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Post Game Thread - vs New Orleans Pelicans, Home
by bobheckler Thu Apr 07, 2016 9:00 am
http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=400829055
Celtics fight off short-handed Pelicans late in 104-97 win
By Chris Forsberg
12:13 AM ET
BOSTON -- The Celtics entered the week focused on improving their playoff position over their final five regular-season games.
They had to dig deep to prevent a short-handed Pelicans team from throwing a big wrinkle in those plans.
Isaiah Thomas scored 32 points to help the Celtics fend off short-handed New Orleans 104-97 on Wednesday night.
Jae Crowder added 14 points, Avery Bradley finished with 13 points and six rebounds, and the Celtics beat the Pelicans for the fourth straight time.
Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas has gone from being a sixth man to an All-NBA candidate, and the team is trying hard to get him the honor.
"I'm just going to keep going, keep grinding and being in attack mode," Thomas said. "That's what my team needs from me and I'm gonna continue to do that. My guys are just putting me in position to be successful -- them and the coaching staff. My job's pretty easy."
The fourth quarter featured eight ties before Boston was able to get a key defensive stop in the final minute. The Celtics were then able to close it out at the free-throw line.
Toney Douglas led the Pelicans with 19 points, and Tim Frazier added 18 points and six assists. Six New Orleans players finished in double-figures.
New Orleans played without its five top scorers due to injuries, and had only eight active players.
"We played hard and we competed like crazy," New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said. "Just couldn't seem to make a couple plays at the end that would get us over the hump."
Boston was playing on three days' rest, but struggled to get separation -- despite 23 turnovers by the Pelicans.
No player in New Orleans' starting lineup came in averaging more than 7.6 points. Still the Pelicans were aggressive and knocked down nine 3-pointers, including several to help start runs that got them back in to the game.
The Celtics scored eight straight points the start of the third quarter to increase their lead to 16.
But New Orleans didn't flinch and traded long runs with the Celtics before using an 11-0 spurt to get within three points entering the fourth.
It stayed tight, with the final tie coming at 93 on a jumper by Luke Babbitt with 2:38 remaining.
A minute later, Boston finally broke the stalemate, getting back-to-back baskets by Bradley and Crowder to take a 97-93 lead.
The series that led to Crowder's basket was costly, though, with Marcus Smart getting hit in the face at some point and having to run to the locker room holding a towel over his right eye. He was diagnosed with a slight laceration above the eye and did not return. He received four stitches, and said he was fine afterward.
Trailing 99-95, New Orleans' Babbitt had a look at a wide open layup, but it was blocked from behind by Amir Johnson.
Thomas acknowledged that getting the cobwebs out from the recent West Coast trip might have been at play.
"The West Coast trip was tough for us," he said. "Get back here and little jetlagged still. Time is still a little messed up for us. But as long as we got the win, that's all that matters."
TIP-INS
Pelicans: Nine players were out, including Anthony Davis (left knee), Ryan Anderson (hernia), Tyreke Evans (right knee), Eric Gordon (fractured right ring finger), Jrue Holiday (right orbital wall fracture) and Quincy Pondexter (left knee).
Celtics: Thomas has scored 20 or more points in 17 consecutive games. ... Boston committed just two turnovers in the first.
HELP WANTED
Gentry has been dealing with a rapidly depleting roster for several weeks. It's gotten so bad that when asked by reporters before the game if any of New Orleans nine injured players would be available, he joked that he may have to result to drastic measures in the remaining games. "No but if you want to dress out, I'll give you a uniform and you'll probably get 15 minutes," he said.
WELCOME BACK
Boston fans greeted former Celtic and current Pelicans reserve center Kendrick Perkins with a round of cheers when he checked into the game in the first quarter. Perkins spent his first eight seasons in Boston, and was part of its 2008 NBA championship team.
UP NEXT
Pelicans: Host the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.
Celtics: Host Milwaukee on Friday.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
http://www.csnne.com/boston-celtics/It-isnt-pretty-but-road-weary-Boston-Celtics-find-way-to-win-New-Orleans-Pelicans
IT ISN'T PRETTY, BUT ROAD-WEARY C'S FIND WAY TO WIN
By A. Sherrod Blakely April 07, 2016 12:15 AM
BOSTON – As crazy as it may sound, the Boston Celtics needed a game like Wednesday’s 104-97 victory over New Orleans.
Regardless of the opponent, Celtics’ victories have come about usually because they played well.
That was not the case on Wednesday.
It was a game that featured Boston at its worst at times, the kind of game that they would have easily lost earlier this season.
But this team is starting to show the kind of growth to where even on bad nights against bad teams, they’re starting to figure out ways to still emerge victorious.
It began with their lackluster 107-100 win over the woeful Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, and Boston’s winning ugly ways continued on Wednesday with a hard-earned victory over the Pelicans.
It was Boston’s first game back from their five-game West coast trip, and they certainly looked and played like a team trying to re-adjust to the time zone change.
“I thought we looked a little road-weary,” acknowledged head coach Brad Stevens. “But on those nights you have to find a way.
He added, “This was a game that we had to find a way, and we found a way. We will improve. We’ll get better off of the things we didn’t do well from watching film and again, get off our feet before Friday night (against the Milwaukee Bucks).”
While both teams are far apart record-wise, the Celtics knew their first game back home after the long road trip was going to be challenging on several fronts.
“I don’t feel like we played the right way the entire game,” said Celtics guard Avery Bradley. “But I’m happy we were able to finish the game out and get the win.”
With 2:39 to play, the score was tied at 93 following a 17-footer by New Orleans’ Luke Babbitt.
Twenty seconds later, Bradley drained a 15-foot baseline jumper to put Boston back on top.
Bradley then forced a steal which ended with a lay-up by Jae Crowder.
The Celtics’ late game run continued when Isaiah Thomas made a pair of free throws with 1:23 to play which put Boston ahead 99-93 and would later prove to be the game-winning points.
Players agree that the re-adjustment from having been out West for nearly two weeks, was a factor in some of the struggles they had against the Pelicans whose roster has been hit particularly hard by season-ending injuries to key players.
But those injuries have created opportunities for several players to see action in the NBA who otherwise would be in the Development League or not playing at all.
And that has essentially created an audition-like atmosphere to where New Orleans how has a team full of hungry players with something to prove.
That lends itself to guys playing their best basketball, which makes for matchups that are much closer than most would expect going in.
“Those guys played very hard,” Crowder said of the Pelicans. “They didn’t lay down at all, we got up ten and the fought back and you know, that’s what you expect from a team, when you are playing for nothing, playing for pride and playing for the organization, but props to them.”
Celtics guard Marcus Smart sees Wednesday’s game as a precursor for the types of games that are on the horizon for Boston.
“From here on out, things aren’t going to be easy,” Smart said. “No games are easy in the NBA. Guys are here for a reason. Everybody is competitive, they want to win. So they’re going to try and do everything they can to stop us from winning. To get a win like that against this team and we didn’t play too well together as a team, it’s great for us.”
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
http://greenstreet.weei.com/sports/boston/basketball/celtics/2016/04/06/celtics-outlast-the-pelicans-tied-with-hawks-for-third-place-in-the-east/
STUDS AND DUDS: CELTICS OUTLAST PELICANS, TIE HAWKS FOR 3RD SEED
04.06.16 at 10:33 pm ET
By Josue Pavon
Apr 6, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) and guard Avery Bradley (0) celebrate during the final moments of the second half of the Boston Celtics 104-97 win over the New Orleans Pelicans at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
Avery Bradley (right) celebrates with Isaiah Thomas in the final moments of the Celtics’ 104-97 win over the Pelicans. (Winslow Townson/USA Today Sports)
Trap game or not, the Celtics needed to beat the undermanned Pelicans in order to stay afloat in the upper tier of the Eastern Conference, and even though they won, it sure wasn’t pretty.
In a game that went down to the wire, the Celtics held off the visiting Pelicans, 104-97. For the 17th time in a row, Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics in scoring, totaling 32 points and adding eight assists. Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley netted 14 and 13, respectively.
Toney Douglas’ 19 points led six Pelicans in double figures, while former Maine Red Claw Tim Frazier added 18 points and six assists.
The Celtics took an early 15-6 lead and Thomas capped the first half with a driving layup in the final 1.5 second, but the C’s led by just eight at the break, despite forcing 14 first-half turnovers.
The Celtics again surged in the second half, grabbing a double-digit lead before an 8-0 Pelicans run cut the lead to 65-62. The two teams traded runs, and New Orleans tied the game at 91 with 3:16 remaining. The Celtics finished the game on an 11-4 run, including a monster Amir Johnson block and a clutch Avery Bradley 3-pointer to ice the victory.
With the win, the Celtics improved to 46-32 on the season and pulled even with the Hawks for third place in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta currently holds a 2-1 tiebreaker against the C’s with one head-to-head meeting remaining on Saturday.
For a complete box score, click here. http://weei.stats.com/nba/boxscore.asp?gamecode=2016040602 To go beyond the box, read on.
STUD OF THE NIGHT: Isaiah Thomas
Whenever the Celtics needed to stop the bleeding, Thomas delivered, scoring his 32 points on 10-of-19 shooting, including 9-of-12 from the free-throw line. As Thomas continued to drive to the hoop over and over again, the Pelicans could do nothing to slow him down. He also finished with eight assists and a game-high plus-22 rating.
DUD OF THE NIGHT: Jared Sullinger
Sullinger was quiet offensively and had a rough night cleaning the glass, finishing with eight points and six rebounds. The C’s could have used his interior defense against a team that scored crucial fourth-quarter layups to stay within striking distance.
VINE OF THE NIGHT: Marcus Smart with the steal and the slam
https://vine.co/v/iIHW6lAhPYn
WHINE OF THE NIGHT: Pelicans bench scoring
Without their core players — Anthony Davis, Tyreke Evans, Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson and Jrue Holiday, among others — the Pelicans still managed 47 point from their bench. Frazier (18 points) and Luke Babbitt (16 points) led the Pelicans’ reserves.
STAT OF THE NIGHT: 22 turnovers
No matter how many times the Celtics forced turnovers down the stretch, they couldn’t score on the other end, until the final minutes of the game — when it mattered most. The Celtics only committed nine turnovers and finished the night with 10 steals.
@ OF THE NIGHT:
Ben Rohrbach @brohrbach
I’m pretty sure Avery Bradley’s newborn son got the clutch gene.
6:56 PM - 6 Apr 2016
3 3 Retweets 10 10 likes
bob
.
Celtics fight off short-handed Pelicans late in 104-97 win
By Chris Forsberg
12:13 AM ET
BOSTON -- The Celtics entered the week focused on improving their playoff position over their final five regular-season games.
They had to dig deep to prevent a short-handed Pelicans team from throwing a big wrinkle in those plans.
Isaiah Thomas scored 32 points to help the Celtics fend off short-handed New Orleans 104-97 on Wednesday night.
Jae Crowder added 14 points, Avery Bradley finished with 13 points and six rebounds, and the Celtics beat the Pelicans for the fourth straight time.
Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas has gone from being a sixth man to an All-NBA candidate, and the team is trying hard to get him the honor.
"I'm just going to keep going, keep grinding and being in attack mode," Thomas said. "That's what my team needs from me and I'm gonna continue to do that. My guys are just putting me in position to be successful -- them and the coaching staff. My job's pretty easy."
The fourth quarter featured eight ties before Boston was able to get a key defensive stop in the final minute. The Celtics were then able to close it out at the free-throw line.
Toney Douglas led the Pelicans with 19 points, and Tim Frazier added 18 points and six assists. Six New Orleans players finished in double-figures.
New Orleans played without its five top scorers due to injuries, and had only eight active players.
"We played hard and we competed like crazy," New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said. "Just couldn't seem to make a couple plays at the end that would get us over the hump."
Boston was playing on three days' rest, but struggled to get separation -- despite 23 turnovers by the Pelicans.
No player in New Orleans' starting lineup came in averaging more than 7.6 points. Still the Pelicans were aggressive and knocked down nine 3-pointers, including several to help start runs that got them back in to the game.
The Celtics scored eight straight points the start of the third quarter to increase their lead to 16.
But New Orleans didn't flinch and traded long runs with the Celtics before using an 11-0 spurt to get within three points entering the fourth.
It stayed tight, with the final tie coming at 93 on a jumper by Luke Babbitt with 2:38 remaining.
A minute later, Boston finally broke the stalemate, getting back-to-back baskets by Bradley and Crowder to take a 97-93 lead.
The series that led to Crowder's basket was costly, though, with Marcus Smart getting hit in the face at some point and having to run to the locker room holding a towel over his right eye. He was diagnosed with a slight laceration above the eye and did not return. He received four stitches, and said he was fine afterward.
Trailing 99-95, New Orleans' Babbitt had a look at a wide open layup, but it was blocked from behind by Amir Johnson.
Thomas acknowledged that getting the cobwebs out from the recent West Coast trip might have been at play.
"The West Coast trip was tough for us," he said. "Get back here and little jetlagged still. Time is still a little messed up for us. But as long as we got the win, that's all that matters."
TIP-INS
Pelicans: Nine players were out, including Anthony Davis (left knee), Ryan Anderson (hernia), Tyreke Evans (right knee), Eric Gordon (fractured right ring finger), Jrue Holiday (right orbital wall fracture) and Quincy Pondexter (left knee).
Celtics: Thomas has scored 20 or more points in 17 consecutive games. ... Boston committed just two turnovers in the first.
HELP WANTED
Gentry has been dealing with a rapidly depleting roster for several weeks. It's gotten so bad that when asked by reporters before the game if any of New Orleans nine injured players would be available, he joked that he may have to result to drastic measures in the remaining games. "No but if you want to dress out, I'll give you a uniform and you'll probably get 15 minutes," he said.
WELCOME BACK
Boston fans greeted former Celtic and current Pelicans reserve center Kendrick Perkins with a round of cheers when he checked into the game in the first quarter. Perkins spent his first eight seasons in Boston, and was part of its 2008 NBA championship team.
UP NEXT
Pelicans: Host the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.
Celtics: Host Milwaukee on Friday.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
http://www.csnne.com/boston-celtics/It-isnt-pretty-but-road-weary-Boston-Celtics-find-way-to-win-New-Orleans-Pelicans
IT ISN'T PRETTY, BUT ROAD-WEARY C'S FIND WAY TO WIN
By A. Sherrod Blakely April 07, 2016 12:15 AM
BOSTON – As crazy as it may sound, the Boston Celtics needed a game like Wednesday’s 104-97 victory over New Orleans.
Regardless of the opponent, Celtics’ victories have come about usually because they played well.
That was not the case on Wednesday.
It was a game that featured Boston at its worst at times, the kind of game that they would have easily lost earlier this season.
But this team is starting to show the kind of growth to where even on bad nights against bad teams, they’re starting to figure out ways to still emerge victorious.
It began with their lackluster 107-100 win over the woeful Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, and Boston’s winning ugly ways continued on Wednesday with a hard-earned victory over the Pelicans.
It was Boston’s first game back from their five-game West coast trip, and they certainly looked and played like a team trying to re-adjust to the time zone change.
“I thought we looked a little road-weary,” acknowledged head coach Brad Stevens. “But on those nights you have to find a way.
He added, “This was a game that we had to find a way, and we found a way. We will improve. We’ll get better off of the things we didn’t do well from watching film and again, get off our feet before Friday night (against the Milwaukee Bucks).”
While both teams are far apart record-wise, the Celtics knew their first game back home after the long road trip was going to be challenging on several fronts.
“I don’t feel like we played the right way the entire game,” said Celtics guard Avery Bradley. “But I’m happy we were able to finish the game out and get the win.”
With 2:39 to play, the score was tied at 93 following a 17-footer by New Orleans’ Luke Babbitt.
Twenty seconds later, Bradley drained a 15-foot baseline jumper to put Boston back on top.
Bradley then forced a steal which ended with a lay-up by Jae Crowder.
The Celtics’ late game run continued when Isaiah Thomas made a pair of free throws with 1:23 to play which put Boston ahead 99-93 and would later prove to be the game-winning points.
Players agree that the re-adjustment from having been out West for nearly two weeks, was a factor in some of the struggles they had against the Pelicans whose roster has been hit particularly hard by season-ending injuries to key players.
But those injuries have created opportunities for several players to see action in the NBA who otherwise would be in the Development League or not playing at all.
And that has essentially created an audition-like atmosphere to where New Orleans how has a team full of hungry players with something to prove.
That lends itself to guys playing their best basketball, which makes for matchups that are much closer than most would expect going in.
“Those guys played very hard,” Crowder said of the Pelicans. “They didn’t lay down at all, we got up ten and the fought back and you know, that’s what you expect from a team, when you are playing for nothing, playing for pride and playing for the organization, but props to them.”
Celtics guard Marcus Smart sees Wednesday’s game as a precursor for the types of games that are on the horizon for Boston.
“From here on out, things aren’t going to be easy,” Smart said. “No games are easy in the NBA. Guys are here for a reason. Everybody is competitive, they want to win. So they’re going to try and do everything they can to stop us from winning. To get a win like that against this team and we didn’t play too well together as a team, it’s great for us.”
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
http://greenstreet.weei.com/sports/boston/basketball/celtics/2016/04/06/celtics-outlast-the-pelicans-tied-with-hawks-for-third-place-in-the-east/
STUDS AND DUDS: CELTICS OUTLAST PELICANS, TIE HAWKS FOR 3RD SEED
04.06.16 at 10:33 pm ET
By Josue Pavon
Apr 6, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) and guard Avery Bradley (0) celebrate during the final moments of the second half of the Boston Celtics 104-97 win over the New Orleans Pelicans at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
Avery Bradley (right) celebrates with Isaiah Thomas in the final moments of the Celtics’ 104-97 win over the Pelicans. (Winslow Townson/USA Today Sports)
Trap game or not, the Celtics needed to beat the undermanned Pelicans in order to stay afloat in the upper tier of the Eastern Conference, and even though they won, it sure wasn’t pretty.
In a game that went down to the wire, the Celtics held off the visiting Pelicans, 104-97. For the 17th time in a row, Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics in scoring, totaling 32 points and adding eight assists. Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley netted 14 and 13, respectively.
Toney Douglas’ 19 points led six Pelicans in double figures, while former Maine Red Claw Tim Frazier added 18 points and six assists.
The Celtics took an early 15-6 lead and Thomas capped the first half with a driving layup in the final 1.5 second, but the C’s led by just eight at the break, despite forcing 14 first-half turnovers.
The Celtics again surged in the second half, grabbing a double-digit lead before an 8-0 Pelicans run cut the lead to 65-62. The two teams traded runs, and New Orleans tied the game at 91 with 3:16 remaining. The Celtics finished the game on an 11-4 run, including a monster Amir Johnson block and a clutch Avery Bradley 3-pointer to ice the victory.
With the win, the Celtics improved to 46-32 on the season and pulled even with the Hawks for third place in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta currently holds a 2-1 tiebreaker against the C’s with one head-to-head meeting remaining on Saturday.
For a complete box score, click here. http://weei.stats.com/nba/boxscore.asp?gamecode=2016040602 To go beyond the box, read on.
STUD OF THE NIGHT: Isaiah Thomas
Whenever the Celtics needed to stop the bleeding, Thomas delivered, scoring his 32 points on 10-of-19 shooting, including 9-of-12 from the free-throw line. As Thomas continued to drive to the hoop over and over again, the Pelicans could do nothing to slow him down. He also finished with eight assists and a game-high plus-22 rating.
DUD OF THE NIGHT: Jared Sullinger
Sullinger was quiet offensively and had a rough night cleaning the glass, finishing with eight points and six rebounds. The C’s could have used his interior defense against a team that scored crucial fourth-quarter layups to stay within striking distance.
VINE OF THE NIGHT: Marcus Smart with the steal and the slam
https://vine.co/v/iIHW6lAhPYn
WHINE OF THE NIGHT: Pelicans bench scoring
Without their core players — Anthony Davis, Tyreke Evans, Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson and Jrue Holiday, among others — the Pelicans still managed 47 point from their bench. Frazier (18 points) and Luke Babbitt (16 points) led the Pelicans’ reserves.
STAT OF THE NIGHT: 22 turnovers
No matter how many times the Celtics forced turnovers down the stretch, they couldn’t score on the other end, until the final minutes of the game — when it mattered most. The Celtics only committed nine turnovers and finished the night with 10 steals.
@ OF THE NIGHT:
Ben Rohrbach @brohrbach
I’m pretty sure Avery Bradley’s newborn son got the clutch gene.
6:56 PM - 6 Apr 2016
3 3 Retweets 10 10 likes
bob
.
bobheckler- Posts : 62620
Join date : 2009-10-28
Re: Post Game Thread - vs New Orleans Pelicans, Home
by beat Thu Apr 07, 2016 10:41 am
Take an ugly sort of win of a well played loss any day of the week.
beat
beat
beat- Posts : 7032
Join date : 2009-10-13
Age : 71
Re: Post Game Thread - vs New Orleans Pelicans, Home
by bobheckler Thu Apr 07, 2016 11:12 am
beat wrote:Take an ugly sort of win of a well played loss any day of the week.
beat
beat,
Amen, brother.
bob
.
bobheckler- Posts : 62620
Join date : 2009-10-28
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