POST GAME MEMPHIS

GAME STATS

SCORE – CELTICS - 106 / MEM - 110
REBOUNDS - CELTICS 37 /MEM 44.....Offensive - CELTICS 7 /MEM 16 ......Defensive - CELTICS 30/MEM 28
POINTS IN THE PAINT - CELTICS 34 /MEM 48
FAST BREAK POINTS - CELTICS 18 / MEM 14
FG - CELTICS - 38/74 (51.4 %) MEM 43/94 ( 45.7 %)
3PM - CELTICS 9/20 (45 %) MEM 4/11 (36.4 %)
FTM - CELTICS 21/28 (75%) MEM 20/24 ( 83.3 %)
TO - CELTICS 14 / MEM 8
ASSISTS - CELTICS 19 / MEM 26
STL - CELTICS 5/ MEM 8
BLK - CELTICS 9 / MEM 6
PF - CELTICS 21 / MEM 19
BENCH POINTS - CELTICS 44 / MEM 47
TOTAL TEAM TURNOVERS (Points off turnovers) – CELTICS 15 (21) /MEM 8 (4)

NEXT GAMETUESDAY - HOME -NEW YORK - 7:00PM - CSNE/TNT

POST GAME RECAP

ESPNBOSTON.COM

Rapid Reaction: Grizzlies 110, Celtics 106

By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com

Rapid reaction after the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Boston Celtics 110-106 on Saturday night at FedEx Forum:

THE NITTY GRITTY
Jerryd Bayless scored a game-high 30 points on 11-of-20 shooting, while a staggering seven of the eight players that the Grizzlies put in the game landed in double figures for scoring (sorry, Quincy Pondexter). Zach Randolph, shuffled to a reserve role for a tardy arrival, added 15 points and 10 rebounds for Memphis. Paul Pierce scored a team-high 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting for Boston, but it was Jordan Crawford (21 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists) who sparked an improbable late-game comeback that nearly saw Boston rally out of a 21-point hole.

TURNING POINT
The Grizzlies embarked on a 13-2 run early in the fourth quarter while stretching their lead as high as 21 points. Bayless lit the fuse with a 3-pointer and a Mike Conley old-fashioned three-point play had Memphis out front 98-77 with 7:16 to play. Celtics coach Doc Rivers waved the white flag a bit at that point, pulling Pierce near the end of the run, but Boston's scrappy reserves actually made this a game again led by Crawford. The Celtics clawed within a possession, knocking that lead all the way down to two with 18.9 seconds to go. But Memphis hit all of its free throws (and Jason Terry missed a pivotal one) that allowed the Grizzlies to hang on.

PUT HIM ON A POSTER
Avery Bradley provided Boston's highlight of the night, storming down the middle of the lane and throwing down a vicious one-handed jam over Ed Davis with 6:48 to play in the first quarter. The entire Boston bench spilled onto the edge of the court in celebration.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
Crawford picked up a technical foul arguing for a goaltending call when Tayshaun Prince hustled for a fourth-quarter chasedown block. Crawford had five technical fouls this season while in Washington, but this was his first since joining the Celtics. Doc River got tagged with his sixth technical of the season as well for arguing against a Paul Pierce double-dribble call in the fourth quarter (though he resisted getting run in order to go watch the thrilling end of the Marquette-Butler NCAA tournament game).

WHAT IT MEANS
The end of Boston's bench helped closed a dismal road trip on the tiniest of positive notes. It won't do much to eliminate the fact that Boston, who played without two starters as Kevin Garnett and Courtney Lee both have left ankle injuries, has now lost four straight to fall to 36-33 overall (a mere 1½ games up on eighth-seeded Milwaukee). Boston has a couple days off before hosting the Atlantic Division-leading New York Knicks on Tuesday night at TD Garden. Also on the schedule this week for the Celtics: A midweek trip to Cleveland for the tail end of a back-to-back, and a visit from the Hawks -- one of the teams Boston is jockeying with at the back end of the Eastern Conference playoff ladder -- on Friday night.
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CSNE

Grizzlies bite Celtics, 110-106

A. SHERROD BLAKLEY

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Boston Celtics were done, down 21 points in the fourth quarter with about seven minutes to play.

So Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers did what any coach would do - he emptied the bench.

And in a matter of minutes, the Celtics' seemingly unsurmountable hole was just a mere bump that could be toppled with just a couple of defensive stops and timely shots in the final minute or so of play.

Despite an impressive 29-12 run to end the game by Boston, the Celtics couldn't get that one last big play to pull out an improbable victory as the Grizzlies came through with a slew of clutch free throws in the final seconds to hold on for a 110-106 win.

It was Boston's fourth straight loss, but clearly one of the more feel-good games this team has had recently.

The comeback was fueled in large part by end-of-the-bench guys like Jordan Crawford and Terrence Williams and D.J. White and Shavlik Randolph.

Boston will certainly look at their play in the fourth as something to build on going forward.

No matter what kind of positive vibes the C's will take from the loss, it is still that ... a loss.

And with it, the Celtics have dropped four in a row which is making their chances of improving upon their current playoff position even tougher with the games coming up just as tough and against teams just as hungry.

One of the big concerns for Boston coming into Saturday's game was how they would handle the Grizzlies and their massive frontline.

The C's seemingly caught a break with starting center Marc Gasol out with an abdominal injury.

But the Celtics had their own injury issues to worry about.

Boston was without Kevin Garnett and Courtney Lee due to left ankle injuries.

And while there's no way of knowing if their play would have been the difference between the Celtics snapping their losing skid, their presence would have certainly helped.

It was a game that for the most part was dominated by Memphis shooting an unusually high percentage from 3-point range.

They came into the game ranked 20th in the NBA in field goal percentage (.443), but spent the bulk of Saturday's game shooting around the 50 percent mark.

Boston seemed to have found its stride early in the third quarter after a Paul Pierce 3-pointer cut Memphis' lead to 68-62.

Defended by former Celtic Tony Allen, Pierce started a little trash talking, too.

"You on defense! You on defense!" was what Pierce yelled in Allen's direction after Pierce's third, 3-pointer of the game.

Allen didn't say anything, but instead did what Allen has done throughout his career and that is let his play speak for him.

Following Pierce's 3-pointer, Memphis went on a 7-0 run capped off by a 3-pointer from the hot hand of the night, Jerryd Bayless.

And within minutes, Memphis was back ahead by double figures and took a comfortable 85-73 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Celtics needing to fight back from such a deep ditch was in stark contrast to how the game began.

Boston got off to a surprisingly strong start, scoring 10 of the game's first 12 points.

But the Grizzlies soon got back into the game by using their significant size advantage - even greater with Kevin Garnett out because of a foot injury - for a slew of offensive rebounds and put-back baskets.

A three-point play by Darrell Arthur cut Boston's lead to 18-17, but the C's countered by scoring six of the game's next eight points to lead, 24-19 after a lay-up by Chris Wilcox.

Both teams went back and fourth in the quarter exchanging one bucket for another, a surprising sequence considering these are two of the NBA's top scoring defenses.

Memphis came into the game giving up an NBA-low 89.2 points per game while the Celtics rank 7th in allowing opponents to score 95.8 points per game.

Boston had a 31-29 lead after the first quarter, but they had no reason to feel good about their play.

The C's have proven they can win in high scoring games, but they are at their best in low-scoring affairs.

Boston has an impressive 17-2 record this season when holding opponents to 89 points or less.

At the rate that Saturday's game was going, Memphis was going to hit that scoring mark by halftime.

Leading the offensive fireworks for Memphis was Jerryd Bayless, whose hot hand only highlighted how important not having Courtney Lee (left ankle sprain) was to the C's defense.

Averaging 7.7 points per game this season, Bayless had 20 points by the half which ended with Memphis ahead 61-51.

Former Celtic Tony Allen was also an important cog in Memphis' success against the C's, especially in the second quarter when he was guarding Pierce.

Pierce had 13 points in the first half, all of which came in the first quarter when Allen was not defending him.

Saturday's struggles continued the latest trend of bad, erratic and inconsistent play defensively by the Celtics.

Not having Lee or Kevin Garnett (both out with left ankle injuries) available was indeed a blow to the C's overall play defensively.

But the problems that have sprouted up lately have been issues even when those guys were in the lineup.

So as the C's went into the locker room at the half, there had to be a sense among them that they were in running-in-the-mud-mode with the problems against the Grizzlies bringing their ability to run - a problem in the three previous games, all losses - to a standstill.

Setting a tone defensively to start the third quarter had to become more than just a goal; but an absolute necessity for the Celtics to get back in the game and give themselves a chance to win.
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WEEI 93.7 FM

WITHOUT KEVIN GARNETT, COURTNEY LEE, CELTICS’ ROAD WOES CONTINUE WITH LOSS TO GRIZZLIES

Playing without Kevin Garnett (foot) or Courtney Lee (ankle), the Celtics couldn’t recover from a horrific second quarter in dropping a 110-106 decision to the Grizzlies in Memphis Saturday night.

After finishing the first quarter with a two-point lead, the Celtics were outscored, 32-20, in the second quarter. It led to Memphis’ 10th straight home win.

The Celtics mounted a spirited fourth-quarter comeback, having entered the final quarter down 12 points. The C’s, however, managed to close the gap to two with 19 seconds remaining on a pair of Jordan Crawford (21 points, 26 minutes) free throws.

The Celts could have drawn with a point with eight seconds left when Jason Terry was fouled taking a three-pointer. But the guard only made two of his three foul shots, allowing Memphis to hold off the visitors.

The Grizzlies made all six of their free throw attempts after Crawford made it a two-point game.

The loss was the Celtics’ fourth straight defeat, and first loss to at FedEx Forum in their last six visits. It was also Doc Rivers’ team’s fifth consecutive road loss, dropping to 2-12 against Western Conference teams on their home floors.

Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 26 points, while both Terrence Williams and Chris Wilcox contributed off the bench, each making all four of their shots from the floor.

Jerryd Bayless led all scorers with 30 points off the bench for Memphis.

112288

Refs fockin suck, we get hosed consistantly, refs just can't get the simplest calls right for some reason. Pierce had a beautiful drive taken away by a bogus double dribble call? WTF. Wilcox had a clean all ball block called against him by the outside official who should let the closer refs make that call....this league is too controlled by Sterns goons who moonlight as refs. Game after game all I'm seeing is us not getting any calls or ALL the WRONG ONES!!!!

....and WTF happened to Jeff Green, is it Doc not calling plays for him or does he have to demand the ball? and either way hes got to attack and keep attacking, get way more shots up....he and Doc better get on the same page. Crawford jacking up more shots than Green makes me sick.

Just another example of a poor Ainge decision of letting a great defender like Tony Allen get away. Also more ominous clouds on the horizon for the Celtics with MRI's ahead for both Lee & Garnett. The ice cream flavor of the month: Rocky Road!

MD!

Cowen,

I hear your frustration but we should have not been down as much as we were. A disappointing road trip and an uncertain future. In a way I would like to meet Miami in the first round..........hey we'll be fresh and it would be our best shot.


112288


MD

I like Cherry Gracia myself

This game was proof positive that roller coasters still exist.

(UP) We learned that Marc Gasol would also miss the game due to an injury suffered the previous night.

(DOWN) We learned that both KG (foot) and Courtney Lee (ankle) would be out. According to Lee, he'll be back very soon, but KG's immediate future depends on an MRI that will be taken on Monday.

(UP) The Celtics, with Jeff Green and Brandon Bass sharing center duties, ran out to a quick 10-point lead.

(DOWN) Within very few minutes, the Grizzlies erased that lead

(UP) By the end of the first quarter, the Celtics had apparently stalled the threat and led by two.

(DOWN) The Griiz forged their own 10-point lead by the halfway mark of the second quarter, and that was the margin at the end of two.

(UP) Paul Pierce decided to put the Celts on his shoulders in the third quarter; and, fueled by two three-pointers and a drive to the hoop by Paul, the Celts had cut the Griz lead to six points by the mid-point of that stanza.

(DOWN) The Griz inexorably began extending the lead, with Jerryd Bayless (30 points for the game), Zach Randolph (15 and 11 despite arriving late and not starting), and Tony Allen (defensive stops, 10 points and 10 rebounds) leading the way. (Allen leads all NBA guards in offensive rebounds.)

(UP) It's a testament to the wiles and effort of Paul Pierce that he was able to combat the defense of Allen and lead the Celtics in scoring (26), rebounds (6), and assists (4). Poor Paul must have felt he was in quicksand; the more aggressive he became, the deeper the Celtics sank.

(DOWN) In the first 5+ minutes of the 4th quarter, the Celts scored exactly one field goal, lost 9 more points to the Griz, and trailed by 21. Symbolic of the evening up to that point, Mike Conley scored the points that fashioned the 21-point lead, with a two-point driving layup plus an "and one" against the Boston turnstyles.

(UP) Trailing by 21, Doc went pretty much Shlavik Randolph, D.J. White, Terrence Williams, Jeff Green and Jordan Crawford for four of the final five
minutes. During those four minutes, that combination scored 23 points points and knocked 17 off the Griz' lead. Crawford had 11, Williams had 4, White had 4, Shlavik had 2, and Green had 2.

(DOWN) Alas, it wasn't quite enough; and, after the Celts had the lead down to 2 in the last two miinutes, Zach Randolph ultimately put the game away with two freebies, and the Grizzlies won by 4.

The Importance of Sharing the Ball

The Celtics scored 38 field goals on 19 assists (50%). That's pretty much what they've been averaging since the Rondo days (60%+). But the following breakdown of trends within the game shows an interesting pattern:

• During the periods of time when the Celtics made their two runs (beginning and end of the game), they assisted on 8 of their 12 field goals (67%).

• During the rest of the game, when they were basically in free fall, they assisted on 11 of their 26 field goals (42%). More often than not, passes create more open shots than dribble-drives.

The Real Story

Actually, you can forget all of the above. In every Celtics loss, the referees have been the main reason. And the Celtics are the only team in the league that's ever
victimized by bad calls.

It's utterly uncanny. It doesn't matter whether the other team is more aggressive (for example leading 48-34 in points in the paint in this game) or if the Celtics prefer jumpers over going to the hoop or if the Celtics stand around on offense or if the Celtics reach on defense. None of that is relevant. Boston players are the
only ones "jobbed" by refs, even when they're on the bench or in the shower.

It's been that way for all the decades of the Celtics' existence and even decades before the Celtics' existence. It's a little known fact that, back in the 1920s, the barnstorming Old Celtics created a fierce argument among refs of the time. The source of the furor involved whether the first "C" in "Celtics" was a hard C or a soft C.

The refs never came to agreement on that issue but were so outraged that they did agree on one thing. Heretofore, whenever the Seltics or Keltics played, the refs would screw them and only them for all of eternity.

And so the Anti-Celtics agenda continued until a man named Auerbach came along and, season after season, thrwarted the most vile schemes of refs and rubbed it in be becoming a master baiter of Refdom. And it was then that the refs really saw Red.

They redoubled their efforts by tripling the number of referees for the sole purpose of multiplying threefold the refs' vendetta against the Green. And, as their leader, they chose a man who was known as a Stern dictator. Rumor has it that he was secretly married to Eva Braun's illicit one-eyeball daughter by a ref who moonlighted as a rabbi named Satan.

So that's the story, folks. Never again will you have to wonder about the cause of any Celtics loss. It's always the refs, and it will always be the refs until someone drives a lit cigar through the Stern dictator's dark heart.

Sam

sam,

Time to wake up and smell the sarcasm! It wasn't until the 2nd half of your diatribe before I realized you weren't serious. I think. Not that I wouldn't volunteer to drive a lit cigar through Stern's heart. Literally, I'd like to light up a cigar, get in my car and drive it, with the cigar firmly clenched between my teeth, through Stern's heart.

I didn't see the game, again, so I cannot comment directly. I do feel I need to respond to MDCeltics' comment about how Ainge "let Tony Allen get away". The way I remember things, Tony Allen wanted to leave because he felt that he was always going to play 2nd fiddle to Pierce and the other Allen, whom we all thought was going to be in green forever and he wanted a chance to be more front and center. Can't blame a player for wanting to play starter minutes and not just play 20mpg or so.

No starting center, no starting SG, not good. KG's injury is, of course, the most worrisome. We went from being deep at 5 when the season started (KG, Darko, Collins, Melo and possibly even Sully playing the Big Baby role) to.....KG! What's for dinner? It sure ain't beef.


bob


.

Bob,

Wasn't that what happened at center last year two?

Sam

Bob, Not sure what you mean by saying we started out deep at center. We had KG, that is it. Darko...are you kidding...Melo...in the works experiment rookie .......Collins......not sure what he brought to the party......not offense.........defense? ...questionable.........he drew more fouls then stops.

Danny left us this year with no true sold back up center.......trying to get something for nothing......I would take my chances winning the Mass Lottery then trying for talent Danny's way.....and oh by the way....where was our backup point guard for Rondo......again same methodology used in bringing in a backup center.

Bob, not taking my frustrations out on you, but I really do not like Danny's methodology that he is using to fill key positions like Center and Point guard.

112288

To No ONE on the Board

Alot of you love bashing Perk, play all these stats games, since he left we still haven't found an adequate replacement, not good replacement, just even adequate, its not Chris Wilcox. Look where Perks team is, looks like hes an important role player on a very high level contending team and he helps them every night in that paint. I would agree its harder to find a 6'9" athletic skilled SF like Jeff Green that is still young with upside than a Perk like enforcer....so why hasn't Danny done it? guess its not really that easy to replace a defensive anchor, its not like any 7 foot 300 pound dufus can just do the job. For all his faults, he sure was better for us than the list from Kristic to Darko to Collins.

cow

....when was the last time Wilcox had a double digit rebounding game? Perk does it on occasion, you all bash the shit out of Perk, meanwhile Wilcox defensively couldn't carry Perks jockstrap and no one comes up with all these clever stats about him?

Danny should have given Kenyon Martin a shot, that old banger can still defend, he really missed out on that one.

Look, If you want to go Danny's way fine....he missed picking up Andray Blatche who he could have gotten for nothing....look at him now.....hell of a lot more productive, and a major contributor to the Nets.

Now that I am at it, if we are at a run at #18 as Danny and management insist we are ...........why didn't Danny pick up The Bird Man Anderson or Kenyon Martin? Both have major NBA experience........both were impact players..........so where do they go.....to teams we'll have to play in the playoffs! Who do we get ........a couple of young players who have very little NBA experience!

Oh Danny Boy......................, the pipes, the pipes are calling!

112288

112288 Danny don't do tatoos.

Cowen,

Although Danny would look good with a few on his keister!

112288

PS Send me that Protein shake formula.

112288 wrote:Look, If you want to go Danny's way fine....he missed picking up Andray Blatche who he could have gotten for nothing....look at him now.....hell of a lot more productive, and a major contributor to the Nets.

Now that I am at it, if we are at a run at #18 as Danny and management insist we are ...........why didn't Danny pick up The Bird Man Anderson or Kenyon Martin? Both have major NBA experience........both were impact players..........so where do they go.....to teams we'll have to play in the playoffs! Who do we get ........a couple of young players who have very little NBA experience!

Oh Danny Boy......................, the pipes, the pipes are calling!

112288

I pray you'll find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me

Whatever it takes.....

I was referring to Bob Heckler's post.......

112288

I love you guys....honestly. And I apprecaite your right to your own opinion, but I honestly cannot believe how hot and cold some of the comments out here.

Jeff Green goes off on Lebron the Miami - and everyone is praising the Perk deal and what a great GM Danny is. Go on a 3 game losing streak, and all of a sudden Danny is a poor GM.

People talk about bringing in Birdman and Andre Blatche and how those omissions show DA isnt a good GM - but when you look at the facts, you see that Birdman (4 ppg / 3rpg) has the SAME stats that Wilcox has....and Blatche is nothing but a problem on and off the court.

There is nothing impressive about being a monday morning quarterback - and frankly, the problems with the Celtics are not because of Danny Ainge being a poor GM. Sorry.

Mk

I thought today was Monday........sorry I'll reserve my comments until tomorrow....kidding!

Hope you and Erin are doing fine...say hello to your mom & dad!

Just frustrating times...however I do think Danny could have done a lot better job with backup center and point guard this year. I would have taken a shot at Martin though.

112288

112288

No sense in any of us getting upset.

This team is not going to win this year. Despite the losses, injuries, disappointments, the games have been enjoyable to watch.

Sometimes you have to know when to take your chips off the table and go home.

Dboss

kleen we are past that, I'm not bitching about the Perk trade, I like Jeff Green. I'm just pointing out that members like to bash Perk and love to point out all these stats, well fact is we still haven't found an adequate replacement for him.

Dboss


WELL PUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let's have fun watching the playoffs....mark your calenders for the NBA college draft and see who's available come July 1st and free agency.

112288