After every game, we’ll take stock of how each individual performance affects the player’s overall value.
Starters
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Offense:
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Early on, Rondo’s contribution was strictly scoring. Once again, he shot 50% from 16-23 feet. He did only shoot 3 of 9 for the game, but a couple of those shots were half way down. After finishing the first quarter with no assists (inciting a bunch of “oh my God is his streak in jeopardy?” comments), he whipped off 10 assists in 14 minutes of play by aggressively pushing the ball and forcing the defense to react to him. And as Sherrod Blakely mentioned on Twitter last night, with defenses a little more worried about his jumper, the lanes for alley oops are presenting themselves more often.
He was fine on the defensive end. Nothing stood out good or bad. Now let’s just hope his ankle is ok.
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Offense:
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Every so often, Garnett is going to have an average game. This was one of them. He struggled with his shot early, but then he finished 11 points. He struggled individually on defense, but he still got 8 rebounds. It’s going to happen.
He did have one of the nicest assists you’ll ever see. I was tempted to give him the green arrow just for that. In the end though, an average game from KG with one spectacular play.
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Offense:
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He struggled early and shot 7-17, but he got hot and scored 11 straight Celtics points over the course of just three minutes in the third quarter. Pierce’s overall shooting percentage is down right now, but his 3-point percentage is up. I feel like it’s only a matter of time before he gets the rest of his offensive game at his normal levels.
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Offense:
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Average game out of Bass. He hit half his shots, which is good. He was 3 of 4 from his sweet spot, but he only took 1 shot at the rim. 8 points 3 rebounds won’t get you much more than a bunch of yellow in this space.
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Offense:
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One shot?
I really hope the Jason Terry offense doesn’t start mirroring the Ray Allen offense. I started to cringe as I saw Terry winding his way through picks while Rondo pounded the ball into the parquet waiting for him to get open. If that’s going to be what this becomes… then I’ll be a lot less excited about the Terry acquisition.
Bench
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Offense:
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What can you say about Jeff Green offensively last night? Yeah, there was the dunk, but there was also a level of aggressiveness that led to 7 free throws. He had the second-highest +/- on the team last nigh as a +12.
He still needs work defensively. We’ll leave it at that for now.
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Offense:
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His offense simply consisted of getting to the rim so Rondo could lob him the ball. I can’t tell you how important it is to be able to get a stop, get out in transition, and demoralize a team with an alley oop. Just watch how their shoulders slump when they realize someone got lost and is now at the rim.
Defensively, he did a solid job rebounding and he also came up with a steal.
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Offense:
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Lee hit 2 of 4 from 16-23 feet, and 3 of 6 overall. In 18 minutes, considering all the other guys that were getting minutes and shots, Lee is quietly starting to find his shot again.
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Offense:
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Leandro Barbosa has one goal in mind when he has the ball: “how am I going to get this ball through that basket?” After that Pierce stretch of 11 straight points, it was Barbosa that took over and scored 6 of the next 8… and he assisted on the bucked he didn’t score. Earlier in the game, he checked in for Rondo and scored 7 points in 3 minutes. The Blur can score in bunches.
He’s not exactly known for his defense, but he played some fantastic on-ball D late in the 4th quarter to force Mo Williams into a bad shot. Of course it doesn’t take much to force Mo into a bad shot… but still… Leandro did a great job.
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Offense:
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It’s become clear that he’s losing his minutes to Chris Wilcox, but the kid never stops working his ass off out there. And I’d say he’s the best pure rebounder on the team. He had a big offensive rebound a few minutes into the 4th quarter that ultimately became a Kevin Garnett basket. To me, that’s a potential 4-point swing if the Jazz had grabbed it and scored. Instead of a 2 point game, it was a 6-point Celtics lead.
Coaching
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Play Calling:
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I’ll reiterate that I’m not a fan of watching Jason Terry run off a million screens… and I’ll just leave it there.
Doc’s slowly settling on a rotation that works for now. I credit him for going with Barbosa when it clearly works rather than say “hey, we made a move for Courtney Lee and we’re going to force him into this role.” Lee will be fine, but right now, Barbosa is the guy earning the minutes.
KG played the entire 4th quarter. On one hand, they needed that to get the win. On the other, what’s that mean for tonight?
Overall
That was a good win over a good team. The Jazz had a size advantage and they nearly used it to pull off the victory. But the Celtics buckled down when they had to, without their point guard, to get the win.
They still gave up way too many offensive rebounds (18 to be exact). I’m not sure how they got away with extending so many possessions. But winning games when such an important stat is so out of whack is important.
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