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Celtics Wrap: Boston’s Comeback Falls Short In 99-97 Loss To Pacers

NESN by Adam London on Sun, Mar 11, 2018 at 9:59PM

The Boston Celtics fought til the bitter end Sunday night, but it wasn’t enough to notch their third straight win. The Celtics fell to the Indiana Pacers 99-97 at TD Garden in what very well could have been a playoff preview. After a slow start to the game, the two teams went back and forth in the fourth quarter in what turned out to be a classic nail-biter. Boston faced quite a bit of adversity in the contest, starting the game without two starters and losing Kyrie Irving at halftime. But Marcus Smart (20 points) and Terry Rozier (16 points) picked up the slack and almost lifted the C’s to a stunning win. Victor Oladipo (27 points) proved to be too much for the Celtics down the stretch, carrying to the Pacers to their fifth win in six games. With the loss, the Celtics fall to 46-21, while the Pacers improve to 39-28. Here’s how it all went down:

STARTING FIVE PG: Kyrie Irving SG: Marcus Smart SF: Jayson Tatum PF: Marcus Morris C: Aron Baynes A pair of ailments caused for the Celtics’ new-look starting lineup Sunday. Jaylen Brown still is working his way back after taking a hard fall Thursday night, and Al Horford was forced out of action by an illness.

MISSED OPPORTUNITY The Pacers shot an underwhelming 36 percent from the field in the first quarter, but the Celtics failed to capitalize on their opponent’s struggles, taking just a 25-24 lead into the second. Boston’s offense was sound to start but only managed to get 19 shots up. Smart was feeling it from distance early on, knocking down both of his 3-point attempts. Terry Rozier matched his backcourt mate with six first-quarter points, a team high.

BALANCE The Celtics took a double-digit lead into halftime without any player scoring in double figures. After both Morris and Tatum were limited to two first-quarter points, each forward responded with six in the second to help Boston snag a 50-40 advantage at the break. Indiana continued to struggle from the field, only scoring 16 points in the second frame. Oladipo led the way for the Pacers with seven first-half points, while the C’s had five players above that threshold through two quarters.

WALKING WOUNDED Boston’s injury situation managed to go from bad to worse, as Irving didn’t come out for the second half and officially was ruled out with left knee soreness late in the third quarter. Indiana took full advantage of the Celtics’ dwindling roster, outscoring the C’s by 14 in the quarter to take a 74-70 lead into the fourth. Oladipo sparked the Pacers’ furious rally with 13 points in the third.

CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR The Celtics showed great fight in the fourth quarter against a Pacers team that found its rhythm in the second half. Boston remained well within striking distance throughout the frame thanks in large part to Smart, who made a number of strong defensive plays and knocked down a pair of clutch 3-pointers. Rozier cut the deficit to two with a bucket from beyond the arc with just over a minute to go, and Tatum tied the game at 95-95 with a pair of free throws 30 seconds later. Unfortunately for Boston, Indiana had an answer. Myles Turner muscled through Morris for the go-ahead bucket with 19 seconds left and Rozier couldn’t convert a scoop layup on the ensuing possession. The C’s had a chance to tie or hit the game-winner after an Oladipo offensive foul with 1.5 seconds left, but Rozier’s jumper rimmed out.

PLAY OF THE GAME A great pass from Rozier and a smooth finish from Daniel Theis.

UP NEXT The Celtics will have two days off before hosting the Washington Wizards on Wednesday. Tip-off from TD Garden is set for 8 p.m. ET

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Is there anyone on this board pining for Morris to be a starter?

I think Kelly Olynck is a better defensive player than Morris.

cowens/oldschool wrote:I think Kelly Olynck is a better defensive player than Morris.

Oh! Damn! The Ultimate Cowens Insult!


bob


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The stats between the two players are VERY CLOSE, with the key one at the bottom.  Marcus makes HALF the money.

We hung in there to the last shot without Horford, Brown and with Kyrie only playing 16 minutes.  That's not bad.

What was not good was our defense.  We held Oladipo to 7 points on 3-9 at halftime.  He went off on us for 20 points on 7-11 in the 2nd half and 13 of those 20 in the 3rd quarter.  Can't blame that on Kyrie's absence.  Would Oly have done that if Jaylen was playing?  Hmm, Oly is pretty quick but that's not the point.  We contained him for a half and then fell apart in the 2nd.  Either Brad didn't adjust to whatever adjustments Nate McMillan made at halftime or whomever was guarding him in the 1st half didn't get the job done in the 2nd.

As a team they shot 37.8% (17-45) in the first half and 48.1% for the game (39-81).  That translates into a 22-36 2nd half.  61.1%.  That's awful defense.  Our defense was great for the beginning of the year, but our offense sucked.  Our offense has been great since the ASG but our defense has sucked.  Last night, without Horford (12.9ppg), Brown (14.1ppg) and most of Kyrie's 24.4ppg we had a very depleted offense but our defense still sucked.  We just cannot turn them on and off when needed, like switches.

Smart was omnipresent.  20 points on 6-13 (6-12 from 3), 7 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals is quite the nice boxscore and, as we all know, the boxscore doesn't reflect what Marcus Smart adds to the team.  He sprained his thumb diving for a ball that he stole.  We are getting a lot of dings on this team.  Brown out with a concussion, Kyrie's knee, Larkin on minutes restriction from his knee and now Smart. Theis also banged his knee, walked with a distinct limp after the game, and is getting an MRI today.




Kyrie's knee is becoming worrisome.  Taking some days off didn't fix it.




Very nice game by Tatum.  1 1/2 minutes left in the game, we're down 4, and Tatum scored 5 of our last 8 points in the game.  3-4 from the line as he attacked the defense.  2 blocks on the game.  Rook stepping up!

Rozier is really blossoming.  Just night after night, he has become very consistent in meeting expectations and our expectations of him have grown.  

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400975744






bob



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We couldn't get the lid off the hoop in the 4th...

Watching Nader and Larkin on the court at the same time felt like D-League, freelance basketball.


KJ

k_j_88 wrote:

Watching Nader and Larkin on the court at the same time felt like D-League, freelance basketball.


KJ

Get used to it

All due fairness to Nadir he has not been given any real time on the court even though he was a top player in the D League averaging over 20 pts a game.  

Say what you want but a good shooter is a good shooter and given real playing time he could be in the high teens in scoring for the Celtics.

Hey..........give the guy a shot............what do you have to lose! We are down to bare bones minimum in the shooting department so play him!

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