The Celtics’ two game win streak was snapped by the struggling Pacers tonight in Indiana. The C’s shot the ball miserably, but had chances to win thanks to hustle and good rebounding. No, that is not a typo-they were all over the boards. The C’s had 20 offensive rebounds to Indiana’s 8, and were only out rebounded by two, as the Pacers grabbed 43 boards to Boston’s 41. Those numbers are quite promising for a C’s team that has struggled been awful on the boards in recent years. The Pacers are 6th in the NBA in rebounding, and absolutely loaded with size. Let’s hope guys like Sully and possibly Humph, if he sticks around, can help change that.
Speaking of size, Andrew Bynum made his debut for the Pacers tonight and gave them some help on the glass. Bynum had 10 rebounds and 8 points in 15 minutes.
“Everything went great but the ball going in the basket..” That’s a perfect summary for this one from coach Brad Stevens. The coach told CSNNE he was happy with the C’s rebounding effort tonight, especially on the offensive glass and that a rebounding team is “who we’ve become.” But this one simply came down to make/miss to quote one former Celtics coach, and despite getting withing one point in the fourth, the C’s were mostly miss tonight. In the crucial final quarter, Boston had their best shooting percentage of the night (40%), but the Pacers came back with big baskets of their own. What an effort by Sully in the fourth. He literally put the team on his back and put in 11 points in the quarter. But the Pacers finished the game on an 11-5 run over the final 3:50, and Boston shot an absolutely putrid 1 of 10 from three in that fourth. Behind David West’s 24 points, the Pacers win 94-83.
Everybody wins tonight…I guess. The tank fans get a loss, but the Celts put forth a pretty decent effort, minus their shooting, against one of the NBA’s best teams. The Celtics are now 22-42 and are tied for fourth worst record in the league with the Lakers, Jazz & Kings. Boston is back in action tomorrow against the Knicks-winners of their last four. Rajon Rondo will not play, so it will be interesting to see what kind of game Boston cranks out on the second night of a back-to-back. Tip-off at TD Garden is at 7:30pm.
The Green:
- Another great game from Kris Humphries. Kris had 15 points on 6 of 10 shooting and grabbed 9 rebounds
- As mentioned above, Jared Sullinger, despite going 1 of 6 from downtown, played well tonight against a much bigger & longer Pacers front court. Sully grabbed 9 rebounds to go with 17 points.
- Chris Johnson is quietly winning folks over. CJ dropped 15 points on an efficient 6 of 8 from the field.
The Gross:
- We got “bad Jeff Green” tonight. Uncle Jeff struggled mightily, shooting 3 of 16 from the field and 0 of 4 from three.
- The guy I raved about in this morning’s Dump, Kelly Olynyk, and Jerryd Bayless, combined to go 2 of 15.
- Boston was 3 of 19 from beyond the arc. Yuck.
The Greenlights:
Rondo sick dish
The Grid: (quick stats)
- Boston shot 16 of 19 from the line
- The Pacers sweep the season series for the first time since 1998
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