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Celtics Wrap: Woeful Three Quarters Doom Boston In Loss To Rockets

NESN by Dakota Randall on Sun, Mar 3, 2019 at 6:03PM

BOSTON — In the end, the Celtics deserved to lose.

Following an embarrassing three quarters Sunday night at TD Garden, Boston nearly pulled off an improbable comeback against the Houston Rockets. But trailing by 20-plus points for a bulk of the game proved too much, as James Harden and Co. eventually prevailed with a 115-104 victory.

Harden finished with a game-high 42 points while shooting 14-for-31 from the field and 6-for-18 from 3-point range. Eric Gordon also poured in 32 points while shooting 8-for-12 from beyond the arc.

Kyrie Irving was the leading scorer for the Celtics, finishing with 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Al Horford chipped in 19 points while Marcus Smart finished with 18.

The Rockets shot 41.2 percent from 3-point range, while the Celtics finished at 28.6 percent.

With the loss, the Celtics fell to 38-26, while the Rockets improved to 38-25 with the win.

Here’s how it all went down:

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

ROCKETS TAKE OFF EARLY
Simply put: Houston came out with a sense purpose, and the Celtics did not.

Thanks to Harden (13 points) and Gordon (11 points), the Rockets held a 33-23 lead after the first frame. Houston shot 56.5 percent from the field and and 36.4 percent from 3-point range, compared to 52.6 percent and 25 percent for Boston.

Irving led the way for the Celtics with seven first-quarter points.

Boston finished the frame with six turnovers, compared to three for Houston.

FROM BAD TO WORSE
The second quarter was an ugly one for the Celtics.

With boos raining from the Garden rafters throughout the frame, the Celtics got outplayed and out-hustled on their way to a 65-43 halftime deficit. Harden and Gordon continued to lead the way for the Rockets, finishing the half with 23 and 20 points, respectively.

The Celtics failed to offer many highlights, but Jaylen Brown (six first-half points, three rebounds) did play well off the bench.

Irving (14 points) and Horford (10 points) led Boston in scoring at the half.

MORE OF THE SAME
The Celtics showed signs of life during the third quarter, but it mattered not, as Houston closed the frame with a 22-point advantage.

Gordon opened the quarter with consecutive threes to push the Rockets’ lead to 28, prompting more boos from the Garden crowd. However, the Celtics battled back, eventually narrowing the deficit to 17.

But Harden (37 points through three quarters) simply was too much.

Irving had 10 points in the quarter, while Horford poured in seven.

CELTICS’ COMEBACK COMES UP SHORT
As bad as the Celtics were through three quarters, they were that good in the fourth.

Boston got as close as eight points with 2:30 remaining, but the Rockets made their free throws — and came up with some timely rebounds — down the stretch to ice the game. The Celtics’ bench, particularly Brown, Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward, played a huge role in Boston’s comeback attempt.

The Celtics outscored the rockets 26-15 in the final quarter.

PLAY OF THE GAME
This Marcus Smart put-back pulled the Celtics within single digits and sent the Garden into a (temporary) frenzy:

UP NEXT
The Celtics will hit the road for a four-game California road trip, kicked off Tuesday night with a game against the Golden State Warriors. Tip Off from Oracle Arena is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. ET.

112288

THE NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME PLAYERS!

112288

dbrown4 wrote:Thanks for the Saturday Night Live Early Years reference, 112288!!  Nothing has changed.  Everyone else lost last night that would have given the Celtics a game up by winning today and they just gave it back.  Might be time to tank for a draft pick or just get swept in the first round.  

db

P.S.  Get ready for Danny to bust it up.  Just ain't working.

YEP!  SNL!

SAME OLD STORY LINE FOR 4 YEARS...........GET DOWN BIG AND THEN TRY TO DIG YOUR WAY OUT OF A MESS THAT YOU CREATED. MUST BE A SIGNATURE TRAIT OF BRAD STEVENS TEAMS.

WHERE IS THE DEFENSE ?????????????????????

DANNY IS NO FOOL AND KNOWING DANNY HIS FINGER IS ON THE TRIGGER READY TO PULL IT.

I THINK ONE OF THE MAIN PROBLEMS IS THE TEAM WAS SET UP WITH VERY GOOD PLAYERS, HOWEVER THE PLAYERS ARE NOT MESHING FROM PREVIOUS YEARS AND ARE ABSOLUTELY NOT PLAYING LIKE A UNIT.  

I THINK GH WAS NOT THE RIGHT FREE AGENT TO CHOOSE TO BRING ON THIS TEAM.  INJURY OR NO INJURY HE IS SLOWER, A PLODDER AND NOT A SPEEDSTER.  THAT TENDS TO SLOW THE OFFENSE UP, AND HE IS NOT AGGRESSIVE ATTACK PLAYER, RATHER HE PICKS HIS SPOT WHEN TO SHOOT.  

IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, A TERRIBLE FIT FOR THE CELTICS.

SEMI IS A GOOD PLAYER AND SHOULD BE KEPT, YAB ....I DO NOT KNOW.  BIG BUT AS A FORWARD CANNOT PLAY ABOVE THE RIM AND IS SLOW.

SIGNING WANAMAKER.........I DO NOT GET IT.   YA HE IS A POINT GUARD, WE NEEDED A POINT GUARD........PUT WHAT IS THE EXTRA SKILL HE BROUGHT TO THE CELTICS THAT THE CELTICS NEEDED..........I CANNOT THINK OF ONE.   NOT A 3 PT. SHOOTER, NOT A DEFENSIVE MINDED PLAYER...........SO WHY SIGN HIM?    FOR THE LOW DOLLAR AMOUNT$$$$?

BLOW IT UP DANNY, CUT SOME DEAD WOOD OUT THROUGH TRADES OF SOME ROOKIES  AND TRY TO MOVE UP THE LADDER IN THE DRAFT.

AS FAR AS IRVING GOES, LET HIM WALK.  RONDO SOUNDS BETTER EVERY DAY.  HE WOULD MAKE BROWN AND TATEM BETTER BALL PLAYERS BECAUSE HE IS A GREAT DISTRIBUTOR OF THE BALL.  YOU COULD GIVE RONDO A MULTI YEAR DEAL AT $15M - $16M AND  SAVE A WHOLE BUNCH OF MONEY FOR OTHER POSITIONS.

112288

112288 wrote:NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME PLAYERS!

112288

I disagree. I'm definitely ready for prime time players.

I am sure that I do not want Rondo back in Boston, but I do agree that Ainge has some work to do to make the roster fit better than it has this season. He has already missed out on getting something of value for Irving.

Please, no matter how frustrated/disappointed we are in this year's team, don't place any portion of the blame on Wanamaker. He is certainly not at any fault. Cripes, his is like the 12th player on the team.

When things are not working you have to make changes.

What should Brad do? He is the coach.

Some guys played with energy and purpose and some did not.

Anyone see Kyrie’s post game interview tonight?
Guy is an a-hole and I’ll be glad when he’s gone.
One word smart ass answers. Puss on his face.
Bye Felicia!

dboss wrote:When things are not working you have to make changes.

What should Brad do?  He is the coach.

Some guys played with energy and purpose and some did not.

IF a couple of guys could stay healthy, AND I were Stevens, I'd give a shot to a short rotation starting Baynes, Horford, Tatum, Smart and Irving. Morris and Brown off the bench. Throw in Rozier and Theis to spell the main rotation as needed. Not a knock on Morris or Brown at all, but rather a compliment. I think as a forward and wing coming in, they would keep the team on the floor exceptionally strong at both ends.

Got to try some alternatives prior to the playoffs.

Ktronic1 wrote:Anyone see Kyrie’s post game interview tonight?
Guy is an a-hole and I’ll be glad when he’s gone.
One word smart ass answers. Puss on his face.
Bye Felicia!

Didn't see it.

Sounds like I don't need to.

Not on the recommended viewing list, I guess?

NYCelt wrote:

Ktronic1 wrote:Anyone see Kyrie’s post game interview tonight?
Guy is an a-hole and I’ll be glad when he’s gone.
One word smart ass answers. Puss on his face.
Bye Felicia!

Didn't see it.

Sounds like I don't need to.

Not on the recommended viewing list, I guess?

It’ll probably just tick you off.
He’s gotten on my last nerve. Never have I’ve witnessed a star player on the Celts with his kind of attitude.
He doesn’t fit.

How many times has Morris been killing us lately? In the last win, in 4th when we pulled away in tight game, he was on bench or we probably never pull that one out. Today he was on floor doing nothing at beginning when we were getting hammered making more bad plays. Rozier is lost even more than Morris, GH has just been terrible since the AS break. Tatum also in midst of string of bad games, I thought at this point of season he’d have a bunch of 30 point games already, but his offense is a constant struggle this year and this offense doesn’t help.

Seems they were getting to rim and getting open 3’s all game, how come we never get good looks like that? Seeing how they were getting easy makeable shots all game and we never do, is it time to think of a new offense put in for next year, maybe hire an offensive coordinator, because Brad doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing. Not only has he been overplaying Morris and GH, this offense scares no one and teams have figured out how to defend us. Is it me or does it seem like whenever Kyrie is in, 2 J’s never get any good or consistent looks? Maybe a look/shot here or there, then nothing, then when he’s out, then they get some shots up. What kind of lame offense is this?

I felt this way 4 months ago....and people laughed at me.

One thing I do know is a character of an individual from being in business 40+ years.............never liked what Irving was selling to the Celtics!

To me he is becoming a cancer no matter what he does going forward.

112288

Ktronic1 wrote:Anyone see Kyrie’s post game interview tonight?
Guy is an a-hole and I’ll be glad when he’s gone.
One word smart ass answers. Puss on his face.
Bye Felicia!

I hit the mute button anytime he is talking. In 50 years of following the Celtics this is a first. Honestly if he is with us after July 1st I’ll become a Mavs fan.

bobc33 wrote:

Ktronic1 wrote:Anyone see Kyrie’s post game interview tonight?
Guy is an a-hole and I’ll be glad when he’s gone.
One word smart ass answers. Puss on his face.
Bye Felicia!

I hit the mute button anytime he is talking.  In 50 years of following the Celtics this is a first.  Honestly if he is with us after July 1st I’ll become a Mavs fan.  

For me That date can’t come soon enough.

[quote="Ktronic1"]

NYCelt wrote:

Ktronic1 wrote:Anyone see Kyrie’s post game interview tonight?
Guy is an a-hole and I’ll be glad when he’s gone.
One word smart ass answers. Puss on his face.
Bye Felicia!

Didn't see it.

Sounds like I don't need to.

Not on the recommended viewing list, I guess?

It’ll probably just tick you off.
He’s gotten on my last nerve. Never have I’ve witnessed a star player on the Celts with his kind of attitude.
He doesn’t fit.[/quote


Just watched it myself.......heck I thought it WAS Lebron!!

we got little Lebron here now, and some pan me for saying Danny Ainge is to blame here. Even though he was the one to bring Irivng in and sign Hayward to a contract he didn't deserve ( thats right BEFORE the injury Hayward was NOT worth over $30M sorry). AInge was trying to short cut the way to a NBA title and it was a mistake.....he can't go without blame on this, IMO.

BOTH were and continue to be mistakes Ainge will get to live with ...and so will we fans.

Hayward will be here until his contract is up and I will hope he gets back to his best days at Utah, but Irving can go play somewhere else next year.

MY big worry is that Ainge will revert back to trader Danny and make more bad moves this off-season, instead of letting our young bloods develop.

I think we're being a little unfair here.  Here we are, dumping on the players for things they shouldn't be held responsible for.  We are setting unreasonable expectations for them. For example:

1.  We've never seen a pick-and-roll before, not on offense nor defense.  So how could we be expected to execute them or defend them?  

2.  You only have so many 3s in your life and we used them all up earlier in the season, so why are we disappointed when they end up a still-lousy 29% from 3, but started 1-13?

3.  We ended up with 13 turnovers.  We average more than that in a game.  We had 4 turnovers in the first few minutes of the first quarter.  Sure, that changed the whole game because we ended up the 1st quarter down 10 but we should think of that as getting our bad play out of the way early.

4.  Yesterday was Jayson Tatum's 21st birthday.  He probably enjoyed his first legal drinks before the game.  Isn't that what we all did when we became old enough to drink?

Time to wake up and smell the sarcasm...

Our starting front court was 12-26.  That's not too shabby, 46%, except when you consider that Horford was 7-8 and, without him, Morris and Tatum were an abominable 5-18.

Once again, I know I'm probably going to take heat for this, but I'm starting to lose that loving feeling for Jayson Tatum.  The man will not pass the ball in the open court!  You are NOT a guard, Jayson.  Give up the fucking ball AND RUN WITHOUT IT!!!  They'll give it back to you.  Time to put his All-Star appearance on hold.  He's not going this year and probably not next year unless something seriously changes.  In fact, if he doesn't seriously change he may never be an All-Star because he's not getting it done.  Gordon Hayward became an All-Star because he got better every year he was at Utah until, finally, the All-Star coaching staff had to put him on the squad.  Is Jayson Tatum better this year than last year?

Morris needs to take a seat.  He has blown past "slump" and is now in a full-blown "meltdown".  I think competing against the other team's bench for a while will get him his groove back, like it has for Jaylen Brown.  Or not.  The ironic part here is that we were thinking earlier in the season how someone will offer him tons o'money to play for them, so enjoy him while we can.  Now it's more like "can Danny talk him up enough so we can convince some stupid GM to take him in a sign-and-trade so we can get something for him?"  

Kyrie's interview was one you'd expect of a man who doesn't know what else there is to say.  Listen to Al Horford's post-game interview.  He's saying the same thing, he's saying "I don't know what's wrong".

They took 80 fgas.  51 of them were 3s.  I hate this fucking NBA.

On the other hand, they hit 21 3s, we hit 8.  That's 13 more 3pters by them, good for 39 points.  They only beat us by 11 points which means we must have outplayed them somewhere, right?  We both took 29 ftas (which is amazing against a team with world-class flopper James Harden) and we actually hit more of ours than they did, but that's not it.  They had more offensive rebounds than us, so it was there either.  It must have been in 2pt land that we did our damage.  They were 38-80, 21-51 3s (that still blows my mind even as it turns my stomach), that leaves 17-29 2pt fgas (58.6%).  We went 37-77 (so we took fewer fgas, lost there too) and were 8-28 from 3, leaving 29-49 (59%).  So, no, we didn't even win there.  What this game was, pure and simple, a 3pt shootout that we lost, both on 3pt fgas and on 3pt fg%.  Like I said, I hate this NBA.  All Air Force, no ground force.

But, it is what it is and that's what's wrong, in case Al Horford and Kyrie can't figure it out.  Our outside shooting, our 3pt shooting has been awful lately.  We shot 28.6% from 3 vs Houston yesterday, we shot 28.6% from 3 vs Washington (we won that game, but Washington is a bad team), 17.9% from 3 vs Portland, 20% from 3 vs Toronto, 40% from 3 vs Chicago (but LaVine and Markannen had career nights) and 35% from 3 vs Milwaukee.  That's how we've done since the All-Star game and that sucks.  How does Brad make players to hit their 3ptrs like they were doing for the first 2/3 of the season?  And if the answer is "if you can't hit the 3, then go inside and take the 2", then that's what we did yesterday and got obliterated.  We didn't stop the 3 yesterday and some of that was just unreal shooting by Eric Gordon.  He had 32 points on 8-12 from 3 and some of them were from WAY downtown.

Trying to find something nice to say, Jaylen Brown played hard and asserted himself.  His problem, such as it is, is that Smart has been playing well so, if Brad re-inserts Jaylen into the starting lineup to replace Morris, then we've got Tatum at 4 and that makes us a small team.  An alternative, more possible now that Baynes is back and will be coming off of minute restrictions, is to start him instead of Morris.  Hell, at this points I wouldn't be broken-hearted if Tatum got sat too, he hasn't been setting the world on fire ever since he played in the Rising Stars Challenge on All-Star weekend and began drinking his own bathwater because he thinks it tastes like Dom.

I guess, the bottom line is, I just don't know what to say, nor how to explain, this dumpster fire any better than Kyrie and Al.

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071618









bob


.

bobheckler wrote:
4.  Yesterday was Jayson Tatum's 21st birthday.  He probably enjoyed his first legal drinks before the game.  Isn't that what we all did when we became old enough to drink?

bob
.

Absolutely. I was in the bar already when I turned 18 at midnight. There was a band playing that announced it was now my birthday, and they immediately added I had just walked in.

Ktronic1 wrote:Anyone see Kyrie’s post game interview tonight?
Guy is an a-hole and I’ll be glad when he’s gone.
One word smart ass answers. Puss on his face.
Bye Felicia!

I saw it see below. I did not see anything wrong with the interview. I do not know what he is expected to say. He said they need to play better, making 3 and stopping threes and be better on rotation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6G2wSUJvrc

Yeah me too dboss, while I can see how it could tick off some, didn’t bother me much. I want him to figure out how to make everyone better, he’s got to figure out how to get 2 J’s going to make the game easier for him. He needs them and they need him or maybe Smart should initiate offense and use Kyrie as the 2....

Joking aside bob, are you shocked Stevens has this team so unprepared to play and defend? How many games have already been blown with Morris playing crunch time in 4th and Jaylen wasting away on bench? Stevens can’t even figure that one out?

cowens/oldschool wrote:Yeah me too dboss, while I can see how it could tick off some, didn’t bother me much. I want him to figure out how to make everyone better, he’s got to figure out how to get 2 J’s going to make the game easier for him. He needs them and they need him or maybe Smart should initiate offense and use Kyrie as the 2....

I keep saying it. If you want to rekindle the magic you need to have the J's playing together.

When you are coming off another tough loss no one really wants to talk about it. But that is the price you have to play when you want to be the face of the franchise. Yesterday Kyrie scored 24 points. His game flaw was 4 turnovers. He only took 11 shots and went 7-11 and 3-5 from deep and 7-8 from the line. He led the team with 9 rebounds and had 6 assists. Overall he had a very efficient game.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Joking aside bob, are you shocked Stevens has this team so unprepared to play and defend? How many games have already been blown with Morris playing crunch time in 4th and Jaylen wasting away on bench? Stevens can’t even figure that one out?

Cow,

Yes, I am.  Preparation is usually his strong point.  Maybe he is prepared, as he has always been, and maybe he is preparing them, as he has always done, maybe they're just not listening to him anymore.  Kyrie seems to be, despite his attitude he's going out there and executing.  Al is, same reason except less 'tude.  Jaylen also seems to be on the right page as is Smarty.  Anybody else?  Maybe Hayward, he's just not getting it done but I think he's trying to play Brad's way.  Theis, the solid dependable German, is going out there and playing sound fundamental basketball.  Not Rozier.  Not Tatum.  Not Morris.  Haven't seen Baynes since before the trapdoor opened up, so we don't know yet.  He seemed to play well yesterday but missed his shots.  That might just be rust.

So, Rozier and Tatum and Morris have checked out.  I don't know what Morris' problem is but the other two have visions of sugar plum fairies dancing in their heads.  They think they're special.  I'm thinking, especially with Rozier and Tatum, they think the names on the back of their jerseys are more important than the name on the front of them and that is not the Celtic Way.  With Morris perhaps it's simple frustration.  We saw him take a 3 and, when it rimmed out, he threw his hands up as if to say "WTF do I have to do to hit one of these?!" He isn't hitting his shots, he's in a vicious, vicious slump and that's making it even worse because he's not playing loose.



bob


.

dboss wrote:

Ktronic1 wrote:Anyone see Kyrie’s post game interview tonight?
Guy is an a-hole and I’ll be glad when he’s gone.
One word smart ass answers. Puss on his face.
Bye Felicia!

I saw it see below.  I did not see anything wrong with the interview.   I do not know what he is expected to say.  He said they need to play better, making 3 and stopping threes and be better on rotation.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6G2wSUJvrc

I’m reading between the lines as well. For someone to be our best player, his attitude sucks and it’s contagious.
I expect more from our best player. Especially when the team is struggling.
If I’m wrong I’d be more than overjoyed to admit it but from what I’m seeing, Mr. Irving has officially checked out.

dboss wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:Yeah me too dboss, while I can see how it could tick off some, didn’t bother me much. I want him to figure out how to make everyone better, he’s got to figure out how to get 2 J’s going to make the game easier for him. He needs them and they need him or maybe Smart should initiate offense and use Kyrie as the 2....

I keep saying it.  If you want to rekindle the magic you need to have the J's playing together.  

When you are coming off another tough loss no one really wants to talk about it.  But that is the price you have to play when you want to be the face of the franchise.    Yesterday Kyrie scored 24 points.  His game flaw was 4 turnovers.  He only took 11 shots and went 7-11 and 3-5 from deep and 7-8 from the line.  He led the team with 9 rebounds and had 6 assists.  Overall he had a very efficient game.  

Heavy is the head who wears the crown. This is what Irving asked for now he has a splitting headache.