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Recap: Clutch Avery Bradley leads C’s to 2nd win out west

Chuck - Red's Army January 23, 2015 Recaps 14 Comments

Let’s make this quick because I’m literally falling asleep at my keyboard.

Thanks to a couple of clutch buckets by Avery Bradley (18 points, 7-11 FG, 6 reb) the Celtics held off the Denver Nuggets, 100-99, for their 2nd straight win on this West coast road trip.

Evan Turner giveth and Evan Turner nearly taketh away. One night after his 3-ball beat Portland, ET missed 2 throws with 14 seconds remaining that could have given the Celts a 3 point cushion on Denver’s final possession.

Jameer Nelson played extremely well (23 points, 7 assists in 42 minutes) and played with some imaginary chip on his shoulder. Apparently he wanted to prove the Celtics made a mistake by trading him and not buying him out? He did force the final shot and for that I’m glad.

The Green

AB scored 8 points in the final 3:29 that propelled the Celtics to victory. He nailed 2 triples that turned 1 point deficits into 2 point leads.

Brandon Bass was superb – 17 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. A phenomenal all-around effort. (I hope Portland was watching)

The Gross

Marcus Smart had 4 points and 5 fouls in 14 minutes. My Twitter feed tells me he did have a decent stretch late in the 3rd quarter, but I can’t verify because I was sound asleep on my couch.

It’s feast or famine for Tayshaun Princes. On some possessions, he looks as limber as I do getting out of bed. On others, he flashes some sick defensive skills.

Greenlights

AB’s jumper that put the C’s up 100-99

Jae Crowder blocks Kenneth Faried

Marcus Smart with the pretty dish to Tyler Zeller

The Grid

Boston shot 49% to Denver’s 41%
Denver outscored Boston 44-32 in the paint
Denver has two guys (Randy Foye and JJ Hickson) who I didn’t realize were still in the league

Box score

KGino

Another good win for the Cs on a back to back in the mile high. Nice to have young horses. Yea AB!

Before I forget, does anyone recall Scal saying something along the lines of “olynyk goes to the slippery salamander on that one” vs the blazers, KO travelled on the play. I almost spit my drink out and I didn’t even have one
- KWAPT
  
  Yep-I specifically remember that Scal comment…
Thatguy

So… Are we going for the playoffs or the lottery? I don’t get this team. We lose to the Pacers and Hornets, but beat Portland and Denver. We’re about two games out of the playoffs, but about three losses from being top in the lottery.(I think)

I’m not sure how to feel right now.
- Dmitry
  
  The goal is to get to the 8 seed and still have lottery chances, by winning tie break with at least 4 teams =)
- Dirk Diggler
  
  I’m a Celtics fan and I love to see the Celtics win, period. I will never root for them to lose, but when they DO lose, I say “top five pick baby” three times fast and the pain is gone. It’s a win-win.
  
  I’m just so pumped to see this team with a new vision, and a new direction. It’s refreshing to know the future is bright while still getting the pleasure of watching a tough young team win by grinding out teams over four full quarters. The previous Celtics regime involved a lot of anxiety, rage, and heartbreak. This is a nice little break for me, personally. I just like to see the team fight!
Jester00

This team is just better with out Jeff Green
Dirk Diggler

I love this team. They just hustle and compete hard night in and night out. Another great win, and the fun is just beginning for us Celtics fans.
- KGino
  
  For how bad everyone considers them, I don’t really recall them losing a lot of games in a row. Usually like 3 losses then we finally get it right a game. What’s our longest losing streak been, like 5? And if we don’t get any good offers for bass, I say ride it out with him til the end of the year. He’s been playing great ball for us
  - Dirk Diggler
    
    This team is 15-26 in the second season of a complete blow up and rebuild of the team. I consider that pretty successful. Just take a look around the league at teams that have NO DIRECTION, and no future. This team is remaining competitive knowing we have a gazillion draft picks, 30 million in cap space, and over 20 million in trade exceptions.
    
    I want MELO…
    - zippittyay
      
      To quote Donny Marshall on CSNNE, “I wouldn’t trade a bag of basketballs for Melo”
swissflix

Smart’s stretch in the third is what should happen every game: Pick and roll with bigs, going to the basket with force. He cannot do that as long as Turner is in the game.
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