The Celtics Blow An 18 Point Lead And Lose To Dallas In Heartbreaking Fashion
God dammit. What a kick to the dick this game was. Another home loss to a team they should have beat. Frankly if you asked Vegas, they would tell you this game went according to plan. They Celts are now 1-10 straight up against Dallas and 3-4 against the spread. History says they were always going to lose this game, and as I wrote on Tuesday, I feared this would happen. But not like this. They threw this game away, and that is what’s most frustrating. Sometimes you need to take your lumps, and this probably won’t be the only time a game like this happens, but it fucking sucks. Despite the loss, there were some positive things to take away from last night, and remember we see Brooklyn twice and Philly once over the next 4 games so don’t go jumping off Zakim or anything.
The Good
– So that’s what a good first quarter is, I can now see why people prefer them. When the Celtics play like they did in that opening frame, they are wildly entertaining. Their energy was infectious as they seemed to make play after play on both ends of the floor. They shot a solid 52% and got production from pretty much everyone. Defensively they were stout, holding Dallas to just 27% shooting and were up as much as 31-13 at one point. It was only the second time all year the Celtics have ended a first quarter with a lead, and if they can start games like this more often, good things should come.
– I really liked how crisp their defensive rotations were early in this game. The Celts played straight man, and they played with great awareness. Several times their rotations were absolutely perfect, especially when they doubled with Sully.
– With the way Avery Bradley has been playing since returning from injury, I’m not so sure he’ll ever start again. That’s crazy to think about. Heading into the season the discussion was always Smart vs Isaiah, I don’t think anyone ever imagined a situation where Avery would come off the bench, but it’s sneaky working. He comes in and instantly we see nothing but curl screens and open threes. He was the reason the Celtics even got up by 18 in the first place, because he did things like this
Avery was really feeling his game last night, and you could tell, because he gave a yell on this putback like he was Godzingis or something
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– I was also really pleased with David Lee’s production. His 14 points in just 15 minutes were huge, because they came at a time when the Celtics desperately needed offense. Lee has been pretty quiet over the last 4 games, and played only 5 minutes in the blowout in Houston. I suppose it’s a nice luxury to have a guy who can basically go from not playing to contributing on any given night so I’ll take it.
– One of the reasons Lee may not be playing as much is simply because Jared Sullinger is dominating. Yeah, he missed a couple bunnies inside, and yeah, he missed a pretty big wide open three, but his 18 and 12 should not be ignored. In fact, it’s his fourth double double in his last 5 games, and he’s playing just 25.8 minutes per game this month which I feel might be a little low. It shouldn’t really come as a surprise, since it’s a contract year for him, but he’s been arguably our most consistent player.
– At the end of the day, you just want your guys to compete for a full 48 minutes. Play until the final whistle is the cliche we all heard growing up. What I love about this group is they actually do. With the game basically over, they were still aggressive, still attacking. Sometimes you never know what can happen in an NBA game, and as the clock wound down, they clawed for life. First we saw a big boy shot from Jae, then an improbably steal by Turner that ended in a foul to bring it to a one posession game.
Shit like this will pay off in the long run, this team doesn’t quit, ever.
– Finally, how could you not love that Dirk-Lite almost Dirk’d Dirk. When Olynyk unleashed that fade right in Dirk’s face, the entire arena was ready to explode, but we were reminded that KO isn’t quite there yet. This has been a big shot for Kelly this season, and you could tell he wanted it last night
Kelly Olynyk on using Dirk’s fadeaway on him: “That’s something I like to get to. I’ve been working on it a lot. I thought it was in!”
— Brian Robb (@CelticsHub) November 19, 2015
The Bad
– Pretty obvious right? That whole blowing an 18 point lead thing was pretty bad. Sickening even. You can say it was good offense by Dallas, but I see it more like bad defense. Over the last 10 games we have grown accustomed to solid 48 minutes of defense. Last night, we got one quarter. As I mentioned that first quarter was great as Dallas shot just 27%. After that, it got pretty ugly
2nd: 64.6% 3rd: 47.1% 4th: 65%
The Celts are not going to beat good teams if they allow them to shoot like that. Add in the 35 FTA and the Celts cimply played poorly on the defensive end. When they weren’t giving up buckets, they were fouling. What felt different about last nights defense compared to previous games was that last night the Celtics gambled. They repeatedly left Dallas players open in the corner, Jae tried to gamble on a Dirk post and both strategies failed. I hope tomorrow they look at the tape of how they started the game and realize THAT is how they should play.
– Bad Evan Turner is just so brutal. I don’t want to single him out because others played poorly as well (Marcus Smart), but his -17 lead the team. Each of his 3 turnovers were absolutely killer, and I really hope we are almost through this stretch with him.
– I hate that RJ Hunter got another DNP. Brad Stevens missed a prime opportunity to turn that 18 point lead into a 30 point lead by not putting in Hunter and letting him close the door. It surprises me that as bad as Turner has been over the last five games (and he’s been bad) Hunter has two DNPs and two games under 12 minutes played. He seemed to show flashes while the Celts were at their best, so this is obviously puzzling.
– No other way to say it, those two 4th quarter threes by Wesley Matthews that came off offensive rebounds hurt. Both were big momentum plays for Dallas, as they came at a time when the Celts were on the verge of breaking away. Dallas would hit four in the quarter, but those two stick out the most to me. Need to be better.
– Speaking of the fourth, the Celtics were up 83-73 with 10:40 left. The 18 point lead is the headliner, but I care more about blowing a double digit fourth quarter lead. At that stage of the game, given how the game had gone, you’d think they manage to close the deal. If this team is going to be successful, those are leads they have to keep.
The Ugly
– Like a broken record, the shooting. 41% for the game, 38% in the second half. Marcus contined to struggle since the win in OKC (1-7), Avery cooled off and finished 7-17, Sully at 7-19 and Isaiah at 7-16. When this team is shooting the ball at an average clip, they are practically unbeatable. The problem is, they’ve had more nights shooting the ball like last night than not. Their misses aren’t terrible, most rim out, but until they figure it out it’s going to live in this section
– The elephant in the room: the last play. After getting a huge prayer with two missed free throws, the Celts got the ball with 14 seconds. They didn’t have a timeout, but didn’t need to rush, plenty of time to run a play. Instead, the worst possible outcome happened, they rushed
That kick in the dick? This was it. Some will argue this is where the Celtics need a closer, and I say we have one, he just made a bad play. Let’s not forget all the times Pierce would dribble for an entire shot clock then not even get a shot off, or have to force an elbow jumper. Shit happens, it’s just shitty that it happened right after getting such a prayer. I can’t stay mad at Isaiah, he knew right away, and like a leader he owned up to it in his postgame and explained himself.
So what does this all mean. I hope this loss leaves a bad taste in their mouths and we don’t have to go through this again. Throwing games away is never good, especially when they are at home. Here’s the thing though, the schedule Gods are about the bless us. Back to back games against the Nets, then a matchup with Philly are on the horizon and present a great opportunity to get back on track. I’d be happy with 9-6 after these next few, but really it should be 10-5. And look, I understand that people will read into this game and think this is who they are, and that’s their right. In reality, they barely lost to a team that was 7-4 in the West and if you look at their 5 losses, none have come by more than 11 points. There is no need to panic, this doesn’t really change much, just sucks to stomach at the moment.
