POST GAME MIAMI

MIAMI HEAT.......MEET THE BOSTON CELTICS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MR. WADE......MEET BACK IN YOUR FACE MR. BRADLEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Games like this it makes you proud to be a Boston Celtic Fan!!!!!!!!!

No RA.....No MP........No CW.....No Problem..............we turned it up a notch with our defense and in your face basketball............for the best win of the year!!!!!!!!

Hey Spoelstra..........You AH...........So the Celtics had the easiest 1st quarter all year............
Try the easiest 2nd quarter..........easiest 3rd quarter..........easiest 4th quarter...............
How about EASIEST GAME OF THE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE BLEW THE DOORS OFF MIAMI!!!!

The Stats were unbelievable.....We held Miami to 34.8% Shooting and 18.8% from 3 pts range, that smothering defense!!!!!

Bradley did a tremendous job defensively on Wade, who settled for 15 points (on 6-of-17 shooting). Bradley finished with 13 points (on 5-of-10 shooting) over 36 minutes. Boston is 10-1 without Allen this season.


NEXT GAME WED. 7:30 @ HOME - S.A. SPURS - CSNE/NBA LEAGUE PASS


112288

POST GAME WEEI 850 am


FAST BREAK: RAJON RONDO’S TRIPLE-DOUBLE BEATS HEAT
By Ben Rohrbach


Nobody else in the NBA has more than one triple-double this season. Rajon Rondo now has five.

Dominating the first and third quarters of Sunday afternoon’s nationally televised game against the Heat (37-14), Rondo recorded 16 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds in a 91-72 dismantling of the Eastern Conference’s current No. 2 seed.

The Celtics (30-22) move a full game up on the 76ers for the Atlantic Division lead and within two games of the third-seeded Magic, who were scheduled to play the Nuggets without Dwight Howard (back spasms) later Sunday afternoon.

All five starters reached double figures, including Bass (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Bradley (13 points), while Pierce and LeBron James canceled each other out with 23 points apiece, as the C’s led by as many as 29 points.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

A nation awaits: Rondo amassed seven points and three rebounds in the game’s first 3:43, sparking a 9-4 Celtics run (he assisted Kevin Garnett on the only other field goal) to start the game and forcing a Heat timeout less than four minutes into the game. Apparently, Rondo remembered Sunday’s game was nationally televised (like 14 of his 18 career triple-doubles). He finished the first quarter with 10 points, four assists and four rebounds, giving the C’s a 29-19 advantage. The third quarter was more of the same, as Rondo totaled six points and eight assists in that frame to stake the Celtics to an 80-56 lead.

No Wade out: With Ray Allen (ankle) and Mickael Pietrus (concussion) still out of the Celtics lineup, all eyes were on Avery Bradley as he drew the defensive assignment on Wade. Further earning his reputation already as one of the game’s great defenders, Bradley held Wade to 6-for-17 shooting, including this ridiculous second-quarter block. Conversely, Bradley’s knack for cutting to the basket offensively paid dividends against the gambling Wade.

All glass Bass: Considering the stage, this might have been the best Bass performance of the season. He registered his fourth double-double of the year, giving the Celtics the advantage on the defensive glass (44-32) and getting to the line offensively. He made all 10 of his free throw attempts, totaling his 16 points on five official field goal attempts. Rarely do the Celtics get to the line as frequently as the Heat, but on Sunday they owned a 22-17 advantage in free throws.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Miami Mikan drill: Midway through the second quarter, after Greg Stiemsma gave the Celtics a 34-23 lead, the Heat went on a 10-run — and had the C’s to thank for it. Shane Battier tipped in an offensive rebound, Wade drained turnaround (the only tough basket of the stretch), Wade beat Sasha Pavlovic off the dribble, Bradley threw a pass out of bounds, Battier made a layup off an inbounds pass and Wade got behind the defense for another layup. All in all, an ugly stretch for a Celtics defense that played exceptionally well the rest of the night.

Shane game: While the rest of his team shot 16-for-43 (37.2%) from the field and 0-for-4 from 3-point range in the first half, Battier made four of his five shots — including a pair of 3-pointers on three attempts — totaling 11 points and four rebounds by the break to help keep the Heat in the game 49-44 after two quarters.

Pain in the offensive glass: While Bass led a spirited effort on the defensive glass, the Heat — like so many teams — dominated in that respect with 15 rebounds on the offensive end. The Celtics allowed 10 or more offensive rebounds for the 39th time in 52 games, but that’s nitpicking at its finest.

When you miss as many shots as the heat missed there are just more opportunities

beat

think I'll take 42-44 minutes of great basketball if it means a 10-0 run for the other4-6.

Once again, Miami showed they have no heart. Instead of fighting to the end, they rolled over and quit.

You bring Ray Allen back. You bring Mikael Pietrus back. You continue to get Hollins and Sasha into the mix. You keep getting solid contributions from Keyon Dooling and AB - and WATCH OUT.

I watched the game over Brandon's house so wasn't on the game on thread.

AB has made a believer out of me, defense of course impressive but his off the ball movement and cuts to the hoop are surprising for a young player. I think Sam has mentioned this a few times and I concur.

Steamer too looks good out there.

Kudos to Doc for the effort and results this team is getting with all the injuries!

I know some do not put much into the +- stat line

Look who was -30 for the heat.... with 0 assists in 34+ minutes

Guesses???

beat

good point bobby c Doc has done an amazing coaching job this current stretch, did anybody see this coming? I didn't kudos to Doc and what a great job KG has been doing, without Perk and JON and Wilcox and every minute hes on the floor he just takes away everything inside. KG should get another DPoY if we get up to the 3rd seed.

When we play like this there is no doubt in my mind we can win the whole shebang.

1. Avery's too small, he can't shoot, he can't dribble, blah, blah, blah. 13 points, 2 steals and a "Holy Shit! Are you kidding me?!" Sportcenter block for Ray Allen's successor. I thought he and Sasha did a very good job defending DWade who, despite going off a few times was only 6-17 for 15 points. Did you see Wade giving Bradley some props after that block? Nice job by Doc, too, switching up the look DWade got, small and quick to tall and strong. Let's not mince words, this was a big-time effort in a big-time game for Bradley, maybe the biggest game of his career. I'm not talking stat-wise, I mean pressure and significance of the game-wise. Jackie Mac is licking her wounds today.

2. I can't remember the last time I saw so many bone-headed mistakes by Pierce in a row. Wow. Still, he got the job done with 23 points on 8-17. Those turnovers though...Really cost us momentum in the 2nd. Battier and James Jones (who shot lights out against us in the playoffs last year) gave him a lot of trouble but he still did his thing. Jones and Battier, though, contributed little to their team. 11 points total for the two of them.

3. We got Rondo-the-Treat today instead of Rondo-the-Trick. There have been something like 12 or 13 triple doubles in the league this year and Rondo has 5 of them. He attacked the hoop in the halfcourt and threw a beeeeutiful 3/4 court mid-air layup pass to Sasha. Great court vision by our floor general. He ran up court which put pressure on their defense. I loved it in the 3rd quarter, we were up big, and Rondo's running full court and waving at the Celtics to run and not jog. Rondo, with 14 assists, almost out-assisted the entire Heat team's 15. Poor Mario Chalmers is still looking for the #9 bus that ran him over.

4. Steamer was very aggressive too. Once more, as we've seen in recent games, he's trying to swat the offensive rebound out towards the 3pt line and a possible Celtic. That's a good news bad news thing since it can provide the dreaded "long rebound" to the opponent which starts their fast break, but I love the fact that he is not just letting them gain control of the ball and the rhythm. He's creating more steals too. He has doubled his steals rate (1.1pg vs .5pg) in his last 10 games. PT is good for him.

5. Good game by Sasha. Once again, a game of intangibles. Sticky disruptive defense on DWade, who likes to muscle players but couldn't muscle the bigger Sasha. Running the floor, sweeping the boards. The scouting report on Sasha was right: not great at anything but pretty good at everything. And I'm ok with that. He's a very heady player.

6. Dooling had another good game too. Ok, I guess he's out of the doghouse now. I'm not quite ready to let him sleep on the bed yet, but he can come in the house.

7. Who's the Heat's PF? Chris Bosh? Chris Bosh who? Another disappearing act by the NBA's worst all-star. KG gobbled up yet another elite NBA PF. I guess he wasn't full after chowing down on Kevin Love on Friday. He has been amazing, nothing short of amazing, since the all-star game. When I grow up, I want to be just like KG. Except for the psycho head-banging on the stanchion and baying at the moon when he blocks a shot shit.

8. Our inside game is Brandon Bass. Only given credit for 5 fga, but that's because he was constantly getting fouled and shooting fts. A perfect 10-10 from the line really makes them think twice about hacking him.

9. The worst rebounding team in the league outrebounded the Heat 49-47. Obvious credit to Bass and to Rondo.

What a magnificent 3rd quarter. They never knew what hit them.

We actually get a few days off and play San Antonio in Boston on Wednesday. San Antonio plays in Cleveland on Tuesday, so we'll be getting them on the second game of a back-to-back. We're gonna need it because the Spurs are a blistering 36-14. Older than dirt, but Pop has them playing on all 8 cylinders. The last time we'll see KG match up with The Big Fundamental? On Tuesday, Philly has to play the, no doubt, extremely pissed-off Miami Heat in Miami.

That's how big a win this was. It gives us a chance to put some distance between us.

I read the Game On thread. Nice turnout. A lot of good points, a lot of fun being had by all. FWIW, I don't own a TV, so when the games are on TNT or ABC or such, I go out to a bar and watch from there. When they're on CSN I watch online and so I'm often on the Game On thread.

Leading the Atlantic Division, heading into the homestretch.

Right where we want to be...

bob

.

Hi,
Thanks all for comments. Nothing to add except.... What was that crap about the easiest quarter etc.
Coach Spoelstra, at least try to be a man when your ass handed to you on a silver platter.

AK

PS BTW, all this despite those 2 geriatric bozos in stripes.

I have seen enough to believe that the Celts are a better team with AB in the starting lineup.
Time for Doc to make a permanent change. Bring Ray off the bench as our designated shooter. AB defense is extraordinary and his offense is coming along quite nicely.

Dboss

Perfect Recap as usual Bob.

Thanks mrkleen.

beat wrote:I know some do not put much into the +- stat line

Look who was -30 for the heat.... with 0 assists in 34+ minutes

Guesses???

beat

First game since Feb. 26, 2009 (in another 19 point loss - 93-74 to Houston) that Lebron has had 0 assists. And that was the only other time in his entire career - in 677 games (plus another 92 in the playoffs) - that's happened.

There were many things to be delighted about in this game. The Celtics played the best team defense I've seen them play in ages. It almost seemed that they'd been tipped off about Wade's Lebron's and Bosh's every move....they anticipated so beautifully. They executed what I call their "lunge and recover" defense immaculately, and that's a defense that can backfire if you're even a quarter of a step slow.

On offense, once again they played within their abilities. Virtually no hero shots. Few (if any) forced shots. Beautifully spread scoring. Ordinarily, I'd ecstatic if the Celts were even with the Heat in transition points. In this game, the Celts trounced the Heat 15-9 in fast break points. That stat, plus the 22-17 Celtics plurality in free throw attempts, typified the aggressive play of the Celtics—and they kept it up for the entire time when there was any doubt about the game outcome.

I thought the Heat were off their feed, as indicated by their 41% mark at the FT line and the fact that they couldn't capitalize on taking 19 more FG attempts on the Celtics. I'd like to credit the aggressive defense of the Celts for 100% of the Heat's malaise, but right from the start of the game, the Heat were missing bunnies and dunks, and committing turnovers. I believe the Heat may be experiencing a slump; and, if so, the Celtics certainly helped to solidify it. By the way, one reason Miami had so many FG attempts was that they were forced to take so many low-percentage shots, and the law of averages sent a number of long offensive rebounds their way.

To the casual observer, it would have looked as though the Heat, not the Celtics, were undermanned up front. Come to think of it, in the backcourt as well.

Of the core eight who played before garbage time, I thought every single one did outstanding things in this game. Even Sasha, who (besides defending very well) broke away and leaped for a Rondo touchdown pass and laid it in without coming down. Rondo's thread-the-needle pass to Pierce was great, but I thought that precision home run assist was Rondo's most amazing pass of the game.

I'm too lazy to look back over recent box scores, but it seems that Doc is seeing fit to give Bradley the most minutes on the team lately. (He was tied with Rondo at 37 in this one.) That reflects a load of confidence in Avery on Doc's part. And Avery started this iron man stretch coming off a bad ankle.

If playing only eight guys is wearing the older players down, I didn't see signs of it today. KG looked as fresh as a daisy on offense, and his defense at the "5" position is giving teams fits. People tend to go "ape" whenever Paul commits a couple of errors; but he's been quite consistent in treating the other teams like a carnival knife-thrower. Dagger after dagger.

And isn't Brendan Bass the essence of an outstanding role player? I now have greater confidence in him at the foul line than even Ray. That mid-range jumper is an almost automatic downer for opponents. And he's really chipping in with healthy rebound numbers.

Is anyone else noticing that Steamer is clamping onto the ball on rebounds and occasionally grabbing them out of opponents' hands. Moreover, he's getting some nifty steals along with his blocks. I wish he'd been rewarded for his steal and rather ponderous length-of-floor "dash" today.

And finally, unlike a substantial portion of this season, the Celtics are obviously playing with a sense of joy. I can't believe even March Madness teams displayed more joyful team spirit than these guys are showing. Just a tiny example: Quis never got off the bench in this one. And yet, at the end, I noticed him whooping it up with the rest of them. A hearty "Welcome back" to Ubuntu.

And, as others have noted, they continued their string of early leads. I maintain that is the most effective strategy in basketball. Start fast and stay at least one "run" ahead of the opponent.

Go Celtics,

Sam

P.S. Wow, two days of home cooking and some practice time before San Antonio comes in on Wednesday.

Quote from Bob H:

6. Dooling had another good game too. Ok, I guess he's out of the doghouse now. I'm not quite ready to let him sleep on the bed yet, but he can come in the house.

That's just too funny, I almost crapped my pants.

Hello national TV, we are the Celtics!

Berlin-T wrote:Quote from Bob H:

6. Dooling had another good game too. Ok, I guess he's out of the doghouse now. I'm not quite ready to let him sleep on the bed yet, but he can come in the house.

That's just too funny, I almost crapped my pants.

its always good to see a "jebism" on the boArd.

I'll stick my neck out and say that the problem with Labron James is he does not know who he is.

Is he a center? .......A power forward?.......A small forward?..........A shooting guard?
or a point guard?

He is everything.......and nothing.

Yes he throws up unbelievable stats every year, but without a clear position, a clear role.........he is doomed to continue to fail!

That's my two cents.........How do you Jackie Mac's feel?


112288

Another point that deserves to be mentioned was our outstanding perimeter and transition defenses. We were quick on switch offs on the pick-and-roll (a few screwups, which Wade took advantage of, dropping a pass down to the roller, but overall we were very good) and the Heat were never able to get up a head of steam full court.

bob

.

This is the best way of earning a rep with the refs. Way to go, Avery. Who says Danny doesn't have an eye for talent?




bob


.

112288 wrote:I'll stick my neck out and say that the problem with Labron James is he does not know who he is.

Is he a center? .......A power forward?.......A small forward?..........A shooting guard?
or a point guard?

He is everything.......and nothing.

Yes he throws up unbelievable stats every year, but without a clear position, a clear role.........he is doomed to continue to fail!

That's my two cents.........How do you Jackie Mac's feel?


112288

112288,
Sorry about your neck but IMO LJ doesn't have mental fortitude, toughness to win like a true champion. And one of the reasons for that is that he never had a mentor/coach.
But regardless of his problems and reasons for them, I'm always happy when he looses.

AK

Ditto Sinus 007!!!!!

112288

Bradley's Sportcenter block on DWade









This, actually, was a travel by Pierce. Shhh.



Rondo, blowing past the Scarecrow.



Bradley, shashing baseline from the 3pt corner



Rondo, with his amazing court vision and pass-first mentality, passing to KG in mid-shot.

just watcched this game on dvr... wow. no complaints about any person in green without being extremely nitpicky...

I think this game was very significant, obviously we won, was enjoyable to see such a butt kicking, couldn't believe lead went up to 29. Were alot of significant plays.....one of them was first play in second half, old and slow Pierce stole a pass to Lebron and went all the way for a finish, what was odd was Lebron didn't even chase, he just stood there, this game was not a blowout yet. If I was the coach I'd be screaming at him to follow, chase the ball, how could the biggest fastest baddasss just give up on that play? Another great play was AB's block on Wade, I didn't see Wade try to attack AB face up much like hes done throughout his career and go right at him, that is another huge development for AB's abilities and everexpanding game.

We have recreated our team again with 2 highpost bigs that can spread the floor for the other cutters to slash and move without the ball, we have the quickest backcourt in the league with two points creating havoc on both ends. This game shows me we can contend this year!! The Heat have a ton of problems, Lebron cannot carry them in 4th quarters or in tight games. They have no inside presence, Bosh is as soft a big as there is, Joel Anthonys offense, non offense is so putrid it hurts the team too much to give him a normal run of minutes, then with him out which needs to be done.....the defense sucks, especially the interior. Lebron and Wade look tired, we were the faster, speedier team, they were getting worn out and couldn't keep up with Rondo. At one point Wade covered Pierce and Lebron was on AB? was Wade too tired to chase AB who was in his grill the whole game?

We exposed the Heats worts, they are already in a downword spiral and we are in midst of recreating ourselves....with Rondo and AB we can run at teams and get the easy buckets now....gotta love it. Teams now can't keep up with us, our backcourt is too fast!! We still have the great KG to defend the rim, hes just dismantled Al Jefferson, Kevin Love and Chris Bosh, the softest big since Raef Lafrentz.....go Celtics.