Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
The C’s looked lost without Kyrie Irving and Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart (and Daniel Theis and Gordon Hayward), but they didn’t do themselves any favors.
They were not buying the excuse.
“(Expletive) that,” said Marcus Morris after scoring just three of his 17 points in the second half. “All that ‘guys out’ and all that, we still should win some of these games regardless. When it got a little bit tough, we sped up and we got out of sorts.
“(Expletive) no. We should be able to play. I take a lot on myself not being able to score when we needed it. I think we’ve got to execute better, defend better, everything.”
I expect nothing less from Marcus Morris, Brad Stevens (minus the swearing) and anyone else in the organization when talking about the team’s 3rd loss in 4 games.
But I’m not sure I can cheer on this team with the same fighting spirit. I mean, these games are getting really tough to watch.
I wanted to be furious as Abdel Nader missed free throw after free throw after free throw after free throw in an horrendous sequence that all but cemented this loss. But all I could muster was a ¯_(ツ)_/¯.
If injuries are forcing Stevens to play Nader, Shane Larkin and Semi Ojeleye more than 60 combined minutes, then a ¯_(ツ)_/¯ is the only sensible reaction to just about every negative play.
PS: It would be great if Al Horford could shake this shooting slump. 43% FG and 28% 3FG in March. Brutal.
Related link: Globe – Celtics missing pretty much everything so they lost
On Page 2, Danny Ainge takes back his ‘setback’ comment.
“You know what? Sometimes I talk too much,” said Ainge. “‘Setback’ wasn’t the right word, so let me rephrase that because it’s not exactly true to say it — or say it that way.
“What happened is he went on the AlterG [anti-gravity treadmill] the first day and he felt some soreness. It was the first day he tried the AlterG, a long time ago. He just wasn’t ready for it at that point. That’s all it was.
“So I think ‘setback’ is the wrong way to put it. I mis-phrased that. I’m not sure what the right word is, but he wasn’t ready for that. So we waited a couple of weeks before we started that again, and since we started that again it’s been great and he’s progressed along on the AlterG. That’s all. It wasn’t like he had an accident or anything like that.
“I used the word ‘setback,’ and it became a headline. Like, ‘Oh, setback.’ It got blown out of proportion. It’s my fault. I’m not blaming anybody. ‘Setback’ was probably too strong of a word.”
Setback or not, it still feels like Hayward is running out of time. He did share a glimpse of his rehab yesterday on Instagram:
Here’s Gordon Hayward doing calf raises to Rapper’s Delight on a Sunday morning. pic.twitter.com/FaIAJwtNST
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) March 18, 2018
I’d feel a lot better if the camera showed 5 45 lb plates on that calf machine but we’ll just have to imagine it.
And finally, Isaiah Thomas said what?
No chance.
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