Hawks (23-13) at Celtics (26-9) 1/11

[Kiorrik]

i am tired of perkins turning the ball over 5 plus times a game...go buy some freaking hands

Nothing to do with hands. Did you watch the game? He got called for traveling. He needs to put the ball down. Use his hands LESS.

[jdpapa3]

When we got KG, Sheed & Marquis back these hawks are dead meat. I'm not worried about them.

no they aren't....

I dare you to bet Atlanta the next time we play them. We'll see how strongly you feel about that. We'll see if KG will let us stay flat for an entire half...

[Redz]

Where was Scal when we needed him

[houseonfire09]

The refs definitely influenced this game, but they're not responsible for us getting outscored 56-41 in the second half.

Yes they are responsible for that.  That "flagrant" on BBD followed by Doc's ejection along with other awful calls absolutely sucked the life out of this team tonight.  They weren't the same team after that sequence.

Shame on the Celtics, then, for not having the mental toughness to deal with adversity.  If they can't bounce back from bad calls -- to the tune of putting up lousy offensive and defensive efforts over an entire half -- then there's no way this team will win a title.

I'll just chalk it up to "one of those games", especially without KG and Rasheed in there.  I simply can't accept that the Celtics are that weak-minded.

When a team performs terribly on both ends for 24 minutes, I find it hard to blame the refs for the entirety of the loss.  The Celtics have to have some accountability, as well.

They will save that tough-mindedness for the next game.  After that sequence in the middle of the 3rd, they kind of felt that they can't win this game, even though they were up 6.  That is partly why they got so sloppy in the 4th, IMO.  I can't really blame them for that, because this was quickly turning into one of those games where the refs take over and give one team the game

[ejk3489]

Doc needs to chill the f out. Costing us another game IMO... I have not liked his coaching much this year.

We also weren't able to hit clutch shots in the end. Choke job as usual.

Forgot about the Miami game already?

[jdpapa3]

Where was Scal when we needed him

I bet he would've rotated properly on that Jamal Crawford drive. And he was hot, too. Who knows if that MJ braintype guy would've hit a few more huge 3's?

[celticinorlando]

When we got KG, Sheed & Marquis back these hawks are dead meat. I'm not worried about them.

no they aren't....

I dare you to bet Atlanta the next time we play them. We'll see how strongly you feel about that. We'll see if KG will let us stay flat for an entire half...

you do realize they play atlanta the next night after playing in orlando? and we dont even know if KG will even be back by then either

[Drucci]

The C's choked in the end but that's what will happen when the refs are letting you know they have chosen to help Atlanta to win the game and get back in it.

Sure we could have expected more poise and cold-blood from the Celtics and their veterans but the refs made them lost their mind. Can't blame them.

Can't blame them neither for getting tired on a back to back when Thibodeau didn't give the starters a SINGLE minute of rest after Doc's ejection (which means one quarter and a half).

[Chief]

The refs definitely influenced this game, but they're not responsible for us getting outscored 56-41 in the second half.

Yes they are responsible for that.  That "flagrant" on BBD followed by Doc's ejection along with other awful calls absolutely sucked the life out of this team tonight.  They weren't the same team after that sequence.

We were still up 6 points at this point, and decided to subsequently toss the game for some reason. Great way to react to adversity.

Yeh, our own fault, that bid. Have to agree.

Also, it *was* a flagrant. Wrapping someones neck = flagrant. Period. (imo)

The big question remains, why did we have to play the starters for the entire second half? I understand the Hawks did exactly the same, but we're _not_ the Hawks.

I remember seeing Bibby and Evans. Did Tony or Eddie even see the court in the 2nd half? Ray and Paul need small breaks to stay fresh. The Hawks announcers could not believe how little Paul and Ray did in the 4th. Old players just can't log those type of minutes in back to backs. Ray logged 83+ minutes in the last two games. And Paul 75+ minutes in the last two games coming off minor knee surgery,

[nickagneta]

Pierce asked if since no one was substituted after the technicals, did this cause the team to get tired at the end?

Pause.

Pause.

Pause.


Pierce's answer. Yeah...maybe.

[kozlodoev]

I was confused as to why Baby and Perk were getting all the touches in the 4th quarter, when you have guys like Pierce, Ray Allen, and even Rondo, on your team. Bad execution.

Because everyone else was gassed by playing the entire second half. Bad coaching.

[celticinorlando]

the celtics of old would not have given up an nice halftime lead..the 3rd quarter is killing this team.

[houseonfire09]

When we got KG, Sheed & Marquis back these hawks are dead meat. I'm not worried about them.

no they aren't....

I dare you to bet Atlanta the next time we play them. We'll see how strongly you feel about that. We'll see if KG will let us stay flat for an entire half...

you do realize they play atlanta the next night after playing in orlando? and we dont even know if KG will even be back by then either

Also, it doesn't matter who's playing for us anyway.  http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=34144.msg651445;topicseen#new

 

[jadams5214]

Great posts by the more astute observers on this board regarding the Celtics' struggles.

Instead of excuses about the refs, injuries, fouls blah blah blah let's look at what is really causing these losses.

C's turnovers continue at an alarming rate.  And they tend to occur at the worst possible times.  3 straight in a crucial 3rd quarter stretch when the Hawks were coming back.  The Pierce lazy pass when the C's were down 2 late in the 4th and needing a score.  Perks constant traveling when having the opportunity for scores inside.

This team fails to execute down the stretch.  They constantly give up big leads by playing poorly.  They consistently have at least one terrible quarter (usually the 3rd) in each game.  

Doc made it clear how important this game was to the Celtics when talking about how the Hawks have owned them this year.  Despite having a 14 point lead the C's yet again blew it and choked down the stretch.  The Hawks have the edge on the Celtics now and there is no disputing that.  If they face each other in the 2nd round of the playoffs watch out...

[celticinorlando]

Pierce asked if since no one was substituted after the technicals, did this cause the team to get tired at the end?

Pause.

Pause.

Pause.


Pierce's answer. Yeah...maybe.

because they have nobody on the bench that can contribute like they need from the PG, SG and SF