Crawford Only Goes Halfway

http://bostonherald.com/sports/celtics_nba/boston_celtics/2013/11/crawford_only_goes_halfway


Crawford only goes halfway

Saturday, November 23, 2013
By:  Tom Layman


The final stat line will look nice for Jordan Crawford, as the Celtics guard had a team-high 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting with three 3-pointers.

They say numbers never lie, but this time they told a pretty good fib.

Crawford was bottled up in the second half much like the rest of his Celtics teammates, as he had more turnovers (six) than points (five) in the final 24 minutes of last night’s 97-82 loss to the Indiana Pacers at TD Garden.

The overall ugliness of the offense didn’t fall solely on the shoulders of Crawford, but he couldn’t find a way to build on his best offensive half of the season after the break. The Pacers’ top-ranked defense had a lot to do with it, even if Crawford wouldn’t point in that direction.

“Just didn’t complete the game,” Crawford said. “Very disappointed in myself. I don’t think it was nothing that they did. We just didn’t complete the game.”

Not much went wrong for Crawford in the first half, or for the entire Celtics roster. They shot 59 percent from the field as a team to take a 50-42 lead at the break, and Crawford’s production was a main reason for it.

He hit his first eight shots from the floor and strayed from his point-guard duties to become a score-first guard, with 19 points, which eclipsed his previous high of 16, in 16:29 of action.

Crawford banked in a 31-footer at the buzzer and ran straight to the locker room after the made basket. If he was trying to speed up halftime to make sure the good vibes kept going, it failed to work.

“Anybody who has gotten on a roll like that that’s ever played will tell you halftime is the worst thing that can happen,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “And so you know that he can go like that on a roll, but you can’t expect that to happen again just because he was in a zone in the first half and really feeling it. Again, they had a lot to do with it.”

The Pacers held the Celtics to eight points in the third quarter, and they let George Hill play a little more physical with Crawford. The Celtics guard only attempted four shots in the second half, as the Pacers’ switches off the pick-and-roll and help defense showcased why they might be title contenders.

“We just didn’t allow him to get comfortable,” Pacers forward Paul George said. “George (Hill) did a good job of pressuring him up and taking him out of good looks. He’s a guy that can make tough shots. No matter the defense, he has that ability to make tough shots, but if you wear guys down, it makes it a little tougher.”



bob
MY NOTE: Paul George's comment, about how "if you wear guys down, it makes it a little tougher" makes sense, especially if you allow them to do it by trying to do it all yourself, like Crawford did in the 2nd half last night.

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