Post Game Thread - vs Lakers, Home 1/21/20

[bobheckler]

Another day, another internet issue.  

Our lowest scoring quarter was 33.  Bottle this.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401161290






bob


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[wideclyde]

It is a game like last night that shows how good the Cs can be this year, but it also shows that there are no reasons for any three game losing streaks against mostly sub par teams.

Yes, there are ups and downs for every team in the NBA every year, but if the Cs are planning to be a playoff team that does well they clearly need to develop their game so that last night's performance is closer to the every day type of play in every game for the rest of the season.

Consistency is the key and is one of the toughest things for a team of very young players to develop. There can no longer be any games where Tatum, Brown or Hayward show out with terrible performances like shooting 2 for 14, no rebounds, etc, etc. like we have seen more than just a few times this season.

Sure, every guy is not going to star every game, but if you are a 20 point per game guy, you need to be at say 16 on your off nights and 24 on your good night to better help your team as that 20 point guy. A guy who is that 20 point guy who gets his 20 PPG average with a game where he gets 33 after a game where he got 7 makes his team much more vulnerable on the night he only gets the 7.

The Cs are very young with two of their stars (Brown and Tatum) still not even 25, but becoming much more consistent may be more of what they for the rest of this season more than needing more players at the trade deadline.

[worcester]

In how many of our sub par games did Brown, Tatum, Hayward, Smart, Theis, and Walker all get to be in the game? Very few. We played just great last night. Now that was a signature win. Our losses were marked by important DNP's. If we stay healthy, and if Kanter and Poirier also contribute, we will be fine. Speaking of whom, Enes was superb, and even Poirier was impressive. Really. Vincent knew his way around the court, had a couple of blocks, rebounds, and even a three!!! He was a pleasant surprise.

[kdp59]

GREAT GAME!!

always extra fun to take down the Lakers ( on national TV no  less).

I am still kinda in state of shock that we beat them down that badly ( or frankly that we won,with how we've been playing).

as one of the big proponents on this board of thinking we are a fundamentally  a flawed team...I am pleasantly surprised buy the outcome last night. I hope its only one of many games like this the second half of this year.

I will be very happy to be proven dead wrong about my thoughts on this years team!

lets keep up this level of play moving forward.

I did notice last night that both Grant W. and Wanamakers minutes were limited, not sure if that had any bearing or not on the outcome , but it may be interesting to see if Stevens  shortens his rotation moving forward.

[dboss]

Too many key guys have missed too many games.

The Celtics are a very competitive team when fully staffed.

[cowens/oldschool]

Nah that wasn’t fun watching us beatdown LA like that. This load management must have been good for us, we sacrificed some wins, but we were real strong last night, to be or not to be....or rest or go after every win...??? When this team is healthy and flys around the ball defensively, we’re pretty good. We know we can play with all the big boys. Love the way Kantor used his body against McGee and Davis, pushing them around to get his rebounding position. Those guys are skinny, we have a guy that can do that to them. As go the 2 J’s we go. Jaylen with the highlight reel 2 handed dunk over Bron, should have been and 1. Jayson with an acrobatic finger roll getting past Kuzma then right over the outstretched Dwight Howard. If you look at old clips, you will see Jaylen gets up higher on his dunks than Dominique and Jordan. As he did last time we played the Clippers, Tatum got up for the big game and was best wing/player on floor.

[gyso]

Of course there are reasons for three game losing streaks:

Our top 7 players have now played six games together all season.

Playing under the weather, discovering it is the flu, out for a week, coming back not quite 100%.

Playing with a nagging injury, sitting out due to that injury, coming back not quite 100%.

Bench guys become starters, deep bench guys join the rotation, G-League guys join the rotation.

There is no continuity, but when we are fully operational you can see the results.

[bobheckler]

Of course there are reasons for three game losing streaks:

Our top 7 players have now played six games together all season.

Playing under the weather, discovering it is the flu, out for a week, coming back not quite 100%.

Playing with a nagging injury, sitting out due to that injury, coming back not quite 100%.

Bench guys become starters, deep bench guys join the rotation, G-League guys join the rotation.

There is no continuity, but when we are fully operational you can see the results.  

There is no continuity, when we are fully operational (deathstar) you can see the results.  


bob


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[dboss]

Celts still the only team with 3 20 ppg scorers.

Now they just need to stay healthy and play within a rotation that stays consistent.

Still believe adding a scorer off the bench is needed and we have yet to see full impact of 3 centers because of injuries.

Any win against the Lakers is a great win.

[dbrown4]

Well, the cat is indeed out of the bag now. This is what Bob's Fully Operational Death Star finally looks like.

Now it is time to apply Newton's 3rd Law of Motion. Using this game as the benchmark going forward to which all remaining games will be compared, I (and hopefully everyone else here will agree) will need to see similar balls-to-the-wall play from here on out. As bad as our recent stretch of games were, this game is now the standard. Everybody's back.

I know this was the Lakers. I know LeBron had to see his son play earlier that day. I know AD's ass still hurts. But there is absolutely no reason this team, when fully assembled (and BTW, I'm removing RWill from the equation now. If he shows up this season to help, it's the icing on the cake. But what we saw last night was the cake.) cannot play like that night in/night out.

It really was beautiful to watch. When you're hustling, shots like Kemba's throw-in go in. It didn't hurt that this performance was against the Lakers, I won't lie. My wife was even amazed.

Now if we come out Wednesday and lay an egg against Memphis, we are right back to where we were and nothing has changed. If all that continues, expect 4th place at best. Need to see sustained, MIL/LAL-like dominating performances leaving no prisoners. No excuses, no injuries, no load management, no nothing right up to the All-Star break. We can rest then for that week and get ready for the final run. I don't care who's on the schedule. Road/Home. Doesn't matter. This is the stretch.

We can't look at this team the same after that game. We also cannot take them off the table as a contender for 2020. Against MIL and LAL we are 2-1. I know. Not a big sample space. But's that's all I've got to work with.
We still need to crush in LAL next. MIL at home I believe as well. After half a season splitting games with +.500 teams with all the injuries, it's time to raise that percentage substantially.

It is time for the Death Star to destroy. All hands are on deck and reporting for duty.

db

[sinus007]

Hi,
They can when they really want.
It seemed that almost everything was clicking for Celtics last night.
On the other side, I was really impressed by Lebron's passes. AD was off and/or couldn't handle the multitude of defenders.
I was also surprised by the role given to AB - point guard. I thought it's already been proven he isn't it. Also, he shot only 1 3pt in 23+ minutes - strange. Oh well, better for us.
Our side was very efficient: almost 56% shooting. Plus 47% from 3pt. I don't think any team can survive against such numbers.
The only negative stat in shooting department was FT - 65% - not good.
Our Foreign Legion front court played on of the best games, especially considering who they were facing. There're a lot of discussions that Celtics need a really good big, a lot of trade ideas to get one. I've thought of another way: shut down Theis, make a reconstructive surgery to him adding 3-4 in and 10-15lb and by playoffs we'll have an excellent, defense oriented big:cheers:

For now, I hope they keep the winning momentum for the next 6-8 games.


AK

[bobheckler]

Chris Grenham @chrisgrenham
about 52 minutes ago
Jayson Tatum had a game-high 27 points last night, but he also continued to impress defensively. Tatum held his matchups to just five points over 41.4 partial possessions, according to the NBA’s tracking data.



Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
11 hours ago
Celtics scoring 139 points... Last 10 days: 2 Previous 25 years: 2 BOSTON CELTICS - MOST POINTS (Last 25 years) 140 - Vs. Washington - Nov. 13, 2019 140 - Vs. New Orleans - Jan. 11. 2020 139 - Vs. LA Clippers - Feb. 10, 2016 139 - VS. LA LAKERS - JAN. 20, 2020



Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
about 11 hours ago
How long had it been since the Celtics beat the Lakers by 32 in the regular season? The Celtics beat the Lakers at the Garden by 36, 114-78 on November 27...1963. The Celtics' first game after the assassination of President Kennedy.



Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
about 11 hours ago
Biggest margin of defeat this season for the Lakers in a game LeBron and AD played in was 14 before tonight.



Chris Grenham @chrisgrenham
yesterday
The Celtics are 8-0 this season when Enes Kanter records 10+ points and 10+ rebounds.


bob


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[dbrown4]

Last stat is where it's at!! Go nuts, Enes!!

db

[dboss]

Kanter has proved to be a force down low.  Size and strength in the middle matters.

LAL have played great all year so it would be remiss not to acknowledge that last night's game was not a  true reflection of the level of competition that they bring to the court.

Our guys need to stay healthy.  The perfect stew cannot be made if you have to keep changing the ingredients.

I neglected to mention GH who gave us a solid contribution with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.  Both Marcus and Semi played great defense.  A team effort and a team win.

[dbrown4]

It really is uncanny how Kanter is ALWAYS in the right place at the right time. It is fascinating to watch. It becomes laughable at times. He must have the eyes and judgment of a Dennis Rodman to do what he does. His EV for ORs for our team has to be .75 points/OR or greater.

Only thing left on his bucket list? MS-like defense!

db

d

[dboss]

The forgotten man, Vincent Poirier got 6 minutes of cleanup duty scoring 5 points to go along with 3 rebounds, an assist and 2 blocks.  

Should he be getting some minutes at center?  He really has not had an extended opportunity to play.

Maybe we should not count him out.  Theis is going to get worn down having to bang night in and night out with the big bodies.  Kanter has the physical profile to to do that.  VP has a similar profile.  IF RWiii cannot stay healthy maybe Brad should look at VP as the third center on this team.  

I do not like Grant at the 5 at all.  There should be minutes for Grant at the 4 and I believe that is a more natural position for him.

Brad loves to play small ball but to me if he wants to do that it makes more sense to use Theis in that role at center.

[bobheckler]

bob


.

[tjmakz]

Yesterday’s game was quite the stinker by the Lakers and quite a performance by the Celtics. The Celtics had more energy, more fight, more determination and executed about as well as they ever do.
The Lakers ran into a buzz saw on a day they executed poorly.
A well earned win for Boston.

[RosalieTCeltics]

Where were all you guys last night. Years ago that would have been a ten page forum at least!!!!!!!!! Bob I figured it was either computer issues of travel. It was a lot of fun watching them perform the way we know they can.
It was so much fun that tonight on NBC Sports Boston replayed the first Milwaukee game and I sat here and watched the whole thing just to prove to myself, THIS IS NOT A FLUKE. I even tried to find last night;s game but it was a TNT game so they don’t have access to it.

Brad shortened his bench for this game, since he had his starters back healthy. Wanamaker didn’t get minutes until it was basically over. The only one other than Smart off the bench were Kanter and Semi. And Semi did a good job out there.

Now we have to win tomorrow by a decent score so that we don’t ruin a good thing. Keep it going!

[bobheckler]

Where were all you guys last night.  Years ago that would have been a ten page forum at least!!!!!!!!!  Bob I figured it was either computer issues of travel.  It was a lot of fun watching them perform the way we know they can.
It was so much fun that tonight on NBC Sports Boston replayed the first Milwaukee game and I sat here and watched the whole thing just to prove to myself, THIS IS NOT A FLUKE.  I even tried to find last night;s game but it was a TNT game so they don’t have access to it.

Brad shortened his bench for this game, since he had his starters back healthy. Wanamaker didn’t get minutes until it was basically over. The only one other than Smart off the bench were Kanter and Semi. And Semi did a good job out there.  

Now we have to win tomorrow by a decent score so that we don’t ruin a good thing. Keep it going!

Rosalie,

Yeah, more computer issues.  First the Milwaukee game and now this.     I'm on a plane today out of BA back home.  A long ride to be sure, I have to go from BA to Santiago, Chile and then to Toronto (Air Canada) and then Toronto to SFO.  About 30 hours total.  Now you know why my trips are so long, it's to make the travel to/from worth it!


bob


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[dboss]

Rosalie

I was a little surprised that more people were not participating in the Game On thread but I guess logistical issues pop up now and then.

A Celtics/Lakers game has turned into a rare event.  When Bird played we had 4 games against them and back in the Russell days i recall at least 8 regular season games  every year.

[RosalieTCeltics]

Yes dboss, I can remember the days of not being to keep up with everyone on here! Hopefully a little winning streak will bring some back here, it makes the game even more fun when they are playing the way they did the other night and everyone is involved.

Bob, we will welcome you back with open arms!!! You missed a great one the other night!!! Travel safe

[cowens/oldschool]

Bob I didn’t realize you missed this game, it was a masterpiece, Kemba and GH did their jobs, team shared the ball beautifully. I thought the real guys that carried us on their backs both ends were the 2 J’s, they made huge momentum changing defensive plays as well as hitting their share of big shots. Tatum is such a skilled offensive player, obviously he can hit open shots, but he is a phenomenal one on one iso player that can take over and at such a young age has every move in the book. I could go on and on, we know Jaylen is a freak athlete and he can score/finish in the teeth of the defense. Let’s not trade them....sorry you missed it bro.

[NYCelt]

Yes dboss, I can remember the days of not being to keep up with everyone on here! Hopefully a little winning streak will bring some back here, it makes the game even more fun when they are playing the way they did the other night and everyone is involved.

Bob, we will welcome you back with open arms!!! You missed a great one the other night!!! Travel safe

Rosalie, Bob, dboss, +,

I don't know if this addresses your thoughts on Game On! participation or if it's even of any help/interest...

There is a feature we tried a few years back called Chatbox. Bottom left of the home page.

Chatbox is live, and can be used during games or any time you desire a conversation that moves at a faster speed than posting. Its much faster than posting since comments immediately go up as soon as you hit Enter. We thought it might be an answer for those that thought posting slowed them down and was somewhat distracting during the game.

When we tried it originally, there didn't seem to be much interest, but it's still active and available if you ever want to try it.

Regards

[kdp59]

I remember using the chat a few times when it first came on here. If I remember I only saw Rosalie their checking it out a few times. It never seemed to gain any interested here it seemed.

I end up streaming most games on my laptop and moving back and forth in browser tabs to the game on thread is too distracting for me. Though I do tend to try catch up and read during time outs and breaks in the game.

I'm not much of a multi-tasker I guess!

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