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Celtics Wrap: Boston Cruises Past Grizzlies For Third Straight Victory

NESN by Adam London on Mon, Feb 26, 2018 at 9:52PM

The Boston Celtics continue to roll. The Celtics have yet to lose since returning from the NBA All-Star break, earning their third straight victory with a 109-98 win over the Memphis Grizzlies at TD Garden on Monday. After Memphis showed some signs of competitiveness in the opening minutes, Boston completely took over midway through the first quarter and never looked back. Kyrie Irving posted a game-high 25 points and was one of five Celtics to score in double figures. With the win, the Celtics improve to 43-19, while the Grizzlies fall to 18-41. Here’s how it all went down:

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

BREAKING TRENDS The Celtics had been outscored in the first quarter in eight of their last nine games, but Boston flipped the script against Memphis. Thanks to a strong surging performance, the C’s led 33-24 after 12 minutes. The Celtics as a team shot 60 percent from the floor, including a 7-for-10 clip from 3-point range. Irving dazzled in the first frame, pacing all scorers with 11 points while dishing out four assists. Marc Gasol was the only Grizzlies player to give Boston trouble in the first, notching nine points.

BENCH BONANZA The C’s took a comfortable 67-41 lead into halftime without a considerable effort from their starting five. Boston starters only contributed 12 points — 10 of which coming from Irving — in the second quarter as the team’s reserves carried the load to open the floodgates. Terry Rozier led the first-half charge off the bench for the Celtics, posting 12 points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting performance. Marcus Morris also had a big second frame with seven points and five points. Irving led all scorers with first-half 21 points in only 17 minutes of action.

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE The Grizzlies went on an 8-0 run to start the third, and the finished the quarter with a run of the same margin. Unfortunately for the visitors, their play in between eliminated any hope of getting back in the game. Boston kept its foot on the gas to open the second half and took an 86-69 lead into the final stanza. The C’s offense finally cooled down, as they only scored 19 points in the third. Baynes led Boston with five points in the quarter, while Irving added four to swell his total 25.

FOREGONE CONCLUSION Memphis effectively were out of the game before the first half even ended, so the final quarter was nothing more than garbage time. The Grizzlies did show some signs of life in the closing minutes of the game, cutting Boston’s lead to 11, but that’s as close as the Grizzlies would get. Boston’s reserves played the bulk of the final quarter, as neither Irving nor Horford played a single minute in the fourth.

PLAY OF THE GAME We’re not sure how Irving does the things that he does.

UP NEXT The Celtics return to action Wednesday night when they host the Charlotte Hornets. Tip-off from TD Garden is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.

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This game, I found, was aggravating.  Sure, they had a big lead, but, why can this team not hold onto those leads against such teams like the Grizzlies, who are struggling to get thru the season.  This was a name they should have won by more than 20 points. Sure, Kyrie and Al sat out the fourth quarter, but the players on the floor should have been able to hold the lead.  

The other point is that, right from the start of the game, the referees took over this game and blew whistle after whistle. I have no idea what the totals were for each team, but these ref's slowed this game down so much it was ridiculous.

We have a month and a half or so to try to get things straightened out.
There is so much talent on this team that we should be a stronger force out there on the floor.

RosalieTCeltics wrote:This game, I found, was aggravating.  Sure, they had a big lead, but, why can this team not hold onto those leads against such teams like the Grizzlies, who are struggling to get thru the season.  This was a name they should have won by more than 20 points. Sure, Kyrie and Al sat out the fourth quarter, but the players on the floor should have been able to hold the lead.  

The other point is that, right from the start of the game, the referees took over this game and blew whistle after whistle. I have no idea what the totals were for each team, but these ref's slowed this game down so much it was ridiculous.

We have a month and a half or so to try to get things straightened out.
There is so much talent on this team that we should be a stronger force out there on the floor.

Rosalie

This seems to happen a lot.  The Celtics played outstanding basketball during the first half but were outscored in both the 3rd and 4th quarters.  I thought their defense was a bit hollow and they stopped making those three point shots.  The Celtics made 10 three point shots in the first half but only 2 in the 2nd half.  They finished the game at 12/27 or 32.4%.  I was happy that they only took 27 threes.

Brad played 12 guys last night although Nadar's cameo 2 minute stint was irrelevant.  It is very easy to lose continuity because Brad is still experimenting with different rotations.  

Terry Rozier only played 19 minutes and that is because Brad wanted to get Larkin some run which only makes sense.  Terry is becoming one of the most reliable scorers off the bench.  He is now shooting 38% from deep.  He needs to work on finishing at the rim and in the lane but he has established himself as a very solid rotation player.

Marcus Smart played some tough defense.  He had 3 steals and he also had 5 assists.  That is the good part.  The bad part was his 1-7 makes on three point attempts.  Marcus is critically important to the Celtics but he remains a big liability shooting the 3 point shot.  As I have stated many many times he needs to refrain from taking a lot of 3 point shots.  It would really help his team on offense if he limits his 3 point shot attempts.

I am not going to delve into a complete review of every player from last night.  Obviously Kyrie is a rare talent.  Interesting that Al Horford was below average but Boston still managed to put up 109 points.  Daniel Theis has become a very solid player and continues to get better as the season progresses.  

Overall I am very happy that Boston won their 3rd straight game and I am really looking forward to the upcoming road trip where they will have to face several playoff bound teams.

Toronto continues to be the beast  in the East but the resurgence of the Cavaliers was greatly exaggerated.

The Tyreke-less, Conley-less Memphis Generals played pretty good garbage time last night but that's about it.  I was watching the game with the Game On! thread crew but was picturing baby harp seals being bludgeoned.  I rarely feel sorry for teams we beat but last night was one of those.  Marc Gasol spent a lot of time during dead-ball moments trying to tell his teammates where they should have gone and what they should have done.  There is talk of trading Gasol.  The Grizzlies are struggling financially.  Scal and Mannix were saying that if Gasol is traded that might be the final straw that moves the franchise to Seattle, which is dying to get an NBA team again.  I was in my local Starbucks a month or so back and this lady was sitting near me and we struck up a conversation.  She lives elsewhere but came back to the bay area to visit family.  Her son is one of the owners of the Grizzlies.  She was very proud of how her son has kept ticket prices down and does a lot of good work in the Memphis community.  I didn't have the heart to lift the hood and tell her about how the rest of the machine is running.  Here's Memphis' last 10 years' first round draft picks:  none in 2017, Wade Baldwin (25), Jarrell Martin (17), Jordan Adams (22), Tony Wroten (25), Greivis Vasquez (28), Dominique Jones (25), Xavier Henry (12), DeMarre Carroll (27), the immortal Hashem Thabeet (2), Donte Green (28), Kevin Love (5), Mike Conley (4).  Twelve first round picks in 10 years. The year before PG Mike Conley was drafted they drafted PG Kyle Lowry, who was traded after his rookie year to Houston for Adonal Foyle, Mike Wilks (who?) and a first round pick that turned out to be DeMarre Carroll.  Figure that one out, especially when DeMarre Carroll was later traded with Thabeet and a first round pick were traded to Houston for Shane Battier and Ish Smith.  That's a shitty trade even with the boat anchor that was Hashem Thabeet because Battier (who I love as a player) was already 33.  Love, of course, was traded to Minny on draft day with Griz flotsam for OJ Mayo and Minny jetsam.  What I'm saying is that the Memphis front office has not done a good job of getting good picks (look at how many are in the 20s.  Being a competitive team is not an insurmountable obstacle to improving your draft position.  Just ask Danny) nor have they done a good job of drafting players that can stick in the NBA with the picks they have, nor have they done a good job of trading for quality players.  No wonder they're on their way out in Memphis.  The problem, though, isn't the fans or the size of the market.  The problem will be relocating to Seattle too.

Morris played 34 minutes, nobody else played >26.  That's good, because things are going to get harder.  We have more road games than home games left and we're going through a home game stand now, which will mean even more road games for what is left.

Jaylen with a 4-11 game, but a SportCenter highlight play on a steal, a 360 degree spin away from a defender and a spectacular dunk.  Another hot start for him, he had 7 points on 2-3 after 1 quarter, but then fizzled going for only 6 points on 2-8 over the next 3 quarters.

Tatum with a forgettable night.  2-8 on the game and 0-3 for zero points at halftime.  He's not the same player he was in the 1st month or two.  Fatigue?  Being scouted?  ???

Overall this was our bench's game, and Kyrie's.  Two starters in double-digits (Kyrie with 25 and Brown with 13) and 3 bench players (Morris, Theis and Rozier).  Morris was inefficient, 6-15, but he is certainly dauntless (which could be a euphemism for "conscienceless").  

Smart having the type of shooting night we're used to but his defense is a difference-maker and the offense definitely runs better when he's running it.  I'm not sure how good it is, that a backup point guard is the best floor general on the team, but there it is.  The offense runs better, players get more touches, more open shots when Marcus Smart has the ball in his hands on offense.

Except for when you need buckets, then it's Kyrie.  He has it on a string.  Give him the ball and let him yo-yo defenders into a spin cycle.

43-19 is still 43-19 and that's not too shabby. There will be some rough patches coming up on the next 20 games, but this is when we start toughening up for the stiffer playoff competition.


http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400975644

three wins in a row, is it fools gold?

Probably not considering the competition.

I think it's time for me to give up Bob's porn link to stream the game. lol It almost doesn't function now so I stopped trying to watch the game after the first half. I miss Swede's links. I just can't seem to find these on my own. Oh well...

but this three game streak is exactly what the Celtics have needed. They needed to get some rest in and the all star break gave them that. Now, as Rosalee pointed out, they need to get it together in these final 20 games to prepare for the season that counts. I'm looking to close out 15-5 at a minimum to set up a deep playoff run. They have to beat every marginal team and compete for the rest.

Five minutes into this season the Celtics had every right to get discouraged and just fall apart. But instead they faced their adversity and have overcome it. This season is already a big success compared to what people thot after the injury to Hayward.

Now we will see just how good a coach Brad really is. This is the time to demonstrate you really know how to utilize the talent on the bench. I know dboss wants a shorter rotation but I'm fine with a flexible 10 man effort with everyone getting a chance to play in garbage time. (there has been far too little of that this season).

I'm glad to see Shane back on the court. His energy makes a real difference esp when he is ballhawking full court. TRo used to play this way and I'd like to see him return to form, his D is much more effective when he is shortening the clock for the other team.

MJ Blue is next up coming in on a 3 game streak of their own. Let's set the tone for the road trip coming up.

To me, sitting there watching this game, it was one they should have won by over 25 points. I really felt bad for Gasol, he was a lone shark out there, trying to direct traffic. It became one of those games where the second half became a time for me ball.
Letting teams off the hook like this is depressing to me. They have the players to finish games like this strong, but they just don't. Bad habits are forming on this team which to me is disturbing. Maybe I am being too critical, I don't know. But scoring 67 points in the first half indicated to me that this was going to be a blow out. Let's face it, Memphis had no one on that court besides Gasol who is worth talking about. Evans never saw the floor, Conley out for the year, Randolph traded

Oh well, I have said before, a win is a win is a win. But come playoff time they will be blown off the floor if they continue this pattern. They are too good for this type of play

mulcogiseng wrote:three wins in a row, is it fools gold?

Probably not considering the competition.

I think it's time for me to give up Bob's porn link to stream the game. lol  It almost doesn't function now so I stopped trying to watch the game after the first half. I miss Swede's links. I just can't seem to find these on my own. Oh well...

but this three game streak is exactly what the Celtics have needed. They needed to get some rest in and the all star break gave them that. Now, as Rosalee pointed out, they need to get it together in these final 20 games to prepare for the season that counts. I'm looking to close out 15-5 at a minimum to set up a deep playoff run. They have to beat every marginal team and compete for the rest.

Five minutes into this season the Celtics had every right to get discouraged and just fall apart. But instead they faced their adversity and have overcome it. This season is already a big success compared to what people thot after the injury to Hayward.

Now we will see just how good a coach Brad really is. This is the time to demonstrate you really know how to utilize the talent on the bench. I know dboss wants a shorter rotation but I'm fine with a flexible 10 man effort with everyone getting a chance to play in garbage time. (there has been far too little of that this season).

I'm glad to see Shane back on the court. His energy makes a real difference esp when he is ballhawking full court. TRo used to play this way and I'd like to see him return to form, his D is much more effective when he is shortening the clock for the other team.

MJ Blue is next up coming in on a 3 game streak of their own. Let's set the tone for the road trip coming up.

mulcogiseng

I did suggest that Brad may want to shorten his rotation.  The rotation has played much better as of late but I think an 8-9 man rotation may be better.  I think Brad is still struggling on how to use his rotation.  He even admits that he is not always sure how long he should let a guy play even when he is going good.  Brad mentioned that the other night during the post game.  I believe that if a guy is shooting well you leave him in there.    When I referenced an 8-9 man rotation, it does not mean that other guys will not get "specialty minutes (Semi,  Larkin or Nadar for example)  

Our top 9  are Irving, Brown, Horford, Tatum, Rozier, Morris, Smart, Theis, and Baynes.  Monroe has yet to find his role in the rotation.  The other night Tommy said that he looked out of shape.  

I would like to see this group get most of the minutes.  I believe that Rozier is the main one to get more minutes as he has really become an offensive weapon.  I would also make sure that Brown and Morris got more minutes.  I have Theis now in the top 8.

Article in todays paper by Jay King about Monroe and why he did not play. Looks like Brad not crazy about his defense, so he needs to learn their system better????? Theis has definitely won their trust, which I agree with. He is terrific, and even when off, he plays so hard he can't help but have an effect on the team.

RosalieTCeltics wrote:Article in todays paper by Jay King about Monroe and why he did not play.  Looks like Brad not crazy about his defense, so he needs to learn their system better?????  Theis has definitely won their trust, which I agree with. He is terrific, and even when off, he plays so hard he can't help but have an effect on the team.

Rosalie,

I could have told Brad that Monroe is a half-hearted defender, a low-post version of Gerald Green.  Maybe I should leave my phone number on file with the Celtic front office should the situation ever come up again.   .

I still think he'll be valuable I'm just not expecting him to be much different than he was, although, if anybody can make Moose play defense it's Brad.

The message has been sent.  This is Brad Stevens' team and if you want to play you need to do what he wants and he wants defense.


bob


.

It's funny, after reading that Jay King article this afternoon, that was the exact opinion I had. They can put whoever they want on this team, Brad is going to use the guys who he believes will get him further in the playoffs this year than last. Do you think for one minute he did not sign off on that IT trade??? He loved the guy, but he is here for one reason, to win a championship or three and do it with the best available players. He will play Daniel Theis as much or as often as the matchup works. Baynes got a good amount of time on the floor last night too. So, Monroe has to learn that if he wants to play, he has to work. Period. Guy with a lot of talent that wants to take the easy way out and not work hard on defense. That is why he has been traded so many times

By the way, I emailed Danny with your number. 1-800-BOBH.
He will be calling

RosalieTCeltics wrote:It's funny, after reading that Jay King article this afternoon, that was the exact opinion I had.  They can put whoever they want on this team, Brad is going to use the guys who he believes will get him further in the playoffs this year than last.  Do you think for one minute he did not sign off on that IT trade??? He loved the guy, but he is here for one reason, to win a championship or three and do it with the best available players.  He will play Daniel Theis as much or as often as the matchup works. Baynes got a good amount of time on the floor last night too.  So, Monroe has to learn that if he wants to play, he has to work. Period.  Guy with a lot of talent that wants to take the easy way out and not work hard on defense. That is why he has been traded so many times

The Celtics defense requires the center to play defense away from the basket.  Monroe looks both slow and lazy on defense.  If he wants to play he has to become a much better defender.

Theis, Baynes, Horford, Morris and Tatum are enough for bigs. Monroe will need to make it happen. Right now he is competing with probably Semi and Shane for rare spark plug minutes. He's a classic reclamation project and low risk. He's good insurance and depth.

Smart is the big difference, imho. Five assists with no turnovers is greatness for a pg in 22 minutes. I'm thinking #18. Brown is on the verge. Tatum just needs to stay in the flow and not force it. They just have to stay healthy. The C's can only get better. Cleveland came back to earth.

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Marc Gasol has had enough



1:15 PM - 28 Feb 2018



bob



.

mulcogiseng wrote:three wins in a row, is it fools gold?

Probably not considering the competition.

I think it's time for me to give up Bob's porn link to stream the game. lol  It almost doesn't function now so I stopped trying to watch the game after the first half. I miss Swede's links. I just can't seem to find these on my own. Oh well...

but this three game streak is exactly what the Celtics have needed. They needed to get some rest in and the all star break gave them that. Now, as Rosalee pointed out, they need to get it together in these final 20 games to prepare for the season that counts. I'm looking to close out 15-5 at a minimum to set up a deep playoff run. They have to beat every marginal team and compete for the rest.

Five minutes into this season the Celtics had every right to get discouraged and just fall apart. But instead they faced their adversity and have overcome it. This season is already a big success compared to what people thot after the injury to Hayward.

Now we will see just how good a coach Brad really is. This is the time to demonstrate you really know how to utilize the talent on the bench. I know dboss wants a shorter rotation but I'm fine with a flexible 10 man effort with everyone getting a chance to play in garbage time. (there has been far too little of that this season).

I'm glad to see Shane back on the court. His energy makes a real difference esp when he is ballhawking full court. TRo used to play this way and I'd like to see him return to form, his D is much more effective when he is shortening the clock for the other team.

MJ Blue is next up coming in on a 3 game streak of their own. Let's set the tone for the road trip coming up.

I have been lazy lately sorry. One can pretty much always find good ones at http://genti.stream/ for all games, sort of a league pass for the poor ones