Post-game Thread: Celtics versus Hawks in Boston

[Sam]

What a way to head into the New York Carnival break!  The Celtics stole an 89-88 win from the East-leading Hawks in a game in which the Celtics led for only the final 2/10ths of a second.  The short story is that Evan Turner, faced with the option of passing to a cutting Avery Bradley or taking the shot himself, put the burden squarely on his own shoulders and sank a difficult six-foot, overhead hook-floater for the win.

This game had Celtics loss written all over it from the outset.  The Hawks looked machine-line as they moved out to a 9-0 lead, with beautiful team play on the offensive end and suffocating the Celtics on the other end.  I honestly had fleeting thoughts of a possible shutout; that’s how lopsided the contest looked.

Evan Turner finally hit a shot, and who knew at that point that he’d also sink the game-ending shot?  It didn’t take long for the Hawks to carve out a 14-point lead, with Al Horford doing a lot of first quarter damage and Sully being limited to 5 minutes in the quarter because he looked so helpless against Horford’s assortment of drives and jumpers.

Turner was the only Celts starter to score in the opening stanza, and it took him 5 shots to score 6 points.  The bench fared no better, scoring a combined 7 points in a combined 26 minutes on the floor, and the Celts trailed 23-13 at the end of one.  The Hawks shot 53% and the Celtics shot 19% in the quarter, and even the loyal Boston crowd had to be thinking wistfully of a hot toddy by the fireplace.

The second quarter was more of the same, as the Hawks stretched their lead to 15 points at halftime.  The Celtics bench managed to keep pace with their Atlanta counterparts, but the starters were a dismal -15 against the Hawks starters.  The Celtics’ starting five shot 22% in the half, while the bench struggled to a slightly less terrible 27%.  The Celtics took an astounding 49 shots in the half, sinking only 12.

At the half, on the Game-on Thread, I mentioned that my favorite halftime stat involved the Celtics’ offensive rebounding superiority (8-1).  I joked that one way to compensate for missing so many shots was to collect 30 or 40 offensive rebounds for the game.  Little did I know…..

Another encouraging sign (for someone grasping for straws) was that the Celtics had only 5 turnover in the half; but the Hawks had only five themselves.  An additional bright spot in the darkness involved the defensive job that Evan Turner was doing on Kyle Korver, who was only 1-3 (a three-pointer) in the half.  Turner did a great job of denying Korver the ball with an open shot.  As a team, the Hawks shot only 27% from three-point land in the half; but they more than made up for it by shooting 70% from two point land.  The Celtics’ rim protection was practically nonexistent.

On defense, the Hawks played a sort of flex zone, basically surrounding the lane and almost completely denying access to the hoop among the Celtics until Crowder finally found an open lane and drove in unmolested.  The Celtics cooperated for much of the quarter by keeping five men on the perimeter and just passing the ball around.  Side-to-side basketball is usually a good thing, but not if you can’t advance the ball inside the perimeter.  And, when the Hawks basically dared the Celtics to shoot threes, the Green wen 4-18 (22%).from behind the arc.  Moreover, the Celts were overstacked the strong side on defensive, leading the weak side vulnerable.

Jackie MacMullan, who was the analyst with hapless Kyle Draper, later mentioned that Brad must have spent much of halftime saying something like, “If we don’t get down on ourselves, play tougher defense, and don’t depend on hero ball, we can win this game.”  In retrospect, that would make sense; but, at the start of the second half, things looked pretty bleak.

But the Celts slowly started coming back, led by Jared Sullivan, who played the entire third quarter and went off for 11 points.  Avery chipped in with 4 points, and Marcus Thornton contributed a couple of treys.  The Celts started sending cutter s through the Hawks’ lane-guarding Maginot Line, the they were rewarded with some points at the rim.  In the quarter, the Celts chopped only 4 points off the 14-point halftime Hawk lead, but the trend in the score was greatly appreciated by the Garden crowd after the atrocious first half.  It would later become obvious that the third quarter was when the Celtics righted the ship and began gaining ground.  One particularly good sign was that the Celts held the Hawks to 33% shooting in the quarter.

In the fourth period, the Celts really went to work.  They would hold Atlanta to 31% shooting in the quarter; and, even more noteworthy was the fact that the Hawks—after averaging 21 fga in the first three quarters, took only 16 shots in the last quarter.  It was finally the Celtics who were trapping near the basket; and it was finally the Hawks who were resorting to threes, making only 1 of 6 in the quarter.  The Hawks also didn’t help themselves by missing 8 of 23 free throws on the evening.

After having only two players in double figures after the third quarter (Thornton 14 and Sully 13), the Celts spread out the scoring in the fourth.  Eight Celts scored in the quarter, with Marcus Smart (7), Even Turner (6), Sully (4) and Prince (4) leading the parade.

After  threatening to take the lead on a couple of occasions, the Celtics ran a great out-of-bounds play with about 35 seconds left and the Celtics down a point.  In order to get a 2 for 1 (which would turn out to be very important), Brad drew up a quick-hitter, with Sally lunging toward the hoop and collecting a pass…..only to miss the chippie.  But the Celtics due in and stopped the Hawks at the other end, leaving the Celts with the ball and 14 second left (thanks to their earlier 2 for 1 try).  They didn’t call timeout, but ran up the floor, only to get bogged down with a haphazard possession that was going nowhere when Brad signaled for a timeout with 6 seconds remaining.

This time, Bred put the ball in the hands of Even Turner with instructions either to make a play himself or pass to a cutting Bradley.  (Brad later said he knew Turner would try to make the play himself because Even is nothing if not confident.)  Evan took the ball on the left flank, put it behind his back to avoid a Hawk and turn the corner at the elbow, drove down the lane, and arched a high floater with a hook shot motion that floated through the hoop with 0.2 seconds left.  Obviously, the place went wild!

The Hawks could only attempt a desperation alley oop that wound up targeting no one, as the ball was batted in the air and time elapsed.

The most popular word in the aftermath of the game was “grit,” and the Celtics certainly showed plenty of it.  But, as I back away and try to take more of a long-term view, I think there’s more happening.  This is a team that consistently keeps in games and coming from behind.  That’s not a fluke.  And it means several things:

• Brad is doing a great job of diagnosing problems and making in-game adjustments.

• This is a team that refuses to get down on itself and, when problems present themselves, only redouble their effort level.

• The various comebacks have been fashioned in various ways; but the one constant has been a tightening of the defensive effort down the stretch.  This is a team that’s becoming pretty good at making key stops.  And they’ve demonstrated an improving knack for finishing games.

• Brad is becoming more comfortable with various player combinations, and he is not reluctant to trot out specific combos for various situations.  Crowder, Smart, Bass, Prince, Zeller and Thornton are likely to find themselves moving in and out of the lineup as Brad plays offense-defense toward the end of games.

Individual players:

• Bass: Seems to be taking more of a back seat lately; only 8 shots (and 2 “makes”) in 22 minutes
• Sully: Being yanked after early defensive problems; seemed angry as he went for 17 points, 15 rebounds
• Bradley: Another bad shooting night (4-13; 1-5 threes) but hit a huge three down the stretch
• Smart: 3-12, 2-7 on threes, 4 turnovers, only 3 assists; also hit a big three
• Turner: 4-11, 0-3 on threes; but 7 boards, 9 assists, and the clutch play at the end
• Crowder: 1-8, 0-3 on threes; 5 boards, 2 steals, great defense, huge block possible turning point of game
• Prince: 2-6, 1-1 on threes, 6 rebounds, two assists, Mr. Poise in the fourth
• Zeller: Only 17 minutes: 2-5, 5 rebounds
• Young: Got 17 minutes; 2-5, 1-3 on threes; made one pivotal steal
• Thornton: Continues to come up with big plays in comebacks: 4-10 but 4-6 on threes; also 3 rebounds

My game ball gets split between Sully for his huge contribution to the comeback (15 points, 9 rebounds) and Turner for (1) his great defensive job on Korver (1-5 on the night), (2) his game-winner, and (3) his timely 7 rebounds and 9 assists.  The starters did a good job of reversing their terrible performance of the first half and finished only -6.  Fortunately, the bench was +7.

Going into the all-star break with a win like this over the best team in the East should be a great boost for morale.  This game serves as a fine example of how a bunch of role players, used in ways that put them in positions to succeed, can band together and accomplish the unexpected.  And, over time, the unexpected will hopefully become more expected.  This may be the last chance to salute the team as it's now constituted.  If so, I hope they will realize how much their efforts have represented great promise to a Celtic fandom hungering for more.

Go Celtics!

Sam

[kdp59]

I always enjoy your post game threads Sam.

your knowledge of the game and your writing ability are both appreciated by everyone I am sure.


this game will certainly give Stevens reason to argue to Ainge that keeping the team as is, is a viable option.

Ainge will need to decide if having a draft pick a few spots higher is worth NOT making a playoff push.

Like I said in another thread, I don't think this team can beat the Hawks in a 5 games series...but they sure can make them lose some sleep during it.

the question for Ainge now is ..... would it be better for the team and Coaching staff to get playoff experience this year.

As a fan...I'm all for keeping this team as is now. Everyone has bought into Stevens system.

[bobheckler]

I joined Sam and Rosalie on the Game On thread for the 3rd quarter and half the 4th quarter.  It was breakfast time here and the WiFi on this small island off the coast of Cambodia goes up and down like an elevator, so I got frustrated with the Celtics down by 9 halfway throuh the 4th and moved on with my day.

That'll teach me to give up on this team.  What a great win against the league's elite.  The recent 3 game winning streak and victories like this are character builders.

One more week and I'll be able to put my own eyes on some games.  That is one thing about the impending end of my journey I am DEFINITELY looking forward to.


bob



.

[beat]

Ditto Bob re the thread Sam

Little did I or anyone for that matter when Korver got loose within the first minute and nailed a trey from the corner that would be the only FG he would make the entire night. And Tommy even jinxed him in missing a free throw late to boot. Both him and Gorman were heaping early praise on the Hawks calling it a clinic in the first quarter...and it was.

Imagine if we had shot reasonably well?

Read on a hawks thread that this was a no big deal loss.....perhaps. Went on to state if they had shot better it would not have been close.....well there might be a pretty good reason why the shooting dropped off in the second half, our defense.

Stat I like the most.(aside from the final score)...minute distribution among 10 players with a range of 31 to 16 minutes.

Knocking on the door to the playoffs......who would have thunk it.

beat

[Sam]

Beat,

There's only one word for whoever called the Hawks' loss "no big deal." LUSA.

To tell the truth (which I try to do at least one-quarter of the time), I don't know where I stand regarding the playoffs. In the first place, any such conjecture could be moot (that word was for NYCeltic). I believe the Celts are headed into a tough schedule.

In the second place, it's extremely difficult to creat and maintain momentum when your modus operandi pretty much calls for falling behind, making a stirring comeback, and winning in the last seconds. If one of your players so much as twitches as the wrong time, it could be curtains in any given game. Zero room for contingencies.

Thirdly, I do think a playoff appearance would benefit the team more than a playoff loss would impair it. It could even sway decisions to be made by both current Celtics free agents-to-be as well as other emerging free agents around the league.

And finally, given the rapidity with which the existing cast of characters has come together to a reasonable degree, who knows how much better they could become by playoff time? Conversely, it the team is further decimated of complementary talent, the idea of playoffs could be moot. (NYCelt, you just hit the daily double.)

Sam

[NYCelt]

Sam,

Thanks. I liked that. Moot.

Maybe tomorrow I'll go for another.

Regards

[wide clyde]

Sam,

I completely agree with your thought of a playoff loss could be detrimental to future free agents thoughts of joining the Celtics next summer.

Yes, the Cs beat the Hawks last night, but could very easily get blown out in a first round playoff series against these Hawks. Every one has liked the Celtics progress this year, but finishing in the 8th playoff spot is no man's land as far as the rebuild, in my opinion.

A good draft (at least on rotation player), a trade or two and/or a good free agent will send the Celtics to the playoffs in a far better place to be competitive next season.

[Sam]

NYCelt.

Pick carefully. I only know two more words.

Sam

[Sam]

Clyde,

We could all intellectualize it as much as we wish; but, at least in my case, I have to admit that winning produces more pleasure than losing. So my preference would be that (1) the Celtics make the playoffs and (2) the Celtics win the last game of their playoff run. Think about it.

Sam

[dboss]

Sam

You should be a writer.

This was a fun game to watch and as usual I was screaming at the TV as the wifey sat there playing with her new phone with an occasional peak at the score.

NBA league pass gives you the option to watch the game from either the home or away teams' broadcast but due to blackout consideration here in the ATL I could not watch the Celtics broadcast.

The tone of their broadcast went from very humorous to one of utter shock and disbelief.

Some early sounds bites from Dominique Wilkins

"The Celtics are taking horrible shots"

"Sullinger is huffing and buffing trying to keep up with Al"

"He's not a facilitator (referring to Marcus Smart)"

"The Hawks are 37 -1 when they take a 10 point lead"

And then during the comeback:

"Sullinger can really rebound the ball"

"Kyle is struggling to make his shots"

"The Celtics don't give up...they just keep coming at you"

"Wow that was an amazing shot by Turner...Let's look at that again"

dboss (playoffs or bust)

[Sam]

Dboss, first, what a distinct pleasure to hear from you. I'm not sure you realize how much your sense of logic—positive or negative—adds to this board.

Those comments are interesting. I have to confess that their turnaround kind of mirrored my thought process as the game progressed.

One thing I've been wanting to get your opinion on. I notice that, since Rondo left and Pressey seldom plays, the Celtics are pretty much a slow-down team again. And yet, they're also competing pretty well. So my question for you is a two-parter: "What is your opinion of the recent pace of the Celtics' offense?" and "Given the players on hand (pending the trade deadline), what do you think the pace should be?"

I'm asking you because the two of us have been among the biggest advocates of up-tempo ball, and lately I don't even see them pushing the ball, to say nothing of connecting or very many fast breaks.

Great to see your post!!

Sam

[dboss]

Sam

Funny you would ask about Pace.  During the game last night the commentator remarked "And that is the first fast break tonight for the Celtics"

Small sample size is the last 10 games.  The Celtics are averaging 7.1 fast break points.  

I'm not sure that the Celtics can be productive in an end to end game.  The team in general lacks above average ball handlers and passers.  Now we rarely see the outlet pass.  

They are 5 and 5 during that stretch so the pace may suit them well but if they were able to run more I think they would not be losing as many close games.

The team is such an enigma that it seems impossible to get a handle on what they are doing from game to game.  Overall I think that the team is playing more to the style that Stevens wants to see but they have not perfected that style yet.  

Next year there will be 5-6 new players on the roster and hopefully those players will be selected specifically to fit Brad's system.

His system requires guys that can read the defense.  

We need better shooters and ball handlers, high energy guys that are conditioned to play in space with pace.  Guys that are fundamentally sound passing the ball and guys that cherish playing defense.

The next training camp will be the time for Brad to focus on establishing a pace game.  He needs a roster that is stable.  In that regards, he has done a pretty remarkable job given all the changes.

dboss

[bobheckler]

Sam

You should be a writer.

This was a fun game to watch and as usual I was screaming at the TV as the wifey sat there playing with her new phone with an occasional peak at the score.

NBA league pass gives you the option to watch the game from either the home or away teams' broadcast but due to blackout consideration here in the ATL I could not watch the Celtics broadcast.

The tone of their broadcast went from very humorous to one of utter shock and disbelief.

Some early sounds bites from Dominique Wilkins

"The Celtics are taking horrible shots"

"Sullinger is huffing and buffing trying to keep up with Al"

"He's not a facilitator (referring to Marcus Smart)"

"The Hawks are 37 -1 when they take a 10 point lead"

And then during the comeback:

"Sullinger can really rebound the ball"

"Kyle is struggling to make his shots"

"The Celtics don't give up...they just keep coming at you"

"Wow that was an amazing shot by Turner...Let's look at that again"

dboss  (playoffs or bust)

Dboss,

I was hoping you'd post something. Glad to see you. Bummer about not being able to watch the game, I can relate.

Hope you're feeling sufficiently enthused with the progress of the past few weeks to post again.



bob



.

[Sam]

Dboss,

A very fair response. Another thing I've notices (or, more correctly, have not noticed) recently has been the motion offense. The usual halfcourt game seems to involve guys spacing the floor around the perimeter and waiting for something to happen. I believe that one reason they're falling behind in a lot of games is that nothing much happens except a lot of lateral passing, so someone takes a three.

By the second half, Brad has made some offensive adjustments such as calling for more cuts to the hoop. That has opened things up enough for the offense finally to start flowing with some purpose. The one thing that has remained consistently good is Scal's favorite: moving the ball side-to-side. But that's not enough if it doesn't result in an attack rather than a default hero shot.

Sam

[bobheckler]

Another man's opinion:  


By Marc D'Amico |  @Marc_DAmico
Celtics.com
February 11, 2015

Key Moment
How did the Celtics do it? We may never be able to figure it out.

Boston defied all mathematical logic Wednesday night by knocking off the East’s best team, 89-88.

Why was this victory so improbable?

Let’s start with the fact that the Celtics shot 18.5 percent during the first quarter en route to 13 points. Then they shot 31.8 percent during the second quarter en route to 21 points. Things didn’t get much better during the third, as they nailed just 36.0 percent of their attempts during the third period en route to 27 points.

That type of shooting typically leads to large deficit. Wednesday was no exception.

Boston fell behind by as many as 18 points during the contest. It trailed by as many as 14 points during the fourth quarter.

Then the Celtics made their run.

Powered by some hot perimeter shooting – a rarity on this night – the Celtics got back into this one in a hurry. Their 14-point deficit was sliced all the way down to two when Marcus Smart swished home a trey from the left wing with 2:18 remaining on the clock. That moment marked the first instance in which the contest was a one-possession game since Kyle Korver’s opening basket.

The teams went back and forth over the final two-plus minutes, and the final ‘forth’ decided the game.

Evan Turner, who has been Boston’s Clutch Player of the Year, added another game-winner to his mantle. Boy, was this one a beaut.

Turner drove to the rack as the game clock wound down and tossed a high floater over a crop of defenders that touched nothing but net as it fell to the floor. The ball passed through the rim with just 0.2 seconds remaining on the clock.

You want electric? This was electric. An 18-point lead was erased, the Celtics were on their way to a monumental win, and TD Garden was going absolutely crazy. The Jungle, as they call it, was rocking again.

Atlanta’s last desperation play was futile; the Hawks didn’t even get a shot off.

The Boston Celtics succeeded in knocking off the East’s best team in an unbelievable game. They now head into the All-Star break having gone 7-5 over their last 12 contests.



QUOTE OF THE GAME:  I think we’re 20-31, so I’m not ready to anoint us the Comeback Crew yet. - Brad Stevens



Bob
MY NOTE: 7-5 in their last 12? That's playoff-worthy basketball. Not championship-worthy, not EC Finals-worthy and maybe not even 2ND round-worthy without some luck and help but it is playoffs-worthy and when you consider our ridiculously unbalanced team last year and the turmoil of this year with losing our top two players, that's pretty impressive. Yeah, yeah I know it is the horrible EC BUT, if we were in the WC, a 58.3% win-loss (7/12 = .583) would have us in the #8 slot now. We just have to finish the year like we finished the last few weeks.

.

[Berlin-T]

Stevens appears to be achieving here that which he achieved coaching Butler, i.e. getting maximum results from limited talent.
As far as pace goes I have to agree with dboss, we need better ball handlers in order to run. As much as I admire Turner when he hits a winning shot I cringe every time he dribbles or passes wildly in traffic. The same goes for Bradley. Smart is somewhat better and is still learning and plays extremely well in clutch situations but he's not yet the ball handler we need. Perhaps we'll have to wait for next year in order to see more fast-breaks but I still get a spasm of joy when they all start moving and someone gets open cutting to the basket. It just doesn't happen consistently enough. We're still a work in progress but I for one am enjoying this season a lot more than I expected I would at the start of it.

Berlin-T

[Sponsored content]