Celtics Outlast Blazers 128-124

The Celtics came out smokin hot in the 1st QTR 37-24.  Things remain the same in the second with Boston outscoring the blazers 30-20.  A halftime 67-44 lead meant we had this game well in hand.  Right? Think again as Portland got right back in it 38-27 3rd QTR.  They caught up with us in the 4th and went up by 4 105-101.  Both Lillard and Mc Collum could not miss and 2nd round pick Gary Trent, jr went 7-11 from deep.

This was a very exciting game as our two young studs did not disappoint Tatum (34) and Jaylen (30) combined for 64 points while going 11-16 from deep.  Jaylen Brown had a signature level 4th QTR scoring 16 huge we need every one, points.  Gordon Hayward added 22 on a very efficient shooting night (6-10 FG, 4-5 from deep, 6-6 from the charity strip) and 8 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal.  His only blemish, 4 turnovers.

Kemba also played well in 23 minutes scoring 14 on very efficient shooting.  Theis had a relatively quiet night but played hard and made all 4 FGA and he set numerous screens for his teammates.  Kanter with 11 and 8 off the bench. Smart was a facilitator tonight and never really looked for his shot.

Bottom line, the best collection of wings in the NBA combined for 86 freaking points while knocking down that beloved 3 ball all game long (15-22)

The bench never found any rhythm.

Take the win and get pumped up for the Heat!

It's good to see Kemba look like himself.

will Butler be playing Tuesday?

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/butler-misses-heat-practice-teammate-hints-hes-isolating-175312524--nba.html


rumors only from this article , so far.

Did they give him permission to skip the practice? If so, just come out and say it. It is obvious from the reaction from Crowder they did not tell the team why he was missing. Star treament? It is a team sport, they cannot come and go as they please, so there has to be something here that management is either not talking about or confronting. In this day and age, it is an obvious leap to a quarantine question from his teammates. Sounds like another Irving in the making here

jrleftfoot wrote:It's good to see Kemba look like himself.

Hi,
Also, as important, JT seems to be back to his February-March form.

AK

sinus007 wrote:

jrleftfoot wrote:It's good to see Kemba look like himself.

Hi,
Also, as important, JT seems to be back to his February-March form.

AK

Actually I think he can play a lot better, good to see him passing when he gets double teamed. He could have punished Lillard more, Lillard showed a lot of toughness with dogged defense. The intensity will ramp up in playoffs.

I should have been more explicit. Everybody can play better. I was referring to the fact that Walker seemed to have his burst back and not be favoring the knee.

I really thought Walker looked pretty good. After the game in the interviews, it was obvious that he really wanted to be in the game in the 4th quarter, but came right out and said "Brad was not going to put me back in, period. he is only looking out for my best interests" I think he is getting a little overwhelmed with all the questions about his knee, how he is, how he feels, does he have his burst??? I saw that happen after Hayward came back, it has to be annoying after a while. I know they are only doing their jobs but it is so repetitive

Started out smoking, faded in the 3rd, almost folded in the 4th.  The key takeaway, for me, is that they DIDN'T fold.  Kudos to DBoss on the Game On thread for convincing most of us to step back from the ledge.

That was because of Jaylen Brown.  16 points in the 4th, when it was getting very dicey indeed.  

I love how the two J's are playing off each other.  When Tatum's smoking hot and demanding the ball Jaylen is feeding him and when Jaylen is working his game Tatum makes the passes and is an extremely effective decoy.  Tatum was hot early and that forced Terry Stotts' defensive schemes.

They were doubling Tatum, trying to keep him from getting into a rhythm and forcing him out of his range.  He did a good job of passing out of those doubles, rather than trying to dribble his way through them.  A step up in maturity for him and it had a, in my opinion, significant impact on the game.  He had a career high 8 assists with 5 of them coming in the 4th.  He knew they were keying on him and he drew them to him and then found an open man.  Credit to Jaylen and Gordon etal for hitting the shots, but without Jayson's passes there'd be no shot.

Gordon with his usual solid, solid game.  He might not be what he was in Utah but he doesn't need to be, the same way Ray Allen didn't need to be who he was in Milwaukee and Seattle.  When it's down to the last few possessions in the last minute of play, and we're up like we were, the two players I want on the floor are Gordon Hayward and Wanny.  They won't make boneheaded, unforced errors and they are deadlier than rattlesnakes at the line.  

Brad is VERY serious about managing Kemba's minutes.  No more than 6 minutes at a time, no more than 24 minutes/game.  He played 22-23 yesterday and Brad refused to put him in the 4th quarter when they made their run and took a lead.  Drove me a little nuts watching a 24 point lead evaporate, but that's probably not a long trip for me on my best days.

Miami Heat up next.  Like Milwaukee, that will be a measuring stick game.

For those of you who don't join the Game On! thread because you struggle with typing fast enough to post your thoughts and emotions and still keep up with the game I HEARTILY RECOMMEND joining DBoss etal on the Post-Game Zoom session.  What it lacks in play-by-play interactiveness it definitely has in interactive sharing of the game.  The difference between seeing people's faces and body language and hearing their voices as they talk about the game, and writing these posts about the game, is like the difference between firing a bullet vs throwing it. You have to be a member to join the Zoom meeting, but membership to this board is free.  You just have to sign up.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401224720





bob


.

kdp59 wrote:will Butler be playing Tuesday?

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/butler-misses-heat-practice-teammate-hints-hes-isolating-175312524--nba.html


rumors only from this article , so far.

It would be helpful if the Heat definitively declare that it is not due to Covid 19. i think we should get more details before our next game tomorrow.

Butler playing and getting spanked.  Heat with a brutal schedule.  Celts should wrap up 3rd seed early and then maybe Brad will play our inexperienced bench.

The thing about Hayward is, the game goes so much smoother when he is in there, spreading the floor, rebounding, and passing the ball. Sure, he does not need to score 30 every night, but the rest of what he does is so important. I love the way he is playing

I was reading HoopHype yesterday, they have Gordon Hayward as opting out because of the birth of his baby boy. Their reasoning was so biased it was crazy. "if he leaves, who knows if he will ever get back in and he may not" stupid is as stupid does, where do they get these guys?

dboss wrote:Butler playing and getting spanked.  Heat with a brutal schedule.  Celts should wrap up 3rd seed early and then maybe Brad will play our inexperienced bench.

Hi,
I wouldn't play the bench much. They (starters + MS, BW, EK, GW and SO) need, IMO, to get into playoffs shape and 5 games (after Mia game) may not be enough. So far, Brad used these 10 players and I think he's going to stick with them and sprinkle with Romeo, RW3, Carsen and Waters here and there.

AK

sinus007 wrote:

dboss wrote:Butler playing and getting spanked.  Heat with a brutal schedule.  Celts should wrap up 3rd seed early and then maybe Brad will play our inexperienced bench.

Hi,
I wouldn't play the bench much. They (starters + MS, BW, EK, GW and SO) need, IMO, to get into playoffs shape and 5 games (after Mia game) may not be enough. So far, Brad used these 10 players and I think he's going to stick with them and sprinkle with Romeo, RW3, Carsen and Waters here and there.

AK

Sinus007

Those guys are already in shape.  Did you see the minutes they played last night (except for Walker.  JT 40. JB 37, GH 35 and MS 33)  Brad may use 10 players but only 8 will see significant minutes.  Last night BW played 10 followed by Semi with 9 and Gwill with 7.  There will be no sprinkes left for the other guys.  I believe Brad needs to find one of the rookies to integrate into the rotation.  Maybe Grant but who knows.  Certain big matchups do not favor him.

Most of the bottom 3rd of this roster did not play much this year.  They cannot be ready to contribute in the playoffs if they do not see some action in the remaining 6 games.

Great entertaining game, were alot glimmers and a few weaknesses that shows were not ready to be compared to the even 81 Celtics yet. Our strength is our wings, few teams can match up to our wings and as we win/dominate those match ups, so goes our team. We have to win the wing match ups because we are small in the middle with no Mr Intimidator, opposing 5’s are putting up big numbers against us and we lack proven/consistent scoring off the bench.

Jaylen showed up big time, scoring 16 big points in the 4th and we needed them all. He showed he can get in his own zone and carry us when we needed it similar to Pierce or Bird or Hondo carrying us and made me shout like crazy after he hit some great big buckets!! We’ve seen him hit some big shots in the past at times in the 4th, but he never took over like this. He certainly is not shying away from the moment, glad all the work he puts in is showing!!

JT is back, got his stroke back and glad the bad game is behind him, he looked like the player from the last 2 months of this season and could have been even better, but glad he didn’t force it in 4th with defense keying on him. He’s is obviously still growing and having a career high in assists is certainly a good thing and a sign of even better things to come. Love the 2 J’s, GH very heady and steady, makes so many key plays, boards, assists, hits the open shot, another cog in the machine and Kemba very efficient, hope we can get him healthy for the playoff run.

RosalieTCeltics wrote:The thing about Hayward is, the game goes so much smoother when he is in there, spreading the floor, rebounding, and passing the ball. Sure, he does not need to score 30 every night, but the rest of what he does is so important. I love the way he is playing

I was reading HoopHype yesterday, they have Gordon Hayward as opting out because of the birth of his baby boy.  Their reasoning was so biased it was crazy.  "if he leaves, who knows if he will ever get back in and he may not"   stupid is as stupid does, where do they get these guys?

Rosalie

As Tatum moves into the elite scoring status he is going to see more and more double teams. That will open up shots for everybody especially GH and JB. They are not going to double off of Kemba much. GH shoots well enough to take more shots every game but he gets everybody involved and he keeps the ball moving. He just knows where the next play needs to go. It's experience. It's instinctive and it's unselfish. I do not know how we can compete in a 7 game series without him.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Great entertaining game, were alot glimmers and a few weaknesses that shows were not ready to be compared to the even 81 Celtics yet. Our strength is our wings, few teams can match up to our wings and as we win/dominate those match ups, so goes our team. We have to win the wing match ups because we are small in the middle with no Mr Intimidator, opposing 5’s are putting up big numbers against us and we lack proven/consistent scoring off the bench.

Jaylen showed up big time, scoring 16 big points in the 4th and we needed them all. He showed he can get in his own zone and carry us when we needed it similar to Pierce or Bird or Hondo carrying us and made me shout like crazy after he hit some great big buckets!! We’ve seen him hit some big shots in the past at times in the 4th, but he never took over like this. He certainly is not shying away from the moment, glad all the work he puts in is showing!!

JT is back, got his stroke back and glad the bad game is behind him, he looked like the player from the last 2 months of this season and could have been even better, but glad he didn’t force it in 4th with defense keying on him. He’s is obviously still growing and having a career high in assists is certainly a good thing and a sign of even better things to come. Love the 2 J’s, GH very heady and steady, makes so many key plays, boards, assists, hits the open shot, another cog in the machine and Kemba very efficient, hope we can get him healthy for the playoff run.

Cow with the Heat losing to the Raptors today, their opportunity to get a better seed is not looking good. They have to play a B2B against us. With 6 games left, they have games with 5 playoff teams (Celtics, Bucks, OKC and Pacers (twice) The Celtics are sitting pretty.

I thought Hayward said he was going to leave for the birth of his child?

maybe I misread that.

I suppose if he leaves he just needs to come back and do a negative test to be able to re-join the team...or what?

Yes that is what he is doing.  What I was referring to is how these websites twist things around and make things up just to have a story.
They also said Olodipo was opting out, I thought I saw him on their bench with the team.  If he is not playing, the NBA would not allow him on the bench. 
These sites just grab a line and run with it making it up as they go along just to try to have a headline

kdp59 wrote:I thought Hayward said he was going to leave for the birth of his child?

maybe I misread that.

I suppose if he leaves he just needs to come back and do a negative test to be able to re-join the team...or what?

Hope he changes his mind, like Olodipo....

RosalieTCeltics wrote:Yes that is what he is doing.  What I was referring to is how these websites twist things around and make things up just to have a story.
They also said Olodipo was opting out, I thought I saw him on their bench with the team.  If he is not playing, the NBA would not allow him on the bench. 
These sites just grab a line and run with it making it up as they go along just to try to have a headline

Hi,
Here's the latest on Oladipo:
------------
August 3, 2020 02:36 PM
Pacers' Victor Oladipo: Officially ruled out
by RotoWire Staff | RotoWire
Oladipo (knee) will not play Monday against Washington, J. Michael of the Indy Star reports.

The writing was on the wall after Oladipo was listed as doubtful Sunday night. The Pacers will play it safe with their star guard, who is still working his way back to full strength from a torn quad tendon. Monday's game comes on the first day of a back-to-back set, so the hope is that Oladipo is back in the lineup Tuesday versus Orlando.
--------------------

AK