Big factor in today's game: Carmelo's second half defense.

[nickagneta]

Say all you want about Carmelo Anthony, since most of it is probably true, but his defense today was a major difference in this game.

In the second half he was on Jeff Green and he started playing him in his face, up close and wide, and forced Green to give up the ball. Green didn't shoot that much in the 2nd half and he didn't score much. Given that he and Bradley were basically our first half offense, that made a huge difference.

Normally, during Green's big games, he becomes the offensive focus because most teams have their best defender on Pierce. But after watching Green for 20 in the first half, it sure looked like Carmelo took that personally and decided to do something about it.

There just are not a lot of SFs out there that can play Green up close, can get physical with him, force him to try to put the ball on the floor and yet still be fast enough to stop Green from going to the basket. Melo did that in the second half and Green simply kept passing the ball.

The result, a complete shut down of the Celtics offense.

Gonna need the bench and Pierce to pick up the slack if Green is going to have Carmelo guarding him like that the rest of the series. I guess the good thing to take out of this is that Carmelo hardly ever plays defense that good two games in a row.

[CelticConcourse]

The thing is, Jeff Green can do the exact thing against Carmelo. With the defense Jeff showed vs. LeBron and then the defense we know Pierce and Bass can utilize, we can limit Carmelo as well. Limiting Carmelo will decidedly swing the series in our favor and by stopping him, we're stopping their whole flow.

I want to see a little more Green v. (car)Melo because I know what he can do on the defensive end. And then there's his offense, which we saw today.

It should be interesting.

[The Rondo Show]

The thing is, Jeff Green can do the exact thing against Carmelo. With the defense Jeff showed vs. LeBron and then the defense we know Pierce and Bass can utilize, we can limit Carmelo as well. Limiting Carmelo will decidedly swing the series in our favor and by stopping him, we're stopping their whole flow.

I want to see a little more Green v. (car)Melo because I know what he can do on the defensive end. And then there's his offense, which we saw today.

It should be interesting.

I don't understand how after 4 games of Melo dominating us so far this year how we're all the sudden going to "limit" him

[nickagneta]

The thing is, Jeff Green can do the exact thing against Carmelo.

No he can't.

Green on several occasions played defense against Carmelo that was as good as can be and Carmelo scored anyway.

Why? Because Carmelo has the scorer's mentality and will shoot in the face of tough defense regardless. Green won't. He's too passive and doesn't have that scorer's mentality. He will pass.

Green's defense was solid today. Melo scored 36. Green has played defense on Melo and Lebron a lot this year and Melo and Bron still scored big numbers and/or very efficiently. Green simply can't shut down Melo and Bron the way they can shut him down if they so decide. Let's not forget, Green wasn't covered by Lebron and Melo during the regular season. They guarded Pierce.

[CelticConcourse]

I don't understand how after 4 games of Melo dominating us so far this year how we're all the sudden going to "limit" him

6/26 (23%)
11/28 (39%)
10/30 (33%)
9/19 (47%)

His average FG% against the Celtics over four games is lower than all but one other game he played this season. That being the game vs. the Kings.



How was he "dominating us"?

[krook]

The thing is, Jeff Green can do the exact thing against Carmelo. With the defense Jeff showed vs. LeBron and then the defense we know Pierce and Bass can utilize, we can limit Carmelo as well. Limiting Carmelo will decidedly swing the series in our favor and by stopping him, we're stopping their whole flow.

I want to see a little more Green v. (car)Melo because I know what he can do on the defensive end. And then there's his offense, which we saw today.

It should be interesting.

melo got 36 closed to 40 points
i don't expect a player from us getting 30+ also but that is the scary thing

like miami lebron can score 40
d-wade can score 28 or 32
bosh can give you 18 or 19 or 17 points

...our bench players only got zero...
j.r. smith off the bench gives us a problem also

[CelticConcourse]

The thing is, Jeff Green can do the exact thing against Carmelo.

No he can't.

Green on several occasions played defense against Carmelo that was as good as can be and Carmelo scored anyway.

Why? Because Carmelo has the scorer's mentality and will shoot in the face of tough defense regardless. Green won't. He's too passive and doesn't have that scorer's mentality. He will pass.

Green's defense was solid today. Melo scored 36. Green has played defense on Melo and Lebron a lot this year and Melo and Bron still scored big numbers and/or very efficiently. Green simply can't shut down Melo and Bron the way they can shut him down if they so decide. Let's not forget, Green wasn't covered by Lebron and Melo during the regular season. They guarded Pierce.

Just because Carmelo scored 36 doesn't mean they will win.

13-for-29 is decent defense, and if we cut down our turnovers by seven, we'd have a good chance at winning. I'm blaming the turnovers, and only the turnovers for this game. Carmelo was pretty dreadful at one point (1-for-10 was it?)

In my opinion, Green/Pierce/Bass can stop Carmelo from dominating a game. I don't think we'll ever see him have a 60% FG% game against us.

[nickagneta]

I don't understand how after 4 games of Melo dominating us so far this year how we're all the sudden going to "limit" him

6/26 (23%)
11/28 (39%)
10/30 (33%)
9/19 (47%)

His average FG% against the Celtics over four games is lower than all but one other game he played this season. That being the game vs. the Kings.



How was he "dominating us"?

Melo has shot poorly against us. He's still been dominant. 25 PPG, 8 RPG, 3 APG, 2 SPG. That's dominant even if the shooting isn't that great.

That doesn't include today's game or a 4-1 record vs Boston this year thus far.

[nickagneta]

You don't have to be shooting 60% to be dominant. Melo's 2nd half shut down of Green was pretty dominating.

[The Rondo Show]

I don't understand how after 4 games of Melo dominating us so far this year how we're all the sudden going to "limit" him

6/26 (23%)
11/28 (39%)
10/30 (33%)
9/19 (47%)

His average FG% against the Celtics over four games is lower than all but one other game he played this season. That being the game vs. the Kings.



How was he "dominating us"?

What are you watching lol? Besides the first game in NY (20 points), his low against us is 24, and that was in limited minutes because the score was so out of control. We've had no answer for him and neither has any other team in the league consistently. 

[krook]

The thing is, Jeff Green can do the exact thing against Carmelo.

No he can't.

Green on several occasions played defense against Carmelo that was as good as can be and Carmelo scored anyway.

Why? Because Carmelo has the scorer's mentality and will shoot in the face of tough defense regardless. Green won't. He's too passive and doesn't have that scorer's mentality. He will pass.

Green's defense was solid today. Melo scored 36. Green has played defense on Melo and Lebron a lot this year and Melo and Bron still scored big numbers and/or very efficiently. Green simply can't shut down Melo and Bron the way they can shut him down if they so decide. Let's not forget, Green wasn't covered by Lebron and Melo during the regular season. They guarded Pierce.

Just because Carmelo scored 36 doesn't mean they will win.

13-for-29 is decent defense, and if we cut down our turnovers by seven, we'd have a good chance at winning. I'm blaming the turnovers, and only the turnovers for this game. Carmelo was pretty dreadful at one point (1-for-10 was it?)

In my opinion, Green/Pierce/Bass can stop Carmelo from dominating a game. I don't think we'll ever see him have a 60% FG% game against us.

we don't focus on just one player...as i've said crawford terry  got zero points...smith can score more than 15 depending on who is guarding him...k-mart gave them 10 rebounds + points,
if tyson was healthy everything will change

[bfrombleacher]

JG didn't take ill advised contested jumpers, unlike his counterpart. I'd say JG did a great job (so did Bass) on D.

If you don't take 'em, you can't make 'em. And I'd rather JG didn't take 'em and pray they go in more often than not.

If anything Green should be catching the ball inside and wrecking havoc. When Melo wants to, he can play decent defense, at least man to man (he has the physical tools at least).

But you also have to factor in the minutes Green's been playing and the fact that his stamina is lacking.

[nickagneta]

Here's the thing.

When the Knicks need Carmelo to score, the Knicks know he can and can do it even in the face of the toughest defense of Green. When the Celtics need Green to score, they do not know if Green can score even in the face of the toughest defense from Melo.

I feel that is and will be extremely important going forward if the C's are going to rely so much on Green to score.

[nickagneta]

JG didn't take ill advised contested jumpers, unlike his counterpart. I'd say JG did a great job (so did Bass) on D.

If you don't take 'em, you can't make 'em. And I'd rather JG didn't take 'em and pray they go in more often than not.

If anything Green should be catching the ball inside and wrecking havoc. When Melo wants to, he can play decent defense, at least man to man (he has the physical tools at least).

But you also have to factor in the minutes Green's been playing and the fact that his stamina is lacking.

Scorer's take ill advised shots and make them. Its what they do. Just ask Paul Pierce.

[greenhead85]

 Melo's numbers is manageable for as long Green and PP produce similarly as in Game 1's. The Knicks bench had better production.Our bench has to step up and keep JR, Kmart, Kidd and other Knick from getting into their groove.