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

[ozgod]

So who's the forum-elected Celtic pinata for tonight? So far I'm seeing the usual suspects of (in no particular order)

Smart - shot too much (9-22 and 5-15) for who he is
Hayward - didn't shoot enough (8-16) and missed a 3
Tatum - shot poorly (9-27) and tried to play hero ball
Jaylen - shoot poorly (9-23) and defended poorly
The bench - didn't shoot at all (1-4)
Brad - didn't call a timeout at the end

So who was it? Who do we blame till Tuesday comes around and they have time to make amends?

[Birdman]

No walker and lost by 1 so not upset bout that..but the bench will be our downfall this season..

[Who]

I think we should go even smaller the next time we face the Rockets. Theis struggles against strong and bulky types like PJ Tucker, he got pushed around a bit tonight. Our centre rotation should be Theis/Grant/Semi depending on how we're matching up against them, if Tucker is killing it on the glass we should trot out Grant/Semi (as well as introduce the concept of face guarding in box outs to our wings and guards) to combat their physicality on the boards while not sacrificing our perimeter defence.

Agreed - I said it after the last game, Theis is dead weight against a lineup like Houston's.

Theis is not dynamic enough offensively to be useful against perimeter types (lack of outside shot-making or passing ability or post scoring) + his defense is negated by having to spend so much time on the perimeter and frankly a natural perimeter player would do it better than he does anyway.

Theis is a limited big man and this against this Rockets' small ball lineup he has no functionality.

It is a similar issue with all of C's center rotation. They have their 3 center rotation. All limited players who are only useful in certain situations. Unfortunately, none of those situations are present against a lineup like Houston's. The matchups are not there.

So the Celtics have to adapt. They do not have the talent at center to force the opponent to matchup to them. So they have to matchup to their opponent. That means cutting back playing time for the C's centers and going smaller.



This is a game for a combo forward like Semi. Or athletic wings like Langford. Or you could even go smaller again in the backcourt with Carsen Edwards (who Stevens seems to have given up on for rest of this season). These are the best options. Not Theis or Kanter or Rob Williams.

[scaryjerry]

We lost by 1 in overtime to a team with 2 former MVP's and you'd think by comments on the internet that we suck? If jaylens last shot goes in do we not suck? Lol

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Russell Westbrook with an open court plays like Giannis.

Since the new year 33-7-8 on 53/32/76 shooting splits.

Still a little more turnover prone, but if this is the version of Westbrook you get with an open court, there is no doubt that the Rockets are better than previously assumed.

[Sophomore]

We lost by 1 in overtime to a team with 2 former MVP's and you'd think by comments on the internet that we suck? If jaylens last shot goes in do we not suck? Lol

Yeah, the game was disappointing. We had them, up by 17, and let them slip past us. But it was an OT loss and they were at full strength while we were missing an all-star PG. let’s not overreact.

[apc]

If you heard DA pre game interview, he said he does not think the team is at that level yet - to me that explains the lack of trades for our bench. He will develop the young guys until he thinks the team is ready for a banner.

[SparzWizard]

No walker and lost by 1 so not upset bout that..but the bench will be our downfall this season..

At this rate, keep losing games like these and this team might just be a second-round exit...again. Lack of bench productivity.

Teams are now learning to double hard on Tatum. That eliminates your best player on offense.

[jambr380]

If you heard DA pre game interview, he said he does not think the team is at that level yet - to me that explains the lack of trades for our bench. He will develop the young guys until he thinks the team is ready for a banner.

That is asinine, though. We have the 3rd best point differential in the league and have a solid record against teams with winning records. I get that the Bucks are the favorites right now, but they are hardly the Warriors of the last few years. One injury to Giannis - or even Middleton - and they almost become sweepable. I still think we stand a solid chance against them at full strength. And we know we can hang with both LA teams...just gotta hope we don't play HOU, I guess - they seem to have our #.

[Sophomore]

No walker and lost by 1 so not upset bout that..but the bench will be our downfall this season..

At this rate, keep losing games like these and this team might just be a second-round exit...again. Lack of bench productivity.

Teams are now learning to double hard on Tatum. That eliminates your best player on offense.

You can always use more from your bench, but we lost this game while the starters were on the floor. Did not score during last 2:45 of OT. Also, all of the bench players had a positive plus-minus. Literally, we did not lose the game while they were on the floor.

[LilRip]

We just have a hard time beating Houston and it frustrates me because 1) they’re practically the Western version of the C’s and 2) I don’t think they’re legit. Yet twice now they’ve beaten us.

We can make many excuses on either side (ex. does Westbrook really miss a free throw down the stretch? Does Harden shoot below 33%? Does he only attempt 3 FTS?) but right now, it seems like we’re an inferior version of Houston. Not by much but still, not as good. We’re probably a role player or 2 away (like maybe a knock down shooter and a Grant Williams-improvement) from getting there.

[BringToughnessBack]

Well two times without Kemba we almost beat them. I did not enjoy the loss about am encouraged about the progress of our young players.

Please give us a healthy team for the playoffs!

[hpantazo]

We just have a hard time beating Houston and it frustrates me because 1) they’re practically the Western version of the C’s and 2) I don’t think they’re legit. Yet twice now they’ve beaten us.

We can make many excuses on either side (ex. does Westbrook really miss a free throw down the stretch? Does Harden shoot below 33%? Does he only attempt 3 FTS?) but right now, it seems like we’re an inferior version of Houston. Not by much but still, not as good. We’re probably a role player or 2 away (like maybe a knock down shooter and a Grant Williams-improvement) from getting there.

A role player or two away? We were missing our all-star point guard...

[gouki88]

No walker and lost by 1 so not upset bout that..but the bench will be our downfall this season..

At this rate, keep losing games like these and this team might just be a second-round exit...again. Lack of bench productivity.

Teams are now learning to double hard on Tatum. That eliminates your best player on offense.

The thing is we’ll be able to punish teams for that when our All-NBA guard returns. Smart will also return to our bench, giving us two double digit bench scorers when healthy, alongside multiple good to elite defenders