Post Game Thread - vs New Orleans Pelicans, Home

[bobheckler]

We played against, perhaps, the two best young bigs in the NBA the last two games.  Embiid and Davis.  We struggled with both, but so does everybody else, that's why they are the two best young bigs in the NBA.

This might have been Smart's best all-round game in the NBA.  22 points on 7-10, 5-7 from 3 (and one of those was a buzzer beater from very deep.  He shouldn't have that one held against him, so he was effectively 5-6 from 3), 6 assists, 3 TOs.  He took AB's place in the starting lineup with AB's Achilles strain and he scored like AB.  Defensively, he guarded 4 positions.  He held Buddy Buckets to 9 points on 3-8 and he dug in and fought against Anthony Davis in the low post, forced him into a fallaway jumper.  He hit it, but it is absolutely amazing Davis couldn't back Smart down.  He was also 3-3 from the line.  His frito %, which is 72.8% career, is now up to 75.3%.  One thing about Mahcus Smaht, he is not afraid of the moment.

I listened to Draper and Scal talk about whether IT is a superstar or not.  According to Draper, in order to be considered a "superstar" you have to have the commercial endorsements and your face on billboards, etc.  Scal said you have to be a super impactful basketball player.  Draper is an idiot.  I looked at his Facebook page, at his bio at CSNNE and at his LinkedIn page.  NOWHERE does it say anything about him playing sports.  He does own The Draper Agency, whatever that is.  No wonder, though, he can't look at a professional athlete without marrying them to $ and not just as a basketball player.

Gerald Green with 15 points in 16 minutes.  A slow start of the season, and that's putting it gently, but he is now a key player off the bench.

Horford did a lot right but not his shooting.  3-18.  I can't even comprehend 3-18 shooting.  Shouldn't your conscience kick in after 3-14 or so?  The game is pretty slow for him but I'm not sure his shooting is.  It seems to me, sometimes, like he rushes his shots like a rookie.

Speaking of rookies, Jaylen Brown with at least two nice drives to the hoop but blew the bunny because he rushed his shot.

We grabbed 47 rebounds.  That's a lot in a regulation game.  Nobody got more than Horford with 7.  We had 3 with 6 boards and every Celtic who took the floor got at least 3.  VERY balanced rebounding.  We don't have a dominating rebounder, like Embiid or Davis, but everybody goes after the ball.

Shooting-wise this is like the Philly game.  50% from 3 but only 38.5% from 2.  Horford shooting 2-12 from 2 didn't help.

Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP yesterday
Boston Celtics making 17 3's in a game... First 3,028 games, 37.4 seasons: 3 This 4-game, 9-day home stand: 4

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Mark Murphy
@Murf56 yesterday
C's have made 71 3's in last 4 games - an average of 17.6. Olynyk: "More contagious than the flu, which is pretty contagious at this point."

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93 fgas and only 10 TOs.  That is excellent.  Nice up tempo but not sloppy.

Oh, almost forgot, 38 points from IT on 13-24 and 6-11 from 3.  27 points in the 2nd half, 17 of those in the 4th quarter.  Ho hum.  Just another day in the office.  Hardly worth mentioning.  Nothing to see here, move along, move along...But he's not a superstar, per Kyle Chucklehead.

Brian RobbVerified account
‏@CelticsHub
Isaiah Thomas in two games without Avery Bradley this season: 90 points, 0 assists.


Mark Murphy
@Murf56 yesterday
Thomas had his 10th 30-plus performance tonight.

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Jay King
@ByJayKing yesterday
Stevens on IT: "It talks about how good he's playing that he's the fifth or sixth question and he had 38 points on 13-24 shooting"

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The Celtics have won 10 of their last 12.  Toronto lost.  We are now 2 games back from them and 2nd place and 2 games up on Atlanta to secure 3rd.  Philadelphia plays in Brooklyn tonight.  GO PHILLY!!

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400899974



















bob


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[beat]

IT in the 2 recent games Bradley has missed.  90 point 0 assists.

beat

[dboss]

IT had another great game.  He is a superstar.

Drapper is a moron as is A Sharrod Blakley

if any of these young teams like NO, Philly, Or the T-Wolves can roundout their rosters they will be a top 5 team.  Philly is the closest to making that happen.  

Green played well while Brown still looks like a rookie.  Tries to do things too fast.  KO played well...can he play like that more often than not?

Smart gets the game ball.  Great game from him.  Nice to see productive offense but it is the other things that standout to me.  

dboss

[dboss]

Projected win total is now 51

dboss

[bobheckler]

Update:  Toronto lost tonight to Houston, in Toronto.  This will make them madder than hornets.  However, if we beat them on Tuesday we will be tied for 2nd place in the EC.


bob


.

[cowens/oldschool]

Update:  Toronto lost tonight to Houston, in Toronto.  This will make them madder than hornets.  However, if we beat them on Tuesday we will be tied for 2nd place in the EC.


bob


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Smart looks like a great defender and he is.....I'm his biggest fan and have always defended him on this board. Now we will see how great a defender he really is, lets see how impactful his bully ball defense is on DeRozen and Kyle Lowry. We've already been scored on big time by Russell Westbrook and James Harden, two guys competing for the MVP. So hoping Smart and AB will be back to put on enough of a defensive clinic to enable us to win.

[bobheckler]

Update:  Toronto lost tonight to Houston, in Toronto.  This will make them madder than hornets.  However, if we beat them on Tuesday we will be tied for 2nd place in the EC.


bob


.

Smart looks like a great defender and he is.....I'm his biggest fan and have always defended him on this board. Now we will see how great a defender he really is, lets see how impactful his bully ball defense is on DeRozen and Kyle Lowry. We've already been scored on big time by Russell Westbrook and James Harden, two guys competing for the MVP. So hoping Smart and AB will be back to put on enough of a defensive clinic to enable us to win.

Cow,

I don't know if AB will be back for this game, he missed the last one with an Achilles strain.

Their strength is their back court. That is also our strength. IT doesn't play great defense but our other 3 guards are great defenders. We are also on a hot streak, having 10 out of our last 12. We are about to see, tomorrow, if great defense can stop great offense, in a league gravitating towards favoring offense and offensive players. We need other players (Horford, Jae, Kelly, Amir) to step up on the offensive end because our guards are going to have their hands full on defense.

Jaylen Brown on DeMar DeRozan might be an interesting matchup too.


bob


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