POST GAME DALLAS - AWAY & THE ANTHONY DAVIS TRADE RUMOR

Celtics Notes: J.J. Barea Too Much In Fourth Quarter As Celtics Fall To Mavericks

NESN by Patrick McAvoy on Sun, Nov 25, 2018 at 12:04AM

An 18-point victory over the Atlanta Hawks wasn’t enough to snap the Boston Celtics out of their funk as they fell to the Dallas Mavericks 113-104 on Saturday night at American Airlines Center.

In typical Celtics fashion, they fell behind early and had to scratch and claw all game just to stay in it. The Mavs set the tone early hitting their first seven 3-pointers and rode that momentum throughout the night. The threes kept falling for Dallas as they ended up hitting 16 during the game.

The C’s absorbed every blow the Mavericks threw at them early and entered the locker room down just 59-56. It looked for a little bit like Boston changed its ways in the second half as it came out of the break hot and even took its first lead of the game with 5:25 remaining in the third quarter. Sadly for the Celtics, it would be their only lead of the game.

Once Dallas regained the lead it would never look back. J.J. Barea was the biggest thorn in Boston’s side all night, doing the most damage in the fourth quarter when he scored seven of his 20 points off the bench. The former Northeastern Husky also tied teammate Luka Doncic for the game-high in assists with eight.

After the game, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens had a lot to say about his team’s sluggish performance.

“I thought we were a step slow all night,” said Stevens on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “They put us on our heels.”

The Mavs came out swinging early and often and the Celtics had no answers, playing from behind almost the entire game.

Marcus Smart mirrored Stevens’ frustration after the game.

“Words can’t even explain it. It’s like déjà vu all over again,” Smart said. “Like, we keep saying and doing the same thing after every game. It’s getting really annoying. I mean, I don’t even know what to say to you guys at this point.”

Smart didn’t stop there.

“This is the first time in my life I’ve had literally no answer for any questions,” Smart said when asked about the Celtics’ tendency to fall behind in games. “I honestly don’t know what it is, and I’m stumped right now.”

Boston hasn’t played with the grit that is typically expected from the team, and it never has been more apparent than after Saturday’s game.

“When guys aren’t scared of you anymore, there’s nothing you can do,” Smart said.

Following the loss to Dallas, Boston now has lost seven of its last 11 and sit at 10-10 a quarter into the season. A lot has to be done if the C’s are going to live up to the lofty expectations — and it has to start now.

Here are more notes from Celtics-Mavericks:

— One bright spot from Boston’s loss  was the play of Smart. The fifth-year guard had his best offensive game of the season, scoring a season-high 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.

— Jaylen Brown exited the game late after a nasty fall in the fourth quarter. After the game, Stevens said there is “no update” on Brown .

— Neither team could hang on to the ball as the C’s turned it over a season-high 18 times and the Mavericks turned it over 16 times.

— For the second straight game, Boston faced off with a potential Rookie of the Year candidate in Doncic. The 19-year-old lived up to the hype against the C’s scoring 15 points and adding eight assists and three steals.

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NBA Rumors: Pelicans’ Anthony Davis Open To Potential Trade To Celtics

NESN by Dakota Randall on Sat, Nov 24, 2018 at 10:21AM

A day may come when the Anthony Davis-to-Boston Celtics rumors die down, but today is not that day.

The latest — and perhaps most tantalizing rumor for Celtics fans — comes courtesy of Get More Sports’ Chris Sheridan, a longtime NBA reporter with legitimate credibility. According to Sheridan, the Celtics are among five teams that Davis is open to spending his future with.

(Disclaimer: Sheridan wrote this column just before the start of the regular season, but retweeted it Friday, prompting widespread sharing and buzz among NBA fans and media.)

“As it pertains to the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics are very much in play as the ultimate long-term landing zone for the best player on the New Orleans Pelicans,” Sheridan wrote. “A source with intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the NBA told Get More Sports that Davis is considering five teams in the near and distant future: The Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans, New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers.”

Sheridan noted the “determining factor” in whether Davis gets dealt is the success, or lack thereof, of the Pelicans in the first half of the season. If New Orleans struggles (10-9, 10th in Western Conference through 19 games), Sheridan reports it’s “more likely than not” Davis will be moved before the February trade deadline.

If the Pelicans eventually decide to trade Davis, Sheridan believes no team is “more primed” than the asset-rich Celtics to land the superstar forward.

However, the Celtics might not want the Pelicans to trade Davis during the 2018-19 season.

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112288 wrote:Celtics Notes: J.J. Barea Too Much In Fourth Quarter As Celtics Fall To Mavericks

NESN by Patrick McAvoy on Sun, Nov 25, 2018 at 12:04AM

An 18-point victory over the Atlanta Hawks wasn’t enough to snap the Boston Celtics out of their funk as they fell to the Dallas Mavericks 113-104 on Saturday night at American Airlines Center.

In typical Celtics fashion, they fell behind early and had to scratch and claw all game just to stay in it. The Mavs set the tone early hitting their first seven 3-pointers and rode that momentum throughout the night. The threes kept falling for Dallas as they ended up hitting 16 during the game.

The C’s absorbed every blow the Mavericks threw at them early and entered the locker room down just 59-56. It looked for a little bit like Boston changed its ways in the second half as it came out of the break hot and even took its first lead of the game with 5:25 remaining in the third quarter. Sadly for the Celtics, it would be their only lead of the game.

Once Dallas regained the lead it would never look back. J.J. Barea was the biggest thorn in Boston’s side all night, doing the most damage in the fourth quarter when he scored seven of his 20 points off the bench. The former Northeastern Husky also tied teammate Luka Doncic for the game-high in assists with eight.

After the game, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens had a lot to say about his team’s sluggish performance.

“I thought we were a step slow all night,” said Stevens on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “They put us on our heels.”

The Mavs came out swinging early and often and the Celtics had no answers, playing from behind almost the entire game.

Marcus Smart mirrored Stevens’ frustration after the game.

“Words can’t even explain it. It’s like déjà vu all over again,” Smart said. “Like, we keep saying and doing the same thing after every game. It’s getting really annoying. I mean, I don’t even know what to say to you guys at this point.”

Smart didn’t stop there.

“This is the first time in my life I’ve had literally no answer for any questions,” Smart said when asked about the Celtics’ tendency to fall behind in games. “I honestly don’t know what it is, and I’m stumped right now.”

Boston hasn’t played with the grit that is typically expected from the team, and it never has been more apparent than after Saturday’s game.

“When guys aren’t scared of you anymore, there’s nothing you can do,” Smart said.

Following the loss to Dallas, Boston now has lost seven of its last 11 and sit at 10-10 a quarter into the season. A lot has to be done if the C’s are going to live up to the lofty expectations — and it has to start now.

Here are more notes from Celtics-Mavericks:

— One bright spot from Boston’s loss  was the play of Smart. The fifth-year guard had his best offensive game of the season, scoring a season-high 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.

— Jaylen Brown exited the game late after a nasty fall in the fourth quarter. After the game, Stevens said there is “no update” on Brown .

— Neither team could hang on to the ball as the C’s turned it over a season-high 18 times and the Mavericks turned it over 16 times.

— For the second straight game, Boston faced off with a potential Rookie of the Year candidate in Doncic. The 19-year-old lived up to the hype against the C’s scoring 15 points and adding eight assists and three steals.

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The losses do not hurt as much as they did last week. I do not know if I have resigned myself to expecting this team to lose or what.

The Celtics played well in spurts but as usual some guy on the other team gets hot and becomes unstoppable!

KI had one of his worse games of the year at both ends but you have to be able to absorb a bad game and Boston just could not do it. Boston recorded 18 turnovers in the game. They simply could not get stops when they needed it and they could not execute their offense when they needed to.

The Celtics are a mentally soft team.

Brad Steven better get a handle on things.

I think last year for the most part our defense was so good, it masked a lot of problems. Smart still makes hustle plays, but I see guys scoring right on him and Rozier a lot more than last year. Teams are getting at the rim too easily and we can’t make a big rebound and give up several too many times in one sequence. It would also be great if Kyrie could figure out more how to help the team when his shot is not falling, Bird and Pierce could obviously do that and we have enough talent on this team so when he’s off, get the others going and not take bad shots.

I recently did a quick review on FGA's for the top EC teams and if you happen to see that you would know that FGA are heavily weighted towards the top 2 or 3 guys on the teams.

With respect to Kyrie, he takes 17.8 FGA per game out of a total of 90.2 FGA for the team. That is 20% of the team's FGA.

As a matter of fact I would like to see him get more shots because he is our best offensive player.
Several other guys should take less shots. Guys that are not shooting the 3 ball well should take less 3 point shoots.

The team needs to reduce their preference for the 3 point shot and that needs to begin with the guys that are not making them.

dboss wrote:I recently did a quick review on FGA's for the top EC teams and if you happen to see that you would know that FGA are heavily weighted towards the top 2 or 3 guys on the teams.

With respect to Kyrie, he takes 17.8 FGA per game out of a total of 90.2 FGA for the team.  That is 20% of the team's FGA.  

As a matter of fact I would like to see him get more shots because he is our best offensive player.  
Several other guys should take less shots.  Guys that are not shooting the 3 ball well should take less 3 point shoots.  

The team needs to reduce their preference for the 3 point shot and that needs to begin with the guys that are not making them.  

 

I don't really want to see him take more shots. I want to see him get someone involved besides Horford. If the team as a hole gets more shots then yes I am OK with KI getting more shots, but we have to run more. As I have been saying all along and heard the exact same thing on the radio the other day was Kyrie needs to get the most shots but Tatum needs to get enough touches and he needs to average 20 pts a game. We can't depend on one guy. Shooters can't get in a rhythm if they hardly touch the ball and we can't have 5 guys shooting the 2nd most shots. When they get the ball they feel the need to shoot. Against Mavs there were either 1 pass or no passes after half court. Not a winning combination.

I look at Tatum playing for say the Mavs, he would be a 20 pt scorer easy. Doncic on the Celtics would not be looking like he does on the Mavs.

tardust wrote:

dboss wrote:I recently did a quick review on FGA's for the top EC teams and if you happen to see that you would know that FGA are heavily weighted towards the top 2 or 3 guys on the teams.

With respect to Kyrie, he takes 17.8 FGA per game out of a total of 90.2 FGA for the team.  That is 20% of the team's FGA.  

As a matter of fact I would like to see him get more shots because he is our best offensive player.  
Several other guys should take less shots.  Guys that are not shooting the 3 ball well should take less 3 point shoots.  

The team needs to reduce their preference for the 3 point shot and that needs to begin with the guys that are not making them.  

 

I don't really want to see him take more shots.  I want to see him get someone involved besides Horford.  If the team as a hole gets more shots then yes I am OK with KI getting more shots, but we have to run more. As I have been saying all along and heard the exact same thing on the radio the other day was Kyrie needs to get the most shots but Tatum needs to get enough touches and he needs to average 20 pts  a game.  We can't depend on one guy.  Shooters can't get in a rhythm if they hardly touch the ball and we can't have 5 guys shooting the 2nd most shots.  When they get the ball they feel the need to shoot.  Against Mavs there were either 1 pass or no passes after half court. Not a winning combination.  

I look at Tatum playing for say the Mavs,  he would be a 20 pt scorer easy.  Doncic on the Celtics would not be looking like he does on the Mavs.

Tardust

May I suggest that you take a look at FGA for other top players on other teams. I think you will find that KI is not on the high side. I also think that Tatum should get more shots.

Dboss.

I don't need to look at it, I know he doesn't take as many as some of them but their teams I suspect take a lot more shots. I just think you need more than 1 guy to get you point on a regular basis. Actually you probably need three. Maybe I should rephrase, I want more shots from the whole team with Kyrie getting more along with Tatum, and possibly Morris the way he has shot this year. We don't push the ball enough, not enough layups, our centers are too slow to keep up with the fast teams. I would sure take a look at our rookie and tell him rebound and block shots and don't worry about anything else. Surely a rookie can grasp that. One last thought- FREE THROWS

tardust wrote:Dboss.

I don't need to look at it,  I know he doesn't take as many as some of them but their teams I suspect take a lot more shots.  I just think you need more than 1 guy to get you point on a regular basis.  Actually you probably need three.  Maybe I should rephrase,  I want more shots from the whole team with Kyrie getting more along with Tatum, and possibly Morris the way he has shot this year.  We don't push the ball enough,  not enough layups,  our centers are too slow to keep up with the fast teams.  I would sure take a look at our rookie and tell him rebound and block shots and don't worry about anything else.  Surely a rookie can grasp that.  One last thought- FREE THROWS

tardust

Having 2 or 3 players hogging the minutes and field goal attempts has been the formula for a majority of NBA champs. When you have a cannon - shoot it.

swish

tardust wrote:Dboss.

I don't need to look at it,  I know he doesn't take as many as some of them but their teams I suspect take a lot more shots.  I just think you need more than 1 guy to get you point on a regular basis.  Actually you probably need three.  Maybe I should rephrase,  I want more shots from the whole team with Kyrie getting more along with Tatum, and possibly Morris the way he has shot this year.  We don't push the ball enough,  not enough layups,  our centers are too slow to keep up with the fast teams.  I would sure take a look at our rookie and tell him rebound and block shots and don't worry about anything else.  Surely a rookie can grasp that.  One last thought- FREE THROWS

Tardust

I agree we need more FGA. We put up 90.2 FGA and rank 12th. The top team in Attempts is OKC at 93.8 FGA.

What I have come to realize is that the top teams do not have 5 guys averaging double figures in FGA

You seemed to have suggested that Kyrie is shooting too much that is the only thing I am disagreeing with. Your other points make perfect sense.

dboss wrote:

tardust wrote:Dboss.

I don't need to look at it,  I know he doesn't take as many as some of them but their teams I suspect take a lot more shots.  I just think you need more than 1 guy to get you point on a regular basis.  Actually you probably need three.  Maybe I should rephrase,  I want more shots from the whole team with Kyrie getting more along with Tatum, and possibly Morris the way he has shot this year.  We don't push the ball enough,  not enough layups,  our centers are too slow to keep up with the fast teams.  I would sure take a look at our rookie and tell him rebound and block shots and don't worry about anything else.  Surely a rookie can grasp that.  One last thought- FREE THROWS

Tardust

I agree we need more FGA.  We put up 90.2 FGA and rank 12th.  The top team in Attempts is OKC at 93.8 FGA.

What I have come to realize is that the top teams do not have 5 guys averaging double figures in FGA

You seemed to have suggested that Kyrie is shooting too much that is the only thing I am disagreeing with.  Your other points make perfect sense.

Dboss, a lot of it has to do with the quality of shot to me and free throws. I didn't exactly mean that about Kyrie. The problem I see is he could take over a game like that and did in Cleveland before Lebron came back, they lost a ton of games and got first picks in the draft. I was all for the Kyrie trade with a few mixed feelings on the NJ pick, but I would have still did it. You have to have a Kyrie type player that can get a shot any time they want it and he can definitely fill it up. Hopefully the coaching staff can figure something out to get some easier shots for guys.

swish wrote:

tardust wrote:Dboss.

I don't need to look at it,  I know he doesn't take as many as some of them but their teams I suspect take a lot more shots.  I just think you need more than 1 guy to get you point on a regular basis.  Actually you probably need three.  Maybe I should rephrase,  I want more shots from the whole team with Kyrie getting more along with Tatum, and possibly Morris the way he has shot this year.  We don't push the ball enough,  not enough layups,  our centers are too slow to keep up with the fast teams.  I would sure take a look at our rookie and tell him rebound and block shots and don't worry about anything else.  Surely a rookie can grasp that.  One last thought- FREE THROWS

 tardust

 Having 2 or 3 players hogging the minutes and field goal attempts has been the formula for a majority of NBA champs. When you have a cannon - shoot it.

 swish

I agree sir!!

We have a pop guns!

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Patience.