Tonight’s game vs the Grizzlies at the FedEx Forum started off exactly as we thought it would. Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph had their way feasted in the paint, and Mike Conley picked apart a porous C’s defense. Memphis shot 52% in the first quarter, while Boston couldn’t break 20 points. It was 25-16 after one. 14 of Memphis’ first quarter points came in the painted area. It appeared we were in for a long night.
Boston actually showed some resilience in the second quarter. Marcus Thornton gave the C’s a much needed boost off the bench, putting in 7 points in 8+ minutes, and the Celts were within four, 31-27 with 8:32 left in the first half. But Memphis quelled Boston’s uprising almost immediately. However it wasn’t Randolph or Gasol this time-Jon Leuer, *sigh* yes Jon Leuer, sparked a Memphis run and the Grizz were up double-digits at halftime, 55-41. Tayshuan Prince drilled a long trey at the buzzer to add insult to injury.
Things went from bad to worse for Boston in quarter number three. Despite coming out with some good energy early on, the Grizz matched it, and went on a tear. Marc Gasol was simply unstoppable. The Grizz’ big man racked up 9 points in about 3 minutes, and Boston was down big again. It was 70-55 with 6:13 to go in the 3rd. Despite a huge quarter from Kelly Olynyk (14 points) the C’s headed into the final frame down 82-70.
The 4th was filled with more //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js“>bad defense and more Jon Leuer. Leuer had 9 fourth quarter points & shredded a C’s defense that was paltry at best. Grizz never trailed tonight, and go on to win 117-100. The C’s were simply no match for a very talented & deep Memphis squad. Gasol (season-high 32 pts) & Randolph (16 pts & 14 rebs) took full advantage of their huge edge in the front court. Give the Grizz credit. They simply did not “play down” to Boston, and played extremely well on both ends of the floor. And they did it with some of their key contributors out.
Boston now heads back home for a three game homestand that extends past Thanksgiving into December. Portland is up first on Sunday at 6pm EST.
The Green:
- Kelly Olynyk had 18 points, 14 of them coming in the 3rd.
- Sully had a decent line of 13 pts, 6 rebs, 3 blks, 1 ast & 1 stl.
- Evan Turner & Marcus Thornton combined for 21 points off the bench
The Gross:
- Celtics gave up 66 points in the paint.
- The defense, the defense, the defense:
//platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.jsThe Greenlights:
Kelly doing his Dirk imitation //platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
Bass nice and one
//platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.jsThe Grid: (quick stats)
- Celtics shot 9 of 27 (33%) from downtown
- Rondo logged 28 minutes and had a quiet 4 pts, 4 asts & 5 rebs
- Rebounds: MEM 50 BOS 38
- Turnovers: MEM 14 BOS 12
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