Celtics (45-24) at Jazz (45-25) 3/22

[MaxwellSmart86]

We let the Jazz finish the 1st half on an 8-0 run, and start the 2nd half on a 9-0 run....Game Over.

But, 2-1 on this trip was [dang] good.

[lon3lytoaster]

We let the Jazz finish the 1st half on an 8-0 run, and start the 2nd half on a 9-0 run....Game Over.

But, 2-1 on this trip was [dang] good.

For sure. Wins over the Mavs and Rockets is fine by me. We're still playing a lot better than we were several weeks ago. One loss doesn't really change that. It happens.

[twinbree]

I hope we don't get too harsh with our criticism tonight....4 days back we would have gladly accepted the 2-3 road record. The energy was still good. A guy named Okur was hot from beyond the arc....and unfortunately he happened to be on the opposition's roster. No biggie.

I only caught the end of the game so I won't criticize yet but I wanted to note that a lot of games have been lost because of someone getting hot beyond the arc. The 3 point defense has been an Achilles heel this season worsened by the fact that we're not shooting as well from there ourselves. I think if we get that under control we'd be in much better shape.

[GreenFaith1819]

Well, considering the unfortunate thing that happened to KG last yr when we visited the Jazz, I'll take this loss.

As long as KG didn't hurt himself on a freak play, I'm good.

Need every man up for next 3 months. Mid-June is a long way away.

[barefacedmonk]

 



(PS: I'm not sure if this pic is against the rules...I'm sorry if it is.)

[Cman]

Well, considering the unfortunate thing that happened to KG last yr when we visited the Jazz, I'll take this loss.

As long as KG didn't hurt himself on a freak play, I'm good.

Need every man up for next 3 months. Mid-June is a long way away.

Well said!

[jdpapa3]

I hope we don't get too harsh with our criticism tonight....4 days back we would have gladly accepted the 2-3 road record. The energy was still good. A guy named Okur was hot from beyond the arc....and unfortunately he happened to be on the opposition's roster. No biggie.

I only caught the end of the game so I won't criticize yet but I wanted to note that a lot of games have been lost because of someone getting hot beyond the arc. The 3 point defense has been an Achilles heel this season worsened by the fact that we're not shooting as well from there ourselves. I think if we get that under control we'd be in much better shape.

We're pretty good at 3 pt defense. 2nd in the league behind the Lakers. We were honestly running out on their guys for most of them(especially Okur) and they were still Onions.

[jdpapa3]

Bad second half defense and bad shooting from Ray, Paul, and Rasheed and a lackluster performance from KG and you have a loss.

Forget the refs, forget the lack of a timeout bu Doc to start the second half, the Celtics just got out hustled and out muscled and out shot from the 2 minutes lewft mark of the first half on.

I can't forget those Refs they were the mvp tonight.

Every they call pro Celtic in the first half went anti Celtic in the second half. In the end, the calls were about even.

I know you said you got in late, but honestly the first 5 minutes of the game were horribly reffed in Utah's favor. I remember thinking when the game was 13-12 that it should really be 17-6. Pierce got fouled on 3 consecutive plays and he couldn't get a call. He hit 2 of the 3 shots, btw.

People are saying we got the calls in the second quarter and I didn't really agree at the time. (I didn't think the reffing was one-sided in the Dallas game like a lot of people here did so different eyes see different angles on the game and you gotta respect that. A good example is that a lot here wanted a foul on Millsap for the elbow to Baby's nose, but I saw it as incidental contact that can happen on a clean play.) I only noticed one call where Davis got a generous call on a double pump in that second quarter. Boozer and Millsap really were hacking.

Ed Malloy is a guy I have questioned for a while, but it's clear this team lost focus on that Deron Williams drive where he bullrushed Rondo. The team has to keep its cool and Rondo played on tilt after that point from my view. You have to expect bad calls in a basketball game and this team has been pretty good about it for the past few months.(even Sheed!)

[Drucci]

Just saw the game... disappointed but not that much.

I hate the job the referees did though. We were getting every single call for the most part of the 2nd quarter so you knew that Utah would get all the calls in the 2nd half. Unfortunately they started getting these calls at the end of the 2nd and they reduced considerably our big lead of 12 points. I hate it when refs strike over for one team during entire stretches, this is so frustrating. For example, Utah couldn't touch a Celtic player at some point and yet in the third it was OK for them to throw elbows at Baby or get steals on every play because the refs decided it was time to help Utah... just let them play the game, [dang]!

The laggy broadcast didn't help me to enjoy this game, very ugly one I thought. The Jazz (or, just Memo actually) got on fire in the 3rd. I liked that we answered their big run though and we could have tied the game if Rondo didn't lose the ball on a crucial play. I thought the ball was clearly out of bounds on that play, yet they let Memo initiate the fastbreak and from then on we fell down again to never come back.

The bench made me think we could get back multiple times when we got back to 7 points differential but we couldn't get any stops or rebounds when we desperately needed to... the Boozer block on Ray summed up the story of the Znd half.

Anyway, any loss is a bad one but it's really a shame we didn't benefit from this game to make some separation on the Hawks. There is no way they win against Orlando Wednesday so we have to take care of the Nuggets at home!

Very good road-trip anyway. Just very disappointed by the bench. Davis had a good game once again but other than him... Quisy was OK in the end and Finley hit some shots. But overall I'm very disappointed by Nate. I thought he was supposed to be much "more of a scorer" than Eddie and yet he only makes 3's and when he (rarely) attempts a drive he never scores. I hope it changes soon!

[2short]

The calls must have had doc & sloan ready to throw chairs.  I didn't have a good feeling when the c's were up 7 or so at half and they had gotten (deserved or not) lots & lots of calls.  You knew wwf oops I mean nba style the 2nd half the ref's calls would change.  I feel deron williams , this year, is the best pg in the nba.  This doesn't mean I think he can lower the shoulder/elbow and physically go through rondo. 
I liked the game the jazz played and hope they can give lakers fits in playoffs, if okur shoots like that they look pretty good.  I believe the celtics kept minutes down for everyone, again playoffs are the big picture.  Davis looked really good 1st half as did robinson.

[Eddie20]

Rondo checked out mentally and was trying too hard to match Deron. Sheed was non-existent. Two biggest factor as to why we took the L.

[Tai]

I hope we don't get too harsh with our criticism tonight....4 days back we would have gladly accepted the 2-3 road record. The energy was still good. A guy named Okur was hot from beyond the arc....and unfortunately he happened to be on the opposition's roster. No biggie.

I only caught the end of the game so I won't criticize yet but I wanted to note that a lot of games have been lost because of someone getting hot beyond the arc. The 3 point defense has been an Achilles heel this season worsened by the fact that we're not shooting as well from there ourselves. I think if we get that under control we'd be in much better shape.

I gotta agree. What jdpapa said is encouraging, but it looked like Utah was given too much time to shoot the 3's. I didn't like that. If it wasn't Okur, it was Miles. As I said in the chat, maybe the fact the Jazz had a big man in Okur who could shoot from long range put a bigger strain on our perimeter defense.

It sucked we lost this game, but it doesn't mean we took a step back, necessarily. However, we have to bring it against Denver on our court. Definitely.

[marseye]

 

[EJPLAYA]

Rondo checked out mentally and was trying too hard to match Deron. Sheed was non-existent. Two biggest factor as to why we took the L.

Go look at the +/- for that game. You want to blame someon don't blame Rasheed. He was tied for the highest on the team with a positive 3. He blocked 3 shots and was playing hard defense while out there. Every single starter was double digit negatives. You are dead on with Rondo though. He looked like he was more interested in proving he was better than Williams than winning. What he proved is that he can't hold Williams' jock. Williams IMO is the best PG in the league. Rondo is tier 2 still until he gets a jumper and can hit a free throw. Oh, and keep his man in front of him.

[Bahku]

Watching the game now on the noon replay, (CSNNE), and while we gave up a lot in the 3rd quarter, I see a lot more positive than negative. The 4th qtr is just starting, and while I know already that we lost this one, I'm really not that disappointed in what I've seen so far ... there have been WAY too many turnovers, but they're hustling and executing well. The Jazz are on fire ... gotta say seriously, Utah has some great fans ... that building is loud!