Live by the Kyrie, die by the Kyrie.
The Celtics seven game wining streak ended tonight at the Garden with a 116-113 OT loss to the Pelicans. Supernova Kyrie lifted the Celtics out of a 10-point halftime deficit with a 16-point 3rd quarter, but horrendous shot selection and a few turnovers late by #11 ultimately cost Boston this game.
Oh yeah, Anthony Davis is a god-damn superhero. Brow dropped 45 points and 16 rebounds.
Game Flow
Boston was sloppy and disjointed from the jump. The Cs coughed up 5 TOs and committed 7 fouls in the 1st quarter. Meanwhile, Davis was red-hot (17 points, 6 rebounds). His sweet mid-range stroke reminded me of Kevin Garnett. NO led 32-25.
Marcus Morris (11 of his 12 points) kept the Celtics in this game. But Boston just kept fouling. And it’s remarkable how a load like DeMarcus Cousins can fall to the ground with very little force. Outside of Morris, the Cs didn’t have any offensive punch. They shot 37% and trailed 58-48 going into the half. Davis had outscored Boston’s starting five (25-24) at this point.
Everything changed in the 3rd quarter. Boston rattled off 4 quick 3s and this game was tied at 64. The threes kept coming. Boston hit EIGHT in the quarter. Kyrie shook off the rust and dropped 16. Watch and enjoy:
Kyrie Irving went off for 16 PTS in a big 3rd quarter on @NBATV! #Celtics pic.twitter.com/GXrIMdqyFC
— NBA (@NBA) January 17, 2018
Boston led 75-72 midway through the 3rd but reverted back to some bad habits and found themselves down 87-80 going into the 4th.
Fatigue started to show for the Pelicans and they went cold (5 points over 5 minutes). Boston cranked up their effort and knotted the score at 95. A 3-pointer by Daniel Theis(!) put the Celtics up 101-96 with 3:54 remaining. Ball game, right? Wrong. Kyrie went into hero ball mode and missed 3 shots with a turnover.
But…
Kyrie Irving's game tying layup that sent it to OT! pic.twitter.com/ZP028bogtp
— NBA (@NBA) January 17, 2018
That’s a helluva move on Davis.
Boston led 113-112 with about 90 seconds remaining in overtime. But for some reason, Marcus Smart (16 points, 5-14 FG, -19) decided to jack up a 27-footer midway through the shot clock. It missed and Jrue Holiday made a couple of buckets to put NO up 3.
Boston had another chance to tie but hero ball reared its ugly head again:
Celtics could’ve gotten something MUCH better but Holiday got away with some contact on this shot and should say a prayer of thanks to the basketball Gods pic.twitter.com/oqoayQZZbC
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) January 17, 2018
Kyrie is a helluva player but Boston is at their best when everyone is involved.
Highlights
Jaylen Brown drives & flexes on Boogie, Danny Ainge loves it pic.twitter.com/m7oZcYtj2C
— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) January 17, 2018
Al Horford says NO SOUP FOR YOU, Anthony Davis. ONE WEEK!! pic.twitter.com/kg3LbH5l25
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) January 17, 2018
Jayson Tatum 😱#Celtics #NBARooks pic.twitter.com/Ox3GGeHwkf
— NBA (@NBA) January 17, 2018
One final somber note, JoJo White passed away. RIP #10.
The @Celtics remember JoJo White! #Celtics pic.twitter.com/eoQL27AJAC
— NBA (@NBA) January 17, 2018
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