Celtics (44-19) at Rockets (44-13) Game #64 3/3/18

[cltc5]

I put this loss on Brad. His insistence of playing soft small ball down the stretch is really hurting the team. We were playing terrific playing big and then he goes small and predictably we fall apart. Really frustrating..

Agree.  Monroe was playing great and we coulda used his rebounding.  Brad entices that hero ball with al and kyrie when you put them in for no reason.  Look let your starters end the game if you keep the same flow.  And you have to tell your players that....keep movin the ball!

[Celtics4ever]

It was a game of spurts and we did not get the last spurt!

IMO the biggest issue that came out of the game was that our D disappeared again.

I agree if our offense was like this all the time I would be elated except for the late game lack of offense.  Our D was not there last night.

I think our guys being in foul trouble hampered our ability to play D.   Tony Brown's call in the third made a difference in the outcome of the game.   Our elite defender Brown was in trouble early and the foul and the follow up tech where Harden threw him to the ground was ridiculous.
 I realize we benefited from calls the first game but refs should ref equally for both sides not give make up calls for one game the next.

It was great to see Monroe come out of his shell.   I would like to see more lineups with Al at the PF and Monroe at C.

[hodgy03038]

A game we had in hand and gave away. You can't get stripped on that rebound Rozier. Al has to call a timeout rather than give the ball away (Brad was trying but refs ignored). The refs had some questionable T's in this game like after the delay of game. The no foul call late in the game on the Kyrie drive. There were a lot of positives in this game (bench - Morris & Monroe specifically) but it's hard to talk about positives when we had the game in hand and gave it away. This will be real tough now to get the 1 seed.

[PAOBoston]

The bench had been straight fire since the ASB. Hope it continues. This has been Morris best stretch of games this season.

And Moose has been coming on strong. While his scoring has been nice, he's impressed me with how well of a passer he is.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Three things about last night's game:

1) It was great to see the bench play well!
2) The offense is starting to looking like a well-oiled machine.
3) It was interesting to see CBS shortened rotation -- might that be the playoff rotation?  Theis probably gets a few more minutes.

[mctyson]

I put this loss on Brad. His insistence of playing soft small ball down the stretch is really hurting the team. We were playing terrific playing big and then he goes small and predictably we fall apart. Really frustrating..

Agree.  Monroe was playing great and we coulda used his rebounding.  Brad entices that hero ball with al and kyrie when you put them in for no reason.  Look let your starters end the game if you keep the same flow.  And you have to tell your players that....keep movin the ball!

I really need to see what numbers Stevens looks at that shows small lineups are good.

[celticinorlando]

Boston is going to be the 2 seed. Toronto will be the one. They have an easier path down the stretch here.

Cavs should be the 3 but they are not very good and have a 6 game road trip west coming up. They are only a half game up on the Wiz for third.

Boston really needs the Bucks to get out of the 7 seed. If Boston has to play them first round...they are in trouble.

I would be super happy if the stars aligned and made Cleveland the 4 and the Bucks the 8 seed. That would mean the Raptors would have to go through Bucks and Cavs before Boston...Boston would get Miami and then the Wiz

[hodgy03038]

Boston is going to be the 2 seed. Toronto will be the one. They have an easier path down the stretch here.

Cavs should be the 3 but they are not very good and have a 6 game road trip west coming up. They are only a half game up on the Wiz for third.

Boston really needs the Bucks to get out of the 7 seed. If Boston has to play them first round...they are in trouble.

I would be super happy if the stars aligned and made Cleveland the 4 and the Bucks the 8 seed. That would mean the Raptors would have to go through Bucks and Cavs before Boston...Boston would get Miami and then the Wiz

Are you sure you'd rather play Miami than Milwaukee? Milwaukee has been dreadful lately. Miami always plays us tough and Olynyk plays out of his mind.

[nickagneta]

Not sure where the fear over Milwaukee comes from. They have one great player who has led them nowhere. At this point they look to be around another 42-43 win team. I would welcome a first round against the Bucks.

[wiley]

Yes.  Miami is the team to avoid.  They are very tough for the Celtics when they're healthy.
I think we'd take Milwaukee 4-2 or maybe even 4-1.  Monroe will go off on them out of spite... 

[footey]

East is pretty unpredictable. I think any team in top 4 is capable of losing in 1st round.

Also feel Celtics the only team in the East that would make finals compelling. Any other Eastern finalist would lose to GSW or Houston in 4-5 games.