We compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
Friday’s game was an eyesore, regardless of which team you support. The Celtics and Raptors combined for 61 fouls and 76 free throws in a whistle-heavy game that took two hours and 29 minutes. The Celtics spent the night frustrated by the calls going against them, but were still on top early in the third quarter before a brief lapse allowed the Raptors to open up a 14-point lead. A Terrence Ross fourth-quarter explosion pushed that lead as high as 19 before Boston chipped away late.
Asked about some frustrated body language the Celtics displayed in the second half, guard Isaiah Thomas didn’t disagree with the suggestion.
“I haven’t seen it this year. That was the first time,” Thomas said of a team that had endured little adversity during a 6-1 preseason and then raced away from the Philadelphia 76ers on opening night on Wednesday. “Coach said it a few times in the huddle, too. And we can’t have that. That’s signs of an immature team, a young team. We’ve got to be bigger than that. At all times we’ve just got to be even-keeled. Whether it’s good or bad we can’t get too high or too low.”
“You feel better when you make shots; everything seems a little rosier, right?” Brad Stevens said after the game. “We had a lot of misses. Some of them were good looks, some of them weren’t. Again, I think that we have to move the ball better and continue to probe for better shots. It’s Game 2. We’re not as good as these guys right now. I think that was pretty evident and clear for everyone to see, and so we’ll see if we can improve.”
So, about last night. The Celtics and Raptors were called for 61 fouls in as choppy and uneven a game of basketball as has occurred since Naismith’s peach baskets were replaced by nets in 1906.
The game was particularly messy for the Celtics, who were wearing those ugly shirseys again, or whatever hybrid word we’re using to describe those abominations. They belong in senior leagues, not the NBA. The shirseys were in “honor” of the anniversary of the first game Red Auerbach coached. Seems an odd way to honor a guy who would have, in all likelihood, refused to allow his players to take the court in them, and would’ve probably had them tossed in the Garden boiler at the first opportune moment.
At any rate, it’s best to put this one in the rear view mirror and leave it there. A team that wins 55 games in the regular season is going to lose one out of every three, and the Celtics are (probably) not going to win 55 games this year.
The rest of the game writeups:
Boston Globe – Raptors flex muscles, beat Celtics | NESN: Celtics Notes: Turnovers Costly For Boston; Terrence Ross Catches Fire | CSNNE: Celtics show uncharacteristic frustration vs. Raptors | MassLive.com: Isaiah Thomas scores big again but Boston Celtics sloppy in 113-103 loss to Toronto Raptors
Page 2: Tommy is still Tommy.
Tommy: “If they’d called a foul on Thomas, I would of thrown the monitor at ’em..” https://t.co/Wr8nMxygOq
— KWAPT (@KWAPT) October 31, 2015
That was probably the most Tommy thing Tommy said last night, and maybe even all week.
Page 3: In which options are picked up.
The Celtics also did some last minute paperwork on Friday, picking up team options on Kelly Olynyk, Marcus Smart and James Young.
The Celtics have exercised their third-year options on Marcus Smart and James Young, and their fourth-year option on Kelly Olynyk. — Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 31, 2015
Finally: It could be worse
Through two games, the Lakers have given up 244 points, including 132 in a humiliating 18-point loss Friday to the Sacramento Kings at Sleep Train Arena.
“We just sucked,” Scott said of his team’s defense. “Simple as that.”
The Kings scored 40 points in the first quarter, had 74 by halftime and broke through the triple-digit mark in the third quarter.
But even worse for the Lakers was the fact the Kings scored a whopping 80 points in the paint, which, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, was the most Sacramento has scored in that area in the past 20 seasons.
Let’s check in on the Lakers: pic.twitter.com/bkYIu6TdII
— Zach Harper (@talkhoops) October 31, 2015
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