The Celtics fall to the Sixers in a heartbreaker, 95-94. The Celtics had their chances, but the Sixers did just a little bit more.
The good:
* Overall, Rajon Rondo was awesome tonight. He finished with a triple-double: 16 points, 14 assists, and 13 rebounds.
* Jeff Green played terrific. His biggest play was the three-pointer that put the Celtics up 94-93 in overtime. He finished with 19 points off the bench on 6-of-12 from the floor. He also pulled down 8 rebounds.
* Paul Pierce looked good. He led the team with 27 points on 9-of-24 from the floor. He also had 5 assists and 4 rebounds.
* After missing a gimmee put-back layup to put the Celtics ahead, Kevin Garnett redeemed himself by hitting an 18-footer to tie the game at 89.
* The defense played well when they had to. The Celtics held Philly to 17 points in the fourth quarter and only 6 in overtime.
The bad:
* One way to tell that the C's were tired was the number of jump shots taken in overtime. The Celtics really slowed the game down, and they tried to win the game by outshooting Philly. That didn't work out.
* The third quarter killed the Celtics. The pace slowed down, turnovers went up, and the field goal percentage went down. The Celtics need to compete for 48 minutes.
* No disrespect to him, but why in the world is Rajon Rondo taking the last shot of regulation and overtime? The fact that they were both jumpers, a shot that he has known to notoriously struggle with, is just asinine. "We really wanted Kevin to go for it," said Doc Rivers after the game when talking about the last play in overtime. It would've been a classic turnaround shot by Garnett, but, being unselfish and pass-first orientated as he is, Garnett saw a wide-open Rondo cut to the baseline and fed him the ball.
* The most glaring issue from tonight? Turnovers. The Celtics had 19 to Philly's 9. In the third, Boston turned the ball over 8 times while the Sixers only turned it over twice. They made careless passes and silly mistakes. Take away the turnovers and this game isn't close.
* 17 offensive rebounds from the Sixers is just too much. It led to 19 more shots for Philly. That, again, can't happen.
* The duo of Brandon Bass and Jared Sullinger combined for 2 points in 55 minutes on 1 shot taken by Bass. That didn't help. As for their counterparts, 18 points, 17 rebounds for Lavoy Allen and Spencer Hawes in 53 minutes.
* Coming into this one, the one thing the Celtics did not want to have happen was an extended game. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened. Although they hung in there, it was evident that the Celtics were tired and almost out of gas. Throw in the fact that they have to play these guys again in less than 24 hours and that doesn't exactly add up to a formula for success. However, we've seen this team grind it out before.
The Celtics have yet to put together a legitimate string of victories. This game only proves what has been the case all season long: they are an average, inconsistent basketball team. Right now. They're now 1-4 against teams in their division and fall back into fourth place. Before they know it, the Celtics might be battling Toronto in order to stay out of the basement. If they want to get back into the divisional race, they need a victory against a divisional opponent and tomorrow would be a good start.
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