ankle-related absence, ignited for 24 points that felt like 48 by game’s end.

The Celtics have been here before, of course. Back on Nov. 19 they lost at the Garden to an Oklahoma City team playing without Kevin Durant. This failed to s

oothe captain Paul Pierce [stats] at all.

“We really need to take advantage of games where their best player isn’t playing,” Pierce said. “These games mean a lot down the road, but at the same time we have to understand that nothing is given to us just because they’re down a man, or they’ve been struggling for most of the year.

We have to put our work boots on and come with our ‘A’ game. We’re not taking advantage of this. There are a lot of games we’re letting slip away that we’re supposed to win.”

Houston bumped up to a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter eight times while answering Celtics scoring possessions on each occasion. Brooks provided the visitors an 11-point edge with his fourth trey of the night with 4:26 left, and upped the ante to 12 with trey No. 5.

The Celtics responded with a Daniels layup and 3’s from Allen and Pierce, the latter cutting the Houston lead to 106-102 with :27.2 left. And that’s as close as the C’s would get, with Rajon Rondo [stats] throwing his second pass out of bounds in the last two minutes.

112288

The C's look sick, like they have a virus... I'm hoping that it's just the 2 game variety...GO CELTICS

RAY MAY NOT PLAY TOMORROW DUE TO HIT ON LEFT SHOULDER FROM BEHIND LAST NIGHT.

112288

112288 wrote:RAY MAY NOT PLAY TOMORROW DUE TO HIT ON LEFT SHOULDER FROM BEHIND LAST NIGHT.

112288

From the Herald at 1AM:

Ray OK

Ray Allen appears to be fine after taking a hit to his left shoulder Monday.

“Well, he shot it every time, so I’m going to say (he’s fine),” said Rivers. “I don’t think there was any issue with the shoulder.” ...

That hit he took was an illegal pick, he went down like a ton of bricks! I went to the game Monday, and was very disappointed at the way the starting five played until it was too late. Something has got to be done to get Davis to stop taking so many shots, (and missing). You could tell from the look on Paul Pierce's face that he was aggitated at the way the game was going. I will say that Ray had 7 rebounds and 19 points, but the rest of them just seemed to be coasting. Daniels had a good game, he was active at both ends of the floor. I am so delighted at the way he is playing now.

Davis is playing too many minutes, he is exhausted and is taking shots that KG would normally take. The only thing is, this is not his range. The kid is taking alot of heat right now, some unjustified. But there has to be an answer to this problem. I can't wait for him to be back on the second unit
and maybe there will be some cohesiveness again.

Houston shot lights out the other night, with no one giving them much trouble. However, they did hit some shots that were out of sight and just lucked out. Brooks was terrific, Buddinger, and Scola. I just couldn't believe they lost to them without fighting until the last five minutes or so.

That hit he took was an illegal pick, he went down like a ton of bricks! I went to the game Monday, and was very disappointed at the way the starting five played until it was too late. Something has got to be done to get Davis to stop taking so many shots, (and missing). You could tell from the look on Paul Pierce's face that he was aggitated at the way the game was going. I will say that Ray had 7 rebounds and 19 points, but the rest of them just seemed to be coasting. Daniels had a good game, he was active at both ends of the floor. I am so delighted at the way he is playing now.

Davis is playing too many minutes, he is exhausted and is taking shots that KG would normally take. The only thing is, this is not his range. The kid is taking alot of heat right now, some unjustified. But there has to be an answer to this problem. I can't wait for him to be back on the second unit
and maybe there will be some cohesiveness again.

Houston shot lights out the other night, with no one giving them much trouble. However, they did hit some shots that were out of sight and just lucked out. Brooks was terrific, Buddinger, and Scola. I just couldn't believe they lost to them without fighting until the last five minutes or so.