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Recap: Better effort, but same result

KWAPT (@KWAPT) January 9, 2014 Gametime, Recaps 32 Comments

A much better effort from the guys in green tonight. Granted, it was the second night of a back-to-back, so we did see some ugly moments. But all in all, as a fan, I was much more satisfied with what I saw during tonight’s game in L.A. With the exception of the first quarter, where the Clippers jumped out to a 28-12 lead w/3:02 left, the Celtics competed pretty much through out tonight’s game.

Boston kept in close heading into halftime, mostly due to Jordan Crawford’s 14 first half points. The C’s out rebounded L.A. 24-17 in the first half and looked alert, aggressive & focused. The Clippers were up 59-54 at the half. Jared Dudley’s four three-pointers and 16 first half points made up for an otherwise “average” Clippers offense.

But it would be Blake Griffin who would take over for L.A. and almost put this game completely out of reach early in the 4th quarter. Griffin’s 29 points and barrage of dunks (and 17 free-throw attempts) would help L.A. to eventually finish Boston off. The Celts went into the final quarter only down 88-82. But after Jared Sullinger picked-up yet another flagrant one, they lost any momentum they had. Following Sullinger’s two-handed swipe over Blake Griffin’s back/neck, Jamal Crawford got hot, and all of the sudden it was 100-84 Clippers with just over 6 minutes to play. Boston kept fighting though. Avery Bradley’s steal and layup had Boston down just 109-105 with 19 seconds left. But Jerryd Bayless missed a contested layup and the Clippers escaped with a 111-105 win tonight.

The Celtics played much better, and if not for some missed free-throws & poor execution late, they very well may have stolen this game. Boston has tomorrow off and is back in action on Friday night when they play the Warriors at Oracle Arena. Tip-off is at 10:30pm EST.

The Green:

Avery Bradley and Jordan Crawford put in 24 points each tonight. Crawford was instrumental in not letting L.A. blow things open in the first half. Bradley’s steal & layup in the final seconds almost got the C’s a huge upset.
Front court of Bass & Green combined for 29 points on 11 of 22 shooting. Duo also grabbed 16 boards.

The Gross:

Boston shot 5 of 17 from downtown and missed 8 free-throws (22 of 30)
Sully’s officially in a funk. I hope you don’t have him on your fantasy basketball team. Not sure if it’s the hand/wrist injury or what, but he’s not himself. He picked up another flagrant one tonight on a play that definitely could have been avoided-especially after just having one rescinded. Sullinger was 1 of 6 with 2 points in 11 mins. After the game, he said this to the media about the flagrant call: “It’s part of the game-I just gotta adjust…I tried to wrap him up..then I put my hands up to show them that I wasn’t trying to do anything, but uh.. I guess I gotta make another adjustment.”

The Grid: (quick stats)

New Celtic Jerryd Bayless played 20 minutes and had 11 points, 5 assists, 2 steals & 3 rebounds.
Clippers attempted 39 free-throws and missed 11 of them.
Points in the paint: Celtics 52 Clippers 30

Box score

Paul Pierce

Hey Jeff, you have 4 fouls and the third quarter hasn’t near come to a close. We want to put Jordan at the line. Do not and I repeat do not…. *WHISTLE* Really Jeff? Really? This guy doesn’t have it. It’s just not there. If a big ingredient for a championship is having consistent play at the 3, in 4-5 years if and when we are built for success this Jeff Green bums gotta go. Can’t afford this guy to disappear in half a play off series. Man oh man.
- bill_nair
  
  The problem is everyone wants Jeff to be THE guy. Hes not. Once you realize that its much easier to watch the kid play. Green is the most consistent player on this team. Hes a consistent 15ppg scorer for his career on solid averages and good 3pt shooting. Problem is hes not the go-to guy that fans want so instead of seeing him for what he is hes “garbage” and “inconsistent”. I trust Green to bring us solid defense and 16ppg more than I trust fan favorite (who very well might demand Green money next year) Bradley.
  - jason benn
    
    bradleys camp is requesting around 8 mil a year which i would totally trust and pay it bradley is way more integral to this team then green is, bradley honestly if his offense kept getting better he could be the man or sorry THE guy bradley had double shoulder surgery and he doesnt vanish in games. he plays 90 ft full court defense every night and is good for some nice back door cuts on people and a few corner threes and of course steals and taking it to the rack, green however sure he played good tonight but makes silly mistakes heck he cant even take off on the proper foot to score. was excited when we traded for him because on the thunder he was doing really good cant remember now but he averaged 20 some odd pts i think dont quote me. now he is lucky to get 15 on a night it all just depends on if he checks into the game. green could get us a upgraded three for sure or at least that center we need so bad packaged with bass. clear up cap space
    - bill_nair
      
      He averaged 15ppg during his time in OKC. Hes been the same guy his entire career Celtics fans just want him to be PP so bad they cant have any other opinion on him. I get it, I really do. I thought he could have a breakout year and average close to 20 but Ive come to realize he is who he is. Since than i have no complaints.
      
      Him and Bradley are basically the same player. Ya Bradley has the advantage on defense but outside of that their ceilings are 16ppg scorers who are tasked to guard the teams best player and do it very effectively. Glorified 3&D guys. Bradley is a little more aggressive with his SHOT, but he doesn’t get to the foul line and that whats holding him back from being a better offensive player( and his god awful ball handling). Ill never trust either of them to be the guy on any team.
      - bill_nair
        
        Don’t know how I managed to double post as a guest. The site really wigged out when I was trying to post my comment. Can a mod delete this? ^^^
    - bill_nair
      
      He averaged 15ppg in OKC. Hes literally been the same guy throughout his whole career and no one seems to give him credit for that. I thought he would have a break out year, average close to 20 and prove hes a better offensive player than hes been. Hes not. Cant fit a square peg in a circle hole no matter how much you try.
      
      Him and Bradley are the same player. Their ceilings are 16ppg guys who will be 3&D guys throughout their career. Difference is Green has consistently averaged 15ppg while Bradley has never had any consistency on that end. I trust he can keep this scoring up all year, I don’t trust he’ll improve much on it. He doesn’t get to the line and has terrible ball handling. He is what he is just like Jeff. Its all a matter of which position we can upgrade first.
      - jason benn
        
        thunder Jeff green and Celtic Jeff green are totally different guys. thunder Jeff green played with way more agressiveness more abandoment not over thinking things just playing basketball, Celtic Jeff green takes nights off to over think what he is doing because maybe he also feels like he needs to fill Pauls shoes. bradley will be a 3 and d guy for sure thats the easiest way to turn it around and make him a d&3 guy but he is more then that he never stops moving most times his backdoor cuts between him and rondo him and sully even him and wallace had a few nice cuts there avery isnt afraid of contact and taking it to the rack, without needing a wake up call……PSSSSHHh PAGING JEFF GREEN JEFF GREEN IF YOUR IN THE GAHDEN PLEASE CONFIRM UHHHH JEFF GREEN ANYBODY SEEN HIM? then he needs a nasty dunk or a hard foul to wake him up bradley is balling from the get go. thats why i would definetly see less similarities between the two and avery can average 20 a game depending on the scheme wait til rondo comes back bradley will benefit the most i think and maybe hopefully jeff too. his handling is terrible but he did have some nice stuff going last night in the clippers game crawford esque at times even. in AB’s defense (pun intended) i think he doesnt want to be a good ball handler becuase then they would try him at point guard more so now besides hey bradley your our starting point guard til rondo gets back and also we need you pressuring any ball handler full court and we need you to hit those corner threes and get everyone involved thats just too much for him to focus his energy on. so point is i dont mind his terrible ball handling skills cuz i want to see him catch and shooting that ball soon as he gets it
      - bill_nair
        
        Ill agree to disagree. Good discussion though. Always good seeing the opinion of my fellow Celtics brethren.
    - http://www.thegainescollective.com/ Kendra Gaines
      
      Bradley is a volume scorer.
      - jason benn
        
        10/18 24 pts last night
      - http://www.thegainescollective.com/ Kendra Gaines
        
        AB is averaging 14 points off 13 attempts a night. For every efficient night, there’s a horribly inefficient one. In Denver, 12 points off 12 shots. HE is the DEFINITION of inconsistent. But Jeff is the problem
  - Curt Hays
    
    But Green is getting the ball in his hands and failing. He doesn’t seem capable of leading by example. Yet. Maybe I just want to see him try as hard as Sully.
    - bill_nair
      
      No he cant lead. I think its unfair to think he still can and to ask him to at this point. Ive come to terms hes a 3&D player and im wondering if Brad has too since he doesn’t really incorporate him into the offense.There are probably 10 contending teams who would love him as their starting 3. We need a go to scorer so hes redundant on this roster. Either him or Bradley have to be replaced and with the talent at the 3 in this draft, he may very well be the one who goes.
      
      I just want one player with the last name Green to stick around so I can comfortably buy a Green jersey.
      - Curt Hays
        
        I find that to be a logical viewpoint about him and Bradley, but I think Bradley is more important.
        Funny about the jersey. Love it. I thought it was awesome when we had Jeff Green and DJ White. Green/White for the win!
      - bill_nair
        
        I mean I like both. Great guys who are professionals and do exactly what they’re asked for. Green is tasked with a little more, reasonably so. Its just come time to admit he cant handle it (though you can argue he never was able to handle it and its why he has been who he is.) I’m not mad if we keep either Green or Bradley but I desperately want to see this team get that “go-to” scorer and see who gets replaced. Keeping both AB and JG at 8mill each is gonna only cause issues for this team down the road financially.
        
        And i thought I was the only one who caught that lol. Need a pic of the two of them standing with their backs towards the camera.
        
        And regarding the jersey, I was so tempted to get a Gerald Green jersey back in the day. He was traded the next year so I dodged a bullet (not a fan of having jerseys of players who don’t stick around). I was excited when Green was traded for only cause my Green, green jersey search was still on.
      - Curt Hays
        
        I bought an authentic Kelly Olynyk jersey during the preseason. I made a big gamble…
      - http://www.thegainescollective.com/ Kendra Gaines
        
        I’m not going to make a sweeping judgement about Jeff until Rondo returns.
        
        Jeff plays a certain kind of way — the way everyone said we would play this season. We would be a young run and gun team. Lots of pace. Lots of transition ball. And that’s how we played when we were thriving. That’s how we played when Jeff was dropping 20+ points.
        
        Now, we’ve slowed it down. We play hero ball through the guards. That’s not how Jeff Green plays. It’s simple as that, really. I think Jeff is doing quite well for the hand that he’s been dealt over these past few games. He essentially has to fabricate shots for himself…that’s not his game…at all. He needs someone to create for him. It’s always been like that, no surprise there.
        
        People want him to wake up and end up being Kevin Durant or even Luol Deng. How? We don’t even use him as much as them. We treat him like a role player. And for that, he’s doing well.
        
        If Rondo comes back and Green is still at 15ppg, I’ll be surprised. I expect Rondo to get to him in transition, suck in the defense and throw it out so he’ll have a wide open 3, and set him up the way he should be set up.
      - bill_nair
        
        He is what he is. The scoring might go up a tick when Rondo’s back but no much. The fact he cant create his own shot off the dribble is why hes a role player. Nothing wrong with being set up to succeed but that’s not what we need.
      - http://www.thegainescollective.com/ Kendra Gaines
        
        When you look at his career averages, you notice that Jeff Green is actually having one of his better seasons in between this poopfest.
        
        He’s shooting right at his career average or better while scoring the second most points of his career (thus far). In the event Rondo comes back (or a guy like Bayless starts), I expect Jeff Green to do even better.
        
        An extra 5 points per game? That’s an extra pass when he’s ahead of the pack and an extra wide open 3. I’m not sure why people don’t think this can happen if Jeff doesn’t play with a shoot happy PG.
        
        I’m not arguing you saying he is what he is. You’re right. The issue is that he is VERY GOOD in a certain situation…so as a coach/team, why aren’t we creating that situation for a guy we know can score 20+ points, and is already our leader at almost 16ppg?
      - bill_nair
        
        I agree. Brad hasn’t completely gone to him and I dont know why. Maybe hes not as enthralled with Green as Danny and the rest of us are?
        
        I don’t know, ive just grown tired of the “Green effect.” Since he came to Boston i had high expectations. A guy who could easily score 18ppg just utilizing his athleticism. It seems like everyone but Jeff has noticed he has size and talent. Nothing wrong with being set up and needing plays ran for you, but if you cant dribble and create off the dribble it really limits what you can do. Jeff has terrible handles. If he isnt being set up for a shot hes standing around. I wish he had a better dribble but Ive come to accept he wont improve his dribble and become a “scorer”. I still believe though with a SG who can create his own shot and take over games that Green is a very good 3rd option on a contending team and if we were a contender who had a need at the SF id love having Green. Hes a posey-esque player. Unfortunately we dont need one we need Paul. And its unfair to him that he was looked upon to fill his shoes.
        
        I agree with you Jeff gets a lot of unwarranted flack. But this team needs a go to scorer. Hes the scape goat for blame until we get someone who can take the load off his shoulders. I feel bad for him but that’s just the situation hes in. When you think about it, not surprising hes sat back and played second fiddle during this awful season.
    - http://www.thegainescollective.com/ Kendra Gaines
      
      He is not getting the ball in his hands. And how is he failing?
      You realize that Jeff Green is fourth in touches per game and is still our leading scorer?
      Brad Stevens has built a faulty offense that is based around 2 streaky SGs playing PG. Brad needs to get Jeff going by calling plays for him. I believe Jeff and Jared are our best players right now, but we play like AB and JC are. That’s the issue. Poor coaching and Bad Crawford are easily the reason for this down turn as of late.
      And holy hell, the dude had a double double and people are STILL COMPLAINING!!
      I almost want to trade him to a nice run and gun team with a PG, so you guys can see Jeff lay 20-30ppg and then whine about why he couldn’t do it here. Umm…duh.
      - Curt Hays
        
        He requires Rondo to be healthy if he is going to succeed. I’m okay with that IF he succeeds, but we can’t win a banner if we are paying him $8M. He doesn’t produce that much. He makes a lot happen, but it only matters at the end of the game. If he couldn’t close out on a layup against Josh Smith (just an example), then how can we win games with him as our go-to guy. You’re getting all defensive as though I said he sucks. I was on his bandwagon from day one. The fact is, he is a roll player. I WANT a team, not all stars. But he must be used properly.
        
        And it isn’t Brad Stevens fault. You can’t remove misplaced blame by misplacing it again. The problem is that Danny is gutting the team as a result of him not holding onto any decent bigs for the last 5 years.
      - http://www.thegainescollective.com/ Kendra Gaines
        
        Apologies. I’m on the defensive because I’m seeing this type of talk everywhere. It’s annoying to see people say Crawford had a great game yesterday. Actually, I thought he was pretty awful. And that same person will turn around and blame Jeff.
        
        Yes. He requires Rondo. I just said the same thing below. If he doesn’t turn it around then, I will be surprised. And I do think some blame belongs to Brad. You’ve got a guy that can do almost 16ppg with no plays ran for him, rarely touches the ball and you don’t think to go to him more? We know Jeff is capable of throwing down 25+ points…why wouldn’t you put him that position to succeed?
        
        And in addition, I just don’t see the SF as a large part of our offense. Everything seems to go through our guards, which is a recipe for disaster.
        
        And the Josh Smith layup was well contested. What about his other 2 game winners from the season? So much focus on the negative. Jeff is a good player. He needs someone better to set him up. I believe Danny thinks that’s Rondo. I’ll be very surprised if DA trades JG before Rondo returns.
      - Curt Hays
        
        Don’t you apologize to me for backing up your boy! We’re all wearing green!
        
        I’m off the philosophy that Jeff gets the ball enough. Our SF shouldn’t be shooting vastly more than our bigs. We need paint points.I still blame Danny for the lack in that department. Kris tries to make up for it.
        
        If Danny does trade Jeff before “The Return of the Rondo” I think it will be for something that we can all be happy with. That makes it even less likely that he’ll be dealt.
      - http://www.thegainescollective.com/ Kendra Gaines
        
        I’m only with it if it’s for something much better.
        If DA and coach want to play fast, you need some transition players. These stop and pop guys are nice, but it makes no nevermind when we are running.
      - Curt Hays
        
        I’m with you there. That’s a holdover from when we had Glen Rivers. That’s why I’m not blaming Brad yet. He’s still toying around with the rotations Danny sticks him with. We really need Tyson Chandler.
        Also, that’s what I’m saying about trading JG. If it happens, Danny would KNOW it’s a good choice.
  - http://www.thegainescollective.com/ Kendra Gaines
    
    biggest problem with this is that Green isn’t being treated like a go-to-guy…no way we can analyze his game like that…he doesn’t even get the most touches or FGAs on the team. No play calls. AND HE’S STILL THE LEADING SCORER!
- http://www.thegainescollective.com/ Kendra Gaines
  
  Coach told him to foul him.
  You JG haters are real live idiots man lol
  - Paul Pierce
    
    Thanks for the clarification. I don’t live in New England. I have NBA League Pass and am constantly forced to listen to opposing teams feeds. They were pointing out that Jeff Green made a stupid mistake. And I bought it. Still, he should have been aware he had 4 fouls and called for help.
    - http://www.thegainescollective.com/ Kendra Gaines
      
      The one problem with Jeff Green is that he is a team player and he plays within a system. He’s not a selfish guy. He does what the coach asks and that’s what he did. He was aware. Coach was not. He was the only guy near DJ.
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