POST GAME MIL. BUCKS - HOME OPENER

Celtics Wrap: Bucks Rally Late To Spoil Boston’s Home Opener 108-100

NESN by Adam London on Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 10:01PM

On an emotional Wednesday night at TD Garden, the Boston Celtics were unable to pick up their first win of the 2017-18 season.

Coming off a tough loss Tuesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Celtics suffered a similar fate in their home opener, falling to the Milwaukee Bucks 108-100.

Giannis Antentokounmpo performed as advertised in his first game of the new campaign. The Greek Freak powered the Bucks with 37 points to go along with 13 rebounds and three assists. Malcolm Brogdon also had a big night for Milwaukee with 19 points.

Jaylen Brown (18 points) paced the Celtics in points for a second straight game, but the second-year forward fouled out in crunch time when his team needed him most. Kyrie Irving added 17 points in the contest, but the guard had a dreadful night from the floor, converting on only 28 percent of his shots.

With the loss, the Celtics fall to 0-2, while the Bucks improve to 1-0.

Here’s how it all went down:

STARTING FIVE PG: Kyrie Irving SG: Marcus Smart SF: Jaylen Brown PF: Jayson Tatum C: Al Horford

BALANCE The Celtics come out of the gate rather flat and didn’t log their first points until Horford sunk a floater at the 9:36. But from there, Boston’s offense got into a groove and did a fine job of distributing the ball, and held a 26-24 lead after the opening twelve minutes. Terry Rozier paced the Celtics with five points in the first, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 16 seconds remaining in the quarter. Not far behind were Horford, Irving, Brown and Tatum, who all posted four points in the first. The C’s shot a respectable 48 percent in the quarter and owned a 14-10 advantage in points in the paint.

FIREWORKS The Celtics and Bucks engaged in a little extracurricular activity early in the second quarter.

Smart attempted to set a pick for a driving Rozier, which Matthew Dellavedova tried to fight around with an elbow. Smart took great exception with the jab and promptly confronted Dellavedova, causing a minor scuffle between the two sides. Smart was given a technical foul for his role in the skirmish, while Dellavedova was assessed a personal foul.

While the first quarter was highlighted by the Celtics’ fluid offense, the second was all about Antentokoumpo. The Greek Freak dominated in the frame, scoring 13 points to go along with five rebounds. Milwaukee grabbed its biggest lead of the game when Malcolm Brogdon sunk a 3-pointer with 2:33 left in the quarter to make it 55-48 Bucks, but the C’s didn’t let the road team run away with it, limiting Milwaukee’s halftime advantage to 58-53.

Rozier and Irving led the Celtics through two quarters with 10 points apiece.

MOMENTUM SHIFT The Bucks boosted their lead back to seven early in the third quarter, but it didn’t take the Celtics long to change the tide of the game. Boston went back and forth with Milwaukee before Brown buried a game-tying 3-pointer at the 9:25 mark in the quarter. Less than two minutes later, Smart converted from beyond the arc to give the Celtics their first lead since early in the second quarter. Brown was the star of the third quarter, though, as he closed the frame on a personal 6-0 run to give Boston an 80-76 lead heading into the fourth.

BUCKS BATTLE BACK Boston maintained a slim lead through the first handful of minutes in the fourth, but Milwaukee evened the score 89-89 at the 6:27 mark in the quarter on a pair of Antetokounmpo free throws. The Bucks then took a two-point lead 16 seconds later when Brogdon converted on both attempts from the charity stripe.

After a series of sluggish offensive possessions from the Celtics, Brogdon knocked down a 3-pointer with 3:24 left to give Milwaukee a five-point edge, followed by a Delladedova floater which extended the lead to seven. The Celtics chipped away and managed to cut the deficit to two with just over a minute remaining, but a Dellavedova 3-pointer matched with an Irving miss from beyond the arc served as the final nail in the coffin.

PLAY OF THE GAME How can you possibly guard this?

UP NEXT The Celtics return to action Friday night against the Philadelphia 76ers. Tip-off from Wells Fargo Center is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images

112288

Bucks fans cannot complain about the reffing this game.  That elbow to the face of Smart by Delly could easily have been a flagrant.  There were absolutely, positively TWO egregious travels by the Freak that weren't called.

We were 11-21 from the line.  Smart missed his last one on purpose but, still, we would have been 12-21 if he had hit it and that stinks.  Smart was 1-6, 2-6 if he had hit that last one but when he steps to the line already 1-5 there is no guarantee of that happening.  

His regular offense was 4-13.  Add his 5-15 from last night that makes him 9-28 or 32%.  Skinny Marcus isn't shooting any better, in real games, than fat Marcus.  Also, this was not a good floor generaling night for him neither.  He kept holding onto the ball too long and we'd throw up bad shots at the buzzer as a result.

Jaylen Brown is a stud who is really stepping up.  As good as he is looking in these first two games (he's averaging 21.5ppg so far, and that's against one very good team and one elite team) his 21st birthday isn't until next Tuesday.  Think about that!

Tatum gets LeBron in game 1 and the Freak in game 2.  It only gets easier from here, Jayson.  Almost another double-double with 9 boards and 8 points.  Ironically, his outside shot is the worst part of his game so far.  I'm sure that'll come around since that's the part that comes most naturally to him.

Irving with a brutal 7-25 night.  He was 2-10 in the 4th quarter.  The Anti-IT.  If you are going to take 25 of a team's total 91 fgas you cannot shoot 28%.  Part of our problem was that Smart was having a bad point guard night too, so our offense was awful looking.  Very stagnant, no pace, spacing, no movement.  Fatigue is not an excuse.  If we're too young to win then we're not too young to have fresh legs all the time.

Theis played only 5 minutes but was 2-3 for 6 points and 2 rebounds and both were offensive putbacks.  His problem was that he seemed to either get matched up with The Freak, who was too fast for him, or Monroe who is muscle and crafty down low.

Rozier with another stand out game.  15 points on 6-12, 3-5 from 3, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and zero turnovers.  2 steals.  27 minutes for a guy who needs, and deserves, those minutes.  Remember when we were all looking at each other and saying "Terry Rozier!?" on draft night?  Yeah, Terry freaking Rozier.

The kids are surprising me, but we're not going deep into the playoffs with them.  We need Irving to stop shooting when he can't throw the ball in the ocean.  Smart just needs to stop shooting, period.

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400974703






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Brad Stevens asked how difficult it is to prepare a team after a tragic injury.




bob



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Could take 20 + games to get a wind in the Celtic sails.   Having too many players getting looks + almost a whole new roster during for preseason workouts and games I think hurt the Celtics as they are not playing as a united team right now.  You may get 5-7 minute good flow but then it gets ragged for another 5-7 minute period.

Hayward injury hurt but you cannot blame the at times off-tempo of the team.

112288

Just what you might expect from a bunch of " babes in the woods"

swish

Nader got 11 minutes tonight and looked pretty good.  2-4, both two-hand dunks on drives, and good defense.  For a guy who was likely the 15th man, considering all the wings in front of him, he almost got rotation minutes.  He's more of an offensive player than a defensive one, although his defense was good tonight.  We're missing scoring with Hayward gone, Nader might get his 15 minutes (per game) of fame sooner than anybody thought.


bob


.

Agree with the earlier posts. Only item I have to add is that when Semi came in, he added some quality minutes on D vs Giannis. Wasn't perfect but was promising.

Definitely need better performances from Smart and Kyrie on offense. They stagnated the offense and let the team down during the final stretch.

Looking behind the numbers

Boston put up 91 shots to only 76 for the Bucks

Boston shot 11-28 from behind the arc for 39.3% while the bucks were 7-21 or 33.3%

They won the rebounding battle but only by a count of 2 45-43

Boston also had an advantage in steals 12-6 and fewer turnovers 12-15

This game was lost at the line where the bucks went 25-30 or 83.3% compared to the  Celts who were miserable 11-21 or 52.4%.  So not only did they take 9 more free throws they also made a high percentage while we sucked.

The Celtics were outscored in the 4th quarter 32-20,  I thought Brad was rotating the lineup a bit too much but he was concerned about Jaylen's foul situation.

They won the battle in the paint while we missed some bunnies.

The Celtics offense was like a guy falling in and out of sleep on the couch.  They kept nodding off.  Smart produced multiple possessions where he was pounding the damn ball  eating up the shot clock  There was not enough movement against their zone.  Few cuts and too many ill advised shots (Kyrie in particular)  He shot the ball like a junkie trying to get his fix.  Just chasing it.

Swish made a comment "Just what you might expect from a bunch of " babes in the woods"

But it wasn't the babes who played poorly.  As  matter of fact Terry Rozier was the best PG on the floor and Jaylen led the team in scoring while shoot the ball very well from everywhere and even had 3 assists to go along with 5 rebounds.  Tatum was solid if unspectacular leading the team in rebounding with 9 and chipping in 8 points. The brief cameos by Nadar, Theis and Semi were not bad.

Our vets were the one who screwed this one up. If you are visited by some friends and apologize because the house is a mess, don't blame it on the kids.

I do however agree with comments about playing together and the fact that it will take time for the team to jell.  Boston needs to get Morris back and then reestablish chemistry on the floor.  This is going to take some time.

Right now I hate the offensive flow.

Go Celtics!

dboss

If Kyrie is to be a top 10 player, he can't let the team down in the final stretch like he did in the past 2 games. Right now, after 2 games, he's let Brown be the team's best player. Kyrie has to do better.

Brad Stevens' system needs good 3pt shooters.

Last season the Celts were one of the best 3pt shooting teams in the NBA.

Bradley and Crowder were very good from beyond the arc.

Right now it's Smart, Jaylen, and Tatum getting most of the minutes.
They have to shoot better from 3pt land.

The paint will open up if the Celts shoot better from 3pt land.

Gotta love what I'm seeing from Jaylen

cowens/oldschool wrote:Gotta love what I'm seeing from Jaylen

Definitely a 20-point scorer in the NBA.

He just needs more experience.

Two nights in a row, they were within one basket with under a minute to go. 11 new players, Hayward injury, Kyrie and Marcus shooting woes, developing chemistry etc. aside - they were in both games against two good teams.

The season just got a lot more interesting, but nothing builds character more than adversity. Keep playing hard men it is going to be a frustrating yet fun season.

fierce wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:Gotta love what I'm seeing from Jaylen

Definitely a 20-point scorer in the NBA.

He just needs more experience.

That's far and away the most encouraging part of the past 2 games

Last year Boston was an average 3 point shooting team.  This year they are below average.  Losing Hayward hurts.  Other players are inconsistent.  I think Brown and Rosier will improve as will Smart.  Tatum was below average coming out of Duke.

So we lost 3 really good 3 point shooters in Avery, Jae and IT and added Kyrie and Gordon.  But with Gordon gone we only have one legit 3 point shooter.

This is not rocket science.  Our developing players need to improve on shooting the long ball.  Rozier has the smoothest stroke.  Brown should be better as well as Marcus.

Dboss

https://twitter.com/nba_math/status/921007131892924417

Here's the NBA Math through 2 games.  Terry Rozier is so far off to the top and right he's off the chart on this graphic, but you can see it on the twitter link.  He is a +7 on offensive points scored (the horizontal) and a +3 on the defensive points saved (vertical), so he's on a level with Marcus Smart but well to the right of Jaylen Brown.  He's contributing the most points above his expectations and is one of the top defenders, all of which we have seen to be true.





bob


.

bob,

Great point regarding free throws in last night's game. Just slightly above 50% as a team is not going to cut in trying to win any NBA game.

Lots of things going on with the Cs as they try to figure out where they are, who gets playing time, etc, etc, but free throws are a very basic part of the game all the time.

Hi,
I'm with KyleCleric about Kyrie and Smart, especially KI. In the last game he reverted to his iso game which practically killed Celtics offense. I was really happy to see him trying to involve everyone in the first game, but yesterday he relapsed. I hope in the next month or two he will cure himself.
Obviously, atrocious FTs and refereeing didn't help but the main blame for the loss I put on KI.

AK

I agree that the kids were alright again last night, I can see a bunch of bright spots and a young core that will develop.

I also agree that, if anything, the vets were responsible for some missed opportunities.

Not to lay it all on Kyrie, he doesn't need to shoulder all the blame, but he's a prime example of vet mis-fires.  In the first two games, he's chosen to take contested shots of his own, instead of passing to open wings in corners and along the elbows, or cutters with a clear lane.  This has happened a very healthy number of times so far.  It's probably a matter of learning to trust his shooters, but he's got to learn fast.

Kyrie forced up a lot of shots last night but let's not overlook how well he played against his former team scoring and assisting.  I see two issues with the offense.

1.  They do not play well against zone defenses.
2.  There are only 4 players that have been in the system.  Everyone else is new

What I saw last night was a zone where two guys played up top and pretty much hounded Kyrie.  I saw little player movement that creates passing lanes.  I saw many poor entry passes into the post.  I saw a lack of patience in their offense.  In other words there was no trust there.

The first guy that has to get this down pat is Kyrie.  

They need more time playing together as a team.  They will have 3 days to practice after Friday's Philly game.

The Celtics are practically a brand new team.  Two of the 4 returning players are still relatively early in the developmental stages of their careers.  It is going to take time to figure this out.  

Brad Stevens needs to become a better coach on the defensive side of the ball.  The Greek freak had his way all night.  He is not a  good shooter from the outside (27% career shooter from deep)  So you have to force him to his weakness.  Back off a bit and dare him to shoot.  Mix in some zones to take away his drives.

We played them again at their gym on the 26th.

We do not have one player on this team with the length to match up with him.  

dboss

I don't think that games are really won and lost by one player.

Opportunities were missed, but they played 2 tough teams. I'm waiting to pass judgment.


KJ

With no Gordon Hayward, I think the Celts should focus more on player development.

Of course they should try to win every game, but right now what's more important is winning in the future, not the present.

Clearly the Celts have chemistry issues because there are just 4 players returning from last season.

So it's only natural the Celts will struggle early in the season.

Does anyone realize Jeremy Lin is out for year? means Nets will suck a lot more.....not good

The Celtics should focus on winning and developing players.  What would the Patriots do if they lost a key player.  They would acquire a replacement and keep on winning.  

Dboss

A low number of returning players doesn't have to mean poor chemistry to start.

How many players on the '07 - '08 team were around the prior year? 6?

How about their first 15 games? 15W - 2L.
First 30? 26W - 3L.

Now, yes, there were some exceptional players on that team. Today's group can't quite rival that one. However, the point is you can blend quickly. There are many other examples in the NBA, and other leagues too.  dboss points out the Patriots as an excellent example. For which, I forgive him. (Buffalo...)

NYCelt wrote:A low number of returning players doesn't have to mean poor chemistry to start.

How many players on the '07 - '08 team were around the prior year? 6?

How about their first 15 games? 15W - 2L.
First 30? 26W - 3L.

Now, yes, there were some exceptional players on that team. Today's group can't quite rival that one. However, the point is you can blend quickly. There are many other examples in the NBA, and other leagues too.  dboss points out the Patriots as an excellent example. For which, I forgive him. (Buffalo...)

NYCelt,

I think it is a lot more about average age and a players corresponding nba experience. During the 2006-07 season the top 6 Celtic players, in term of minutes played, averaged 23.2 years old - in 2007-08 the average age of the top 6 players jumped to 28.0 - as usual, the added experience played a huge roll in that Celtics teams success.  Since 1980-81 every team that has won a championship has had an average age (top 6 players) of at least 26.2. ( only 4 teams under 27.0 )  The top average age during those 36 years is 32.3. With only 2 games under their belt the current Celts are at 23.7. The average age for the other 33 winners was - ave age 27= 8, 28 =10, 29 = 7, 30 = 4, 31 = 2, 32 = 2.

  swish