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STUDS AND DUDS: BROOK LOPEZ, NETS UPSET CELTICS

Brook Lopez

For the second game in a row, the Celtics‘ lost at home against one of the league’s bottom feeders in what was one of the most disappointing defeats of the season.

The Nets beat the Celtics, 100-97, and considering Boston owns Brooklyn’s first-round pick, the C’s didn’t do themselves any favors by suffering their second loss at the hands of Brooklyn in 2015-16. The two teams face each other again in Brooklyn on Monday.

Throughout a dreadful third quarter, Celtics coach Brad Stevens tried every lineup combination he could think of to spark some sort of offensive rhythm — but nothing seemed to work. The Nets (10-23) outscored the C’s 25-16 in the third quarter and carried a 10-point lead into the final frame. Behind an 11-2 run, the Celtics tied the game at 83. The Nets then responded with their own 9-2 run, forcing the Celtics (18-15) to play catch-up until the final minute, when the C’s crawled back to make it a one-possession game.

With 10 seconds left, Marcus Smart stole Brooklyn’s inbound pass, setting up a fast break that set up an open look for Jonas Jerebko, whose game-tying 3-point attempt from the corner bounced off the rim. Smart saved the ball from going out of bounds, but Jae Crowder couldn’t get a shot off before the game clock struck zero.

Brook Lopez‘s monster double-double (30 points, 13 rebounds) led the Nets. Joe Johnson added 20 points, and Thaddeus Young had 16. Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics with 24 points, Crowder scored 16 and Evan Turner finished with 12. For a complete box score, click here. To go beyond the box, read on.


STUD OF THE NIGHT: Brook Lopez.

The Celtics could not find an answer for Lopez. After the C’s erased a 10-point deficit in less than four minutes, Lopez scored nine of Brooklyn’s 19 fourth-quarter points. The Nets center scored a season-high 30 points on 11-of-24 shooting, grabbed 13 rebounds and finished with a game-high plus-17 rating.

DUD OF THE NIGHT: Jared Sullinger.

The Celtics’ best rebounder, Sullinger ended the game with more turnovers (5) than rebounds (4). He scored just seven points in 18:15 and was a minus-8 on the night.

VINE OF THE NIGHT:



WHINE(S) OF THE NIGHT: A dreadful third quarter and no Avery Bradley.

The Celtics scored 16 third-quarter points on 6-for-22 shooting. In other words, it was ugly. Although the C’s cut Brooklyn’s lead in the fourth quarter, it was the third quarter’s hideous display of shooting against the lowly Nets that stood out the most. The Celtics could’ve used one of their best shooters in the second half, but Bradley played just 10:31 of the first half before leaving the game with a left hip injury.

STAT OF THE NIGHT: 21.9 percent.

When the Celtics were desperate for buckets, they resorted to chucking 3-pointers instead of trying to get to the hoop. It’s not the worst strategy, except when you shoot 7-for-32 from distance. Isaiah Thomas (2-for-9 from 3) and Jonas Jerebko (1-for-4 from 3), in particular, just couldn’t get the 3’s to fall.
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Stars, studs, and duds: Injuries hurting Celtics

CSNNE

SHERROD BLAKELY

Celtics disappoint again at home, lose 100-97 to Nets

The Celtics drop another at home to one of the NBA's lesser lights as their rally falls short in a 100-97 loss to the Nets.

BOSTON – The injury bug continues to impact the Boston Celtics in a big way with Avery Bradley becoming the latest victim.

The 6-foot-2 guard was unable to return to the court after suffering a left hip injury in the first half of Boston’s 100-97 loss to Brooklyn.

“Bruised hip. That’s all I know,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens told reporters after the game.

It is unclear if Bradley will be available when the Celtics return to the court on Monday and face the same Nets team in Brooklyn.

Bradley has been one of the healthier Celtics starters this season, having missed one game last month due to a lower left leg injury.

If Bradley is unable to play, Marcus Smart will likely return to the starting lineup.

The second-year guard, who missed 18 straight with a left knee injury, has played in the Celtics’ last three games.

Of the three games he has appeared in since being healthy enough to resume playing, Saturday’s loss to Brooklyn was easily his best game.

Smart had 11 points while playing more than 24 minutes. He also grabbed three rebounds in addition to tallying a game-high three steals.

With Bradley out, Smart emerged as one of the key performers in Boston rallying from a 13-point deficit to having a chance at potentially tying it up in the final seconds of play.

Here are the Stars, Studs and Duds from Saturday’s game:

STARS

Brook Lopez

He was about as dominant around the basket as we’ve seen Lopez, scoring any and every way imaginable while the Celtics could do nothing about it. He finished with a game-high 30 points to go with 13 rebounds.

Isaiah Thomas

We’re getting to the point where Isaiah Thomas dropping 20-plus points in a game is not that big a deal. The Celtics’ leading scorer had another solid night offensively. He had a team-high 24 points on 10-for-22 shooting, along with six assists and two steals.

STUDS

Thaddeus Young

Very underrated player, Young beat the Celtics up with his energy and multiple effort plays all game long. He finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds (five offensive).

Joe Johnson

Also known as “iso Joe,” Johnson was a reliable No. 2 scorer on the perimeter to Brook Lopez dominating play around the basket. He finished with 20 points on 9-for-19 shooting, to go with two assists.

DUDS

Celtics focus

In what's looking more and more like a photo finish in the East, every game is an important one if you're the Boston Celtics. They don't win enough games to give one or two away, which is essentially what they have done with back-to-back losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets, two of the NBA's worst teams. Every game is important, but beating the league's worst teams has to become more of a priority going forward.

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Blakely: Celtics to do some soul-searching

CSNE

SHERROD BLAKELY

BOSTON – After back-to-back losses to two of the worst teams in the NBA, Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens knows there have to be changes made.

And the first person he’s looking to get more out of going forward, is himself.

“I’ve got to reassess things,” he told reporters following Saturday’s 100-97 loss to Brooklyn. “I’ve got to do a better job; I’ve got to hold guys accountable at a better level.”

It’s not all that surprising that Stevens as well as his players would look to do some soul-searching after losing back-to-back games to two of the NBA’s worst teams, at home nonetheless.

“We have to look ourselves in the mirror, what team do we want to be?” said Isaiah Thomas. “When we come out and think we’re (more) talented than other teams, that’s when it backfires on us.”

Indeed, the Celtics have been one of the NBA’s better feel-good stories the past couple of seasons because they were a scrappy bunch that was short on superstars but loaded with hustle, effort, high-energy guys that gave them a shot at winning more nights than not.

But as the wins have piled up, Stevens saw flaws in how they were playing, the kind of potential problems that could put them where they are currently – riding a losing streak.

Whether he has to modify the way he deals with players, or maybe another lineup change, something has to change – and change quickly – for the Celtics to get back to playing winning basketball.

The players certainly have to play better.

And head coach Brad Stevens?

He believes he too must step up and do his job better.

Celtics guard Marcus Smart was told about Stevens’ post-game comments in relation to his role in the team’s latest struggles.

“That’s just coach being coach,” Smart said. “He cares too much. He’s a competitor still so he’s gonna feel like it’s his fault. Ultimately we’re the ones out there playing. He puts us in a great position to succeed and we failed on each other. We didn’t hold each other accountable out there, myself included. We just have to come together as a team.”

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WELL HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL SAM CELTIC FORUM MEMBERS

I HOPE EVERYONE HAS A HEALTHY ......HAPPY .......AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!

God Bless Everyone And Their Family!!!!!!!!!

112288

I call this year the 66.66% year 'cause we are 2/3 through the rebuilding process and very close to having put together all the pieces to have a great team for many years to come.

Let us look at the positives:

1) We have some great young players that will begin to shine.

2) If all goes well we will be picking in the top 5 of the draft with Brooklyn's pick and have 2 other first round picks.

3) We have loads of picks and young players to swing a major trade with a disgruntled star player looking for a new town to hang his sneakers in!

4) A good young coach who is still learning the NBA and how to coach NBA players....but he is a quick learn and gets better each month.

Sit back and enjoy the next period leading up to important dates listed below.

2016

Jan. 5 -- 10-day contracts may now be signed
Jan. 10 -- All contracts are guaranteed for the remainder of the season
Jan. 14 -- NBA Global Games 2016, Orlando Magic vs. Toronto Raptors (London)
Feb. 12-14 -- NBA All-Star 2016 (Toronto, Canada)
Feb. 18 -- Trade deadline, 3 p.m. ET
March 1 -- Playoff Eligibility Waiver Deadline
April 13-16 -- Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (Portsmouth, VA)
April 13 -- Regular Season ends
April 15 -- Rosters set for NBA Playoffs 2016, 3 p.m. ET
April 16 -- NBA Playoffs 2016 begin
April 24 -- NBA Early Entry Eligibility Deadline (11:59 p.m. ET)
May 2 -- Conference Semifinals begin (possible move up to April 30 or May 1)
May 11-15 -- NBA Draft Combine 2016 (Chicago)
May 17 -- Conference Finals begin (possible move up to May 15 or 16)
May 17 -- NBA Draft Lottery 2016
June 2 -- NBA Finals 2016 begin
June 13 -- NBA Draft Early Entry Entrant Withdrawal Deadline (5:00 p.m. ET)
TBD -- The Finals 2016 latest possible date

June 23 -- NBA Draft 2016

112288

Same to you 112288, been a while.

I missed the game tonight, but caught ribs and drabs at the place where I was. Very disappointed that they are doing exactly what I have been afraid of, playing down to their opponents level, or....maybe they are not as good as they think they are.

Anyway, here is hoping they redeem themselves Monday, but losing at home is ver discouraging for fans.

Wake up guys, this is not play time it is game time

Hey Rosalie and the Mister!

Happy New Year!

Ya we are just not protecting the paint where Brooklyn scores 47 pts.

HOW DO YOU PLAY SULLINGER AT CENTER.......THAT'S A HEAD SCRATCHER!

PLAY THE KIDS!

112288

We are just one loss to the Sixers away from The Trifecta From Hell.

It's hard to win a basketball game when you shoot under 39%.  To their credit, the Nets hit 21 out of 22 ftas.  We shot 22-28 for 78.6%.  It's hard to argue with 79%, but you have to credit 96%.

1.  No answer for Brook Lopez on offense, didn't take advantage of him on defense.  13 rebounds?  Sure, he's 7'0, 275#, but 5 offensive ones?  Why did Sully only play 18 minutes?  Because he wasn't bodying Lopez off the boards.  I'll give Lopez some credit, he finished some really tough shots with fouls.  Lots of contact but he finished through them.  4 rebounds and 7 points on 2-8 from Sully.  I can cut him some slack for his game against Hibbert and the Lakers, Hibbert is just SO much taller and longer than him and can just reach over him, but Lopez isn't.  At this point I honestly have NO idea what is going on with him.  He is shooting 42% for the season, 57% from the line.  In the last 5 games he is shooting 36% from the field and 25% (that is NOT a typo!) from the line.  4 fta in 5 games and he only hit one of them.  He isn't getting his fat ass down in the blocks and creating contact.  His rebounding over the last 5 games is down from 9.7 on the season to 7.9.  He is in free fall, and I don't get why.  He wanted minutes, he's starting and getting solid, predictable minutes.  I understand why he's our center against BIG centers like Hibbert and Lopez, he's the only player with enough beef to hold his position against them, but he's not getting it done.  Danny wants another "go to" scorer.  I can understand why, but if Sully can't get the job done against these guys then Danny has another hole to fill too. He picked up a flagrant for throwing a Net to the floor. Pure frustration by Sully.

2.  Thaddeus Young and Joe Johnson gave whatever scoring assistance Lopez needed, but Lopez scored 30% of the Nets' points so he didn't need that much.  Young is an excellent player, I have always liked him.  A very live body for a PF, like Faried in Denver.

3.  Kelly hit a couple of triples for 7 points, the same as Sully, grabbed the same number of rebounds as Sully, in 6 fewer minutes.  That makes Kelly just marginally more effective than Sully, and that's not saying much.  Defensively, neither of them got it done.

4.  Thomas had a good game, overall, although I don't think I will ever be able to get comfortable with the fact that he will have one or two really, truly ugly TOs every game.

5.  But this brings me to a key point.  All that beautiful Spurs-like ball movement we were oohing and ahhing over earlier this season is gone.  We have no offensive movement other than perimeter dribble handoffs.  We aren't cutting.  Our offense, over the past couple of games (you know, like the game we lost?) have been Thomas and Turner ME-balling.  It's a chicken-and-the-egg type of situation, like what Kobe saw from time to time in LA.  Nobody was doing anything, so he turned into KoME; or was it that nobody moved because they knew KoME was going to do it himself anyway?  Well, nobody is cutting to the hoop, nobody is moving, everybody is just running to another spot on the perimeter and waiting to receive a pass for a 3pt fga so Thomas and Turner are trying to do it themselves; or is it that nobody is moving because they know Turner and Thomas are going to hog the ball anyway?

6.  Marcus Smart showed some smarts by posting up the smaller, weaker Shane Larkin and tortured him.  He's starting to round back into game shape.

7.  Jonas with 7 rebounds, and his usual hard work, but 1-6 from the field.

8.  Stat Roundup:  46 points in the paint each.  Considering how most of Brooklyn's points in the paint were thanks to Lopez, we did a decent job of keeping them out.  Johnson's outside shooting killed us.  We had 18 fast break points and that's really nice.  Where we lost, on defense, was on their slightly better fg%, their unusually good ft% and on letting them have 93 fgas.  When you are an uptempo team, and you're getting 18 fast break points off of your uptempo, then why/how are they getting more fgas than us?  Offensively, of course, our 38% fg% and 22% 3pt fg% killed us.  In other words, we didn't slow them down on defense and we didn't hit our shots on offense.  Tough to win like that.

I am really not understanding Brad's substitutions and play calling and I don't think the players do either.  It's like the whole team has just gone into a funk, everybody has just forgotten everything.

Fortunately, after New Years, I'm on the wagon for a while.  Otherwise this game, after the loss to the Lakers, would have me scrambling for the bottle.











bob


.

Jeekers. A week in Maine with the grandkids, and the Celts fall apart. Gotta start rooting them on again. Throw some psychic energy their way. Of course it'll take a village of telepaths to beam motivation into Sully's lard ass.

I think the Celtics are feeling guilty with the Nets pick, hence the dive when they play them...

db

The entire frontline with the exception of Mickey is being showcased.

There are trades clouds on the horizon so try not to get too attached to your special Player.

Dboss

Funny, it is really hard to get too attached to anyone, maybe Crowder because he does try so damn hard. The others all want to turn it on and off when they want to. Too bad KG isn't around to knock some heads together and make a few of them reduced to tears!

I am very frustrated with this group. I am glad I am not a seasons ticket holder, I would be really ticked off watching them toy around and make themselves look like they are trying and then losing.

Boy Rosalie, I am glad you were not my coach in junior basketball when I played, I would have been sent home in tears!

LOL

112288

I think this time around, Danny will keep trades to the 11th hour to see who cracks first and does a deal on Danny's terms with all the young talent we have and draft pick.

Danny must let the fish come to him verses chasing fish!

112288

This team has so many holes its amazing Stevens has got them to the winning record we have, it just shows how weak the NBA is overall right now. Look at this team on paper, its obvious to me we have been playing WAY over our heads. This team has no interior defense, other than length and mobility from Amir and some banging by Sully, we have perimeter defense and since the league is all about 3's and spacing and pnroll, that has carried us to this point....midrange game is going by the wayside. I don't see pace and perimeter defense being able to carry us anywhere near contending level. At some point/level gonna need some serious rim protectors, as much as 3's, spacing and pnr is all emphasized, all the top teams have multiple rim protectors with length.

Brook Lopez scored a season high, NOT a coincidence, Sullys game and body are falling apart at the wrong time. For all the improvement in KO's game, guy is still a major defensive liability in my book, our defense was really hurt by loss of AB. Stevens was trying to mix the best combinations, our talent level was exposed a little last few games. If were a real playoff team, ready to rumble and make a deep run, we don't lose so badly at home to teams with these kinds of record.

The current season has been sprinkled with some encouraging play by just about everyone on this team.

The overall success that the team has experienced has very much been triggered by playing very good defense and taking more shots per game than their opponents.  However neither side of the ball is good enough.  

Sully has lost some steam during December as his scoring averaged drop to 7.8 PPG and his 3 point shooting was .178%

KO has had some good games as well as some games where he was not in evidence but he did have a fairly good December shooting .463% from deep and averaging 12.6 ppg but the rebounding is insignificant.

The biggest problem with the Celtics which I have mentioned many times is the distribution of minutes among the 4/5 positions.  Our scoring averages for our 4/5's is 9.5, 9.3, 7.4, 7.2, 4.7, 3.2 PPG   This frontline by committee approach is bizarre.  Top MPG is around 24.  There is no such thing as rotations players at the 4 and 5.  The entire group of 4 and 5's is one extended rotation.

dboss

I am just surprised at Lee's game. He is not what he used to be. Not sure he brings much in a trade.

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