Post-game Thread: Celtics-Knicks @ New York

[Sam]

I''m thinking of this a a kangaroo game, because jump shots were the order of the day for the Celtics.  They made 68% of their two-point attempts, which included loads of jumpers.  

They got off to a fast start, jumping their way to a 14 point lead early in the game.  Smart started instead of Crowder.  I had expected Smart to start, but I had thought he'd replace Turner, who had had a very bad left hand.  But Crowder hadn't been contributing much offense lately, and I think Brad felt Smart would help give the team a jump (no pun intended) start as well as taking some of the playmaking burden off Turner.

If that's what Brad had in mind, it worked all around.  Smart scored 6 in the opening quarter, while Turner had three assists, and Crowder came off the bench to score 5.  Bradley and Sully scored 5 and 6 respectively, while missing only one shot between them.  The Celts led by 14 at one point, but the Knicks pounced on the bench to cut the lead in half and trailed by only 7 at the one quarter mark.

The second quarter was more of the same.  Jumpers abounded, and the Celts carved out a 16 point lead and held onto most of it, finishing the half with a 57-44 lead after scoring 31 in that quarter.  Leading scorers in the quarter for the Celts: Bradley 8, Bass 5, Sully 4, Turner 4, and Crowder 4.  The Celtics were moving the ball and spacing the floor well.  They assisted on 59% of their made field goals, which is pretty good.  For the Knicks, Jason Smith and Jose Calderon each scored 10 at the half, while Carmelo Anthony scored only 7.  Guess who got the most credit for keeping Anthony in check.  Evan Turner, that's who.  Who knew?  Jae Crowder was also on Anthony when Turner wasn't on the floor.  Although Carmelo did score 21 in the game, he had to take 23 shots to do it; and he was awarded only two free throws for the entire game.  Great job by Evan and Jae.

After winning the first two quarters, the Celts lost five points off their lead in the third.  Melo (10 in the quarter) and Calderon (7) helped the Knicks stage a comeback that pulled them within 8 (80-72) with momentum on their side entering the fourth.  Avery Bradley did his best to hold off the Knicks, playing excellent defense and scoring another 6 points.  After the third quarter, he was 8-9.  And Steady Eddie Bass chipped in with 5 points.

But the Celts stood (well, actually ran) their ground in the final stanza.  Although the Knicks got within 4 at one point, the Green pulled away to win 108-97.  Sully came through with a 4-5 performance (with none of the 5 being a three-pointer).  Avery Bradley continued his torrid shooting, winding up with 26 points on 11-14 shooting, including 3-5 from distance.

Three-point shooting continued to be a problem.  Members of the 0-fer Club were Sully (0-3), Bass (0-1), Turner (0-1), Young (0-3), and Thornton (0-2).  That totals 0-10.

Young played 17 minutes, with a line of 2-7 shooting, 1-2 free throws, 3 defensive rebounds, 2 assists (I like that), 1 steal (I also like that), 1 turnover, and no fouls.  At least he got some sustained court time and didn't embarrass himself.

Smart also deserves special mention for his suffocating defense, which helped to ignite the offense on several occasions.

One move that sort of went under the radar was that, when the bench played, Crowder was often at the PF position. Talk about going small!! And Brad was very pleased with the result.

Once again, Tayshaun Prince didn't play.  I missed any mention of the reason.  I assume he's still got the same ailment as he had during the previous game.  Whether or not that ailment is "trade-itis" I don't know.

All-in-all a good bounceback game, some ganas down the stretch, and a definite slump recovery for Avery Bradley, who gets my game ball.

Go Celtics

Sam

[BaronV]

Good game. I watched the late replay on NESN last night. We may have been beating up on a bad team, but those are the games we're supposed to win, and we did.

One of the announcers quickly mentioned that Prince was still hurt. Strained hip flexor.

-V

[Sam]

Thanks for the clarification on Prince, Baron. I was amazed at the number of Knicks names I didn't even know.

Sam

[beat]

Thanks for the clarification on Prince, Baron.  I was amazed at the number of Knicks names I didn't even know.

Sam

Apparently Jackson is at least trying to clean house..........the first step I would think. But even then he has a long road to make a contender out of them

beat

[BaronV]

Yeah. They have a lot of guys hurt though (Stoudamire, Bargaini, etc.), so some of those guys are probably d-leaguers or 10 day contracts. I think they had 4 guys out on the pre-game injury report.

-V

[Sam]

Baron,

As far as I'm concerned, Phil Jackson has practically zero experience in building a team. It's really a major element in what separates him from Red Auerbach. It will be interesting to see what he can do with the Knicks and their money.

Did you notice the Boston announcers talking about Melo's knee last night. They were talking about the likelihood that he'd be shut down in the near future, partly to undergo surgery and partly to enhance the Knicks' lottery chances. I guess the nee forces him to play below the rim. And it's starting to sound chronic. Having your best player become damaged goods can't be good.

Sam

[BaronV]

Yeah, I did notice that. I guess it makes sense if you're injured and the team has no chance of making the playoffs to have the surgery now and be ready for the start of the season next year, rather than gut it out, risk making it worse, and have less recovery time. We saw how Rondo returned from surgery... why not get it done now, hope to have him back close to full strength, and possibly lose a few more games in the process. Both the early surgery and the draft improvement stand to improve the team in the long run.

Of course, if as you said, the knee problem becomes chronic, then they are the east coast Lakers, stuck with a broken star on a huge contract that limits their ability to do anything until the contract expires... except they already have that with Amare.

-V

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