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Acquiring any player, whether it’s via trade, free agency, or the draft, comes with an air of uncertainty. The NBA has no guaranteed covenant and all sales are final, no matter how talented, proven, or productive the player may have been in year’s past. But these memories—especially recent ones—often clouds the judgment of a [...]
Krstic got elbowed in the face in the first half and in the second, he sported this sweet beat up nose. Who says he's not tough? Oh yeah, everyone...
Now that we got those terrible puns out of the way, how about that game, eh? The Celtics went into a hostile environment in Utah (always a tough place to play) and used everything they had to edge out the Jazz. This game was perfect for Celtic and NBA basketball fans alike. It had lead changes, drama, near-fisticuffs, referee berating, and two opposing players duking it out.
Al Jefferson and Ray Allen found themselves in a sorta head-to-head matchup as they helped their respective teams trade baskets until the final horn blew. Jefferson dominated the paint tonight, finishing the game with 28 points and 19 boards. It’s really too bad Jefferson and Kevin Love couldn’t co-exist in Minnesota; there just aren’t enough rebounds in an NBA season for the both of them.
Jefferson was so dominant tonight, you almost caught yourself saying, “what if?”…That is, until your eye caught Kevin Garnett and you remembered his words of wisdom, “anything is possible.” Yeah. Utah can have Big Al.
On the other side, Ray Allen had it going on tonight. He was really everywhere, doing things that Celtics fans are not used to seeing him do. I’m talking about coming off ball screens and taking heavily contested three pointers, pulling up in transition after running full speed without any Celtics underneath for offensive rebound insurance, and playing the passing lanes with Rondo-like efficiency. Overall, Allen scored 25 points on 5-of-8 shooting from distance and had 2 steals to boot.
Every starter tonight (Nenad Krstic included) showed something that made you think that this team is the favorite to reach the finals. Both Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett had double-doubles (Garnett’s third straight), Paul Pierce dominated the second quarter, scoring 16 of his 21 points in the period and single-handily keeping the Celtics in the game after an underwhelming performance from the bench. Krstic may not have had the individually impressive game he had against the Clippers but he was just as effective, if not more so. Kurly finished the game with 11 points and 5 rebounds despite not having the touch from the outside.
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It was trench warfare in Utah last night. Despite both teams enjoying double digit scoring runs in the early going, when this game got close in the second, it stayed close throughout. The starters built a comfortable lead by the end of the first and then, as customary, the Celtics’ bench entered the game and quickly let that lead dissipate.
It’s not their fault. The Celtics’ bench is grossly incomplete right now. Mainstays like Delonte West, Shaquille O’Neal, and Jermaine O’Neal are out right now which means the Celtics need to rely on rookies Avery Bradley and Chris Johnson to provide quality minutes book-ending the lineup. Bradley’s performance was passable, but Johnson proved too thin for the Jazz’ bulky front court and got pushed around too much, eliminating any consideration for more playing time.
After the bench came in and made it close again, the starters could not build the lead back up. By the time they got their chance to try, the Jazz had hit their stride offensively. The Celtics expended a ton of energy on the defensive end at the start of the third quarter. The plan was to wear down the Jazz with the Celtics’ suffocating D and then running their offense on the other end. The Celtics quickly realized that using all of their energy on one end of the court caused their offense to sputter. So, they switched it up. Slacked a little on D, and started getting easy baskets.
Stupid equilibrium!
Although not always an exact science, last night the Celtics were able to ramp up their offensive intensity by sacrificing some on the defensive end. This translated to effectively trading baskets with the Jazz until the fourth quarter. Until Ray Allen went from playing awesomely, to flat out unconscious. Here’s Ray after one particular play in which he dribbled right off of a KG ball screen and just pulled up for a three right in Paul Milsap’s face. On his way up the court, he destroyed Milsap with what I can only guess is the look he gives his kids when he wants them to feel contrite:
"I'm sorry Daddy!"
Ultimately, the Celtics were the beneficiaries of a few swings of momentum that allowed them to win this game. The moment in the forefront of everyone’s mind is the non-call foul on KG (Garnett absolutely hacks Andrei Kirilenko on the arm) which led to a pull up transition three from Allen. Not only was this three points and a difficult shot, but also completely heart-removing for the Jazz.
Even with these favorable Celtic momentum shifts, the Jazz stayed in the game, stayed engaged, and made the Celtics play until the final buzzer. When it was all said and done, the Celtics hit their freethrows and defeated the Jazz.
Notes:
Glen Davis. Oi! Davis had a rough night on both sides of the ball. His defensive lapses (fouling, and getting outrebounded) were forgivable considering how many minutes he has been playing lately. Tonight, he played 27 minutes and looked completely gassed for much of his time on the court. The less forgivable aspects of his performance was his shooting (2 for 8 ) from the field and his ineffective one-on-one back downs in the post. Everyone has a bad shooting night from time to time, but Davis looked especially off and caused pleas from the peanut gallery to pass it up– even when he was wide open. The post back-downs are another, sadder story. These plays are really a product of the depleted Celtic bench. Yeeshh! The bench offense eventually devovled into Glen Davis and Jeff Green one-on-one moves and that needs to change. The bench desperately needs a practice.
Devin Harris is really fast. Do you remember him going coast-to-coast like that when he played for the Nets? I sure don’t. I remember lame pull up jumpers at the elbow and a lot of complaining. His time in New Jersey made me think this guy was actually a better basketball player than Harris.
Jazz fans are awesome. Check out this video of one fan mimicking KG after a perceived flop:
See the upper right hand corner? Priceless.
And here’s a montage of hilarious Jazz fans who just happen to have the best second half seats in the house:
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Seriously, if these guys have season tickets, they could have an entire blog dedicated to them. Also, got to love the Nenad Krstic support from the man in the middle.
I like Paul Milsap because I think he’s an underrated/over-producing player, but I have to point out that every single time he curls to the basket a defender could draw an offensive foul. Now all a Jazz opponent needs is a guy who wants to shorten his career by standing in the way of Paul Milsap.
I’ll finish this up with an awesome picture. You create the caption:
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