PRESEASON - POST GAME BROOKLYN - AWAY

Rapid Reaction: Celtics 95, Nets 90

ESPNBOSTON.COM

By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com

The biggest knock on Boston Celtics rookie Marcus Smart during the exhibition season is that he has struggled shooting the ball, particularly beyond the 3-point arc. While coach Brad Stevens acknowledged a need for greater offensive consistency from the rookie, he suggested Smart's shooting woes were not much of a concern.

Smart provided the go-ahead bucket with a straightaway late in the fourth quarter as the Celtics defeated the Brooklyn Nets 95-90 in an experimental 44-minute exhibition game on Sunday at the Barclays Center.

Smart finished with 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting (3 of 8 beyond the arc) to go along with four assists, three steals, and two rebounds over 26:31. With the game tied at 85 with 3:18 to go, Smart capped his scoring with the triple that helped Boston surge ahead.

The Celtics brought Smart off the bench to start the game, but utilized him in a starter role to open the second half as part of a smaller lineup with Jeff Green playing power forward. That unit helped Boston outscore Brooklyn 33-14 in the third frame while rallying from as much as a 17-point deficit.

Everything else you need to know from Sunday's game:

• Nitty Gritty: Jared Sullinger scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed 19 rebounds over 28:35. Brandon Bass scored 14 points off the bench, including hitting a corner 3-pointer to close out the third quarter. Green scored 14 points and was a team-best plus-17 overall. Jarrett Jack and Jerome Jordan scored 17 points apiece to pace the Nets.

• No second chance: The Celtics dominated the second-chance points category, 20-2 (with the Nets not getting their first second-chance points until late in the second half). Boston had a staggering 20 offensive rebounds, including six by Sullinger. That helped Boston overcome poor shooting (34 of 90, 37.8 percent).

• Loose balls: The Celtics launched 29 3-pointers with Smart and Sullinger each making three, though Boston shot just 31 percent beyond the arc overall. ... The Celtics utilized 12 bodies overall, though Dwight Powell played just 40 seconds. ... Gerald Wallace, back after missing three games with a bone bruise, played only five minutes overall (and was a minus-7 on the floor). ... Old friend Kevin Garnett (stomach bug) did not dress for Brooklyn.

• What it means: The Celtics improve to 4-3 on the exhibition season. They close out preseason play by hosting these same Nets on Wednesday night at TD Garden.
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WHY YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT SUNDAY’S CELTICS WIN: JARED SULLINGER ABSOLUTELY DOMINATED

WEEI

By Ben Rohrbach 
 

Jared Sullinger

With four more minutes, the Celtics may not have pulled out their fourth preseason victory in seven tries, but Jared Sullinger’s extraordinary effort helped the C’s stave off the Nets in the NBA’s experimental first 44-minute game.

Sullinger finished with 21 points and 19 rebounds in 29 minutes in the win.

The Celtics trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half, but they outscored Brooklyn 33-14 in the 11-minute third quarter. Jeff Green scored 10 of his 14 points playing as a power forward in the frame.

Brandon Bass (16 points, 6 rebounds), Marcus Smart (13 points, 4 boards, 3 steals) Avery Bradley (12 points) and Marcus Thornton (10 points) all added double figures.

Evan Turner had the worst performance of his brief Celtics career, shooting just 1-of-9 from the field while collecting just three points and one assist against three turnovers. Likewise, Kelly Olynyk had just four points on 2-of-7 shooting to go along with six rebounds.

While Brad Stevens started Turner at point guard, the Celtics coach swapped Smart in for the third quarter, pushing Turner to the wing. To start that 33-point third quarter after a 40-point first half, Avery Bradley at shooting guard, Green at the 4 and Sullinger at center.

Smart converted 3-of-8 attempts from 3-point range, making 4-of-11 field goals overall. As a team, the Celtics shot just 37.8 percent form the field, sinking just nine of their 29 3-point attempts.

Gerald Wallace returned from his bone bruise injury, but finished scoreless in just five minutes.

Kevin Garnett sat out for the Nets with a stomach virus. Fear not, KG faithful, for the Celtics face Brooklyn again on Wednesday and in the regular-season opener on Oct. 29.

For the record, the NBA’s first 44-minute game lasted 1 hour, 58 minutes — finishing roughly a half-hour quicker than an average game.

112288

that sully kid can play some ball...

It was a nice win being down by 18 early in the game and they switched from shooting from the outside to pounding the paint.

OK ........NO KG .........NO BROOK LOPEZ

112288

This game was very much about aggressiveness.  The Nets had more than the Celts in the first half, and the Celts had more than the Nets in the second half.  From Brad’s comments after the game, I assume the Nets had a rough trip getting to the game, and he felt they ran out of gas in the third and fourth quarters
 
In the first quarter, the Celtics made things easy for Brooklyn, repeatedly settling for outside shots.  On most of the relatively few occasions when they tried to take the rock inside, they drove into traffic and were foiled.
 
• In two areas, their stats looked good but were deceiving:  (1) They took 22 shots, but hit on only 32% of them; (2) They had 6 offensive rebounds, but that was no great feat since they left 15 shots up for grabs.  Meanwhile, the Nets shot 56%.
 
• They recorded only 2 assists.
 
• They committed 7 turnovers.
 
• The Celtics’ lethargy was highlighted by the fact that they had only one free throw in the quarter.
 
Fortunately, Zeller and Bass came in and gave the Cs a shot in the arm with two “effort shots,” and the Nets led by only 7 after the first quarter.
 
To a large extent, the second quarter was a repeat of the first.
 
• The Celts shot only 33% from the field, including 1 for 7 (14%) from three point land.
 
• They had another 5 turnovers.
 
• They weren’t moving the ball at all well and recorded a measly 3 assists.
 
The Nets didn’t cool off a lot (47%) and shot 15 (making 11) as they went to the hoop frequently.
 
As for the Celtics’ response in the second half, I have the feeling that Brad “strongly urged” them to get their butts in gear at halftime.  And they did just that.  Toward the end of the second quarter, they showed signs of life with a primarily offensive rally that cut their deficit from 17 to 9 at the half.  But it was in the third period that they really looked like a team that was clicking:
 
• As, as we’re likely to see many times this season. the impetus started with the defense.  The Nets committed 7 turnovers—many of them forced by Celtics.
 
• As 112288 mentioned, the Green went to the basket much more successfully, scoring 16 points in the paint.
 
• The five players with the most minutes were Green (11 minutes), Smart (9), Bradley (9), Bass (7) and Olynyk (6).
 
• There was a long stretch when every possession went through Jeff Green, and responded .
 
•  Sully and Smart went 5-9 between them to keep the Celtics within 11 at halftime.
 
The third quarter was a complete reversal of fortune.
 
• Brad used Jeff Green at PF to gain an advantage in athleticism, and Jeff went semi-wild as he played the entire 11 minute quarter.  The ball went through him on the great majority of possessions, and he scored 10 points.
 
•  Avery Bradley, in 9 minutes, was another strong contributor with 6 points, as he took (and missed) only one three pointer after having bricked all three he took in the first half.
 
• Steady Eddie Bass played only 7 minutes but chipped in with 8 points.
 
• Marcus Smart lived up to his billing by playing 9 minutes, not scoring a point, but making a lot of great defensive plays and recording a couple of steals
 
• Kelly Olynyk has been looking a bit lost at the center position, and this game was no exception.  In this quarter, he played 6 minutes and contributed only 2 points.
 
• In his 5 minutes, Sully score 5 points and grabbed 6 rebounds
 
The Celtics were guarding much more assertively and closing out well, as the Nets went for the bagel in six three point attempts and shot only 5-13 from two point range.  And that defensive pressure fueled an offense that displayed much better timing and rhythm in their passing and shooting.  The Celts outscored the Nets 33-14 in the quarter and led 73-65 heading into the 4^th.
 
In the fourth quarter, the Celtics basically held their own, although it was touch-and-go several times:
 
Mainstays in this quarter were:
 
• Phil Pressey (who played all 11 minutes, pushed the pace mercilessly, and was a major factor in the Celts’ maintaining the timing and rhythm they had gained in the previous period.
 
• Marcus Thornton, who lived up to the sixth man code by scoring 8 points (several down the stretch) in 11 minutes.
 
• Tyler Zeller, who never scored a point in the game but, in this quarter, defended the rim very well against several furious incursions by the Nets.
 
• Jared Sullinger, with 7 points and 4 rebounds in 5 minutes.
 
• Marcus Smart, who scored only 3 three points in 6 minutes but played what is not becoming his normal harassing defensive game.
 
There was a period of time in this quarter when Smart was flummoxing the Nets on the perimeter and Zeller was handling those who made it to the basket.  The way it’s supposed to  be.
 
Final of 95-90 Celts.  Good second half after a first half snoozefest.
 
Sam

as the season goes on alot of people are gonna be really glad we didn't trade Sully and a bunch of picks for Love.

Platoons are more common in other sports, but I'm starting to wonder about a Green/Turner deal at SF.  The times Turner has been asked to play PG he's not looked like a good fit.  I think that spot has to go to Smart, especially with his passing and defense there.  Clearly Kelly is our center (only) for the near term, and Sully has shown he belongs with big minutes at PF.  Throw Bradley in at G and Thornton first G off the bench and you have our lineup to start the season. Some situations will call for Green to move to PF with Zeller at C, but I think that's the majority of your rotation players for now.  Green, Turner, Sullinger, Olynyk, Smart, Bradley, Thornton and Zeller; eight deep for the regular rotation.  My guess anyway.

A lot of great synopses, especially by Sam who broke it down so clearly quarter-by-quarter.  Really laid it out like a schematic.

We were down by 17 (or 18) in the first half and rallied to win with fewer minutes to do it in.  Credit to Stevens for rallying the troops in the locker room and to the players for believing in him and themselves and coming out and making it happen.  Pulling something like this off, especially after all the collapses last year, produces nice positive results.

1.  No Lopez, no KG, no interior or baseline defenders.  Sully had a great game, no doubt about it, but he has been known to struggle against height and he didn't play against any this game.

2.  90fgas in 44 minutes.  That's a lot of crap.  Seriously, 90fgas in 44 minutes are a ton of attempts but we shot 38% overall (and that's crap) and 31% from 3 with a third of our fgas being 3s.  I'm trying to be supportive here, but I wish we'd run more plays that resulted in slashes to the hoop and less that just moved the ball around the perimeter for a 3pt fga.  When D12 was in Orlando, SVG's strategy was "dump the ball into Dwight and, when the defense collapsed, he'll pass the ball out to a 3pt shooter (Reddick, Turk, Anderson, etc).  It was not a winning strategy and SVG had some excellent, excellent 3pt shooters to choose from.  Live by the 3, die by the 3 and, over the course of a 82 game season, your legs get tired and dinged up and jumpshooters need fresh legs to be good.

3.  Zeller didn't have a good shooting night, 1-5, but he just looks and plays more like a center.  Maybe I'm just having trouble with this new perimeter-oriented NBA where bigs are pulled away from the rim so they can take shots from the beverage concession areas.

4.  Steady Eddy showing off his new corner 3, but only once.  16 points on 5-7, 6 boards, 3 offensive, and 5-5 from the line in 18 productive minutes.  He didn't get to the line that much by being a stretch 4.

5.  Pressey pushed the tempo but made a lot of dumb decisions on offense.  Behind the back passes to nobody, for one.  One thing I did like about Phil was that he'd give some resistance to his man on defense in the back court and, as soon as the ball came over the mid-court stripe, he'd come right up on his guy and force him to stop, essentially pinning him against the halfcourt line.  If the ball wasn't on a string, any sloppy dribbling at all, and there was going to be an over-and-back.  As it was, the PG had to take a second or two to figure out how he was going to get around this little ballhawker WITHOUT taking a step back.  That was very clever by Phil, took seconds off the shot clock with the token resistance and a few more with the stop at half court, and it's the type of detail stuff that the coaching staff will notice.  Stevens rewarded him by leaving him out there to finish the rally and the win. 

6.  Microwave Marcus made a timely arrival in the 2nd half.  He WANTS the ball.  The value of someone who WANTS the ball and knows what to do with it when he has it cannot be overstated.  We haven't had an assassin since Pierce left.  Bayless had his moments and Crawford definitely wanted the ball and wanted to take the shot but Marcus thinks that is his true calling and I have yet to see him make an obviously bad shooting decision (and that's what separates him from Crawford).  Turner wants the ball too, but I don't get the impression he's an assassin.  He's a facilitator, like Rondo although perhaps not as good, and he can score but he's not a guy I want to have the ball in his hands with <5 seconds left on the shot clock and somebody needs to put the ball in the hoop.  Give Turner 10 seconds and he'll give you something good but "do or die" time?  I'm not sure.  Thornton, however, I am completely comfortable with him taking the shot.  From anywhere.  He's a gifted scorer.  For Brooklyn, they have now added Jarrett Jack, a shoot-first point guard and, in my opinion, probably the best back up PG in the league and someone to watch for 6th Man of the Year honors.

7.  Mahcus Smaht has a nose for the ball.  His defense is NBA-ready, as advertised.  In fact, I'm finding myself reminding myself that this is just pre-season and, just like with summer league, you can't really know what you really have against this competition since other teams are playing bubble players more than they will during the regular season.  He moves his feet very, very well though.  He also seems to be around when a ball pops loose, when a pass isn't sharp and shows real veterans spacing when cheating to help.  He helps our bigs by making some of those entry passes that might be easy, much harder.  In one sequence, Kirilenko got a pass down low on a slash and was all alone except for Smart, who was there to foul him.  NOT his man.  A 6'4" guard was the only player on the baseline to contest a slashing big.  That's instinct.  I'd love for Smart's offense to be something other than 3s.  Of his 11fgas, 8 were 3s.  The announcers yesterday repeatedly pointed out that Smart's defense is ahead of his offense.  That's because, offensively, Marcus Smart is a one-trick pony.  A lot of people are talking about him being drafted to replace Rondo.  If so, then he has a long, long way to go.  I'm starting to think of Marcus Smart, rather, as a significant upgrade over Courtney Lee.  Superior defense, like Courtney, 3-ball oriented (also like Lee) but a better ball-handler and floor general than Lee (already better than Bradley) although not anywhere near as good as either Rondo or Phil.  Some might say "Smart was a #6 pick and Lee wasn't, he should be better" but if you keep in mind that the school players went to and the college career they had are no longer relevant once they are picked, and just look at the value they bring to the team then it matters.  Phil Pressey wasn't drafted at all and his career is already more distinguished than #17 pick Dennis Schroder (in fact, the next time we have a discussion about Danny's drafting successes I'll try to remember to bring up Dennis Schroder as evidence that the draft is a crap shoot and Danny has to roll the dice as everybody else).  Courtney Lee was a starting guard on a team known for the ferocity of its starting back court defense.  He was, and is, well-regarded and Smart is an upgrade.

8.  A forgettable game by Evan Turner.  Forgotten.

9.  Jeff Green, on the other hand, did well.  A solid outing by Green with his energy and effectiveness in the 3rd quarter closing the gap and giving the Celtics the opportunity to catch Brooklyn.  He played PF, with KG not playing.  Still, gotta give it to Uncle Jeff when it works.

10.  We had 50 rebounds.  50 and 20 offensive ones.  Forget about the concentration of those in one player, Sully, and just realize that's a ton of loose balls to be had.  Why so many?  90 fgas with a crappy fg% by us and no starting front court for them.




bob


.

I know that they do time of possession in football. Basically in football and basketball each team will get the same amount of possessions within 1. (discounting fumbled punts in football and offensive rebounds which are basically the same possession)

Little quick figuring with a shortened game to 44 minutes for arguments sake we had the ball 22 minutes or 1320 seconds..... 90 FG Attempts.. means we were shooting the ball about every 14.66 seconds.

Again not really scientific but you can't win if you don't score, and you can't score if you don't shoot, and we can shoot. Now we just need to make a few more.

beat

It was an entertaining game. Until the day he is traded, any rotation must also include Brandon Bass - he is steady as they come and a hard working, no nonsense guy.

This team works hard and is likeable. Two great qualities in a rebuilding squad.