I’ll just file this game under why I don’t bet on games. Because even though New Orleans was winless against the East, they were facing a Celtics team that’s been reeling from the losses of its two best players, and the uncertainty of what was next. They have an MVP candidate, and the player that is now many people’s choice in the “if you could start a team now… ” debate. It didn’t look like a blowout on paper, but I would have expected the Pelicans to pull away.
Yet they never could. They had leads that were built easily enough that it seemed it could go from 6 to 12 in a hurry. Much like the Raptors game, this had the feel for a while that New Orleans was simply disinterested in putting forth a huge effort against a weak team. Their 13 first half turnovers (10 in the second quarter) were often as much sloppy execution as they were Celtics pressure. But when it came time for the Pelicans to pull away, Boston wouldn’t allow it.
The Celtics didn’t always play well tonight, but they played well when it counted. Different guys stepped up at different times, perhaps knowing that with Jeff Green gone, there was truly no single great scorer anymore. While two guys (Jared Sullinger and Jae Crowder) combined for almost half of the Celtics offense, six different Celtics managed to score in double figures, even though some of them didn’t have great shooting nights.
The Celtics took advantage of the opportunity given to them by their opponent, and they capitalized. They executed down the stretch, and won a game they seemed destined to lose.
The Celtics hung tough early, surviving an 8 point Anthony Davis first quarter to finish the first 12 minutes tied at 22. Davis had a lot of good looks, and was easily a couple of bad Jrue Holiday decisions away from a much bigger opening quarter. Jae Crowder, who got the start again with Jeff Green now in Memphis, came out strong to lead the C’s early. The Celtics got some balanced scoring in the first, despite shooting just under 37%. Luckily, the Pelicans shot 40% to helped the C’s stay close.
James Young got the minutes we’ve been craving in the 2nd quarter (immediately turning the ball over leading to a Pels layup). Young did get a make as part of a 10-2 Celtics run, which answered a New Orleans run at the top of the quarter. Crowder got a few baskets too.. and a few more fans with his hustle and full-speed style of play on both ends. He had 11 points, 3 steals, and 2 assists in the quarter to go into halftime with 15 points, 3 steals, and 3 assists. Jared Sullinger was a perfect 3 of 3 in the quarter to help keep the C’s even, and go into halftime tied at 49. New Orleans turned the ball over 10 times in the quarter, which led to 11 Celtics points.
Thing stayed close in the third, with New Orleans once again taking a decent lead only to watch it slip away again, but they managed to go into fourth up 4. But the Celtics immediately went on an 8-0 run to start the quarter and take a lead… which was countered by a 5-0 Pelicans run. The New Orleans lead was 2 when Anthony Davis ripped off three straight baskets. The lead was 6 when Sullinger scored 5 straight of his own to cut it back to 1. After a pair of Davis free throws, it was Sully again.. this time from 3… to tie the game at 90.
The Celtics D stepped up a tick from there, with Sully blocking Davis… which led to a Crowder banked-in 3 to push it to 4. Olynyk followed with a block of his own to keep the lead at 4. After trading a bunch of free throws, Smart hit a runner to give the C’s a 3 point lead. Sully forced a Davis miss, and Bradley hit a fadeaway that pushed the lead to 5, the Celtics biggest of the night, with 1:41 left. Free throws cut the lead back down to 1 before Smart hit a contested 3 from the corner. A pair of Sully free throws gave the Celtics a 6 point lead with just under 24 seconds left. Two more free throws iced it, and the Celtics held on to win 108-100.
The Green
Jared Sullinger drew the Anthony Davis matchup, and while he didn’t exactly “stop” Davis (he had 34 points), he played some good D in key situations down the stretch. Sully also negated Davis’ 34 points and 9 rebounds with 27 points and 10 rebounds of his own. If you can come away from a Davis matchup -7 points and +1 rebound, you’re going to do alright against the Pelicans. Huge night for Sully… and since this is a what have you done lately for me world, I’ll call this his most impressive night of the season.
What can you say about Crowder’s performance? Dude came to PLAY tonight with a monster stat line of 22 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and this huge block. If he keeps playing like this, it won’t take long for people to start arguing we won the Rondo trade (no,this is not an invitation to make that argument in the comments).
And let me just give an overall pat on the back to this whole team for rolling with the changes and getting a much-needed win. In case you missed it on last night’s Celtics Stuff Live, I spent a portion of the last half hour or so explaining how important a win was by comparing this season to unsuccessful nights out. This team needed this win. Kudos to them, especially Brad Stevens and staff for keeping them in the right frame of mind.
The Gross
Kelly Olynyk is piling up the fouls. He’s the league leader in personal fouls, and he got 5 more tonight in less than 14 minutes of play.
Tyler Zeller is really struggling. 1-9 for 2 points and 4 rebounds. Ewww.
Avery Bradley wasn’t much better. That clutch jumper was nice, but he shot 3-10.
New Orleans is winless against the East this year. I don’t care which team you’re rooting for, that’s gross.
The Greenlights
In case you missed that block
Smart’s sweet dime
Side note: I miss the days when the Celtics were good and everyone was in a hurry to post highlights to YouTube
The Grid
- Second chance points: Celtics 21-14
- Fastbreak points: Celtics 15-10
- Points in the paint: Celtics 42-40
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
