This sucks, the Celtics have now gone 0-4 since the all star break, and there are no clear answers to what’s going on. They dropped yet another game tonight, this time to the Trail Blazers.
The C’s struggled to score all night, and that was evident from the get go. They managed just 12 points in the opening 9 minutes of play, but then turned things on a bit to end the quarter. A late foul allowed Portland to take a 1 point lead into the second quarter. The second quarter was not as bad as it has been as of late. The Celtics fell flat about 4 minutes in, but managed to make up the ground by halftime, tying Portland for the quarter. The third quarter was the real issue tonight. Portland walked all over the Celtics, building their lead up to as many as 12 points. The C’s continued to battle, but gave up an easy layup at the buzzer and went down 10 at the end of the quarter. They continued to grind in the fourth, cutting the lead all the way down to just 2, but were never able to get closer than that. Portland did a solid job of closing the game, and took the win by a score of 97-92.
The loss was tough enough, but the Pacers dropped their game to the Mavericks, so it makes things even more bitter. Yet another missed opportunity for the Celtics to make some headway in the standings.
This team is just an absolute mystery. There’s no reason why they should be under-performing the way that they are, but it’s still happening night after night. I don’t know what needs to happen to wake them up, but it needs to happen soon. I’m getting sick of watching them go out and give a sorry effort. There was some effort tonight, but it still wasn’t present for the whole game, which is something that’s going to need to happen in order for them to start winning again.
They were able to hold Portland to just 97 points, but the Blazers still found a way to score when they needed a bucket. The effort wasn’t there on the defensive end enough. Guys were getting absolutely killed off of screens and Lillard was able to get to the rim like nothing. Even when the Celtics would manage a stop, they’d let the Blazers get the ball right back on the offensive glass. They grabbed 13 offensive rebounds against the C’s, and cashed them in for 15 second chance points.
The Celtics haven’t been playing the right way either. Their offense is lacking quite a bit, and it has a lot to do with the way that they’re getting shots. Since the all star break, the Celtics are only averaging 22 assists each night. That’s 4 below their season average of 26, and nearly 6 below their average in wins which is 27.8. The stats don’t lie, the C’s are a much better team when the ball is moving. Aside from effort, ball movement may be the most important step to getting back into the win column.
Another thing that’d be kind of helpful would be if the bench would show up. They four guys that saw time off the bench tonight only combined for 13 points. Jaylen Brown had 10 of them. Brown had an efficient night shooting 5-8 from the field. He was really important early on in the fourth quarter when the Celtics were clawing their was back. Robert Williams played for less than a minute tonight so he’s off the hook, even though he failed to defend Nurkic, which was the one thing he was there to do.
That leaves two guys, Daniel Theis and Gordon Hayward. Theis just had a rough shooting night, finishing 0-5 from the field including a few bad misses. He has to be better in that backup big man role. His poor play as of late is really showing how much the Celtics miss Aron Baynes. His size seems to be an issue on the defensive end, he’s getting take advantage of down low, and it’s hurting the team. Gordon Hayward had quite an underwhelming night. He took only 3 shots, and made just one of them. He did not bring the aggression that made him the player he was before the all star break, and just made no impact. He was timid with the ball once again and seems to be regressing.
The starters weren’t too bad tonight, but I think it’s time for a change. Marcus Morris hasn’t been the same player over the last month, and it’s starting to hurt the team. Over his last 5 games, Mook is shooting just 37% from the field and 20% from the outside. I think moving him to the bench in exchange for Jaylen Brown is still the way to go. Brown once again played well tonight and is looking like he’d fill the role better than Morris. Maybe a move to the bench will motivate Mook and result in a revival of his play.
Kyrie had a great night, leading the Celtics with 31 points on 14-24 shooting. He got blocked a few times late in the game, but altogether played a solid game. He did just about everything he could offensively to try and will the C’s across the finish line. Unfortunately they came up short again.
Marcus Smart continues to be the lone player that is always giving his all. Other guys have their moments when they play hard, but Smart is built off of being the hardest worker on the floor. He willed the Celtics back into the game early in the fourth without doing much other than just that. He did take a pretty bad three in crunch time, but then grabbed an offensive rebound on the following possession a drew a foul. He then missed a free throw that resulted in yet another Celtics rebound followed by and Irving three.
I just wish everyone would play with Marcus Smart’s intensity, then all would be well again.
The Celtics will try and get back to their winning ways Friday night against the Wizards. Let’s hope they manage the victory.
Thanks for reading!
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