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Celtics Wrap: Boston Overcomes Slow First Half With Monster Fourth Quarter

NESN by Logan Mullen on Wed, Dec 6, 2017 at 9:45PM

The Boston Celtics looked lackluster in the first half against the Dallas Mavericks at TD Garden Wednesday night, and for a while it looked as though they wouldn’t overcome it. But with a fourth quarter in which the Celtics outscored the Mavs by 13 points, the C’s earned their sixth win in seven games with the 97-87 victory. Kyrie Irving dominated in the fourth quarter, finishing the night with a game-leading 23 points. And with Jaylen Brown (eye) out of the lineup, rookie Jayson Tatum provided a massive spark on the wing with 17 points while Al Horford also finished his night with 17. The teams traded chances often in the first, third and fourth quarters, but after the Mavs locked things up at 85 with 4:31 to play, the Celtics ultimately put their foot on the gas and went on to control the lead and finish the game on a 12-2 run, outscoring the Mavs 50-33 in the second half. The Celtics improve to 22-4 with the win as the Mavericks fall 7-18. Here’s how it all went down.

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

BAD PLAY BOOKENDS FIRST QUARTER It was probably a safe bet entering the game to guess Celtics head coach Brad Stevens wasn’t planning on having to take a timeout within the first two minutes against a 7-17 Mavs team. But just 1:55 in, the C’s coach had to call a timeout and get the team to regroup. At that point, they had fallen to a 6-2 deficit, which, though a menial deficit, was worse than the scoreline indicated given Tatum fouled 15 seconds in and the Celtics went 1-for-3 from the field in that time span. The timeout proved a smart one, however, as the Celtics opened up the game shortly thereafter and quickly claimed the lead. But after opening up a six-point lead later in the first, the Mavs surged back the final 2:02, going on an 8-0 run and finishing the quarter up by a pair.

MAVS DO DAMAGE FROM DEEP While trying to erase the first quarter deficit, the Celtics pulled within one on three separate occasions in the second. However the Mavs’ perimeter shooting was electric, with Dallas at one point hitting from 3-point territory on four-straight trips down the court. From the time Dennis Smith Jr. hit the first of the four treys with 4:57 to play to the time Stevens called a timeout at 2:51 to stop the bleeding, the Mavs had opened up a 12-4 run, putting them ahead by 9. Dallas finished the first half with a 10-point lead while shooting 48-percent from the field, anchored by Smith Jr.’s 12 points. Irving and Tatum kept the Celtics in it with 12 and 10 points to that point, respectively.

C’S SHOW LIFE IN THE THIRD The third quarter can largely be defined by a momentum-shifting play with just under 10 minutes to go in the frame. After Harrison Barnes tried to drive the lane on Irving, the Celtics guard was able to get a hand on the ball for a block. Baynes corralled it, hit Smart who began the fast break, then hit Horford on an alley-oop. Though the Celtics were still trailing 59-55 after the sequence, it coerced Mavs coach Rick Carlisle into a timeout as the Garden was the loudest it had been all night. On the other end of the stoppage, Tatum forced a steal at the top of the key and took it to the other end, finishing with a monster dunk. The Celtics finished the quarter trailing 73-70, but the pair of plays earlier in the quarter gave the C’s their first real sign of life in the game, a feeling that was present the remainder of the quarter.

KYRIE TAKES OVER THE FOURTH Was there ever any doubt Irving would take charge in the fourth quarter? The guard took over when the Celtics needed it, contributing 9 points the last 6:20 of the game. The Mavs had locked things up at 81 and 85, but after the second time Dallas equalized, Irving put his head down and went to work. He’d drive to the lane more often, pulled the trigger on his shot more frequently, and helped create more opportunities for teammates because Dallas had to devote its attention to him. The Celtics controlled possession and stifled a visibly overwhelmed Mavs squad as the game began to draw to a close. After a couple of fruitful trips down the court, it became clear the Celtics weren’t going to relinquish the lead.

PLAY OF THE GAME Four of five Celtics on the got involved on this impressive two-way play.

UP NEXT The Celtics will hit the road for three games, taking on the San Antonio Spurs in the first game Friday. Tip-off is at 9:30 from the AT&T Center.
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Strong fourth quarter propels Celtics to 97-90 win over Mavericks


NBC SPORTS BOSTON By A. Sherrod Blakely December 06, 2017 9:39 PM

BOSTON – The Boston Celtics once again saved their best for last, putting together a strong fourth quarter which once again proved to be just enough to propel them to a 97-90 victory over Dallas that was yet another reminder of just how clutch this team can be when challenged.

Kyrie Irving had a game-high 23 points on 10-for-18 shooting. Al Horford continued his nightly flirtation with a triple-double, tallying 17 points along with eight rebounds and eight assists. Jayson Tatum (17 points) along with Terry Rozier (12 points) and Shane Larkin (11 points) off the bench also finished in double figures for the Celtics.

The Mavericks (7-18) were led by Harrison Barnes’ 19 points with Dirk Nowitzki chipping in with 16 points and six rebounds.

Dallas came in having won four of its last six games, so the Mavericks’ confidence was high. Making the game even more difficult for the Celtics was that they were playing without Jaylen Brown (eye) and Marcus Morris (left knee rehabilitation).

Despite being without a starter (Brown) and a key rotation player (Morris), Boston still managed to get a tough, hard-earned victory prior to hitting the road for a three-game road trip that begins on Friday against San Antonio.

After lackluster starts to the first three quarters, Boston opened the fourth quarter with a 10-0 blitz to take an 80-73 lead before a Dallas time-out was called.

The Mavericks came out of the time-out with a focus on getting the ball to Nowitzki as often as possible.

It was a good strategy for the Mavericks who scored eight of the next nine points of the game to tie the score at 81 which is when Boston called a time-out with 7:23 to play.

Boston would regain the lead, but they just couldn’t shake this Mavericks team that once again, was giving them all they could handle.

When the two met earlier this season, the Mavericks had the Celtics on the brink of defeat only for Boston to rally in the fourth, force overtime and eventually prevail 110-102.

Boston didn’t dig itself as deep a hole in the fourth on Wednesday as they did when the two met last month, which made pulling away in the final minutes of play a smoother path towards victory.

Getting it done in the closing moments once again was Kyrie Irving, whose 3-point play that made it an 92-85 game brought about the all-too-familiar “M-V-P” chants from the Celtics faithful in attendance.

He wasn’t done.

After being nearly stripped in the paint, he tossed up a bank shot off the glass to make it a 95-87 game.

Moments later, he came up with a steal and got the outlet pass up court to Terry Rozier whose dunk put the Celtics ahead 97-87, their first double-digit lead of the night.

And from there, the Celtics (22-4) were able to manage the game clock and come away with their fourth straight win and sixth in the last seven games.

It also improved Boston’s record against Western Conference teams to a perfect 8-0 on the season.


112288

No Jaylen Brown's points, no Morris' points off the bench, no problem.


The Celtics are now 7-3 in games where we trail by double digits...




I think the game ball should go to Shane Larkin.  We needed points off the bench desperately and he played excellent defense on Yogi Ferrell and JJ Barea and still dropped in 11 points on 4-8, 3-5 from 3. 2 steals.  What more could you ask for from a guy who has played a grand total 163 minutes?

Theis with 7 points on 3-6 but 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block (he's credited with only one but I remember a second) in just 17 minutes.  Two of his points were a real stretch-way-back-for-the-alley-oop dunk from Larkin.  Play him, Brad!

Horford flirted with a triple-double.

Tatum with a double-double with 17 and 10 rebounds.  2-3 from 3, so his league-leading 51.3% 3pt fg% will go up.

Smart with, quite frankly, one of the worst games from him I've seen in a while.  Made several unusually bone-headed mistakes, 4 TOs.  He was 1-5.  Thank God he only took 5.

The Dancing Bear with 3 assists in 7 minutes.  I remember reading somewhere before the season started about how they wanted him to create more.  This is why.

Max Kleber had a helluva game for Dallas.  13 points on 5-8, 5 blocks and great defense on Horford when he tried several times to swing into the paint for a baby hook.



http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400975107


On to San Antonio.  I read that Kawhi hopes to be back to play against us.  Thanks for nothing, Kawhi...



bob


.

Glad that Nader was given some minutes.   Hopefully they can get him serious minutes and play a bigger role.   He could be a good substitute for Haywood in the scoring role.   He proved it last year in the D League and he has the talent to do it in Boston.

We are on a great roll............keep it going!

Bob pointed out a great stat that the Celtics have achieved.  Interesting and I think it will play a big part come the playoffs..........knowing that if they are down in a crunch game.................they can win it!

These are the little intangibles that are garnered during the season that makes and defines who wins..........and who goes home!

112288

As soon as I go all in with Smart, he has a mediocre game. I'm not too upset with 1-5 shooting. Unfortunately, one knows he can be a lot worse. He is giving up too many turnovers lately.

Yabusele is pretty weak for the fifth big. I think he's worth keeping another year or two as a prospect but that Danny needs to add at least one more legit big ready made to contribute at pro levels.

Horford is turning into a borderline triple double threat. Only three Celtics made turnovers.

I agree with Bob that Larkin gets the game ball or Tommy Award. He only played 15 minutes, but that looked like a potential loss. Kyrie had five assists and four turnovers. Smart had four assists and four turnovers. Horford had 8 assists and no turnovers. And thee blocks, 17 points and 8 rebounds. Al has to get the game ball.

But without Larkin eating those minutes, Kyrie would have been run into the ground.

It wasn't a great win. It was taking care of business.

It does show how vulnerable the C's are to injuries. Losing those two guys made us a much worse team having to experiment and play guys, cross your fingers and hope the core would get it done.

Tatum is very impressive obviously for shooting. I like his consistent rebounding. Theis seems to be extremely consistent. Baynes seemed a fish out of water for this opponent and he only played ten minutes.

This will be a tough game to remember at the end of the year, but each win keeps realistic hopes alive to get the top seed.

San Antonio and Detroit on the road is sort of a two game barometer.

Jaylen's Brown contact lens might have saved Larkin's season. He had fallen off the charts. He probably wouldn't have played if Brown did. He looks promising for the end of the bench. Maybe Danny is waiting to sign players on ten day contracts. It's a bit scary to only have 13 on the roster with two or three of them subpar. Larkin had a good game. I'm probably sounding greedy.

Come on, Marcus Smart. Concentrate on assists to turnovers. Kyrie is a different kind of pg. Maybe in time he will become more involved. If Horford can fill that LeBron assist role, then it's all good. But the C's need Marcus Smart to be a solid backup pg for offense. Just solid. To not be terrible.

Tonight was a weird game missing those two guys. I give everyone a mulligan for anything off with their stats.

I am comfortable with the ten who played the last game with Larkin on the bubble. Yeah, I think the Celtics need one or two more players ready to compete. This is no time for RJ Hunters and James Youngs.

But it's another win. 22-4 speaks the truth. If the C's are gonna hit a bump, it will probably be in the next two games. But if they are no problem, then all bets will be off. They will win 62-68 games if they stay healthy. If they can beat San Antonio and Detroit on the road, then that means most games in theory will be scheduled wins.

I know, you guys are right there are always runs by other teams, there is adversity, nothing ever goes as planned.

But KG, Ray and Pierce won 66 games their first year together. I am green-goggled, but it might be the case of a blind squirrel finally finding an acorn and winning lots of games.

There are 14 players for 15 slots with injured Hayward. I think he's coming back for the playoffs. I think you can use the exemption and he can still come back. Maybe there is a penalty, but I am pretty sure they can do both.

Danny should do the exemption quick if possible to leave trade options open. The Celtics are in the hunt. Danny can't stand still this time like in other seasons. I think a bit of tinkering will get it done. Maybe Rozier is gone. I don't know what to say. This is soon to be the crazy season! The Silly Season it's called?

The Celtics could cruise control to 55 wins and maybe still win the conference. No matter what, I think the Celtics are a title contender and it's not guaranteed GS wins it all.

Tatum at the end of the season might be much better than this guy now. Same with Jaylen Brown. They can take multiple leaps within seasons. Smart is a big wild card. This season is the gift which keeps giving. And all reports have Hayward mending well.

They won't force it, but if there's any chance he is recovered in time to play ten-20 minutes in the second round, he will.

It's a long way off. I'm loving this season. I'm glad he's doing well. That was horrific.

Good luck to Isaiah. I wish Crowder no good luck because I think he deliberately hurt Gordon Hayward. The result wasn't intentional, but it was still a dirty play and no one deserves to be butchered like Hayward was.

bobheckler wrote:No Jaylen Brown's points, no Morris' points off the bench, no problem.


The Celtics are now 7-3 in games where we trail by double digits...




I think the game ball should go to Shane Larkin.  We needed points off the bench desperately and he played excellent defense on Yogi Ferrell and JJ Barea and still dropped in 11 points on 4-8, 3-5 from 3. 2 steals.  What more could you ask for from a guy who has played a grand total 163 minutes?

Theis with 7 points on 3-6 but 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block (he's credited with only one but I remember a second) in just 17 minutes.  Two of his points were a real stretch-way-back-for-the-alley-oop dunk from Larkin.  Play him, Brad!

Horford flirted with a triple-double.

Tatum with a double-double with 17 and 10 rebounds.  2-3 from 3, so his league-leading 51.3% 3pt fg% will go up.

Smart with, quite frankly, one of the worst games from him I've seen in a while.  Made several unusually bone-headed mistakes, 4 TOs.  He was 1-5.  Thank God he only took 5.

The Dancing Bear with 3 assists in 7 minutes.  I remember reading somewhere before the season started about how they wanted him to create more.  This is why.

Max Kleber had a helluva game for Dallas.  13 points on 5-8, 5 blocks and great defense on Horford when he tried several times to swing into the paint for a baby hook.



http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400975107


On to San Antonio.  I read that Kawhi hopes to be back to play against us.  Thanks for nothing, Kawhi...



bob


.

If Kawhi plays I bet he doesn't play more than 15-20 minutes. They're going to be very careful with him.

Bob.
Maximilian (Maxi)Kleber is also from Germany.Maybe their league is not as bad as you think.

112288 wrote:Glad that Nader was given some minutes.   Hopefully they can get him serious minutes and play a bigger role.   He could be a good substitute for Haywood in the scoring role.   He proved it last year in the D League and he has the talent to do it in Boston.

We are on a great roll............keep it going!

Bob pointed out a great stat that the Celtics have achieved.  Interesting and I think it will play a big part come the playoffs..........knowing that if they are down in a crunch game.................they can win it!

These are the little intangibles that are garnered during the season that makes and defines who wins..........and who goes home!

112288

112288,

I agree about Nader, but you can see how tentative he is out there.  He's more afraid of screwing up than he is in just playing free.  This is his big shot, and he knows it, and he's playing cautiously.  He should ask for the ball, tell someone to set a screen for him and take it to the rim like he has in the past.


bob


.

Phil Pressey wrote:There are 14 players for 15 slots with injured Hayward. I think he's coming back for the playoffs. I think you can use the exemption and he can still come back. Maybe there is a penalty, but I am pretty sure they can do both.

Danny should do the exemption quick if possible to leave trade options open. The Celtics are in the hunt. Danny can't stand still this time like in other seasons. I think a bit of tinkering will get it done. Maybe Rozier is gone. I don't know what to say. This is soon to be the crazy season! The Silly Season it's called?

The Celtics could cruise control to 55 wins and maybe still win the conference. No matter what, I think the Celtics are a title contender and it's not guaranteed GS wins it all.

Tatum at the end of the season might be much better than this guy now. Same with Jaylen Brown. They can take multiple leaps within seasons. Smart is a big wild card. This season is the gift which keeps giving. And all reports have Hayward mending well.

They won't force it, but if there's any chance he is recovered in time to play ten-20 minutes in the second round, he will.

It's a long way off. I'm loving this season. I'm glad he's doing well. That was horrific.

Good luck to Isaiah. I wish Crowder no good luck because I think he deliberately hurt Gordon Hayward. The result wasn't intentional, but it was still a dirty play and no one deserves to be butchered like Hayward was.

Phil,

If you have the open roster slot, and we do, you can use both.


bob


.

steve3344 wrote:

bobheckler wrote:No Jaylen Brown's points, no Morris' points off the bench, no problem.


The Celtics are now 7-3 in games where we trail by double digits...




I think the game ball should go to Shane Larkin.  We needed points off the bench desperately and he played excellent defense on Yogi Ferrell and JJ Barea and still dropped in 11 points on 4-8, 3-5 from 3. 2 steals.  What more could you ask for from a guy who has played a grand total 163 minutes?

Theis with 7 points on 3-6 but 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block (he's credited with only one but I remember a second) in just 17 minutes.  Two of his points were a real stretch-way-back-for-the-alley-oop dunk from Larkin.  Play him, Brad!

Horford flirted with a triple-double.

Tatum with a double-double with 17 and 10 rebounds.  2-3 from 3, so his league-leading 51.3% 3pt fg% will go up.

Smart with, quite frankly, one of the worst games from him I've seen in a while.  Made several unusually bone-headed mistakes, 4 TOs.  He was 1-5.  Thank God he only took 5.

The Dancing Bear with 3 assists in 7 minutes.  I remember reading somewhere before the season started about how they wanted him to create more.  This is why.

Max Kleber had a helluva game for Dallas.  13 points on 5-8, 5 blocks and great defense on Horford when he tried several times to swing into the paint for a baby hook.



http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400975107


On to San Antonio.  I read that Kawhi hopes to be back to play against us.  Thanks for nothing, Kawhi...



bob


.

If Kawhi plays I bet he doesn't play more than 15-20 minutes. They're going to be very careful with him.

Steve,

From your mouth to God's ears...


bob


.

Next man up is the mark of a great organization and a coach that trusts all his players and prepares them all to be ready for their moment.

Phil Pressey wrote:As soon as I go all in with Smart, he has a mediocre game. I'm not too upset with 1-5 shooting. Unfortunately, one knows he can be a lot worse. He is giving up too many turnovers lately.

Yabusele is pretty weak for the fifth big. I think he's worth keeping another year or two as a prospect but that Danny needs to add at least one more legit big ready made to contribute at pro levels.

Horford is turning into a borderline triple double threat. Only three Celtics made turnovers.

I agree with Bob that Larkin gets the game ball or Tommy Award. He only played 15 minutes, but that looked like a potential loss. Kyrie had five assists and four turnovers. Smart had four assists and four turnovers. Horford had 8 assists and no turnovers. And thee blocks, 17 points and 8 rebounds. Al has to get the game ball.

But without Larkin eating those minutes, Kyrie would have been run into the ground.

It wasn't a great win. It was taking care of business.

It does show how vulnerable the C's are to injuries. Losing those two guys made us a much worse team having to experiment and play guys, cross your fingers and hope the core would get it done.

Tatum is very impressive obviously for shooting. I like his consistent rebounding. Theis seems to be extremely consistent. Baynes seemed a fish out of water for this opponent and he only played ten minutes.

This will be a tough game to remember at the end of the year, but each win keeps realistic hopes alive to get the top seed.

San Antonio and Detroit on the road is sort of a two game barometer.

Jaylen's Brown contact lens might have saved Larkin's season. He had fallen off the charts. He probably wouldn't have played if Brown did. He looks promising for the end of the bench. Maybe Danny is waiting to sign players on ten day contracts. It's a bit scary to only have 13 on the roster with two or three of them subpar. Larkin had a good game. I'm probably sounding greedy.

Come on, Marcus Smart. Concentrate on assists to turnovers. Kyrie is a different kind of pg. Maybe in time he will become more involved. If Horford can fill that LeBron assist role, then it's all good. But the C's need Marcus Smart to be a solid backup pg for offense. Just solid. To not be terrible.

Tonight was a weird game missing those two guys. I give everyone a mulligan for anything off with their stats.

I am comfortable with the ten who played the last game with Larkin on the bubble. Yeah, I think the Celtics need one or two more players ready to compete. This is no time for RJ Hunters and James Youngs.

But it's another win. 22-4 speaks the truth. If the C's are gonna hit a bump, it will probably be in the next two games. But if they are no problem, then all bets will be off. They will win 62-68 games if they stay healthy. If they can beat San Antonio and Detroit on the road, then that means most games in theory will be scheduled wins.

I know, you guys are right there are always runs by other teams, there is adversity, nothing ever goes as planned.

But KG, Ray and Pierce won 66 games their first year together. I am green-goggled, but it might be the case of a blind squirrel finally finding an acorn and winning lots of games.

What team isn`t vulnerable with two starters out of the lineup? The Globetrotters?

mrkleen09 wrote:Next man up is the mark of a great organization and a coach that trusts all his players and prepares them all to be ready for their moment.

Kleen

Winning games when two starters are absent gives us more validation about this team's DNA.

After the game Stevens talked about how guys that do not get to play a lot have to be ready. Stevens knows how and when to call on them. for example Larkin only played 3 minutes in the first matchup and JJ Barea came off their bench and scored 16 with 4 assists. No one could seem to stay in front of him. Brad decided that our little guy Larkin was a good counter to JJ. Larkin pretty much neutralized Barea in this second meeting

Guys like Yabu and Nadar have been logging their share of DNP's coaches decision. Both played 7 minutes and both contributed to this win.

So most definitely the Next Man Up philosophy is on full display from the first game of the season when Hayward went down right through to last night.
Good teams can win games when they have a full roster able to play but great teams win games when key players are missing.

dboss

Too Add 

Dennis Smith scored 12 in the first half...getting to the rim almost whenever he wanted.

Dennis Smith went 4-16 in the game....NO POINTS in the second half.

And after giving up 31 points in the second period.....we gave up 33 in the entire second half and would have been 30 be it for a meaningless 3 by Mathews as time expired. 

Out rebounded them and although we shot poorly we made them shoot worse (41% to 39%)

AND our bench got over 1/2 of our rebounds too 27 to 26 for our starters.

Minutes were kept in pretty good check for our starters (with only Smart exceeding 34 minutes and hopefully he comes of the bench again soon...real soon. (Important as we have 3 games in 4 nights coming up) 

Nice way to finish our home stand and now to take the show on the road.


beat

Beat

I am a bit concerned about Morris's ongoing knee issue.

The Celtics continue to manage his minutes and this upcoming stretch of 4 games will be very difficult.

dboss

bob



.

What is the knee problem? Is it recent or has this been on going for years.

112288

dboss wrote:Beat

I am a bit concerned about Morris's ongoing knee issue.  

The Celtics continue to manage his minutes and this upcoming stretch of 4 games will be very difficult.  

dboss

Less concerned with Morris than I am Brown as far as getting one of them back on the floor, but we are not so deep we can loose either or anyone for that matter for extended games.   

Injuries happen and don’t we know that as Celtic fans.   

If he needs to sit. He’ll sit.

beat

112288 wrote:What is the knee problem?   Is it recent or has this been on going for years.

112288

112288

From what I have read he has had a sore knee from the beginning of the season. The cause of the soreness has not been detailed. But I think I may have read something about him spraining the knee before the season began. He is rehabbing the knee. I do not think he is able to play night in and night out. They are being careful with him which makes sense.

dboss

Thanks dBoss!

Might need to seek another forward using that exemption.

112288

Reports say that usually Morris is sore the next day after a game, but recovers in time to play on the second day after a game. This time, he had soreness on the second day after the last game, so he sat.

gyso