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Celtics Wrap: Kyrie Irving’s 38 Points Lift Boston To Win Over Grizzlies

NESN by Adam London on Fri, Jan 18, 2019 at 9:21PM

For the second straight game, the Boston Celtics were winners. And for the second straight game, Kyrie Irving was nearly unstoppable.

Following a career night against the Toronto Raptors, Irving responded with a monster 38-point, 11-assist performance in the Celtics’ 122-116 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies at TD Garden.

The Grizzlies hung tough throughout the back-and-forth affair, even erasing a 16-point deficit in the second quarter. But when it was all said in done, Irving and Co. were just too much for the visitors.

Boston featured four other scorers in double figures, as Marcus Smart (20), Al Horford (18), Jaylen Brown (12) and Terry Rozier (10) helped withstand the strong efforts by Mike Conley (26) and Jaren Jackson Jr. (23).

With the win, the Celtics improved to 27-18, while the Grizzlies fell to 19-26.

Here’s how it all went down:

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

PUNCH, COUNTERPUNCH
The Grizzlies’ withstood the Celtics’ hot start and ripped an 11-0 run to take a 22-16 lead with just over three minutes left in the first quarter. But Boston didn’t let Memphis’ momentum last much longer, as it dominated the rest of the frame to the tune of a 19-2 run and took a 35-24 lead into the second.

Smart had the hot hand for the C’s in the first with a team-high nine points courtesy of three 3-pointers. It also didn’t take very long for Boston’s bench to make an impact, as the second unit pitched in a combined 13 points led by Brown’s six. Jackson Jr. was the high man for the Grizzlies with nine points to go along with three rebounds.

SLOPPY SECOND
Just when it seemed like the Celtics were going to put the Grizzlies in a deep hole, the visitors flipped the script and swung the game in their favor. Despite shooting 53 percent in the second, Boston’s seven turnovers in the quarter allowed Memphis to mount a comeback and take a 62-58 lead into the break.

Boston strengthened its grip on the contest when Smart drilled a 3-pointer to boost the lead to 16 two minutes into the frame. But from there it was all Grizzlies, who closed the quarter on a 36-to-16 run. JaMychal Green and Conley led the way with nine second-quarter points apiece, while Justin Holiday wasn’t far behind with eight.

Aside from turnovers, the Celtics also were plagued by 3-point struggles in the first two quarters. While Smart converted on four of five attempts from beyond the arc, the rest of the team only knocked down three of 16.

KYRIE TAKES OVER
Following the Grizzlies’ flurry to close the second quarter, Irving decided to take matters into his own hands.

After being limited to just 10 first-half points, Irving erupted for 20 (!) on 7-of-10 shooting in the third to help the Celtics take a 96-91 lead into the final frame. To put Irving’s outburst in perspective, the star guard accounted for 53 percent of Boston’s third-quarter points.

The momentum didn’t totally shift in the Celtics’ favor, however, as the Grizzlies maintained an efficient offense, scoring 29 points in the third to keep the game close. Conley led the charger with 11 points in the quarter.

FINISHING TOUCHES
The Celtics weren’t going to let this one slip through their fingers.

With just a five-point lead heading into the fourth, Boston kept its foot on the gas to notch its second straight win. The C’s relied on their stars in crunch time, as Irving provided eight fourth-quarter points, while Horford turned in five. Jackson Jr. helped the Grizzlies keep things interesting with 12 in the final frame, but it wasn’t enough to steal a road win.

PLAY OF THE GAME
Too smooth.

UP NEXT
The Celtics will play the second leg of their back-to-back Saturday night against the Atlanta Hawks. Tip-off from State Farm Arena is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.

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ANOTHER NICE GAME BY IRVING LEADING BY EXAMPLE.

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Irving, Smart, Baynes Brown all played well.  Terry, Tatum, Horford. Hayward, Morris all made plays

Game ball to Aron Baynes.  His size and physical play made the difference agsinst their big 4/5 combo.

Kyrie Irving plays on another level.  His shot making abilities are extraordinary.

What alien craft kidnapped Marcus Smart's body and infused it with shot making ability to complement his ferocious D?

Did Danny make a great resigning or what?

What Smart possesses is pure heart, tough to teach, you either have it or you don't.

Hope it rubs off on to the next generation of Celtics behind him.

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It's a beautiful thing.

Amen Worcester!

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worcester wrote:What alien craft kidnapped Marcus Smart's body and infused it with shot making ability to complement his ferocious D?

Did Danny make a great resigning or what?

These was a streach of games last year where Marcus looked really good shooting the deep ball and then he reverted back to bad form.

He is no longer just jacking up shots.  His shot is one fluid motion.  His realease point is a tad forward.  It's like he is shooting darts.  His structure is sound and his balance looks great.  Now I expect every shot to go in.

Here is the game flow.



Pretty close game, at least for the 1st, 3rd and 4th quarters.  I imagine that for the next team video session, Brad will share copious amounts of that poorly played 2nd quarter for training lessons of how not to play.

Marcus Smart and Aron Baynes were our most affective players out there for this game (IMO), even with Kyrie Irving going off for 38 points on 21 shots.

gyso

The toughness and dirty work provided by Baynes was huge, hope his body got a good rest, we are gonna need him for stretch run and playoffs.....we actually won the rebounding battle against a big team.

Sometimes things change gradually and they may be barely noticeable to you.  Yet there is a force pushing itself forward and then it explodes.

Such is the case with Marcus Smart.  I had to take a look at the numbers for myself.  I had to check and recheck them to make sure I was not having some  illusion.  Here they are

In October he shot .176.  In November he shot .370.  I thought, I seen that before ignore,  he is no 3 point shooter.  Then in December he shot .322 and I thought ok that is pretty close to his career 3 point shooting average and if he can match that (.335) that would be outstanding.
And then here in January a full blown display of accurate 3 point shooting at .537  on 22/41.  During this month he has had games of 6/8, 4/8, 4/8 and 5/8  Volume + Accuracy.

For the season he is up to .374 which is higher than the team average of .367.  

But one of the biggest shots that he made late night was a Kyrie Irving  type fadeaway in the paint.  He drained it.    It is starting to look like Danny got Marcus on the cheap.  When will the league recognize him.  He has never made an all defensive team.  I cannot think of one guard in the NBA that will battle on defense when defending positions 1-5.  

Two-way multi-position players are rare.  His offensive abilities are flipping the script upside down on who he really is,

Sorry for being so long winded but I am in one of those (Are you F...... kidding me moments)

We beat a team we should have beat.  Given our track record this season in such situations that, alone, is noteworthy.  Giving up a 38 point 2nd quarter, 62 points in the first half and a 116 points total to a team that is only averaging 101.2 points per game, good for the 29th offense?  Also noteworthy, just not in the same way.

I like Jaren Jackson Jr.  6'11", 245#, 7'4" wingspan.  He works hard and uses his length well.  I think Memphis did an excellent job of finding Marc Gasol's replacement.  Robert Williams should watch some of his game film.  I'm not just talking about just before a game against Memphis, like he probably did before last night's game, I mean regularly.  The #27 pick could do well to learn from the #4 pick in the same draft who is starting and getting heavy minutes, admittedly on an awful team, but he's developing and developing well and I see similarities in their games.  Role models are usually older veterans, but it isn't bad to have a peer that is a little ahead of you too, not if you've got ganas, then it just fuels you.

This shot is not indicative of Jackson's game, but it is funny.



Mike Conley is this era's Rod Strickland.  He's the best point guard to never make an All-Star team, but probably should.

Morris and Tatum with another stinker.  4-12 for Morris and 0-5 from 3 from Morris, who had been one of the NBA's most efficient scorers.  And 0-6 for Tatum.  The one bright spot I saw for Jayson was that he got a rebound, dribbled it up court himself (of course) and then passed it to from the top of the key to Kyrie for a shot.  The kid actually gave up the ball on a semi-fast break!  That wasn't an earthquake in California, that was impact of my ass hitting the floor in disbelief.  Over the last 5 games Morris and Tatum combined are shooting 50-125, 40%, and 15-41, 36.5% from 3.

Now, on to happier topics.  Kyrie Irving.  Whatever light bulb came on over his head I hope it never burns out.  He's shooting 56% over the last 5 games and has 29 assists in the last 2 games alone.  He's not only in the zone, he's in a zone that I put only him and Russell Westbrook in.  If he's not the best point guard in the league right now, I'd like to hear a name.  If you're a hoops lover, I don't care which team you root for, you have to be riveted to the TV watching Kyrie now.  He's doing stuff that with the ball I haven't seen anybody do since Allen Iverson.  The biggest difference, to me, is that Kyrie is on a team whereas Iverson was the team.   Iverson, like Ray Allen in Milwaukee and Seattle, had to score big numbers every night for their teams to even be in it, so they were allowed to burn it all on offense and save their energies on defense.  Kyrie doesn't have that kind of pressure on him with this team.  Want to see some handle?  About 2:00 on the game highlight film.  There's Kyrie highlights throughout the film of course, including the behind the back pass to Smart for 3, but the David Copperfield hands of Kyrie Irving is about the 2 minute mark or so.

Mark Murphy @Murf56
yesterday
Per stat guru Dick Lipe, Kyrie Irving became the first Celtic since Larry Bird in February of 1986 to record back-to-back games of at least 27 points and 11 assists.

Dead-eye Marcus Smart.  Unreal.  Whoda thunk it?  What a roll he's on!  He even hit a turnaround jumpshot last night.  I don't believe I've ever seen him take that shot, unless it was a buzzerbeater, before.

Jay King @ByJayKing
about 10 minutes ago
Kyrie’s splits since Marcus Smart joined the starting lineup are still ridiculous. 119.6 offensive rating. +15.1 net rating.

Smart had one shot last night that blew my mind.  The ball was high right, a pick was set by Baynes, of course, at the top of the key and Smart came low-to-high around the pick weak side.  He got the pass as he came around the pick and immediately went into a 3pter that went in.  You can see which shot I'm talking about at 5:40 of the game highlight film.  That is a whole other level up from a standing catch-and-shoot.  That's Klay Thompson shooting.  Speaking of Klay Thompson...

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
yesterday
At 37.4% from three, Marcus Smart is now shooting better than Klay Thompson (36.9%) from beyond the arc on the season (h/t @Dan Greenberg for pointing this craziness out).

Mark Murphy @Murf56
yesterday
Smart has shot .485 (16-33) from 3-point range over seven games in January.

But, on a less jolly note:
Adam Himmelsbach @AdamHimmelsbach
yesterday
After 45 games, Marcus Smart now has a better 3-point percentage than Jayson Tatum.


Baynes is a force.  Just a big ol' white boy out there; runs like a brontosaurus and jumps like an elephant, but he's an impact player.  He gets position in the paint and fights for boards, and is completely unselfish when it comes to setting solid, unmoving and unmovable picks.  Watch off-the-ball.  When you see players getting loose to penetrate or coming off a screen for an open shot it's more likely than not that happened because of Baynesy.

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071347






bob


.

dboss wrote:Sometimes things change gradually and they may be barely noticeable to you.  Yet there is a force pushing itself forward and then it explodes.

Such is the case with Marcus Smart.  I had to take a look at the numbers for myself.  I had to check and recheck them to make sure I was not having some  illusion.  Here they are

In October he shot .176.  In November he shot .370.  I thought, I seen that before ignore,  he is no 3 point shooter.  Then in December he shot .322 and I thought ok that is pretty close to his career 3 point shooting average and if he can match that (.335) that would be outstanding.
And then here in January a full blown display of accurate 3 point shooting at .537  on 22/41.  During this month he has had games of 6/8, 4/8, 4/8 and 5/8  Volume + Accuracy.

For the season he is up to .374 which is higher than the team average of .367.  

But one of the biggest shots that he made late night was a Kyrie Irving  type fadeaway in the paint.  He drained it.    It is starting to look like Danny got Marcus on the cheap.  When will the league recognize him.  He has never made an all defensive team.  I cannot think of one guard in the NBA that will battle on defense when defending positions 1-5.  

Two-way multi-position players are rare.  His offensive abilities are flipping the script upside down on who he really is,

Sorry for being so long winded but I am in one of those (Are you F...... kidding me moments)

Aside from his now improved offense and known defense he makes so many other non stat (for him) plays.

Late in this game a shot from the Griz goes up from the left. Smart already is fighting for position on the weak side against one of their trees.  With his left arm against the trees trunk they jump... Smart gets a couple fingertips on the ball and deflects it to a teammate.

He gets credit for nothing.  

Hard to believe he commits so few fouls while being so damn physical.

beat

And too add that + - stat line

Irving played 36 minutes scored 38 points yet the C’s were only +4 when he was on the floor.

Smart played 29 minutes scored 20 points but the C’s were +23 when he was on the floor.



I realize that stat has limitations but we sure appear to be a better team when he is on the floor.

beat wrote:

dboss wrote:Sometimes things change gradually and they may be barely noticeable to you.  Yet there is a force pushing itself forward and then it explodes.

Such is the case with Marcus Smart.  I had to take a look at the numbers for myself.  I had to check and recheck them to make sure I was not having some  illusion.  Here they are

In October he shot .176.  In November he shot .370.  I thought, I seen that before ignore,  he is no 3 point shooter.  Then in December he shot .322 and I thought ok that is pretty close to his career 3 point shooting average and if he can match that (.335) that would be outstanding.
And then here in January a full blown display of accurate 3 point shooting at .537  on 22/41.  During this month he has had games of 6/8, 4/8, 4/8 and 5/8  Volume + Accuracy.

For the season he is up to .374 which is higher than the team average of .367.  

But one of the biggest shots that he made late night was a Kyrie Irving  type fadeaway in the paint.  He drained it.    It is starting to look like Danny got Marcus on the cheap.  When will the league recognize him.  He has never made an all defensive team.  I cannot think of one guard in the NBA that will battle on defense when defending positions 1-5.  

Two-way multi-position players are rare.  His offensive abilities are flipping the script upside down on who he really is,

Sorry for being so long winded but I am in one of those (Are you F...... kidding me moments)

Aside from his now improved offense and known defense he makes so many other non stat (for him) plays.

Late in this game a shot from the Griz goes up from the left. Smart already is fighting for position on the weak side against one of their trees.  With his left arm against the trees trunk they jump... Smart gets a couple fingertips on the ball and deflects it to a teammate.

He gets credit for nothing.  

Hard to believe he commits so few fouls while being so damn physical.

beat

Beat that was a great play and the reason i mentioned his defense against 1-5. It was another extraordinary play. his core strength is unreal.

Dboss.  

I just added a bit to my response to your post.

Regardling the + - stat line

beat


beat

beat wrote:Dboss.  

I just added a bit to my response to your post.

Regardling the + - stat line

beat


beat

That +, - rating can be misleading but I think it really reflected Smart's impact both directly and indirectly. It also looks like Jaylen Brown has settled down and is playing much better at both ends. Smart and Brown are two of our best defenders

And too add

Marcus Smart has a higher 3P% than...
Klay Thompson – 36.9%
Kemba Walker – 35.9%
Devin Booker – 32.5%
Victor Oladipo – 34.8%
Brad Beal – 35.4%
Jamal Murray – 35.3%
Kyle Lowry – 31.3%
Chris Paul – 35.3%
Joe Ingles – 36.5%
Eric Gordon – 30.8%

beat

beat wrote:And too add

Marcus Smart has a higher 3P% than...
Klay Thompson – 36.9%
Kemba Walker – 35.9%
Devin Booker – 32.5%
Victor Oladipo – 34.8%
Brad Beal – 35.4%
Jamal Murray – 35.3%
Kyle Lowry – 31.3%
Chris Paul – 35.3%
Joe Ingles – 36.5%
Eric Gordon – 30.8%

beat

That is really impressive. We are seeing volume high quality 3 point makes. I would like to see Tatum catch and shoot or pass. His ISO plays tend to get him in trouble. Marcus is making great decisions. I think Tatum may be served well by taking some notes.