Things are getting real now. A month ago only the real fanatics believed a playoff run was possible, while the rest were still drooling over the chance at having Jahlil Okafor. With the Celtics on the national stage to take on the hottest team in the league, they took the fight right to the Pacers. The win puts the Celtics on the cusp of not just the 8th, but the 7th seed, and it was all done without the help of Isaiah Thomas who hasn’t played since Monday. Let’s get into what we liked and didn’t like.
UP
1. Tyler Zeller
He came out strong scoring the team’s first six points and did a great job running the floor and defending the paint. He did an excellent job of containing Roy Hibbert (5 points 2/6 from the field), and put a lot of pressure on him offensively by staying active. A week in which he outplayed both Marc Gasol and Roy Hibbert should not go unnoticed, and speaks volumes to the progress Zeller has made this season. He led the team with 18 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.
2. Phil Pressey
Again, his number was called, and again he delivered. Pressey pushed the pace, distributed the ball well, played aggressive defense, and fiercely attacked the paint. His aggressiveness has been a big reason why the second unit has continued to have success with the absence of Isaiah Thomas. It still remains to be seen if these last couple of games will have Stevens reconsidering if he’ll play Pressey a little more down the stretch. He finished with 7 points and 4 assists.
3. Jae Crowder
Bill Simmons has called him a “poor man’s Draymond Green” and while I hate calling players “Poor Man’s” anything, Crowder is definitely cut from the same cloth. Jae delivered another gem against Indy. Not only did he defend both Rodney Stuckey (6-4 guard) and David West (6-10 forward), but he produced at a high rate (16 points and 7 rebounds). After the Rondo trade Danny Ainge said, “We traded the best player in the deal.” He may have traded for him instead.
4. Team rebounding
I talked about this after Friday’s win, and it’s important to watch. The Celtics will be going up against some huge team’s this week (OKC, SAS,DET), and the ability to rebound will be crucial. The Celtics out-rebounded the Pacers 47-42 with every player who played tallied at least one rebound. Six players had 5 rebounds or more.
DOWN
1. Containing George Hill
The Pacers leading scorer had his way with the Celtics, going for 30 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists on an efficient 11/18 shooting. As literally the Pacers only offensive weapon, Hill was being run off multiple screens every possession until he got open. He was the lone Pacers bright spot.
2. Evan Turner
Turner had a back-to-reality game after his career night against the Magic. He did play some great defense down the stretch, but overall a pretty underwhelming performance. Turner finished with 4 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists on 1/7 shooting.
3. Kelly Olynyk poor shooting
Olynyk did a great job being aggressive in the post, and also distributing to his teammates (5 assists). However, he didn’t have much success shooting the ball, and really didn’t seem aggressive after missing a few shots. He finished with 2 points (1-6 FG), 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.
4. Marcus Smart’s Mentality
We talked about how maybe Marcus Smart’s shooting slump was getting to the his head, but unfortunately it’s a lot worse than that. Gary Washburn reported that after the Indy game Marcus Smart was visibly upset due to a family death last week. Smith’s rough childhood has been well documented. This year alone he’s had to bury one family member. As fans we often forget that these players go through the struggles of life just like us, and we wish Marcus Smart the best as he gets through another tragedy.
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