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Rapid Reaction: Celtics 115, Hawks 104

By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com

BOSTON -- Rapid Reaction after the Boston Celtics defeated the Atlanta Hawks 115-104 on Wednesday night at TD Garden:

THE NITTY GRITTY
Jerryd Bayless made his first start in a Celtics uniform and made a strong case to stay there until Avery Bradley is healthy. Bayless scored a season-high 29 points (just two off his career high) on 12-of-21 shooting (5-of-8 beyond the 3-point arc) in the type of performance that used to torment the Celtics when he was on the opposite side. Rajon Rondo added 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting with 11 assists (though he had a very non-Rondo-like 0 rebounds). The Celtics put six players in double figures, including their entire starting five (Gerald Wallace added 12 points and 10 rebounds off the bench). Jeff Teague had 26 points and DeMarre Carroll added 24 points to pace the Hawks.

TURNING POINT
The Hawks scored 13 of the game's first 15 points and led by double digits 3 ½ minutes in. Although the Hawks led by as much as 15, the Celtics had rallied back to tie the game eight seconds into the second quarter. Neither team gained much separation until Boston started pulling away midway through the final frame. A Green 3-pointer had the Celtics out front 103-94 with four minutes to play. The Hawks never got closer than six the rest of the way.

LOOSE BALLS
The Celtics moved Wallace out of the starting lineup to start the game, but he took Kris Humphries' spot at the start of the second half to counter Atlanta's small lineup. Wallace was a team-best plus-25 overall. ... The Hawks shot 50 percent overall, including 47.4 percent beyond the 3-point arc, but turned the ball over 18 times for 27 points. The Celtics shot 47.8 percent overall. ... The Celtics dominated the glass, outrebounding Atlanta 46-29. ... Boston played with just nine available bodies as Jared Sullinger (concussion), Kelly Olynyk (toe), Avery Bradley (ankle) and Vitor Faverani (knee) were all unavailable.

WHAT IT MEANS
The Celtics (20-39) snapped a five-game losing streak, winning for the first time since Feb. 10 in Milwaukee. The team will take the next two days off before hosting the Indiana Pacers on Saturday at TD Garden. This five-game homestand rolls on with visits from Golden State, Brooklyn and Detroit.
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FAST BREAK: JERRYD BAYLESS, CELTICS GROUND HAWKS


WEEI

By Ben Rohrbach  
 
If the entire Eastern Conference weren’t so dreadful, the Celtics might have a shot at two lottery picks this June.

The C’s handed the undermanned Hawks their 10th loss in 12 games with a 115-104 win at the Garden on Wednesday night. It was a welcome respite for the Celtics, whose own rough streak included falling to 0-13 on the road against Western Conference on their recent road trip. The C’s own the lesser first-round pick between Atlana and Brooklyn, which may come into Boston next week with a sub-.500 record.

As for Wednesday’s game, Jerryd Bayless led all scorers with a season-high 29 points. Rajon Rondo (22 points, 11 assists) and Gerald Wallace (12 points, 10 rebounds) added double-doubles. Jeff Green (17 points), Brandon Bass (14 points) and Kris Humphries (10 points) also reached double figures, as the Celtics improved to 20-34.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Rondo ready: While others may rant and rave about the birthday bash drama, Rondo hasn’t been effected. He scored 11 of the C’s 25 first-quarter points, attempting six shots in the opening frame and making four of them. He then began directing an offense that shot 53.7 percent and scored 58 points by the break. Rondo logged his fourth double-double in as many appearances, and he’s beginning to prove that the double-digit assist streak awhile back wasn’t solely dependent on his superstar teammates.

Expect more. Bayless: Starting in the absence of Avery Bradley, Bayless netted 20 points for the first time this season since scoring 22 against the Celtics as a member of the Grizzlies on Nov. 27. He connected on eight of his first 12 shots, including a trio of third-quarter 3-pointers that gave the Celtics a five-point cushion midway through the third quarter.

Board to death: In the absence of three of their six frontcourt rotation players, the Celtics wings banged the boards against a Hawks squad without the services of stars Al Horford (torn pectoral) and Paul Millsap (knee). Green, Wallace and Chris Johnson combined for 25 rebounds as the C’s outworked Atlanta 46-29 on the glass.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Injury bug: A rash of injuries left the Celtics with just nine available players for Wednesday’s game against the Hawks. The absences of Jared Sullinger (concussion), Kelly Olynyk (toe) and Vitor Faverani (knee) left the Celtics particularly shorthanded in the frontcourt, which meant more minutes for Joel Anthony. While Sullinger and Olynyk could return as soon as Saturday, Bradley’s absence from the backcourt remains uncertain, as the soon-to-be restricted free agent missed his eight straight game with an ankle injury.

3′s a crowd: As has been the case for years, Kyle Korver continued to be a thorn in the C’s side. The league’s second-leading 3-point shooter connected on his first four triples, leading a 9-for-19 Hawks effort from beyond the arc.

Going Carroll-ing: Perhaps motivated by the rumors that had him potentially headed to the Celtics in exchange for Green, Hawks forward DeMarre Carroll had his way in the paint opposite the undermanned C’s frontcourt, collecting 24 points on just 11 shots and adding seven boards.

112288

I'm not going to post a synopsis on the entire game, but I will point out a few things...

1. Joel Anthony affects the game in ways stats won't explain, much like Wallace in some respects. With Sullinger and Olynyk being banged up, his presence will become that much more important.

2. Jeff Teague is really a SG, not a PG, and finished with only 2 assists. It's a good thing they have Mack playing PG for them, who recorded 8.

3. The Celtics had 17 fast break points. That's pretty good. The only problem they have is that there aren't enough good finishers at the rim, as I suspect that number would actually increase.

4. Jeff Green played 40 minutes. Fortunately, with the exception of a few clunked misses from 3, those 40 minutes were productive, recording 17 points and 8 rebounds.

5. Rondo played 36 minutes, which is the closest to his normal, pre-injury play time that we've seen. It seems that Steven's is loosening the reigns a bit, and that Rondo's conditioning is nearing completion. But he still has yet to play in a back-to-back. So we'll see.

Oh yeah, he posted another double-double, too.


KJ

Solid win against a pretty bad team.

Bayless looked great, I hope he takes this as a lunching pad for the rest of the season - as he is a very capable scorer
Rondo is getting back into form.  He still plays matador defense from time to time, but I think overall his game was solid on both ends tonight.
Bass, Wallace and Hump played hard as usual - always like their contributions.

And then we have Mr Green - who is playing the best basketball of the season and of his career - averaging 17 ppg and 5 rpg for the season.  He has scored in double figures in 9 in a row, 17 of his last 20 and is scoring 22 ppg in his last 10 games.

Just sayin'

Just need a Big Center and the teams current record would be reversed!


112288

The Celtics stuck their collective heads out of the tank for a moment, took a look around and saw the Atlanta Hawks andf said this is a win for us.

KJ good observation about Teague. He is excellent with the ball in his hands but he really does not know how to run an offense except for his own benefit.

Jeff Green is starting to play better. Let's see how he does over the next 20+ games. I think it will determine his long term future with the team.

dboss

Sinus

I noted the 0 rebounds for Rondo too. Not going to read a lot into it but perhaps he just is on the perimiter a bit more but 0. He'd always hit the defensive boards and get a couple.

maybe just the way the ball bounced

beat

Finally, a game that makes it more inviting to post some observations about the team performance and relates to players based mainly on their contributions to the team rather than on their individual performances.

Missing two starters in Sully and Bradley, as well as the one player (Olynyk) who has arguably seen his play improve steadily over the last spate of games,  To say they started slowly would be an understatement.  The Hawks have surprisingly good contingency plans if they’re short (no pun intended) of big men.  They have agile players who can take it to the hoop very effectively and who, if stymied in doing so, can pass the rock out to some very good (great in the case of Korver).

This combination of assets created an initial burst and especially seemed to reduce Kris Humphries’ effectiveness.  So Brad substituted Wallace for Humphries, sacrificing height and bulk for energy and agility.  That move seemed to coincide with an electric light going off over Rondo’s head, and suddenly the pace was elevated, the defense tightened somewhat (very largely due to Wallace’s presence), and the offensive momentum established by the Celtics toward the end of the first quarter was never really relinquished for the remainder of the game—although the Hawks kept pace throughout most of the contest on the strength of their three-point magic (9-19 on the evening) and relentless penetration (especially by Jeff Teague).’

Even in using Joel Anthony for just a few minutes, I thought Brad succeeded in giving the Hawks a different look and helping (even if ever so little) to throw a little monkey wrench into their continuity.

In the end, I thought the Celts’ great stretch run involved a continuation of that same offensive momentum and an unworldly shooting performance by Bayless, coupled with stiffer defense and huge rebounding superiority (at both ends) in the stretch that gave the Celtics a combination of extra chances for themselves while limiting the Hawks’ second chances.

It was no coincidence that Brad finally brought Humph back into the game for that late span of time when the Celtics basically pulled away for the first time.  What was the difference between the early Kris and the late Kris?  Simple (at least from my perspective).  It was predicated on the way the play of his teammates changed over time.  When they were floundering around, attempting vainly to set a consistent pace, and susceptible to the combined agility and long-distance prowess of the opponent, it was not a situation in which Humph could not make much of a difference.  The penetration was not being accomplished by Hawks big men, and Kris wound up struggling to contain smaller, much more nimble Hawks.  Nor is he a perimeter defender.  If the Hawks had been dominating, early in the game, by virtue of their offensive rebounding, Humph would have been more relevant.  But the Hawks weren’t missing shots during the first few minutes.

Conversely, when the Celtics had established a stable, aggressive pace and it was necessary to limit the number of Hawks’ shots late in the game, Humph was the man.  In addition, he obviously relished running the floor.  He also recorded most (if not all) of his five rebounds (two offensive) during that time period.

As I’ve posted elsewhere, Rondo’s 22 points and 11 rebounds don’t begin to tell the story of his impact on this game.  Last night, he was the orchestra leader extraordinaire, controlling the pace and involving teammates in a ball movement clinic (after the first few minutes) that saw players other than Rondo combine for more assists than Rondo had and shoot a higher percentage than normal (53%) because they were regularly being placed in positions to succeed (actually by both Brad in one sense and Rondo in another).

The much-maligned Jeff Green, on whom have been placed more expectations than in a maternity ward, has become more consistent in his scoring.  He seems to be much more of a trick-or-treat kind of scorer, and he’s also reasonably consistent throughout entire games.

Wallace was used (I believe) exclusively at either of the two forward spots because of Sully’s and Kelly’s absences, it could be that it was a blessing in disguise because Bayless obviously grooved not only on starting at SG (and freed of PG duties), but he also produced dramatically in crunch time.  He may be the Celtic who, when he gets enough minutes, completes best with Jeff Green as the best pure shooter on the team and the best floor spacer on the team.

While Chris Johnson had a poor shooting night (not the first lately), I liked the fact that Brad didn’t just yank him.  Because Chris was a stalwart on the boards and on the defensive end (except when he neglected to switch assignments on one pick-and-role).  I’d love to see his offensive role expanded so that he’s not mainly a guy hanging in the corner and has to create most any other shot he takes.

In short, this game represents a milestone in my eyes.  Because it, more than any other previous game this season, demonstrates how being used in the most appropriate roles enable players to band together with a healthy degree of chemistry.

Game balls to Rondo, Jerryd and Brad in this one.

Keep it going, guys, even during a rough schedule stretch.  It'll be important to maintain the way you're playing together, whether or not it eventuates in a win.  And I hope that when the Three Musketeers (and the One Musketeerlet, Vitor) return, they can experience a similar pattern of focusing on what they do best.

Go Celtics!

Sam

Sam

quick fix Rondo had 11 assists not rebounds. He did not have any rebounds.

beat