Post Game Thread - vs Clippers, Away 11/20/19

[bobheckler]

We should have killed this, but our shooting was excrement. Kemba, Smart and Jaylen shot a combined 14-51, 27.5%. Truth be told, we had no right to even be in this game shooting like that.

Smart did a lot of good things but he was 1-11 from 3.

As bad as that sounds Jaylen was 3-14 from the field and 1-8 from 3. At least Smart was 6-9 from 2.

Kemba was 4-17 and 3-9 from 3. He had 6 turnovers. He kept dribbling into traffic. Perhaps his worst overall game as a Celtic.

So, who did play well?

Tatum, obviously, with his 30 points on 12-24 and 5-10 from 3.

Theis also had an impactful game. 8 points on 4-8, so he was efficient, and 14 rebounds. Half of those rebounds were offensive. He had 6 assists. If that's not his career high it almost certainly is his Celtic high. He also had 3 steals. For a guy who is undersized he's really coming into his own. He looks very comfortable out there.

Kanter also looked pretty good. He only played 12 minutes, but he had 8 points on 6 boards.

But this might have been Brad Wanamaker's best game as a Celtic. We could have gone WAY down but for him. 14 points on 4-8, 2-4 from 3 and 4-4 from the line and 5 assists. 27 minutes is a Celtic career high for him, I don't even need to look it up. These boxscore numbers don't even take into account all the tips and deflections he created on defense

104 fgas. Excellent.

26.7% 3pt fg%. Excrement.

I'm not afraid of the Clippers. They have a good team, I'm not saying they don't, but we fought them to OT while playing like shit and they had Kawhi and PG both. They also got every questionable call. Every. One. Let's play them again and see what happens. We won't shoot <40% again and, if they're really unlucky, Gordon will be back. If you've got Kawhi on Jaylen and PG13 on Tatum (who still went off for 30 vs George's 25) who is going to guard Gordon Hayward, Doc?

We need a win in Denver to go 3-2 on this road trip. NOT going to be easy. In fact, I remember a bookie I know telling me that the easiest bet in sports is on Denver, in Denver, beating an EC team on the last game of their road trip. Good thing I'm not a gambler. Also good news is I'm a Celtic fan this year.


https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401160854



bob



.

[cowens/oldschool]

I was primed for a big game by Jaylen, he didn’t attack enough to the basket. Guess his improved handle is good against the rest of the league, but still needs a lot of work against the elite defenders. Two teams with great wing defenders really harassed the shit out of each other. I thought Kantor really helped us and earned more minutes. I understand Theis had a monster defensive/rebounding game, why not play them together? can’t believe Tatum didn’t even take a shot whole 4th quarter, until the end. Refs were beyond terrible, we should have had this game, our defense was really good.

[sinus007]

Hi,
Horrible shooting and horrible officiating did us in.
Despite the loss I feel encouraged. This team will go far.

AK

[bobheckler]

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
about 7 hours ago
brad stevens saying flip outta here after getting T’d up is one of the great moments in Celtics history

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Jay King @ByJayKing
about 7 hours ago
Jayson Tatum: “The thing I like about this group is we play hard.”

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Chris Forsberg @ChrisForsberg_
about 7 hours ago
Brad Stevens on Kemba’s final shot that got blocked by Kawhi: "He got enough separation to get it off against most of the league. The problem is that guy’s not normal. And he’s not most of the league."

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Adam Himmelsbach @AdamHimmelsbach
about 7 hours ago
Smart's takeaways: "That we shot the ball very poorly, our defense wasn’t great, but we still were in the game, plain and simple. Clean up a couple things and it’s probably a different outcome and we’re talking different about what happened tonight."

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Adam Himmelsbach @AdamHimmelsbach
7 hours ago
Stevens on Tatum: “He was being guarded by Leonard, George or Beverley almost all night, and the guy just kept coming. He just kept coming at them, and it was great."

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Jay King @ByJayKing
6 hours ago
Kemba Walker said his teammates are tough and work hard and want to win: "JT made some huge shots and some big plays. That's what he is. That's who he is for us. We trust him. We want him to develop into that leader, that leadership role."

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bob



.

[NYCelt]

Promising sign that a team can shoot that bad, not defend all that great, and stay in a game.

Very promising they could do it against the Clippers.

No over-analysis needed here; this is a much improved brand of basketball over last season.

[worcester]

JT has arrived.

This was the worst officiated game I've seen in years. Refs actually won this game for the Clips.

Poor shooting by MS, JB, and KW also did us in, but I lay this opne on the refs.

Folks, these Celtics are champions in the making.

[dbrown4]

While nobody likes to lose, I'll take this one under the cornball moral victory moniker. We're a lot further along than I thought. A LOT. I believe we will be serving DEN several platters Friday...

And yes, we still should have won this one. Hey, nobody's going 82-0.

db

[dbrown4]

Quick questions for anyone with a betting background. What happens at Vegas when the bball game ends in regulation in a tie? Does the spread continue to OT? Or is regulation the end of the bet? Just curious.

db

[BingBang!]

I liked that Jaylen and Kemba played well defensively; they didn’t let their offensive woes carry over, in fact they partially made up for their tough O night in the D end. Kawhi is the best player I’ve seen in a while. Doc must be pinching himself

[worcester]

Kawhi is the real deal. But so is Jayson, an emerging star. And Marcus could be DPOY.

[cowens/oldschool]

Kawhi is the real deal. But so is Jayson, an emerging star. And Marcus could be DPOY.

I like the way Jaylen went after him defensively, with a healthy GH we are ready to compete/contend this year.

Best game from JT ever against the best competition. Imagine how good 2 J’s can be in say 2 more years?

[worcester]

Yep.

[bobheckler]

Gary Washburn @GwashburnGlobe
about 9 minutes ago
Patrick Beverley has been assessed an anti-flopping warning from the #NBA for his scream and collapse after being grazed in the face by Jayson Tatum’s hand on Wednesday. #Celtics #Clippers

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bob
MY NOTE:  Tatum was on Beverly's left.  Beverly snapped his head to the right, as if he had been hit on the left, but grabbed the left side of his face.  Clearly a flop.

.

[worcester]

Not an Emmy award winning performance. Clearly over acting.

[dboss]

It took an overtime period to settle this thing. Most of the damage was self-inflicted.

[dboss]

What I learned from this matchup is that the Celtics can play and win against the Clippers.

GH would have been a difference maker. We had really poor offensive production from 2 of our top 3 guys. GH would provide another high end scorer and change the balance in favor of Boston.

[worcester]

Exactly dboss. We can win vs. Cli pool s and GH woul add so much to our O.

[bobheckler]

Chris Forsberg
@ChrisForsberg_
NBA’s last 2 minute report from Celtics/Clippers does not include the Kemba OT blocking foul but does note that a 24-second call should have occurred in final minute of regulation. Instead, Clippers got go-ahead 3 from Lou Williams in transition.


bob
MY NOTE: Yet more evidence we were robbed.


.

[dboss]

Exactly dboss. We can win vs. Cli pool s and GH woul add so much to our O.

I did not come away with a wait until next year conclusion.  I came away with a strong belief that our guys look ready to compete now.  Until you see games like this it is hard to judge the quality of your team.  I have refrained from putting the contender lable on the Celtics up until this point.  But now I can see them right in the mix to make it to the big dance.  Provided they do not get hog tied with injuries to our core guys.

This is a gutsy no quit group.

[worcester]

Yes. They are contenders right now. Absolutely. They play as a team.

[Berlin-T]

If we had had GH last night we would have demolished the Clippers.

This team is the real deal.

Berlin-T

[steve3344]

Quick questions for anyone with a betting background.  What happens at Vegas when the bball game ends in regulation in a tie?  Does the spread continue to OT?  Or is regulation the end of the bet?  Just curious.

db  

The spread remains unchanged until the game is complete, no matter how many overtimes it takes.

[Shamrock1000]

I was primed for a big game by Jaylen, he didn’t attack enough to the basket. Guess his improved handle is good against the rest of the league, but still needs a lot of work against the elite defenders. Two teams with great wing defenders really harassed the shit out of each other. I thought Kantor really helped us and earned more minutes. I understand Theis had a monster defensive/rebounding game, why not play them together? can’t believe Tatum didn’t even take a shot whole 4th quarter, until the end. Refs were beyond terrible, we should have had this game, our defense was really good.

Great question about Tatum. Was wondering the same thing. I am all for egalitarian offense in general, but in this specific instance, maybe the coaching staff could have encouraged feeding the hot hand. Also, seemed like JT sat for at least the first half of the 4th. I love Smart, but he could really take his game to another level if he focused on making better offensive decisions.

[cowens/oldschool]

I was primed for a big game by Jaylen, he didn’t attack enough to the basket. Guess his improved handle is good against the rest of the league, but still needs a lot of work against the elite defenders. Two teams with great wing defenders really harassed the shit out of each other. I thought Kantor really helped us and earned more minutes. I understand Theis had a monster defensive/rebounding game, why not play them together? can’t believe Tatum didn’t even take a shot whole 4th quarter, until the end. Refs were beyond terrible, we should have had this game, our defense was really good.

Great question about Tatum. Was wondering the same thing. I am all for egalitarian offense in general, but in this specific instance, maybe the coaching staff could have encouraged feeding the hot hand. Also, seemed like JT sat for at least the first half of the 4th. I love Smart, but he could really take his game to another level if he focused on making better offensive decisions.

No question BS did not coach his best game, he should ride the hot hand, all winning teams do, we did with Hondo, Bird, Pierce....Smart’s 3 point game was off, once your 1-5, 1-6, 1-7, maybe you should look for other ways on offense to help the team, like feeding the hot hand!!!!

[cowens/oldschool]

Speaking of last night....

Kantor had 8 points and 6 boards in 12 minutes, one quarter and he even had a +9. His suspect defense was not hurting us and he had a favorable match up as no Clips bigs were equipped to stop him. A good coach has to exploit favorable match ups and milk the cow, in other words ride the hot hand and make them stop it, keep on exploiting that hot hand match up....

Then how does he freeze Tatum so long? Tatum easily could have had a 35-36 point night coming out party!!

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