POST GAME - BOBCATS - AWAY

Rapid Reaction: Celtics 96, Bobcats 86

By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com

Rapid reaction after the Boston Celtics defeated the Charlotte Bobcats 96-86 on Monday night at Time Warner Cable Arena:

THE NITTY GRITTY
Maybe it shouldn't surprise us that Gerald Wallace felt particularly comfortable in Charlotte. Back in his old stomping grounds (Wallace played 5+ seasons in Charlotte), he scored a season-high 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go along with four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block over 35:44. Jordan Crawford scored a team-high 21 points (4-of-6 beyond the 3-point arc), while Brandon Bass added 16 points and five rebounds while staying in the starting lineup. Kemba Walker (28 points) and Gerald Henderson (20 points) highlighted the team's offense.

TURNING POINT
The Celtics were up 10 in the third quarter before the Bobcats rallied to tie the game late in the frame. Unfazed, Boston embarked on an 11-0 burst during a 3:24 stretch spanning into the fourth quarter. Early in that final frame, Jeff Green had a driving layup, Courtney Lee hit a 3-pointer, and Kris Humphries had consecutive hoops to put Boston out front 77-66 with 9:15 to play.

LOOSE BALLS
Jared Sullinger had five points and eight rebounds, but his biggest contribution might have been on defense pushing around Al Jefferson and never letting the Boston draftee get too comfortable. Jefferson finished with 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting. ... Kelly Olynyk (sprained ankle) Keith Bogans (illness) remained out for Boston. ... MarShon Brooks was the only healthy DNP. ...

WHAT IT MEANS
The Celtics have now won two straight, finishing strong during a stretch of five games in five cities over seven nights. Boston head home for Thanksgiving, but they've got a pair of games sandwiched around the holiday with visits from Memphis (Wednesday) and Cleveland (Friday).
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CELTICS TAME BOBCATS FOR SECOND STRAIGHT ROAD WIN

By WEEI

The Celtics closed out their road trip with a second straight victory, following Saturday’s victory over the Hawks with a 96-86 win over the Bobcats in Charlotte.

Once again, the Celtics featured a balanced offensive attack. This time, five Celtics scored in double figured, led by 21 points from Jordan Crawford and a season-high 17 points off the bench by Gerald Wallace and 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting from Brandon Bass.

The balanced scoring was complemented by distribution from unexpected sources. Rookie Phil Pressley had a career-high eight assists in just 20 minutes, while Crawford had five dimes.

The Celtics had a hard time containing Charlotte’s backcourt, with Kemba Walker scoring 28 on 11-of-17 from the floor and Gerald Henderson had 20, but the rest of the Bobcats scored just 38 points.

The Celtics improved to 6-10. They now return home on Wednesday against the Timberwolves.

112288

Notes after following the game by Cyber-Braille.

Here’s what the stats and the way the game unfolded tell me.

First, is there any truth to the rumor that Avery Bradley and Al Jefferson and had a “no show” contest and Avery won handily? Words can’t adequately describe the quality of Avery’s disappearing act. Big Al scoring 14 points is like saying sound cannot travel in a vacuum. Those who actually saw the game can tell me who did the honors in hosing down Al, although I suspect Vitor, Sully and Humphries all share the credit.

Second, the Celtics’ point guards scored 23 points and had 13 assists. Of course, 21 of the 23 points were scored by Crawford, and 8 of the 13 assists were submitted by Pressey. But, my non-view-point is that these two guys basically won the game for the Celtics—Jordan with his SS Act (Shooting and Stability) and Phil with his PP Clinic (Pace and Passing).

The Celts barely reached the 80 mark in attempted field goals—marginal by recent standards—but they more than compensated in two ways. They committed only 11 turnovers and, in particular, avoided opponents’ steals (only two). And they made 9 of 20 three point attempts, led by Crawford (4-6) and Courtney Lee (2-4).

Brandon Bass’ night was a good indicator of why the +/- stat as a measure of an individual’s performance is as meaningful as cotton candy in a hurricane. He scored 16 points on very efficient 7-10 field goal shooting and 2-2 free throw shooting, along with grabbing 5 boards and having one block.

Speaking of the +/- stat, the starters averaged -2 while the bench averaged +12. That’s obviously not a precise calculation since some starters spent time with some bench players. But the general pattern was definitely for the bench to bail out the starters in this one:

• Gerald Wallace deserves special mention for his usual energy level and placing second on the team with 17 points.

• I’ve already mentioned Pressey’s contributions.

• In his 16 minutes, Kris Humphries generated a solid 4 points, 5 rebounds (2 offensive), a block, and no turnovers.

• Vitor didn’t play a lot of minutes, although he did a creditable job when he was in there.

• I’ve saved Courtney Lee for last because I believe his workmanlike contribution over 15 minutes ( 11 points including 2-4 from three-point land), 2 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal is symptomatic of the very positive contributions he’s making more and more lately. I couldn’t see the game, but it “appears” to me that Lee is “feeling it” from behind the arc but it hasn’t made him three-point happy.

• When Avery Bradley’s biggest statistical entry (by a wide margin) is his 4 personal fouls in 8 minutes, and when he averages scarily close to a shot a minute with only one “make,” it’s officially a stinker for him.

Four stats which are often very telltale—field goal shooting percentages, rebounds, fast break points, and points in the paint—showed no clear advantage for either team. The bottom line in this one was that the Celtics closed out the Bobcats when it counted most.

Go Celtics.

Sam

Sullys defense, his shoving and positioning has been great, he'll never be an elite shotblocker, he can bang, I mean defend with the best of them. In all the elephant dancing with now Hibbert, Duncan, Horford and Big Al hes totally shown he belongs, ain't no mismatch in dat paint. Didn't see this brand of effective elephant shoving, I mean defense coming in the offseason....what a nice surprise!! If we can ever get a legit 7 foot Hibbert clone next to him, I wouldn't even care about all the other positions....we must have some great surgeon and trainers to get Sully to this point.

A most satisfying win.

No panic down the stretch, just everyone doing their job in a manner of fact way.
I feel that mirrors the demeanor of Coach Stevens. During the last few minutes the camera crew caught him sitting calmly on the sideline chatting with one of his assistants as if holding on to a lead were the predetermined outcome - nothing to get excited about.

And when Bradley had a bad game there were others there to pick up the slack, mostly Lee and Wallace. I'm feeling more optimistic about this team with every game and they are a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

Hey Berlin, how's League Pass working out for you? I hope you're really enjoying it.

Sam

Beat us, will ya?

A 2-game winning streak.  To be honest, that's about half as many games as I thought we'd win in the entire brutal month of November.

Early in the game we missed 10 straight shots.  We were shooting around 20% or so about halfway through the 1st quarter.  I like the way we settled down and fought back.

1.  Crawford was unconscious from 3.  Unconscious.  He's settling into his role.  He's not taking the same crazy shots he was famous for in Washington and even here last year, he's taking them in rhythm and out of the offense (although he does take the shot clock down too far, IMO).

2.  Big Al had his hands full with our 4 headed monster of Sully, Bass, Vitor and Hump.  He was also getting double-teamed a lot, which didn't happen when we played in Boston.  That shows me that Brad adapts.  Also, Sully didn't play in Boston either.

3.  Gerald Henderson came to play last night and lit Bradley up right from the tip off.  A couple of quick fouls by Avery and he never got his rhythm.  One of, if not the, worst games by Avery this year.  Henderson cooled off, though, when Brad put

4.  Gerald Wallace on Gerald Henderson.  Great all-round game by Crash.  He has been in a bit of a slump lately, and he has foregone scoring, but last night he did a good job of derailing Henderson while at the same time attacking the basket on offense.  Has anybody else noticed that our older veterans (Green, Wallace, Hump, Bass) are the most inconsistent ones?  Bass has had a few good games now, but he struggled earlier in the season. Young'un Bradley had a bad game last night, but he's usually pretty steady.  Crawford will yo-yo a bit too, but he has steadied down a lot.  Sully's a beast night-in-and-night out.  Go figure.

5.  Excellent game by Pressey.  He tortured Ramon Sessions, who is a very solid backup point guard, on defense and caused some turnovers (Sessions had 4 and most of them were when Pressey was on him).  He also had 3 steals.  He had 8 assists and zero turnovers.  +/- doesn't mean much for bench players, since they're not platooned like starters generally are, but I have to say I'm not surprised with his +14.  Things went well when Phil was in last night.  20 minutes has to be his high water mark, no?  I always find it interesting that opposing point guards don't try to post him up all the time.  I've seen them try a few times, but not a lot, and it doesn't seem to be successful when they do.  There is no reason why Phil Pressey couldn't play Kemba Walker's game.  He's a better floor general than Walker.  When it comes to individual scoring, Walker likes to come off a pick and take the little mid-range shot.  If we set some good picks for Pressey he has the speed to get that separation on the shot.  He would become ridiculously dangerous if he started doing that.  You couldn't come up to him, because he'll blow past you, and you wouldn't want to fall off him either. By far the best game by Pressey as a Celtic so far. Play him, Brad.

6.  Another decent game by Vitor, although he still doesn't step out on the ball off of picks.  He took his first non-straightaway 3 last night, it was from the right corner.

7.  Another yeoman-like effort by Courtney Lee.  Another one who is settling into his role.

8.  We were 9-20 from 3 last night.  Part of me is ecstatic that we're shooting well and opening the floor up and some of me is thinking "ooh, too many 3s".  I'm just hard to please, I guess.  A win makes it make sense.

9.  Another great game by Bass-o-matic.  16 points on 7-10 shooting, including some very clutch shots down the stretch when they wiped out our 10 point lead and tied it up.  Add to that the physical defense he laid on Big Al, it was an excellent effort on both ends of the floor.  He is definitely better when he starts.  This creates minutes conflict with Sully and KO, when he's back.

10.  Hump is quietly getting his job done too.  Gotta give it to him, he's not getting anywhere remotely near the number of minutes he's used to, but he's not beefing.  He just comes in and tries to do his job.  He's ridiculously overpaid with his old CBA contract of $12M/year, but at half that he'd be an unqualified asset on any team.  He made some key baskets last night and fought Big Al in the post.

11.  Jeff Green shot 5-16 last night.  He had 7 rebounds, but it was a generally low-profile game for him.  Fortunately, he was up against Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who is turning into the bust of his draft.  If tanking made you better the Charlotte Bobcats would rule the world.

Back to Boston for some home cooking, finally, and Tony Allen.  Marc Gasol is out, so we might have actually caught a break.

I'm very pleasantly surprised with our 6-10 record. New coaching staff (I think the only holdover is Larranagga), new system, tons of new players, way-out-of-balance roster, no Rondo and one of the most brutal opening months I've seen in a very long time should have made this even uglier. Obviously, I didn't expect the Miami victory (neither did they) but we're still doing quite well all things considering and it's going to get better. We're going to settle in a little more. Kelly and Vitor and Phil will get more experience. Rondo is starting to work with the team now and they're practicing plays made for him, so there won't be much of a chemistry problem when he actually steps onto the floor (hopefully).

Another couple of months of player development and showcasing and Danny will be positioned for some trades with more valuable chips. I feel a little guilty thinking like that, because I'm starting to like these scrappers, but it's all about the team, it's all about getting back to #18 and everybody knows we're not balanced like we want to be for the future.


bob


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.

Really like this team. Fun to watch and against the middle of the road teams - they are always in the game.

As an aside, was just watching some highlights from the last couple of Nets games....and the decline in KG's game is shocking. Not sure if it is part of the overall bad play around him, bad coaching from a guy in way over his head, or what. But he is turning in career lows in almost every category - even from a per 36 standpoint. Maybe DA did us an additional favor by not subjecting us to watching his decline on an up close and personal basis.

Mrkleen,

That's pretty sad for both KG (whose pride is practically unparalleled) and for the Nets who have committed a considerable chunk of change to KG over two seasons.

Sam

sam wrote:Mrkleen,

That's pretty sad for both KG (whose pride is practically unparalleled) and for the Nets who have committed a considerable chunk of change to KG over two seasons.

Sam

sam,

Not to mention a considerable chunk of their future by giving us three first round picks.


bob


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Mrkleen,

After I answered your post, I looked up the stats, and I hadn't realized how bad it is. KG ranks #13 on the Nets team in terms of points per 36 minutes. On the other hand, he's submitting decent rebound figures. But it must be killing him to be averaging only 22 MPG and scoring at only a 6.5 PPG clip while shooting 34.9% while Andray Blatche is playing the same amount of time and averaging 9.3 PPG while shooting 49.5%.

Bob,

Hard to believe that the Nets are tied with the Knicks for the third worst record in the league just now. Unless the Celts' 2014 pick from the Nets is top three protected, maybe this is what it takes to shut up all the tankmeisters out there. Why tank if the Nets are going to do it for them?

Sam

sam wrote:Mrkleen,

After I answered your post, I looked up the stats, and I hadn't realized how bad it is.  KG ranks #13 on the Nets team in terms of points per 36 minutes.  On the other hand, he's submitting decent rebound figures.  But it must be killing him to be averaging only 22 MPG and scoring at only a 6.5 PPG clip while shooting 34.9% while Andray Blatche is playing the same amount of time and averaging 9.3 PPG while shooting 49.5%.

Bob,

Hard to believe that the Nets are tied with the Knicks for the third worst record in the league just now.  Unless the Celts' 2014 pick from the Nets is top three protected, maybe this is what it takes to shut up all the tankmeisters out there.  Why tank if the Nets are going to do it for them?

Sam

sam,

Our pick from Brooklyn has a caveat. It is not protected HOWEVER it will be the worse of Brooklyn's pick or Atlanta's pick. It is Atlanta's choice which to take, theirs or Brooklyn's. It is reasonable to assume that if the Hawks have a decent record and a decent pick, while Brooklyn gets a #3, that Atlanta will take Brooklyn's pick which will mean we will have Atlanta's.

We need Atlanta AND Brooklyn to tank, to the point where they are so close to identical it doesn't matter which pick Atlanta takes. That's why the victory over Atlanta was more significant than just another win.


bob


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Bob as bad as the East is they all ought to be in the lottery

beat

Last night, Boston was in control for 3 quarters.

Bradley had a rather terrible game. Jeff Green was also uninspiring. Pressey, Bass, Crawford, Wallace, and Lee had great nights. Sully and Hump also made solid contributions. Vitor didn't have a great night but it also wasn't a negative for him, either.

Boston won the battles iin reb, ast, stls, and blks. Boston also committed only 11 TOs. But they still only had 7 fast break points.

Against Charlotte, that can translate to a win, but against better teams, Boston will need to get into transition more often and keep pushing the pace.



KJ

sam wrote:Hey Berlin, how's League Pass working out for you?  I hope you're really enjoying it.

Sam

Thanks Sam, it puts a little hole in my budget but it is really great. I can watch at a decent time the next day and they have also put enough thought into it that I can block out the scores for the game, which means I can watch the game as if it were live. I must admit however that once in a while when I'm not sleepy I watch the 1st half and then go to bed.