Post Game Thread - vs Los Angeles Clippers, Home

[bobheckler]

The Crying Game.  It had to come but, damn, it was bittersweet.  Thank you, Doc, for starting Paul (even though he hasn't played at all since New Years) and for putting him back in at the end.  It would have grieved us deeply if we had to lynch you if you didn't.  What a day for NE sports fans, huh?

Paul Pierce, C3ltic 4ever

Before the game, Paul Pierce with Celtic HOFer Jo Jo White and his wife.  If you remember, when Pierce came back for the first time as a Nyet there was a woman crying her eyes out in the first row.  Pierce ran over and gave her a hug.  That was Jo Jo's wife too.  Celtic family welcoming the prodigal son home.




A. Sherrod Blakely @SherrodbCSN
yesterday
"I told him it's senior night." - Doc Rivers, jokingly explaining why he started Pierce today.
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Al Horford said that one big reason why he came to Boston was for the fans.  Well, other than doing the occasional stupid thing like booing KD and Sully...

Bill Doyle @BillDoyle15
yesterday
Doc Rivers on fans: It's amazing how many of our players made comments about it, like, 'Wow, wow. These people are amazing.' And they are.
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Brian Robb @CelticsHub
yesterday
The Celtics should probably just show the final minute of today's game in any star free agent pitch meeting moving forward.
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Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
yesterday
Pregame, Doc told his team to look at Pierce & the reception he was about to get & make sure you are empty by the time you walk away forever
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Marc D'Amico @celtics
yesterday
Stevens on 1Q TO when crowd saluted Pierce: "I was sitting next to Jaylen and saying, ‘This is unique. This isn’t how it is everywhere.’"
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No tongue, Paul, ok?






7 players in double figures.  Finally!  Someone other than IT scoring.  The only player who didn't score was Jerebko, who played 10 minutes and got head butted by Gerald Green in a desperate Hail Mary pass attempt to get more floor minutes (just kidding).

Jaylen Brown played a very good game, but he needs to stop taking so many 3s.  Of course, that could be said about the whole team, we set a franchise record with 52 3pt fgas.  52 out of 88.  That's sick.  Brad said "that's what they were giving us".  Yeah, and that's a problem.  Despite that we outscored them in the paint 36 to 26.  It was all 3s and paint, no mid-range.

This was with 5:12 left in the game.  We ended up with 52.





DeAndre Jordan looks a lot less threatening without CP3.  All his points are off of dunks and lobs and without a playmaker to do that for him he is very 2-dimensional.  If Doc was smart he'd trade Chicago for Rondo.  He would make Jordan FAR more dangerous on offense.

9 steals to 4.  That's one of the advantages to youth, speed.

3 blocks to 0.  With Griffin and Jordan, I did not see this coming.  Al with 2.

Speaking of Horford, a very solid game for him.  13 points (on 4-13 unfortunately), 15 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 TOs, 2 steals and 2 blocks.  Underwhelmed by his fg%, for obvious reasons, but that is the type of game we got him for.  A jack-of-all-trades at center, like Evan Turner was at SF.  Not particularly great at anything but very good at everything.  Horford leads all centers in assists/game with 5.3.  He's also shooting a respectable 34% from 3.  With players like Smart and Brown, who are very effective post-up players, there is our inside-out game.


We have a 7 game winning streak.  Without Bradley.  That's impressive.


http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400900171


















bob


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[cowens/oldschool]

Thanks bob, didn't know of that story of JoJo Whites wife, they must look at Pierce as an adapted son, always loved JoJo Whites game and the classy way he carried himself all during his great career in the 70's. What a great epic ending with Pierce draining that 3 in his last game in Boston. He showed why hes still the Truth and one of the greatest clutch players ever even at the very end.

You know I am really loving watching Jaylen Brown starting, not that hes dominating, but just seeing all his talent while he plays through rookie mistakes, he is still a big force out there and he doesn't even know half the stuff he needs to know. Hes got to eventually play through this, so glad hes getting that experience and showing flashes and bursts and were winning with him contributing a little and sometimes more. I also don't mind him taking those 3's, his form looks good to me, its a pace and space league now, let him take them.

[bobheckler]

Thanks bob, didn't know of that story of JoJo Whites wife, they must look at Pierce as an adapted son, always loved JoJo Whites game and the classy way he carried himself all during his great career in the 70's. What a great epic ending with Pierce draining that 3 in his last game in Boston. He showed why hes still the Truth and one of the greatest clutch players ever even at the very end.

You know I am really loving watching Jaylen Brown starting, not that hes dominating, but just seeing all his talent while he plays through rookie mistakes, he is still a big force out there and he doesn't even know half the stuff he needs to know. Hes got to eventually play through this, so glad hes getting that experience and showing flashes and bursts and were winning with him contributing a little and sometimes more. I also don't mind him taking those 3's, his form looks good to me, its a pace and space league now, let him take them.

Cow,

And Pierce is trying to pay it forward too.  He spent time with IT, at dinner, the night before the game (I saw an Instagram pic of it but couldn't copy it here) and, after the game he ran into IT in the runway to the locker rooms and told him

Adam Himmelsbach ✔ @AdamHimmelsbach
Paul Pierce & Isaiah Thomas passed each other in the Garden hallway & shook hands
Pierce: "Keep holding it down."
Isaiah: "You already know"
2:27 PM - 5 Feb 2017
 91 91 Retweets   207 207 likes


Adam Himmelsbach ✔ @AdamHimmelsbach
Pierce to Isaiah: “This city will get behind you as long as you continue to work hard…& soak it all up. There’s no place like this place.”
10:36 AM - 5 Feb 2017
 228 228 Retweets   444 444 likes



Jaylen Brown struggled early on but he's a rookie, one should expect him to struggle.  One of the things I love about him isn't his athleticism (Gerald Green was a skywalker too, remember?  Same with Bill Walker) it's his maturity.  His head is screwed on as well or better than almost any other rookie I can remember in recent memory.  He has a studious approach to things and that is starting to pay off.  It will pay off even more in the next year or two when the game starts to slow down a bit for him and he puts in the time practicing his ball handling and shooting.  I agree with you on his shooting motion, it is VERY different from Marcus Smart's.  That's why I have hope for Brown and not much for Smart.  I am afraid Marcus Smart is close to his ceiling.  He will become a better point guard and floor general, but his defense is about as good as it can be (and that's really, really, really good.  Like in TAFKARA and The Worm good) and his shooting is probably always going to be shit.  He has had three years to improve to where he just isn't the worst freaking shooter in the league and hasn't done it.  Love his defense, LOVE his ganas, but in a shooter's league he is always going to be a role player and not a star.  On the other hand Jaylen Brown, in my opinion, just needs some more time.  Probably the best thing to happen for Brown was Bradley's injury and Brad's realization that Smart was needed to anchor the bench.  Jaylen is playing with 4 starters, which will cover for a lot of his rookie mistakes as he learns and plays through those mistakes, which the bench would not be able to do, and Brad isn't going to jeopardize a W for Jaylen's development.  Smart's natural ferocity will implant a steel spine into any unit, and a unit with Kelly, Zeller, Green and Jerebko needs that (maybe not so much Jonas). I think we are going to be very happy with Jaylen Brown in the 2018-2019 season. That sounds far away, but it's just a season-and-a-half and a summer.



bob



.

[cowens/oldschool]

Agreed bob Jaylen is already stronger, a better ball handler, better finisher and shooter than Green was as a rookie. Green just couldn't play, his fundamentals and defense were so bad. Jaylen is learning team defense, his individual defense is pretty good, a 6'7" uber athletic wing that wants to get after it. I once saw Bradley do a phenomenal shutdown defensive performance against James Harden, but Avery takes a beating getting up for those bigger guards. Jaylon will be able to handle those big guards better eventually IMHO and very soon. I see some Kawhi possibilities if he can work as hard as we hope.

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