Another game, another inconsistent effort for our Celtics. However, at least this one came with a little Youth-infused excitement! Let’s get into some of the upside.
UP
1. James Young
For a man who laughed off the thought of the D-League during media day, the rookie looked a whole lot more poised and confident than ever before. Young had three triples, played decent defense considering his age, and looked more patient on the offensive end, letting the game come to him. Young finished with 13 points on 5/7 shooting and was part of the lineup that made this game a little watchable in the second half.
2. Youth infused lineup
Speaking of Young, the Celtics bright spots from last night came with youth driven lineup of Smart/Young/Crowder/Bass/Sullinger. The lineup offered a unique blend of gritty defense, and 5 guys who could spread the floor. It gave the Bobcats fits, and Stevens may have found a lineup that he could go to.
3. Bench Points
Boston won the bench point battle convincingly 55-28. This was mostly due to the extended time of the second unit because the starters flatlined, but hey we’ll take what we can get.
4. Second half
Overall the Celtics played the right way in the second half and won the half by 8. Of course when you’re playing from behind their isn’t a lot you can take from it in terms of individual games, but in terms of rotations I think Stevens saw a lot of positive things from the Young lineups he put on the floor. We’ll see if he keeps that in mind this Wednesday against Brooklyn.
Down
1. Inconsistent night for starters
In a winnable game at home, the starters – who Brad Stevens claimed he was comfortable with – opened the gates down 15-4, and never once looked in sync the whole game. Besides Sullinger who ended the night with 22/8. No other starter broke double figures and had a combined shooting of 8/30. The lack of consistent production continues to plague the Celtics.
2. First half
Piggy backing off of the starters poor performance was just the overall not good effort of the first half, the Hornets were able to start the game up 15-4 and went into the half up 14. Playing from behind is becoming too common for this Boston team.
3. Containing Kemba Walker
Kemba Walker went wild on us last night. Getting to the lane with ease, getting his shot whenever he wanted it, and controlling the pace of the game. An issue with having your best perimeter defender come off the bench is sometimes when a player is already going it’s too late to stop him. That was the case with Walker last night.
4. Tyler Zeller
When Rondo left everyone looked to Zeller as the guy who was mostly going to suffer from the lose. It’s been just the opposite…. Until last night. Zeller could only muster up 2 points and 2 rebounds while his younger brother Cody drummed us with a 20/7 line. Make that 0-6 for Tyler against his little bro.
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