That was a giant shit sandwich. The Celtics were expectedly fatigued in the first half, but they maintained a level of aggression that got them to the line a bunch, even in sloppy half court possessions. But they completely went down the toilet for most of the second half.
What kind of game was this? This was a true statement at one point:
@redsarmy_john Who would have thought that this game would be a Byron Mullens vs Jeff Green shootout
— Tim Galvin (@TimothyMGalvin) February 12, 2013
Yeah, it was that kind of game. Byron Mullins destroyed the Celtics at every turn (until he was basically frozen out in the 4th quarter). Jeff Green returned the favor for a while. But the C’s never really had the kind of execution that we’ve seen over the course of this streak.
The result was a 94-91 loss to the lowly Bobcats (you’ll see that phrase a lot. You’ll think they changed the name of the city to “lowly”).
The Green:
Green carried the team for much of the game. He had a very efficient night (18 points on 8 shots) and was a game-high +10.
Jason Terry continues his resurgence. He shot 50% on the night.
KG got another double-double.
The Gross:
Leandro Barbosa’s knee injury, which was a non-contact injury. And there was no obvious torque to it, which makes it all the scarier. I don’t want to speculate, but I’ve seen enough of these types of things to fear the worst.
The Celtics last points came with 2:10 left in the game. Charlotte closed on a 7-0 run.
I’m not going to kill them for it since this was a road back-to-back after a triple OT home game… but the C’ really never did any of the stuff they were doing well during the streak. If nothing else, it gives Doc something to point to to say “hey, you see this game? This is what happens when don’t do what we’re supposed to do.”
The Greenlights:
Jeff Green goes baseline, and the Bobcats let him
[youtube id=”B8UZSubP4ig” width=”620″ height=”360″]Chris Wilcox… with some power
[youtube id=”_pjFMlgCEvI” width=”620″ height=”360″]The Grid:
- This was Kevin Garnett’s 5th double-double (16 points, 13 rebounds) since losing Rondo. 3rd since Sullinger went down.
- The Celtics had 26 assists on 32 baskets.
- Byron Mullins line: 25 points (10-16 fg, 4-5 3pt), 18 rebounds (5 offensive), 4 assists.
- Pierce & KG: 9-25 shooting.
The loss isn’t the worst thing in the world. I sort of chalked this game up somewhere in the first OT last night anyway. What I’m mostly concerned with now is Barbosa’s knee injury.
Doc to reporters on Barbosa: “Doesn’t look great.” #Celtics
— Greg Payne (@GregPayne_ESPN) February 12, 2013
The MRI is set for tomorrow… I do not expect good news.
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