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 Celtics just aren’t getting easy points. Just 16 percent of their points Monday were scored at the line, compared to 28 for New Orleans. The Pelicans scored their last 6 points and 11 of their 22 points in the fourth quarter on free throws. Boston played stellar defense in the final period, holding Davis without a field goal, but he sank all six of his free throw attempts.
Olynyk struggled. His foul on Frazier gave the Pelicans their winning point, but the loose-ball foul on Davis and a poor pass that led to the Pelicans retaking the lead with 2:12 left capped a rough night…
It was a frustrating night offensively for the Celtics, who just couldn’t consistently hit makeable shots. It wasn’t necessarily the Pelicans’ defense. The Celtics missed shots at the rim. They missed floaters. They missed mid-range jumpers.
The Celtics missed 57 shots in all, including 29 3-pointers.
The Celtics are incapable of playing a complete game. Whether the opponent is a good time or a bad team, they just can’t do it.
On nights they defend, they can’t shoot.
On nights they shoot, they don’t defend.
On nights they rebound, er, wait… they never rebound.
This is reality until Al Horford and Jae Crowder return to the line-up. This team is no-where near good enough to win consistently with 40% of its starting line-up on the bench.
Speaking of Horford, he participated in yesterday morning’s shoot-around but wasn’t cleared to play. There’s hope he will practice at full speed today and be back Wednesday vs Dallas.
On Page 2, Brian Scalabrine needs to be better.
If Brian Scalabrine wants to gain credibility in his new sports broadcasting career, he should reevaluate his sources.
The former NBA utility player, who spent the majority of his career with the Celtics and returned to Boston in 2015 as a basketball analyst for Comcast SportsNet, tried to justify on Monday the bombshell rumor he dropped over the weekend about the Warriors’ interest in trading Klay Thompson.
His report raised eyebrows once it was revealed he got his information from a sportswriter for an untrustworthy news site who is responsible for forecasting both World War III and the end of the world.
As a blogger, I consider it my job to deliver any and all Celtics news to our readers. With rumors, we do our best to weed out the obviously bogus sources. Up until yesterday, I considered Brian Scalabrine a credible source.
As an analyst for an NBA franchise and host of a weekly radio show on Sirius XM, Scalabrine needs to hold himself to a higher standard. He has every right to discuss fictional rumors on his radio show, just do your listeners a favor and reveal the source.
And finally… Marcus Smart finally tricked an official with a flop.
And that’s how you draw a charging foul without being touched.
The rest of the links
CSNNE – Celts know bad loss might haunt them at end of season | Yahoo! – Kerr shoots down Klay trade rumors | Sporting News – Cousins rumors finally feel real and imminent
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