BRAD STEVENS SAYS CHANGES WILL BE MADE FOR GAME 3: ‘WE’VE GOT TO BE A LOT BETTER OUT OF THE GATE’

WEEI

By Mike Petraglia

It was pretty obvious from the start, the Celtics were not at the level of the Hawks Tuesday night. The Celtics dropped an 89-72 decision to the Hawks that puts them in an 0-2 hole as the series shifts to Boston Friday.

Now, it’s up to coach Brad Stevens to figure out what to do about it.

Stevens started Marcus Smart in place of the injured Avery Bradley Tuesday in Game 2, along with Isaiah Thomas, Jared Sullinger, Amir Johnson and Jae Crowder. That group went 4-1 this season as a starting lineup, including a 106-93 win over Atlanta on Nov. 13 at TD Garden.

That was the regular season. Tuesday night in Game 2 had a much different feel from the start.

“I think that tonight had a tonight had a different feel than even the other night,” Stevens told reporters after. “I thought the other night, it was one of those nights we didn’t shoot it great but we had done some really good things. We had settled ourselves, defensively. Then, when we started making some shots, we felt pretty good about our chances.

“Here, it never felt like we were at their level. Hey, we’re going to have figure that out. We’re going to have to get to their level and play a lot better on Friday night.”

With Thomas, Crowder and Smart combining to go 6-for-34 from the field, Stevens turned to Evan Turner, who was one of four Celtics in double figures with 12 points. He did not start the game but did start the second half.

“I’ll go back and look it, watch it without sound, watch it without emotion and figure out what looked right, what didn’t look right and see if we can’t bottle more of that up,” Stevens said. “Listen, we start down 24-7 and we look like we’re moving at a speed far less than them. It’s going to be a tough night. It doesn’t matter where we’re playing or when we’re playing. We’ve got to be a lot better out of the gate.”

As for the struggles of Thomas and Crowder, Stevens said he would not make any rash decisions based on two games. Thomas is 12-for-36 in the first two games while Crowder has made just 6-of-25 shots.

“They’re holding themselves to a high standard,” Stevens said. “They’re not having tough shooting nights for a lack of focus or effort or anything else. They struggled a little bit but that’s OK. They’ll have those nights and we’ve got to have other guys pick them up, regardless of who that is, regardless of who’s available. We have to have other guys pick them up. Thought we got some good play from a couple of guys on our bench. That was encouraging as we move forward.

“Again, we’ve got some things to look at to be able to play better, I think.”

Atlanta’s defense gave Boston fits in the first quarter and a half. The Celtics need to find a way to dictate tempo starting Friday.

“They’re doing what they do. They fly around. They are very physical on your cuts. They went under a lot of things, made us make shots and jam the paint on our drives, protected the rim like they’ve done in this whole stretch where they’ve been the best defense in the league.”

112288

Besides putting Sully on the bench, what can he do?

these are the horses we rode into the playoffs with....good and (as we saw the past 5 games) the bad.

The playoffs is a completely different beast.

1. Every team you face will be either good, very good, or great.

2. Said teams will have plenty of time to not only study your tendencies, but find ways to exploit them.

The Hawks are an experienced team and this is their 9th consecutive playoff berth. The Celtics can't half-ass the first half of the game and expect to win.


KJ

Bottom line is................You cannot win in the NBA with undersized center and power forwards who cannot jump coupled with the fact we have no outside sniper!

112288

112288 wrote:Bottom line is................You cannot win in the NBA with undersized center and power forwards who cannot jump coupled with the fact we have no outside sniper!

112288

There was a time when I thought that a legit 5 was necessary. But since the game has rapidly changed in the last couple of years or so, now I don't know that is still the case. I will, however, agree with your point about power forwards and the lack of outside shooters. You need athletic and skilled guys at the 1-5 positions to run with the best.


KJ

Wonder what changes will be made? it is not like we have a knock down shooter coming off the bench. Need KO back although he is like a box of chocolates.

We lived by the three all year long and now we are dying by the three.

dboss

In need a big who can not only shoot outside but inside as well.  KO is soft inside.

Just get Love and Hortford and a great SG and we will be closer to the promised land then you may think.

Listen, Leon Powe was all but 6'8" but can play the center as if he was 6' 11" because he knew how to box out and angle to get rebounds and had great hands. Plus he could move his feet very well. Sully is like stuck in cement!

Get me SIZE PLEASE IN THE 4 & 5 position. I do not care where the NBA is headed.

112288