Rockets (38-20) at Celtics (41-17) Game #59 2/29.20

[Ogaju]

https://twitter.com/TimBontemps/status/1233968835943960578

Absolutely infuriating. When does Brad get held accountable for these God-awful end-game decisions? How many games has he given up due to this putrid philosophy of refusing to call a timeout in these situations??

The team was so lackadaisical that I did not even know it was potentially the final possession of the game. Theis seemed surprised the buzzer sounded.

[Kuberski33]

This loss is on all of our players on the floor who couldn't manage to box out the midgets that the Rockets put out there down the stretch. Offensive rebounds flat out killed us.

Collectively the midgets are more athletic so it's not a total shock.

[Rosco917]

Jayson has had an inspiring last few games. But, if you're gonna be the "man," know what to do when your game ain't exactly turned on. This is the reason we need a healthy Kemba.

Tough loss.

[knuckleballer]

What player on Houston could sto Kanter on offense?  No one.   In a healthy series, we kick their bottoms.

[Monkhouse]

Hayward was not the sole reason why we lost.

Honestly, the 2nd half was just terrible, we played with like no sense of urgency, didn't swing the ball at all. We took tough shots, and they made us pay for it.

[hpantazo]

I will reiterate the perplexing nature of not calling a timeout on that last play. It's not like the Cs were on a fastbreak; Tatum walked the ball up the floor as slowly as one could and HOU was totally set in their defense. Once it became obvious that whatever Brad was yelling out wasn't going to work, he should have immediately called the timeout. It's not like he could have saved it for later.

But it doesn't all come down to that - the 2nd half was just pure torture. It'll be nice to have Kemba back, but don't like seeing how this team just collapses with any type of adversity. Even the Brown 3 at the end of regulation came after Tatum blew his first FT (I realize he missed the 2nd on purpose).

They didn't collapse. I mean, they fought hard and should have won the game. I dont see how anyone can call it a collapse. They made very poor decisions the whole 4th quarter and OT though, and that's on the players on the floor.

[Rosco917]

The C's need bench help.

[Kuberski33]

The C's need bench help.

Someone needs to tell Danny. This has been obvious since about early November.

[hpantazo]

Hayward played a very good game tonight. Had 18, 6, and 4 with 3 steals, shot 50% from the floor and only 1 turnover. He is not the reason we lost.

[liam]

Hayward is better than he thinks he is.  He needs to understand that

Yeah, I think this is the most valid criticism of him. I feel as if he doesn't think he's as good as JB and JT on offence, but he is

Hayward needs to shoot more especially with Kemba out. 

[apc]

Disappointing loss.
Gave them way to many rebounds!
2nd half offense was blah.

[Ogaju]

Hayward really struggles with these clutch late game shots.

I know he's efficient when the game doesn't matter, but he's killjoy in close games. Point blank layups, wide open 3's - you name it, he misses it.

You know how easy it is to refute this, right? He, Kemba and Marcus all shoot within 1.8% of each other in terms of FG% (Kemba as the best, Smart as the worst), and Hayward is our best clutch 3 point shooter, closely followed by Tatum and Kemba. So basically, he's no worse than Kemba (just a much smaller volume), and he's massively more efficient than Smart in the clutch when you consider 3P% and FT%

https://stats.nba.com/players/clutch-traditional/?sort=GP&dir=-1&Season=2019-20&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&TeamID=1610612738

Yay. I suddenly feel better about that missed layup against the Lakers and the missed three tonight and also the brick house he tried to build in Utah (that we fortunately survived).

Seriously, my bad. I keep forgetting we're not supposed to criticize him.

lol ..you gotta love this blog.

[liam]

Hayward played a very good game tonight. Had 18, 6, and 4 with 3 steals, shot 50% from the floor and only 1 turnover. He is not the reason we lost.

Lost because we couldn't make shots but I wish Hayward would've shot more...

[jpotter33]

I will reiterate the perplexing nature of not calling a timeout on that last play. It's not like the Cs were on a fastbreak; Tatum walked the ball up the floor as slowly as one could and HOU was totally set in their defense. Once it became obvious that whatever Brad was yelling out wasn't going to work, he should have immediately called the timeout. It's not like he could have saved it for later.

TP. Not sure why any of us should be surprised by this at this point. He consistently makes these bad calls when it comes to calling timeouts, but this context of end of game situations in particular he just refuses to do so out of some illogical, ill-conceived philosophy.

But, yeah, don't dare criticize Brad on this forum, yet ye be hounded by Brad's Bunch of Bulldogs.

[RJ87]

Hayward really struggles with these clutch late game shots.

I know he's efficient when the game doesn't matter, but he's killjoy in close games. Point blank layups, wide open 3's - you name it, he misses it.

You know how easy it is to refute this, right? He, Kemba and Marcus all shoot within 1.8% of each other in terms of FG% (Kemba as the best, Smart as the worst), and Hayward is our best clutch 3 point shooter, closely followed by Tatum and Kemba. So basically, he's no worse than Kemba (just a much smaller volume), and he's massively more efficient than Smart in the clutch when you consider 3P% and FT%

https://stats.nba.com/players/clutch-traditional/?sort=GP&dir=-1&Season=2019-20&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&TeamID=1610612738

Yay. I suddenly feel better about that missed layup against the Lakers and the missed three tonight and also the brick house he tried to build in Utah (that we fortunately survived).

Seriously, my bad. I keep forgetting we're not supposed to criticize him.

Rofl. If you want to ignore stats and continue criticising one guy for something numerous guys are guilty of, go ahead. It's hilarious. You say that as if he doesn't cop it incessantly. But he's your whipping boy, so go off

I dish out criticism across the board. But forbid I come for Hayward, then the good 'ole boys come running to protect him. He's had a chance to put away two close games in the past week and he's come up short in both, but I guess I should just point to the refs.