Post Game Thread - vs New Orleans Pelicans, Away

[bobheckler]

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2016/11/boston_celtics_new_orleans_pel_5.html#incart_river_index


Isaiah Thomas' 37 points, huge fourth quarter not enough as Boston Celtics fall to New Orleans Pelicans in wild finish, 106-105

Isaiah Thomas, Solomon Hill, Anthony Davis
Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) battles under the basket with New Orleans Pelicans forwards Anthony Davis (23) and Solomon Hill (44) in the first half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Monday, Nov. 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)


Jay King | mjking@masslive.com By Jay King | mjking@masslive.com


on November 14, 2016 at 10:50 PM, updated November 15, 2016 at 12:08 AM




If Kelly Olynyk had stayed on his feet, the Boston Celtics might have walked away with a win they didn't entirely deserve. Instead, the big man got lifted off his feet, fouled Tim Frazier on a long, off-balance jumper, and watched as the New Orleans Pelicans guard -- once a Celtics training camp invitee -- sank one of two free throws to send the Celtics away with a disappointing 106-105 loss against one of the NBA's worst teams.

A brief recap of a wild final minute:

-- With a tie score and about 37 seconds left, Isaiah Thomas caught the ball in the backcourt with a running start, zoomed around a pick-and-roll and drew a foul on help defender Anthony Davis -- one of the longest, bounciest big men in the game. After missing the first free throw, Thomas put in the second, giving the Celtics a 103-102 lead.

-- On the ensuing possession, Davis missed a short jumper, but grabbed the offensive rebound (offensive rebounds always do seem to hurt these Celtics) and drew a foul on his next attempt. Like the call for Thomas, the referee could have held off on the whistle, but Davis made two free throws instead, giving the Pelicans the lead.

-- Thomas was the obvious choice to take the next Boston shot, but Avery Bradley sized up Davis and tried an off-the-dribble 3-pointer. It did not fall, but the Celtics hustled like hell for the rebound and the ball ultimately went out of bounds off New Orleans.

-- Instead of capitalizing on the extra chance, Marcus Smart -- who did not deserve a costly mistake on this night -- threw the inbounds pass to Pelicans guard Tim Frazier. After the Celtics fouled, New Orleans hit just one free throw, putting the score at 105-103.

-- Thomas came right back with a runner high off the glass, tying the game, but any joy was short-lived. After Frazier's free throw, the Celtics received the ball with 1.9 seconds left and no timeouts; Tyler Zeller -- who was inbounding the ball -- threw a pass that got tipped, then went out of bounds. Though it was still Celtics ball, they only had 0.1 second left at that point and did not get off another attempt.


Olynyk should have stayed on his feet, but the Celtics hurt themselves more with an ineffective first three quarters. The low point arrived early in the third quarter when they apparently forgot Davis could miss a transition layup and one of his teammates could grab the rebound to put the ball back through the hoop. After initial hustle forced Davis into a tough look, the Celtics collectively watched as Frazier followed with the easiest bucket of the night.

Boston head coach Brad Stevens called timeout and, if he were a screamer, might have screamed loudly enough to wake up everyone buried in the closest cemetery. This nonsense, again. A lack of hustle, imperfect communication, a dearth of physicality. For too long, the Celtics played like they felt mighty and important but considered themselves above demonstrating either of those qualities Monday night.

The Celtics still did some impressive things. Thomas scored 18 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter on a relentless stream of attacks. Bradley (19 points, 10 rebounds) picked up his fifth double-double this season and was red-hot in the first half. Smart helped out in so many ways; during one stretch he knocked down two 3-pointers, spun into a low-post layup, and dove on the floor to deny an entry pass to Davis and force a turnover. The defense forced Davis to earn his 25 points and 16 rebounds. For the most part, Amir Johnson did a great job contesting without fouling.

But the Celtics couldn't keep New Orleans out of the paint early and didn't knock down enough of all the 3-pointers they launched. Only once in franchise history had the Celtics shot more than the 41 3-pointers they took Monday night; they only hit 12 for a 29.3-percent success rate.

Four minutes into the final quarter, Thomas pumped his fist before walking into a Celtics huddle. After a rough time early, his team almost threw aside a big deficit and saved itself from a major disappointment. Instead, the ending did not work out.


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Boston Celtics analysis: Marcus Smart's turnover, Kelly Olynyk's foul ruin fourth-quarter comeback



New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) shoots against Boston Celtics forward Amir Johnson (90) in the second half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Monday, Nov. 14, 2016. The Pelicans won 106-105. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)


Jay King | mjking@masslive.com By Jay King | mjking@masslive.com


on November 15, 2016 at 2:45 AM



Before examining all that went wrong in a hectic final 1:31, let's take a moment to appreciate everything Isaiah Thomas provided the Boston Celtics during the fourth quarter Monday night.

Only counting that final quarter, the lefty delivered 18 points on 6-for-12 shooting; an impossible finish over Terrence Jones; a go-ahead triple with two minutes left; and a game-tying layup with 7.4 seconds remaining. Thomas (37 points, seven assists) can be forgiven for launching a couple of ambitious 3-point attempts because he pulled the Celtics out of a 10-point ditch and kept them from laying there dead all night long. Though they ultimately fell, 106-105, they only had a chance because Thomas manufactured it piece by piece before gifting it to his team.

Down the stretch, the Celtics also played great defense on Anthony Davis (who went 0 for 6 in the final quarter), held the Pelicans off the offensive glass (with the notable exception of one particularly vital possession), and tried like heck to overcome an early deficit (which, I must say, Boston earned). But when a team lets an overmatched opponent stay close, unfortunate mistakes like an inbounds-pass turnover and an overzealous foul can lead to doom -- or, in this case, a one-point defeat against one of the NBA's worst teams.

We won't spend much time rehashing Thomas' performance, but it was great. We won't use many words to describe Boston's love for the 3-point shot, which resulted in an ugly 12-for-41 performance from that distance. We won't heap much praise on Marcus Smart, who hustled for everything he got; Avery Bradley, who registered yet another double-double; or Langston Galloway, who hurt the Celtics more than they should have let him. We won't wonder why Boston has routinely failed to control rebounds off an opponent's missed free throw, nor will we laugh about Smart's hilarious troll job after a referee waved off Solomon Hill's Frederic Weissian dunk-of-the-year candidate.

The final two minutes were filled with enough blunders to control the majority of our focus. Let's start with the one shot Thomas probably wants back the most.

Here's a telling screen grab


Screen shot from NBA.com

Does that position look like it would set up a tough finish for most 5-foot-9 men? Sure, but Thomas is barely human for someone that size. With that much separation he would probably make that shot eight times out of 10. Here, his shot bounces off the rim, resulting in a four-point swing.

The Celtics would have gone ahead by four points with a bucket, but Olynyk fouled Davis on the rebound and the star made both free throws to tie the game. The loose-ball foul -- 90-plus feet from the New Orleans hoop, giving the Pelicans a chance to tie -- actually wasn't Olynyk's worst play. We'll get to that later.

After Thomas gave the Celtics a one-point lead, Davis followed by rebounding his own miss and earning two more free throws. That put Boston down one with 15.6 seconds left and set up a critical inbound play.


Frazier's steal


https://streamable.com/nx9b

We will start our analysis of this play with an open letter to inbound passers everywhere.

Dear Inbound Passers Everywhere,

It is inexcusable, under any set of circumstances, to throw the basketball to the wrong team with 15.6 seconds left in a one-point game. By any means necessary, you must deliver the basketball to your own teammate, thereby providing a chance to take the lead and potentially steal a win. It would be hugely beneficial for you to find an open teammate, but the top priority must be caution.

DO. NOT. COMMIT. A. TURNOVER.

GIVE. YOUR. TEAM. A. CHANCE.

If you inadvertently find a player wearing the wrong color, it will always be considered your fault, even if the defender makes a wonderful play.

Sincerely,

A concerned citizen

P.S. -- Whenever possible, try convincing your team to show effort during the first three quarters, too. If your team does that, you might not need to inbound the ball while trailing by one in a desperate situation.

The contents of that open letter aside, Frazier showed plenty of defensive intelligence to collect a game-saving steal. If he didn't sniff out Boston's play the whole time, Amir Johnson would have walked into a wide open layup and the Celtics would have taken a one-point lead.

The way Frazier defended the action, Smart should have either A) lobbed the pass to Johnson, who was defended by a couple of guards, or B) looked for one of the other Celtics. Thomas popped open for a split second at the perimeter, but he was likely used mostly as a decoy to drag Davis away from the hoop. With Kelly Olynyk in one corner and Davis guarding Thomas on the other wing, both of the Pelicans big men were occupied on the perimeter. The Celtics set left Johnson in the paint with a huge height advantage; Smart just failed to see Frazier sneaking over off Bradley.

After Frazier hit just one free throw, Thomas tied the score at 105-105 by lofting a short runner off the glass with 7.4 seconds left. The Celtics needed just one stop to force overtime.

Instead...


Olynyk fouled Frazier


https://vine.co/v/5TBaJWmJxhq


With about three seconds left, Olynyk did not want to give Frazier a clean look at a game-winning bucket. The desire to contest the shot made sense, but lunging at an up-fake and fouling was a worst-case scenario -- a bad decision at an awful time.

With 11 inches on Frazier, Olynyk could have stayed on his feet, raised his hands in the air, and made things mighty difficult for the short guard. Instead, Olynyk fouled out on the play. Frazier needed only one free throw to put the Pelicans ahead.

"I knew I had a big on me, so I tried to see if I could get him to go," Frazier said. "And he went."

Letting go of any rooting allegiances, Frazier's huge plays -- against the team that gave him his first professional opportunity -- made for a cool story. It wasn't so cool that the Celtics committed too many mistakes down the stretch to steal a win.



bob


.

[bobheckler]

This will bite us in the ass later in the year.


Olynyk comes back to earth.  Unfortunately, when he landed it was on Tim Frazier.  A stupid foul, to say the least.  His first game back was weak, then 3 good ones, and now a bad one.

In two year, max, Anthony Davis will be the best player in the NBA.  He can pretty much do it all.  Games that I would look forward to watching would be NOP vs Milwaukee and NOP vs NYK.  It will be interesting to see how the "new NBA" players, versatile toothpicks like The Greek Freak and Thon Maker and Zinger match up against a force of nature like Davis, who is also a bull.  He was the main reason why our starting front court of Amir and Kelly BOTH fouled out.

I have no idea how IT does it, with a sprained middle finger on his shooting hand, no less.

We shot 40% for the game.  We're lucky the final score was even that close.  Our bench was 8-22.  I love having defenders, but they haven't done a very good job of defending.  Take that away, and they are lousy shooters.  You might be able to get away with lousy shooting if you are crazy on defense, but we aren't and that must piss Brad off to no end even though he doesn't show it.  Actually, he does show it a little bit; Gerald Green never took his warmups off.  With the exception of Amir, who fouled out in only 27 minutes, our other 4 starters played 34-36 minutes.  Doesn't show much confidence in our bench by Brad, does it?

Mickey with a good first half, lousy second.  Did about as good a job against Davis as humanly possible.

If Smart plays like this, he is a big asset.  He boarded, he defended (of course) but he also scored.  6-12 is quite good for a guard and so is 3-6 from 3.  6 boards, 4 steals, 3 assists, 2 TOs.  Talk about respect, after he tortured a Pelican in the low blocks a few times, they started double-teaming him when he posted one up.  I have to mention, however, that brain-dead in bound pass.  That was bad.  Really, really bad.

He also flopped so he wouldn't be humiliated after being dunked OVER:

http://nba.nbcsports.com/2016/11/15/marcus-smart-flops-his-way-out-of-getting-humiliatingly-dunked-on-by-solomon-hill-video/?guid=_rCKXYlulCrhJthbVXpel_o5TTLGLgQF&t=10


We only had 10 TOs, so it wasn't that.  We lost the rebounding battle by only 2, 46-44, so it wasn't that.  We lost because we gave up 36 ftas while only getting 20 ourselves and because we shot 40%.  After having one of the best offenses in the league we went back to sucking.


bob

.

[bobheckler]

bob


.

[bobheckler]

Btw, the player Smart abused in the low post, at about the 1:30 mark, is Buddy Hield, the player we could have had instead of Jaylen Brown.






bob


.

[Shamrock1000]

This will bite us in the ass later in the year.


Olynyk comes back to earth.  Unfortunately, when he landed it was on Tim Frazier.  A stupid foul, to say the least.  His first game back was weak, then 3 good ones, and now a bad one.

In two year, max, Anthony Davis will be the best player in the NBA.  He can pretty much do it all.  Games that I would look forward to watching would be NOP vs Milwaukee and NOP vs NYK.  It will be interesting to see how the "new NBA" players, versatile toothpicks like The Greek Freak and Thon Maker and Zinger match up against a force of nature like Davis, who is also a bull.  He was the main reason why our starting front court of Amir and Kelly BOTH fouled out.

I have no idea how IT does it, with a sprained middle finger on his shooting hand, no less.

We shot 40% for the game.  We're lucky the final score was even that close.  Our bench was 8-22.  I love having defenders, but they haven't done a very good job of defending.  Take that away, and they are lousy shooters.  You might be able to get away with lousy shooting if you are crazy on defense, but we aren't and that must piss Brad off to no end even though he doesn't show it.  Actually, he does show it a little bit; Gerald Green never took his warmups off.  With the exception of Amir, who fouled out in only 27 minutes, our other 4 starters played 34-36 minutes.  Doesn't show much confidence in our bench by Brad, does it?

Mickey with a good first half, lousy second.  Did about as good a job against Davis as humanly possible.

If Smart plays like this, he is a big asset.  He boarded, he defended (of course) but he also scored.  6-12 is quite good for a guard and so is 3-6 from 3.  6 boards, 4 steals, 3 assists, 2 TOs.  Talk about respect, after he tortured a Pelican in the low blocks a few times, they started double-teaming him when he posted one up.  I have to mention, however, that brain-dead in bound pass.  That was bad.  Really, really bad.

He also flopped so he wouldn't be humiliated after being dunked OVER:

http://nba.nbcsports.com/2016/11/15/marcus-smart-flops-his-way-out-of-getting-humiliatingly-dunked-on-by-solomon-hill-video/?guid=_rCKXYlulCrhJthbVXpel_o5TTLGLgQF&t=10


We only had 10 TOs, so it wasn't that.  We lost the rebounding battle by only 2, 46-44, so it wasn't that.  We lost because we gave up 36 ftas while only getting 20 ourselves and because we shot 40%.  After having one of the best offenses in the league we went back to sucking.


bob

.

I extracted this quote from your post"

" I love having defenders, but they haven't done a very good job of defending. Take that away, and they are lousy shooters. You might be able to get away with lousy shooting if you are crazy on defense, but we aren't ...."

Well said....

[Ram]

Smart's charge was the best play he could have made there, hardly a traditional lame 'flop'. 

I'd like to see Davis head to head with Towns. 

Frazier traveled before Olynyk fouled him.

[dboss]

Our front line lacks both  athleticism
and toughness.  

can't wait for Crowder and Horford to return.

dboss

[112288]

As IT continues a torrid scoring pace, his achievements are beginning to worry me as there is no balanced scoring/offense, it's all IT. Take a look at most of the other games and you will find that IT runs up big numbers while the rest of the team lags.

112288

[dboss]

As IT  continues a torrid scoring pace, his achievements are beginning to worry me as there is no balanced scoring/offense, it's all IT.   Take a look at most of the other games and you will find that IT runs up big numbers while the rest of the team lags.

112288

112288

A valid concern.

IT put up 29 shots including 3-10 from behind the arc. The Celtics should have won this game if not for a couple of dumb plays but aside from that this team is 3 point crazy. They were horrible from 3 point land shooting 12 for 41 or 29% and 41 out of 95 shot attempts were three pointers or 43% of shot attempts.

Jerebko and KO look horrible

dboss

[112288]

The team worries me. All these 3 pt attempts with no true 3 pt shooter and too weak/small to get the ball in the paint to score.

112288

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