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FAST BREAK: RAJON RONDO, AVERY BRADLEY TOO COOL FOR LEBRON JAMES-LESS HEAT

WEEI - By Ben Rohrbach  
 
Rajon Rondo scored just nine points, but he was the best player on the floor all night, taking over the fourth quarter in a 101-96 victory against the two-time defending NBA champion Heat. Of course, it didn’t hurt that LeBron James (back spasms) was relegated to the Miami bench, but still — this was Rondo’s night.

The Celtics point guard finished one point shy of a triple-double (15 assists, 10 rebounds), ending a five-game losing streak. Avery Bradley‘s 23 points, including a career-high six 3-pointers, led the scoring effort, and four other Celtics reached double figures: Brandon Bass (18 points), Jared Sullinger (14 points), Jeff Green (13 points) and Kelly Olynyk (10 points). And the Celtics needed all of it from each of them.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Bradley’s back: After making just six of his 25 attempts from outside of 10 feet in his first three games back from an ankle injury, Bradley found the stroke that made him so successful early this season. The soon-to-be free agent knocked down three of his six first-half 3-point attempts and added a long jumper to enter the break with 11 points. In all, the C’s shot 50 percent (9-18) from distance over the first two quarters and stayed within 56-53 after two.

Charmed third: Working inside and out, Bradley and Brandon Bass shot a combined 8-of-8 from the field to score 21 of the C’s 27 third-quarter points. Rondo was on the feeding end of four of those buckets, finishing with six assists in the frame. As a result, the Celtics took an 80-78 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Bench press: The C’s bench situation isn’t pretty. It’s comprised of four guys who weren’t on the team to start the season, two rookies and another player with 45 NBA games under his belt entering the year. Yet, they received valuable contributions from three of those seven players, as Sullinger, Olynyk and Jerryd Bayless (7 points, 5 assists) combined for 28 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Worst first: The opening quarter couldn’t have gone much worse for the Celtics defense. While the NBA’s two-time defending MVP sat on the bench, the Heat still scored 34 points on 70 percent shooting to take a 12-point lead in the game’s initial 12 minutes. It wasn’t Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh who victimized the C’s, but Udonis Haslem. The Miami veteran scored 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the first quarter.

No LeBron: The Heat announced James would miss his first game in a month shortly before tipoff. It remains to be seen whether he’ll return Friday in Miami, but regardless of how they feel about him, Boston fans missed a player worth the price of admission. Perhaps a motivated Celtics team took it as a sign of disrespect, too.
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Rapid Reaction: Celtics 101, Heat 96

By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com

BOSTON -- Rapid reaction after the Boston Celtics defeated the Miami Heat 101-96 on Wednesday night at TD Garden:

THE NITTY GRITTY
It won't top the early season thriller in Miami with Jeff Green's last-second heroics, but the Boston Celtics added another win over the Heat to the pages of their 2013-14 scrapbook. Rajon Rondo barely missed a triple-double while putting up nine points, 15 assists, and 10 rebounds, but dominated the final two minutes of the game. Avery Bradley added a team-high 23 points while making a career-best six 3-pointers over 40:30. Dwyane Wade paced LeBron James-less Miami with 17 points, while Chris Andersen utilized a fourth-quarter scoring burst to add 16 points.

TURNING POINT
The Celtics were clinging to a three-point lead with little more than two minutes to go when Rondo wrestled a rebound away from Udonis Haslem, forcing a jump ball near the Miami basket. Rondo, despite the height difference, won the tip then delivered a little running bank shot at the other end to put Boston up five. After the Heat made it a one-possession game again, Rondo worked down the shot clock and hit another running floater in the final moments to essentially seal the win.

LOOSE BALLS
The Celtics stuck with a 10-man rotation. Chris Babb and Joel Anthony were healthy DNPs ... Jared Sullinger added 14 points, four rebounds, and three assists off the bench over 31 minutes and was plus-11 overall (second best behind Bradley at plus-12). ... The Heat dominated points in the paint, 50-20. ... The Celtics compensated by going 13 of 28 beyond the 3-point arc (46.4 percent) and shot 50.6 percent from the floor overall. ...

WHAT IT MEANS
The Celtics (23-46) snapped a four-game losing streak and claimed the season series (2-1) over the Heat. Those interested in ping pong balls won't love the result, but Celtics players and coaches were desperate for a win after dropping some close calls in recent games. Boston's late-game execution was excellent, spearheaded by Rondo at the end. Boston visits Brooklyn on Friday before a four-day break.

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A great game!  The Celts started the game impersonating a bar of warm butter on the defensive end.  They ended the game playing really well at both ends of the floor and, most especially, scoring on virtually every "must" situation.

In terms of development, the big story has to be the way in which Rondo exhibited all sorts of offensive synergy with most of his teammates.  It wasn't all Rondo's doing, though.  The Celtics played one of their best motion games, and there were some beautiful drives to the hoop (one by Green in particular) combined by pinpoint passing by Rajon.  Rondo did an excellent job of finding open teammates, who shots the lights out of the ball when he hit them.  Rondo had 15 assists, while his mates combined for 14, underscoring the shared nature of the offensive thrust.

It happened that 36% of the Celtics' 77 field goal attempts were threes.  Ordinarily, I'd wretch upon reading that stat.  But against a team with perimeter defense as shabby as the Heat's, and considering that the Celtics shot 46% from beyond the arc, the emphasis on threes made sense.

Despite the Celtics' poor defense in the first quarter, the Celtics kept hammering away at a Heat lead that peaked at (I believe) 14 points by repeatedly scoring three points to the Heat's two points on successive possessions.  That kind of counterpunching has to test an opponent's resolve; and, although the Heat won the first quarter by 12 points, the Celtics won each of the remaining three quarters by a total of 79-62.  The Heat looked particularly disheveled in the third quarter, committing infraction after infraction (at least 7 in the quarter), as the Celtics won that quarter 27-19.  The Heat were shooting in the 70% range during the first quarter; but, when the game finished, the Celtics had outshot Miami 51% to 49%.

Avery Bradley had a great shooting night, hitting 8 of 13 shots (including 6 of 9 three-pointers).  Brandon Bass started slowly but hit some big shots when things were tight in the latter stages of the game, finishing with 8-12.  Jeff Green was only 5 for 17, but three of the five were treys.

I would call this the most productive game of the year.  Not because they won.  Not because they beat the Heat.  But because (1) they looked the most like a team that I have seen them this season and (2) they made defensive adjustments that succeeded in cooling off Miami's initial surge.  Brad went pretty much with an eight-man lineup (Bass, Green, Humph, Rondo, Bradley, Sully, Olynyk and Bayless) plus cameos for Johnson and Anthony.  I assume Brad's shortening the roster in anticipation of the playoffs.  LOL.

There's still plenty of room for improvement.  In addition to the repeated first quarter defensive breakdowns by the Celtics, Rondo's 10 rebounds were five more than any other Celtic pulled down.  But any breakdowns paled in significance compare to the mega-glimmers in this one.

Go Celtics

Sam

If we could only meet Miami in the playoffs. We've got their number!

Hi,
Yes, it was a good game.
I think one of the reasons Celtics can handle Heat is the absence of true C in Mia. Coupled yesterday with the absence of Lebron....
I wonder what happened to Oden. I read that he started to start for them.
If we go to the backcourt - DWade is clearly on the downhill.
On the Celtics side AB ate something special for lunch or perhaps got that 3-p potion. I wonder if RA was thinking: " So what? I could do it too when I was 25".
Sometimes, it looks like RR gets too fancy, especially when he goes against a big. BTW, I'd add 2 more assists for him: he gave 2 passes to Sully under the hoop so Mia couldn't do anything but to foul him.
But, as Sam mentioned, defense was the key, despite a few occasions when they allowed some of the Mia player to walk to the hoop for a layup.
On the funny side Tommy was so jubilant talking about a ref.   

AK

Sinus,

Oden doesn't play back-to-backs.

The ref actually went over to Tommy during a timeout, and the two enjoyed some laughs, which is why Tommy kept calling the ref his "buddy."

Come to think of it, what was Tommy doing in Miami.  He doesn't usually do away games of any distance.  I'm glad he got to see this one.

Sam

Sam,

It was a home game.

112288

Funny, for some reason I'm not as angry as I usually am after a Heat game.  Hmmm.  I wonder why?

I said, on the Game On thread, our 4th quarter was about as good as we can play with this roster at this time.  They were doing everything right.  That doesn't mean they were playing the type of ball I'd prefer but that they played their game crisply and efficiently on both ends of the floor and to the best of this unbalanced roster's ability and that's all I'm asking for now.

This game would have been much, much easier to win if didn't start off so poorly.  We gave up 34 points on 70% shooting, virtually all layups, in the first which explains their 15 assists on 16fgm.  Mario Chalmers looked like the second coming of Bob Cousy with 8 assists in the first period.  Extremely porous defense.  They scored 50 of their total 96 points in the paint.  That is amazingly bad (for us).  We, on the other hand, shot our usual 33% but it was an efficient 33% (reminds me of how people in Arizona will say "it's 110 degrees outside, but it's a dry heat!"  Great.  That way when you spontaneously combust there isn't even enough humidity to prevent you from going supernova).  By "an efficient 33%" I mean we had 9 assists on 9fgm.  Obviously, you need to hit more than 9 field goals in a 12-minute period.

Also, as appears to becoming the norm, our defense got better as the game went on.  They shot 70% after one, were down to 57% at the half (we charged back and were up to 48%), 56% after 3 and was 49% for the game.  They only took 13fgas in the 3rd quarter.  Part of the reason for that was the 8 TOs they had that quarter, mostly unforced.  To be honest, though, the Heat would have had some layups if they hadn't stepped out of bounds before making the pass to the cutter and stuff like that.  There was a bit of luck o' the Irish there for us, but I'll take it.  We also should take some credit for some very good defensive plays.  Jeff Green, for example, took a classic offensive charge and was a momentum breaker for them.  Bass stole the ball from DWade when Wade was trying to take him off the dribble.  Our defense got better as the game wore on and they wore down and failed to execute in crunch time without LeBron.

1.  Udonis Haslem is no LeBron (who is?) but he had a helluva game last night for him.  Of course, it's easy to get 12 points on 6-7 shooting by the end of the first when all your shots are at the rim.  Nevertheless, credit where credit is due and some of that has to go to Miami's solid, dependable bench player, Haslem.  Born in FL, went to school in Miami, went to U of FL and has played on the Heat his entire career.  I think it's safe to call him a Floridian through-and-through.  Too many layups, though, way way too many for the Floridian.

2.  Beasley played well, especially in the first, but then committed some of the usual brain-dead plays that has resulted in his mpg go down every single year he has been in the league.  How often do we see an unforced over-and-back court violation?  4 of Miami's 12 TOs were credited to the Beas.

3.  Bosh had a wretched 3-11 night (he did get 11 boards, though) but his back up, Chris "Birdman" Anderson (every time I write "Birdman" I want to write "Alcatraz" instead of Anderson.  My subconscious talking?) had a great game off the bench.  Can't shoot for shite, but he had 16 points on 6-7 shooting by just cleaning up everybody else's messes.  6 of his 8 rebounds were offensive.  He tortured Sully, Hump, Kelly, Bass you name it.  That's ok, I'd rather have a crappy game by Bosh and a great game by Alcatraz.

Ok, enough kudos to the bozos.

5.  Bradley was the offensive scoring leader this game.  It was one thing when we said that when Rondo was out and the ball went through his hands more often through necessity, but now he's actually a viable scoring option.  When he hits.  He had 5 points on 2-6 and 1-4 from 3 after one. Hardly stellar and, in fact, contributed heavily to our gutter-level 33% shooting that quarter.  By halftime he was up to 11 on 4-9.  Better.  In the 2nd half, when the whole team went out and played harder and better, Bradley showed why Danny had said all along "Avery can shoot".  Undaunted he was 3-6 from 3 at the half and He was 6-9 from 3 for the game, doing unto Miami what they usually do unto us.  He ended up a very healthy 8-13 (that means he went 4-4 in the 2nd half).  I have to admit, I wasn't that crazy about his defense last night and that's usually the last thing I complain about with him.  He was late off curls, slow to read picks and didn't do a very good job of preventing Wade from getting in the paint.  Overall, though, I'll take the Avery Bradley we had last night.  His shooting keyed everybody up.

6.  Rondo decided it was time to stop taking the blame for losses and start taking credit for the wins.  Good.  Keep it up, Rajon.  Only 1 point away from a triple-double, he sliced and diced Miami up.  Like with all assist men, it sure helped that Bass started draining the shots we all know he can hit and that players like Jeff Green moved without the ball.  I know that the NBA schedule doesn't give Brad the time to do video sessions as much as he'd like, but a couple of plays where Rondo zipped the ball to a Celtic who had moved without it should be shown to the team.  One, the ESPN highlight to Green, in particular.  They just don't get easier than that, Jeff.

7.  Bayless had an unusual game for him.  Usually, he plays 2 (regardless of what we think he should be playing, he's a shoot first player) and he heated up nicely last night.  I liked Courtney Lee and wish him nothing but the best, but we needed a player who could create his own shot and take someone off the dribble and that's Bay Leaves and not Lee.  Last night, while he microwaved for a bit, he also had a quiet 5 assists in 26 minutes.  Balanced scoring and floor generalship for a backup guard is just what we need.  He was late, to be honest, a few times on Ray Allen coming off of pindowns but that has happened to everybody at one point.  Ray Allen is one of the best of all time at shooting off of pindowns and he is probably the best in the league, still, today.  He could play to 50.  Bayless tightened up his defense and DID NOT TAKE HIS EYES OFF OF RAY and Ray's shooting got a bit more ragged as his shots off of pindowns became more contested.  I noticed how Bayless didn't cheat on defense hardly at all after being slow off the picks.  Good.  I don't know if that's just him bearing down or something Brad said, but it was the right thing to do.  Leaving Ray Allen alone, anywhere, is far more dangerous than most players in the paint.

8.  GREAT second half by Bass, whose money shots finally started dropping (he has been in a slump) and some great defense.

9.  We had zero fast break points.  Zero.  If you told me we'd earn a rare win without any uptempo play I'd have told you were nucking futs.  I'd say the same if I told you we'd win while giving up 50 points in the paint, making only 1 steal while giving up 9 and having almost the same number of turnovers.  This is a game that defied statistical analysis.  Other than that they were without their 27ppg, 6.4apg multi-MVP floor leader.  In this case it wasn't the 800-pound gorilla in the room that made a difference, it was the 800-pound gorilla in the Brooks Brothers suit. Still, if all you saw was the boxscore, you wouldn't figure this one out.

10.  Sully with 2-5 from 3.  Tommy's telling us to "get over it, it's a shot he needs in his arsenal".  I'm trying, Tommy, I'm trying and last night made it easier to swallow but 20 points in the paint is pretty anemic.  For a guy who is usually all about high-volume uptempo basketball and taking it to the rim in the halfcourt this is pretty out of character for Tommy.  If Sully gets traded (God Forbid!) it will be interesting to hear what he says then.  Tommy's the ultimate homie.

Yeah!  We won!  Utah and the Lakers saw opportunities to improve their lottery odds and lost.  That's ok.  It's all about winning, always, and anybody who thinks that the addition of one rookie is going to turn you from a bunch of losers and bums into winners is unclear on the concept of "being a winner".  Never root to lose.  Never. If getting high draft picks was the yellow brick road to championships Michael Jordan would be passing Red Auerbach right now.

Compared to the last Miami game, where this rant came out like out of a fire hose, this one came out like Mary's little lamb.  See what winning will do for you?


bob



.

Sully from the corner





Sully from on top





Kelly, seeing the opening and being aggressive and NOT just settling for the jumper.






Kelly, with one of Sam's "Bull shots", taking it to the smaller Battier.  Battier forced him to his left, he went to his left and Battier was already out-of-position.






Kelly with the corner 3.  Getting more comfortable with his offense game-by-game.






Rondo taking the charge by Chalmers





The Sportcenter pass, Rondo to a cutting Green.  More, please!





Brad calling the play, Rondo stepping up and driving in the final nail.





bob



.

Let's not get too excited. No La Bron and no Greg Oden and Sully is avg. less then 30%  (25% ish) from 3 pt land, and it was a back to back for Miami.

112288

As they say, you live by the 3 and die by the 3. The Celtics must have been immortals last night.

But anyway, I noticed a few things...

Celtics

1. Rondo nearly had a triple-double, if he had managed one more point (finished with 9 points, 15 assists, and 10 rebounds).

2. The Celtics were in closeout mode throughout the 3rd and 4th quarters. The Heat closed the gap but ultimately the Celtics regained control.

3. Bradley's offense was great. He was efficient from beyond the arc.

4. The team played as a team throughout the entire game even though there was an early deficit. The offense was very fluid once the team finally hit their stride in the 2nd quarter. The defense has a few gaping holes early, but the team eventually tightened up the bolts for the win.

So... about Miami...

1. Who cares if LeBron didn't play? Miami still had their cast of veterans, along with Wade and Bosh, two superstars. Earlier in the year, the Celtics beat Miami in their house without Rondo whil they still had their big 3.

2. Miami's perimeter defense looks weak, as well as their interior defense. By the 4th quarter, they looked very fatigued.

3. Wade looks old. He was really ineffective, whether it was on drives or shooting. Nothing he did even remotely resembled taking over the game in LeBron's absence.

4. Ray Allen didn't do much of anything.

5. All in all, the Celtics remain as Miami's kryptonite. Miami always has a tough time against the Celtics, even after all of the trades and changes to the coaching staff.


Overall, I consider it a great win. Celtics become the 3rd team to beat this team twice this season (and once again I'll reiterate, in the post-Pierce/KG era).



KJ