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Mavs 118, C's 113: Rally comes up short

ESPNBOSTON By Chris Forsberg

The Boston Celtics nearly overcame a 31-point deficit, rallying within a point in the final minute, but the Dallas Mavericks were able to hang on for a 118-113 triumph at the American Airlines Center.

• Tale of Two Halves (Half 1): The Mavericks shot a sizzling 63.4 percent in the first half, including an impossible 71.4 percent (10 of 14) beyond the 3-point arc. Fueled by a perfect Dirk Nowitzki (5-of-5, 16 points) the Mavs led by as much as 31 and were up 67-41 at the intermission. Celtics coach Brad Stevens lamented his team's lack of defense over the first 24 minutes, but ...

• Tale of Two Halves (Half 2): The Celtics emerged reinvigorated in the second half, chipping away at their deficit and had a chance to tie with 39 seconds remaining when Avery Bradley was fouled beyond the 3-point arc. He missed the middle of three shots, helping the Mavericks fend off Boston's charge.

• Easy being Green: Jeff Green helped Boston put up its limited offense early. He finished with a game-high 35 points on 14-of-28 shooting to go along with seven rebounds, two blocks, two assists, and a steal over 38:36.

• Rondo Report: Rajon Rondo again flirted with a triple-double while posting seven points, 15 assists, and nine rebounds. He helped turn the game defensively in the second half, but he struggled with his own offense, missing 8 of 11 shots and turning the ball over five times.

• What it means: The Celtics (1-2) went winless on their brief two-game trip to Texas, but the team showed a lot more heart in responding to adversity in Monday's game than it did on Saturday in Houston. Boston gets a day off Tuesday before hosting the defending Atlantic Division champion Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night at TD Garden.







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FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED IN CELTICS’ FAILED COMEBACK AGAINST MAVERICKS

WEEI By Ben Rohrbach 
 
For the second straight game, the Celtics dug themselves a deep early hole and spent the night trying to climb their way out. This time, though, they nearly escaped with a win.

After losing by double digits to the Rockets on Saturday, the Celtics fell behind by 31 in the first half against the Mavericks, only to slice the lead down to one in the final minute. But the Celtics couldn’t convert despite multiple chances to tie the game, ultimately losing 118-113 to the NBA’s highest-rated offense.

Jeff Green scored a game-high 35 points, and Avery Bradley added a career-high 32. Rajon Rondo collected seven points, nine rebounds and 15 assists.

GREEN ENGAGED EARLY

Green got the night started with a steal and a dunk. He followed by knocking down his first 3-point attempt of the night, matching the C’s total from beyond the arc on Saturday. And Rondo found Green on a backdoor alley-oop to give the streaky forward the team’s first seven points. Generally, Green’s best performances come when he contributes from the start, and Monday was no different.

MAVERICKS DOMINATED FIRST QUARTER

The Celtics allowed 40 points in the first quarter just once last season — to the Houston Rockets last November — and hadn’t done so since Jan. 28, 2005 before that. It only took three games this season to match that feat, allowing 40 to the Mavericks in the opening quarter. Dallas scored half of those points in the paint and shot 73 percent in the frame, including 5-of-7 from distance. Chandler Parsons led the effort with 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting.

WEST IS BEST

The Western Conference finished 6-1 against the Eastern Conference in the NBA’s first week of games, and the Chicago Bulls needed a last-second shot against the Minnesota Timberwolves for the East’s lone win. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban estimated 10 teams in his conference could win 50 games, and if the sharks out West continue to circle the tanking East and make chum of teams like the Celtics, he might be right. And, yes, that was an awful roundabout way to go to include Mark Cuban and Shark Tank in the same sentence.

CELTICS SHOW SOME FIGHT

Trailing by as many as 31 points in the second quarter and 67-41 at the half, the Celtics could easily have packed their things and called the Texas two-step through Houston and Dallas a complete failure. But Brad Stevens‘ charges went down swinging, cutting the Mavs’ lead to eight with a 28-10 run to start the third quarter. Rondo had five points and four assists in that span.

THREE’S COMPANY IN THE BACKCOURT

The Celtics clawed their way back within a single possession in the final minute on the backs of Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart. For the third straight game to start the season, Rondo nearly submitted a triple-double, and his assist numbers climbed well into the teens by the fourth quarter. Bradley scored 23 of his career-high 32 points in the second half. And Smart submitted a series of highlight-reel plays in the final minutes of his homecoming effort, including a remarkable put-back and a behind-the back pass to Jared Sullinger that cut the lead to six with four minutes left. Early returns this season on the C’s potentially dangerous three-guard lineup are impressive.

112288

The second half was a teachable moment in a long season for a young team........I'll take that all season long regardless of the outcome.  I was really proud of the team and the players having Celtic pride.....and not allowing themselves to be blown out again.

Stevens must have said something in that locker....I wish we can find out what!

GO CELTICS!

That was a great show of heart and grit in the second half. Too bad they didnt come out with the same intensity - but the backcourt of Rondo / Bradley / Smart is fierce defensively.

Jeff Green had a great game and took it right to the Mavs early and often, outplaying 15 million dollar man Chandler Parsons on both ends of the court.

AB looked great on both ends, with his defense pressure giving his offense a lift. Very impressed with his play and with Smart next to him, he looked energized.

Rondo is steady man, such a great floor general. Under control at all times.

Marcus Smart is a monster. He will become an all time great here in Boston, Chauncey Billups with a higher defensive IQ. Very excited for the future with him around here.

Other than Sully who had a solid game - the rest of the team was MIA for the most part.

Second game in a row where they came out asleep and let a very good team get out ahead. Great comeback, but if they even keep the game close in the first half - they win this one going away. No matter what, I really like this team and their heart. They will be fun to watch all season long.

Wow, what a game! Rock'em sock'em robots.

We went down 31 and then crawled back to 1. True grit. Whatever Brad said at halftime oughta be bottled.


1. Kelly looked like a deer in headlights. He played off Dirk like Dirk could run circles around him and Dirk just dropped swish after swish. Another poor game by Kelly, who picked up 5 fouls, 5 points, 4 rebounds in 22 minutes. START ZELLER!

2. Speaking of bottling something, Jeff Green has to bottle this game. He was great. 35 points on 14-28 and 5-12 from 3.

3. Bradley played great on both end. career high 32 points on 13-22 and 4-6 from 3.

4. We took 102 fgas. Wow.

5. We upped our 3pt fg% to 36% by game end. Dallas shot a blistering 56%. And we still were in it.

6. Dallas front court was 24-36 and 8-9 from 3.

7. Celtics with 30 fast break points and and 46 in paint. 30. Beautiful. Dallas with 13 and 46.

8. Rondo with 15 assists, 5 TOs and some really, really bad decision making all game.

9. Thornton was 0-4 and passed up at least 2 or 3 open shots that I saw. You gotta shoot, Marcus, that's why you're here.

10. Smart was physical and had some strange matchups. He guarded Nelson, Dirk and Ellis at various times.

We gave up a 40 point first quarter, 40, and went down by 31 at one point and clawed back to make it a free throw away against a good WC team. Nobody likes losing but damn, that was fine effort.

It was an active Game On thread and that was fun. I'll be checking in on the board over the next 3 1/2 months.

Go Celtics!!!



bob

I think right now the best Celtics group is

Sully
Green
Smart
Bradley
Rondo

I know that will cause many to say NO, NO, NO....but I have to say IF Smart can hold his own against Dirk...what Small forward can't he guard effectively?

mrkleen09 wrote:That was a great show of heart and grit in the second half.  Too bad they didnt come out with the same intensity - but the backcourt of Rondo / Bradley / Smart is fierce defensively.

Jeff Green had a great game and took it right to the Mavs early and often, outplaying 15 million dollar man Chandler Parsons on both ends of the court.  

AB looked great on both ends, with his defense pressure giving his offense a lift.  Very impressed with his play and with Smart next to him, he looked energized.

Rondo is steady man, such a great floor general.  Under control at all times.

Marcus Smart is a monster.  He will become an all time great here in Boston, Chauncey Billups with a higher defensive IQ.  Very excited for the future with him around here.

Other than Sully who had a solid game - the rest of the team was MIA for the most part.

Second game in a row where they came out asleep and let a very good team get out ahead.  Great comeback, but if they even keep the game close in the first half - they win this one going away.  No matter what, I really like this team and their heart. They will be fun to watch all season long.

Jeff Green did play great, he is a more talented player than Parsons, however Parsons is probably the more steady, in other words he has less 3-12 FG games....wonder if we'll ever get this Jeff Green for more than once a month?

score 113............ and loose

I'd like to think we won't see that again this season.
Maybe deeper into the season we win this game cause we wear them out.

anyway nice comeback, pleased with the overall effort just not the result.

Not to compare this game with the Kentucky Derby but the last place horse at the 1/4 pole usually doesn't win. We almost pulled it out. I can deal with almost(s) in November but hope they sort of fade away by January.

beat

OK I went and checked, in the history of the Run for the Roses, 8 times the winner came from last place at some time during the race. Now there is a little bit of trivia.

A couple of less fouls on the Green and they would have won.
Parsons came down, swinging those elbows, luckily he did not hit anyone because they would have been knocked out. They come down the floor and a phantom foul is called on Smart.

This game was called by referee's with Nowitki stardust in their eyes. No matter who was near him, all he had to do was throw his body back or forth and he got a set of free throws.

Why the Celtics let the Mav's get up by 30 points is beyond me. They use too much energy coming back and fall short. The game was there for the taking in the fourth quarter, they just did not have the energy left to take it. A learning experience? I hope so. I still say they will win more of these games this year than they lost last year.

It was fun to watch the second half.

Rosalie

Best quote of the night may have been at the half.  When they cut to the studio and asked Tommy what the problem was he said "Dallas."

I would agree it was a great, gritty, second half effort though, to be sure.

NYCelt wrote:Best quote of the night may have been at the half.  When they cut to the studio and asked Tommy what the problem was he said "Dallas."

Dallas is a really good team. I expect them to be near the top of the conference this year.

I think bob is right about Kelly right now and as most know I was one of the few who thought Kelly was our starting C (or PF or CF whatever you want to call him) from the get go this year.


the thing we know Kelly isn't going to be winning any defensive player awards, so he HAS to be able to keep pace with whoever he is guarding with HIS scoring to stay on the floor.

T. Jones athleticism exposed him in houston and Dirks "experience" exposed him in Dallas.

so unless Stevens can "cover" for Kelly's lapses on the defensive end, Zeller or someone else neds to play (which we've seen the past two games). The fact that Smart was playing Dirk (and seemed to bother him no less), shows that Stevens will think out of the box.

So while most of us hate to see "small ball", the reality is Rondo, Bradley and Smart all on the floor together may be one of our best combos.

Speaking of Rondo....um....he beter be working on that improved shooting, becasue THIS Celtics team needs him to HIT his shots!

38% from the field, 20% from 3 and 17% from the line isn't going to CUT it from the guy who is the captain and leader of the team.

Smart is shooting worst (which makes you wonder why hes taking a three late in the game at all right now), but he is a ROOK and not expected to be "the man". Also his defense is WAY above where Rondo is, so we can excuse his HORRIBLE Shooting for a while at least.

we'll see what some "home cooking" does and I do expect a win over Toronto at home.

of course we all know the next game Green will be 3-14 from the filed also, so there is that to contend with.

right now I want to see Zeller and Bass playing more minutes off the bench and less for Kelly and Turner.

I like the idea of putting Smart on Dirk, at least for short stretches. Length doesn't really bother Dirk because he's really long himself and has a shot he can get off against anyone, but a pesky bulldog can put him off his game a bit. It reminds me of Rondo defending LeBron a few years ago.

Outside wrote:I like the idea of putting Smart on Dirk, at least for short stretches. Length doesn't really bother Dirk because he's really long himself and has a shot he can get off against anyone, but a pesky bulldog can put him off his game a bit. It reminds me of Rondo defending LeBron a few years ago.

Unfortunately, I have not been home to watch one minute of any Celtics game yet this season.
Was Smart effective against Dirk?
Just by looking at the box score, it looked like Dirk had a great game.
27/7/4 on only 14 shot attempts and in just 30 minutes.

This game did remind me of Dickens'  Tale of Two Cities.
  "IT WAS the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way..."

I missed the first 1/4 and tuned in to see the Celts down by 20 and then down by 31. Jeff Green was happening big time but the D was porous and Dallas was running wild. Then the C's started scrapping, clawing, fighting and pestering their way back in. The second half was one of the best I ever saw. What cost them the game? Besides the first 1/4 it was the bad call on the non-charge by Rondo in the final 2 minutes. That took away the 2 points Rondo scored and the trip to the free throw line that was due Rajon who HAD been fouled. Dallas got the ball and scored. A FIVE point swing. I hate when refs do that.  Undaunted they still clawed back to within one.

Who now thinks we're spending to much $$ on AB and JG?

W

Just wait till the next game when they will be overpaid. AND both will need to be traded, along with Rondo.

beat

Hi,
I 100% agree with Scal: You can't allow any team, especially team like Mavs, to get ahead by 30 points and then try to win the game.
Another thing from the game - I thought we have only one Queen - Lequeen, it looks there's also Dirkueen of Drama.

I'm pretty sure that if Celtics play Raptors, all 48 minutes, with the same intensity as they played 2nd half in Dallas, Raptors will be blown out of the water.

AK

Yes Beat, Sherrod will have Rondo will be on the trading block soon if he doesn't have a string of triple doubles, or if he does.

As I mentioned on the Game-on Thread, one of the best things to come out of last night's game is that Brad will have plenty of film of the wrong way and the right way, which should be great for instructional purposes.

And, similar to last year's team, this team never gave up.  Yes, they can't afford to get into such ditches early in the game.  But the results of that grit should prove something about themselves.

Sam

The most frustrating part of last night's game was Jeff Green!

He looked like the best forward in the entire NBA as he showed once again the capability to play better than anyone in either conference. So fluid, everything he did looked so effortless and the production was awesome.

Figuring out what makes this guy play so well on such rare occasions should be the Celtics NUMBER ONE project. Forget worrying about Rondo, if Sully can shoot threes, if Smart can shoot, etc, etc.

Is it something that Green eats, something that someone says to him, something that he watches on TV before the game, the full moon?????????????? There has to be a connection to something every time (three of four times a year) that this guy is the best player for one night in the whole league.

The Celtics need to hire a private eye to follow him around, get some doctors to do some tests, get a psychologist to examine him. There has to be a "key" to what makes him play like he did last night.

His history is the frustrating part. He probably scores seven in the next game.

cowens/oldschool wrote:
Jeff Green did play great, he is a more talented player than Parsons, however Parsons is probably the more steady, in other words he has less 3-12 FG games....wonder if we'll ever get this Jeff Green for more than once a month?

Parsons is a complimentary player. He scores most of his buckets off fast breaks, turnovers and loose balls. Very rarely will you see the Mavs (or the Rockets last year) spread the floor and give the ball to create something on his own. Parsons shoots a higher FG% than Green, because Green's shots have an infinitely higher degree of difficulty. That isnt even up for debate. So why is Parsons earning 6 million dollars a year more than Green? No idea.

As for if you will see the Jeff Green from last night more consistently...I am with you man. I get just as frustrated as you guys do. But what I dont like is the one sided drone of negative comments i hear out here so often. You guys want to give him way more than his fair share of the blame for games like the one in Houston...yet when he drops 36 on the Mavs...he gets one line of praise. Which is totally unfair.

kleen with all due respect this is not about fairness, we all root for him to succeed, he can look like James Worthy for a brief tease or sequence. Heres a typical Jeff Green moment, in KG and Pierce's last year there was a playoff game vs Knicks where in first half he had 2 monster dunks that were highlight material, then in second half as game got tight, he disappeared and KG and Pierce were playing their hearts out, but FT was taking its toll and I was screaming for Jeff Green to do something, anything and this athletic freak played like a mouse.... finished with something like 6 points, see a pattern here? any criticism he gets is fair, he brought it on himself. If he could avg 20-8 I'd be all over him with praise, this guy has the talent to be in the all star game, why has he never gotten more out of his ability?

wide clyde wrote:The most frustrating part of last night's game was Jeff Green!

He looked like the best forward in the entire NBA as he showed once again the capability to play better than anyone in either conference.  So fluid, everything he did looked so effortless and the production was awesome.

Figuring out what makes this guy play so well on such rare occasions should be the Celtics NUMBER ONE project.  Forget worrying about Rondo, if Sully can shoot threes, if Smart can shoot, etc, etc.  

Is it something that Green eats, something that someone says to him, something that he watches on TV before the game, the full moon??????????????   There has to be a connection to something every time (three of four times a year) that this guy is the best player for one night in the whole league.

The Celtics need to hire a private eye to follow him around, get some doctors to do some tests, get a psychologist to examine him.  There has to be a "key" to what makes him play like he did last night.

His history is the frustrating part.  He probably scores seven in the next game.

couldn't agree with you more.....remember that game last year where he put up 40 or close on Lebron?

Cow

Two separate issues. One is his inconsistency and figuring that out (I am with you on this one). Second is the inability for some to give the guy his due when it is due. And that part is frankly, all about fairness or the lackthereof.

If you are going to bash Jeff Green on his off nights, at least give him the respect he deserves on his good nights. Failure to do so shows a lack of objectivity that is hard for me to get past.

As for the first issue of why the player who has the most athletic talent on the team (maybe in team history) can't deliver every night - who knows? There is an intangible that great players have that allow them to dig deeper than even good players like Jeff Green. I know Gerald Wallace has tried to help him. So has Tommy and Max and lots of other players, friends and mentors. Maybe Jeff Green is just not mentally tough enough to put it all together. I dont know.

What I do know is that the guy is a 17ppg scorer in the NBA and those do not grow on trees.

I agree completely with you, Mrkleen.  We've read a lot about how Jeff Green has tried to find ways, leading up to this season, to address his consistency issues.  Enough to make me want to start him with a clean slate this year.  They've only played three games, but he's scored 17, 17 and 35 in those three.  He shouldn't be expected to score 30 every night in order to be considered consistent.

Based on admittedly skimpy evidence, Jeff currently leads the team in PPG and points per minute.  He has displayed aggressiveness by leading the team in shots per minute, which wouldn't be good if he were shooting terribly; but he's averaging 49% on twos and 36% on threes.  On the whole, I think his defense has been pretty good.  He's arguably the best slasher on a team that is just crying out for guys who can finish at the hoop.  And it seems to me that their most effective combination has been one in which they've gone small with him at PF.

Why shouldn't he be cut some slack on the basis that then is not now and it might be sensible to wait for him to be inconsistent this season before accusing him of it?

Sam

Jeff Green is a more efficient player this year, just a shame that people can't see that...


KJ