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Rapid Reaction: Celtics 120, Magic 105

By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com

BOSTON -- Rapid reaction after the Boston Celtics defeated the Orlando Magic 120-105 on Monday night at TD Garden:

THE NITTY GRITTY
Just three days after out-uglying the Magic in Orlando while shooting 35.8 percent from the floor, the Celtics blistered the floor while scoring a season-high 120 points on 60 percent shooting (51 of 85 overall). The Celtics put seven players in double figures (including all five starters), led by Avery Bradley with a game-high 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting over 29 minutes. Jordan Crawford added 16 points, 10 assists, and five rebounds while spearheading the offense from his point guard position.

TURNING POINT
The Magic were within a possession with just under eight minutes to go in the third quarter, but Bradley quickly gave Boston some breathing room. He had back-to-back layups with a steal sandwiched in between, then got to the charity stripe for two freebies. Bradley made it eight consecutive points for the Celtics with a 20-foot pull-up jumper and a Brandon Bass slam dunk soon after pushed Boston's lead to double figures at 75-64 with 5:46 to play in the frame. The Celtics pushed that lead as high as 18 early in the fourth quarter.

LOOSE BALLS
Boston had one of its more efficient nights beyond the 3-point arc, connecting on 5-of-12 attempts (41.7 percent). ... The Celtics kept their turnovers manageable (15 for 17 points). ... Boston's best player via plus/minus? Gerald Wallace, who missed the only shot he put up and finished with one point, five rebounds, and three assists in 19:25.

WHAT IT MEANS
If the Celtics (4-4) are tanking, they're terrible at it. Boston pushed it win streak to four games and is now back at .500 for the season. Combined with Philadelphia's loss to the Spurs, Boston is now tied with the 76ers atop the Atlantic Division. We'll say it again: This team is a lot of fun to watch. It remains to be seen if they can maintain this sort of competitiveness, but they've given themselves a chance to win every time out and are improving with each games. The Celtics have two games left on this homestand with visits from Charlotte (Wednesday) and Portland (Friday) looming.
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WEEI

FAST BREAK: BALANCED CELTICS EFFORT STOPS THE MAGIC

By Ben Rohrbach


Seven Celtics scored in double figures as they shot 60 percent as a team and stopped the Magic, 120-105.

Avery Bradley led the way with 24 points; Jeff Green, Jordan Crawford and Kelly Olynyk each netted 16; Courtney Lee dropped 12 and Brandon Bass contributed 10 in a balanced effort that improved the C’s record to .500 (4-4) for the first time in the Brad Stevens era.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

The Steez knees: Believe it or not, Crawford actually looked like a point guard. Submitting by far his best half of basketball in a Celtics uniform, he reached triple-double watch by halftime: 12 points (5-7 FG), six assists and four rebounds. More importantly, he entered the break with zero turnovers in 17 first-half minutes and owned the C’s best plus/minus number (+13) in staking them to a 59-50 advantage.

On the range: Bradley’s jumper from 15-19 feet has steadily improved since his rookie season, rising from to 26 percent in 2010-11 to 41 percent in his sophomore season and 44 percent last year. After knocking down his first three attempts from that range against the Magic — and finishing 7-of-9 on long 2′s — he’s started 13-of-24 (54 percent) from that range this season. Avery Bradley is officially a shooting guard.

Kelly O’Sully: By replacing Vitor Faverani in the starting lineup, Brad Stevens broke up the unselfishly entertaining Olynyk-Sullinger frontcourt combination that had helped produce 105.1 points per 100 possessions through the first seven games. And the two talented young bigs responded by providing consistent production throughout a thorough dismantling of the Magic, totaling 30 points on remarkable 14-of-18 shooting to go along with 12 rebounds, eight assists, three blocks and three steals as Jelly Sullynyk.


WHAT WENT WRONG

Swiss roll: Lacking an established NBA center, the Celtics will struggle against talented bigs, and Nikola Vucevic is one such talent. The 7-footer notched his fifth double-double in eight games for the Magic, totaling 15 points and 10 boards against an interior Celtics defense. File this one away: Vucevic can become a free agent in 2015.

Getting possessive: The Celtics allowed double-digit offensive rebounds for the sixth time in eight games, as Vucevic and Mo Harkless combined for nine of Orlando’s 14. And the C’s earned their first win in a game in which they committed at least 15 turnovers, doing so for the first time since reaching that mark in their first four outings. The Celtics aren’t going to shoot 60 percent from the field every night, so giving away 30 extra possessions isn’t something Stevens wants to see on a nightly basis.

No Gino: Despite the double-digit win in the Garden, Gino never made an appearance on the Jumbotron. Perhaps he was traded along with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Doc Rivers.

112288

Atop the Atlantic division for Boston. How bout them Knicks and Nets?



KJ

My head is spinning....lofty height........can't take the altitude....oxygen please!

112288

Tonight Tommy said Jordan Crawford was not only filling a necessary hole very well - but showing a lot of leadership on the floor.

Just sayin....

Remarkable coaching achievement.

For those of you too young to have experienced it, this is what Celtics basketball looked like in the era of Bill Russell and Dave Cowens. Tough defense, rebounding and helter-skelter down the floor we go. The era of Bird stressed more the half-court game which was even more pronounced in the Pierce era.

Me, I love this kind of play. Seven players in double figures and relentless pushing the ball up the court.
Many have said that this team is filled with trade bait that Ainge will use before the deadline. Maybe so, but I'm not totally convinced that is a good idea. What do we really need? I would like to see another center, a really tough rebounder and defender who can also run the floor. Other than that, what pressing needs do we have? I never would have believed it but Crawford is turning into a damn good point guard. 10 assists, 1 steal and 16 points with 5 rebounds. My hat's off to him. And to coach Stevens who had enough patience to let Crawford develop. Bradley has found his shot again! Not having to play the point (he can't) he has returned to the form - tenacious defense, cutting to the basket and hitting the jumper -that put Ray Allen on the bench.

Wallace, while not putting up much number-wise brings tremendous defense while constantly pushing the ball. Tonight we didn't need any scoring from him as we averaged 30 points a quarter! You're not going to lose many games when you score 120 points.

Of course the season is long and they have yet to play Indiana and the Spurs but hey, what's the name of that team they beat in Miami the other night, playing the second of back to back games?

I'm going to sit back and go for the ride with this team (and I stress Team!) and see where we end up. I just hope it doesn't get too boring watching the wins pile up night after night.

Oh Berlin those Cowens teams of the 70's were my favorites, cut my teeth watching them. No we don't have a Cowens look-a-like but Bradley plays the defense that Don Chaney brought to the table.

Interesting numbers from last eve.... shot 85 FGA again volume and we were making them at the rate of 60%.

Only 13 turnovers. Not sure if its the team high for the season but had 28 assists.

Held our own on the boards. Out scored them EVERY QUARTER too. Can't loose when that happens. Would be curious to know how many times Orlando Scored more than 2 hoops in a row. We just did not let them get anything going. Answered any run with a bigger one of our own.

Everyone on the C's with the exception of Wallace 0-1 and Bass 5-12 shot over 50% from the field.

And the stat I like the most...... our starters minutes ranged from 26-32 each and our 5 bench players ranged from 14-25. ANd Hump never got off the pine. If Stevens can spread the minutes out like this consistantly we should be in good shape.........plus Rondo can be worked into this lineup slowly when that time comes.

Maybe we all underestimated this team a bit however we are still in the shadow of the starting gate................long ways to go but it sure looks like it's gonna be entertaining.

beat

Berlin,

I just hope people can finally get a small whiff of what carnage the combination of strong defense and true volume basketball can wreak. These Celtics aren't even close to perfecting either one, and yet the combination has fashioned their three-game turnaround including a win over the current champions in their own yard. Of all the developments that have occurred in professional basketball over the years—all the three balls, the increasing emphasis on physicality, the stupid dunking, the rules changes, etc. I happen to think this lethal combination is the single brainstorm that most improved the game without ignoring Dr. Naismith's original concept.

Thank you, Arnold.

Sam

What the hell?  No Gino?  I guess he left town with Doc.  You know how these LA cats hang together.  I hope Mr. Fun didn't put the kibosh on it.

I usually have to listen to the local announcers.  This time, because it was a home game, I got to hear Mike Gorman and Tommy.  I really appreciated that.  It's interesting to listen to how other teams' announcers see the game, but there's nothing like home cooking to help you settle in and that's what I got last night with Mike and Tommy.

Are these guys fun to watch, or what?  Even when they lost those first 4 games, they were scrambling and scrapping, they just weren't executing in the clutch but that will come.

1.  This was by far, by far, by far Jordan Crawford's best game as a Celtic, and possibly in his entire career.  Mostly good decisions, which has been his knock, and this game he actually looked like a point guard.  He was running sets, he was under control and he was attacking.  He's not the full court speedster Pressey is, but he did it all last night.  As Gorman said last night, "It's Jordan's World".  Last night, he was right.  Excellent job by Crawford.

Rondo couldn't do this any better:




2.  Kelly is settling in nicely.  His offense is starting to come around, his passing is very good for a big and he's starting to rebound much better (admittedly, that's not saying much considering how lousy he was through games 1-4).  16 points on 7-9, 2-3 from 3, 7 rebounds, 1 block, 5 assists and only 2 TO.  One of the big differences between his defense and Vitor's is that Kelly gets back to his man faster on switches and Kelly will move around his man to partially front, completely front and/or play behind him.  Vitor only plays behind his man so all he needs to do is go to his spot and wait for the pass.  Kelly's more active defense makes for a more difficult entry pass which helps the defense.





3.  The trend has been that Avery Bradley starts shooting from the tip off, misses a lot, but then heats up later in the game.  Last night he started shooting early and they dropped and kept dropping.  His confidence is sky high.  The 19'er is going in regularly, and he still blew up Jameer Nelson last night, as usual.  Nelson really must have nightmares of Boogieman Bradley.  Bradley had 3 steals last night including one felonious theft from Nelson.   What's so great about Brad Stevens?  He's quicker than Doc in figuring out that Bradley is not a point guard, never will be a point guard, so don't try and make him be one.  

To quote another blogger:  Nelson thinks Freddie Krueger plays for the Celtics because Avery Bradley his haunts his f--king dreams.




4.  Another no boxscore game for Crash, but he's doing exactly what we need.  I understand the money side of the business and, if Danny can do it, it might be good to get out from underneath the remaining years of his big contract, but I'm very happy with what Wallace is doing for us now.  His defense is as destructive as Bradley's, he's rebounding well, he is getting steals and he always, always, always brings the ball up court at no less than a quick trot.  I have never seen him walk the ball up once.  For a team that needs to be up tempo, that's nice.  5 assists and 3 steals last night.  He only scored 1 point, but he was a team-leading +20.  He's doing all the little stuff.  He has gone from being the bone in our throat in the Big Trade to being the glue.

5.  I'm really happy that nobody is bitching about minutes.  Not Vitor, not Wallace, not Sully, not Hump, nobody.  Stevens is playing 10 players and getting them to run, run, run and leave nothing on the court and it's starting to work.  Doc played Pierce and Ray and Rondo heavy minutes and it took their toll.  Stevens played Crawford a team-high 33 minutes, Bass played 30 and the other 8 played less but not fewer than Vitor with 14.  That's spreading it around.  I'm liking that, because it's fueling the up tempo.  Nobody is pacing themselves for a 38 minute game.

6.  We shot 60% for the game.  Wow.  That's amazing.  We also had 85 fgas, which is nice pace.  To put that in perspective, 85fgas/game would put us in 11th place in the league, .1  attempt behind Portland and Toronto who are tied at 85.1.  Our 46.7%fg% has us in 6th place.  The trade-off with high volume basketball is often that you aren't as focused and committed on the defensive end.  I don't think we have to worry about that with Bradley, Lee, Wallace and Bass on the team.  I'd love to have a defensive stopper at 5 (Asik?), but we're doing ok so far, especially when you consider we're basically starting from almost stratch with this team.  If the Celtics were an expansion team, that drew some veteran talent from teams around the league, picked up some free agent loose change and had a bunch of rooks and sophomores, and a new coaching staff, this is what they'd look like.  Considering that, at .500, we're doing really, really well.

7.  Pressey finally hit a few shots.  That had been his biggest glaring weakness.  If that has the same effect on his confidence (not that he is lacking any, if you read the interviews with him) hitting shots has had on Bradley, we are in really good shape.

8.  Lee's another one that is finding his stroke.  He was considered to be just 3-and-D, but now he's dribbling up to take mid-range jumpers and they're going in.  When things are working, they are working.  Lee went in for an offensive rebound off someone else's transition miss and Tommy pointed out that's one of the benefits of uptempo, volume basketball.  "Do you think the scouting reports said "make sure to keep Courtney Lee off the offensive glass?!", he said.  Nope, they sure didn't.  As long as we don't lose our focus and effort on the defensive end, this is going to work well.

9.  We had 50 points in the paint vs 38 for them.  Considering they have Vucevic, Maxiel, Kyle O'Quinn (giving a whole new meaning to the expression "black Irish") and Nicholson that's really good.  We also had 20 fast break points vs 4 for them.  We shot 42% from 3.

10.  Sully's a beast.  He's just a load and he wasn't letting Maxiel or Nicholson or Vucevic go where they wanted to go.  I am especially liking the chemistry that's starting to develop with Jelly Sullynyk.  Playing together as much as they have been they have really started to get a good feel for each others games and how to feed each other.  This is our front court of the future for years to come and it's looking pretty damn good right now.  Add Crash Wallace to this platoon and almost any pair of guards and good things have been happening.

We slowed things down in the 4th quarter, maybe a little fatigue, maybe a little lackadaisical, and that made the game closer than it was.  E'Tuan Moore's boxscore looks better today because of that.  Other than that, there was just so much to like about last night's game.


We've been saying that we need to run, run, run with this team.  We didn't see that in the first couple of games, and we lost them.  We're seeing it now and we're winning.  A smart guy, that Brad Stevens.  120 points?!  Wow.  Tommy was glowing so much from the uptempo pace last night he was starting to look like Chernobyl.  The Celtics have scored 30 points in 7 quarters in 8 games (total, 32 quarters).  Last year?  It took 13 games to have that many 30-point quarters.  We are tied with Philly for 3rd place for most offensive rebounds/game.  This is not a typo.  3rd.  And we're only .1 offensive rebound per game behind Milwaukee for 2nd.  We are now a strong offensive rebounding team.  I love offensive rebounding, absolutely love it.  I'm starting to look like Chernobyl a bit now too.

This is a new regime, for sure.

bob


.

Bob,

I believe Gino only danced late in the 4th quarter at blowouts. He was smart not to celebrate prematurely.

Sam

Sam, when you congratulated Arnold for the innovation of tough D and run, run, run on O, my first thought was "Arnold Stang?" from the Chunky commercials; then Arnold Schwartzenegger "What's Sam's point here?"; then it finally dawned on me and the memory bank hit on Cooz talking about his Arnold - Red Auerbach. I am just loving this team playing Red's style of basketball.

Bob, Yes Crawford is playing great. What a wondrous development, to have a good backup to Rondo. Yes Avery is a 2 guard, and putting him in as the point guard was RUINING his game on both ends of the floor. Keep on praising Kelly O - I just hope he reads your posts - the positive reinforcement is working. As for Sully, we have needed that toughness at the 4 ever since Kevin moved over to the 5. What a beautiful beast he is.

I think that its important to view the success of this team from the whole picture and not in a vacuum.

Last year, Lee, Bradley, and Crawford didn't play with consistency. Bradley and Lee were forced to play out of position and Crawford had no defined role. I really have to attribute this to poor coaching (I'm looking at you, Doc).

This year, these 3 guards are playing at a high level and have been integral to the C's success. Why? Good coaching and their willingness to work. Now, we're seeing Bradley and Lee scoring double figures and Crawford has altered his game to the distributive needs of the team.

Last year, there were many echoes of "Trade Lee and Crawford" because they hadn't yet panned out. I was also of the mindset that these two players were more on the expendable end. I saw no real reason to keep them had a trade become available. But now they are proving themselves to be effective components of the team. But again, a great deal of that goes to coaching.

Each night, Stevens is putting these guys in a position where they can be effective. Doc wasn't suited to nurture young talent, and we are finally seeing what happens when you have a guy that values his players all the way down the line. We are seeing what happens when you have a bright, open-minded coach that is a quick study and willing to go against what he may have previously thought at times. Only took him 4 games to realize AB can't run the point.

They finally have a coach that can communicate effectively with players and knows how to put them in positions to be successful. They've bought into Stevens' philosophies and it's paying off.




KJ

KJ - good points all.

Six guys in double figures for the Magic, but the Celtics did them one player better.

They're still keeping the ratio of turnovers to FGA at an acceptable level. It was 15.29% last night. Not to over-simpllfy things, but what produced the final 15-point difference in scores was that not only did the Celtics play volume basketball (85 shots, 20 fast break points) and take reasonably good care of the ball, but they also shot very well. That's a very unusual combination of ingredients. Certainly, the number of layups from fast breaks helped to elevate their shooting percentage, but I'm also getting the feeling there's been an increase in the frequency of Celtics players' getting the ball in an optimal position to succeed.

No way do I expect their shooting percentage to approach 60% on a regular basis. But they're definitely moving in the right direction, and I'm already happier with the offense than I have been in years (including even the Championship season).

I don't want to piss off Paul Pierce aficionados, but I believe an objective retrospective examination would raise questions as to how much the deliberate part of the Celtics' game was at odds with smoothness or momentum of their overall offense. I'm the first to say that they had some great shooters, whose often-spectacular scoring was able to compensate to some degree for lack of offensive continuity. But, for one reason or another, I felt their offense often had to work harder for its points than it made the opposing defense work to stop them. I don't see that happening now, although there's a long way to go and many fine teams to face yet.

Sam

Sam

Would be interesting to check on say the top 5-10 scorers each year and see just how well those team did offensively.

We all know the great Celtic teams never had a league leader in scoring.

beat

Beat,

Yes, that would be interesting. We know guys like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Kareem won multiple championships. But they played on different teams with different systems and differing degrees of importance placed on an egalitarian scoring system. And, as time has passed, I assume (although I have no stats on it) that high-scoring superstars are having increasing importance in winning championships. That's certainly true in Lebron's case (although he did need Ray Allen to bail him out last year).

Sam

High scoring superstars have an advantage because of the way the game is officiated. The game is now tailored to facilitate their scoring. It explains part of why LeBron has exhibited dominance. Sure, he'd still be a threat every possession but opposing teams could be more physical with him.


KJ

At this point even Crawford has convinced me that he can run this offense.

I just did not see that from him but each game his decision making is improving and his play has had a big impact on the Celtics recent play.

I have been waiting to see if Stevens would implement a game with more pace to it.  I knew he would use the motion offense  but I have been waiting to see uptempo basketball.  And now we are seeing it and it is a beautiful thing to watch.  As Berlin mentioned, we have not seen a pace like this since Dave Cowens and Jo Jo White were playing.

The liberal rotation of players in and out of the lineup as needed is helping the team maintain a brisk pace.  The distribution of shot attempts reflects a real team approach to their offensive production.  Reducing the number of turnovers and rebounding better have also fueled the current 4 game winning streak.

Moving young Avery to the off guard spot, playing KO as a high post center, bringing Wallace off the bench in the vital 6th man roll are 3 major changes that have proven to be the right move.

If a guy makes a mistake he is not automatically banished to the bench.  Coach Stevens has exhibited a calming influence over the team.  He hides his competitive fire better than any coach that I have seen.

Now that the team appears to have bought into Steven’s philosophy they should only get better and they will need to get better.

The month of November is loaded with competition and a lot of road games.

The Celtics have a bit of a chip on their shoulders that was put there by all the pundits that figured they will stink and will tank.  Thank goodness for NBA league pass because the schedule makers have all but ignored the Celtics this year.

This team has enough talent to compete every game.  No I do not think they are a legit contender.  They are probably a center and a sniper away from that level but they are going to provide us with a style of basketball that is just plain fun to watch.

dboss

Dboss,

I'm glad (but not at all surprised )that you're enjoying the brisker pace. Done correctly, I believe it's the most beautiful and team-oriented element of basketball—to say nothing of the most potent.

The rest of November will put all of the positives you mentioned to the test. They're likely to be effective against some teams more than others. For example, although Vucevic is a potential star in the making, they haven't yet faced a Howard, Bynum or Noah. And their games against Marc Gasol and Drummond are better left forgotten (although those admittedly happened before the Celts made what appears to be a sizable leap in the effectiveness of their play.

When they do play the tall timber, I'm hoping the up-tempo game will be their best weapon in (1) tiring them out and (2) getting up the floor before opposing centers are defensively set. Rebounding will certainly be a concern, but at least they're showing signs of developing a gang-rebounding mentality.

I hope all of us will continue to enjoy the pace. It will be interesting to see how Rondo takes to it when he returns. We'll have to give him some time to get his conditioning back. When that has happened, will he whip them into an even faster tempo, or will he sometimes regress to walking the ball up, or (most likely) will he wind up somewhere in the middle but using his passing ability to enhance the effectiveness of their transition game? Inquiring minds want to know.

Sam

Sam

Going up against the tall timber will be rough but as you pointed out a blistering pace may be the equalizer.

Rondo has to be licking his chops to be a part of this.

Dboss

Wonder how much the non-complaining with Stevens about "bad" calls will pan out for us in the long run? How much will rub off on the players? Will the players follow the lead and keep reactions to a minimum?

Compaired to the fire of some of our past coaches this guy is something.

Frankly I will be surprised if he ever gets a Tech.

Wonder if Vegas has a line on it? (over and under 1)

beat

beat,

I wonder if a coach has ever gotten a technical from passive aggression.


KJ

k_j_88 wrote:beat,

I wonder if a coach has ever gotten a technical from passive aggression.


KJ

KJ,


Don't even get me started on "passive aggressive". I didn't even know what it was until I moved to California. CA is LOADED with it. It's all part of the "non-confrontational" way people have out here. It's one of the few things about CA I don't like.

On the bright side, it's mid-November and I'm wearing a t-shirt, shorts and sandals. :-)


bob


.

Bob,

But what do you wear when you leave the house?

Sam

Beat and KJ,

One would hope that Brad's lack of aggressive behavior would mean that, if and when the time comes that he DOES speak out in angry fashion, the shock of his out-of-character demeanor will encourage referees to think twice about whether they were right or wrong.

Sam