How surprised are we really?
The Celtics went from the highest point of the season to watching the Orlando Magic snap an 8-game losing streak by putting up 119 points against what’s usually one of the best defenses in the league.
So here’s the good and the bad from the home-and-home series with the Magic.
4 Up
1: Marcus Smart
Marcus has been on fire lately, and he dropped 42 points on 13-25 shooting including 8-15 from 3 in the 2 games, including blistering ends to the first and fourth quarters. After putting up some putrid shooting numbers for most of the month, Smart got a day off to work on his shot… and has gone off from deep. He’s 13-27 (48%) from 3 since the snow day.
2: Jonas Jerebko
He was a team-high +11 in the loss and he shot 5-7 from 3 over the 2 games. He also rebounded well, grabbing 10 in the home game and another 5 last night. This is the type of production we expected from Jerebko in this role.
3: The offense
This was the 12th straight game scoring more than 100 points, and all but one have seen the C’s put up over 110 points. They ended January averaging 107 points per game. They now have the 12th highest offensive rating and 7th best net rating in the league.
4: Classic uniforms!
They wore their actual honest-to-goodness real road jerseys last night (which might as well be alternate at this point considering how little they wear them).
4 Down
1: Letting up
Stop me if you’ve heard this before… The Celtics were in a position last night to pull away and instead let up. Before the 4th quarter mess even happened, the Celtics had a lead in the third that they could have built on. Instead, they settled for jumpers, relaxed on defense and went into the 4th quarter tied and giving Orlando confidence. It’s a typical situation this season where they had a team where they wanted them and then gave up, letting off the gas seemingly expecting the other team to roll over and hand the Celtics the win
2: Off nights from usually reliable guys
In the win, Jae Crowder and Kelly Olynyk combined for 31 points on 13-23 shooting. In the loss they only put up 14 points on 5-17 shooting. Off nights will happen but it’s not great when two of the guys were most important to your offense struggle in the same night.
3: Evan Turners ejection
This isn’t my typical Evan Turner rant. He actually had an OK game last night. But the ejection came in a nine-point game with a minute left, with a defense that can force turnovers, and a bunch of guys on the team who have the ability to get hot from three. While it’s impossible to predict how the game would have flowed had he not gotten ejected and given up to technical free throws, the point remains that Marcus smart did get hot from 3 and they did cut the lead down to three points with 15 seconds left. So a lapse in judgement and self-control potentially cost the Celtics a chance to have the ball and a shot to tie or win the game. This isn’t about his play or shot selection, this is about a veteran player who should know better losing control of his emotions.
4: Orlando blues
What is it about the Amway Center? The Celtics haven’t won there since Brad Stevens’ first months as coach. Jordan Crawford and Vitor Faverani started in that game. Last night with their fifth straight loss in Orlando
All the great feeling after Friday’s win are pretty much gone… and now we’re looking at a stretch of win-able games, but not gimmes in the least bit. And then there’s this…
Jae Crowder said he’s concerned his kicked shin might be calf strain. Missing practice and didn’t sound very confident about playing tomoro
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) February 1, 2016
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… so the Celtics could without one of their two most important players for a few games, which suddenly gives me an uneasy feeling about things.
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