Post-game Thread: Celtics-76ers in Boston

[Sam]

This will be an abbreviated summary, since I was out and didn't see the game. The Celtics beat Philly 107-96 in yet another rollercoaster ride of a game. The Celts roared out of the chute, scoring the first nine points of the game and building a 29-15 lead after one quarter. At one point early in the second quarter, they led by 26 points. They then defaulted once again to jump-shooting, clanking jumper after jumper while Philly won the third quarter, 27-15, on the strength of some good shooting especially by Luc Mbah a Moute. (It took me two minutes to type his name, and I'm calling him "Tom" from now on. Actually, I just won't mention him any more.) The 6ers kept coming in the fourth quarter and trailed by only three points at two junctures. But the Celtics were able to pull away with an 8-0 run and closed it out nicely with yet another double-digit win over the hapless 76ers this season.

Bass (13) , Sully (22), Crowder (11), Thornton (16), Bradley (18) and Zeller (16) all scored in double figures for the Celtics. It seems that Crowder is much more at home coming off the bench than starting. For one thing, the starters include a guys who are used to shooting a lot, and he barely qualified as an afterthought in their offense. And the competition he's facing off the bench isn't of the caliber the starters face. Last night, he was tied for the team lead with 30 minutes played (off the bench), and he added a couple of steals to his 4-5 shooting, 6 rebounds and an assist. He plays good offense without fouling excessively (only 3 fouls in his 30 minutes in this game). Brad played only 9 guys with the exception of one minute for Pressey.

I did see some of the post-game interviews; and Brad and the players were emphasizing how important it was that they came back after Philly made such extreme inroads. That's very nice, I guess. But to blow a lead of 26 against the weakest team in the league that played without a true "1" is something I worry about. Theyve had "jumper-itis" the past few games, and the third quarter of this one showed what can happen with you live and die with the jumper. They were 10-27 on threes last night, with Sully (1-5) and Thornton (4-9) accounting for half of the attempted treys. Thornton's 4-9 is pretty good shooting from the arc, but Sully? Not so much.

Anyway, I'm sure that someone who actually saw the game can add a lot more than I did.

Go Celtics!

Sam