Just in from TD Garden where the Celtics held off Roy Hibbert and the Indiana Pacers 101-98. Jeff Green’s big offensive rebound with 6 seconds left ensured the victory for Boston. Jared Sullinger put the team on his back in the final quarter, scoring 11 of his 17 points down the stretch. Hibbert led all scorers with 22. Jeff Green had 15 points and Kelly Olynyk 12 for Boston.
But the big story tonight was the injury to rookie Marcus Smart. I was at the Garden a few years back when Marquis Daniels hurt his neck, and it’s just an awful feeling. Minutes seem like hours as you anxiously wait to see how bad the injury is. Smart was wheeled off the court on a stretcher, his teammates giving him any encouragement they could. Smart did give a thumbs up on his way off. From my angle, it looked at first like he hurt his knee, but as Jay and I scrolled through Twitter, we learned it was an ankle injury. CSNNE reported that initial xrays were negative, and the Globe’s Gary Washburn tweeted that as of about 10:30pm Smart was en route to the hospital for an MRI. Keep your fingers crossed C’s Nation. RedsArmy will post any news or updates as soon as we get them.
The team also announced tonight that Rajon Rondo will not make the trip to Chicago. He will be having a screw removed from his surgically repaired left hand on Saturday.
The Green:
- This section goes out to the entire team, and the fans tonight:
#Celtics forward Jeff Green: That game was for Marcus Smart. We had to win it for him.
— Scott Souza (@scott_souza) November 8, 2014
#Celtics guard Phil Pressey: We all heard the fans chanting Marcus (Smart’s) name. That lets us know what kind of fans we’ve got here.
— Scott Souza (@scott_souza) November 8, 2014
The Gross:
- C’s gave up 56 points in the paint
- After only turning the ball over 3 times in the first half, Boston had three times that many in the last two quarters.
The Greenlights:
Rondo leaves Copeland in the dust:
The Grid: (quick stats)
- Celtics were 14 of 16 from the FT line
- C’s with 26 assists on 39 made baskets
- Pacers out rebounded Boston 42-38
