Post Game Thread - vs Wizards, Away 1/6/20

[bobheckler]

I don't have time this morning to say a lot here. I'm starting the thread for the rest of you, so dig in.

There was very little about this game I liked. Tremont Waters and Grant Williams. That's about it. Tatum did ok, but no better than ok. This was the worst game of Jaylen's season so far. He did little right, made bad decisions all night and struggled to finish at the rim. He was a ghastly 7-22 and 2-10 from 3. HORRIBLE shot discipline. Same with Smart, an ugly 3-14 and 3-10 from 3. That means he missed every single 2 and he only took 4 of them. It was all Hero Ball. Hayward was 4-11 but got 10 rebounds. Otherwise, he didn't run the offense well. Obviously.

Have at it.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401161184


bob


.

[dbrown4]

I think we have finally discovered our LeBron and his name is Kemba Walker. And it has to do with the speed (number of games it takes) at which this team falls apart when one of our Top 5-7 are missing from the line up and rotation. It basically took 1 1/2 games for us to completely come apart in Kemba's absence. No excuses.

When Gordon was out, we did OK for quite a while. When Marcus was out we did OK but not for very long and the defense dropped precipitously. When Kemba has been it out, it really showed quickly.

While I don't think he will miss another game for the rest of the season and playoffs, this is good to know now. Let's give credit where credit is due. This guy has shown a starving team a menu with his very short presence (no pun intended). He's come in here and with a very soft tone and very big stick and is doing something Kyrie could not put together in a full season.

He's very complimentary and uplifting towards his teammates and never mentions himself. Also, if you need 40, he's standing there at the finish line waiting for you. If you ask him who the floor general of this team is, I can guarantee you he will answer without batting an eye and say it is Marcus Smart and list out every reason why even though Brad may have given Kemba the torch behind the scenes.

The silver lining is to all this is that this turned out to be a freebie game. The Spurs handed MIL their a$$es on a platter last night. So nothing ventured, nothing gained. We did give MIA back their gift though so here we go again with them on our backs.

The injuries and players out have been murderous. There can't be any other team in the league in contention that comes ANYWHERE CLOSE to the time off our significants have experienced to date. It's bordering on ridiculous. It's pathetic. But the application of the Law of Large Numbers is coming. No one escapes.

db

[worcester]

db, you nailed it.

[cowens/oldschool]

I don’t know if we were tired or lackadaisical or just both, okay we were both, some kind of bug going around also doesn’t help, either way a bad game all the way around. At least we didn’t get blown out, how did Bucks lose to Spurs by 20? Guess it happens, team executed terribly and never made the right play that we’ve been used to seeing, plus they kept missing on their signature moves. GH missed a bunch of easy pull ups, those are usually automatic, Jaylen was missing point blank lay ups and dribbling right into traffic, reminded me of Kyrie’s Bucks playoff series, well maybe it wasn’t that bad, but a lot of really bad decisions.

I really like watching Tremont, his defense is incredible, he knows how to overplay, force you in one direction, then jump on that other direction he made you move to. Sounds simple, but very hard to do, even when he didn’t get a steal, he would come so close. Can’t believe he didn’t throw the alley opp to Tatum, but he’ll learn. Fact he brought us back to a tied game, as soon as he went out, we lost the tie and spark on a night all our main guys were off. Wanamaker has played well, but also wasn’t his night. I’d like to see more of Tremont, he also knows how to find the lanes in the defense, just a really heady player, also he’s 5’9” but can obviously play....

Grant did so many things well, a really strong game, had some nice rebounds, nice finishes in traffic, a great lefty jump hook finish +1, love how he makes fast decisions with the right pass or shot/attack. Didn’t know Smith was that good, sad he single handedly won the game for them by carrying his team, beating a few supposed all stars...??? For some reason we also stopped going to Kantor, I don’t know why he wasn’t get fed the ball at all? I don’t think anyone saw that one coming, team falling apart, only good thing about this was game was Tremont and GWill.

[mrkleen09]

It happens. Still on pace for 60 wins. No concerns whatsoever.

[tjmakz]

Washington is obviously without Wall for the whole year.
Last night they were without their top 4 scorers this season.
(Beal, Bertans, Bryant and Hachimura).
Washington was also without Mo Wagner who is a double digit scorer.

Even without Kemba, Boston still had the best 4 players playing last night.
They should not have lost to a team which was barely above a G-League team.

It doesn't matter much if Boston finishes 2nd or 3rd in the east.
As long as they don't finish in 4th, they will have a very good chance of getting to the eastern conference finals.

[sinus007]

....
It doesn't matter much if Boston finishes 2nd or 3rd in the east.
As long as they don't finish in 4th, they will have a very good chance of getting to the eastern conference finals.

Tjmakz,
Why?

AK

[dboss]

It happens.  Still on pace for 60 wins.  No concerns whatsoever.

Kleen 

I agree 100%.

Makes no sense to be overly concerned about putting up a stinker of a game.   The Celtics are unlikely to go 82-0 during any season, ever.

[tjmakz]

....
It doesn't matter much if Boston finishes 2nd or 3rd in the east.
As long as they don't finish in 4th, they will have a very good chance of getting to the eastern conference finals.

Tjmakz,
Why?

AK

Whoever finishes 4th will have to play Milwaukee in the 2nd round.
Maybe you think Boston matches up well with Milwaukee. I don't.
As of today, I think Boston can and will beat any team in the east except for Milwaukee.

[dboss]

Washington is obviously without Wall for the whole year.
Last night they were without their top 4 scorers this season.
(Beal, Bertans, Bryant and Hachimura).
Washington was also without Mo Wagner who is a double digit scorer.

Even without Kemba, Boston still had the best 4 players playing last night.
They should not have lost to a team which was barely above a G-League team.

It doesn't matter much if Boston finishes 2nd or 3rd in the east.
As long as they don't finish in 4th, they will have a very good chance of getting to the eastern conference finals.

Sometimes you have losses just like this.  Just ask the Lakers.

Actually it does matter if you finish 2nd or 3rd because of the way the seeding is set up.  If the playoffs started today we would play Orlando.  If we were 3rd we would play Indiana.

[tjmakz]

Washington is obviously without Wall for the whole year.
Last night they were without their top 4 scorers this season.
(Beal, Bertans, Bryant and Hachimura).
Washington was also without Mo Wagner who is a double digit scorer.

Even without Kemba, Boston still had the best 4 players playing last night.
They should not have lost to a team which was barely above a G-League team.

It doesn't matter much if Boston finishes 2nd or 3rd in the east.
As long as they don't finish in 4th, they will have a very good chance of getting to the eastern conference finals.

Sometimes you have losses just like this.  Just ask the Lakers.

Actually it does matter if you finish 2nd or 3rd because of the way the seeding is set up.  If the playoffs started today we would play Orlando.  If we were 3rd we would play Indiana.

The Lakers are 19-0 against teams under .500.
The team with the worst record that the Lakers lost to is the Pacers who currently have a win percentage of .622.
AD did not play in that game.

I'm assuming Boston would beat any team who is seeded 6th or 7th.

[worcester]

How is Rondo's health? When he is full strength Lakers will be extra tough to beat.

[dboss]

This is just a general comment from the game last night.

When a guy gets red hot like Ish did last night and like he has before (He was a culprit with Detroit that beat us),  normal defensive rotations do not work.  You have to take the ball out of his hands by double teaming him and forcing him into being a passer.

The Celtics did not do that last night.  The players ultimately win or lose games but the loss last night can be shared by the coaching staff because they did not devise a tactic to stop Ish.

We have seen this story play out before.

[dboss]

Washington is obviously without Wall for the whole year.
Last night they were without their top 4 scorers this season.
(Beal, Bertans, Bryant and Hachimura).
Washington was also without Mo Wagner who is a double digit scorer.

Even without Kemba, Boston still had the best 4 players playing last night.
They should not have lost to a team which was barely above a G-League team.

It doesn't matter much if Boston finishes 2nd or 3rd in the east.
As long as they don't finish in 4th, they will have a very good chance of getting to the eastern conference finals.

Sometimes you have losses just like this.  Just ask the Lakers.

Actually it does matter if you finish 2nd or 3rd because of the way the seeding is set up.  If the playoffs started today we would play Orlando.  If we were 3rd we would play Indiana.

The Lakers are 19-0 against teams under .500.
The team with the worst record that the Lakers lost to is the Pacers who currently have a win percentage of .622.
AD did not play in that game.

I'm assuming Boston would beat any team who is seeded 6th or 7th.

Actually they are 20-0 against sub .500 teams.

The East has 6 really good teams including the Celtics.  While the Bucks are at the top, The Raptors, Heat, Pacers and Sixers present their own set of matchup problems for Boston.  If you can avoid a matchup in the first round with any of those teams you chances of advancing to the second round improves.  I would expect Boston to beat any 7th or 8th seed.  Beating a 6th seed based on the competition would be a heavy lift.  

There are 48 games remaining for Boston and a lot can happen with them and some other teams.

[dbrown4]

I had a feeling it was Kemba and with his stellar attendance record over the years we probably would have never known it was him. But make no mistake...it's Kemba.

I did not mean to imply above that GH was/is worth any less than he is because he has been tremendous while he has been in. He just fills in the cracks way better than anyone on the team. Like water.

Same with Marcus. We knew in relatively short order the defense was going to fall off without his presence. It took 4-5 games but it finally started to glaringly show itself.

Kemba absence has been exposed and exploited pretty much immediately. The great news is this guy stays healthy. His last four seasons he's hardly missed a game, 81,79,80 & 82. That's a HUGE tangible AND intangible.

db

[gyso]

We played with fire by our recent slow starts.  We finally got burned and it resulted in a loss.  

Next!

[sinus007]

....
It doesn't matter much if Boston finishes 2nd or 3rd in the east.
As long as they don't finish in 4th, they will have a very good chance of getting to the eastern conference finals.

Tjmakz,
Why?

AK

Whoever finishes 4th will have to play Milwaukee in the 2nd round.
Maybe you think Boston matches up well with Milwaukee. I don't.
As of today, I think Boston can and will beat any team in the east except for Milwaukee.

Hi,
Sorry, I misread your post.
As for the Bucks, I agree - they don't match well with Bucks, but so far they are 1-0, so I'd put it 50-50 if they meet in playoffs.

AK

[NYCelt]

Off night shooting.

Too much Ish Smith.

Stuff happens.

Onward.

[kdp59]

Bullets started 3 guys who are D-league players, nothing more.

no excuses for losing to them, this one steams me. Team can;t play down to teams like this, you gotta destroy them.

[dbrown4]

kdp59,

Like the Lakers did last night to the Knicks perhaps?

I'm ok with this one as long as they come out and blast both SAS and PHI over the next two days. Remember, no ground was lost. No ground was gained, but no ground was lost.

db

[mrkleen09]

The Celtics are in a tough stretch in terms of number of games. They play nearly every other day through January....so if they dont get healthy, I expect a few more like Monday night here and there.

They are still a very young team and performing well above expectations this early in the season. Bumps in the road are part of the journey. Anything less is unrealistic.

[dbrown4]

Well, the schedule makers gave them that whole week off a couple of weeks ago and we have to make it up somewhere. So here it is.

Playoffs are every other night, btw. Good warm up. I hate to be a douche but this is what they do for a living. I won't bring up the compensatory pay.[Insert Brad's B2B Comment]

From the injury report, Kemba is back tonight, thank God! He won't "be playing his regular minutes". I think all we will need for the troops is a Willis Reed moment at this point. Make four 3's and he can exit stage left.

db

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