For one night without Rondo the Celtics offense looked fluent, their defense looked poised, and their teammwork was phenomenal. After a 114-98 win over the Timberwolves that was a little closer than the scoreboard would show, here are some things we liked and didn’t like.
UP
1. Great Ball Movement
When the Celtics lost Rondo many assumed that all the open looks that he created would go away, and the Celtics wouldn’t be able to score like they used to. If you listened to enough Boston radio you might have even been surprised that the Celtics players could actually look up while dribbling, and knew which basket they were suppoused to score on. Jokes aside the Celtics offense looked very fluent, and unselfish which led to 29 assists on 48 Field goals. It won’t always be this pretty, but the fact that it can be should be a comforting thought for Celtics fans.
2. Avery Bradley with an all-around game
One product of Rondo’s absense seems to be the addidtion of Bradley’s all-around game. If you read this series enough you know since Game 1 I’ve been of the mindset that Bradley needed to give more to the game besides scoring or he could have his starting job taken away. Well for one, the guy who would have taken his position is now going to be our starting point guard, and with the emphasis more on ball movement rather than wait for Rondo to create Bradley had a great all around game posting 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists. The best part of it is he never really seemed to be playing out of the offense, he just kept making the right passes, shot the ball when he was open, and made more of an emphasis on crashing the boards. Also with the addition of Smart in the lineup, his defense was pretty solid making this one of his best performances of the seaon.
3. K.O. still ballin’
Olynyk has showed no signs from slowing down his hot play, and followed up his 15/6 performance against Orlando with 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists. Olynyk was aggressive, attacking the paint, taking the open shots when given, and playing inspired defense at times. Again, this also seemed to be the product of just playing within the system and making the right basketball play everytime.
4. Closing games by committee
When the Timberwolves pulled in within 3 late in the game, most fans suspected the worst since we’ve seen it happen too often this season. However, tonight was different, on the ensuing possession Smart canned a shot-clock beating 3, then the defense created a turnover that ended with a Green dunk, and then Green hit a 3 on the next possession which pretty much iced the game. The Celtics played unselfish, fast-paced, exciting basketball from start to finsish, and even when they faced adversity they continued the gameplan and reaped the benefits that come from it, winning.
Down
1. Offensive rebounding
The Celtics allowed 15 offensive rebounds which lead to a lot of easy buckets that kept Minnesota in the game even when they shouldn’t have been. With the additions of Brandan Wright, a 6-10 athletic center, this is one area he could help stablize a bit.
2. Containing Shabazz Muhammad
Watching the game from a Minnesota broadcast, their announcers kept alluding to how fans were screaming for Shabazz Muhammad to start, and honestly I thought nothing of it because really who pays attention to Minnesota? But man was I wrong. Muhammad looked great for the Timberwolves scoring 26 points, grabbing 5 rebounds, and tossing 5 assists all on 11/15 shooting. He made a living in the paint constantly attacking Green and Turner and it was shocking how much success he had. Both Turner and Green will have to be more prepared to deal with forwards who live in the paint because chances are teams might utilize that to slow the game down.
3. Chase Korver??
Chase Budinger was on fire, and for a stretch even Marcus Smart couldn’t stop it. Budinger finished the game with 19 points on 8/12 shooting including 3/5 from range. The quick release Budinger seemed to surprise the Celtics defenders since most weren’t expecting him to shoot right in their face. It’s hard to blame a team when a guy just catches fire, but it always seems to be some reserve that feasts on the Celtics. Eventually, Smart was able to contain him, but Celtics need to make an emphasis to keeping shooters out of sync early.
4. Marcus Smart Pick and Roll offense
Part of Marcus Smart’s growing pains will be him understanding his spots on the offensive end. Coming off pick and rolls he seemed to struggle reading the defense and of his 3 turnovers, 2 of them came from that (though he recovered and stole one back leading to a score). His role has changed from the combo guard who sparingly played the point, to the teams main ball-handler so their will be an adjustment period along with the fact that his still returning to form from his injury. When Smart learns to react naturally to what the defense gives him he will be extremley hard to stop. But for now we will have to deal with some ill-advised shots, and bad turnovers that come when your a rookie.
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