Post-Game Thread, Toronto - Home

[bobheckler]

Another FUN game.  Exciting right to the very end and then the nice reward for our loyalty and faith.  Nice to get in by winning and not backing in thanks to someone else winning.  

No DeRozan.  That does make it easier, but DeRozan can pull a John Starks too, where he will shoot you out of games.  On the other hand, we were without Avery Bradley, who was having a good game, for all of the 4th and some of the 3rd.  Quad contusion is what was reported.  If Brad's going to rest a player I'd say Bradley is at the front of the line tonight.  He was walking off the floor without obvious pain or limp, so it shouldn't be that bad.

They got up to a 15 point lead with a mini-run with 1:51 left in the 2nd quarter but we scrapped our way back, like we always do, to get it down to 7 at the half.  It was a boxing match in a phone booth for the entire 4th quarter with the lead never getting more than 4, and that was early in the 4th.  No DeRozan, no Bradley and we fought a team that would be in the playoffs even if they were in the WC tooth-and-nail for 12 minutes.  Toronto's record vs the WC this year is 16-14.  They are NOT good just because they are in the EC, they have a winning record against WC teams too.  Grit and grind, grit and grind.  We don't float like a bumblebee and sting like a bee.  We swarm like bees and sting like Men-o-Wars.  It's not the sting from one tentacle that will kill you, it's the cumulative effect of all of them.  I seem to remember Mike Gorman saying something about how this is the 56th time this season the Celtics have had 5 or more players in double-digits.  That's what you get with motion offense.  People move, the ball moves, everybody gets touches and everybody has a chance to put it in the hole.  Of all the players Brad put in the game the only one to NOT score was Gigi and, after IT, is the one I am least worried about scoring.

Danny was a guest with Mike and Tommy in the 2nd quarter.  He admitted our interior defense isn't good.  Hardly shocking to those of us that watch the games but it is good to hear him say that because you just know he's going to do something about it.  When Danny sees a problem he is not a patient man.  He won't give away the store just to get someone we need but he is, shall we say, an enthusiastic shopper.  As well as this team has done this year, FAR beyond anybody's expectations, that little statement of obvious truth by Danny bodes very well for next year.

1.  Turner is turning into a clutch player.  His comfort level in Brad's system has really gone up in the past few months.  His mid-game decision making isn't always that great but for a guy with a rep for not being a great shooter he has made some really big time shots and plays.  He hit a fallaway jumpshot from the baseline out of an ATO with :35 left to give us a 2 point lead and then with :14 seconds left he earned a Tommy Point by keeping an offensive rebound alive until he could grab it and dished to Zeller for a layup.  What I liked about that was not just the effort on the rebound but that, once he gained control of the ball, his first instinct was to attack the rim and NOT pass it out.  He had an opening to the basket and he took it.  The ESPN play-by-play doesn't list it, but he also blocked Terrence Ross' potential game winner at the buzzer (maybe it wouldn't have counted because time ran out, but he was right there and made sure).  His handle, for a point forward, still drives me crazy but when he's on he is on.  My mission is to try and start thinking of Turner like Lance Stephenson except without the dark side.  Both of them are good players.  Both are excellent rebounders for their size and positions.  Both of them are pretty good offensive creators.  Lance is the better defender but I'll take Turner's inconsistent attention to defense and hope Brad can improve his focus over Lance's tenuous grasp of reality.  I'm trying to like Turner, I really am.  I'm trying to remember that he's a better ball handler than Bradley and maybe even Smart, is a better shooter than Smart (although not even close to him in defense) and is a smart player.  I'm reminding myself how much I like smart players.  It's when he makes dumb mistakes and bad shooting decisions that my eyes roll up into my head like I'm a human slot machine.  Last night, though, he really beared down and helped push us over the finish line.

2.  Bradley was 5-11 despite being 1-5 from 3 (so, 4-6 from 2) and was playing good defense.  He made a really bad pass that had Lowry going in for a layup and then he just made up for it by blocking Lowry's shot.  Take a night off, Avery, you've earned it.  And even if you haven't, take it off.

3.  Smart's boxscore is unimpressive.  9 points on 4-12, 1-4 from 3, 3 assists and 1 TO.  He had 5 rebounds, which is pretty good for a guard but man, some of those boards!  Pure muscle traffic rebounds, in amongst the big trees and just ripping them away from people.  One of his offensive boards came when he swooped in from the corner, ala Bradley, and stuffed in a miss.  His defense on Lou Williams was spectacular.  Williams was 3-13.  He ended up with 16 points but 10 of those came at the line.  Smart's credited with only 1 steal but I swear I saw more.  Not even one full season into his NBA career and he has defensive instincts a lot of veterans will never have.  He has a nose for the ball.  In the final 5 minutes, what is called "clutch time" and the score 85-82 Toronto, Smart had 3 points going 1-1 from 3, 2 rebounds (1 of them offensive), 2 assists and a turnover.  He also blocked 7'0" Valanciunas' shot.  That's a busy 5 minutes for a player that isn't the center of the offense.  If he had a weak spot in those 5 minutes, and admittedly they hurt, it was that he overplayed Kyle Lowry in the last few minutes, giving Lowry lanes to the basket for layups.  

4.  Lowry, though, is something else.  Crafty.  Even so, he shot only 6-20 last night.  With DeRozan out, the Raptor big scorers are Lowry, Ross and Williams.  They shot a combined 14-46.  Only Ross, at 5-13, showed any shooting touch last night for their back court.  Any one of those guys can light you up like Christmas.  Our interior defense might not be that good but our perimeter defense is quite good.  Your entry passes better be good because, if they are not and you are forced into long jumpshots, you're giving Brad exactly what he wants.

5.  For once, Tyler Hansbrough didn't have a good game against us.

6.  Steady Eddie is one of the reasons for that.  He came out of the gate fast this game, pounding it inside for early scores.  He kept Hansbrough boxed out.  Hansbrough had 6 rebounds in 23 minutes but 0-1 from the floor because he wasn't cleaning up other people's messes on the weak side and that was good defense by Bass.

7.  #5 pick Valanciunas had 10 points on 4-8 and 8 rebounds, 2 offensive and 4 TOs.  Tyler Zeller had 12 points on 5-11 with 8 boards, 4 offensive and zero TOs.  That's a winning matchup.  Will we win that all the time?  No, but Tyler showed he can compete against some real big guys.  If our centers play even with their centers, we won that battle.  Even Kelly played some very good defense against Valanciunas last night.  Kelly has shown progress on defense.  He'll never be the shot blocker/intimidator that Danny needs to go out and get this summer but he has definitely improved.  Improved from what, I'll let that lie, but he has definitely gotten better on defense and not just his help defense.  Who knows?  Maybe another 5# of muscle added this summer and Kelly will be an adequate low post defender next year.  Assuming he's here.  Danny knows we need an interior defense upgrade.

8.  Assuming Sully's still here too.  Sully looks a little lost.  Whatever little athleticism he had is gone.  Obviously, we need him to have his "A" game for the playoffs and he's running out of time.  If he doesn't pull his head out of his fat ass and get religion with his conditioning this off-season his time might be shorter than he thinks and justifiably so.  I love Sully's game but if he isn't in good conditioning then he isn't going to fit in Brad's system.  Or anybody else's perhaps.  He's heard all about Oliver Miller.  He needs to have a Clockwork Orange film session watching Miller grow to planetoid dimensions over the course of his career.




9.  Jerebko with a Jerebko game.  7 rebounds in 17 minutes and that doesn't count all the tips and taps he doesn't get credit for.  He isn't a bull inside, but he does everything else really well and that includes putting the ball on the floor and attacking the paint.  Sully has had a few games to get back into it and he hasn't while Jerebko looks perfect for Brad's system.  


We shot 38%.  Obviously, we need to improve that but we also took 99fgas, 18 more than Toronto.  Tommy didn't die last night, but I think he ascended to heaven when he read off that we had 18 more fgas than the Raptors.  We were 6-27 from 3 but we were 3-15 at one point.  If there's one thing that drives me crazy about this team is that they don't stop taking 3s when they aren't dropping.  I know, you don't stop attacking the paint to draw fouls just because you're all missing fritos, you keep doing it and hope they start dropping, but damn!  50 rebounds in a regulation game is A LOT of boards and the reason was our offensive board count.  17 O-boards helped make up for our crappy shooting.  Bass-o-matic and Zeller with 4 O-boards each and Mahcus Smaht with 3.  24 assists on 38fgm for 63%.  We were doing everything right except putting it in the hole with efficiency.

We're in at #7.  Hard to even imagine that given our horrendous start to the season, which was actually in-line with pre-season predictions.  As beat pointed out on another thread, 39-42 isn't that far off from .500.  We're not squeaking into the playoffs, we're roaring in.  We have the 3rd best post all-star record in the league.  Unfortunately, the team we're meeting in the 1st round, Cleveland, has the 2nd best.

Do we need length?  Hell yeah, but 14 more wins while losing our two best players is pretty freaking impressive.  Kudos all around, from Brad to the players and yes, to Trader Danny.  Nobody, No Body, thought we'd have 39 wins this year.  Not even me with my green goggles.  Imagine what we'll be able to do if Danny can upgrade the talent level!  I have to admit, though, I do like these scrappers.  It's exciting to watch them fight like underdogs who like being underestimated.  And it's been fun.


bob



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[beat]

This regarding Smart

Smart is now shooting 67% (8-12) from beyond the arc in clutch situations (Last 5 MIN, game within 5 PTS). He is shooting 32% otherwise.


Many seem worried about his shooting
I am not one of them. He might never be great but he will be adequate and appears to be even more so when the game is on the line.

beat

[bobheckler]

Forgot about Jae Crowder. He was playing multiple positions, as usual, including covering Kyle Lowry. He hit the big game winner. Ho hum, just another Crowder game.


bob


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[dboss]

Beat

Smart consistently makes big time plays when it matters the most.

For a guy shooting sub 40's he sure has a knack for hitting shots down the stretch and making big plays on defense.

dboss

[beat]

Beat

Smart consistently makes big time plays when it matters the most.

For a guy shooting sub 40's he sure has a knack for hitting shots down the stretch and making big plays on defense.

dboss

And he is only 21 years old !!

beat

[Sam]

Bob, I had just booked a flight to San Francisco so I could personally track you down and bite you in the kneecap for not mentioning Crowder.  Now I have to tell American Airlines my cat made the phone call in a miraculous humanistic feat, so I need a refund.

I have to admit that, when I saw the shot go up, I had absolutely no hope that it would go in.  Jae's best long shots come when he squares up and has time to sight the target, which was the exact antithesis of the case last night.  Moreover, he wasn't just unsquared, but he was drifting toward the right—a sure recipe for hitting the side of the backboard.  However, he not only made the shot but he splashed it as Scale would say.

Last night, it seemed that every 10 seconds down the stretch produced a new Celtics hero.  Of course, that also meant that every 15 seconds produced a failed stop by the Celtics.  Euphoria and disaster were wrestling almost every second, and even the portion of a second they added to the Celtics' last possession may have been important.

But, for my money, Marcus was the Celtic who set the tone for squeezing out the victory.  The Celtics were just as aggressive as they needed to be, and he was unquestionably the lead aggressor.  I still believe he has difficulty guarding small guys, especially those with uncommon speed and agility.  That situation will eventually have to be addressed in some way, shape or form.  But, in the meantime, he also has a knack for coming up with big plays at the right times, and he obviously doesn't suffer from the same hesitation that sometimes characterizes Kelly Olynyk.

I hope the contusion received by Avery will have healed by playoff time.  Who would have believed that not only have the Celtics clinched the #7 seed but also Brad actually has a game when he can feel free to rest certain guys, experiment with different combinations, and generally use the game as a de facto practice.  However, I won't be at all surprised if this team is in such an energetic zone that it will be business as usual in their style of play.

Go Celtics!

Sam

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