Digging Deep for a Win
by Fafnir on Dec 9, 2010 10:59 PM EST
in Boston Celtics Games
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PrintMan, I thought last night's game was an ugly game. The Celtics were slow and looked tired to start this game and Philly took full advantage the entire night. They got 15 offensive rebounds and ran for 22 transition points. A lot of those were in the first quarter in which they scored 32 points.
The Celtics woke up in the second quarter and pulled even, and the game was a see saw affair from there all the way to the end. The C's and the Sixers traded huge baskets and the lead until finally KG's huge lay in with 1 second left game the C's the win at 102-101.
The Celtics clearly were feeling the effects of playing last night and flying to Philly. But they hung in there and gave the Sixers their first home loss in 6 games.
- Paul Pierce had an off night offensively but he mostly held Iggy in check on the defensive end. The Captain contributed on the glass for 8 rebounds, a team high tonight. His biggest impact was as a decoy on the game winning play.
- Ray Allen was the C's rock tonight, he scored repeated on drives to the hoop, from the three point line, and from the free throw line. 23 points on 7-10 shooting with a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line.
- KG's game winning play was beautiful, as were his three blocks.
- Jodi Meeks reminds me of Eddie House, he doesn't do much other than shoot but he does that very well
- Elton Brand is awful defensively, he's only slightly more mobile than Shaq. He wouldn't show on any of KG's jump shots and frequently gave up lay ups rather than rotate to protect the cup. Despite that he hit the glass hard and was a big reason the Sixers stayed close by getting his team extra possessions
- Andre Iguodala needs to get moved to a better team where he can shine as an elite second/third option. He reminds me a lot of Lamar Odom in that way.
- The Celtics really missed Shaq tonight, if he plays his usual 20 minutes I think the 76ers would have 5 less offensive rebounds.
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It was very sloppy but still an enjoyable game to watch
It got scary at the end but Doc did what he does best and the streak is up to 9
The obvious story of this game was the absence of Shaq
When I turned on the game and saw that Semih was starting, I was ready to mail this one in and would not have blamed the Celtics for doing so too.
Playing with your #5 Center, a very raw rookie at that, on the 2nd night of a road back-to-back, with your #1 scoring option running on fumes because of the flu, it is asking a lot to beat any NBA team.
And then Semih & BBD both got into quick foul trouble – and from then on we were just surrendering boards on the defensive end like we were allergic to the basketball!
Still, I had this feeling that if the Celtics could just stay close, that the starters plus BBD have too much talent & experience to lose, if the game was in their reach. And it was.
Great execution down the stretch to pull this one out.
Went from potentially being a dog awful game to a riveting back & forth game with a fantastic finish.
One of the best games of the year. I absolutely LOVED how important it was to the guys to win this one!
that was sick
Rondo to KG alley ooooooooop to win of the glass!
stinky farts and distracted by big tits
The win
It was as gutsy a win as I’ve seen this year. They had every reason to lose, especially after the Sixers’ final score. I’m really proud of them tonight.
rondo gutted this one and showed some some greatness. i think he’s in bad shape ( leg/s). baby was great and as others have noted, what a difference shaq makes. semih was shaky in half one, but settled in half 2 and did ok. i think if luke or bradley got some regular mins. they would show some good stuff. not one of pp’s better offensive games, but he got some important rebounds and had 2 nice drives to the hoop. kg got the winner but looked old and tired midgame. nate did ok too.
yup...
my feelings also.
With all the injuries and Paul playing with the flu the C’s could of called it a night early tonight…but to their credit they held on, dug deep and found the motivation and will to gut out the win.
Great job!
47 out of 48Minutes Played
Rajon Rondo played 47Minutes and 14Seconds… Almost the Whole 48Game… Any thoughts?
by greenbri9 on Dec 9, 2010 11:32 PM EST via mobile reply actions
He’s injured… I really think he souldnt be playing the whole game with a Whole injured Left Leg
by greenbri9 on Dec 9, 2010 11:35 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
He didnt look injured out there tonight.
Part of becoming great is having guts. Rondo knows what it takes to be great.
You think KG, Ray, Paul would let a sore hamstring sideline them for weeks on end?
Rondo looked fine, if he was injured he wouldnt be playing that many minutes.
with the hamstring - and I and a lot of others who've had hamstrings will vouch for this -
once you get going, it is really risky to stop, cool down and then restart.
So unless we had a huge lead, it was safer to leave Rondo out there than to pull him. Because once you pull him, he’s done for the night.
The hamstring is going to heal slowly and in its own time no matter what. Working it isn’t really a problem for it, provided he warms up properly.
I'm sure Doc was thinking the exact same thing
Rondo has to keep his legs moving. I’d rather have him on the court than on the sidelines riding a stationary bike. I’m sure Rondo does, too.
When it comes to health, Doc listens to Ed Lacerte to a fault. If Ed said Rondo should sit,no way Doc would play him. And Rondo knows his body best.
The way I see it, if the guys want to rest, they have to earn it by building then keeping leads. If that doesn’t happen, they don’t get extended rest.
by KY Celts fan on Dec 10, 2010 12:01 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
I think thats to many minutes...
Doc has got to use Wafer or Bradley a bit more to give Rondo more rest.
Though it may cost us a game or 2 and our win streak Id still like to see Rondo get a few games off to have a chance to rest and heal his hamstring that is still as reports say still bothering him.
Forgot to add Nate to the list above.
Giving him extra minutes especially if Doc does not feel comfortable giving Wafer or Bradley extra minutes is another option the C’s can go with if they want to get Rondo some additional rest.
4 mins on the second night of a back2back... on the road!
What was doc thinking? is this a game 7?
is Bradley too stupid to know any of the plays by now? he really should play..
we could’ve also used gody since shaq wasn’t playing..
should we start a petition or something so doc’ll start playing our first rounder?
+1...
Doc must play Bradley more often no doubt.
With Delonte out and Rondo hurting we need to play him now.
Yea he may be young and may make mistakes but hell he is a rookie.
When he has played he has done a good job handling, dishing the ball and defending so its puzzling why Doc does not go with him some more.
I remember
Back in 2004 when Doc was calling games for ABC/ESPN in the 2004 NBA Finals. I think when Brian Cook (who was a rookie at that time) made a big turnover in the first half. Doc was sort of disgusted lol and said “See, no offense. This is why you shouldn’t play rookies. Cause of things like this”
So It seems like he’s allergic to them lol. His mentors were Larry Brown and Pat Riley, which have similar beliefs on how they play rookies. But still, Avery is very talented and needs to play more minutes
by OsirusCeltics on Dec 10, 2010 10:06 AM EST up reply actions
Too bad
Doesn’t he remember he started 47 games as a rookie, and played in 81?
I’m really glad the Celtics were playing for lottery position in Rondo’s rookie year, so that Doc had to play him a lot.
by egotistical ma on Dec 10, 2010 11:55 AM EST up reply actions
Yet strangely, Doc does not seem averse to playing Semih.
This is nothing to do with Doc having a phobia about playing rookies.
This is about team needs and trying to win a title.
When the opportunity is there, Avery will play. But this team is on a championship title run and this is not a development league. I love Bradley, but when it comes to playing the point he is 4th or 5th on the depth chart behind Rondo, Delonte’, Nate, Daniels and Ray. Maybe 6th considering we often have Pierce playing point-forward. So even with Delonte’ out he’s simply not going to get minutes when the games are on the line. And last night the game was close virtually the entire game.
Patience. Doc knows what he is doing.
Great win
PP/BBD have flu symptoms. RR’s legs are hurting. Gutsy, gutsy, gutsy
Hey, I was just wondering
how many 3s has ray allen made in the fourth quarters throughout his career? Does anybody know where I could find this out? Thanks so much!!
by ireallylikejerrydbayless on Dec 9, 2010 11:58 PM EST reply actions
basketballreference.com
If that info is anywhere, it’s there.
by KY Celts fan on Dec 10, 2010 12:03 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Yeah, that's what I was thinking. On 82games they have
clutch statistics which is cool, but its only for a single season. Oh well, thanks anyway. :)
by ireallylikejerrydbayless on Dec 10, 2010 12:04 AM EST up reply actions
Gimpy KG of a year ago doesn't even catch that alley oop, let alone make it
Haven’t seen him this healthy and springy in a long time
He wasn't getting the whistle tonight
but he also didn’t have a lot of explosion or lift. Apparently he had a case of the flu that’s going around.
for his career
Paul’s ratio of Free Throw points to Field Goal Attempts is about 37% (which is awesome, btw!). I.E. what that means is for every 100 field goal attempts that Paul takes, in addition to whatever points he scores off those shots, he’ll also score another 37 pts via free throws.
This is a very good measure of his ability to ‘generate fouls’.
This year it IS down a little, to about 32%.
I suspect that this is less due to Paul ‘not getting calls’ and more to the fact that over the last couple of years Paul is taking more outside shots and becoming an accomplished shooter as well as a slasher.
Note that an FT/FGA ratio of 32% is still fantastic. For comparison, the Celtics as a team only have a ratio of about 25% and the NBA average is only 24%.
And yeah, last night he was definitely slogging through for the first 2/3 of the game, obviously not feeling well.
Too much criticism
Sloppy, ugly… Not this time guys, not this time.
I think there is too much criticism on the Celtics… They played without Shaq, Delonte, Jermaine and Perkins of course, but they managed to won (away).
Give credit to Philly this time.
Sometimes happens that an ugly team play over their limits, so did 76ers last night. They made a very good game, and i enjoyed.
I liked the Celtics and the way they played. I’m proud of this guys.
True
we must remember that the C’s did play without their big 3 bench players in Shaq, Delonte, Jermaine, without their starting center in Perkins and also with Pierce and Baby battling colds, but they still went out and one the game against Philly who put up a good fight to the very end.
Not to mention that Philly had won 5 straight at home.
They are NOT a bad team. They have lost a LOT of very close games – a measure of their youth – so their record is not really reflective of their talent.
Championship teams
find a way to turn probable losses into wins. This game taught us a lot about our team.
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