Pelicans (20-25) at Celtics (23-23) Game #47 3/29/21

[ozgod]

Fair to say the crowds were underwhelmed by the Celtics' performance tonight.



https://twitter.com/ByJayKing/status/1376709280091537412

They were probably lucky there was only a couple thousand in there 

[gouki88]

Fair to say the crowds were underwhelmed by the Celtics' performance tonight.



https://twitter.com/ByJayKing/status/1376709280091537412

They were probably lucky there was only a couple thousand in there 

Smart is the #1 perpetrator of this. That half-court heave would have had me going crazy if I were there in person

[Birdman]

Don’t blame refs.. team is just not that good

[Celtics Mike]

Today  showed how much Celtics miss Jaylen Brown. Could certainly have done with his energy  and scoring  in the 3rd Q

[ozgod]

Fair to say the crowds were underwhelmed by the Celtics' performance tonight.



https://twitter.com/ByJayKing/status/1376709280091537412

They were probably lucky there was only a couple thousand in there 

Smart is the #1 perpetrator of this. That half-court heave would have had me going crazy if I were there in person

As hilarious as that was, that wasn’t even the main thing that vexed me about his performance tonight… It was how he sort of self-destructed afterwords and started taking stupid shots and silly risks which culminated in getting himself ejected. I’ve noticed he gets obstinate like that when he makes a stupid mistake and overcompensates to make up for it.

[jambr380]

When your three guards shoot 14 -43. EF, Kemba and Smart shoot 14-43.

Unfair throwing Kemba in there. 8-18 isn't bad, though his three pointer wasn't falling. 6-25 from Smart and Fournier is terrible. No need to embellish. 😉😁

It was more like 8-17. I don't know how it happens, but Kemba always gets the ball with just a couple seconds left on the clock before half-time. And, unlike so many players in this league, he always chucks it up from beyond half-court. It drives me crazy that he keeps doing this because he already doesn't have the best percentages, but it's also one of the things I like most about him.

[Vermont Green]

There are a number of things that went wrong but even with the bad shooting and everything else, if we could have just stopped Zion a few times in the second half, we would have had a chance to win.

Smart was actually the only one who defended Zion well.  I was surprised they didn't post up against Smart.  They kept Zion on the perimeter and let him playmake.  That worked well for them up to the point where Smart was on him.  Defending on the perimeter is Smart's forte.

But what an absolutely dumb play on the jump ball.  We lost a possession but also it just sort of deflated us and gave them life.

I know I have been saying this but I still feel we are close to putting things together and making a run.  We were down two starters (Brown and Thompson).  I hope the team believes they are close also.

[slamtheking]

Fair to say the crowds were underwhelmed by the Celtics' performance tonight.



https://twitter.com/ByJayKing/status/1376709280091537412

They were probably lucky there was only a couple thousand in there 

made comments a couple of weeks ago to what might happen once they started playing in front of fans again.  the fan base isn't going to be patient or tolerant of the crappy, lackadaisical play this team has exhibited for at least the last few months.  last night wasn't even close to the worst they've played - this team will be in for a rude awakening if they don't get it together before the end of the season

[Celtics2021]

When your three guards shoot 14 -43. EF, Kemba and Smart shoot 14-43.

Unfair throwing Kemba in there. 8-18 isn't bad, though his three pointer wasn't falling. 6-25 from Smart and Fournier is terrible. No need to embellish. 😉😁

It was more like 8-17. I don't know how it happens, but Kemba always gets the ball with just a couple seconds left on the clock before half-time. And, unlike so many players in this league, he always chucks it up from beyond half-court. It drives me crazy that he keeps doing this because he already doesn't have the best percentages, but it's also one of the things I like most about him.

By that measure, Fournier should be 0-9 then too, as I believe he back-rimmed from half-court to end the 1st quarter.

[tstorey_97]

Ok, trying to avoid 20/20 hindsight...

Pritchard is a rookie, but less and less of one each game

I am not a basketball head coach and thus I am sure Pritchard makes mistakes on defense and he is small and and and etc.

But, for God's sake, he is one of the only players on this team that is trying to win at both ends. Often when he is in with the starters he defers even though he is the only point guard on the floor who is qualified and proven to help "make a play" for himself or his team mates.

He does not "take plays off" and has an excellent handle and court vision.

He lit them up for the few minutes he was on the court last night and then watched the rest of the game. 15 min 11 pts 5 reb 1 stl 

Smart and Walker are no the same type of point guard and sometimes this team needs Pritchard to come in a pick everybody up. Unlike Smart and Walker, Pritchard is "rational" with the ball on the offensive end.

Years past this is what Smart would do off of the bench.

Smart is struggling this season, but was excellent covering Zion etc last night.

Pritchard PG
Walker SG
Brown SF
Tatum PF
Robert C

Smart
Fournier
Whichever big wins out

Of course this isn't going to happen, but, who among us would be upset with this line up? Robert played his way into the starting lineup and based how chopped up our point guard play has been this season along with Teague being traded, start Pritchard.

More bad news.

The above line up illustrates the problem the Celtic's have had for a few seasons now.

No front court.

Add a big strong power forward who can shoot plus Robert Williams and the Celtics have a front court. Until then, we get pushed around by opposing bigs.

[kraidstar]

Incredibly frustrating game last night.

IMO the C's played decently, but had horrific luck. The ball was moving, guys were making an OK % of shots, the energy was there. We exploited the Pelicans' poor defense pretty well.

However, the refs were terrible, the Pelicans made every shot imaginable, and there were a few deflatingly stupid plays, particularly from Smart, Grant, and Fournier. Fournier looked out of sorts after that first-quarter layup went in-and-out. And that was representative of the C's luck afterwards.

That's one of those games where we win 95% of the time, but in this season of course it doesn't happen. This team feels cursed. Like every time an opponent puts up a desperation shot it feels like it's going in regardless of difficulty. Years of frustration and rage are building up, and I hope there is some outlet eventually. Smart gave in to the anger last night, and it cost us dearly.

There has been so much disappointment in this organization in my lifetime - from Len Bias to Reggie Lewis to the chronic injuries that derailed the Bird dynasty to the Pitino disaster to the Duncan draft to the Durant draft to the KG injury to the Hayward injury to Kyrie and beyond.

The organization has been mostly sound, aside from the Gaston/Pitino/Wallace administrations - but things out of our control have kneecapped the franchise at every major juncture. A couple years back when we had the Memphis pick we had three tiebreakers with our draft picks. Two of them were three-way ties. Somehow we were last in all three, a 1/18 chance. It's like the gods are literally messing with us.

I was so mad last night, it just felt emblematic of the whole experience. The injuries, the frustrations, the disrespect of our veterans from the refs in favor of an anointed corporate son in Zion - it all feels so familiar.

I just hope the young guys don't get sucked into the malaise. We need a light at the end of the tunnel here.

[Redz]

I'm sure it's buried in here somewhere, but Smart's brain fart after recovering the unchallenged jump ball was pretty deflating. 

[jambr380]

When your three guards shoot 14 -43. EF, Kemba and Smart shoot 14-43.

Unfair throwing Kemba in there. 8-18 isn't bad, though his three pointer wasn't falling. 6-25 from Smart and Fournier is terrible. No need to embellish. 😉😁

It was more like 8-17. I don't know how it happens, but Kemba always gets the ball with just a couple seconds left on the clock before half-time. And, unlike so many players in this league, he always chucks it up from beyond half-court. It drives me crazy that he keeps doing this because he already doesn't have the best percentages, but it's also one of the things I like most about him.

By that measure, Fournier should be 0-9 then too, as I believe he back-rimmed from half-court to end the 1st quarter.

Yep, totally. I fully believe they should institute a new rule where if a last second shot is 30+ away and misses, then it shouldn't count as a shot. They could just have it be like an errant pass; and since the clock expires on the shot, there would be no turnover either. It would lead to a lot more legitimate last second heaves. Not that many of these go in; but you have guys like Tatum, who always half-heartedly dribbles before shooting just after the buzzer. And guys like Kemba (and previously, Smart) who always throw up a hopeless heave and hurt their percentages.

[Celtics2021]

When your three guards shoot 14 -43. EF, Kemba and Smart shoot 14-43.

Unfair throwing Kemba in there. 8-18 isn't bad, though his three pointer wasn't falling. 6-25 from Smart and Fournier is terrible. No need to embellish. 😉😁

It was more like 8-17. I don't know how it happens, but Kemba always gets the ball with just a couple seconds left on the clock before half-time. And, unlike so many players in this league, he always chucks it up from beyond half-court. It drives me crazy that he keeps doing this because he already doesn't have the best percentages, but it's also one of the things I like most about him.

By that measure, Fournier should be 0-9 then too, as I believe he back-rimmed from half-court to end the 1st quarter.

Yep, totally. I fully believe they should institute a new rule where if a last second shot is 30+ away and misses, then it shouldn't count as a shot. They could just have it be like an errant pass; and since the clock expires on the shot, there would be no turnover either. It would lead to a lot more legitimate last second heaves. Not that many of these go in; but you have guys like Tatum, who always half-heartedly dribbles before shooting just after the buzzer. And guys like Kemba (and previously, Smart) who always throw up a hopeless heave and hurt their percentages.

For what it’s worth, “heaves” are tracked at basketball reference, so you can subtract them out if you want.  I think I remember a couple of years ago someone who had a 3-point percentage clause excluded heaves from the calculation.

[ETNCeltics]

Personally, I'm not as dejected by last night's loss. Sure you hate to lose, especially to a team with a losing record, but NO played better than their record, and fact is, we're not going to beat a lot of teams on a night where we've got one guy shooting 0-10 and Jaylen not playing.