Post Game - Tough Loss vs. Rockets - Away

I love Avery Bradley Non-stop hustle and clutch shooting. The guard play was excellent over-all:Rozier has to be one of the fastest guys in the league dribbling full court .Isaiah was Isaiah. Smart made sone bully plays. The bigs? Not so much. Kelly drives me crazy with his tentativeness. Amir is a non factor . I wonder if his plantar fasciitis is acting up again. Horford stunk it up , in my opinion, most of the night. What do you guys think?

Maybe I was a little hard on Al. What has he done for me lately syndrome. That missed layup was heartbreaking.

Tough loss, we need a physical rebounding presence next to Horford, as much as I love Avery Bradleys game, if hes leading the team in rebounding, something is wrong....we also need more development/playing time for Brown and Rozier IMHO, let them play through their mistakes. Them being better pros is another key going forward

Maybe IT was hurt. Be that as it may, I think his play during the the last minutes cost us this game. Too many bad decisions and too much Rondo ball. The ball was moving much better before he reentered the game. Our hard fought lead evaporated quickly once IT took to the floor.

Berlin-T

cowens/oldschool wrote:Tough loss, we need a physical rebounding presence next to Horford, as much as I love Avery Bradleys game, if hes leading the team in rebounding, something is wrong....we also need more development/playing time for Brown and Rozier IMHO, let them play through their mistakes. Them being better pros is another key going forward

I agree with all that

jrleftfoot,

I took the liberties of editing the thread's name in order to make this the "official" post game thread.  I hope you don't mind.

I didn't get to see the game, due to me traveling and the game being on NBA TV so it was blacked out on league pass.  I did keep a partial watch on the Game On thread and the yahoo box score.  It seemed like there was a lid on our basket after we got to 100 points.  Miss after miss after miss, right up to the end.  Lots of jumpers, right?  Except the last shot by Horford, which I did see down at breakfast, that was a near miss and it could have won the game.

I also saw the Harden elbow to Smart's head.  Smart seems to have a league-wide reputation now for flopping, they (of course) lead in with a comment about his flopping rep, but go on to say the flagrant was legit.

Anyway, this game was winnable, against a very good Western team, but things didn't go our way towards the end.  Was there too much me-ball by Thomas at the end?  Perhaps, but often, that is what gets us our wins.  It is a make or miss league and we missed at the wrong time.

We lost the battle at the frito line, 31-12.  Really?  The league needs to review the game tapes for this one.  

Off to work, talk to you guys (and Rosalie) later,

gyso

A good game (a "great" game requires a W).

Bradley played Harden about as well as you can but he gets BS superstar calls.  Bradley should not bring the ball up court if their is an opportunity for a fast break, because he isn't that fast.  Give it to Rozier, who is a human rocket-sled.  

Brown with another good game.  Keep it up, kid.

I don't know whether Amir's game was because of his plantar fasciitis returning (hadn't heard it had) or because he couldn't mentally adjust to coming off the bench (Sully couldn't either) or just because this wasn't a good match up for him and that's what Brad benched him this game.

Kelly with some good stuff, but you keep expecting him to break out, you keep thinking that "the bounce is real" and it doesn't happen.  7 points on 3-6, 5 boards and some good defense in just 15 minutes is ok but not great.  I like that he is working hard at posting SFs up in the paint all the time now.  Brad is getting him those mismatches and he is screaming for the ball.  Good.  To be fair to him, he is shooting 39% from 3 this year and that's pretty damn good for any NBA player.  Kelly is more effective when the other players move.  He gets into the paint, the defense collapses on him and his head is up and he is looking for an outlet to pass to, they need to move to an open spot.

Smart with clutch fritos to get the game to 1.  That's a big deal, in terms of his development.  Unfortunately, he needs to improve upon his discipline throughout the game.  As Dirty Harry said "A man's got to know his limitations".

Jerebko with energy.  That's his thing, he's an energy and glue guy.  We got a couple of extra possessions because he was punching rebounds out to the perimeter.

How refs can repeatedly blow calls despite looking at the replays is beyond me.


bob


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http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2016/12/boston_celtics_drop_thriller_t.html




Boston Celtics drop thriller to Houston Rockets: Analyzing Avery Bradley's super-long 2-pointer and Al Horford's last-second miss




Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens yells at an official during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets Monday, Dec. 5, 2016, in Houston. The Rockets won 107-106. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)



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



on December 06, 2016 at 2:10 AM, updated December 06, 2016 at 4:16 AM



Al Horford ended the loss with his hands gripping the back of his head, wondering how he missed a game-winning layup. He could have also marveled at the rest of a zany final minute, which included a stepback James Harden triple; a looonnngggggggg Avery Bradley 2-pointer that might have deserved an extra point; a flagrant foul on a guy whose team was just trying to run out the clock; and two botched layups that could have given the Boston Celtics a win.

Enough happened over the final minute of the Celtics' 107-106 loss Monday night that this article will mostly ignore the first three quarters. The Celtics struggled early, came back on the strength of their bench, surged ahead with one of their best quarters of the season (the third), and kicked away a late lead by committing two huge turnovers in the fourth quarter -- while Harden repeatedly drew fouls on Boston's bigs.

We'll pick things up after Harden's 3-pointer, which put the Rockets ahead 107-102 in the final minute.


Bradley's toe

This is what Bradley's feet looked like when he hit a long jumper with 46.9 seconds left:

https://twitter.com/CelticsHub/status/805980577866350592/photo/1

Follow
Brian Robb ✔ @CelticsHub
Upon further review, still not sure why replay officials didn't award Avery Bradley 3 on this shot.
7:41 PM - 5 Dec 2016
 48 48 Retweets   72 72 likes


It was either the longest 2-pointer in NBA history, or Bradley should have been credited with three points instead. The problem for Boston: the referees initially called the shot a 2, and, on review, considered the play too close to overturn. It looks like there's a hair of space between Bradley's foot and the line, but I'm not 100 percent convinced and I've stared at the still frame for 10 minutes straight.

If the refs had granted Bradley a 3-pointer, the Celtics would have trailed by two points -- instead of three. Assuming the rest of the game would have unfolded in the same ridiculous way it did, they would have had a chance to tie after Harden hit Smart with a flagrant elbow. Of course, everything could have changed. There's no promise the Celtics would have ended up in overtime just because of the extra point, but it's tough to lose a game by one after maybe, possibly getting hosed out of a point in the final minute.

Right, Jonas?

Follow
Mark Murphy ✔ @Murf56
Jerebko on the late Bradley shot ruled a two: "It was a three."
7:45 PM - 5 Dec 2016
 20 20 Retweets   50 50 likes


Doh.


Horford's miss

After Smart improbably drew a flagrant foul on Harden -- who had the ball, with the shot clock off, and a 107-104 lead -- the Celtics had two chances to go ahead in the final 10 seconds. Incredibly, both of their All-Stars missed layups.

While this would have been a tough look for most humans, Isaiah Thomas would probably make it six or seven times out of 10:




After a scramble for the rebound, the ball returned to Boston. The Celtics got another great look, this time for Horford, but he couldn't convert:




When the Rockets switched, Horford did what he should have done, sweeping through straight to the rim with the knowledge he could body Patrick Beverley all the way to the hoop. To realize how perfectly the Celtics executed in that situation, check out Horford's shooting percentages at the rim over the past five seasons, per Basketball-Reference.com:

2012-13: 75.2 percent
2013-14: 75.4 percent
2014-15: 75.0 percent
2015-16: 74.5 percent

That's absolutely elite, and Horford has been even better early this season. He entered Monday night hitting 81.5 percent of his shots within three feet. He just missed one at the wrong time, prompting his sister to chime in on Twitter:

Follow
Anna Horford @AnnaHorford
Al has hit too many game winners/clutch shots to have missed that. Trust me, he's beating himself up more than you are.
7:30 PM - 5 Dec 2016
 102 102 Retweets   326 326 likes


(Please go look at that last GIF again. Smart's flop was pretty epic. He could have tried to tip the ball in but looked a bit off-balance so he threw himself to the floor instead.)


Lineup talk

Some lineup notes:

1. For the first time with a healthy roster, Brad Stevens changed the starting lineup, putting Jonas Jerebko into the first unit for Amir Johnson. The new starters had a rough first quarter, a brilliant third quarter, and ended up completely neutral on the night. That should probably be considered a positive against a Rockets starting lineup that has been a monster this season.

2. With the new starting lineup, Johnson did not play at all in the second half and only registered five minutes on the night. It was a tough matchup for him, but it will be interesting to see what Stevens does moving forward. Was the new lineup a permanent change? Just a way to match up better with the Rockets, who put a world of stress on your defense? Johnson has his flaws, but the starting lineup with him has outscored teams by 11.2 points per 100 possessions. Maybe Stevens is willing to shake things up because of the spacing and switching Jerebko could give the starters, plus the fact that Johnson off the bench would give the Celtics a mobile pick-and-roll option when Horford sits.

We'll see.

3. With the exception of the IT-and-D lineup that closed both halves (Thomas, Bradley, Smart, Jae Crowder and Horford), Stevens did not play Thomas, Bradley and Smart together at all. That combination entered the night as Boston's third most used trio, but has gotten shredded throughout the early season.

4. The IT-and-D lineup was, again, not good. It got outscored 14-8 over the final three minutes of the first half, putting the Celtics in a big hole. Stevens has used that group as his closer, but will need to reevaluate things if the lineup fails to start producing.

Not once, but twice, the Celtics were *this close* to their best win of the season. They held the fourth-ranked offensive rebounding team to just seven offensive boards. They limited one of the NBA's top shooting teams to 12 of 38 (31.6 percent) from the arc. They did a lot of good things, but sometimes James Harden (37 points, eight assists, eight rebounds, 10 turnovers, more free throw attempts than the entire Celtics team) plays like James Harden and layups fall off the wrong side of the rim.



bob


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bobheckler wrote:A good game (a "great" game requires a W).

Bradley played Harden about as well as you can but he gets BS superstar calls.  Bradley should not bring the ball up court if their is an opportunity for a fast break, because he isn't that fast.  Give it to Rozier, who is a human rocket-sled.  

Brown with another good game.  Keep it up, kid.

I don't know whether Amir's game was because of his plantar fasciitis returning (hadn't heard it had) or because he couldn't mentally adjust to coming off the bench (Sully couldn't either) or just because this wasn't a good match up for him and that's what Brad benched him this game.

Kelly with some good stuff, but you keep expecting him to break out, you keep thinking that "the bounce is real" and it doesn't happen.  7 points on 3-6, 5 boards and some good defense in just 15 minutes is ok but not great.  I like that he is working hard at posting SFs up in the paint all the time now.  Brad is getting him those mismatches and he is screaming for the ball.  Good.  To be fair to him, he is shooting 39% from 3 this year and that's pretty damn good for any NBA player.  Kelly is more effective when the other players move.  He gets into the paint, the defense collapses on him and his head is up and he is looking for an outlet to pass to, they need to move to an open spot.

Smart with clutch fritos to get the game to 1.  That's a big deal, in terms of his development.  Unfortunately, he needs to improve upon his discipline throughout the game.  As Dirty Harry said "A man's got to know his limitations".

Jerebko with energy.  That's his thing, he's an energy and glue guy.  We got a couple of extra possessions because he was punching rebounds out to the perimeter.

How refs can repeatedly blow calls despite looking at the replays is beyond me.


bob


.

My main beef about Kelly is that he passes up shots then forces them.He seems to be thinking too much out there. Maybe a slow release is what makes him hesitant. I don`t know what the story with Amir is either, but he hasn`t done much since that insane 4 three pointers game. I also felt that Smarts two free throws were big time. That`s when I thought we were going to pull the game out. Jerebko played well except for one of those lazy inattentive passes that the great PP  would deliver once a game or so. IT wasn`t getting any calls, partly due, I think, to a lessening of explosiveness because of his groin problem. He was noticeably limping at times. He has to draw fouls to take a game over and he didn`t last night. Iam tired of Jaylen Brown getting the rookie treatment from the refs. He gets no calls on offense and gets called for breathing on his opponents. Harden made an adjustment , down the stretch , to get past AB and the help wasn`t there.

I agree with Bob. It was a good game. Horford makes that layup, and its a great one.

gyso wrote:jrleftfoot,

I took the liberties of editing the thread's name in order to make this the "official" post game thread.  I hope you don't mind.

I didn't get to see the game, due to me traveling and the game being on NBA TV so it was blacked out on league pass.  I did keep a partial watch on the Game On thread and the yahoo box score.  It seemed like there was a lid on our basket after we got to 100 points.  Miss after miss after miss, right up to the end.  Lots of jumpers, right?  Except the last shot by Horford, which I did see down at breakfast, that was a near miss and it could have won the game.

I also saw the Harden elbow to Smart's head.  Smart seems to have a league-wide reputation now for flopping, they (of course) lead in with a comment about his flopping rep, but go on to say the flagrant was legit.

Anyway, this game was winnable, against a very good Western team, but things didn't go our way towards the end.  Was there too much me-ball by Thomas at the end?  Perhaps, but often, that is what gets us our wins.  It is a make or miss league and we missed at the wrong time.

We lost the battle at the frito line, 31-12.  Really?  The league needs to review the game tapes for this one.  

Off to work, talk to you guys (and Rosalie) later,

gyso

I`m gonna join that Game On thread one of these days. I just get my face stuck in the teevee

WE ARE NOW TIED WITH THE NY KNICK'S. DANNY WILL NOT STAND STILL AND HE JUST MAY INITIATE A DEAL BEFORE CHRISTMAS AND BEAT THE USUAL FRENZY OF THE FEBRUARY TRADE DEADLINE.

MAKE THE CELTICS GREAT AGAIN!

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