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Celtics come back to edge the Knicks, 105-104

CSNNE

JIMMY TUSCANO

BOSTON - Apparently, when the Knicks led the Celtics by seven points with three minutes to go in the game, the C's had them right where they wanted them.

The story with the Celtics all season long is that they simply don't quit. They play to the whistle. And that was exactly the case Friday night as they came back to beat the sinking Knicks, 105-104.

With under three minutes to go, Isaiah Thomas' layup cut the deficit to five. Jae Crowder's dunk made it three points.

Perhaps the play of the game came when Evan Turner dove out of bounds for a steal that ended up in Jared Sullinger's hands. Sullinger then threw a bomb to a streaking Crowder to make it a 100-99 game and force a Knicks timeout.

The momentum had officially shifted.

Then Carmelo Anthony's jumper put the Knicks up three points with 1:19 remaining before Sullinger cut the lead to one again. Turner then put the Celtics up one with a 15-footer with :36 left on the clock.

But Anthony, who finished with 30 points on the night, wasn't done. He drained a nice turnaround jumper with :21 remaining that forced Brad Stevens to take a timeout and draw up a play.

That play led to Avery Bradley's layup with 17 seconds left, and the Knicks, with zero timeouts remaining, failed to win it at the buzzer. Anthony's three-pointer was off the mark.

The win was Boston's 13th in a row at home and moves them to 38-25 on the season. The Knicks have now lost 16 of their last 19 games.

Isaiah Thomas may not have had a big role in the final seconds, but he was a major reason they were in the game to begin with. Thomas finished with 32 points on 9-for-15 from the field and 12-for-13 from the free throw line to go with eight assists.

Turner also had a big game, scoring 21 points on 10-for-19 shooting.

The Celtics shot just 9-for-23 from three-point range, but went 5-for-8 in a fourth quarter that saw them outscore the Knicks, 24-17.

New York let this one get away big time after an impressive first half.

Anthony led them with 18 points on 7-for-14 shooting and rookie Kristaps Porzingis has 10 points on 5-for-9 shooting at halftime. Porzingis finished with 15.

As a team, they shot 52.3 percent through two quarters, giving them a 58-53 edge on the Celtics.

Thomas once again did doing all he could to keep the C's in the game. He had 18 first-half points.

The Celtics were just 2-for-13 from three-point range, and shot 42.2-percent from the field in the first half. They finished shooting 45.6-percent for the game.

The Celtics dominated the Knicks in the paint 60-32, and in fastbreak points, 30-4

The Knicks led by as many as 11 points in the second quarter before Boston closed on a 9-3 run.
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Late layup lifts Celtics over Knicks 105-104
ESPNBOSTON
BOSTON -- Isaiah Thomas had 32 points and eight assists, Avery Bradley hit a go-ahead layup with 17.7 seconds left and the Boston Celtics extended their home winning streak to 13 games with a 105-104 win over the New York Knicks on Friday night.

Evan Turner had 21 points and eight rebounds for the Celtics, and Jae Crowder finished with 20 points and eight rebounds.

Boston trailed by eight points in the fourth quarter but used a series of mini-runs to eventually take the lead for good on the driving layup by Bradley.

Carmelo Anthony had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds but badly missed a 3-pointer off the backboard as time expired.

Anthony had 30 points and seven rebounds. Arron Afflalo added 17 points and Kristaps Porzingis finished with 15 points for the Knicks, who lost their third straight.

Boston got within two early in the final period, before the Knicks got some separation at 100-92.

But Boston rallied again, this time reeling off seven straight points to get back within a point with 1:32 remaining.

Anthony ended the run on New York's next possession, rolling in an 18-footer to make it 102-99.

Boston's Jared Sullinger scored to get it back to one, and after Robin Lopez came up well short on a hook, Turner connected on a jumper to put the Celtics in front 103-102.

Out of a timeout, Anthony got free off a screen and dropped in a short fade away to give New York its final lead of the night.

Anthony helped the Knicks shoot 52 percent (23 for 44) in the first half. They also connected on six 3s before halftime.

TIP-INS

Knicks: New York was outscored 30-4 in fast-break points. ... The Knicks had 10 turnovers, leading to 15 Boston points.

Celtics: Boston outscored the Knicks 60-32 in the paint. ... Friday was Sullinger's 24th birthday.

UP NEXT

Boston plays at Cleveland Saturday night.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/05/sports/basketball/carmelo-anthony-new-york-knicks-boston-celtics.html

Ugg

forced to watch the game on the Knocks (At first a typo but I sort of like it) feed as Direct TV blacks out the home feed whenever the Knicks are in town

Managed to get thru the first 2 minutes before the mute button was used. Walt may be in the HOF but will never make it as a broadcaster.............

That said Direct TV always cuts away right after the game so I never get to see any post game stuff.............last evening I watched the Knicks postgame, It was sort of like watching a wake, I'm surprised their weren't tissues on the set.

Then their is Melo.hit some really tough shots and Crowder actually did a commendable job on him even though he scored 30. His last bucket was a fade a way that no one is gonna be able to stop BUT the final possession knowing we had a foul to give Melo dribbled away precious seconds before trying to make any sort of move and when he did Crowder fouled him. No time outs, 3 seconds left, down a point............a Stevens coached team would have involved multiple players and options.................A team with a Melo only has 1.........3 seconds is quite a long time really, but Melo got the pass in was pressured, and as a double started to approach (leaving some Knick wide open 10 feet away and still time for the pass and  an open shot, Melo bricked a long shot that nearly broke the glass.  

MSG ran a stat of the last 5-6 years of Melo clutch history

with 10 seconds or less and with a chance to win or tie the game...........Melo is 2 for 22!
Talk about a black hole !  Sure he was 13 for 26 with many tough shots during the game BUT when it matters he's the incredible shrinking man, sort of like when he threw that sucker punch years ago and ran away like a little girl.  ( and to think there were actually rumors by some people we were looking at obtaining him) If we ever did I would hope Smart and Sully would stick his head in a toilet and hit flush......but it wouldn't fit anyway.

DO I care for Melo you ask?

I don't care for James either..............and would love to see us stick it to him this eve


We didn't play particularly well but we did play hard, knicks played quite well and hit some tough shots along the way. KP for the knicks was hitting everything early so it seemed think he was 4 for his first 5, (finished 6-14) but only played 20 minutes. Sure appeared he was a matchup nightmare but when Stevens went smaller Rambus took him out.......and almost seemed to forget him. So the title interim coach will be removed I suspect to that of former coach, (say nothing about not having a time out when you sure could have used one)

Turner, Bradley IT and Crowder played pretty long minutes. With the task this evening I really don't expect to be in it BUT somehow getting blown out just doesn't seem to happen too often. Cavs played last evening too, with no Love, but had a sort of cakewalk.

Hope we can somehow find a way to stay close and have a chance with a couple minutes to go.


beat

And on the 23rd get to see my team vs Toronto live from the Mid court Black Seats (section 111 row cc) facing the benches...........and the cost? Buying Marcus's friend a pregame dinner !!!

here is the view.........

If I did not know anything, I would think it was 1970's team . This team is like the old Tommy Heinsohn teams - run run run > defense - defense - defense!

THE OLD BOSTON CELTIC FAST BREAK!

I am sure Brad somewhere in time had a talk with Heinsohn!

112288

I love watching this team.  I'm going to be a bit melancholy when some of them are not here next year, and we all know that some won't.

Zinger and Lopez were very strong right out of the gate and dominating us.  Of course, the usual catcalls of how bad our front court is rang out.  As usual, after a few timeouts and the adjustments at halftime they came right back down to earth.  Zinger had 8 points and 2 boards in the 1st quarter, Lopez had 3 boards and a block.  At halftime Zinger had 10 and 4 and Lopez had 5 boards, 2 blocks and 8 points.   The sky is falling, the sky is falling!  Zinger ended the game with 15 points, 5 rebounds, zero blocks and Lopez ended up with 12 points, 12 boards and 2 blocks.  Some quick math, that means that Porzingis had a 5 point on 1-5 and 1 rebound 2nd half and Lopez had a 4 point on 2-5 shooting and 7 board 2nd half.  Other than some solid rebounding by Lopez, their BIG front court disappeared (unless you consider a combined 3-10 shooting and 8 boards to be "front court domination").  In fact, Kristaps Porzingis had zero points on 0-1 and 0 rebounds in the 4th.  This is what happens repeatedly.  It happened in the Portland game, it happened in the Utah game against their BIG front court, it happened against the BIG front court of Detroit, it happened against the BIG front court of Milwaukee.  Their front court start off great and people panic.  Then the adjustments come and the problem gets fixed.  This is why we play all 48.

Speaking of points in the paint, we outscored them 60 - 32.  60 is a BIG number.  Not even close.  Relax, you will be provided ample opportunity to panic later.

We were 4-20, 20% from 3.  That is particularly bad, even for us.  It is not normal, not even for a poor shooting team like us.  They were 9-23 for 39%.  That's pretty good and quite good for them.  They are the 9th worst 3pt fg% team in the league, 36.5%.  They were a little hot from there.  We are dead-center, at 15th, with 38.6.  So 20% is way, way down for us.

We had 30 fast break points.  That's a ton.  We ran them out of the gym.  We weren't running our half court sets well, we couldn't throw the ball in the hoop from outside the painted area, but we sure could run.

Just about every Knick was shooting well.  It's hard to key on a player or two when that leaves someone open and that someone, no matter who they are, are hitting their open Js.  If there was a Knick BIG who was hurting us it was Kyle O'Quinn.  He's not supposed to be a factor, but he was.

Every time I'm ready to trade Evan Turner in for a 3-legged, one-eyed yellow dog he has a game like this.  We had trouble inside but did his penetrations pay off.

Jerebko was everywhere last night.  8 boards, no points but omnipresent.  Brings up a good point, though.  We don't have a Drummond or a Lopez (either) or Howard or Jordan.  What we are is a team of gang rebounders.  Sully, our "center" had 8 boards, but Jerebko had 8, Turner, a 6'7" whatever-t-f he is, with 8, Crowder with 8.  That's very solid cross-the-board rebounding.  32 rebounds out of 4 players and doesn't include lesser rebounders like Zeller with 5 and Smart with 4.  As a result, when we play teams that do have one of those players, we see one, or more, of their BIGs sucking down rebound after rebound after rebound and we go "ooohhh".  We, on the other hand, have our bigs, like Zeller and Kelly and Jerebko, running down court on the break because our guards are excellent rebounders.  The idea is to gain control of the ball quickly and surely and then get it down court fast.  Usually, that means getting it into the hands of a guard.  Well, suppose the guard already has the ball because he's the one who rebounded it...?

One of Sam's knocks on Bradley was that he wasn't a good finisher inside.  Sam must be very happy, looking down right now, seeing Crowder and Bradley turning into fine finishers.  I know I am, and I have been down on both of them in the past for NOT being good finishers.  The game winning bucket by Bradley was perfect technique.  He leaned into the defender to create a little contact.  If he got the foul he'd get at least two fritos, maybe a +1.  What he did NOT do, which he used to do, was to go straight in and let the defenders choose their angle.  They had to take the angle he gave them because he initiated the contact.  Excellent, and very veteran.  It's easy to forget, given that Bradley is the longest tenured Celtic, that he is still only 25 years old.

Happy 24th birthday, Sully.  You had a good one because you won and that's all it takes.

We are relentless.  We are undaunted.  We never give up.  We feel the pressure and step up ours and, most importantly, we are learning (have learned?) how to translate that pressure into wins and not just "good effort".

I was a nervous wreck at the end of this one.  I had to have a large hot sake or 3 or so.  3 that I remember.

TOUGH game tonight in Cleveland.  Having said that, we went 5-0 in this homestand and now have a 13 game home winning streak going.  Portland lost at the very end to Toronto.  Aside from almost picking up a game on the Raptors, it showed how good a rested Portland team can be.  Yeah, they were fatigued against us, but we totally blow-torched them, while they took Toronto right to the limit.  Maybe, just maybe, we are starting to gel and are better than our roster and SMALL front court suggests we should be.  Hmmm?








bob


.

"They are the 9th worst 3pt fg% team in the league, 36.5%.  They were a little hot from there.  We are dead-center, at 15th, with 38.6.  So 20% is way, way down for us."

Bob - I don't know where you're getting your stats from but we're not the 15th best 3pt fg% team in the league at 38.6%.  We've been one of the worst all season (not "dead-center") and are currently 4th worst at 33.2%.  The Knicks are eighth worst at 33.9%.  And if we WERE shooting 38.6% on threes, that is a tremendous number for a team and would place us third best behind only GS (41.7%) and San Antonio (39.5%).

Here's where you can find all the team stats and I pre-sorted it for the team 3pt shooting category to put them in order:  

https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/stats/byteam?&cat1=Total&cat2=team&conference=NBA&year=season_2015&sort=230

steve3344 wrote:"They are the 9th worst 3pt fg% team in the league, 36.5%.  They were a little hot from there.  We are dead-center, at 15th, with 38.6.  So 20% is way, way down for us."

Bob - I don't know where you're getting your stats from but we're not the 15th best 3pt fg% team in the league at 38.6%.  We've been on of the worst all season (not "dead-center") and are currently 4th worst at 33.2%.  The Knicks are eighth worst at 33.9%.  And if we WERE shooting 38.6% on threes, that is a tremendous number for a team and would place us third best behind only GS (41.7%) and San Antonio (39.5%).

Here's where you can find all the team stats and I pre-sorted it for the team 3pt shooting category to put them in order:  https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/stats/byteam?&cat1=Total&cat2=team&conference=NBA&year=season_2015&sort=230

steve,


I get them here. It's the NBA site. I used the 20'-24' number, since that is what the overwhelming number of 3s are in, not the 25'-29' (they need another category called "Curry" that is 30'-94').

http://stats.nba.com/league/team/#!/shooting/?sort=20-24%20ft.%20FG%20PCT&dir=1


bob


.

bobheckler wrote:

steve3344 wrote:"They are the 9th worst 3pt fg% team in the league, 36.5%.  They were a little hot from there.  We are dead-center, at 15th, with 38.6.  So 20% is way, way down for us."

Bob - I don't know where you're getting your stats from but we're not the 15th best 3pt fg% team in the league at 38.6%.  We've been on of the worst all season (not "dead-center") and are currently 4th worst at 33.2%.  The Knicks are eighth worst at 33.9%.  And if we WERE shooting 38.6% on threes, that is a tremendous number for a team and would place us third best behind only GS (41.7%) and San Antonio (39.5%).

Here's where you can find all the team stats and I pre-sorted it for the team 3pt shooting category to put them in order:  https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/stats/byteam?&cat1=Total&cat2=team&conference=NBA&year=season_2015&sort=230

steve,


I get them here.  It's the NBA site.  I used the 20'-24' number, since that is what the overwhelming number of 3s are in, not the 25'-29' (they need another category called "Curry" that is 30'-94').

http://stats.nba.com/league/team/#!/shooting/?sort=20-24%20ft.%20FG%20PCT&dir=1


bob


.

Just checked that site and that's an incorrect way of looking at threes.  First of all, as a team, so far we have shot 557 out of 1679 on threes for a pct. of 33.2%.  That's 8.8 per game average makes out of 17.7 average attempts on threes.  The site you referenced has us shooting 37.0% (not 38.6%) from 20'-24' on 6.6 makes and 17.7 attempts per game.  It ALSO lists us at 31.9% from 25'-29' (on 4.1 makes out of 12.9 attempts).  If you add ALL the shots that site lists from BOTH of those distances and make it one category of 20'-29', it has us making 10.7 shots on 30.6 attempts.  We do not attempt 30.6 threes per game.  We attempt 17.7.  So that 20'-24' category you reference (and incorrectly say we're shooting 38.6% on when it is listed at 37.0%) that includes MOSTLY twos. A lot of long twos. 30.6 shots per game from 20'-29' minus the 17.7 THREES we actually take on average per game means they have thrown in 12.9 long TWOS in that 20'-24' category and that 73% of the shots in that 20'-24' distance are twos and only 27% of them are threes.  That means over two-thirds of the shots they put in the 20'-24' category are twos, not threes.

Bob, Steve3344 as I've learned is a stickler for accuracy and respecter of facts. Thanks for the 3 point correction Steve. I was puzzled by Bob's observation too, wondering how in hell we were making that many three's.

In many respects this game serves to confirm some things about the Celtics that we already know.

The Celtics lack enough shot makers and outside of Sullinger we do not have one guy on this team that can board.

Other thoughts:

Kevin Love is not a player i would target.

Marcus Smart needs to become more disciplined. His defensive agression at times is out of control.

Zeller is a back up center and an overall poor rebounder and defender. Zeller needs to try rebounding with both hands instad of being a slap the ball out rebounder.

I thought that Brad left the bench in the game too long and did not come back with Sullinger until very late in the 4th quarter. As a matter of fact I thought that both Jerebko and Zeller played a few too many minutes late in the game.

The Cavs have better talent overall than Boston however Boston can still beat this team but not by only putting up 82 shots.

dboss

dboss wrote:In many respects this game serves to confirm some things about the Celtics that we already know.

The Celtics lack enough shot makers and outside of Sullinger we do not have one guy on this team that can board.

Other thoughts:

Kevin Love is not a player i would target.  

Marcus Smart needs to become more disciplined.  His defensive agression at times is out of control.  
 
Zeller is a back up center and an overall poor rebounder and defender.  Zeller needs to try rebounding with both hands instad of being a slap the ball out rebounder.

I thought that Brad left the bench in the game too long and did not come back with Sullinger until very late in the 4th quarter. As a matter of fact I thought that both Jerebko and Zeller played a few too many minutes late in the game.

The Cavs have better talent overall than Boston however Boston can still beat this team but not by only putting up 82 shots.

dboss

Score for the last 37:22 of the game: Cle 103, Bos 68. Ouch.

The not quite ready for prime time players...