 |
| Nothing went right tonight for the Celtics. |
The Celtics go 0-3 on their road trip and fall to 12-12 on the season after getting crushed by the Bulls, 100-89. The final score is not indicative of how Chicago dominated this game. Joakim Noah led the way for the Bulls with his second career triple-double From points in the point, bench points, to defense, the Bulls played a terrific game, as opposed to the Celtics, who in my opinion played one of their worst games of the season.
The good:
* Rajon Rondo was the lone bright spot in this one. Although he got a little jumper happy in the fourth quarter, he did all he could to carry his team, especially in the third quarter where he had 13 points. On the night, he had a season-high 26 points on 9-of-18 from the floor. He also had 8 assists and even hit 6 of his 8 free throws.
* I know I praise him too much, but it's much deserved: Kevin Garnett is the best player on the Celtics. He does so much for this team for the time he is on the floor. For a 36-year-old in his 18th season -- and a guy who passed John Havlicek tonight with the 8th most minutes played of all time -- he shouldn't be the best player on your team. He was once again very efficient with what he did during his playing time, scoring 10 points on 5-of-10 from the field and grabbed 8 rebounds.
* Courtney Lee played hard for the time he was on the floor. He had 14 points in 17 minutes.
The bad:
* For the fourth straight game, the Celtics let their opponent score at least 100 points. The last time I checked, no NBA has ever been successful with a defense that consistently gives up 100 points. It's the 11th time in 24 games that the Celtics have allowed at least 100. That's the main problem and that needs to be corrected ASAP or the Celtics will find themselves on the outside looking in really quickly.
* The Bulls did everything better. They shot better, defended better, were more physical, and were more aggressive. They dominated in the paint (48-36), on the boards (43-35), and in the assist column (28-18).
* For what was supposed to be a strength for this team, it has been a disappointment as of late, especially tonight. The Celtics' bench scored only 16 points to the Bulls' 37. The bench appears lost. To me, no one feels comfortable right now. These bench players need to find their role, something they should have done by now. We're more than a quarter of the way through the season, it's time for the bench to step it up.
* Kevin Garnett only had 2 shots in the third quarter. He ended up with the same amount of shots in the second half as he had in the first (5), but I'm not including the fourth quarter because Garnett went to the bench for good around the 6 minute mark. This continues to be an issue. Garnett needs to get the ball more often. The Bulls have been successful all season and tonight when running the offense through their big man Joakim Noah, and that's something the Celtics should consider.
Miscellaneous:
* The offense isn't the problem with this team. They're among the top half of teams in the league as far as scoring is concerned, so that isn't the issue. It's the defense. If they can't figure it out, things are going to get ugly, even uglier than they are now.
* So when Jason Kidd sticks his leg out after shooting a three, it's a defensive foul. But when Jason Terry does it, it's an offensive foul? Another example of the poor officiating in the NBA.
* Someone should have made Nate Robinson pay for flaunting his stuff all throughout the game. Sure, Robinson had a nice night, but he was embarrassing the Celtics. They've done it in the past -- Rajon Rondo fouled Dwyane Wade hard on opening night and started the melee at the TD Garden with Kris Humphries -- but they did not do it tonight.
The Celtics will get right back to work in less than 24 hours. They will welcome the Cleveland Cavaliers tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m.
No comments:
Post a Comment