Mavericks (6-3) at Celtics (7-1) Game #9 11/11/19

[Adelaide Celt]

From Yahoo Sports

Kemba Walker (neck) says he's OK
Kemba Walker said he's fine after taking a shot to the neck on Monday vs. Dallas.

[Celtics4ever]

Star calls that Luka gets were ridiculous.

[Hank Finkel]

I had to do a double take when I read the box score. Tatum was 1 for 18 from the field and the C’s won the game by ten without Hayward. I think Kyrie was the main reason the C’s were under achievers last season.  They are back to the team I love to watch now.  Go Celtics!!!!!

[The Oracle]

Smart guarding Luka according to nba.com.  7:15 matchup minutes.  FG 1-5, 3's 0-2, FT 2-2, 4pts.
Rest of team                                               6:05                                  couldn't guard him

[ConnerHenry]

Star calls that Luka gets were ridiculous.

I was surprised at the large volume of calls and how many he got when playing defense.

The other thing that really surprised me was how lost Porzingis was. He looks like a poor fit with Luka, took questionable shots and was more interested in 3's than using his height or length. I had wanted to trade for him in the past, but am glad we never did

[Surferdad]

In classes tonight. Didn't catch the game. Anyone want to give me a run down?

Brown played really well the whole game, Kemba came alive in the 2nd half, especially the 4th quarter to break open a really tight game...Doncic was basically unstoppable for large parts of the game, and the Mavs were hitting a lot of shots out of his dribble penetration.  Kemba, Smart, and Jaylen all with big buckets down the stretch to ice the game.

No Gordon and Tatum was 1-18 from the field, and we still won by double digits.

Celtics held there own in rebounding and the bench came up with 29 points. Green and Wannamaker came up big in this one combining for 19. This squad fits together very nicely!

Yeah I should have mentioned Green and Wana, sorry fellas.
Both played really well tonight.

Green is aggressive, hits shots, and flashes the ability to make the correct pass off the drive.  But he has a lot of work to do if he wants to be a mainstay in the rotation.  Specifically, he's food on defense.  He's trying, but it's clear that he doesn't really know where to be and it's leading to some bad fouls.

Not knocking him.  He's new to the system and I don't expect him to have everything down yet.  But it's definitely something to work on.

Sort of the inverse of Grant Williams.  Grant picked up the defensive concepts VERY quickly but can't throw it in the ocean right now.  Both players will have to address their weaknesses if they want to have more than bit roles off the bench.

The thing with Green is, he's a superb athlete so there's no reason he can't become at an above average or excellent defender.  It takes a lot of energy and quick changes in direction/momentum to play good defense.  Green is capable and I expect improvement.

Grant's shooting yeah, just seems like rookie jitters and inexperience against NBA-level inside defense.  He can hit a 3.

[CelticsPoetry]

What was up with Brad's rotations early in the 4th, the game was slipping away, we couldnt get a bucket, but he didnt want to put Kemba or Brown back in. I almost lost it. I think the lineup was Wannamaker, Tatum, Theis, GWill and Green. That's just atrocious offense...luckily Kemba bailed us out

[nickagneta]

What was up with Brad's rotations early in the 4th, the game was slipping away, we couldnt get a bucket, but he didnt want to put Kemba or Brown back in. I almost lost it. I think the lineup was Wannamaker, Tatum, Theis, GWill and Green. That's just atrocious offense...luckily Kemba bailed us out

I was questioning this as well but it appears he was trying to rest the starters up hoping to go with them(Kemba/Smart/Brown/Theis/Tatum) for a good 6 minutes to end them game. And it worked. That group pulled away and cemented the game.

[footey]

What was up with Brad's rotations early in the 4th, the game was slipping away, we couldnt get a bucket, but he didnt want to put Kemba or Brown back in. I almost lost it. I think the lineup was Wannamaker, Tatum, Theis, GWill and Green. That's just atrocious offense...luckily Kemba bailed us out

Yeah, it was tough watching that. Especially with Tatum struggling so much. I think Brad was hoping it would give Tatum space to figure it out, but seems to have dug an even deeper hole.

[gpap]

From Yahoo Sports

Kemba Walker (neck) says he's OK
Kemba Walker said he's fine after taking a shot to the neck on Monday vs. Dallas.

Thank God.

[gpap]

Did Tatum guard Porzingis a lot? Or was that Smart?

Smart gave Porzingis nightmares. He was on him like white on rice to the point where when Porzingis turned his head to look for a pass, he accidentally hit Smart in the face.

[johnnygreen]

How in the world were Deandre Ayton and Marvin Bagley picked ahead of Luka Doncic? It’s one thing to hear about how good someone is, but it’s totally different when you actually see them play. He is not good defensively, but he is an elite offensive player.

[saltlover]

What was up with Brad's rotations early in the 4th, the game was slipping away, we couldnt get a bucket, but he didnt want to put Kemba or Brown back in. I almost lost it. I think the lineup was Wannamaker, Tatum, Theis, GWill and Green. That's just atrocious offense...luckily Kemba bailed us out

Yeah, it was tough watching that. Especially with Tatum struggling so much. I think Brad was hoping it would give Tatum space to figure it out, but seems to have dug an even deeper hole.

But for leaving early Kemba was on pace to play 36 minutes.  Jaylen played 38.  It’s a long season and with Gordon our for six weeks, the other guys need man the fort for 12-15 minutes a night, especially since last night was the first game of a 5-in-8-days stretch.

Also, while the offense was putrid during that stretch, Dallas wasn’t scoring much, so it’s not like the game was getting out of hand.

And as we wound up winning by 10, I’d say ultimately the rotation strategy worked fine.

[Fafnir]

Did Tatum guard Porzingis a lot? Or was that Smart?

Smart gave Porzingis nightmares. He was on him like white on rice to the point where when Porzingis turned his head to look for a pass, he accidentally hit Smart in the face.

The hilarious thing about is that they kept running screens and plays to get Smart onto Prozingis....

Reminded me of when we kept running plays to get Beverly on Tatum last year against the Clippers....

[Fafnir]

Brad is pretty clearly trying hard to keep the main 4 players around 32 MPG when constructing his rotations. Obviously with the injuries to Jaylen and now Gordon that's slipping a little bit depending on the game.

He also seems to want Theis around 24 MPG give or take. (leaving the rest to Timelord and then some small ball with no C)