POST GAME HOUSTON - HOME

Celtics Wrap: Boston Completes Epic Comeback With 99-98 Win Over Rockets

NESN by Joshua Schrock on Thu, Dec 28, 2017 at 10:42PM  

The Boston Celtics looked dead and buried during the first half of Thursday’s tilt with the Houston Rockets at TD Garden. Boston trailed by 24 at halftime, playing very much like a team on the second night of a back-to-back facing an NBA Finals contender coming off two days rest. But the Celtics woke up at halftime, clamping down on the Rockets’ lethal 3-point shooting attack and using their defense to create offense during a 20-4 run in the third quarter.

Despite Boston’s best effort, it appeared they would fall to the Rockets, as Houston led by three with 13 seconds to play. But the Celtics never say die. Marcus Smart found Jayson Tatum for a dunk to cut it to one, and Boston immediately got the ball back when James Harden was whistled for an offensive foul. On the ensuing possession, Al Horford got the ball in the post, turned over his left shoulder and buried a hook shot to give the C’s the lead and an eventual 99-98 win. Kyrie Irving led the Celtics with 26 points, while Harden led all scorers with 34. With the win, the Celtics improved 29-10, while the Rockets fell to 25-8. Here’s how it all went down:

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

LIFT OFF The Rockets jumped on the Celtics early at TD Garden. Houston opened the game on a 12-0 run, shooting 5-for-7 from the field, which forced Brad Stevens to take an early timeout. The stoppage didn’t help the C’s, though, as the Rockets continued to hammer Boston en route to a 32-12 lead after one quarter. Boston shot just 5-for-19 from the floor in first while going 2-for-7 from 3-point land and committing eight turnovers. The C’s did not shoot a free throw in the stanza. Houston shot 44 percent from the floor and 40 percent from long distance in a dominant first quarter. Harden led all scorers with 10 points, while Horford led the C’s with three points.

MORE OF THE SAME The Celtics were unable to chip into the Rockets’ lead in the second quarter. Houston shot 47.7 percent in the half and hit 10 3-pointers to take a 62-38 advantage into the locker rooms, as the C’s turned the ball over 12 times and shot a lowly 38.9 percent from the field in the half. Harden and Eric Gordon almost outscored Boston by themselves in the half, pouring in 17 first-half points apiece, while Trevor Ariza added nine and Ryan Anderson chipped in with eight. Irving paced the C’s with 11 points and Tatum scored 10, but that was all the Celtics could manage on offense.

C’S WAKE UP Despite an atrocious first-half performance, the C’s made it a game in the second half. Trailing by 25 with 7:40 to play in the third period, the Celtics went on a 20-4 run to cut the lead to nine with two minutes to play in the quarter. Houston took its foot off the gas, as NBA teams with a huge lead have been known to do, and Boston did a good job of stopping the Rockets from getting back into their flow.

WINNING TIME Boston continued to battle, cutting the lead to two with a chance to tie or take the lead with under a minute to go. Unfortunately for the Celtics, Irving turned the ball over and Boston was forced to foul with 18.7 seconds left. P.J. Tucker hit one of two free throws, however, giving Boston a chance to tie the game. Smart drove past Tarik Black and finished at the rim to cut the lead to one with 13 seconds to play. Harden would sink the ensuing free throws but Smart found Tatum for a dunk to cut it back to one, and Boston got the ball back when Harden was called for an offensive foul. With 3.7 seconds left, Horford buried the hook shot and sent TD Garden into delirium.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE GAME Harden with the video game finish.

UP NEXT The Celtics will hit the floor again Sunday when they face the Brooklyn Nets at TD Garden. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Celtics pull off incredible comeback win over Rockets, 99-98

NBC SPORTS BOSTON By A. Sherrod Blakely December 28, 2017 10:17 PM

BOSTON – What the hell just happened?

The Boston Celtics pulled off the greatest comeback of the season, or the Houston Rockets pulled the biggest choke job we’ve seen in a while.

Regardless, Boston emerged with a 99-98 win over the Rockets after having trailed by as many as 26 points.

Al Horford, who struggled with his shot most of the night, scored with 3.7 seconds to play that put Boston up 99-98 – their first lead of the night.

His game-winning basket was set up by Marcus Smart drawing an offensive foul against James Harden following a dunk by Jayson Tatum which cut Houston’s lead to 98-97.

And after Horford’s go-ahead basket?

Smart drew a second offensive foul against Harden.

Houston would get one last shot, but Eric Gordon’s length-of-the-floor shot came nowhere close to the rim.

The Rockets left the door ajar for Boston to potentially tie the game with a 3-pointer after P.J. Tucker made the the first of two free throws which made it a 96-93 game with 18.4 seconds to play.

After Tucker’s missed free throw, Smart grabbed the rebound and immediately called a time-out.

Rather than shoot a 3-pointer, Smart scored on a driving lay-up with 13.5 seconds to play to make it a one-point game.

Houston could not in-bound the ball quickly, and was forced to call a time-out.

And out of the time-out, they had to call another time-out because they could not in-bound the ball quickly.

Houston got the ball into Harden’s hands, and he was fouled with 11.6 seconds to play.

Harden, the NBA’s leading scorer this season, made both free throws to push Houston’s lead back to three points which led to the Celtics calling a time-out which set up a series of last-second heroics that adds to the season-long narrative that this team plays until the final whistle and not a second sooner.

The down-to-the-wire finish was unexpected considering how woeful Boston played in the first half.

After being pummeled in the first half unlike anything we’ve seen this season, the Celtics chipped and chipped and chipped away at Houston’s lead which was down to single digits going into the fourth quarter.

Boston went on a 12-4 run in the fourth, capped off by a Terry Rozier steal and dunk – reminiscent to the game-winning sequence he had in Indiana earlier this season – that brought Boston within 85-81 with more than seven minutes to play.

A Houston time-out with 7:05 to play seemed to be just what the Rockets needed, as they got a quick score from Nene and forced a Celtics turnover right after that.

But with 6:11 to play, Boston subbed out Marcus Morris for Marcus Smart due to Morris’ minutes restriction while still on the rebound from left knee soreness.

It was too bad because Morris’ scoring was huge during Boston’s fourth quarter comeback. He had 10 points in 19 minutes.

But picking up where Morris left off was Rozier whose 3-point play brought the Celtics within 87-86 with 5:16 to play. He had 13 points and five rebounds.

After Kyrie Irving split a pair of free throws and forced a James Harden miss, Boston had the ball down 92-91, with 2:40 to play which is when head coach Brad Stevens called a time-out.

Boston’s comeback began in earnest with a strong third quarter, a quarter that has been good to the Celtics this season.

Tonight was no exception, as Boston gradually crept their way back into the game courtesy of a series of Houston turnovers.

And the catalyst for Boston’s defense was Tatum, whose ability to force turnovers allowed Boston to get out and run in transition for easy scores or free throws. He had 19 points and five rebounds.

112288

It was a Kobe-esque choke job by Harden and the C's capitalized. He did hit two threes, but they just weren't enough. The fans probably deserve the Tommy Award. They got very loud.

Rozier has been shining lately.

It was surreal with only two incompetent refs. That definitely factored in.

Baynes was a difference maker.

It was a great win, perhaps even in signature territory. But those are like calling team meetings. You can only do that so often.

Phil Pressey wrote:It was a Kobe-esque choke job by Harden and the C's capitalized. He did hit two threes, but they just weren't enough. The fans probably deserve the Tommy Award. They got very loud.

Rozier has been shining lately.

It was surreal with only two incompetent refs. That definitely factored in.

Baynes was a difference maker.

It was a great win, perhaps even in signature territory. But those are like calling team meetings. You can only do that so often.

A great thing about Rozier is the way he finishes after a steal, just sprint dribble sprint dunk wam bam thank you mam!!! Primal and raw, like his game.

Marcus Smart made Harden look like an Ass Hxle!

Harden thought he could get away with the garbage!   What does he think he is God's gift to the world!

Despite a great comeback we are tending in the wrong direction with poor quarters. Almost each game we play poorly for long spurts of time. Eventually it will catch - up to us.

Look, we have Haywood who is your Ray Allen sniper.......however we need someone else coming off the bench to be your Eddie "McMansion" House who could kill you with 3 point shooting.  We are currently missing that player although Rozier is showing signs of A La House.

We can still use a center. Big Al Horford with just 3 points in the first half is not getting the job done.........move him to power forward where he would thrive.

112288

Smart played so smart. Tatum is the Ultimatum. The whole team hustled. What a character comeback and win.

Just want to make note that Harden was 7-27, 26%, while Smart was 6-14, 43%. Who was the brick layer tonight?

Marcus' D on Harden was key to winning.

let's not forget kudo's to Morris! Great game by him.

112288

Celtics were trying to  force the action in the first half on offense and they DID force it with their second half D. Morris got under control and Rozier and Smart rose to the occasion. This was one of those games where MS  was so much better than his numbers. Larkin and Nader did some work while they were in there too. Harden`s hundred yard stare at the end of the game was priceless. I couldn`t believe Smart annoyed him into an obvious shove with the game on the line. The drives by Tatum and Smart were things of beauty. Wow.

Rozier and Smart are solid for backup guards. I thought Horford looked gassed, but then after a timeout he made a nice block. The box score doesn't say much for Baynes, but it felt with him and Smart- Tatum was also very active, that Brad had a nice combo out there.

It took a while to snap out of ineffective hero ball.

Morris hit some clutch shots after starting with bricks. Yes, Smart had a great finish, but he didn't look anything special in the first half. I'm done with overthinking Smart's situation. Danny's a crafty guy making it difficult to get too cozy picking favorites. I'll just stop speculating.

I'll take Smart, Rozier, Kyrie and Jaylen for guards with Larkin in the Pressey spark plug reserve role.

We are missing Haywood at small forward? Just kidding. No one has the guts to tell him he's got the name wrong. Or it is an inside joke I missed.

The game thread got very intense, but I'll leave that at that.

I felt very level headed and joked Horford would cry great emotion. I'm pretty sure the game after he said that, it was a bad loss. I was just kidding. That was an NBA FANtastic overhyped but great game.

I think it's obvious Danny has to do something. But I am probably being impatient. Houston was missing some guys. Golden State is all of a sudden making some separation. Morris has to stay healthy and guys like Brown and Semi need to come back to hold any hope for top seeding, imho. We really need another big if it isn't Yabusele and Morris cannot be relied on.

Stevens coached miracles at Butler, so who knows.

Phil Pressey wrote:I'll just stop speculating.

Promise?

From the Houston Chronicle:

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/rockets/article/Rockets-wrap-up-a-gift-win-for-Celtics-12460971.php

Little Rocket man "has meltdown for the ages."

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/james-harden-meltdown-vs-marcus-smart-completes-stunning-celtics-rally-rockets-041717201.html

The game started to turn around when Stevens finally woke up and put Baynes in. From then on there was a complete change in defense and rebounding. No Baynes , no win last night. Good to see Morris knocking off some rust and coming through with some timely jumpers. The game ball however goes to Marcus Smart. I wish people would just get off his back. The guy has the clutch gene, he's a winner.

Berlin-T

Berlin-T wrote:The game started to turn around when Stevens finally woke up and put Baynes in. From then on there was a complete change in defense and rebounding. No Baynes , no win last night. Good to see Morris knocking off some rust and coming through with some timely jumpers. The game ball however goes to Marcus Smart. I wish people would just get off his back. The guy has the clutch gene, he's a winner.

Berlin-T

Agreed Baynes only finished with 3 rebounds, but he’s one of those dirty work players that do a lot of little things that don’t show up on the box score, and we won the rebounding battle 44-42, and our D got much tighter when Baynes came in. I’ll give Smart credit, his defense and flopping ability stole the game, but in that first half his shooting was so ugly, so putrid, he was shooting us right out of the game. My son and I have been having a running debate for weeks on who’s better Rozier or Smart? Rozier has been coming on as of late, he also makes impactful defensive plays and his 3 point shooting is more reliable than Smarts, during one of Smarts ugly stretches, air balls and turnovers, I agreed with him and admitted Rozier is a better fit long term. Danny’s gonna have to make a big decision, you’ve got to take care of Kyrie soon too, you can’t keep both? Smart helped Houston get that big lead, then made a lot of key plays to turn it around, but when he’s bad his shooting really sucks....just attack the rim, don’t shoot buddy, he couldn’t even hit the rim, it was so bad....

I think Smart is a keeper.

Celts can afford to keep both Rozier and Smart.

If the Celts want more championships then paying luxury tax should not be an issue.

I thought the game change when Larkin got called for a foul in the middle of the court in what was an obvious offensive foul on I think the bearded one.

Stevens giving the refs hell enough to get a T was also a help, IMO.

everyone talks about Houston not having Paul and Capela, but it looked to me like we were down Hayward and Brown also...even -stevens Houston fans!

Great come back and I hope Stevens finally keeps Smart in the starting lineup and lets Jaylen be our 6th man /swing man ala Havlicek off the bench when he returns.

First off, James Harden is such an asshole.

He is a perfect representation of the entitled, millennial, modern NBA.  He literally pushes off with his off hand on EVERY play.  Goes to the hoop and flops on half his drives.  And shoots more FT than anyone in the NBA by a LONG shot, yet has the balls to cry about the officials after he lays a big, selfish egg?  

The greatest players in NBA history played with 2 refs - and if Harden thinks he is better than Elgin Baylor, Sam Jones, Jerry West, George Gervin or any other greats who played his position in the 2 official era - than he is an even bigger idiot than he appears (and this would be pretty hard to pull off)

STFU Harden - you played like a bunch of front runners and got the loss you deserved.  

As for the rest, Great comeback.  Lots of heart and shows how vital Marcus Morris is to this team being an upper echelon team.  If he can only play every 3 games - that wont be enough to get the team over the hump this year.  But I suspect that the medical staff is resting him in hopes of saving him for a full playoff run.

Seems Al and KI both had really ugly first half......terrible shooting and carless turnovers that lead to easy Houston hoops yet some choose to pick on Smart. His misses seem to be harped on much more than anything else.  

There isn't a player on the team that can cause more havoc with the other team than him NOT A ONE.

I think I can live with ugly shots.  

No way he caused us to be down 25 in the beginning....it was a total team effort.  

Heck look at the terrible shooting by the Houston starting backcourt  16 for 50  32%  that was 62.5% of Houston's total attempts......tend to believe a bit of that was caused by Mr Smart. I do hope DA finds a way to keep him.


As for Harden.......geesh 15 foul shots isn't enough.  Complains later that 2 refs caused it to happen. Seems to me the NBA did pretty good for a whole lot of years with just 2.  And in the playoffs there is always an alternative ref on the sidelines for this very reason.

Heard a line that said Harden has more elbows than a bag of macaroni.

He was bitching that Smart was grabbing him yet in the replays Smarts hands were not even close to him.  That said read a Houston fan was bitching Smart traveled before the feed to Tatum just before the charge call  and sure enough you watch Marcus's feet he did shuffle them some. Breaks go both ways and we got some when we needed them.  We've been down 12 times by at least 15 points and are 8-4 in those games.



We have played many more games than anyone else so far.  Big part of that reason is the game in London vs Philly on Jan 11, 4 days off before that and 4 after. Now we get many more days off and many 2 day breaks which bode well for our health and for a few practices too. Heard we have not had anything more than walk thru since mid November.   

This team has bunker mode mentality.  

3 games to go to get to the half way point and we got 29 wins.  I don't really care how we got them either.  Now lets finish of the 2017 year with 30 !!

And if I'm a little late hope everyone had a nice Christmas and has a great New Years.

Christmas here was a bit different as Marcus headed back to Boston on Christmas eve due to the weather forecast.  We got pounded pretty good with 3-4 feet of snow over 2 +days. That said a few miles to the south of us they got 6 feet.   Now we have freezing temps to boot -45 yesterday morning  and never got above 0 today a little bit warmer gonna get to the single numbers so they say.


beat

This one has to go into the signature win column.  It was the largest comeback (26 points) this year in the NBA.  It was against an offensive juggernaut that came to town rested and needing a win after dropping 3 straight.  

This is a team sport so you have to share the ball but the game ball belongs to Marcus Smart.  At this point we all know that this is not about Marcus being a great shooter.  It is all about his impact that is characterized by mental toughness, energy, leadership, a relentless resolve, fortitude, guts, pride and an infectious passion for winning.  Marcus Smart refused to let his team lose last night.

There are so many contributions from the team last night.  Larkin did a tremendous job on Gordon.  Baynes came in in the 2nd half and took control over the painted area.  Tatum's shooting from outside was off but he put 10 points on the board in the 1st half and made big plays at both ends in the 2nd including a rare block on a Harden 3 ball.  Both Morris and Rozier came of the bench and made major contributions to the comeback,  Rozier had another steal at one end and a flying dunk at the other.  Morris knocking down big time shots when needed the most.  In the end Al won the game with a jump hook in the post despite his below average play all game and Kyrie led the team in scoring with 26.  His 7 turnovers were caused by running the train off the tracks.  

James Harden is a f------ asshole.  Mr hero ball himself was turned into the monkey in a circus by Marcus Smart.  And after the game he bitches and moans about not getting calls because there were only 2 refs.  James Harden continuously pushes off defenders and the refs have allowed him to do that.  He thinks he is entitled but last night Marcus Smart turned him inside out and exposed him as a fraud, a sore loser and another villain for Celtics fans to despise.

By all means please mark this one down as a signature win!

dboss

26 points is the biggest comeback victory in the league this year, tying the 26 point comeback by GSW over Philly but Houston ain't the 15-19 Sixteeners.

Tell me any of you expected an ending like this after the first quarter or two?  Our starters looked mentally out of it.  Kyrie got his pocket picked at midcourt by a single defender and Al was throwing terrible passes.  After 1 we were 5-19, 26%, and down 20.  12 points in the quarter.  We pulled our heads out of our asses in the 2nd quarter but gave up 30 points and added 4 points onto the deficit at halftime.  By halftime they were shooting almost 42% on 3s and 3s made up 55% of their fgas.  Think about that.  They took 44fgas in the first half (an 88fga/game pace, pretty good), 55% of those 44 shots they took were 3s and they were hitting 42% of those.  That is smoking hot.  

When we got it down to under 10 I felt like we had showed enough Pride to hold our heads up and write the game off to a bad start after a surprisingly close game and flight up from Charlotte the night before.  I thought we made a great run to cut it to single digits from 26, 25 with 7:40 left in the 3rd, but our b2b legs would start to go on us in the 4th.  What I didn't count on was our Energizer Bunnies Nader, Larkin and Rozier.

I watched Nader carefully.  I thought it was odd that Brad didn't play him the night before in the easier game in Charlotte.  I opined, on the Charlotte Game On thread, that maybe he was saving him for minutes against Trevor Ariza.  That was a matchup that I looked forward to.  They are both about the same size (obviously Ariza is much more experienced and all), 6'8" 230#.  Sure enough Nader gets an early call and, in my opinion, played very well.  He only shot 2-6, 1-3 from 3 but he grabbed 7 rebounds, 3 of them offensive, and he also competed for some offensive rebounds that he didn't grab but by competing for them he disrupted the lethal Houston fast break.  Brad liked what he was doing so much, or didn't like what we were doing in the first half so much, that he started Nader in the 2nd half.


Scott Souza @Scott_Souza

yesterday

#Celtics coach Brad Stevens credits Abdel Nader's energy to start the second half to help start the comeback.
reply retweet like



Larkin was full-court pressing the ball up court on every trip.  Making them take time off the shot clock.  Wearing out their legs.  He didn't have one of his big scoring nights, in fact he only took 2 fgas, but his non-stop harassing energy had impact.

We got the Good Terry last night.  5-8 for 13 points, 2-4 from 3 and 5 rebounds and more harassing energy. 

Marcus Morris had a rough first half, like everybody else.  He had 0 points on 0-5, 0-2 from 3, 1 rebound and 3 TO in 8 minutes.  He stunk the court up.  In the 2nd half he took off with everybody else.  He ended up with 10 points on 4-11, which means he was 4-7 in the 2nd half and 2-4 from 3.  The rust was SO obvious in the 1st half.

The Rockets went 5-19 in the 4th quarter and only had 9 fgm in the entire 2nd half.  Harden went 2-8 in the 4th with those two Sportcenter offensive calls to lose the game for them.  I can't wait to read the Comments From The Other Side later.  Will they blame the ref (it was Tony Brothers on both calls), Smart for flopping (he sold it, but Harden clearly shoved him both times) or Harden for being a moron?  It's amazing that he did the exact same thing that he just got called on again.  Reminds me of a game with one of the dumbest players I've ever seen in the NBA, Kenyon Martin, known as K-Mart (because that's probably where he bought his brain).  Martin fell down and, to prevent his man from taking off up court on a break, grabbed him with both arms around an ankle and didn't let go.  Whistle.  Next sequence, same thing happened.  He went down at the same place on the floor, same ankle grab, same ref making the easy call.  That was James Harden last night.  He complained "what was I supposed to do?!  He had two arms around me!".  Well, for one thing, Beard, you might consider doing something different from the last thing that you did that didn't work out well for you or your team.  Einstein was right.

Tatum came on in the 2nd half going 3-5 for 9 of his 19.  He also had that game-saving block on Harden in the final minutes.

But what can you say about Marcus Smart.  He made one winning play after another after another in the final few minutes.  Harden is running down court in the paint, he gets a finger on the dribble and the ball is stolen before he can pass or get a shot off.  He grabs big, tough, clutch rebounds.  He made a perfect pass to a cutting Tatum for a dunk and then, on the ensuing inbound Houston passes he gets those two offensive fouls.  His DNA was all over that 4th quarter.  He was 4-11 after 3 but ended the game 6-14 for a 2-3 4th.  13 points on 43% shooting.  From Smart?  I'll take that all day and all night.  6 rebounds, a few very clutch, 5 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks and a ton, ton, ton of unquantifyable contributions.  Horford got it right when he said "when Smart plays like this we are a different team".  We had a lot of players who did things that aren't showing up in the boxscore.  Nader with his energy and contesting rebounds, Shane with his full-court presses and Smart with being a complete pest.

Classic quote:


Tom Westerholm @Tom_NBA

yesterday

Smart was asked if he prides himself in being a pain in the ass. “My Mom would say so.”
reply retweet like




Adam Himmelsbach @AdamHimmelsbach

yesterday

Rozier on Marcus drawing the two Harden fouls. “Man that just shows how crazy he is.”
reply retweet like


Scott Souza @Scott_Souza

yesterday

#Celtics Brad Stevens: There are a lot of excuses this team could have made. And they didn't. That was the most encouraging thing. The win or loss doesn't matter to me as much as seeing the resilience.
reply retweet like


I thought the reffing was pretty bad, overall.  Shane Larkin got horse collared to the ground and when a Rocket tripped over him he was called for the foul and not the Rocket who dropped Larkin.  A lot of bad calls.  I understand there was only two of them but there were some glaringly bad calls.  Harden was upset with the reffing, so I should just be happy, right?  LOL.


Here's Sean Grande calling the final few seconds.  Max is completely, totally losing it...










http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400975263



Relive the Glory Again!



























bob






.

KG's Area 21‏Verified account 

[ltr]@KGArea21[/ltr]






More
ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?

KG reacts to the closing moments of the @celtics 26-point comeback win over the Rockets. #KGArea21


https://twitter.com/KGArea21/status/946606675003363330






bob
MY NOTE:  KG's reaction to the end of the game is awesome.  He bleeds Green, he's gonna die Green and that's what it is.






.

From a crock of sheit to a vase of roses: A Tale of Two Halves

Finally, Mr NoShot stopped throwing up bricks. Unfortunately, he was missing everything. He wasn't alone.

I can't at this time ever remember a Celtics team playing this poorly, especially that first quarter. Nothing went right. Kyrie went from Mr Handle to getting picked and turning it over. Al Missing and not getting boards. It was pathetic basketball. Mr NoShot was not alone. It was a total team meltdown.

TRo said that Kyrie gathered the team under his wing at the half break and turned the whole energy of the team around. I wish he could have been more specific, but clearly Kyrie is all in this season.

The second half? A reversal of fortune if there ever was one. Who was responsible for the turn around? The whole team made contributions. Nader made a huge difference in both halves, most of which didn't show up in the boxscore. Kyrie had a stretch where he just put the team on his back and willed that everyone raise their energy level. And they did. And then some! Morris, Larkin, all had something to offer. There was also some talk about some 19 year old kid but I didn't really see that player. I did see a future all star however.

As you may have noticed I'm not jumping on the bandwagon. I have never liked Smart's offensive game and I still don't. He will never be an even adequate scorer, but he can hit the clutch shot and every few games he actually looks like an NBA player with game. And then he reverts. But Smart is the defensive leader of this team. Did Smart flop? Mebbe, but it wasn't until an obvious foul had been committed. Both times.

I've replayed that sequence a number of times and no two ways about it. Harden committed two offensive fouls. Listening to Harden after the game I have to agree with him. Only having two officials influenced the game. Kyrie said it best. They all had to adjust to that realm. One team did. They kept their composure and adjusted. The other team didn't. Plain and simple.

The refs had a very inconsistent game. But come on people, you are sounding like all those clowns in the "Comments From The Other Side threads. This is the modern NBA. Clearly today's refs are much better than the refs of previous decades. I mean those refs were so bad that they had to add a third ref, right? I mean, if all the players are so much better than the refs must be so too. Right? Mebbe? Mebbe not!

I know a lot of people may be surprised by this but I think Mr NoShot is and will continue to be a better option for a new contract than TRo. He just plays with so much emotion and can be such a difference maker.

I like the idea of space and pace positionless basketball. It's the wave of the future. It's been hard for me to embrace but I am trying very hard to buy in and have posted that way for some time now. But it is not the end all be all. IMO, teams have to be able to match up and part of doing that effectively is being able to play different styles dependent on those very same matchups. I think this is an area where Brad needs improvement.


There is no doubt that Stevens is at least in the top five of NBA coaches. But he has his own set of issues to overcome. He undertilizes his bench esp in terms of how matchups are working out. But you got to love the way he has his players back. That foul on Baynes on the block was terrible. Mercurial Morris (who is the poster child for a tale of two halves) really went after the ref and got a T. He was probably one more comment away from an ejection. But Brad stepped up and drew that second T. That was a much a part of the comeback as anything else.

There are no moral victories in roundball. You either win or you don't. Last night the Celtics got the only kind of victory that counts. And that does a lot for the morale of both fans and ther team.

Kyrie said that the team is going through this stretch just trying to survive until the trip to London. Saturday will mark the first team practice since November. Those four days before and after are going to be crucial to the second half of the season. They really truly need to practice. Practice? You taking about practice? Yep, sure am.

We are nearly half way through the season now and still on pace for 60 wins.

After going through a rough stretch, as much a part of things as anything else, is that the C's have played more games than any other team in the NBA. Most with no practice time after a strange preseason. All the elite teams have or are having a rough stretch of games just like we did. It's just part of the normal ebb and flow of an NBA season.

This team is not overachieving. They are playing to their potential. While the ECF winner is still the team to beat in the East, the Cavs are the ones who have to catch up like last season. But unlike last season, this is a better overall team.

As a long time Red Sox fan who saw his first game at Fenway nearly 60 years ago I am well acquainted with the phrase "Wait till next year". That would be Monday. And Wednesday we get our chance to start paying back.

Glimmer Glimmer Celtics are winners

If you watch this video of the last 18 seconds you'll see Houston needing to burn their last 2 timeouts because they couldn't inbound the ball.



Brian Robb @BrianTRobb

yesterday

Kyrie Irving on the key to team defending inbounds plays well late in games: "Brad Stevens."
reply retweet like







bob



.

bobc33 wrote:

Phil Pressey wrote:I'll just stop speculating.

Promise?

When it looked grim last night, I said cut it down to ten by the fourth, and that's precisely what happened.