After a hot February the Celtics were looking to steal one at home against Golden State. In a game that had many encouraging signs, the Celtics fell to the Warriors 106-101. Here’s what we liked and didn’t like.
UP
1. Fastbreak Points
Against the league’s best defense, the Celtics were able to get on the run and get 22 fastbreak points, a +12 advantage over the Warriors.
2. First Half
During the first half the Celtics were able to get up and down the court, hold the Warriors to mostly contested shots, and march out to a lead that grew to 26. Isaiah Thomas came off the bench and had 15 first half points, while Evan Turner also had a hot start scoring 8 first quarter points. Celtics showed a lot of poise coming out of the gate.
3. Rebounding
For a team that plays small and without a dominant rebounder, the Celtics did a great job hustling off the boards. The Celtics out-rebounded the Warriors 60-54 and grabbed an impressive 21 offensive rebounds. Jae Crowder had a MIND-BLOWING 17 rebounds.
4. Bench Points
The Celtics continue to have great offensive production from the bench outscoring the Warriors 37-16, lead by 20 points from Isaiah Thomas.
Down
1. Stagnant Offense in the Second Half
Great defenses are great at making halftime adjustments, and the Warriors did just that. With the ability to match the Celtics small ball and attack Thomas with taller defenders, the Warriors were able to negate the Celtics hot small-ball lineup. With the inability to utilize mismatches, the Celtics were forced into taking tough shots with little to no ball movement.
2. Containing the Splash Brothers
You never expect to stop Steph Curry or Klay Thompson, but the Celtics really had a hard time keeping the two in front of them, specifically Curry who went off for 37 points. The two combined for 57 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists.
3. Jae Crowder shot selection
Though Crowder once again played great defense, and was a beast on the boards grabbing 17 rebounds, but he did a horrible job playing within himself offensively. It’s common for a young player to get a little over zealous, but the forward took a lot of bad shots. Step-back 3’s, long two’s, etc. are not Crowder’s game, and it led to an awful 4/17 shooting night.
4. Tough Shooting night for Isaiah Thomas
Though Thomas was able to drop 20 points, he struggled a lot in the second half shooting 2/10. A lot of that had to do with the Warriors switching off all ball screens and throwing defenders like Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala at him. Biggest indicator that Thomas wasn’t on his game was the fact that he only had 1 free throw attempt. In situations like this it would have been great to see Stevens get him off the ball where he can have a better chance at finding mismatches and getting better angles at the basket.
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