There was a distinct pattern to tonight’s game. The 1st and 3rd quarters belonged to the Raptors (outscored C’s 48-32), while the 2nd and 4th quarters primarily belonged to the Celtics (57-44 C’s advantage). Unfortunately for Boston, the Raptors had just enough at the end to come away with a 92-89 win.
The Celtics were down 9 with just 2:13 left in the game, but they went on a 9-0 run to tie the game on an Avery Bradley jumper with 8 seconds left. That was enough time for Lou Williams to check in and drain the game winning 3. Jared Sullinger actually got a good look at a 3 with .06 left, but just missed.
Jeff Green made his return and was clearly rusty, scoring just 9 points on 25% shooting. He was also poked in the eye on a 3rd quarter drive, which didn’t help things.
The Green:
Evan Turner was slicing the Raptors defense with pick and rolls. He hit Green with one right out of the gate (highlight below) and just kept on doing it. Turner was on his way to a triple double, actually, with 11 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists before he was tossed after a tech and a BS call where the ref apparently felt Turner threw the ball at him… except it was from the opposite side of the court, and it lightly bounced twice and the call was total crap.
Turner’s favorite target of the night, actually, was Tyler Zeller of all people.
Zeller was perfect from the field, going 6-for-6 against Toronto, while blocking 3 shots, grabbing 4 rebounds, and dishing 3 dimes. If you offered me Zeller at 13 points, with those other numbers (and obviously realistic shooting), I’d take it right now. This was the first real glimpse we have of his potential, which may just show the early horrible play was a matter of getting acclimated to the new system and teammates.
Marcus Thornton got hot quick, fast, and in a hurry. After taking just one shot in the first half, and two in the 3rd quarter, He went 4-6, including 2-3 from 3 and a 5-point play (more below) to put up 12 4th quarter points to spur the Celtics comeback.
Bradley continues to shoot the ball well, going 6-11 tonight for 13 points.
The Gross:
Avery Bradley continues to be unable to dribble the ball. He had turnover with about 5 minutes left where he tried 1 crossover too many and just….. lost the ball.
Jared Sullinger lost his touch tonight. Some nights, that’s gonna happen, and it happened in a big, 2-11, 0-3 3pt way tonight. Kelly Olynyk didn’t fare much better, though I will give them credit for combining for 17 rebounds.
Of course, there were a lot of rebounds to be had tonight… because the Celtics shot 41% and the Raptors shot 42.5%. In a game with 95 missed field goals, I’d like to think the bigs would be able to rack up a few.
The Greenlights:
Turner hits Green for the dunk :12 into the game
Tyler Zeller 2 blocks on 1 possession
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Marcus Thornton 5 point play
Marcus Smart scored 3 points on this play, but he got, like, a million Tommy Points for it
The Grid:
- Brandon Bass: 3 points (1-4 fg), 1 reb, 1 ast.
- Phil Pressey: 2 points (0-6 fg), 2-2 ft, 4 ast.
- Celtics: 8-30 3pt (26.7%) Raptors: 6-25 3pt (24%)
- Marcus Smart: 11 points (3-8 fg, 2-6 3pt, 3-3 ft), 6 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 6 to.
So overall, it was nice to see the bench come back in a game that could have easily been handed away. Obviously, it’s preseason, so there’s added incentive to make the team and win minutes that would prevent let-downs, but it’s still nice to see. Now it’s on to Philly for one of the dumbest things in the NBA: back-to-back preseason games.
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