Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
The Celtics under Stevens have traditionally thrived when they are on the road, or playing tired, or facing some sort of adverse condition. But this talented team, for whatever reason, thus far has not.
So late Saturday night, after the Celtics rallied from a 16-point deficit to take a 113-105 win over the lottery-bound Hawks, Stevens nodded when he was asked about finally taking a pair of important steps in one night.
“We were gritty and found a way,” he said. “So that’s a good win, and those are hard to come by.”
The Hawks led for a 38-minute stretch that carried into the early minutes of the fourth quarter. Boston whittled the deficit to 1 midway through the period, and then clamped down and held Atlanta scoreless for 4 minutes, 50 seconds.
Boston closed the game on a 30-14 run and, perhaps most impressively, did it without the backbone of its defense, Marcus Smart, who was ejected midway through the third period after collecting his second technical foul.
When I flipped on the Celtics game last night and saw them trailing by double-digits to the lowly Hawks I thought to myself, “Please god no, not another disastrous loss…”
Despite all we’ve experienced this season, I’m still having a hard time checking my preseason expectations at the door. The ugly cold truth is: there are no gimme wins for the 2018-19 Boston Celtics.
So here we are, celebrating a road win vs the defenseless Hawks on SEGABABA and I’m perfectly fine with that.
Related links: Herald – Celtics fight back to tough road win | NBC Sports – While Smart lost his composure, Celtics kept theirs | Mass Live – 10 things…
On Page 2, Marcus Smart was MIA after his ejection.
“I need to go back and watch it before I react to it,” Boston coach Brad Stevens said after the Celtics’ 113-105 victory. “From what I saw, obviously, deserved to be ejected. And, I don’t know what was said. I haven’t asked [Smart], I haven’t talked to him about it, but, obviously there’s league punishment for that type of stuff. Can’t react that way.”
Smart did not talk with reporters after the game.
“He lost his cool after the ref told him he’s ejected,” Bembry said. “I think after that he just thought he had nothing else to lose.”
Bembry said it wasn’t unusual to see Smart lose control.
Kyrie Irving said it was on the Celtics to finish strong after Smart was tossed.
“I just think that we accept Marcus for who he is, in terms of being fiery,” said Irving, who had a game-high 32 points. “You know, bringing that type of energy. You know, s— happens sometimes where the game goes like that and an altercation happens, we just gotta pick right back up. I think it was a five- or six-point game at that point, so, you know, he knew what the score was. He knew he had one tech, he’s responsible for that; it’s our responsibility to pick him up, and finish out the game strong.”
I really wanted to hear Smart’s explanation for his eruption, but it’s possible there wasn’t a magic word or accusation that set him off. He’s a fiery guy and sometimes it’s hard to hold back all of that emotion.
I’m hopeful this doesn’t lead to a suspension (doubtful) because I don’t want anything to disrupt Smart’s groove.
Related: NBC Sports – Did JR Smith call Smart a bum?
The rest of the links
Mass Live: Hayward misses game for personal reasons (baby?)
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