[recap] [box score]
It would be shocking if it wasn't so easy to see coming: Grueling game the night before; a disappointing overtime loss to a hated rival; didn't get to the hotel 'til 3 a.m.; embarrassed the opponent by 36 last time they played. Throw in the usual spate of injuries -- no Jermaine O'Neal, Keyon Dooling, or Sasha Pavlovic, and a very limited Avery Bradley -- and it doesn't seem all that hard to explain.
The Celtics were just awful on Friday. Awful. A 12-point deficit doesn't look like much, but trust me, that's just an indication of how much Toronto struggles without Andrea Bargnani. The Celtics lost to the Lakers on Thursday because of stagnant, uninspired offense and poor defensive rebounding, and then went out and did the exact same thing against Toronto. At one point in the first quarter, Doc Rivers was so frustrated with the team's inability to run a play that he called a timeout while storming onto the floor cursing a blue streak -- six seconds after calling a timeout to set up a play. I have never, ever, seen an NBA coach do that to send a message to his team.
It was a college move. Indeed, if it had been a college game, it would have been one of those times where the coach grabs the walk-ons by the jersey and rushes them to scorers' table, lets the starters sit on their asses at the end of the bench for a few minutes, then puts them back in. The way that story usually ends is with the crowd and coaching staff reacting to the walk-ons coming off the floor as though they'd just sewn up a national championship, and the invigorated/scared starters blowing the other team off the court.
This isn't college, though. There are no walk-ons, and while Doc did put in Bradley in the hopes of getting a little defensive spark, it ultimately wasn't worth risking further injury to him. Boston finally woke up in the second half and had the lead down to seven or so, but couldn't get a couple key calls and stayed in a 2-3 zone just long enough to let Linas Kleiza lock up this game for the Raps from outside.
Word is that the players had a meeting after the game, not a finger-pointing session, but just a meeting to work stuff out. That's good, that's the way a veteran team like the Celtics should handle it.
Let's hope it translates to the court on Sunday when Derrick Rose and the big, bad
Chicago Bulls come to town. Chicago has been steamrolling people; they have the best record in the league. What's frightening about the Bull is that even without Rose, last year's MVP, they're nasty; he's missed all or parts of eight games with injuries this year, and they are 7-1 in those games. Not only are they 7-1, but it's a convincing 7-1: 95-84 at Charlotte; 90-67 at New Orleans; 108-87 at New Jersey; 114-75 at Cleveland; 95-89 vs. Charlotte; 118-97 vs. Phoenix; 78-64 vs. Washington. That's an average margin of victory of nearly 20 points in seven wins largely without their point guard and leader and the league's MVP. Ridiculous. Rose is having some back problems that have limited him or kept him out of the last three games, but knowing the guy, I expect him to play in Boston.
He was on the floor in mid-January in Boston when the Bulls beat the Celtics, jumping out to a 20-point lead before Boston battled back and nearly won it. Tune in to see if Boston will get its revenge Sunday at 3:30 Eastern on ABC.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Los Angeles Lakers 88, Boston 87 (Overtime)
[recap] [box score]
Losing to the Lakers always sucks. Losing to the Lakers at home is worse. Losing to the Lakers at home because we couldn't grab a couple loose balls is sleep-deprivingly frustrating.
Actually, we didn't lose because we couldn't grab a couple loose balls. We lost because we couldn't shoot -- just over 39 percent for the game -- and didn't attack the basket to try to get to the line. Particularly in the second half, with the Lakers sagging off of Rajon R-ndo as they have the last several seasons, the Celtics relied exclusively on jumpers, and paid the price.
The Lakers shot horribly, too, which is why we even had a chance to win the game. They missed a ton of open looks, as we did, and both tams played well enough defensively to win the game. But the Lakers got the loose balls when it mattered:
* After Boston had retaken the lead late in the fourth, the Celtics forced Pau Gasol into a long three from the right corner, which he missed. But Andrew Bynum was there for the putback and the foul, converting the free throw to put the visitors up one.
* Ray Allen gave Boston the lead with a three-pointer with 1:07 left, and after an exchange of empty possessions -- a missed jumper by Kevin Garnett and a horrific three-pointer from Metta World Peace (where was that in Game 7 of the 2010 Finals when we needed it?) -- LA had the ball with 30 seconds to go. Steve Blake drove, stopped at the foul line, passed up a shot, before throwing a terrible pass into the post. It was knocked away, and anyone of three Celtics could have grabbed it. They didn't, though, and Blake, following up on his pass, snatched it.
* Blake got the ball to Kobe Bryant, who missed a jumper, but Gasol was there for the tip and the tie. Overtime.
* The Lakers got the first four points of overtime, holding the Celtics scoreless for the first half of the extra period. Pierce brought us back, hitting a foul-line jumper and then a three with 90 seconds to go. Kobe again missed a jumper, but Bynum was there for the tip-in. The Lakers would go scoreless on their final two possessions, but Boston came up empty in its last three, and the Lakers won.
Boston had plenty of chances on the offensive end to win the game. At the end of regulation, Doc drew up the predictable 2-3 pick-and-roll with Pierce and Allen. Allen was free, but Pierce hesitated on the pass and the ball ended up in the hands of Mickael Pietrus, who had no choice but to throw up a 35-footer.
* On the final possession of the game, Doc iso'd Pierce against World Peace, who has guarded Pierce well since he was known as Ron Artest. Pierce got off a decent look at a mid-range jumper, but it missed by a hair, bouncing softly of the front of the rim and the backboard into the waiting hands of Allen, who had pushed aside Blake as the shot went up. The Lakers' length would save them one last time, however, as Gasol came over and blocked Allen's putback as time expired.
The Celtics haven't beaten the Lakers in Boston in the regular season since 2007, with three of those four losses coming by a single point. The last time the Celtics beat LA on the parquet was, of course, June 13, 2010, Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Boston led the series three games to two and headed west brimming with confidence, a win away from yet another banner.
Things sure have changed since then. Kendrick Perkins, whose knee injury probably cost us the 2010 title, is gone, shipped to Oklahoma City at last year's trade deadline. Boston went down fighting to Miami in the second round of last year's playoffs, a five-game series that signaled a changing of the guard in the East. The Lakers, for their part, embarrassed themselves in getting swept by the Mavs last year, then lost key bench players in the offseason and didn't replace them. Neither team has been very impressive this season.
Yes, things are different. In past years, games like this really bugged me, not only because I hate the Lakers, but because I always had it in my mind that we might see them down the road. I'd worry for days afterward about what we'd do if they ever made Bynum and Gasol the focal point of their offense, or why R-ndo attacks their sagging defense some nights and disappears on others.
Now, there are no such worries. Neither team looks to be championship-caliber; the playoffs, for both, are not even a sure thing. And yet the loss still eats at me, and not just because I live among Lakers fans. There are a lot of games in an NBA season, but this one always means a little bit more. So the way we lost Thursday night eats at me. The fact that the offense slogged down in the second half eats at me. It gnaws at me that Doc sat Ray for so long, and that he didn't at least try Pierce on Kobe when Bryant got hot in the third quarter. (Though Ray did pretty well, all things considered; Kobe just hit some very tough shots.)
But we soldier on, across to the border to Toronto to face the Raptors in the second half of the back-to-back. Should be an easy win, under normal circumstances. But after all the minutes tonight and the letdown of letting this one slip away, it's going to take a particularly focused effort.
Losing to the Lakers always sucks. Losing to the Lakers at home is worse. Losing to the Lakers at home because we couldn't grab a couple loose balls is sleep-deprivingly frustrating.
Actually, we didn't lose because we couldn't grab a couple loose balls. We lost because we couldn't shoot -- just over 39 percent for the game -- and didn't attack the basket to try to get to the line. Particularly in the second half, with the Lakers sagging off of Rajon R-ndo as they have the last several seasons, the Celtics relied exclusively on jumpers, and paid the price.
The Lakers shot horribly, too, which is why we even had a chance to win the game. They missed a ton of open looks, as we did, and both tams played well enough defensively to win the game. But the Lakers got the loose balls when it mattered:
* After Boston had retaken the lead late in the fourth, the Celtics forced Pau Gasol into a long three from the right corner, which he missed. But Andrew Bynum was there for the putback and the foul, converting the free throw to put the visitors up one.
* Ray Allen gave Boston the lead with a three-pointer with 1:07 left, and after an exchange of empty possessions -- a missed jumper by Kevin Garnett and a horrific three-pointer from Metta World Peace (where was that in Game 7 of the 2010 Finals when we needed it?) -- LA had the ball with 30 seconds to go. Steve Blake drove, stopped at the foul line, passed up a shot, before throwing a terrible pass into the post. It was knocked away, and anyone of three Celtics could have grabbed it. They didn't, though, and Blake, following up on his pass, snatched it.
* Blake got the ball to Kobe Bryant, who missed a jumper, but Gasol was there for the tip and the tie. Overtime.
* The Lakers got the first four points of overtime, holding the Celtics scoreless for the first half of the extra period. Pierce brought us back, hitting a foul-line jumper and then a three with 90 seconds to go. Kobe again missed a jumper, but Bynum was there for the tip-in. The Lakers would go scoreless on their final two possessions, but Boston came up empty in its last three, and the Lakers won.
Boston had plenty of chances on the offensive end to win the game. At the end of regulation, Doc drew up the predictable 2-3 pick-and-roll with Pierce and Allen. Allen was free, but Pierce hesitated on the pass and the ball ended up in the hands of Mickael Pietrus, who had no choice but to throw up a 35-footer.
* On the final possession of the game, Doc iso'd Pierce against World Peace, who has guarded Pierce well since he was known as Ron Artest. Pierce got off a decent look at a mid-range jumper, but it missed by a hair, bouncing softly of the front of the rim and the backboard into the waiting hands of Allen, who had pushed aside Blake as the shot went up. The Lakers' length would save them one last time, however, as Gasol came over and blocked Allen's putback as time expired.
The Celtics haven't beaten the Lakers in Boston in the regular season since 2007, with three of those four losses coming by a single point. The last time the Celtics beat LA on the parquet was, of course, June 13, 2010, Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Boston led the series three games to two and headed west brimming with confidence, a win away from yet another banner.
Things sure have changed since then. Kendrick Perkins, whose knee injury probably cost us the 2010 title, is gone, shipped to Oklahoma City at last year's trade deadline. Boston went down fighting to Miami in the second round of last year's playoffs, a five-game series that signaled a changing of the guard in the East. The Lakers, for their part, embarrassed themselves in getting swept by the Mavs last year, then lost key bench players in the offseason and didn't replace them. Neither team has been very impressive this season.
Yes, things are different. In past years, games like this really bugged me, not only because I hate the Lakers, but because I always had it in my mind that we might see them down the road. I'd worry for days afterward about what we'd do if they ever made Bynum and Gasol the focal point of their offense, or why R-ndo attacks their sagging defense some nights and disappears on others.
Now, there are no such worries. Neither team looks to be championship-caliber; the playoffs, for both, are not even a sure thing. And yet the loss still eats at me, and not just because I live among Lakers fans. There are a lot of games in an NBA season, but this one always means a little bit more. So the way we lost Thursday night eats at me. The fact that the offense slogged down in the second half eats at me. It gnaws at me that Doc sat Ray for so long, and that he didn't at least try Pierce on Kobe when Bryant got hot in the third quarter. (Though Ray did pretty well, all things considered; Kobe just hit some very tough shots.)
But we soldier on, across to the border to Toronto to face the Raptors in the second half of the back-to-back. Should be an easy win, under normal circumstances. But after all the minutes tonight and the letdown of letting this one slip away, it's going to take a particularly focused effort.
Viewing Alert (and this is a big one)
TNT, 8 p.m. Eastern, Lakers at Celtics
The Lakers are in Boston tonight for the first of two matchups between the two storied franchises this year. In recent years, we've become accustomed to seeing the Celtics and Lakers at the top of the standings, but both are in seventh place in their respective conferences right now, and both with the benefit of a comparatively easy early-season schedule. LA is in worse shape than we are -- the Lakers are a half-game away from being out of the playoffs, while the Celtics have a comfy four-game cushion on ninth-place New York.
Boston's on a roll, too, having won five in a row and nine of ten, though not all of those wins have come against difficult competition. LA's halfway through a six-game road trip and are just 3-9 as the visiting team this season.
If you haven't seen the Lakers yet this year, the big change is on the bench. Phil Jackson is gone, and in his place is Mike Brown, late of the Cavaliers, a well-regarded defensive mind whose teams have struggled offensively. Lamar Odom plays for the Mavs now. And Ron Artest now goes by the name "Metta World Peace."
Other than that, they're pretty much the same Lakers. Kobe is still Kobe, remarkably prolific as a scorer in his 16th season, having just passed Shaquille O'Neal for fifth-place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. In mid-January, he had a string of four consecutive 40-point games, a stretch made even more remarkable by the fact thta he did it with a torn wrist ligament (which has reportedly healed). But he's struggled lately, shooting just 35.4% (23 of 65) in the last three games. Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol are both having excellent years, but with Kobe averaging 24 shots per game (the second-highest total of his career) they aren't being used as much as they probably should be.
The bench is nothing special, but keep an eye on rookie Andrew Goudelock, their second-round pick. I was big on him coming out of College of Charleston (very disappointed that he went to the Lakers) and after a slow start, he's come on of late. He's a terrific shooter with almost unlimited range.
Anyway, should be an intense one.
The Lakers are in Boston tonight for the first of two matchups between the two storied franchises this year. In recent years, we've become accustomed to seeing the Celtics and Lakers at the top of the standings, but both are in seventh place in their respective conferences right now, and both with the benefit of a comparatively easy early-season schedule. LA is in worse shape than we are -- the Lakers are a half-game away from being out of the playoffs, while the Celtics have a comfy four-game cushion on ninth-place New York.
Boston's on a roll, too, having won five in a row and nine of ten, though not all of those wins have come against difficult competition. LA's halfway through a six-game road trip and are just 3-9 as the visiting team this season.
If you haven't seen the Lakers yet this year, the big change is on the bench. Phil Jackson is gone, and in his place is Mike Brown, late of the Cavaliers, a well-regarded defensive mind whose teams have struggled offensively. Lamar Odom plays for the Mavs now. And Ron Artest now goes by the name "Metta World Peace."
Other than that, they're pretty much the same Lakers. Kobe is still Kobe, remarkably prolific as a scorer in his 16th season, having just passed Shaquille O'Neal for fifth-place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. In mid-January, he had a string of four consecutive 40-point games, a stretch made even more remarkable by the fact thta he did it with a torn wrist ligament (which has reportedly healed). But he's struggled lately, shooting just 35.4% (23 of 65) in the last three games. Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol are both having excellent years, but with Kobe averaging 24 shots per game (the second-highest total of his career) they aren't being used as much as they probably should be.
The bench is nothing special, but keep an eye on rookie Andrew Goudelock, their second-round pick. I was big on him coming out of College of Charleston (very disappointed that he went to the Lakers) and after a slow start, he's come on of late. He's a terrific shooter with almost unlimited range.
Anyway, should be an intense one.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Congrats, Truth
The Nevada bar exam is less than three weeks away, so I don't have much time for blogging these days, but...
With a three-pointer over Boris Diaw early in the second half on Tuesday, Paul Pierce scored the 21,792nd point of his career. All of them have, of course, come as a Celtic, which now puts him second all-time on the franchise scoring list, just ahead of Larry Bird. It's an outstanding accomplishment for a player I've come to admire more and more as his career has worn on.
Three things about the all-time Celtics scoring list:
1)John Havlicek is really far ahead of Pierce. Even if Pierce keeps up his current scoring pace, he's still like three-plus healthy seasons away from catching Hondo. I really wish I was alive to see that guy play.
2)Pierce's health has been a big boost to his career numbers. Pierce is currently in his 14th NBA season; Bird played 13. Larry Legend, however, missed almost all of the 1988-89 season with a torn Achilles, and about 60 games combined over his last two seasons with injuries before retiring because of his back. Pierce, in contrast, missed about half off the "tank-for-Oden-or-Durant" season, and his rookie year was the last strike-shortened season. Other than that, he's never missed more than a handful of games in a season. He's averaged about two points per game less than Bird did over his career.
3)Fourth- and fifth-place on the list are Robert Parish and Kevin McHale, respectively. They're well behind Pierce and Bird, but it's still pretty remarkable, to me, that three of the top five scorers in the history of one of the league's oldest franchises (and it's most storied) had such overlap during their careers. Bird played from 79-80 to 91-92; McHale from 80-81 to 92-93; and the Chief was a Celtic from 80-81 to 92-93, bookending his career with four years in Golden State on the front end and three with Chicago on the back end. What a team that was.
With a three-pointer over Boris Diaw early in the second half on Tuesday, Paul Pierce scored the 21,792nd point of his career. All of them have, of course, come as a Celtic, which now puts him second all-time on the franchise scoring list, just ahead of Larry Bird. It's an outstanding accomplishment for a player I've come to admire more and more as his career has worn on.
Three things about the all-time Celtics scoring list:
1)John Havlicek is really far ahead of Pierce. Even if Pierce keeps up his current scoring pace, he's still like three-plus healthy seasons away from catching Hondo. I really wish I was alive to see that guy play.
2)Pierce's health has been a big boost to his career numbers. Pierce is currently in his 14th NBA season; Bird played 13. Larry Legend, however, missed almost all of the 1988-89 season with a torn Achilles, and about 60 games combined over his last two seasons with injuries before retiring because of his back. Pierce, in contrast, missed about half off the "tank-for-Oden-or-Durant" season, and his rookie year was the last strike-shortened season. Other than that, he's never missed more than a handful of games in a season. He's averaged about two points per game less than Bird did over his career.
3)Fourth- and fifth-place on the list are Robert Parish and Kevin McHale, respectively. They're well behind Pierce and Bird, but it's still pretty remarkable, to me, that three of the top five scorers in the history of one of the league's oldest franchises (and it's most storied) had such overlap during their careers. Bird played from 79-80 to 91-92; McHale from 80-81 to 92-93; and the Chief was a Celtic from 80-81 to 92-93, bookending his career with four years in Golden State on the front end and three with Chicago on the back end. What a team that was.
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