This Celtics team is something, man.
No one can really explain what they’re doing. There’s no formula for this. They’re relying on a Detroit Piston cast-off, a 2nd-year player known as much nationally for his performance art flops as he is for anything else, a good player who’s not himself due to injury, and one of the smallest star players the league has ever seen.
Yet, this team continues to find itself playing the NBA version of The Princess Bride’s Westley… killed and discarded only to be taken to a Miracle Maker who only declares him “mostly dead.” Then, as his body slowly reanimates, he and his band of misfits somehow find a way to win. It’s sometimes funny, sometimes full of action, and immensely endearing to its fans. This is basically who they are, and they are doing it all again.
No one would have said much if they’d been swept tonight. Bradley’s injury was tough. Olynynk’s injury saps our bench strength. Crowder’s ankle is just not well enough to make him effective. All those things were true.
But then they win Game 3. Inconceivable!
Then they come back from 16 points down in the third quarter. Inconceivable!
Then they withstand a MONSTER Paul Millsap night and Playoff Teague late in the 4th. Inconceivable!
The Celtics don’t know what it means, either, because they just stormed the castle… again. And they just tied this series thanks to a monster overtime win.
The first quarter began with a very wonderful sight… Jae Crowder hitting a 3. He actually shot 3-5 from the field in the first quarter and 2-4 from 3, so nice return to form after that late-night trip to the gym to get his form back on track. Crowder’s play gave the Celtics a nice early lead which was countered by a 10-4 Hawks run spurred by Paul Millsap (11) 1st quarter points and Kyle Korver (6) points. But the Celtics countered with a 9-0 run (part of a larger 13-6 run) spurred by the D (10 points off 5 Hawks turnovers). Isaiah Thomas continued his hot play, scoring 6 points on 3-5 shooting. Boston took a 24-21 lead into the second quarter.
It looked like it was going to continue into the second after a steal and wild Turner blown layup/Smart follow putback, but the Hawks whipped off a 9-0 run after the Celtics went cold. It got to 30-26 Atlanta when Brad Stevens called a timeout to stem the tide. The Celtics used an 8-2 run to re-take the lead after it was the Hawks turn to go cold. To be fair, that included Boston flat-out letting Dennis Schroder shoot from the outside. The back half of that 8-2 run was actually part of a 9-0 run to give Boston a 6 point lead. But, guess what? Another run, this time by Atlanta, and this time a 9-0 stretch highlighted by a Millsap 3 that bounced high off the rim twice before dropping through. The Hawks would take a 2 point lead into the half behind Millsap’s 26 point first half.
Millsap picked up right where he left off to start the 3rd by scoring 5 quick points in an 8-0 Hawks opening run. The Celtics didn’t score until the 7:23 mark, when Isaiah Thomas hit a tough and-1 to break what ultimately was a 17-0 run in a start that was eerily reminiscent of how games 1 and 2 began. But this time the Celtics didn’t wait to throw a big counter punch. Attacking the basket, the Celtics offense snapped back into sync to cut the deficit down to 8. They hung there for a while before a Jonas Jerebko 3 capped an 8-0 run to close the cap to 3 going into the 4th quarter.
Jerebko continued things with a couple of baskets to give the C’s a lead early in the 4th but Millsap kept on Millsapping to keep the C’s at bay. Then Marcus Smart went into takeover mode with a great drive-and-dunk and back-to-back 3’s to give Boston a lead. Both teams went back and forth with each hitting massive shots left and right. Jonas Jerebko hit one to give Boston a 4 point lead… then Jeff Teague hit 2 3’s to give Atlanta a 2 point lead with :20. Then Isaiah Thomas got to the rim to tie the game with :15 left. Teague then orchestrated a putrid non-possession to end regulation and send it to OT.
Amir Johnson got a dunk off a sweet pass from Marcus Smart. Turner hit a jumper after smartly taking a dribble in from the corner. Then he found Isaiah Thomas for a killer 3 with :30 left. All this happened as the Hawks kept missing. Korver missed a few… Teague missed a few… and the Celtics used a 12-3 overtime to win this Game 4 and tie the series.
Wow.
The Green
Maybe the best part of today’s Rainin’ J’s podcast was Jay King talking about how much he enjoys the Marcus Smart experience. Well that was on full display tonight because that kid was having a pretty frustrating shooting night before he went OFF. More than that, he switched onto Paul Millsap late in the game and stopped him cold. Millsap had 45 tonight, but he only had 6 after the third quarter, and none in OT. This, above all else, is why the Celtics won the game. In an OT game and 9 point win, Smart was a PLUS 24!
Welcome back to the series, Jae Crowder. His shooting tailed off but this guy was everywhere tonight.
What can you say about Jonas Jerebko? 16 points and 10 rebounds plus some clutch 3’s and generally good defense switching on screens. This guy has come up huge. Smart’s +24 was impressive, but IT was right there at a +21
Another monster game for Isaiah Thomas. How many good things can you say about him? He just doesn’t quit.
The Gross
Kelly Olynyk was not ready to return tonight. Valiant effort, but… nah.
Jared Sullinger had a couple of big plays in big moments, but in general he’s struggling. He shot 1 of 7 tonight.
Man the Celtics had no answer for Paul Millsap for most of this game. I don’t know if the C’s can legitimately put Smart on him from the beginning of things, so the C’s are going to have to figure out something to contain him in Game 5.
The Greenlights
Jae’s D ends with Turer’s O
Defense ➡ Offense pic.twitter.com/1Ds7SBUdVd
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 24, 2016
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Isaiah Thomas huge 3rd quarter 3 to get Boston back in it
IT4 hits the big-time 3-pointer to cut into the Atlanta lead: pic.twitter.com/aoBVLdPIBJ
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 24, 2016
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Jerebko gives the C’s a lead early in the 4th
It’s a back-and-forth battle in Boston. Time for more winning plays like this: pic.twitter.com/14qMjZpaG4
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 25, 2016
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Smart’s 3 gives Boston a lead
Marcus Smart = 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/Rdgf0DH4jv
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 25, 2016
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Isaiah with the DAGGER in OT
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The Grid
- Points in the Paint: Hawks 40, Celtics 52
- Second Chance Points: Hawks 23, Celtics 15
- Fastbreak Points: Hawks 11, Celtics 7
- Biggest Lead: Hawks 16, Celtics 9
- Evan Turner: 17 points (7-19 fg, 1-2 3pt), 7 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk, 4 to
- Marcus Smart: 20 points (7-15 fg, 3-8 3pt), 8 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl, 4 to
They say it’s not a series until the road team wins… well.. let’s go make this a series then, huh boys?
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