POST GAME PHILLY - AWAY

C's snap losing streak with 120-105 win over 76ers

CSNNE

A. SHERROD BLAKLEY

The Boston Celtics were sick and tired of losing games.

The scheduling gods provided them the perfect elixir: the Philadelphia 76ers.

It wasn't one of Boston's best efforts, but they did more than enough to get past the Sixers 120-105.

Boston went into the fourth quarter leading 88-79 which when it comes to playing Philadelphia this season, has been a sure win for their opponents.

Philadelphia came into the game 0-50 when trailing after three quarters.

But the Sixers made a run and were within 91-87.

That's when the Celtics went to Evan Turner who went to work posting up Nik Stauskas. His turnaround jumper made it a two-possession game with 8:34 to play.

Boston also got good play in the post from Marcus Smart as the Celtics did just enough to get a much-needed victory.

But as has been the case most of this season, the Celtics were led by Isaiah Thomas who had 26 points.

Carl Landry came off the Sixers bench and scored a season-high 26 points in just 25 minutes while Hollis Thompson chipped in 18 points.

For the Celtics (40-30), the victory snapped a four-game losing streak which equaled their longest losing skid this season.

The victory also matched the team's win total from a year ago, and will surely improve upon that with 12 games remaining.

Philadelphia opened the game with a 9-4 run, only for Boston to dominate the rest of the quarter which ended with the Celtics ahead 28-16.

Celtics big man Amir Johnson was especially problematic for the Sixers defense, scoring eight points along with five rebounds and a blocked shot in the first half. He finished with a season-high 18 points.

Philadelphia relies heavily on youth, which helps explain why they have been one of the worst teams in the NBA this season.

So when the Sixers went with more experience with Elton Brand and Carl Landry, Philadelphia's fortunes soon changed. Landry was particularly effective in leading the Sixers with 12 of his season-high 26 points coming in the first half.

Boston's lead peaked at 15 points in the first half, only for it to be cut to as little as three following a 3-pointer by Stauskas that made it a 30-27 game.

But Boston responded with a 14-4 run of its own, capped off by a 3-pointer by Avery Bradley.

The Sixers continued to battle back, but Boston's lead was never in jeopardy.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


STUDS AND DUDS: CELTICS GET HEALTHY AT THE HANDS OF HAPLESS SIXERS

WEEI

By Mike Petraglia

Nothing’s automatic in the NBA. But Sunday night was about the closest thing to it for a road team badly in need of a win.

Amir Johnson scored a season-high 18 points while Isaiah Thomas scored 13 of his team-leading 26 points in the third quarter, as the Celtics ended their four-game losing skid with a 120-105 win over the historically inept Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center.

Avery Bradley added 20 points and four steals for the Celtics, who matched their win total of last season and improved to 40-30 with 12 games left in the season. The 76ers (9-61), with precious little NBA talent at their disposal due to injury, lost for the 22nd time in 24 games. If they were to lose their last 11 games, they would match the 1972-73 Sixers for the worst record in NBA history.

All of the above not withstanding not to say the Celtics didn’t have some moments where you wondered if they were going to let the Sixers hang around.

The Sixers, who were led by a season-best 26 points off the bench from Carl Landry, opened the game impressively, shooting out to a 9-4 lead. But the Celtics quickly went into the paint and established some interior dominance, outscoring the Sixers, 24-7, to close out the first quarter and take a 28-16 lead. The 16 points allowed marked a season-best by the Celtics defense in any quarter, accomplished twice previously.

But an 8-0 run by Philadelphia to open the second quarter capped a 10-0 spurt and drew the Sixers within four, 28-24. After the Sixers again closed to within four, 35-31, the Celtics scored the next 11 points and raced out to 46-31 lead.

The Celtics maintained control of the game the rest of the half as they took a 55-44 lead to the locker room. Avery Bradley (15 points) and Amir Johnson (12) combined for 27 points after totaling 12 on Friday night.

After taking 74-61 lead on a Kelly Olynyk layup, the Sixers outscored Boston, 9-2, and it was suddenly a six-point. The Sixers took advantage of soft transition defense from the Celtics and cut the lead to 85-79 on a baseline jumper from T.J. McConnell. But Thomas, who had 13 points in the quarter, let the inbounds pass roll to nearly mid-court, picked up the ball and hit a runner for a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put Boston up, 88-79, entering the fourth.

Olynyk hit a jumper to open the fourth and give the Celtics a 90-79 lead. But the Sixers, thanks to non-existent transition defense and a lack of defense in the paint, allowed the Sixers to creep back in. Philadelphia went on an 8-1 run to close to within four, 91-87.

Leading by just five, 96-91, the Celtics went on a 11-2 run, capped by a Marcus Smart three with 3:54 left.

The Celtics return home Monday for the first of two home games this week before heading off for a long West Coast road trip. They play the Magic at TD Garden at 7:30 p.m.


STUD OF THE NIGHT: Amir Johnson

The big man had his best game of the season, scoring 12 in the first half and helping the Celtics post a 28-14 advantage in the paint in the first 24 minutes.

DUD OF THE NIGHT: Kelly Olynyk

The 7-footer still doesn’t look comfortable shooting the ball three games back from his right shoulder injury. He missed all four threes on the night and was just 2-of-8 from the floor. He finished with just four points in 20 points off the bench.


WHINE OF THE NIGHT: Transition D

The only reason the Sixers were able to hang around was that the Celtics got sloppy in transition and left some Sixers with wide open looks and easy lanes to the basket. Philly scored 35 points in the third quarter and made things too interesting mid-way through the fourth.

STAT OF THE NIGHT: Celtics finally light it up

It had to happen eventually. The Celtics finished 10-of-24 from 3-point range, including a combined 5-of-6 from Jared Sullinger (2-for-2) and Avery Bradley (3-for-4).

112288

Decent scrimmage against a D-League type team to get our confidence back. Perfect game to get Mickey some minutes, why they chose not to, I don't understand? Something is wrong with poor KO, if thats all he can do, sit him and play Mickey, until hes right. He seems to be even more vulnerable to contact and shying away from it, as the player I saw him covering the most was Landry, and he went off.

Cowans,

When I looked at the box score and saw he had 3 seconds....3 seconds I said WTF what is Stevens thinking.

Theses are the teams you want to find out what you have on the rest of the roster. I just do not get Steven's approach............Doc we knew but not its a carry forward with Stevens?

Stinks to high heaven.

112288

112288 wrote:Cowans,

When I looked at the box score and saw he had 3 seconds....3 seconds I said WTF what is Stevens thinking.

Theses are the teams you want to find out what you have on the rest of the roster.  I just do not get Steven's approach............Doc we knew but not its a carry forward with Stevens?

Stinks to high heaven.

112288

agreed, we gave up 35 points in 3rd quarter, the lanes were wide open, we could have used him. Who on this team defends? and Jerebko and Crowder were still out.....I don't get it? KO, really? he belongs in the WNBA.

A W is a W is a W and after the last week or so I'll one anyway we can.  Should have been a bigger lead throughout, maybe that's why Brad didn't empty his bench.

Carl Landry is a piece of work.  I've been following him for years, like the way I followed Brandon Bass before he came here (and after he came here too, of course).  He's listed at 6'9", but I don't believe it, he's shorter.  One of, if not THE, hardest working player in the NBA, a real overachiever given his relatively limited skills and athleticism.  A 2nd rounder who has just grit-and-grinded his way to an 8 year career (and still going).  NOBODY was stopping him last night, NOBODY.  Not Sully, not Kelly, not Zeller.  He got 2 offensive rebounds at the rim in the same possession, one off his own miss, with Sully on him and Sully outweighs him by 30#.  Landry is active and relentless.  He is a poster boy for ganas.  We're loaded with front court players now but if we had a hole I sure wouldn't mind it being filled by Carl Landry.  He's a real throw back and you would never use the word "soft" with him on our team.    

Amir with a "welcome back" game, his best as a Celtic so far.  Ran the floor, executed the pnr perfectly.  Of course, it was Philly.  I don't know how he did so well on Toronto, he needs to be on a team with creators and that certainly does not describe DeRozan or Ross and Lowry had injury issues last year.

Nice double-double by Sully.  It makes all the difference when he hits his outside shots.  That speaks to the changes of the game and to his limitations as a center. We all know we need a true NBA center, my question is "if/when we get one, can Sully play PF?". He is not very mobile and, at 6'9", he isn't taller than PFs. We saw, in his rookie year, how often he got blocked at the rim because he is earth-bound. Does he have the foot-speed to stay in front of today's PFs? I think we are now seeing that expecting him to stay in physical conditioning is a long shot. In 12 games, he is a restricted free agent, with a $3.27M qualifying offer. He will be offered more by someone, the question is "how much more is he worth?" if Danny finds a center?

Kelly has rust all over him, he missed 12 games.  We need him to get that rust off before the playoffs.  Regardless of what anybody else thinks Brad will not play Mickey before Kelly, therefore Kelly needs to get the minutes to get back into game shape before the playoffs.

Smart needs to post up and he needs to drive.  Forget the damn 3s.  Period.  He had a good offensive night last night because he did more of those things.  The Sixers color analyst, former player Alaa Abdelnaby, said that our back court, especially Smart, was "built to last", meaning he's built like a pickup truck.  That's why he needs to post up and drive, taking 3s takes away his physical advantage over his defenders.

Rozier is gaining confidence and has calmed down a lot.  He is a helluva rebounding guard.  In, admittedly, very limited minutes, he is averaging 7.8 rebounds/36 minutes.  That's excellent for a 6'2" guard.  For comparison purposes Rajon Rondo, another excellent rebounding point guard, is averaging 6.2 rebounds/36minutes.  Yeah, I know Rondo's numbers are over many, many more minutes but it is clear that Rozier takes pride in his rebounding just as Rondo does (the reason why Rondo takes such pride in his rebounding is because he can't get a triple-double without them), 4 rebounds in 13 minutes, 3 of them offensive.  He's a quick leaper and has that 6'8"+ wingspan.  Rondo was 6'1" with a 6'9" wingspan, Bradley is 6'3" with a 6'7" wingspan, Marcus Smart is 6'3"+ with a 6'9"+ wingspan and now Rozier.  Think Danny looks for specific physical traits when drafting guards?  And who has, and has had, the best corp of defensive guards in the league for years now?

I was getting high on Noel and then he showed his offensive limitations.  He has a good shooting motion, I like his mechanics, they are just a little too strong and went off the back of the rim every time.  I'm ok with that.  He doesn't have to re-learn how to shoot (like I think Marcus Smart needs to) he just needs more practice so he will settle into his groove, but he is doing it correctly.  Smooth, easy, not jerky and doesn't bring the ball too far back behind his head, unlike someone else's shooting motion.  IF Joel Embiid can play next year (Philly has already said he will be held out of summer league, so that's not a good sign given how much time he is spending in rehab this year) then it's reasonable to assume one of their 3 bigs will become available.  Who would you rather have?  The beast, Jahlil Okafur, who is not that good defensively; Nerlens Noel, the shot eraser who struggles offensively (he shoots under 50% from the line too); or the physically fragile, but potentially tranformational player, Joel Embiid?


We now have as many wins as all of last year DESPITE our 4 game losing streak.  12 games left, 6 @ home and 6 away, and Jonas is expected back tonight.  If we go .500 the rest of the way (we are .571 on the season, so .500 would be a decline in our win %) that would give us a 46-36 record on the year.  6 more than last year with only Amir as the new addition.  Not great, but not bad.  A respectable 46 win season, and a Carnival cruise ship full of draft picks and a ton of salary cap space would position us well.  This is the final 15% of Year 3 of the rebuild and we are, in my opinion, on track. Next year, year 4, should be noteworthy.


bob


.

Thank god for the 26ers.

Zeller and KO is a bad combo. Neither one can defend the post, neither one can rebound in traffic and neither one complements oner another.

I understand that KO has been out for a while but my goddness he looks horrible, clumsy, tentative and just plan bad.

I'm with other members here and asking for Mickey to be givern a real opportunity to play now. I cannot think of one single reason not to play him particularly with Crowder out and both Zeller and KO being so very undependable.

12 games left and .500 ball would be nice but unless they fix the issues they are having at both ends I can see a 4-8 record the rest of the way. I do not see 6 definite wins on the board.

Nice to see that Rosier is getting minutes nad is gaining some confidence.

dboss

dboss wrote:Thank god for the 26ers.

Zeller and KO is a bad combo.  Neither one can defend the post, neither one can rebound in traffic and neither one complements oner another.

I understand that KO has been out for a while but my goddness he looks horrible, clumsy, tentative and just plan bad.

I'm with other members here and asking for Mickey to be givern a real opportunity to play now.  I cannot think of one single reason not to play him particularly with Crowder out and both Zeller and KO being so very undependable.

12 games left and .500 ball would be nice but unless they fix the issues they are having at both ends I can see a 4-8 record the rest of the way.  I do not see 6 definite wins on the board.  

Nice to see that Rosier is getting minutes nad is gaining some confidence.

dboss

agreed you play these guys big minutes in the rotation during playoffs when games get more intense and more physical, I don't see us getting out of the first round.