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| Rajon Rondo did all he could, but he and the Celtics came up just short. |
Excruciating. Heart-breaking. Fun-sucking. Crappy.
All of the above are some of the emotions hat I along with every other Celtics fans experienced after this one wrapped up.
No matter what the final score was going to be, this game was an absolute classic. Unfortunately, the Celtics (20-19) were the ones on the short end as they fell to the Chicago Bulls in overtime, 100-99.
Bulls' forward Marco Belinelli provided the dagger, hitting a desperation turnaround jumper with 3.0 seconds left in overtime to put the Bulls ahead 100-99. Boston had no timeouts, so they had to go full-court with 3.0 seconds to get a shot. The Celtics got a good look on a Courtney Lee three-pointer, but he did not even get any rim.
This was a game that saw 7 ties and 12 lead-changes in the fourth quarter and overtime. To say the least, this was one of the more entertaining Celtics' games I've seen in quite some time.
Here's a recap:
The good:
* Rajon Rondo was the Celtics' star of the game. Without Rondo, this would've been a total wash. Rondo put the Celtics on his back and turned in one of his best performances of the season. He had a game-high 30 points to go along with 7 assists and 2 steals. Rondo was 5-of-10 outside the paint and hit his jumper with regularity. Rondo almost single-handedly won the game for the Celtics. With 1:31 to go in the fourth and just out of a Chicago timeout, Rondo stole the inbounds pass, and on the next offensive possession, he hit a go-ahead jumper to put the Celtics up 86-84 with 36.6 seconds left in regulation. He was also very aggressive driving to the hoop, and as I always say, when Rondo is aggressive and looking to make things happen, the Celtics are dangerous.
* Boston did a great job in transition. They dominated in fast break points, 14-2. They forced 21 Bulls' turnovers -- although some of Chicago's turnovers were self-inflicted -- and were always on the run looking to capitalize. Rondo was very effective in attacking the rim.
* Courtney Lee and Jared Sullinger did a phenomenal job off the bench. Lee provided a spark offensively in the first half, scoring 7 points in the half. He also grabbed 6 rebounds for the game. Before fouling out in overtime, Sullinger had his hands -- literally -- all over this one. He was consistently banging down low with Chicago's bigs, and he grabbed 15 rebounds and 5 on the offensive glass, both team-highs.
* After only touching the ball once and not even attempting a shot in the first half, the JET took off in the second half. Jason Terry finished with 9 points, but his two biggest field goals came in overtime. First, Terry hit a three-pointer to put the Celtics up 93-92. Then, he hit a go-ahead jumper to put Boston up for the final time, 99-98.
* For a Chicago team that was 7th in the NBA in rebounding coming into tonight's game, the Celtics held their own against them. They were only outrebounded by one, 43-42. Carlos Boozer had 20 and Joakim Noah had 13, but the next highest total was 4 from Jimmy Butler. Boozer and Noah were obviously going to get theirs, and all things considered, the Celtics did just fine.
The bad:
* The good news is the Celtics were able to turn it up a notch in the fourth quarter. The bad news is that the Celtics were able to turn it up a notch in the fourth quarter. It's frustrating to see this team coast through the first three quarters and then flip the switch when it matters most. We've heard jokes over the past few seasons that this team shuns prosperity, and that they always like to make things hard on themselves. They waited until the last possible moment, and they decided to clamp down defensively and take their defensive intensity to the next level. At this point, you can't expect that kind of play out of the likes of Garnett and Pierce all the time, but for the duration of time they are on the floor, they need to clamp down on the defensive end.
* Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett combined to go 10-of-33. Furthermore, through the first three quarters, the two were 4-of-22. Garnett also missed some crucial free throws in the fourth quarter, going 5-of-8 in the final quarter of regulation. To give them credit, Pierce and Garnett stepped it up when it mattered most, combining to go 6-of-11 in the fourth quarter and overtime, but for the majority of this one, Pierce and Garnett were non-factors. For the majority of the fourth quarter, Pierce wasn't even on the floor. Some credit goes to Chicago's defense, but the two veterans also missed some of the shots they usually hit with consistency.
Miscellaneous:
* Call me crazy, but the Bulls are just as, if not more, effective without Derrick Rose than they are with him. Their defense is just phenomenal; it is absolutely stifling. Chicago's defense made Boston's life on the offensive end just a nightmare for the majority of the night, as Boston only shot 38% from the field through the first three quarters. I may be going out on a limb, but I would rather face the Miami Heat in a best-of-seven playoff series than the Chicago Bulls.
* Tom Thibodeau is a great basketball coach. He may call a lot of timeouts, but his timeouts kill the opponent's momentum. There were many instances in tonight's game that the Celtics would make mini runs and Thibodeau would call a timeout.
* Chicago let Boston hang around for way too long. They shot themselves in the foot, committing an astonishing 21 turnovers and going 23-of-32 from the free throw line. If they took care of business, this game would not have been as close as it was.
* As much of a heart-breaking loss that this was, I'm not that disappointed. The Celtics played without Avery Bradley, and we all know how drastically different this team looks without Bradley on the floor. Over the past two seasons, when Bradley does not play at least 10 minutes in a game, the Celtics are now 19-29. They're 40-17. That says something.
* Doc Rivers is a big believer in fouling the other team when the Celtics have a one-possession lead at the end of games. You can't question that strategy because Doc has the stats that back it up, so that shouldn't be a problem.
* I hate to say this, but if anyone thinks the officiating did not have an impact on the outcome of this one, you're crazy.
Boston will begin a two-game road trip in Detroit against the Pistons on Sunday night at 7:30 p.m.
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