POST GAME ORLANDO - AWAY

Celtics beat up by Magic in 110-91 loss

CSNE

A. SHERROD BLAKLEY

In the third quarter on Sunday, Orlando’s Andrew Nicholson took a 3-pointer that hit the back of the rim and took a ginormous bounce up in the air. The Celtics had the rim surrounded, ready to pounce on the ball as soon as it left the cylinder.

But it didn’t.

The shot soon descended back to earth and through the nets, reminding all who watched how the Magic seemingly got every bounce to go their way.

Those kind of plays coupled with a Magic team playing with far more energy and effort led to a surprisingly easy 110-91 Magic win. The up-and-down, helter-skelter ways of the Boston Celtics (9- remains a constant now that they’ve dropped three straight road games.

As the Magic's lead continued to grow, the Celtics reverted back to some bad habits that they have exhibited from time to time when they get down big. Far too often, possessions for Boston were shorter than usual because the Celtics were seeking to cut into the lead with a 3-pointer rather than work the clock and get a shot closer – and maybe better – at the rim.

And then there was rebounding.

Orlando and Boston came in being about as close as you can when it comes to rebounding percentage, with Boston being at 50.0 and the Magic marginally better at 50.1. But the two were worlds apart on the glass on Sunday, with Orlando finishing with a dominant 54-34 advantage.

The Celtics were never able to significantly cut into Orlando’s lead, which remained in double digits for the rest of the game.

Boston picked up its defense and started to full court press. While it certainly had its moments when it worked, Orlando for the most part had no trouble in defeating Boston.
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STUDS AND DUDS: CELTICS LOSE 110-91, HAVE NO ANSWER FOR MAGIC

WEEI

By Sam Packard

A thorough butt-whuppin is no way to start a vacation.

In the first of their five straight road games, The Celtics (9- lost 110-91 to the (9- Orlando Magic. After keeping it close in the first half, the C’s fell apart in the second, as the Magic dominated the paint, especially the offensive glass. Led by Victor Oladipo (19 points 8 rebounds 6 assists) Tobias Harris (15 pts 10 rebs) and Nioka Vucevic (18 pts and 10 rebs), Orlando scored 26 second chance points and 52 points in the paint. Despite a better effort from the Celtics in the 4th quarter, the 17-point deficit proved to be unsurmountable.

The Celtics shot a respectable 41% from the field, but missed a number of easy lay-ups and made only 5 of 27 from downtown. Isaiah Thomas (20 points), Avery Bradley (17), Jae Crowder (12) , and David Lee (11) all scored in double figures. Rookie Terry Rozier played well in the 4th quarter, playing physical defense and notching 7 points.

Luckily for the Celtics, they have no time to dwell on the loss, as Monday night the team will travel to Miami to play the Heat.

For a complete box score click here.

STUD OF THE NIGHT: Victor Oladipo

Before the season, many pundits predicted that Oladipo was ready to make “the jump.” Despite coming off the bench, Oladipo was easily the best player on the floor. Every time entered the game, he was aggressive, explosive, and virtually impossible to guard. Oladipo finished with 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.

DUD OF THE NIGHT: Evan Turner

There are good Evan Turner nights and there are bad Evan Turner nights. This was one of the bad ones. Surpringsingly, Turner did not finish with a turnover, it merely FELT like he did. ET finished with only 2 points on 1 of 7 shooting.

VINE OF THE NIGHT : ET MIXTAPE



WHINE OF THE NIGHT: Jimmy Buckets

James Young told reporters before the game that he was unavailable to play in Friday night’s blowout against the Wizards due to a sore shoulder. Young said he hurt the shoulder after sleeping on it incorrectly the night before. James, as the 15th man on this roster, if Coach Stevens tries to put you in the game, you head to scorers table. No matter comes to you and wants to give you minutes, you answer the call. No matter how mildly uncomfortable your shoulder feels.

STAT OF THE NIGHT: Celtics Assists

The Celtics recorded assists on 28 of their 36 total field goals (78%). That is an astonishingly high percentage. Heading into the game, the C’s were 6-2 when they assisted on 60% or more of their shots. Tonight the team was no so lucky.

112288

The second review was for the Nets game, not the Magic.


bob


.

KO IS JUST NOT THERE NIGHT IN AND NIGHT OUT.

17 + MINUTES - 3 PTS - 4 RB'S AND A MINUS 17 OUCH!

112288

112288 wrote:KO IS JUST NOT THERE NIGHT IN AND NIGHT OUT.

17 + MINUTES - 3 PTS - 4 RB'S AND A MINUS 17 OUCH!

112288

Our "second coming of Dirk" is shooting 15 for 48 (31%) his last nine games, averaging a paltry 5.6 PPG in that span. He's averaging 4.4 rebounds per game his last ten games. Now shooting 38% for the season when he shot 46.6% and 47.5% his first two years. His minutes are slightly down this year (17.5, compared to 20 and 22 his first two seasons) but you'd still think he'd show some year-to-year offensive improvement during the biggest growth spurt time (second year to third year) that most players have. Instead his offense is going the other way. Defense seems to be improving a bit so he gets credit there but he has to show me a much better offensive game to warrent significant minutes. It's obvious his coach feels the same way.

Disappointing effort against a team we are relatively close to in terms of talent.  We should be at about the same point in terms of depth and talent, and just about as far along in restructuring our roster, but failed to show up and prove it.  Sure we missed Smart, but we still blew a chance to take a step forward.  We need everything and everyone to step it up in similar games.  Everything from rebounding and shot selection to smarter rotations; we need to work harder next time this close of a matchup opportunity comes around.

Perhaps we expect too much from this team.  Truth be told this is a very flawed team.

The Celtics were a poor shooting team last year and the same problems they had are still there.

Currently they are ranked 22nd in field goal percentage and 26th in the league in 3 point shooting percentage.  Unfortunately they are 3rd in 3 point field goal attempts.  The have been able to win some games big mainly because of their ability to play defense.  Turnovers has provided them with more scoring opportunities as they are ranked 2nd in the NBA in field goal attempts.

The problem is that they must play great defense almost every game to have a shot at beating teams that are on par with them in terms of talent.  There is little margin for error so when they lose one of their very best defenders in Marcus Smart it has a definitive negative trickle down effect.

The other issue which was the topic posted by KDP59 has to do with the rotations.  You just never know which bench players will be in the game.  This is particularly evident when you look at the 4/5 rotations.

Is there another team in the NBA where their top big is playing 25 MPG?

The answer without even looking at the stats must be NO.  Sully is our only big averaging 25 MPG.  Zeller has been buried deep on the bench yet he is our only legitimate center.  Last year he proved to be a pretty solid if not spectacular 5.  Now his minutes are no where to be seen.

I like brad a lot but as I have stated before he has a lot to learn about coaching in the NBA.

When Smart went down with his injury, Brad's solution was to give more minutes to Jonas  Last night Jonas had his best game of the year playing 18 minutes with 7 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists and he shot 3/5 from the field.  Not exactly an eye popping outing for him.  Zeller logged another DNP and we certainly could have used his size against Vucevic.

My message to brad.  Marcus Smart is a guard and Jonas is supposedly a PF.  This was an opportunity to go to Hunter and say "hey kid your up"

Brad cannot seem to figure out his rotations.  However it is not all on him.  The construction of this roster over the off-season is still a head scratcher for me.  Your have a bunch of 4/5 guys that are all pretty much equal with only Jared Sullinger standing out as the most consistent among this group.  If Brad thinks that he will be able to maintain harmony on this team when he flips the lineup and rotations so frequently he is in for a big surprise.  A prolonged losing streak which is very likely to occur over this extended road trip can send this team into a tailspin.  The players will have to fight through this within the context of believing they deserve more minutes.

So Brad is playing with the hand that was dealt him but He is not playing that hand as well as can be expected.

So our guy DA has to take some of the weight.  If DA does not make a major move during the season to add more talent and bring some balance to the roster his plan will be on the brink of failure.

During the off season Danny added Johnson and Lee.  Both are pretty good players both are on the tail ends of their careers and the addition of both of them is the reason why there are issues with the rotation.  Danny was not able to land a player that added enough to the team to be a game changer.  So Danny has compromised the development of several players because they need more minutes consistently.  Their value may have been hurt.

The Celtics look more and more like a solid .500 team that does not have enough talent to play with The Cavs, Heat, Raptors, Pacers, Hawks, and Chicago.  During the off season other teams got better and the Celtics failed miserably to add anything of significance.  Don't be surprised if the Celtics lose their fair share of games to teams like Orlando and Charlotte.

The Heat is on.  They are 10-5 and have a better defense than we do.

Go Celts,

dboss

Due to technical difficulties, which also prevented me from watching the 4th quarter last night, I won't be commenting on this game.

Ok, maybe a word or two:

1.  We didn't stop Vucevic from establishing himself on the low post.  We didn't get on his shooting hand out at mid-range neither.  In other words, we didn't play defense of any kind on him.

2.  Sully disappeared.  After being the Beast of Boston the previous game he turned into Mickey Mouse in Orlando. That's true on both ends, see #1 above, Vucevic was his man. He was scoreless after 3, 0-4. He ended up with 11 boards, but none of them memorable.

3.  We really missed Smart this game.  We don't have anybody who can stop Oladipo without him.

4.  Too many open 3s.  How many 3s will we let Andrew Nicholson hit, from the exact same place, before we guard him?  same with Oly.

5.  Crowder's bitching about the lack of a regular rotation?  How about he worries about finishing his bunnies first.  We missed a lot of them last night, Avery too, but if he hits his easy ones some of the bad taste in his mouth will go away.  And his 3s? Let's not talk about his 3s. Ok, let's talk about them. He was 0-5 last night. If he wants the coaches to install regular roles for players, how about they tell him to stop taking 3s? He was leading the league with almost 4 steals/game, now he's down to 5th with 2.2/game. Bradley isn't running his mouth, he's just getting it done. Consider that. A lot of people drool over Tobias Harris.  Last night we saw why.  He is a very fundamentally sound player and he didn't make Mr. Big Mouth look very good neither.

6. Bradley, Thomas and Lee executed on offense. Crowder got into double digits but, through 3, I was not impressed with him on either end of the ball.

I'm practically typing blind, my screen has an issue, so I'm stopping here before I give myself an eyestrain headache.  On top of the one I got last night from them.


bob


.

While I like Crowder, he by no means should be bitching, he's lucky he is a starter and even has a job, his offense mirrors the inconsistency of this team and his defense while he plays hard, is not near a shutdown level either.

dboss wrote:Perhaps we expect too much from this team.  Truth be told this is a very flawed team.

The Celtics were a poor shooting team last year and the same problems they had are still there.

Currently they are ranked 22nd in field goal percentage and 26th in the league in 3 point shooting percentage.  Unfortunately they are 3rd in 3 point field goal attempts.  The have been able to win some games big mainly because of their ability to play defense.  Turnovers has provided them with more scoring opportunities as they are ranked 2nd in the NBA in field goal attempts.

The problem is that they must play great defense almost every game to have a shot at beating teams that are on par with them in terms of talent.  There is little margin for error so when they lose one of their very best defenders in Marcus Smart it has a definitive negative trickle down effect.

The other issue which was the topic posted by KDP59 has to do with the rotations.  You just never know which bench players will be in the game.  This is particularly evident when you look at the 4/5 rotations.

Is there another team in the NBA where their top big is playing 25 MPG?

The answer without even looking at the stats must be NO.  Sully is our only big averaging 25 MPG.  Zeller has been buried deep on the bench yet he is our only legitimate center.  Last year he proved to be a pretty solid if not spectacular 5.  Now his minutes are no where to be seen.

I like brad a lot but as I have stated before he has a lot to learn about coaching in the NBA.

When Smart went down with his injury, Brad's solution was to give more minutes to Jonas  Last night Jonas had his best game of the year playing 18 minutes with 7 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists and he shot 3/5 from the field.  Not exactly an eye popping outing for him.  Zeller logged another DNP and we certainly could have used his size against Vucevic.

My message to brad.  Marcus Smart is a guard and Jonas is supposedly a PF.  This was an opportunity to go to Hunter and say "hey kid your up"

Brad cannot seem to figure out his rotations.  However it is not all on him.  The construction of this roster over the off-season is still a head scratcher for me.  Your have a bunch of 4/5 guys that are all pretty much equal with only Jared Sullinger standing out as the most consistent among this group.  If Brad thinks that he will be able to maintain harmony on this team when he flips the lineup and rotations so frequently he is in for a big surprise.  A prolonged losing streak which is very likely to occur over this extended road trip can send this team into a tailspin.  The players will have to fight through this within the context of believing they deserve more minutes.

So Brad is playing with the hand that was dealt him but He is not playing that hand as well as can be expected.

So our guy DA has to take some of the weight.  If DA does not make a major move during the season to add more talent and bring some balance to the roster his plan will be on the brink of failure.

During the off season Danny added Johnson and Lee.  Both are pretty good players both are on the tail ends of their careers and the addition of both of them is the reason why there are issues with the rotation.  Danny was not able to land a player that added enough to the team to be a game changer.  So Danny has compromised the development of several players because they need more minutes consistently.  Their value may have been hurt.

The Celtics look more and more like a solid .500 team that does not have enough talent to play with The Cavs, Heat, Raptors, Pacers, Hawks, and Chicago.  During the off season other teams got better and the Celtics failed miserably to add anything of significance.  Don't be surprised if the Celtics lose their fair share of games to teams like Orlando and Charlotte.

The Heat is on.  They are 10-5 and have a better defense than we do.

Go Celts,

dboss

I wish Danny had never acquired IT for that playoff run, last year was the year of the big man, this year I don't see them out there. We might have Brooklyns pick, but its a weak draft IMHO.

Yea, Cow

IT seems like a distraction. He thinks of himself as a starting PG but he is dreadful on defense and very undisciplined on offense.

Perhaps he will be part of a trade.

IT turned us into an average team. Without him last year the Celtics would probably been in a better position to draft a better player. Your top teams have drafted quality talent. Teams are less likely to part with high end talent do to cap space issues. Using the draft to build is best in the long term.

Dboss

I am also concerned with some of the lackluster games that the Cs have been playing lately, but even more concerned with some of the comments made about this team and then even some comments made by people associated with the team.

A few losses are a few losses. No one expects the current Boston team to be a first place team, and even first place teams (well, maybe not including the Warriors) are even going to lose some games along the way.

I am very concerned with the up and down efforts in games lately. Looking to point the finger at others after such games is not what I am expecting from this Celtics group, however. Blaming rotation of players, etc is not part of what I saw Stevens developing. The improvements made by this team in the last year and a half have come from good (but not great) players who seemingly were buying into re-making the Celtics competitive once again by outworking and out hustling opponents.

One of my old high school coaches used to say that "if you want to be a first stringer, you need to be clearly better than the guys who are not first stringers AND if you want to stay a first stringer, you need to stay better than the guys who are wanting to be first stringers".

It may be about time for some of the players on this team to demand more (and more consistent) playing time by shutting up and start to playing better. Perhaps some of the players on this team are 'hiding' in the mess that is the "team's depth"??

With the draft in mind I vote for being lousy vs mediocre. Give the kids a chance and bench those players whose careers have been at best uninspiring or are on the downhill side of their careers. I doubt very much that any players like Zeller, Lee and Jerebko will ever have a major role on any future Celtic clubs. Treat the present as a chance to improve the talent level not the win column.

swish

How quickly it turns from winning 50 games and being on a roll to whispers of tanking.

It's a long season, and it's an even longer rebuild. There will be ups and downs.

Outside wrote:How quickly it turns from winning 50 games and being on a roll to whispers of tanking.

It's a long season, and it's an even longer rebuild. There will be ups and downs.

that's for sure

It seems like its been a long month!

Celts can still win a lot of games. I picked them to win 48.

They know how to play well but just not consistently.

Dboss