We’re using this photo way too much this year…
Nate Robinson bugged the shit out of me when he was with the Celtics with is ill-advised threes… but Doc Rivers always said he would occasionally win you a game. He did tonight for the Bulls, dropping 5 of 7 three pointers in a 100-89 Bulls win. To add to this craptastic effort, Joakim Noah dropped a triple double on the C’s
The Celtics had the lead down to 3… 70-67… with 3:40 to go in the 3rd. With 3:22 left in the 4th, it was 100-79. That’s a 30-12 run over the span of 1 quarter.
The Green:
Rondo had a big scoring night, leading the way with a game-high 26. KG was hot early, and Pierce dropped 16 on 6-10 shooting.
The Gross:
Where to start….
The Celtics refused to defend… again. They gave up 28 and 27 point quarters to a not-so-great offensive team that was playing in a back-to-back while the Celtics had 2 days off.
The Celtics without Garnett on the floor are putrid. They’re almost as bad when Rondo’s off the floor. Doc Rivers needs to figure out a new substitution pattern with Rondo. I suggested tonight on Twitter that Doc stop playing Rondo entire first quarters and sit him with about a minute to go. That gives Rondo rest around the quarter break… and a natural time out to prevent long opposition runs as Rondo sits until sometime between the 6 or 7 minute mark in the 2nd.
The bench was horrible. HORRIBLE! Nate Robinson outscored the entire second unit, 18-16.
The Greenlights:
The Grid:
- Jeff Green was 1-6 for 3 points.
- Jason Terry was 1-2 for 2 points.
- Leandro Barbosa was 1-6 for 6 points.
- Jared Sullinger was 0-6 for 1 point.
- Rajon Rondo: 26 points (9-18 fg, 2-3 3pt. 6-8 FT), 8 assists, 2 rebounds
- Carlos Boozer: 21 points (10-17 fg) 12 rebounds (3 offensive)
- Luol Deng: 21 points (5-9 fg, 10-11 FT)
- Joakim Noah: 11 points, 10 assists, 13 rebounds
- Nate Robinson: 18 pts (6-12 fg, 5-7 3pt)
- Points in the paint: Chicago 48 – Boston 36
- Second chance points: Chicago 16 – Boston 8
For a while there, the Celtics were keeping it inexplicably close. But it’s hard to win when the bench completely shits itself and opposing guards are continuously allowed to attack the rim, draw fouls, and pull bigs out of position to allow for easy baskets or putbacks.
The Celtics are right back to where they started and now they’ve got a game tomorrow night. They’ve lost 3 in a row. God help us all if they go into Cleveland and lose.
Doc postgame: “We’re going to keep searching. This team is not a good team right now.”
— Greg Payne (@GregPayne_ESPN) December 19, 2012
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