After a 122-117 defeat of the Brooklyn Nets Wednesday night, the C’s begin their two game road streak in Chicago then down into the Carolinas, which is followed up by a trip back home to Beantown to host the Chicago Bulls (two times in the first four games these two teams meet).
As we saw with the Celtics last night against the Nets, defense was up and down, especially in the fourth quarter, there are improvements to be made and Celtics coach Brad Stevens understands the holes to be made. Giving up 117 points to potentially the worst team in the NBA was the main message but responding with 122 points on the C’s end was the balancing factor in this game which led to the win.
For the players themselves, newcomers Al Horford, Gerald Green and Jaylen Brown all came out strong and played team basketball to give the C’s hope through the 4th quarter when things looked a bit shaky with the Nets behind the arc shooting. Horford delivered with a 11 point 5 rebound game and shot 5-8 on attempts while dishing out 6 assists to go along with a game high 4 blocks. Green returns to his homeland, the team that drafted him straight out of high school in 2005, and contributed well off the bench with 9 points and 5 boards along with a nice braided hairdo of a shamrock. Brown was the most explosive athlete in this game, as he attempted a few ridiculously athletic attempts to go above the rim. Eventually, Brown did get his first dunk in the green uniform, as he scored 9 points off the bench to go along with 2 boards and 2 blocks.
As the newcomers are fitting in, the rest of the roster played efficiently and contributions were made from everyone. The 10 guy rotation Stevens implemented last night worked for all the guys as Isaiah Thomas led in the scoring margin and assists margin with 25 and 9. Avery Bradley out of all guys, led in rebounding with 9 to almost give himself a double double (17 points and 9 boards). Jerebko and Zeller both played the 4 and 5 well, as they ran the floor great and contributed respectively (4 steals and 4 points for Jerebko, 13 points and 4 rebounds for Zeller to go along with 2 blocks).
When looking at the Bulls roster, the familiar face in Rajon Rondo should alert the C’s, as his passing abilities are top notch in the league along with his ridiculous handles. Newcomers Dwayne Wade and Michael Carter Williams should be outside shooting threats along with the bigs that they have in Mirotic and Gibson along with McDermott, who is a stretch 3 guy that can nail the 3 ball. Tonight will be their season debut, so the C’s will be the first to see how the Bulls rotate their guys and see their offense in the regular season.
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