Mike Gorman started off tonight’s broadcast by warning fans that the first game back home after a west coast trip is notoriously ugly. After a quick start to the game (especially by Avery Bradley, who continued his trend of hot first quarters), the C’s proved Gorman right. The second and third quarters were ugly messes that saw Jeremy Lin, Chandler Parsons, and Dwight Howard alternately destroy the Celtics in a variety of ways (I think Howard just caught another alley oop).
Then in the fourth, the Celtics, most notably Jerryd Bayless, stepped up to no only save face in what seemed to be a sure blowout, they cut a 19 point lead all the way down to 8. They couldn’t get any closer than that though, and the Celtics are now riding a 9-game losing streak. 104-92 was the final.
The Green:
Avery Bradley was once again the Celtics leading scorer. His stat line is impressive: 24 points on 11-21 shooting, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals.
But I’m going to start calling Bradley “lava”… he comes out super-hot, but then cools down the longer he’s out there. It’s bizarre. He scored 24 points tonight: 14 in the first quarter, 10 in the third. Nothing in the second or fourth quarters. Go figure.
Jerryd Bayless had 15 of his 17 points in the 4th quarter. He was on fire in the 4th. It was like the Bayless we saw kill the Celtics every time they played Memphis. Maybe there’s something about the green and white jerseys that triggers a major single-quarter explosion in Boston games.
Sully had a tough shooting night, but he did manage 10 rebounds.
The Gross:
Jeff Green, Kris Humphries, and Jordan Crawford all sat the entire 4th quarter. Said Stevens after the game: “I thought the last group gave us a chance and they deserved to finish it.”
Green had one of his “no-show” games: 2-10 fg, 4 points, 6 rebounds.
Crawford is now shooting about 36% in January. He was 3-11 tonight an 0-3 from downtown.
The Greenlights:
Avery Bradley was looking cross-court for Jordan Crawford. Instead, Kris Humphries stole the pass and went in for the dunk.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z9qrxBpM2M]Humph again, doing it on D.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pL2KZdcQgU]Bayless got some D too (and some O)
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUfhCJgfs8s]The Grid:
- Points in the Paint: Rockets 58, Celtics 36
- Dwight Howard: 10-18 FT, 32 points, 11 reb.
- Kris Humphries: 3 blocks
- Second Chance Points: Rockets 10, Celtics 20
- Celtics: 101 fg attempts, 38 makes
The 2nd and 3rd quarters tonight were abysmal. I credit this team for not quitting, and it’s nice that they force teams to stay honest and play 48 minutes, but it would be nice not to suffer from these kinds of lulls.
Next up, the Raptors. Oh, wait, I’m sorry… the division leading, 19-17, one of only four teams in the East to have a winning record Raptors. That won’t be easy.
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