No Rondo, no Jeff Green, no Kelly, no Sully.
No problem.
The Celtics won their first “playoff atmosphere” game of the Brad Stevens era in large part due to the shrewd, 11th hour moves of Danny Ainge on deadline day.
After enduring a 25-1 Charlotte run in the second and third quarters, Isaiah Thomas and Jonas Jerebko led the Cs in erasing a 16 point deficit with a 49-22 run of their own to beat the Hornets 106-98.
The Celts entered the night one game behind the Hornets and two out of the eighth and final playoff spot. With games upcoming against the Warriors and Cavs, Stevens’ bunch came out with expected energy. Marcus Smart started 4-5 from the field for 10 points, propelling the Cs to a 27-21 lead after one.
It then proceeded to get really, really ugly. Steve Clifford’s Hornets squad played its trademark suffocating defense, leading to a Celtics offensive tailspin. The Cs went 9:14 without a field goal to end the 2nd and begin the 3rd quarter. The dry spell was compounded by a torrid stretch of shooting from Celtics’ killer, Mo Williams.
Williams went bombs away in the third, and had 24 points in 29 minutes of action before picking up a fourth foul. He went to the bench with the Hornets up 16. His exit transitioned the spotlight from one, diminutive scorer to another: Isaiah Thomas.
Thomas proceeded to go off, fueling a 12-2 run to end the third quarter, cutting the deficit to six, 75-69.
He continued to bring it in the fourth with a flurry of tough drives to the hoop, leading to acrobatic lay-ins and trips to the free throw line. He hit a monster three to tie the game at 80 early in the fourth.
While Thomas brought the Cs back, it was Jerebko who gave them the lead. The expiring contract who came back in the Tayshaun Prince trade knocked in a 3 and then converted a put-back to give the Celtics an 89-88 lead with 5:30 left in the game.
The Hornets received some gratuitous trips to the free throw line and converted six straight free throws to hang tough in the final few minutes, down only one with under 3 minutes to go.
With the score 96-95 Cs, Thomas teed up a dagger three pointer, but missed. Jerebko, in a sea of purple jerseys tipped out the rebound to Crowder, you know, the other Danny trade piece from the middle of the season, who drilled his three point attempt. On the next possession, Crowder forced a steal, Bradley finished with a put-back dunk, 101-95 Celtics, drive home safely.
The Green (AKA Bow Down to Trader Danny)
How good has Isaiah Thomas been since putting on #4 in green? Not only did he lead a monumental bench performance for the Cs second unit with 28 points and 7 assists in 31 minutes, but his energy level willed the Celtics to victory. You can see why Danny wanted this guy so badly. He got to the rim whenever he wanted for the C’s, after they settled for tough jumpers in the first half.
If Thomas was reason #1 the Celtics came back to win this one, Jerebko was #2. He finished with 16 points and 10 rebound in 24 minutes. Five of those rebounds were offensive.
Let’s end with Crowder, shall we? 14 points and six rebounds in 28 minutes off the pine. Much of that production came in the fourth quarter on both ends of the court.
The Gross
Let’s pretend that 9:14 stretch of basketball in the second and third quarter never happened. The Cs were outscored 25-1 and missed 14 straight shots. At the time the drought commenced, they led by 10, by the time it was over, down by 14. Credit the Hornets’ defense, which clamped down, clogged the paint and contested jumpers.
The Greenlights
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The Grid
Celtics were 12 of 15 from FT line
Celts’ bench follows up 61 pt game vs Knicks with 60 pts tonight
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