POST GAME CHARLOTTE - AWAY

Celtics Wrap: Balanced Scoring Leads Boston To 102-91 Win Vs. Hornets

NESN by Joshua Schrock on Wed, Dec 27, 2017 at 9:14PM

It was a tale of two halves for the Boston Celtics, but all that matters is the end result — a 102-91 win. The Celtics looked like the team that won 16 games in a row earlier this season when they got out to a 20-point lead during the first half of Wednesday night’s game against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center. But the C’s of the last two weeks reared their ugly head in the second half, as the Hornets erased Boston’s large lead and turned the fourth quarter into a dogfight.

While the Celtics were unable to close out the game Monday against the Washington Wizards, they slammed the door on the Hornets on Wednesday thanks to a balanced scoring effort and big plays from Kyrie Irving and Jayson Tatum. Irving led the Celtics with 21 points, while Al Horford (20 points, 10 rebounds), Tatum (18 points), Terry Rozier (15 points) and Shane Larkin (11 points) also scored in double figures for Boston. Kemba Walker did everything he could for Charlotte, dropping 24 points in a losing effort. The Celtics improved to 28-10 with the win, while the Hornets fell to 12-22. Here’s how it all went down:

STARTING FIVE PG: Kyrie Irving SG: Marcus Smart SF: Jayson Tatum PF: Al Horford C: Aron Baynes NO BROWN Jaylen Brown made the trip to Charlotte but did not suit up Wednesday after injuring his right knee during the Celtics’ loss to the Washington Wizards on Christmas Day.

BACK ON TRACK The Celtics have been sliding lately, but they looked like their old selves in the first quarter against the Hornets. Boston jumped out to a 28-16 lead after one frame, as the C’s held the Hornets to 26.1 percent from the field and forced six turnovers in a one-sided opening quarter. Tatum led the Celtics with eight points while Irving chipped in with seven.

COMPLETE HALF Boston played its best basketball in quite some time during the first half at Spectrum Center. The C’s shot 52.6 percent from the field, including going 11-for-18 from 3-point range to take a 60-44 lead at the break. The Celtics held the Hornets to 35 percent from the floor and 30.8 percent from the long distance, as Larkin (nine points) and the Boston bench put some distance between themselves and the Hornets in the second period. Irving led the C’s with 12 points, while Horford added 11 and Tatum chipped in with eight. Walker paced all scorers with 13 points in the half.

KEMBA TIME Walker, who led all scorers at the break, had a huge third quarter as the Hornets battled back from a 20-point deficit. The UConn product ignited an 18-4 run to begin the third to get Charlotte within four points. Boston was able to keep the Hornets from taking the lead, but Walker scored nine points in the period and the Hornets trailed by just one entering the fourth quarter.

C’S HANG ON The Hornets continued to hang around, as Boston led by three with under five minutes to play. But Irving nailed a deep deuce, and then Tatum slammed home a fast-break dunk to swell the lead to seven with three to play. The lead would oscillate between five and nine for the remainder of the period before Horford drilled a dagger 3-pointer with 40 seconds to play to seal the win.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT Get up, rook.

UP NEXT The Celtics will take the floor again Thursday night when they host the Houston Rockets at TD Garden. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET
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Celtics pull away in fourth quarter to beat Hornets, 102-91

NBC SPORTS By A. Sherrod Blakely December 27, 2017 9:21 PM

The Boston Celtics didn’t have their usual second-quarter lulls against Charlotte.

On Wednesday, they saved it for the third quarter.

Rough quarter aside, the Celtics still managed to deliver in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 102-91 win.

Boston (28-10) was led by Kyrie Irving who had 21 points while Al Horford had a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds with Jayson Tatum chipping in with 18 points and five rebounds.

The Celtics also got a strong game from Terry Rozier off the bench, scoring 15 points to go with four rebounds.

Former UConn star Kemba Walker had a game-high 24 points and five assists, with Dwight Howard tallying a double-double of 12 points and 17 rebounds for Charlotte (12-22).

The game took a dramatic turn in the third quarter, as Boston’s lead which peaked at 20 points in the second quarter, was down to just 76-75 going into the fourth.

The Celtics opened the fourth with a 5-0 spurt and while the Hornets stayed within arm’s distance, they could never come up with the big shot or clutch play defensively to swing the game’s momentum in their favor.

Credit Boston’s non-stars for playing like stars in their limited roles for helping Boston get the win.

And it wasn’t just scoring or rebounding, either.

It was little things such as Marcus Smart sealing off Dwight Howard for Al Horford to drive into the lane for a lay-up that put Boston ahead 95-88 late in the game.

On an earlier possession, Guerschon Yabusele was running the floor next to Rozier who looked him off, froze the defense temporarily, and finished the play off with a lay-up.

Charlotte came within three points (89-86) in the fourth, but the Celtics went on a 13-5 run to finish the game off.

The first quarter has usually been good to the Boston Celtics, and tonight’s game was no exception. Boston went to work from the game’s outset, opening with an 8-1 run with Irving assisting on all three of Boston’s made baskets.

Boston continued to pull away in the first quarter and led 28-16.

The Celtics continued to pull away in the second quarter, a surprising development considering how bad Boston has been in the second quarter of games.

They came into tonight’s game ranked dead-last in the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring at 24.0 points per game.

Boston had that with just under five minutes to play in the second quarter, reaching that mark with a 3-pointer from Shane Larkin.

It was fitting when you consider how well Boston absolutely torched the Hornets from 3-point range. Boston was 11-for-18 on 3’s which puts them well on their way to setting a new season high in made 3s which this season, stands at 17.

Irving led all Celtics with 12 points at the half, with Horford trending towards a double-double with 11 points and five rebounds. Shane Larkin gave Boston a nice spark off the bench with nine points.

Boston led 60-44 at the half.
112288

That Jason Tatum drive was Kyrie like. Drive right, cross over drive left cross over and finish with the euro step. WOW

In the month of December Marcus Smart is shooting .344% from behind the arc.

While still well below the team average of .377% it is really nice to see him shoot better. However, he may best serve the team by not taking as many 3 point FGA. If he can at least maintain 34% it will go a long way in helping this team win and may be a decisive factor in determining his long term future with Boston.

Since none of us can predict what the money situation for Boston will look like and in particular, their appetite for paying the luxury tax it is very difficult to guesstimate what Boston ceiling would be in resigning Smart. Next year Rozier will be in the same situation and then the elephant hiding in the corner will need to be fed (Kyrie) The Celtics are very likely to hit the luxury tax in the 2019-20 season if they retain Smart and Kyrie opts out and resigns the BIG contract.

In the meantime having a young team on a cheep budget and retaining future first round picks provides a lot more leverage for the team.

dboss

It was the Terry and Shane show for most of the night but it was Pierce 2.0 in the 4th.  Tatum with 10 of his 18 in the 4th.  A 19 year old, only 38 games into his career, taking over the 4th quarter.  Now THAT triggers my drool reflex.  

Tatum 10, Horford 7, Kyrie 4, Smart 1 and Rozier with 3 points in the 4th quarter.  Nice spread of scoring.  Try to isolate Kyrie and Tatum will kill you.  Stay glued to Tatum and deny Kyrie and Al will overpower someone.  Now if we could only do this regularly.  

31 points off the bench (Rozier 15 and Larkin 11 leading the way) is excellent.  7-13 from 3.  That made SUCH a big difference.  Opened the floor up.  Larkin came in, hit two quick 3s and they had no idea what to do with him since they were playing him to drive before and now had to come out to him. 

Yabusele hit a 3 but didn't do his bow-and-arrow-and-a-dab victory routine.  Someone needs to tell the kid that consistency is the hallmark of a good NBA player.

Kemba Walker was 8-17 after 3 but ended up 9-22.  That's a 1-5 4th quarter.  That's how you win games.  That, and going 10-17 ourselves.  We really pulled it all together in the 4th quarter after just generally staggering forward for the first 3.

I'm surprised Brad only went 9 deep last night.  We have a very tough game vs Houston tonight but he didn't deploy Nader, Bird or Allen against the much weaker Charlotte Hornets.

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400975252



















bob




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It looks like the Celtics have reached the conclusion that Jayson Tatum is the second option on offense.

You would expect that on a rebuilding team but not on a team in the hunt for a deep playoff run.

The kid has a developing handle, a quick first step and long strides plus length to finish.   Do you think he is showing up on scouting reports?  

Dboss

bobheckler wrote:It was the Terry and Shane show for most of the night but it was Pierce 2.0 in the 4th.  Tatum with 10 of his 18 in the 4th.  A 19 year old, only 38 games into his career, taking over the 4th quarter.  Now THAT triggers my drool reflex.  

Tatum 10, Horford 7, Kyrie 4, Smart 1 and Rozier with 3 points in the 4th quarter.  Nice spread of scoring.  Try to isolate Kyrie and Tatum will kill you.  Stay glued to Tatum and deny Kyrie and Al will overpower someone.  Now if we could only do this regularly.  

31 points off the bench (Rozier 15 and Larkin 11 leading the way) is excellent.  7-13 from 3.  That made SUCH a big difference.  Opened the floor up.  Larkin came in, hit two quick 3s and they had no idea what to do with him since they were playing him to drive before and now had to come out to him. 

Yabusele hit a 3 but didn't do his bow-and-arrow-and-a-dab victory routine.  Someone needs to tell the kid that consistency is the hallmark of a good NBA player.

Kemba Walker was 8-17 after 3 but ended up 9-22.  That's a 1-5 4th quarter.  That's how you win games.  That, and going 10-17 ourselves.  We really pulled it all together in the 4th quarter after just generally staggering forward for the first 3.

I'm surprised Brad only went 9 deep last night.  We have a very tough game vs Houston tonight but he didn't deploy Nader, Bird or Allen against the much weaker Charlotte Hornets.

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400975252



















bob




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"We have a very tough game vs Houston tonight."

We're actually a home underdog tonight (+1.5), and with a record of 28-10 (.737) that is virtually unheard of in the history of spreads in the NBA. Can't remember a team with that kind of record being a home underdog against anyone. Maybe in the Jordan 72-10 era against a top opponent it might have happened. If Jaylen Brown were playing it might be a bit different though.

Bob, I think Brad wanted that win no matter what. It was yet another easy game that turned into a nail biter until pulling away. I've never seen him so mad and frustrated. If it was later in the season with seeding all set, then maybe he'd have risked the game to ensure health and stamina.

He did stammer minutes yet again with Horford and Kyrie. He didn't go total Thibodeau. I still remember Thibs when he had to fill in for Doc and didn't make one substitution. So whenever a coach does that, I say to myself he is pulling a Tom Thibodeau.

It's unfortunate Horford ended up playing 36 minutes. The C's should have finished it off in the third and then he could have sat the whole fourth quarter. Nothing ever comes easy for this team. Cowens calls it growing pains. Kyrie only played 31 minutes, not too much. And that is thanks to Shane and Terry. Marcus also played well in the second half for guards.

After tonight there will be two days of rest in between games for the following three including the showdown with LeBron and hopefully Isaiah. I want I.T. to be 100% healthy. They will be tough to stop offensively, but he will make them worse for defense. Not every team can be the 2005 Chicago Bears or Golden State a few years back. I am not afraid of any team as long as the C's come close to reaching their internal ceiling.

Health and stamina is everything to the Celtics. Morris seems to be the only real question mark going forward with his mystery injury that never heals implying he is damaged goods. I'd rather see the Celtics lose with Semi and Yabusele if they are healthy than Morris at 75% or whatever. I still remember Butch Hobson. One-armed Rondo. That's the true fool's gold to think damaged players can pull off miracles.  You might get one or two great plays from them, say Kirk Gibson's homer off of the Eck.

I think Morris makes it back or Danny will pick up another big. He said something about making moves for Horford, that it's only fair to give him a chance to win it all and not treat everything as development towards some future year. So either Morris recovers or I think that is where the trade action or finding another player will happen, for bigs.

Synergy Sports Tech
@SynergySST
With his performance tonight, Jayson Tatum now ranks 4th in the @NBA in scoring efficiency among the 167 players using over 10 possessions per game sandwiched between Anthony Davis & Stephen Curry.
6:23 PM · Dec 27, 2017



bob


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Steve it’s too bad Jaylen is out, I was really looking forward to see him on Harden, he has some trouble staying on smaller quicker guards, but does well on anybody his own size, he has defended Durant and Lebron as well as anyone I have seen. I think defenses have adjusted to Smarts offense and are playing the pass, he has a lot more turnovers lately and if I’m defending him, I’d want him to shoot too. I wish Rozier could bottle this, might have been his best overall game, in 4th had a key steal on Kemba and came down into a 3 on other end, one of the key plays of the game. Baynes was great early as we built up a lead, did a lot of Perk like things to disrupt Howard that won’t show up on the box score.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Steve it’s too bad Jaylen is out, I was really looking forward to see him on Harden, he has some trouble staying on smaller quicker guards, but does well on anybody his own size, he has defended Durant and Lebron as well as anyone I have seen. I think defenses have adjusted to Smarts offense and are playing the pass, he has a lot more turnovers lately and if I’m defending him, I’d want him to shoot too. I wish Rozier could bottle this, might have been his best overall game, in 4th had a key steal on Kemba and came down into a 3 on other end, one of the key plays of the game. Baynes was great early as we built up a lead, did a lot of Perk like things to disrupt Howard that won’t show up on the box score.

Cow,

Howard ended up with 12 points, but he was 3-10 from the field.  He was 6-10 from the line.  He did, however, grab 17 rebounds, 5 offensive.  Good job by Baynes fighting him on his shots and sealing the baseline on him.  There just aren't that many players like Howard left in the league, which means there is less and less of a need for players like Baynes in the league.  I like him, he's the first true beast center we've had since Perk (Sully doesn't count because he really wasn't a true center), but he needs to be more than just an insurance policy against a player who is not on a playoff team.


bob


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