West Coast Woes: Warriors 103, Celtics 99

Posted by Brian Robb on Dec 29, 2009 50815 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2009%2F12%2F29%2Fwest-coast-woes-warriors-103-celtics-99%2FWest+Coast+Woes%3A+Warriors+103%2C+Celtics+992009-12-29+06%3A39%3A00Brian+Robbhttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D5081

It’s late and this one was ugly so I am going to make this quick before taking a closer look at this debacle tomorrow. Let’s do this. Here’s some bullets:

* 25 Turnovers tonight by the C’s. We talked about the Warriors inclination to gamble on D and force turnovers in the preview and Boston, coming off of a back to back was ripe for the picking tonight with Golden State forcing 11 steals. You don’t win a game against an above average offensive team…or any team for that matter with those kind of numbers. The C’s were flat out lazy and indifferent with their passing tonight. Painful to watch and everyone in starting lineup was an offender with 3+ turnovers for each starter.

* Rajon Rondo had a terrific line tonight. 46 minutes, 30 points, 15 assists. He carried this team through what looked like a lame hamstring he suffered earlier in the game and worked hard to keep his team in the game. 6 turnovers hurt a lot, but Rondo had a nice bounceback performance from last night’s end of game woes. Good to see despite the loss.

* Warriors played the end of the game smart for the change, fouling Ray with the C’s down 3 with 5 seconds left. Ray made the first but unfortunately is too good at free throws to know how to miss one properly. Perhaps the C’s should have given the ball to Rondo, someone who knows who to miss free throws. And yes that was a cheap shot. That’s what losses at 1:30 am will do to you.

* Ray Allen hot in the first half but the Celtics seemed to go away from him in the 3rd quarter. He also played 44 minutes and Rondo played 46. I know the C’s are shorthanded but it’s time for Doc to give the kids a little run in these games. It’s not worth overworking Ray now if he’s running out of gas in May.

* Monta Ellis is a very good basketball player. So is Anthony Randolph. At least on the offensive end.

* I really like Doc’s strategic moves on D in the last minute, doubling Ellis and doubling the inbounds pass. Unfortunately it was too little too late.

Much more to come but this looks like another west coast swoon for the C’s. Unfortunately there is another tough one waiting in Phoenix Wednesday night.