This was a generally sloppy game, which is to be expected when you play at 1 p.m. in a freezing cold gym.
Both teams came out cold, but he Celtics were able to capitalize on Atlanta’s sloppiness to take a first quarter lead. They tried to blow the game open in the second quarter, but because they’re the Celtics, they summarily blew the 18 point lead they built to go into halftime only up 5.
The lead stayed at 5 after an even 3rd quarter. It looked for a while that the Celtics bench, which played great for most of the game, would power the C’s past the Hawks, but they gave back all of their gains as well, leaving Brad Stevens no choice but to go back to his starters. They couldn’t do much of anything either, and the Hawks rode a 20-8 run over the last 6:28 to win 92-91.
The Green:
Kelly Olynyk had a career high 21 points off the bench. He shot 8 of 11, including 3-5 from 3. He tacked on 5 assists and 4 rebounds in his best game as a Celtic.
Kris Humphries had 18 points and 10 rebounds for yet another solid performance.
I liked the way Phil Pressey ran the second unit today. Totally in control. Yes, he’s got physical limitations, but he’s capable of spot minutes in the NBA. With the right matchups, he can contribute.
The Gross:
The starters had a rough day:
Jeff Green looked like he was going to put together a nice game, but he disappeared. He played 6 minutes in the 3rd quarter and none in the 4th.
Bass was also benched in the 4th. There is some chatter that Bass and Green got into it on the bench at one point. I wonder if that had anything to do with their 4th quarter DNP’s.
Jared Sullinger was ALSO a 4th qtr. DNP, but he aggravated a left wrist injury. He was on his way to a big rebounding game (he still had 10 in 19 minutes), but he fell hard on that wrist at the end of the 2nd and he was yanked after 6 minutes in the 3rd. Stevens said after the game, though, that the hand had nothing to do with him sitting.
Jordan Crawford was OFF tonight. He was “bad” Jordan for a large portion of the game, taking forced or ill-timed shots. He missed three shots in the final 30 seconds to finish the day 20% from the field (3-15).
Paul Millsap had 34 points and 15 rebounds, both season-highs.
The Greenlights:
Jeff Green finishes the break with the slam
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEDCr4hkQd8]Brandon Bass with the 2-way play… a block on one end, and finish on the other
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2CuHOl7CaQ]Courtney Lee plays the passing lane, gets the steal, and goes in for the dunk
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0vDbZiW18c]Pressey with the beautiful feed to Olynyk
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e71WtlWW6o]The Grid:
- ATL: 33-91 fg (36.3%), 5-29 3pt (17.2%)
- BOS: 35-84 fg (41.7%), 5-20 3pt (25%)
- No Celtics starter hit double figure scoring
#Celtics have now blown a 22-point lead, 2 18-point leads and nearly blew a 19-pointer in 4th quarter of last four home games.
— Scott Souza (@scott_souza) December 31, 2013
Happy New Year
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