Bulls (23-33) at Celtics (31-26) Game #58 4/19/21

[PAOBoston]

Celtics played semi injured players who looked gas ahead of a huge string of games with 4 starters missing...I know it's not going to get me a lot of TPs but they should have rested Tatum and Brown

I said the same thing.... It would've been the Pop move.

It would have been the right move...



Keith Smith
@KeithSmithNBA
·
5m
Brad Stevens said Jaylen Brown is having his left arm/shoulder examined right now.

https://twitter.com/keithsmithnba/status/1384326165297565700?s=21

Oh come on!

[Roy H.]

I hate blowing the lead, but we were missing half of our rotation and Tatum played like crap.  It's an understandable loss.

[nickagneta]

When you go looking for reasons this team lost you can look at a bunch of things:

Timelord, Smart, Kemba and Fournier out.

The unforced turnovers being so high. I can live with forced turnovers that the opponent's great defense creates. Hats off to them. But the shear amount of unforced turnovers is unacceptable.

The refs made some crucial bad decisions that cost the Celtics dearly. The gold tend on a block by Romeo. A missed offensive goaltend by Chicago. 2 fouls that Brown didn't get that should have sent him to the line. A few other calls.

Too many times this team had Brown and/or Tatum on the court and they weren't touching the ball for many times down the court with bad offensive players trying to do more than they are capable of and the team didn't score. With 4 of the top six players out, both Brown and Tatum should have shot the ball 22-25 times.

But....that last part said, the biggest problem was simply the post NBA MVP, Jayson, couldn't hit his shots. That really is the biggest reason.

That's not to say it's all Tatum's fault the team lost. He was magnificent in everything else he did and if he wasn't playing playmaker this team loses by 15.

But 3-17 is the outlier for me.

[liam]

When you go looking for reasons this team lost you can look at a bunch of things:

Timelord, Smart, Kemba and Fournier out.

The unforced turnovers being so high. I can live with forced turnovers that the opponent's great defense creates. Hats off to them. But the shear amount of unforced turnovers is unacceptable.

The refs made some crucial bad decisions that cost the Celtics dearly. The gold tend on a block by Romeo. A missed offensive goaltend by Chicago. 2 fouls that Brown didn't get that should have sent him to the line. A few other calls.

Too many times this team had Brown and/or Tatum on the court and they weren't touching the ball for many times down the court with bad offensive players trying to do more than they are capable of and the team didn't score. With 4 of the top six players out, both Brown and Tatum should have shot the ball 22-25 times.

Those back to back bad calls one non call on The Bulls goal tend and the missed call on Romeo's block where maddening. In such a tight game those calls are a really smack in the face!


On to the back to back!

[footey]

When you go looking for reasons this team lost you can look at a bunch of things:

Timelord, Smart, Kemba and Fournier out.

The unforced turnovers being so high. I can live with forced turnovers that the opponent's great defense creates. Hats off to them. But the shear amount of unforced turnovers is unacceptable.

The refs made some crucial bad decisions that cost the Celtics dearly. The gold tend on a block by Romeo. A missed offensive goaltend by Chicago. 2 fouls that Brown didn't get that should have sent him to the line. A few other calls.

Too many times this team had Brown and/or Tatum on the court and they weren't touching the ball for many times down the court with bad offensive players trying to do more than they are capable of and the team didn't score. With 4 of the top six players out, both Brown and Tatum should have shot the ball 22-25 times.

But....that last part said, the biggest problem was simply the post NBA MVP, Jayson, couldn't hit his shots. That really is the biggest reason.

That's not to say it's all Tatum's fault the team lost. He was magnificent in everything else he did and if he wasn't playing playmaker this team loses by 15.

But 3-17 is the outlier for me.

He had 4 turnovers, Nick.  Not that magnificent in everything else.   I think he tried his best to be the playmaker in absence of Smart and Kemba tonight. But he seemed a step slow going to the rim, which is where most of his turnovers occurred.  He's been playing so great lately, I'm giving him a pass. 

[footey]

I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the play of Jabari Parker. Contrary to the talking heads on CLNS post game, he doesn't look slow to me at all. There were a number of instances where he was sprinting up the court. His conditioning needs work.  But he just seems to know how to make a play with the ball.  I think Brad is trying hard to give him as much boot camp as possible so that he can actually be a factor in the playoffs.  Great pick up IMO.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

That was an utter disappointment.

[radiohead]

I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the play of Jabari Parker. Contrary to the talking heads on CLNS post game, he doesn't look slow to me at all. There were a number of instances where he was sprinting up the court. His conditioning needs work.  But he just seems to know how to make a play with the ball.  I think Brad is trying hard to give him as much boot camp as possible so that he can actually be a factor in the playoffs.  Great pick up IMO.

He looks to be lumbering at times, but maybe that’s just a conditioning issue? I’m excited to see how his role develops as his conditioning and knowledge of the system improves.

[gouki88]

I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the play of Jabari Parker. Contrary to the talking heads on CLNS post game, he doesn't look slow to me at all. There were a number of instances where he was sprinting up the court. His conditioning needs work.  But he just seems to know how to make a play with the ball.  I think Brad is trying hard to give him as much boot camp as possible so that he can actually be a factor in the playoffs.  Great pick up IMO.

He looks to be lumbering at times, but maybe that’s just a conditioning issue? I’m excited to see how his role develops as his conditioning and knowledge of the system improves.

I would bank on conditioning. Since the 24th of October 2019 he's played 43 NBA games

[nickagneta]

When you go looking for reasons this team lost you can look at a bunch of things:

Timelord, Smart, Kemba and Fournier out.

The unforced turnovers being so high. I can live with forced turnovers that the opponent's great defense creates. Hats off to them. But the shear amount of unforced turnovers is unacceptable.

The refs made some crucial bad decisions that cost the Celtics dearly. The gold tend on a block by Romeo. A missed offensive goaltend by Chicago. 2 fouls that Brown didn't get that should have sent him to the line. A few other calls.

Too many times this team had Brown and/or Tatum on the court and they weren't touching the ball for many times down the court with bad offensive players trying to do more than they are capable of and the team didn't score. With 4 of the top six players out, both Brown and Tatum should have shot the ball 22-25 times.

But....that last part said, the biggest problem was simply the post NBA MVP, Jayson, couldn't hit his shots. That really is the biggest reason.

That's not to say it's all Tatum's fault the team lost. He was magnificent in everything else he did and if he wasn't playing playmaker this team loses by 15.

But 3-17 is the outlier for me.

He had 4 turnovers, Nick.  Not that magnificent in everything else.   I think he tried his best to be the playmaker in absence of Smart and Kemba tonight. But he seemed a step slow going to the rim, which is where most of his turnovers occurred.  He's been playing so great lately, I'm giving him a pass.

You realize that Tatum's seasonal assist to turnover ratio is 1.68 to 1. His assist to turnover was 2.5 to 1 in this game, better than his numbers this year and for his entire career. You want 10 assists from him, you can't be criticizing the 4 TOs. It's a product of the increased responsibility of the playmaking he took on today. I think he was magnificent in everything he did. While taking on more offensive responsibility he increased his assist to turnover ratio rather than lowering it.

[hwangjini_1]

Just a bad bad loss

We blew an opportunity to gain some ground on the 4th seed. The main story here I think is that the Celtics as a team just didn’t respect their opponent. It didn’t help that they started the game on fire in the first quarter. When the Bulls came back it felt like the energy just wasn’t there anymore, as if they were just waiting for the Bulls to fold. This was the old Celtics team that showed up tonight. Of course we were undermanned bit still this was a very winnable game.

so, you don't think the main story is the celtics missing 4 of their top 6 players and one of the two remaining good players had an gawd awful shooting night?

we can agree to disagree.

[liam]

I understand that Waters was in Brad's doghouse and for good reason but you can't play with out a point guard. Ball handlers and point guards aren't the same thing. You need to have at least two points to play in every game. Hopefully 3.

[drogbagarnett]

The Main reason we lost (besides the refs sticking it to us as usual) to me is very clear and simple:

Coach Stevens sticking to Thompson instead of going for Kornet!!
Defensively to attempt to slow down on Vucevic (It was obviously not working with Thompson, why not try Kornet's length on him??)
But also offensively!! Thompson is not a threat and the lanes were clogged leading to difficult contested layups and turnover in crowded lanes. You don't need to be a genius coach to identify that!

Sorry but my admiration for coach Stevens is gone since the Toronto playoff series in the bubble.
I think we need a high profile assistant coach next to him to help get him out of his Ivory tower and back down to the reality of the games and applying the proper adjustments which none of the current assistant coaches can do...

[liam]

The Main reason we lost (besides the refs sticking it to us as usual) to me is very clear and simple:

Coach Stevens sticking to Thompson instead of going for Kornet!!
Defensively to attempt to slow down on Vucevic (It was obviously not working with Thompson, why not try Kornet's length on him??)
But also offensively!! Thompson is not a threat and the lanes were clogged leading to difficult contested layups and turnover in crowded lanes. You don't need to be a genius coach to identify that!

Sorry but my admiration for coach Stevens is gone since the Toronto playoff series in the bubble.
I think we need a high profile assistant coach next to him to help get him out of his Ivory tower and back down to the reality of the games and applying the proper adjustments which none of the current assistant coaches can do...

I second guess a bunch of stuff and assume Brad has his reasons. I would've played Pritchard 40 minutes tonight. I would've played Kornet more. I would've played Kornet more as his highest effects the game. I would given Nesmith more run for rebounds and ball handling. Brad makes the calls. The biggest thing I would've done different is resting Brown and Tatum and just run the young guys.

If Brad gets us into the playoffs healthy in this horrible season then my hats off to him.

[Who]

I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the play of Jabari Parker. Contrary to the talking heads on CLNS post game, he doesn't look slow to me at all. There were a number of instances where he was sprinting up the court. His conditioning needs work.

The problem with his quickness is not end to end. It is side to side lateral movement, changing directions (agility) & multiple effort plays (able first effort, worse 2nd effort and worse again 3rd effort on help D).

That is why he is so challenged defensively.

It is also why I do not believe in his defense improving now. That his ego has taken a hit and he will knuckle down. Yes, effort has been an issue previously but physical limitations are severe. Effort will only take him so far given severe limitations.