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Rapid Reaction: Clippers 96, Celtics 88

By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com

BOSTON -- Rapid reaction after the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Boston Celtics 96-88 on Wednesday night at TD Garden:

THE NITTY GRITTY
Chris Paul flirted with a triple-double (team-high 22 points, nine assists, seven rebounds), while Jamal Crawford made big shots off the bench while chipping in 21 points as former coach Doc Rivers and the Clippers handed Boston its second straight loss. Jeff Green scored a game-high 29 points on 10-of-23 shooting for the Celtics, while Brandon Bass added a double-double (17 points, 12 rebounds) and Jared Sullinger nearly did the same (10 points, 9 rebounds). Jordn Crawford had 20 points, nine assists, and five rebounds over 39 minutes.

TURNING POINT
Jamal Crawford hit back-to-back 3-pointers with little more than two minutes to go, turning a one-possession game into an eight-point Clippers lead and, in the span off 24 seconds, the Clippers had sealed a gritty victory. Jamal Crawford's first triple was a 29-foot straightaway bomb in a late-clock situation. Jared Dudley blocked Jordan Crawford at the other end, then provided the assist on a Jamal Crawford wing 3-pointer for a 91-83 lead with 2:10 to go.

C'S HONOR RIVERS WITH VIDEO
Hop HERE to watch the tribute video that ran after the first quarter celebrating Doc Rivers' nine seasons as coach of the Celtics.

LOB STEEZY
Playing the alley-oop happy Clippers, Boston beat the visitors at their own game with Avery Bradley going with a one-handed slam off a lob from Jordan Crawford early in the first quarter. Lob City got it going later (even after DeAndre Jordan had a humorous moment when his emphatic dunk attempt left the ball wedged between the side of the rim and the glass, leading to a jump ball). Jordan finished with just five points and six rebounds; Blake Griffin had 18 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.

BROOKS GETS A CHANCE
In an offensively anemic second half, oft-unused swingman MarShon Brooks got the call from Brad Stevens. Boston had only two points in bench scoring through the game's first 40 minutes, but Brooks made a layup with 7:35 to go to make it a one-possession game. He played only four minutes and gave way to the starters down the stretch.

LOOSE BALLS
Lee fouled out in just 14:42 of action. He was scoreless (0-for-2 shooting) with two rebounds, two assists, and two turnovers. His block from behind on Jamal Crawford did fuel one of Boston's highlight sequences that ended with Jeff Green throwing down a monster dunk. ... Kris Humphries (sore right knee) sat out Wednesday's game, while Kelly Olynyk missed his 10th straight game with a sprained right ankle. ... Keith Bogans was a healthy DNP.

WHAT IT MEANS
Boston drops both nights of its Reunion Week to fall to 10-14 overall and now owns just a one-game lead over the Toronto Raptors in the Atlantic Division. The Celtics will take Thursday off coming off this back-to-back, then host the New York Knicks (they of Sunday's 41-point demolition) on Friday night. Boston plays six of its final seven games of the calendar year at TD Garden, traveling only to Indiana on Dec. 22 for a tilt with the Pacers that precedes a five-day holiday break.
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FAST BREAK: DOC RIVERS’ CLIPPERS HAND CELTICS ANOTHER REUNION LOSS

By Ben Rohrbach  

Celtics fans thanked Doc Rivers with a standing ovation during a video tribute after the first quarter, and how did he repay his former organization? Guiding his Clippers to a 96-88 victory in his first game since leaving Boston.

Jeff Green (29 points), Brandon Bass (17 points, 12 rebounds) and Jordan Crawford (20 points, 9 assists) all had themselves a game against their former coach, but it wasn’t enough to help the Celtics avoid a second straight loss.

Not the greatest reunion week for the C’s, who drop to 10-14 and watch their Atlantic Division lead dwindle to a game over the idle Raptors.

WHAT WENT WRONG

The usuals: While the Celtics played stout defense, Clippers stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin got theirs, combining for 40 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists on the night. Meanwhile, the C’s held their remaining three starters — Willie Green, Jared Dudley and DeAndre Jordan — to 22 points, 13 boards and two dimes. The strategy that probably wasn’t a strategy at all nearly worked.

Jump shoot: While Avery Bradley‘s jump shot has vastly improved since last season, Wednesday wasn’t his night. He didn’t connect on his first jumper until midway through the fourth quarter, although he did throw down this impressive one-handed alley-oop from Crawford early. His first connection from long distance, though, did give the Celtics a lead back after Los Angeles started the second half on a 15-4 run.

Benched: For the second straight night, Celtics coach Brad Stevens got little contribution from his second unit. With Kris Humphries nursing a bruised right knee and rookie Kelly Olynyk (ankle) missing his ninth straight game, Vitor Faverani was the lone big off the bench, and he put up zeroes again. The C’s reserves didn’t score their first points until Gerald Wallace‘s layup with 1:54 remaining in the third gave the C’s a 63-60 lead. And somehow Courtney Lee fouled out with all of zero points in the 15 minutes of action.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Steez: The legend of Crawford continues to grow with each passing game. Facing Paul, the best floor general in the business, Crawford held his own in the first half. The Celtics point guard entered the break with nine points, five assists and just one turnover — respectable numbers opposite Paul’s 15 points, three assists and two turnovers. Meanwhile, the C’s assisted on 12 of their 18 first-half field goals to take a 45-39 lead.

Motivation: Two of the Celtics most scorned by Doc’s departure, Green and Bass, came to play against their former coach. When Rivers left, admitting an unwillingness to go through another rebuilding process, that had to sting for the players left on the roster. Bass tallied his second double-double of the season in as many nights, and Green netted 20 points for the first time this month, including this monster dunk.

Defense: Through three quarters, the Celtics held the Clippers to 66 points on 43.1 percent shooting (40.9% in the first and 40.0% in the second), staying within two when the C’s themselves were shooting just 39.1 percent from the field. Los Angeles came into the game shooting 46.5 percent on the season and scoring 105.1 points per 100 possessions, both top-five marks in the league. Unfortunately, the aggressive defense led to 17 personal fouls and 34 free throws for L.A. (as opposed to 19 free throws for the C’s).

112288

Well now Doc.......is that the best you can do against a rebuilding team without Rondo, Humpheries, KO and a bunch of rookies and second year players against a team loaded with All Star players and a fat payroll!!!!!!!

THANK YOU FOR LEAVING...........STEPHENS IS A BETTER COACH 20+ GAMES INTO A ROOKIE COACHING CAREER FILLED WITH ROOKIES AND JOURNEYMEN PLAYERS THEN YOU HAVE BEEN WITH ALL STAR TEAM'S OF THE CELTICS AND NOW THE CLIPPERS!  PERHAPS YOUR RECORD 2006 - 2007 IS MUCH CLOSER TO YOUR ABILITY TO COACH NON TALENT!  HEY EVEN A UGLY PERSON LOOKS GOOD DRIVING A ROLLS ROYCE!

112288

I don't recall many people conjecturing whether the current day Brad Stevens could have led the 2007-08 Celtics to the championship. I believe that, like players, different coaches have different strengths. I was personally very touched to see Doc mouthing the words to "We Are the Champions" after the final game that year, and I thought he did an amazing job beginning with the Rome trip. Given the myriad elements of the conditions faced in any given season by any given team, it could be argued that a comprehensive discussion of whether one coach is, per se, better than another would involve a lot of complexity.

Sam

Totally agree with Sam.

Doc is a good coach for veterans who need space and deference and autonomy to perform at their peak.

Stevens is a good coach for young guys, looking to establish themselves and find their place.

I like Brad a lot.   But until he wins multiple coach of the year awards and a championship...he is NOT a better coach than Doc.  Sorry.

sam wrote:I don't recall many people conjecturing whether the current day Brad Stevens could have led the 2007-08 Celtics to the championship.  I believe that, like players, different coaches have different strengths.  I was personally very touched to see Doc mouthing the words to "We Are the Champions" after the final game that year, and I thought he did an amazing job beginning with the Rome trip.  Given the myriad elements of the conditions faced in any given season by any given team, it could be argued that a comprehensive discussion of whether one coach is, per se, better than another would involve a lot of complexity.

Sam

Hi Sam,

Not sure Brad would have been the correct coach for the Clippers whereas he was a good choice for the C's. A coach needs the players that will succeed with his coaching style. Not sure how Brad would have done with a team that had expectations and successful veterans. Doc on the other hand is not the right type coach for the Celtics at this time either.

Hi Tardust,

You're right. It works both ways. To reverse the old saying, different folks for different strokes.

Sam

Welcome back, Doc.  Damn you!  As far as the whole "thumbs up, thumbs down" goes, I think Brad is the right guy for this job and that's all that matters now.  That we were able to get someone to pay us a #1 so we could get the right guy for this job is bonus.  Is he as good as Doc?  Hard to say since we haven't seen much of Brad yet.  I do know that Doc didn't do so well before he got KG and Ray.  Funny how talent plays a part in a coach's success, huh?  One thing that Doc had going for him was that he had Danny working the phones.  Brad has that too, he'll probably just have to wait 4 years until it all comes together too and, if he keeps going the way things are, he might be the COY this year.

My feed last night was the Clips feed.  Their color man is Michael Smith, the Celtics' #1 pick (#13) in 1989.  I'm glad he got a good job, because he sucked as a player.  He played 2 years in Boston, played 1 year in Italy, 1 year in the CBA (the non-NBA owned predecessor to the D-league), missed a year and then played 29 games for the Clips.  He "retired" when he was 29.  First, his partner teased him about "where was his #4 in the rafters?".  Smith never bothered to point out to his partner that he wore #11 on the Celtics and #4 with the Clips.   Then Smith, in a humorous way, tried to defend his career, said that he played until 33.  The Great White Dope.


1.  The stated goal this year is to develop young players and to see who is a keeper and who isn't.  Based upon the last two games our entire bench isn't.  A whopping 4 points from our bench, 2 by Wallace with 2 minutes left in the 3rd and Brooks in a Hail Mary effort to change the dynamics.  Lee fouled out after making almost no noise.  Pressey has hit a pothole, although he did race downcourt for an attempted fast break.  Other than that, he's not getting it done and should probably get his reps in Maine.  Vitor suddenly doesn't know which way is up.  It's one thing to not be able to handle an all-star like Lopez, it's another to not be able to handle DeAndre Jordan.  There are two things you do not let Jordan do; 1, you don't let him dunk and 2, you you don't take the ball to him.  Vitor has an outside shot, but he tried to score in the paint and that didn't work.  5 minutes for Vitor with goose-eggs across the board.  Rosalie was asking where Hump was, he was out with a bruised knee.  That probably came against Brooklyn on that dunk he came down awkwardly on.  We could have used him.  Without him we had Vitor and only Vitor for bigs coming off the bench.  Marshon Brooks?  

2.  I'm sorry, but I'm just not a fan of Marshon Brooks.  Jordan Crawford thinks he's the next Michael Jordan (he's not) and Marshon Brooks thinks he's the next Kobe.  Delusion, thy name is Marshon Brooks.  Aside from the fact that Kobe plays his butt off on both side of the court and Marshon can't spell defense, Brooks is pure schoolyard, one-on-one and out-of-control.  He did a great job of running down a loose ball and then lost it because he took it to 3 Nets.  He had the other 2 points for the bench.  He also had 3 TOs in 4 minutes.  I know, this is a lot of writing about a player whose presence on the court is a topic of conversation itself, but he irks me.  Very athletic and very, very low IQ.  I'm not surprised Brad sits him, Brad likes smarts.

3.  Bass had a helluva game.  17 points on 6-12, 12 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks and even an assist for No-Pass Bass.  I was listening to Clipper announcers.  They were really sending a lot of love Bass' way.  Repeated numerous times how he is one of the top 5 mid-range shooters in the league.  Said that when he took his shot he "was money, absolute money".  I like Hump, I think he's doing a great job, but Bass has really elevated his game on both ends.

4.  Statistically, our two teams were pretty close.  This game hung on 6 more ftm by them (it took them 15 more ftas to hit them, though.  Thank you, DeAndre Jordan), one more fgm and some BIG 3s in the last minute by 33-year old Jamal Crawford, including one that had to be from 28'+.  When you consider that the Clips are a winning team and are healthy except for Matt Barnes (ESPN says he has a left eye contusion.  Probably gotten in a prison riot) I'd say we hung in there pretty well.  They're a team built to win now, we're not.  This was a close game.  That's says good things about us.

5.  Speaking of benches, theirs scored 24 of LA's 96.  We talked about Crawford but Darren Collison used to start for Larry in Indy.  He is a more than adequate backup point guard.  10 rebounds for their bench, and undersized Antawn Jamison being the only "big", vs 7 for ours.  Our strength used to be that, while we didn't have that much talent in our starters, our bench was strong.  Our bench was so weak we'll probably be fined by the league for not suiting up enough players.  That needs to be fixed.  The guy who is supposed to be our 6th man, Gerald Wallace, was invisible.

6.  Interestingly, our starters outplayed Doc's supposedly ready-for-prime-time starters.  CP3 had a great game and Griffin had a few moments (including his 4 TO moments) but for the most part our starters outplayed their starters.  Bass held his own against Griffin.  Sully won the Mastodon Mamba against Jordan hands down, although I could have done without his 0-3 from 3.  I'm afraid I'm always going to have problems with the whole "stretch 4" thing.  It's one thing to take one, or two but he shouldn't be living out where the air is thin.  Bradley's defense was the difference-maker in his matchup with Willie Green and Crawford was Mr. Whirly-Twirly last night.  Whirly-twirly worked better than Herky-Jerky.  I have to say, he really does have good court vision.  How he turns himself into a human spin cycle and still be able to make a great pass underneath using the centrifugal force of his own Planet Steez rotation for the pepper on the pass is quite impressive.  Will Crawford be able to co-exist with Rondo?  I'm not talking about personality-wise, but will Steez be able to adapt to coming off the bench?  I sure hope so.  He needs to be a point guard.  You can see him become itchy when the ball isn't in his hands.  When it is he doesn't have that need to do something with it himself.  He's drive to the hoop fearlessly when he has the ball, but when was the last time you saw him slash/drive/run to the rim without the ball?  I'm not knocking him, I've come to see the light, but he is what he is and what he is an "on-the-ball" player.  As long as he has court vision, and he does, then make him a point guard.  Can he be the point guard of the 2nd unit or will he wilt and pout without the bright lights on him, like he did in Washington?  We'll find out in about a month, I think.  Let's hope he has so bought into Brad's system and philosophy, plus some extra maturity, that he'll make it work.

7.  Jeff Green was an asshole last night, just like KG told him he should be.  Maybe we should have a giant fathead of Doc hanging from the rafters every night.  29 points in 44 minutes.  Why not?  It was working for Jeff last night.  10-23 and 3-7 on "Threens".  That's my new name for Jeff Green 3s, at least until I realize how annoying it is and stop.

8.  Our interior problems are becoming glaring.  42 points in the paint for them.  That's A LOT.  What's really disturbing, to me, is that Paul and Crawford scored as many (or more) of their points in the paint as Griffin.  That is NOT good pick-and-roll defense.  Both last night and the night before in Brooklyn we gave up WAY too many elbow jumpers off of picks.  You cannot let players in this league have open jumpers from 15-16 and not pay for it.  In both games, it was the same play; a pick set elbow-extended, a marginally held pick and the quick roll.  I believe it's called "Floppy".  Floppy and Horns are two plays that have had threads dedicated to them, here on this board, because they are probably the two most used set plays in the NBA.  The last two games have proven that, since Kidd and Doc called them often.  Why not?  If something works, keep doing it until they show they can stop it. Brad needs to work with the troops to stop them.

9.  They also had 15 fast break points vs 9 for us.  We just are not running enough.  Also, our transition defense has become quite shaky.  There were a couple of breaks last night where there'd be 4 Clips under our basket to clean up any fast break misses and we'd have maybe 2.  Maybe.

10. Coming down to the last few minutes Brad's strategy was obvious: put DeAndre Jordan on the line. With 12 seconds left in the 3rd quarter, he yelled "grab him now, grab him now!". That's a veteran call, and really scouting opposing players' weaknesses and exposing them with plenty of seconds left on the clock to be able to run a play. Granted it's not exactly a national defense secret that DeAndre Jordan makes Dwight Howard look like a free throw machine, but Brad had the ol' noodle working. Unfortunately, the ATO (After Time-Out) play blew up when Green didn't come to the ball and Sully couldn't get it to him in the post due to good defense by the Clips.


A couple of speed bumps.  A day off, hopefully a day of practice, and then the NY Bricks come to town.  I'm expecting them to be a bit feistier than the last time, but Mary's little lamb has more teeth than they did on Sunday.  They're professional athletes and have pride and we used them as doormats in their house just last Sunday.  The memory is still fresh, I guarantee it.


bob


.

Last night Humphries did not play and the bench really struggled.  

We will continue to have problems defending the paint without a legit shot blocker.

The Celtics lost this game in three areas.  They went to the line 34 tiimes and we only got there 19 times.  Both teams shot 6-17 from behind the arc and both teams had 20 assists.

The big difference was free throws, points in the paint and fast break points.


The Celtics would still prefer to dribble the ball up the court.  Part of the problem reflects the collective inability to make accurate passes up the floor.  

I thought the team put forth a strong effort overall and just fell a little short.  When one guy is out of the rotation it can really throw things off (No humphries and Lee fouls out)

I do belive that Brooks can play but no one should expect him to play consistently unless he gets to play consistently.  Any judgement about his value I think should be made once we have a chance to actually see him in the rotation.  Last night Tommy said that Brooks is virtually unstoppable in practice.  So he has seen the kid play.  And he did average 12.6 PPG as a rookie and just has not been able to break into the rotation.

Also want to mention  that there were a couple of high energy defensive plays made by Avery last night that were off the charts.  

dboss

Doc was roughly a .500 coach before getting KG, RA, and PP together. That's nothing spectacular and I prefer not to sugarcoat anything.

In terms of pure coaching ability, Brad is much more perceptive to the little things and he works better with less. Doc would be 10-15 games under .500 right now. We've seen what he can do with teams that don't have the greatest talent.

I mean come on, what kind of coach plays guys in their mid 30s over 35 min per game and tries to win games with only a 6-7 man rotation? Doc does.... Can't see how THAT qualifies as good coaching.

Anyway....



KJ

KJ

I agree completely with your comments!

112288

Kj

I tried to forget the playoffs last year when we actually played 5 1/2 guys in one game.  

The Celtics fans were very generous last night with all the cheers.  I guess that is deserved when a coach actually takes a Celtics team to a championship.

We have had 6 coaches in Celtics history that have done this.  I think Doc would be tied with Bill Fitch in wins and everything else. In my mind it was the players that made the 2008 to 2013 run memorable.  Afterall doc said he could not win because his players were not good enough prior to 08 and he basically made that determination again this year on his way out of town.

But  as you can see, this team is far from being a team of bad players.  Great coaches can coach players up.  That is why i really appreciate the job that Stevens is doing in a really short period of time.  To me Doc did not accomplish enough with what he did have.  

I have never and will never praise a player that cuts and runs and i will never prasie a coach that cuts and runs unless the franchise (Players, coaches, owners GM's staff members, fan base) is horrible.  

Bottom line he gets  a single clap from this true Celtics fan.

dboss

Dboss,

I kind of like to think this board is full of true Celtics fans.

Sam

Personally I have no issue with Doc leaving, regardless of all the reasons and just how it went down. Heck we got a draft pick to boot.

Cripes if not for Perk being hurt in game 6 we would have had 2.

And perhaps a third if KG didn't go down.
Those certainly aren't on Doc.

How long does a good coach last at a particular team these days anyway, in any sport?

New blood is a refresher.

So to me it's a big thanks to Doc for what he did here and good luck out west, except when you play the green.

beat