POST GAME INDY - AWAY

Celtics Wrap: Turnovers Plague Boston in 108-107 Loss To Pacers

WEEI - by Alexandra Francisco

The Boston Celtics were doing a lot of things right in their matchup against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.

Jayson Tatum was hot. He and Jaylen Brown continued to show flashes that their playmaking has improved. Jeff Teague showed his value, Marcus Smart displayed good shot selection and even rookie Payton Pritchard was taking and making shots from deep.

But the sloppiness was impossible to ignore, despite a late try for a comeback, as the Celtics gave up 23 points off 18 turnovers to eventually lose the game 108-107.

The Pacers were led by Malcolm Brogdon (25 points), Domantas Sabonis (19 points) and T.J. Warren (17 points.)

Tatum had a team-high 25 points with 11 rebounds and five assists for Boston, while Brown contributed 18 points, four assists, two rebounds, two steals and a block.

Robert Williams was a silver lining after missing the Celtics game on Christmas Day, scoring 12 points off the bench with four steals, four rebounds, two blocks and an assist. Pritchard had 13 points, two assists and two steals.

Here’s how it all went down:

STARTING FIVE

PG: Marcus Smart
SG: Jaylen Brown
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Daniel Theis
C: Tristan Thompson

BALL SECURITY IS JOB SECURITY

Boston cruised out on a 7-0 run to start the game as Indiana’s offense struggled. Finally, the Pacers called a timeout to regroup after a pullup jumper from Brown extended the lead to 10-2 with Indiana shooting 1-for-8 from the field and 0-for-4 from beyond the arc.

And evident from the jump was Brown’s effort to make plays and play off the pick and roll.

The Pacers didn’t just roll over, however, and showed some life to not let the game get away from them early.

On a 10-2 run by Indiana, Malcolm Brogdon helped cut the Celtics lead to 17-14 with just under four minutes to play, and Boston’s seven turnovers in the frame didn’t help.

Smart and Brown led the scoring effort for Boston in the first quarter, each with six points and two assists.

Shooting 56.3% from the field, though, Boston managed to hold on to a narrow 23-19 lead against the Pacers who shot 34.6%.


TATUM WILL DO IT HIMSELF

The Pacers took their first lead of the game just two minutes into the second quarter despite the Celtics leading by double digits at points in the first.

But Tatum started getting hot, and drained a 3-pointer to take back a 30-28 advantage, but the teams went back and forth from there. Tatum, his jumper and his newfound facilitating skills didn’t relent though.

Tatum scored 14 points in the second quarter alone, and racked up five assists in the first two frames.

And though rookie Payton Pritchard had a hard time staying in bounds, but hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Celtics a tiny bit of separation towards the end of the half.


That momentum helped Boston get some breathing room, and they led 55-49 at the break.


TYPICAL THIRD QUARTER FOR BOSTON

Do you feel like the Celtics perpetually struggle in the third quarter? You’re not alone.

Indiana came out of the second half and went on a 12-0 run to take a 61-55 lead, their largest of the game, instigating a timeout from Brad Stevens.


Boston opened the third 1-for-10, which is not great, and as their shooting started falling off, they didn’t stop turning the ball over.

As they trailed around 10 points, though, Robert Williams at least was making positive contributions on both ends.


A small run, much in part thanks to the Boston bench, helped them close out the quarter trailing 88-83.

But still, Indiana dropped 39 points in the quarter.


CELTICS SHOWING LIFE

The spark Pritchard gave Boston at the end of the third carried into the fourth, and Tristan Thompson briefly made it a two-point game.

But another run by Indiana extended that advantage back to eight points and led to a Celtics timeout.

Brown found his rhythm after that point, making it a four-point game with a hard drive to the basket and a stepback jumper.


Smart hit a floater after that, and Brown found Thompson in the paint to tie the game on an 8-0 run with 6:17 to play.


Robert Williams sniffed out a steal as the Pacers inbounded and jammed it in to tie things up at 100-100. He had another great block down the stretch when Boston was down two points, too.

But with the change to steal the lead with under 40 seconds left, Tatum missed a 3-pointer, Sabonis went to the line at the other end.

The Celtics needed a stop on an inbound, and they made it happen. Robert Williams knocked the ball loose and sent Smart off for a layup to take a one-point lead.

An unfortunate miscommunication on defense however allowed Sabonis to blow by Grant Williams and go straight for the hoop to close out the game.

PLAY OF THE GAME
Myles Turner is pretty good at basketball.


UP NEXT
The Celtics will remain in Indiana the next two days, as they play a rematch against the Pacers on Tuesday, Dec. 29. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. ET.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Isaiah Thomas ‘Could Definitely Help’ With Celtics’ Scoring Off Bench
Maybe Thomas will speak his Boston comeback into existence

WEEI - by Alexandra Francisco


In case no one has gotten the hint yet, Isaiah Thomas doesn’t think his time is up in the NBA.

And he’d really love to make his return to play for the Boston Celtics.

All offseason, Thomas was linked to the team by writers and analysts as an inexpensive means of adding scoring depth and a veteran presence off the bench. And the point guard time and time again has made it known he’d be down for that.

On Sunday, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe published a column that entertained that very idea. So naturally, Thomas quoted Washburn’s tweet promoting the story.

“I could definitely help with that,” Thomas said about Boston’s dilemma. “Ima just keep workin though.”


Maybe Thomas actually will speak his Boston comeback into existence.

112288

COMMENTS ON THE GAME

Another loss. And we shot 37% from beyond the arc while Indy shot 27%, interesting.

Williams is showing some good play and needed scoring. Gve him 25 games under his belt and he will be even better then he is now.

Pritchard is showing some remarkable play. Give the kid some more time and let him play!

Isaiah Thomas if cheap enough is a good fit for the Celtics. An insurance policy in case Walker cannot keep himself off of the injured reserve list. Besides Thomas knows the Celtics and can light up the basketball court with much needed scoring off the bench.

I want to lend some advice to Brad Stevens, do not go into the locker room at half time. Keep the team on the court, because you tend to leave the team in the locker room come the start of the 3rd quarter!!!!!

112288

Hi,
Something is wrong with this team. For whatever reason, it shows up mostly in 3rd quarter.
They can't score and completely forget how to play defense.
The only explanation is a very short off-season and training camp. Unlike other teams, Celtics didn't fare well in this conditions.

As for the game, the only bright spots were PP and TimeLord.
I still hope they will wake up, the sooner the better.

AK

After the final buzzer sounded I was left with a strong feeling that we could have and should have won his game.

This offense looks pretty stagnant because the team goes through stretches of the game where the ball is not moving.  Way too much dribbling especially by Jayson Tatum who had 5 turnovers, several where he simply lost the ball off the bounce.

The DT, TT pairing is not going to work.  I do not need to see it again to figure that out.  Those two are very limited offensive players and together they leave a big hole in our offense.

Jaylen Brown went a very efficient 8-13 and he is slowing turning into a guy that can help run the offense.  He recorded 4 assists last night.

Rookie PP is starting to get more comfortable and as we can see he can shoot the ball.  He will make his share of rookie mistakes but he clearly has talent.

Grant Williams was a mix bag.  He scored 6 points and had 4 rebounds but he also choked at the line in a key moment and was the main cause of a Sabonis drive and score to the rim.  Grant picked his own man off (RWIII).  During the game he was trying to cover Brogden and dumb ass Scal  said on two occasions, "You gotta know that Brogden will...."  GW is too slow to check Brogden, that is the main problem.  We need a scorer in the game not named Grant.

Teague did not make a basket but he still scored 9 points because he can get to the rim.  He went 9-10 from the line.

Marcus Smart was his usual self.  He seems to have toned down his FGA's but was very efficient going 4-8.  he also had led the team with 6 assists and he had 2 steams.  A late game injury was not looking good but he came back and finished the game.

I am giving the game ball to Robert Williams III because he played with tremendous energy and went 6-7 from the field to go along with 4 rebounds and 4 steals.  12/4/4 is a great stat line for a guy who only logged 22 minutes.  Oh and he also had 2 blocks.  It was interesting to see him in the game late but that happened because TT could not check Sabonis.  

Finally the last shot by Tatum reflects poor play calling by Stevens.  We need a two pointer to win not and ISO 3.  It was a 5 out play with zero movement.  It was a weak play designed for hero ball.  

Rookie AN did not play in the game but Brad needs to get him ready to play sooner rather than later.

Overall this was a very disappointing loss.   Game 2 against them will be tomorrow and if Olidipo plays the advantage stays with them.

I didn't see this game either, still doing my "Christmas weekend social obligations", but I got Steve3344 giving me regular updates again. Now that this week is over I can get back to some basketball.

What stood out to me was his text about Tatum getting the ball at half court after a time out and 7+ seconds left and not even trying to drive.  He did a little fancy dribbling and then stepped back for a 30' 3pt fga. I watched the highlight and it was only a 27'er, but still...Shame on Brad, who I am seeing more and more just giving the ball to Tatum and let him do wtf he wants to do instead of calling a play for the team, and shame on Tatum for not even trying to create contact and get to the line.  We needed ONE POINT to tie it, two to win.  We didn't need 3.  VERY poor shot selection by Tatum. He needs to stop channeling Kobe, he's not there yet, and start channeling Pierce. Pierce would have taken the ball right to them and dared them to stop him. He gets the shot, he gets fouled, either way we win. Taking a step back 3 from 27' is NOT a superstar shot, it's a ME-baller shot.

Jaylen was 8-13, why not let him take last shots once in a while?  If he gets fouled he's not as good a frito shooter as Jayson but he'll hit one out of two and that's all we needed.  On the year he's shooting 51.6% from the field and 73% from the line.  MORE than acceptable numbers.

Pritchard's box score looks very good, 5-5, 3-3 from 3.  Is that an accurate portrayal of his overall contributions?

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401267197





Bob


.

This game reinforced my opinion that the early schedule is going to be tough for the Celtics. I still think we shouldn't expect much and that a record just above .500 is a possibility for the initial schedule through January. It may take through late January to establish a rotation, so bumps in the road are bound to happen. I believe it will get better after that, especially if Walker can return. I expect we'll see a second half-season surge once they figure out the best 8 - 10 man rotation.

bobheckler wrote: Pierce would have taken the ball right to them and dared them to stop him.  He gets the shot, he gets fouled, either way we win.  Taking a step back 3 from 27' is NOT a superstar shot, it's a ME-baller shot.

Jaylen was 8-13, why not let him take last shots once in a while?  If he gets fouled he's not as good a frito shooter as Jayson but he'll hit one out of two and that's all we needed.  On the year he's shooting 51.6% from the field and 73% from the line.  MORE than acceptable numbers.

Bob
.

Great points.

I am beginning to wonder if this team, including Brad, doesn't do well with high expectations. Maybe its age, maybe its part of their fundamental character, but once any expectations accrue, the totally wilt.

Bob my guy PP looks better in his 3rd game.  This team is a 3 point shooting team and Pritchard can do that for us.  He made a couple of errors like stepping on the end line but he played damn well for a rookie in only game 3 of his career.  Brad seems to trust him enough to play him at key moments in the game.  

Jaylen needs more than 13 shots.  He is playing up top more with the ball in his hands but unlike Jayson his first instinct is to drive the ball.  What we need now is a third wing that can stretch the floor and in my way of thinking Aaron Nesmith could fill that role for us.  Both J's will benefit from having a shooter on the court with them.  

Robert Williams really played well.  He fought for rebounds and loose balls all night.  This kid can score the basketball if you get it to him.  As the box score indicated he had 4 steals.  One was on a inbounds play after a Celtics score where he read the pass and was as quick as a corneback to cut off the angle and followed it up with a 2 handed slam. It was an away from the basket steal which made it even more impressive. Another came late in the game on a trap where he came around the back of a player up near half court and prevented them from passing the ball out.  That steal led to a fast break.  I think he is ready for a bigger role and consistent minutes in the rotation.

The Tatum shot was a really bad shot.  When you need 2 to win a 3 pointer is really dumb.  Tatum is a heck of a player, no doubt but is he now the designated go to guy?  He made a Hail Mary when we needed it but played hero ball when we didn't.  I mainly blame Brad Stevens.  I have seen many last second plays drawn up that where great but this was not even a play.  It was give the ball to Tatum.

Everybody including Tatum said he was supposed to do something other than chuck a three. I agree that Jaylen’s handle and overall game is more reliable so far this season so certainly hope he gets the ball but he didn’t. Tatum may have been intimidated to dribble into the lane given he had previously been stripped of the ball. Tough loss.

Bob I said on the Game on when is Jaylen going to get his chance at the end of game shot, he was 8-13 and all game I was calling for him to take more shots, even though TJ Warren was defending him well. Pacers have a very good deep team, a lot of young veterans, they have elite rim protection and a lot of interchangeable guards and wings. Brogden and Olidipo is an interchangeable skilled backcourt that can play both ends. Bucks made a huge mistake not locking up Brogden, how did they lose to the Knicks? Glad they locked up Giannis, but I don’t see them duplicating last years pace. Our defense has been the biggest disappointment thru 3 games, RWill with a solid contribution, we need to keep giving him minutes, let him develop, we need him.

JT is not in mid season form, maybe he didn’t get enough rest during shortened off season, those turnovers on drives were terrible. He is still figuring it out the new season and new parts. We have been having a lot of bad match ups on defense, why? Why was TT covering Durant so much vs Nets, why was GWill defending Brogden so much, why was McDermott driving at will on us...???

Boston Celtics
@celtics
·
14h
Jayson Tatum on his potential game-winner on the final possession: "That was on me. I should have put more pressure on the defense."


Bob
MY NOTE: Uh, yeah.


.

Hi,
BTW, I didn't understand why DT wasn't on the floor at the end of the game. On defense, he's better than RWIII and GW. Was it one of Brad's experiments or something happened to him?

AK

Adam Himmelsbach @AdamHimmelsbach
56 minutes ago
NBA's L2M report says Tatum should have been called for an offensive foul for kicking his leg out into Brogdon on the final play last night.


Bob
MY NOTE: So Tatum did try to initiate contact after all.  


.

Tatum is no doubt a fabulous talent. But he seems to me too willing to take intellectually lazy shots. Either that or his time with Kobe has gone to his head. Way to much dribbling, way to much hogging the ball and therefore not giving his teammates a chance to contibute.
That's not Celtics ball, or rather that has not been Celtics ball. One can only hope that he'll improve as the season goes along.

Berlin-T

sinus007 wrote:Hi,
Something is wrong with this team. For whatever reason, it shows up mostly in 3rd quarter.
They can't score and completely forget how to play defense.
The only explanation is a very short off-season and training camp. Unlike other teams, Celtics didn't fare well in this conditions.

As for the game, the only bright spots were PP and TimeLord.
I still hope they will wake up, the sooner the better.

AK

They pulled the same 3rd quarter shiggidy Last year too. A very short off season and camp is had by all. Maybe there is some other reason because that ain’t it.

dboss wrote:After the final buzzer sounded I was left with a strong feeling that we could have and should have won his game.

This offense looks pretty stagnant because the team goes through stretches of the game where the ball is not moving.  Way too much dribbling especially by Jayson Tatum who had 5 turnovers, several where he simply lost the ball off the bounce.

The DT, TT pairing is not going to work.  I do not need to see it again to figure that out.  Those two are very limited offensive players and together they leave a big hole in our offense.

Jaylen Brown went a very efficient 8-13 and he is slowing turning into a guy that can help run the offense.  He recorded 4 assists last night.

Rookie PP is starting to get more comfortable and as we can see he can shoot the ball.  He will make his share of rookie mistakes but he clearly has talent.

Grant Williams was a mix bag.  He scored 6 points and had 4 rebounds but he also choked at the line in a key moment and was the main cause of a Sabonis drive and score to the rim.  Grant picked his own man off (RWIII).  During the game he was trying to cover Brogden and dumb ass Scal  said on two occasions, "You gotta know that Brogden will...."  GW is too slow to check Brogden, that is the main problem.  We need a scorer in the game not named Grant.

Teague did not make a basket but he still scored 9 points because he can get to the rim.  He went 9-10 from the line.

Marcus Smart was his usual self.  He seems to have toned down his FGA's but was very efficient going 4-8.  he also had led the team with 6 assists and he had 2 steams.  A late game injury was not looking good but he came back and finished the game.

I am giving the game ball to Robert Williams III because he played with tremendous energy and went 6-7 from the field to go along with 4 rebounds and 4 steals.  12/4/4 is a great stat line for a guy who only logged 22 minutes.  Oh and he also had 2 blocks.  It was interesting to see him in the game late but that happened because TT could not check Sabonis.  

Finally the last shot by Tatum reflects poor play calling by Stevens.  We need a two pointer to win not and ISO 3.  It was a 5 out play with zero movement.  It was a weak play designed for hero ball.  

Rookie AN did not play in the game but Brad needs to get him ready to play sooner rather than later.

Overall this was a very disappointing loss.   Game 2 against them will be tomorrow and if Olidipo plays the advantage stays with them.

dboss, That last play was not designed by Stevens for JT to take a 75 ft 3pointer. Tatum decided that on his own.

Tatum working out with Kobe should never be deemed a negative unless the student wasn’t paying attention. Kobe made mistakes when he was younger and learned from them. I’m assuming he shared some of this with Tatum.
We need to stop pointing the finger at Kobe over those workouts and be a little more realistic about what we are seeing- a very talented but very immature superstar in waiting. That ain’t Kobes fault!

Bob


.

Ktron wrote:Tatum working out with Kobe should never be deemed a negative unless the student wasn’t paying attention. Kobe made mistakes when he was younger and learned from them. I’m assuming he shared some of this with Tatum.
We need to stop pointing the finger at Kobe over those workouts and be a little more realistic about what we are seeing- a very talented but very immature superstar in waiting. That ain’t Kobes fault!

I'm not blamimg Kobe, I'm blamimg Tatum.

Berlin-T