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POST GAME DENVER - AWAY
by 112288 Sun Feb 21, 2016 9:49 pm
Celtics' effort shines in 121-101 win over Nuggets
JIMMY TUSCANO
Up 13 points with just over 10 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Marcus Smart dove at a loose basketball in the Celtics' defensive end and slapped it ahead to a streaking Evan Turner. Turner raced after the ball and just saved it from going out of bounds, but his momentum carried him into the stands behind the hoop. So the ball was again loose, this time on the Celtics' offensive end. That's when Avery Bradley, who was trailing the play, scooped it up and dunked it in to the delight of the C's bench.
The Nuggets? They watched the whole thing happen.
And that's part of the reason why the Celtics won, 121-101, improving to 33-24 on the season.
The C's jumped out ahead of the Nuggets early on, leading them after the first quarter, 35-17. And despite Denver climbing back into it in the early stages of the third quarter, a balanced Celtics attack allowed them to pull back away.
Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics with 22 points on 7-for-15 shooting and 12 assists, but he was followed closely by Avery Bradley, who had 20 points on 8-for-15 shooting. Jared Sullinger had his fourth straight 11-rebound game, and added 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting.
But the production carried over to a Celtics bench led by Turner's 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Marcus Smart had 10 points and was a game-high plus-19 for the C's.
The Celtics as a team didn't shoot much better than the Nuggets percentage-wise, 48.5-percent to 46.6-percent, but Boston took a whopping 24 more shots than the Nuggets.
The Celtics also scored 60 points in the paint, which is 30 more than what they scored down there against the Jazz on Friday.
Player of the Game - Isaiah Thomas
I'll be honest - I really wanted to give Evan Turner this award because he's just been playing great for the C's off the bench, drained a nasty turnaround jumper, and put a fun little baseline spin move on Nikola Jokic. But I can't not give it to Isaiah Thomas, who really got the C's going early - and got everybody involved throughout with 12 assists. He dropped a team-high 22 points, too.
Stat to Track
Turnovers. That's probably the No. 1 reason the Nuggets lost this game. They had 24 of them, in which the Celtics converted into 29 points. Boston didn't do a great job of holding onto the ball either - they turned it over 17 times which cost them 13 points.
Turning Point
The Nuggets came out in the third quarter and and put some heat on the Celtics, turning what was once a 26-point lead in the first half into a five-point lead. But Jared Sullinger and Isaiah Thomas got it back to 10 over the next couple minutes and the Celtics didn't look back.
What's Next?
The Celtics wrap up their three-game road trip Monday night in Minnesota against Kevin Garnett and the T-Wolves. They've got a fun, young team over there so it should be a good game.
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BRAD STEVENS: ‘THERE WAS A PURPOSE, A GOOD PRIDE ABOUT US THE WHOLE DAY’
WEEI
By Mike Petraglia
After ripping his team following a lackluster loss to the Jazz Friday night in Salt Lake City, the Celtics coach watched as his team raced out to a 20-point first-quarter lead and eventually held on for a 121-101 win over the Nuggets in Denver Sunday night.
The only cause for real concern came when the Nuggets closed to within five points, 67-62, early in the third quarter. But the Celtics responded with hustle and determination from the likes of Marcus Smart, Evan Turner and Avery Bradley, highlighted by a play in the fourth quarter that put the Celtics up 97-82 and essentially put the game away.
“I thought we were really good [most of the game],” Stevens told reporters after the game. “I thought the end of the second quarter and start of the third we weren’t but I thought for the most part, we played 38 minutes about locked in as we’ve played in a while. You could tell there was a purpose, a good pride about us the whole day with everybody that played.
“We got really lucky. They missed a couple of those layups and could’ve cut it to three. I watched them play the Bulls. They were down 16 in the fourth and won. I watched them play the Pacers, it was 15-down, 15-up, 15-down and they win the game. They’re a team that goes on runs. They’re a hard team to stop when they go on a run. They’ve got good athletes.
“For whatever reason, they played really small at our place late, and gave us fits. They went to that 35 minutes out of 48. We had to match that.”
Stevens was very happy with the patience of Isaiah Thomas who was double-teamed most of the first half, before finishing with a team-high 22 points.
“Yeah, he made the right play most of the time, especially in the first half when he had ten assists,” Stevens said.
The Celtics forced 11 first-half turnovers that led to 18 Boston points.
“I thought the [forced] turnovers and the hand activity was way better than Friday night,” Stevens said. “I think we shot 97 shots today. Any time you get a chance to turn steals into points or convert and have more opportunities at the rim, you have a better shot of winning. Marcus, among others, was very active today. But I didn’t think anybody was inactive. I thought it was a pretty active team performance.”
The defense of Smart and Evan Turner (17 points off the bench) were two big reasons the Nuggets couldn’t sustain their comeback in the fourth quarter.
“Evan and Marcus, you feel like you’re putting two starters in when you put them in, and we put in them together almost every time,” Stevens said. “You feel like that they’re a little different than whoever they come in for. But, you feel like you’re just going to keep your level and maybe, because of fatigue and everything else, they’re fresh legs. They’re coming in ready to go so you can maybe go on runs when they come in.”
112288
JIMMY TUSCANO
Up 13 points with just over 10 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Marcus Smart dove at a loose basketball in the Celtics' defensive end and slapped it ahead to a streaking Evan Turner. Turner raced after the ball and just saved it from going out of bounds, but his momentum carried him into the stands behind the hoop. So the ball was again loose, this time on the Celtics' offensive end. That's when Avery Bradley, who was trailing the play, scooped it up and dunked it in to the delight of the C's bench.
The Nuggets? They watched the whole thing happen.
And that's part of the reason why the Celtics won, 121-101, improving to 33-24 on the season.
The C's jumped out ahead of the Nuggets early on, leading them after the first quarter, 35-17. And despite Denver climbing back into it in the early stages of the third quarter, a balanced Celtics attack allowed them to pull back away.
Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics with 22 points on 7-for-15 shooting and 12 assists, but he was followed closely by Avery Bradley, who had 20 points on 8-for-15 shooting. Jared Sullinger had his fourth straight 11-rebound game, and added 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting.
But the production carried over to a Celtics bench led by Turner's 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Marcus Smart had 10 points and was a game-high plus-19 for the C's.
The Celtics as a team didn't shoot much better than the Nuggets percentage-wise, 48.5-percent to 46.6-percent, but Boston took a whopping 24 more shots than the Nuggets.
The Celtics also scored 60 points in the paint, which is 30 more than what they scored down there against the Jazz on Friday.
Player of the Game - Isaiah Thomas
I'll be honest - I really wanted to give Evan Turner this award because he's just been playing great for the C's off the bench, drained a nasty turnaround jumper, and put a fun little baseline spin move on Nikola Jokic. But I can't not give it to Isaiah Thomas, who really got the C's going early - and got everybody involved throughout with 12 assists. He dropped a team-high 22 points, too.
Stat to Track
Turnovers. That's probably the No. 1 reason the Nuggets lost this game. They had 24 of them, in which the Celtics converted into 29 points. Boston didn't do a great job of holding onto the ball either - they turned it over 17 times which cost them 13 points.
Turning Point
The Nuggets came out in the third quarter and and put some heat on the Celtics, turning what was once a 26-point lead in the first half into a five-point lead. But Jared Sullinger and Isaiah Thomas got it back to 10 over the next couple minutes and the Celtics didn't look back.
What's Next?
The Celtics wrap up their three-game road trip Monday night in Minnesota against Kevin Garnett and the T-Wolves. They've got a fun, young team over there so it should be a good game.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
BRAD STEVENS: ‘THERE WAS A PURPOSE, A GOOD PRIDE ABOUT US THE WHOLE DAY’
WEEI
By Mike Petraglia
After ripping his team following a lackluster loss to the Jazz Friday night in Salt Lake City, the Celtics coach watched as his team raced out to a 20-point first-quarter lead and eventually held on for a 121-101 win over the Nuggets in Denver Sunday night.
The only cause for real concern came when the Nuggets closed to within five points, 67-62, early in the third quarter. But the Celtics responded with hustle and determination from the likes of Marcus Smart, Evan Turner and Avery Bradley, highlighted by a play in the fourth quarter that put the Celtics up 97-82 and essentially put the game away.
“I thought we were really good [most of the game],” Stevens told reporters after the game. “I thought the end of the second quarter and start of the third we weren’t but I thought for the most part, we played 38 minutes about locked in as we’ve played in a while. You could tell there was a purpose, a good pride about us the whole day with everybody that played.
“We got really lucky. They missed a couple of those layups and could’ve cut it to three. I watched them play the Bulls. They were down 16 in the fourth and won. I watched them play the Pacers, it was 15-down, 15-up, 15-down and they win the game. They’re a team that goes on runs. They’re a hard team to stop when they go on a run. They’ve got good athletes.
“For whatever reason, they played really small at our place late, and gave us fits. They went to that 35 minutes out of 48. We had to match that.”
Stevens was very happy with the patience of Isaiah Thomas who was double-teamed most of the first half, before finishing with a team-high 22 points.
“Yeah, he made the right play most of the time, especially in the first half when he had ten assists,” Stevens said.
The Celtics forced 11 first-half turnovers that led to 18 Boston points.
“I thought the [forced] turnovers and the hand activity was way better than Friday night,” Stevens said. “I think we shot 97 shots today. Any time you get a chance to turn steals into points or convert and have more opportunities at the rim, you have a better shot of winning. Marcus, among others, was very active today. But I didn’t think anybody was inactive. I thought it was a pretty active team performance.”
The defense of Smart and Evan Turner (17 points off the bench) were two big reasons the Nuggets couldn’t sustain their comeback in the fourth quarter.
“Evan and Marcus, you feel like you’re putting two starters in when you put them in, and we put in them together almost every time,” Stevens said. “You feel like that they’re a little different than whoever they come in for. But, you feel like you’re just going to keep your level and maybe, because of fatigue and everything else, they’re fresh legs. They’re coming in ready to go so you can maybe go on runs when they come in.”
112288
112288- Posts : 7855
Join date : 2009-10-16
Re: POST GAME DENVER - AWAY
by bobheckler Mon Feb 22, 2016 9:53 am
The only starter NOT in double digits was Amir. Total of 6 in double digits for us.
44 points off our bench vs 29 for them.
We got the good Evan Turner last night. That hustle play was great. Every time I'm ready to trade him for a box o'Krispy Kremes he does stuff like that. The Denver coach was hopping mad at his guys for standing around, as he should have been.
Thomas with 10 assists in the first half. The Denver announcer was talking about how he was "90% shoot if he's going to the basket" forgot to look at the assist stat line on his sheet, apparently.
Sully was a beast with 16 and 11 but his man, 6'10", 250# Jokic, with 23 and 13. Sully with 5 assists, Jokic with 4 but 3 steals too.
Smart 4-12 but a team high +19. Yeah, I rely heavily upon that stat. At times he was guarding 6'11" Gallinari and 6'8" Faried. Gallinari showed why Danny likes him, he is a relentless driver. Faried with the first oh-fer night since 2013. He came out after saying he felt ill. Maybe it was the 26 point lead we had in the first half.
Mickey sure isn't shy about throwing the ball towards the rim, is he? 3 fgas in 3 minutes.
Nurkic, their 7'0", 280# behemoth, only played 12 minutes. The smaller Jokic played 30. Changing of the guard. The era of dreadnoughts is gone. If Sully couldn't hit the mid-long range J he'd be benched too.
57 games gone, 25 to go.
Time to spank the Timber-pups. Indy at Miami. Go Indy! GSW at Atlanta. Atlanta 4-6 in their last 10. Should have traded Horford while they could.
bob
.
44 points off our bench vs 29 for them.
We got the good Evan Turner last night. That hustle play was great. Every time I'm ready to trade him for a box o'Krispy Kremes he does stuff like that. The Denver coach was hopping mad at his guys for standing around, as he should have been.
Thomas with 10 assists in the first half. The Denver announcer was talking about how he was "90% shoot if he's going to the basket" forgot to look at the assist stat line on his sheet, apparently.
Sully was a beast with 16 and 11 but his man, 6'10", 250# Jokic, with 23 and 13. Sully with 5 assists, Jokic with 4 but 3 steals too.
Smart 4-12 but a team high +19. Yeah, I rely heavily upon that stat. At times he was guarding 6'11" Gallinari and 6'8" Faried. Gallinari showed why Danny likes him, he is a relentless driver. Faried with the first oh-fer night since 2013. He came out after saying he felt ill. Maybe it was the 26 point lead we had in the first half.
Mickey sure isn't shy about throwing the ball towards the rim, is he? 3 fgas in 3 minutes.
Nurkic, their 7'0", 280# behemoth, only played 12 minutes. The smaller Jokic played 30. Changing of the guard. The era of dreadnoughts is gone. If Sully couldn't hit the mid-long range J he'd be benched too.
57 games gone, 25 to go.
Time to spank the Timber-pups. Indy at Miami. Go Indy! GSW at Atlanta. Atlanta 4-6 in their last 10. Should have traded Horford while they could.
bob
.
bobheckler- Posts : 62620
Join date : 2009-10-28
Re: POST GAME DENVER - AWAY
by bobheckler Mon Feb 22, 2016 10:07 am
Here's the Smart-to-Turner-to-Bradley play.
No wonder Smart gets injured so much. He dove headfirst at the feet of a 280# mastodon to punch the ball down court. Still struggling with his offense, but his effort levels are off the charts.
https://vine.co/v/irXhtHZ9J1F
bob
.
No wonder Smart gets injured so much. He dove headfirst at the feet of a 280# mastodon to punch the ball down court. Still struggling with his offense, but his effort levels are off the charts.
https://vine.co/v/irXhtHZ9J1F
bob
.
bobheckler- Posts : 62620
Join date : 2009-10-28
Re: POST GAME DENVER - AWAY
by Outside Mon Feb 22, 2016 12:26 pm
bobheckler wrote:Here's the Smart-to-Turner-to-Bradley play.
No wonder Smart gets injured so much. He dove headfirst at the feet of a 280# mastodon to punch the ball down court. Still struggling with his offense, but his effort levels are off the charts.
https://vine.co/v/irXhtHZ9J1F
I think Turner and Bradley are almost more impressive than Smart, especially Bradley. Turner does a really nice job of anticipating the possibility of the play, but because Smart hits the ball so hard, Turner can barely chase it down despite a sizable head start, which means all he can do is knock it back onto the court to keep it inbounds. That should technically give the Nuggets the advantage, since with Turner off the court, it would be four on five (three on five if you count Smart's dive taking himself out of the play), but none of the Nuggets ran downcourt, so Bradley's heads-up hustle to follow up what initially looked like an open Turner layup means he gets the basket.
With the East so bunched up in the standings, it's that type of effort that makes the difference between third and eighth place.
Also, enquiring minds want to know:
-- Isn't punching the ball against the rules? I can't tell for certain if Smart actually used a fist, but the ball shot off his hand like it had been punched.
-- Did Turner get an assist on the play? (Actually, that's more a lazy mind than an enquiring one, so I looked it up, and he did get an assist.)
Outside- Posts : 3019
Join date : 2009-11-05
Re: POST GAME DENVER - AWAY
by dboss Mon Feb 22, 2016 12:36 pm
I think we should stop referring to Turner as the Good Turner as though he is Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
He has been playing very well and next to Thomas he is by far our most creative scorer.
And the team is back on track after the Utah loss.
dboss
He has been playing very well and next to Thomas he is by far our most creative scorer.
And the team is back on track after the Utah loss.
dboss
dboss- Posts : 19220
Join date : 2009-11-01
Re: POST GAME DENVER - AWAY
by bobheckler Mon Feb 22, 2016 12:40 pm
dboss wrote:I think we should stop referring to Turner as the Good Turner as though he is Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
He has been playing very well and next to Thomas he is by far our most creative scorer.
And the team is back on track after the Utah loss.
dboss
dboss,
If I can't refer to him as The Good Turner, then can I refer to him as Evan Turnover when he's The Bad Turner?
bob
.
bobheckler- Posts : 62620
Join date : 2009-10-28
Re: POST GAME DENVER - AWAY
by worcester Mon Feb 22, 2016 1:42 pm
I didn't see the game. How did Jordan Mickey play?
worcester- Posts : 11787
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Age : 77 -
Re: POST GAME DENVER - AWAY
by bobheckler Mon Feb 22, 2016 1:55 pm
worcester wrote:I didn't see the game. How did Jordan Mickey play?
Played a little under 3 minutes in garbage time. Took 3 fgas, hit 1. He ain't shy. Weren't bad shots though, nothing crazy or stupid.
bob
.
bobheckler- Posts : 62620
Join date : 2009-10-28
Re: POST GAME DENVER - AWAY
by tjmakz Mon Feb 22, 2016 2:32 pm
Outside wrote:bobheckler wrote:Here's the Smart-to-Turner-to-Bradley play.
No wonder Smart gets injured so much. He dove headfirst at the feet of a 280# mastodon to punch the ball down court. Still struggling with his offense, but his effort levels are off the charts.
https://vine.co/v/irXhtHZ9J1F
I think Turner and Bradley are almost more impressive than Smart, especially Bradley. Turner does a really nice job of anticipating the possibility of the play, but because Smart hits the ball so hard, Turner can barely chase it down despite a sizable head start, which means all he can do is knock it back onto the court to keep it inbounds. That should technically give the Nuggets the advantage, since with Turner off the court, it would be four on five (three on five if you count Smart's dive taking himself out of the play), but none of the Nuggets ran downcourt, so Bradley's heads-up hustle to follow up what initially looked like an open Turner layup means he gets the basket.
With the East so bunched up in the standings, it's that type of effort that makes the difference between third and eighth place.
Also, enquiring minds want to know:
-- Isn't punching the ball against the rules? I can't tell for certain if Smart actually used a fist, but the ball shot off his hand like it had been punched.
-- Did Turner get an assist on the play? (Actually, that's more a lazy mind than an enquiring one, so I looked it up, and he did get an assist.)
Outside,
Yes, punching and kicking the ball are violations.
It is hard to say if Smart punched the ball.
Anyway, it was a great hustle play by Boston.
tjmakz- Posts : 4278
Join date : 2010-05-19
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