POST GAME CHICAGO - AWAY - PLAYOFF SERIES ROUND #1 GAME #4

Thanks to Gerald Green, Isaiah Thomas, Celtics tie series, finally showing true colors vs. Bulls

WEEI

By Mike Petraglia  

Gerald Green grabs a rebound against the Chicago Bulls during the first half in game four of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at United Center. (Mike DiNovo/USA Today Sports)

As has been the case all season, when it mattered most Sunday, Isaiah Thomas was savior for the Celtics.

With the United Center crowd roaring after the hometown Bulls came all the way back from a 20-point hole to take their only lead, the Celtics’ NBA MVP candidate took over the game in a way only he can.

Thomas, still mourning the death of his 22-year-old sister Chyna, scored a game-high 33 points with seven assists to lead the Celtics to a 104-95 win over the Bulls in Game 4 Sunday night in Chicago to pull Boston in a 2-2 tie as the series heads back to TD Garden for Game 5 Wednesday night. Game 6 will be next Friday back in Chicago.

“It’s unfathomable the way he’s performed on the court,” Brad Stevens said of Thomas after the Game 4 win.

“Isaiah Thomas is a hell of a player. An unbelievable player. A warrior with everything he’s going through,” Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg added.

The visiting team has won all four games in the series while the Celtics have taken full advantage of the Bulls without Rajon Rondo (fractured right thumb).

Gerald Green showed exactly why Brad Stevens put him in the starting lineup.

For the second straight game, the Celtics came out on fire. While not quite as blazing hot from beyond the arc, the Celtics still drained four triples in the opening 12 minutes as they raced out to a 30-18 lead. And for the second straight game, the Bulls looked utterly lost without Rajon Rondo, who appealed his $25,000 fine for attempting to trip Jae Crowder in the first half of Game 3 Friday night.

The key to the first quarter was the energy Green was able to provide, getting his second straight start. He was flying all over the court, driving to the basket while hitting a 3-of-5 shots. Green finished the first half with 16 points, already a playoff career high. He finished the game with 18 points and seven rebounds.

“He’s a guy that you have to account for. He opens up space for other people,” Stevens said of Green.

Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics with 10 first-quarter points as visitors claimed a 30-18 lead after 1. The quarter ended on a horrific missed goaltending call when Terry Rozier went up for a layup in the closing seconds. Bobby Portis blocked the ball after it had hit the glass. Brad Stevens spend the closing moments of the quarter screaming as he approached the midcourt line. The Celtics coach managed to avoid a technical foul.

(For a full statistical recap and box, click here).

The Celtics opened the second quarter with mainly reserves and managed to build a pair of 20-point leads. With the Celtics up 41-21 following Green’s third 3-pointer, there appeared to be a bit of a turning point. Marcus Smart came down with a defensive rebound only to be stripped from behind by Isaiah Canaan, who converted a lay-up. Jimmy Butler trailed on the play and a frustrated Marcus Smart turned and lightly shoved Butler in the chest.

A double-technical was called and the Bulls seemed a bit more energized. The Celtics built the lead to 20 again at 45-25 before going on a 15-6 spurt. Like Game 3, the Bulls closed the first half with some momentum but Jae Crowder’s three with 55 seconds left put the lead back to 55-42.

Another key to the Celtics building a 20-point advantage was the play of the Kelly Olynyk. With Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley and Al Horford on the bench, it was Olynyk who provided tight defense on Dwyane Wade and drilled a wide open three on the other end as the Celtics maintained a comfortable lead.

Avery Bradley picked up his third foul with just under six minutes left in the second quarter when it appeared Butler enhanced a swim move by Bradley in the Bulls front court.

Looking for a spark and clearly dissatisfied with Jerian Grant and Michael Carter-Williams in their attempt to fill in for the injured Rajon Rondo, Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg turned to Canaan to start the third quarter with Wade, Butler, Robin Lopez and Nikola Mirotic.
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Green's hot start sets tone for Celtics in 104-95 Game 4 win over Bulls

CSNNE

By A. Sherrod Blakely April 23, 2017 9:17 PM

CHICAGO –  Gerald Green was inserted in the Boston Celtics' starting lineup to help create better spacing for his teammates, but still being a viable option they could turn to, you know, just in case they needed a basket here and there.

Green wasn’t just a warm body moving about on the floor.

He was the one starter – not Isaiah Thomas, not Al Horford, not Avery Bradley or Jae Crowder – whose play set the tone in Boston’s 104-95 Game 4 win over Chicago.

Green finished with 18 points, including a jacuzzi-hot start in which he had 16 points in the first half as Boston's lead surged to as much as 20 points.

With the win, Boston has tied the best-of-seven series at two games apiece and regained home court advantage in this series.

Isaiah Thomas led all Celtics with 33 points along with seven assists. Al Horford had a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds along with four assists.

Meanwhile the Bulls were led by Jimmy Butler’s 33 points with Dwyane Wade chipping in with 11 points and six rebounds.

After Chicago came within 81-76, Thomas scored five straight that led to a Bulls time-out with 9:01 to play and Boston back on top by double digits (86-76).

Chicago continued to battle back, but every Bulls surge was met by an even stronger one by Boston.

After a solid first half by Boston, the Bulls opened the third quarter with a 7-2 run to come within 59-53. But a dunk by Green followed by a driving lay-up by Jae Crowder made it a double-digit game again.

The momentum was short-lived for the Celtics as the Bulls continued to chip away at their lead which stood at 53-58 following a 3-pointer by Isaiah Canaan with 7:41 to play in the quarter.

Prior to his 3-ball, Canaan drew an offensive foul against Isaiah Thomas which gave the Celtics’ best player four personal fouls for the game.

Chicago continued to close the gap, and eventually went ahead 65-63 on a lay-up by Robin Lopez.

Thomas, who was on the bench due to foul trouble, returned to the floor and scored four straight to put the Celtics back on top 67-65 which led to a time-out by the Bulls with 3:39 to play in the third quarter.

Boston would score 12 straight to lead 75-65 before the third quarter ended with the Celtics ahead 79-70.

The down-to-the-wire finish was very different from how the game started.

Boston began tonight’s Game 4 matchup against Chicago with a 14-4 run, similar to what they did in Game 3. And just like Game 3, Boston continued to pull ahead in the first quarter which ended with the Celtics ahead 30-18.

But there was a distinct difference in Game 4.

Butler, who had 14 points on 7-for-21 shooting in Game 3, was noticeably more aggressive looking for his shot. And it resulted in him getting to line a lot. In fact, he had more free throw attempts in the first quarter (8 ) than the entire Celtics team (7). For the game, Butler had 23 free throw attempts which ranks third all-time among Celtics opponents in the playoffs.

But it didn’t matter.

Because even though Boston wasn’t getting to the line, they were getting essentially whatever else they wanted to offensively.  

In the first quarter, they shot better than 50 percent from the field as part of a commanding start.

The second quarter saw Boston’s control of the game remain strong as the Celtics pulled ahead by as many as 20 points on multiple occasions.

And the intensity of the game really picked up after Marcus Smart and Butler got into a little dust-up in the second quarter that led to both players being whistled for technical fouls.

The incident fired up the Bulls initially, but not enough to where Boston’s lead in the first half was seriously threatened.

112288

NOT HAPPY ABOUT THE COACHING AND THE PLAY OF THE PLAYERS EXCEPT ROZIER, GREEN AND SMART.  THOMAS MADE UP FOR A LOT OF HERO BALL SHOTS THAT MISSED AND NOT WORKING......COULD HAVE EASILY GONE THE OTHER WAY. IT IS SO PREDICTABLE ON EVERY OFFENSIVE POSSESSION, EVERYONE CLEAR OUT FOR THOMAS ISOLATION 1 ON 1.........THAT STRATEGY CANNOT LAST FOR EVER. MOVE THE BALL FOR GOD SAKES!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHY TAKE ROZIER AND GREEN AND THE OTHER BENCH GUYS OUT WHEN THEY WERE ROLLING AND UP 19 PTS.......STARTERS GAVE UP A HUGE LEAD AND BRAD STILL KEEPS THEM IN...WHY NOT SIT THEM AND PUT THE SAME BENCH GUYS IN THAT WERE KEEPING THE LEAD?????????  WHY?

IT WAS A PURE BAR ROOM BRAWL AND TOTAL CHAOS......WE GOT LUCKY!

112288

Both the team and the coach are still a work in progress when it comes to playoff basketball.

I think the Celts can do better.
Hopefully the Celts can end the series in 6 games.

The Bulls just don't have any real flow.
They just rely on their size advantage.

I really believe the Celts can finish this series in 6 games.

FIERCE

YES A WORK IN PROGRESS.

TOO EARLY TO TELL AS THE CELTICS BETTER GET THEIR SHOOTING SNEAKERS ON.....BRADLY LOOKED BAD.

112288

PS


LIKE THE GREEN SNEAKERS!

I don't get why Brad sat Gerald so much in the second half. Glad we won. Joyous actually.

Worcester

Ditto...Why????

112288

Initial reactions can be a little over the top, I think. Horford , Olynyk and Crowder all played well in the game I watched and the coaching was on the money. Putting Thomas back in the game midway through the third with 4 fouls was the game-winning move. I love Marcus Smart`s fire, but shoving Butler in front of god and everybody was a really dumb move. I think he was embarrassed that he turned the ball over but he has to be, um ,smarter than that, especially in the enemy`s arena. Why get the crowd jacked up?

Yep, Smart lit a fire under Butler and the crowd. It woke up the sleeping giant. But Marcus redeemed himself in the 4th Q. He's a money player.

worcester wrote:Yep, Smart lit a fire under Butler and the crowd. It woke up the sleeping giant. But Marcus redeemed himself in the 4th Q. He's a money player.

Tom Halzack @TomHalzack
yesterday
Marcus Smart is a like land mine. On the surface only 5 pts. But huge 3, 8 tough boards, 6 assts, steal, block and part of the spine of D.
reply retweet like


bob


.

Marcus Smart is the Iguodala of the Celtics.
He's a keeper.

The one player we absolutely could not cover in games 1&2 was Lopez. Could not keep him off the glass. Stevens has managed to put him on the bench by going small. However the biggest break we got was Rondo's thumb.

I have no issues with the coaching.

beat

one thing for sure , the Bulls found out HOW they need to play until Rondo gets back now.

They will go on or fail with Butler as the ball handler ( much like LeBron does).

Canaan did a good defensive job on IT, I thought also.

will Brad need to make another adjustment to a Bulls lineup of Lopez, Mirotic , Butler, Wade and Canaan?

to me, Crowder and Smart are going to have to be al over Butler the next games. Bradley can help some, but his height is a problem there. The aging Mummy that is Wade seems a better match up for Bradley to me.

Horford has earned some of that Max contract the past two games, I hope he keeps it up.


Green gave us what we needed early, but seemed to grow cold in the second half and then sit the rest of the way. That's how streaky shooters go, I suppose. Can he provide the same level of play/shooting the rest of this series?

Jaylen is still in the witness protection program, It seems. I have a feeling we are going to need the kid at some time in this series.

good tough hard nosed win , on their court. This team shows again that they don't give up. But WHY to they have to put themselves in such holes to dig out of?

Perhaps IT's sisters death affected everyone on the team more than I thought the first couple games.

sTEVENS  said after the game that he wanted to put Green back in at one point, but he couldn`t get his foot and leg wraps off in time. Butler wouldn`t even back Hoiberg up on his BS.

A small , but crucial adjustment was having them set picks up higher since they were icking up Thomas in the backcourt. I just hope the Bulls don`t have another good shooting game in them.

kdp59 wrote:one thing for sure , the Bulls found out HOW they need to play until Rondo gets back now.

They will go on or fail with Butler as the ball handler ( much like LeBron does).

Canaan did a good defensive job on IT,  I thought also.

will Brad need to make another adjustment to a Bulls lineup of Lopez, Mirotic , Butler, Wade and Canaan?

to me, Crowder and Smart are going to have to be al over Butler the next games. Bradley can help some, but his height is a problem there. The aging Mummy that is Wade seems a better match up for Bradley to me.

Horford has earned some of that Max contract the past two games, I hope he keeps it up.


Green gave us what we needed early, but seemed to grow cold in the second half and then sit the rest of the way. That's how streaky shooters go, I suppose. Can he provide the same level of play/shooting the rest of this series?

Jaylen is still in the witness protection program, It seems. I have a feeling we are going to need the kid at some time in this series.

good tough hard nosed win , on their court. This team shows again that they don't give up.  But WHY to they have to put themselves in such holes to dig out of?

Perhaps IT's sisters death affected everyone on the team more than I thought the first couple games.

I don't call a 2 point deficit much of a hole. (Unless you are referring to the fact we were down 2-0 heading to Chicago)

At least we didn't have to come back from a 20 point hole in either of the past 2 games.  
NBA games are full of runs by both teams.......last 2 games we had the first one, the longer and more of them, and most importantly the last one.

And I do agree that the issue surrounding IT's sister affected everyone, perhaps they tried too hard to help him not just off the court of course but on it and got out of their games.  

Butler is now their primary ball handler, not sure i'd double him a lot BUT once he puts the ball to the floor get on him like flies on cow shit. Make him make a play and give up the ball not sure the other players can carry the load. Perhaps even overplay him a lot OFF the ball and try to keep it out of his hands so when he does get it there isn't a lot of time for him to make a play.

beat

Hi,
I think now we can see light at the end of the tunnel.
Last 2 games Bulls were totally discombobulated, mostly relied on heroics of Butler and Wade.
Who could've thought that Rondo is so important nowdays...
I hope Hoiberg won't find effective counter measures against the Celtics small lineup and absence of RR.
Yesterday, despite atrocious shooting of AB and IT Celtics managed to pull away. I hope the next game they return to their usual %.

AK

sinus007 wrote:Hi,
I think now we can see light at the end of the tunnel.
Last 2 games Bulls were totally discombobulated, mostly relied on heroics of Butler and Wade.
Who could've thought that Rondo is so important nowdays...
I hope Hoiberg won't find effective counter measures against the Celtics small lineup and absence of RR.
Yesterday, despite atrocious shooting of AB and IT Celtics managed to pull away. I hope the next game they return to their usual %.

AK

What's most encouraging is we haven't seen the Celtics play at their best yet.

Right now the Celts are just doing enough to beat the Bulls.

I think once the Celts get more comfortable, they will convincingly beat the Bulls.

Hopefully it will be in Game 5.

Avery's usual % in the playoffs sucks.

worcester wrote:Avery's usual % in the playoffs sucks.

Worcester,
I was talking about AB's mid-range and especially 3-pointers.
His average for the first 3 games is 12-24 50%; the last game was 1-6. Not much for statistics but his long range shooting did look awful.

AK

Avery's stats for these first 4 games are better than his usual playoff stats, but they are weak:
3 pt. 11/30 = .367%
2 pt. 7/17 = .412%
FT 2/4 = .500% ...that stat reveals he almost never drives to the basket
12.3 ppg ... not bad for a center, but not what one expects from a SG
3.3 rbpg
3.5 assist pg
1.8 steals pg

He's not terrible. His D has been decent, but Butler is too big for him to handle. I'd like to see what Jaylen would do against Butler (for three minutes).

Worcester,
Re: AB vs Butler. Yes, AB's not big enough for Butler but he has speed and quickness to compensate the size, to a certain degree. There's also Smart.
Unfortunately, the other 2 players who can do the job are worse, IMO, then AB and Smart. I'm talking Crowder and Brown. The first one doesn't have speed, the second one doesn't experience.

AK

Flaws in the roster, flaws in the coaching and flaws in the play yet this team is still the EC regular season champs and are back on track with homecourt for this all important 2 out of 3 series with the Bulls.

Biggest question on my mind right now is "does Brad even truly know who is on his bench and what they can contribute?" Green has been languishing on the bench all season, like Rozier. Why were they not played? Is Brad's dog house that big? Will the future named Jaylen see the court again in this series? (agreed with those who think he still could make crucial contributions at a later date) One of the secrets of using an extended rotation is giving players rest so that the fast pace can be maintained. It's no secret that when this team moves the ball and plays at a fast pace they will rarely be beaten. That style also takes the pressure off of IT to play hero ball. Rozier dominated the D-league last year as well as summer league after a good playoff run last year. Why wasn't he playing more during the regular season?

Looks like everyone is still learning how to play together, and just in time.

Hi,
As I mentioned in another post, Rosier does belong to playoffs roster.
As for Brown, he just needs to calm the f***k down, be yourself, play as he played during the regular season and he'll be fine. I know, easier said than done, but I hope he can manage it.

AK

Some players are just big game players.  Money players.  Marcus Smart, for all his offensive warts the size of golfballs, is a big-game, money player.  He rises to the moment.  Not offensively, not overall even though the eyes think so, but in every other way.  Same with Terry Rozier.  

My eyeballs are telling me Terry Rozier loves the playoffs and stats are backing me up.  He shot 36.7% from the floor and 31.8% from 3 during the season.  So far these playoffs he's shooting 50% and 44.4%.  It was the same last year too, he shot better in the playoffs than during the regular season.

A player who has gotten a bad rep for disappearing in the playoffs is Al Horford, but this year he is doing well.  He's averaging 54.3% and 50% from 3 in the playoffs and was 47.3% and 35.5% during the year.  9.7 rebounds/36mpg playoffs vs 7.6 rebounds/36mpg regular.  5.9 assists/36 playoffs vs 5.5 assists/36 regular.  1.5 steals/36 playoffs vs .9/36 regular.  Big Al is stepping up this year.  Why?  With all due respect to Mike Budenholzer, I think it's Brad Stevens.  Not only is he putting Al in positions where he can play to his strengths but he is also doing that with IT and Smart, our two primary ball handlers, and they are using that freedom to feed Al.

If it's all about #18, then we need players who play even better in the playoffs than in the regular season.  That is what I am looking for during these playoffs regardless of how this series with the Bulls finishes. Reggie Jackson, who was not that great a player during the regular season, was called Mr. October because he loved the playoffs. I'm looking for our Mr. Mays and, hopefully within a very few years, Mr. Junes.


bob


.

AK, I trust Jaylen will calm done, ONCE HER GETS A CHANCE TO BE ON THE FLOOR!
I don't know how Brad decides upon floor time. Frankly, I'm baffled. But who am I to second guess his success? He's made so many correct moves.

Bob, yes we do have some money players on this team. Isaiah, Al, Marcus, and Terry. Players to build upon.