We're Good.

[eugen]

These are things that IMHO decided this game:

1.  The travels by Sully and Evan Turner - two silly unforced turnovers that came at key times in the game

2. The two bad fouls on jump shots from Bradley and Thornton - again both of these gave up valuable points

3. Horrendous officiating on the Lebron drive + hook against Jeff Green.  No only did they NOT call the offensive foul (which would have given Boston the ball with a chance to increase their lead), but they eventually called a foul against Boston, putting Lebron at the line - a potential 2 or 3 point turnaround there from a single horrible call.

In a game that was eventually decided by a single possession, any one of those single events could have been the difference between a win and a loss.

Lebron always is protected by refs, not only VS Celtics. Is the same story with Lebron. The problem is the coach because he is not prepared to coach a NBA team. Remember easy baskets Marion made during 4qrt. Cs needs a real and experienced coach. Sooner to understand, better the impact...

[esel1000]

We're a flawed team end of story. A few missing pieces away, though we have some nice young pieces as well.

Smart would have helped. Sully played well. KO hasn't shot under 50% a game this season.. he's rapidly improving.

We have a good base, but until we have a real go to guy or one of our young guy develops into one, a rim protector, the maturity to not commit a bunch of stupid fouls and turnovers, AB and Turner never play pg again, and the refs stop bowing to Lebron, we aren't winning close games and we're going to blow leads. They will be close games though

[TheFlex]

Jeff Green... cold blooded???

[obnoxiousmime]

These are things that IMHO decided this game:

1.  The travels by Sully and Evan Turner - two silly unforced turnovers that came at key times in the game

2. The two bad fouls on jump shots from Bradley and Thornton - again both of these gave up valuable points

3. Horrendous officiating on the Lebron drive + hook against Jeff Green.  No only did they NOT call the offensive foul (which would have given Boston the ball with a chance to increase their lead), but they eventually called a foul against Boston, putting Lebron at the line - a potential 2 or 3 point turnaround there from a single horrible call.

In a game that was eventually decided by a single possession, any one of those single events could have been the difference between a win and a loss.

I would add that when LeBron switched to defending Rondo it seemed to break down the entire offense.

Olynyk also missed a wide open 3 and Rondo a wide open jumper, sandwiched around a Bradley wild drive and lost ball. After that the only scoring with free throws by Green and Sullinger. On the other possession Rondo was stripped on a drive and the ball went off his foot.

Anyway, not assigning blame to anyone, just listing the horrible possessions down the stretch. They couldn't score at the end because they don't have guards that can get to the basket and finish or attract enough attention to open up other shooters. They also don't have anyone who, when the shot isn't falling or the offense is bogged down, can find a way to get to the line.

LeBron is just way too fast, big, and skilled for Rondo to hope to drive on, and the less Bradley drives the better. That leaves what? Pick and rolls/pops? Well as I mentioned earlier Rondo and Olynyk missed their open shots when they successfully executed the play. Sometimes they go in, this time they didn't.

[sunnyd656]

Jeff Green... cold blooded???

I'm the biggest Jeff Green critic there is, but he is playing phenomenal so far. Essentially 19 PPG on 7/15 shooting. He'd be praised, if he weren't taking over Paul Pierces roll. We were spoiled in that regard.

 

These are things that IMHO decided this game:

1.  The travels by Sully and Evan Turner - two silly unforced turnovers that came at key times in the game

2. The two bad fouls on jump shots from Bradley and Thornton - again both of these gave up valuable points

3. Horrendous officiating on the Lebron drive + hook against Jeff Green.  No only did they NOT call the offensive foul (which would have given Boston the ball with a chance to increase their lead), but they eventually called a foul against Boston, putting Lebron at the line - a potential 2 or 3 point turnaround there from a single horrible call.

In a game that was eventually decided by a single possession, any one of those single events could have been the difference between a win and a loss.

I would add that when LeBron switched to defending Rondo it seemed to break down the entire offense.

Olynyk also missed a wide open 3 and Rondo a wide open jumper, sandwiched around a Bradley wild drive and lost ball. After that the only scoring with free throws by Green and Sullinger. On the other possession Rondo was stripped on a drive and the ball went off his foot.

Anyway, not assigning blame to anyone, just listing the horrible possessions down the stretch. They couldn't score at the end because they don't have guards that can get to the basket and finish or attract enough attention to open up other shooters. They also don't have anyone who, when the shot isn't falling or the offense is bogged down, can find a way to get to the line.

LeBron is just way too fast, big, and skilled for Rondo to hope to drive on, and the less Bradley drives the better. That leaves what? Pick and rolls/pops? Well as I mentioned earlier Rondo and Olynyk missed their open shots when they successfully executed the play. Sometimes they go in, this time they didn't.

I'm confused how a wide open 3 and jumper (By your own comments) is breaking down the offense? Is what an offense looks for, no?

The drive by Rondo was unlucky at worst, that play 9/10 times means a play under the basket or free throws. Give credit to Lebron for great defense and a lucky break.

On a completely unrelated point, and possibly a new thread topic if someone wants to start, does anyone else feel like Evan Turner is playing worse than he is, because he is trying to hard to fit into a passing system? A lot of his turn overs are him jumping in the air and trying to pass then. I, personally, wish he would come off the bench like a Thornton and look for his own shot off the dribble. I felt ET played well tonight, but wish he would do that more.

[LarBrd33]

We got some players getting good stats.  The team is scoring a ton of points.  They also are giving up a ton of points.  Fun team to watch, but we're probably a lotto squad this year again.

[obnoxiousmime]

Jeff Green... cold blooded???

I'm the biggest Jeff Green critic there is, but he is playing phenomenal so far. Essentially 19 PPG on 7/15 shooting. He'd be praised, if he weren't taking over Paul Pierces roll. We were spoiled in that regard.

 

These are things that IMHO decided this game:

1.  The travels by Sully and Evan Turner - two silly unforced turnovers that came at key times in the game

2. The two bad fouls on jump shots from Bradley and Thornton - again both of these gave up valuable points

3. Horrendous officiating on the Lebron drive + hook against Jeff Green.  No only did they NOT call the offensive foul (which would have given Boston the ball with a chance to increase their lead), but they eventually called a foul against Boston, putting Lebron at the line - a potential 2 or 3 point turnaround there from a single horrible call.

In a game that was eventually decided by a single possession, any one of those single events could have been the difference between a win and a loss.

I would add that when LeBron switched to defending Rondo it seemed to break down the entire offense.

Olynyk also missed a wide open 3 and Rondo a wide open jumper, sandwiched around a Bradley wild drive and lost ball. After that the only scoring with free throws by Green and Sullinger. On the other possession Rondo was stripped on a drive and the ball went off his foot.

Anyway, not assigning blame to anyone, just listing the horrible possessions down the stretch. They couldn't score at the end because they don't have guards that can get to the basket and finish or attract enough attention to open up other shooters. They also don't have anyone who, when the shot isn't falling or the offense is bogged down, can find a way to get to the line.

LeBron is just way too fast, big, and skilled for Rondo to hope to drive on, and the less Bradley drives the better. That leaves what? Pick and rolls/pops? Well as I mentioned earlier Rondo and Olynyk missed their open shots when they successfully executed the play. Sometimes they go in, this time they didn't.

I'm confused how a wide open 3 and jumper (By your own comments) is breaking down the offense? Is what an offense looks for, no?

The drive by Rondo was unlucky at worst, that play 9/10 times means a play under the basket or free throws. Give credit to Lebron for great defense and a lucky break.

On a completely unrelated point, and possibly a new thread topic if someone wants to start, does anyone else feel like Evan Turner is playing worse than he is, because he is trying to hard to fit into a passing system? A lot of his turn overs are him jumping in the air and trying to pass then. I, personally, wish he would come off the bench like a Thornton and look for his own shot off the dribble. I felt ET played well tonight, but wish he would do that more.

Thanks for picking nits over my every little word. When I used the term "break down" I meant that overall, the offense struggled when LeBron shifted to defending Rondo. I don't think anybody thought it to mean they had 0 percent offensive opportunities. That's why in the next sentence I used the word "also."

Regarding the strip, if LeBron didn't go for the strip that drive was very likely going to end up a missed shot/TO anyway. LeBron was all over him on that drive and it was going nowhere fast.

I'm not sure why you have to be so defensive. As I said, I'm not blaming or bashing anybody. LeBron is a great defender when he's not taking the night off, and yesterday he was clearly going all out.

[Celtics4ever]

So far the Cavs are not a good barometer of good.   I think we have played well at times and we are a few pieces away.

[kozlodoev]

We got some players getting good stats.  The team is scoring a ton of points.  They also are giving up a ton of points.  Fun team to watch, but we're probably a lotto squad this year again.

Yeah, just make sure you skip the fourth quarters. The blown leads are infuriating

[gpap]

What p---es me off about last night's loss is we had Cleveland on the ropes.

Lebron's body language (as Gorman pointed out) was terrible and there was a point in the 3rd quarter where it almost looked like we were dismantling them one by one.

And then, stupidity took over.

Bradley fouling Kyrie trying to make a 3, ditto with Thornton on the white guy backing up Lebron (Harris I think it was).

And then, I don't know what the hell Rondo was trying to do at the end of the game on that last possession.

It's like we gift wrapped the Cavs a win.

[hwangjini_1]

What p---es me off about last night's loss is we had Cleveland on the ropes.

Lebron's body language (as Gorman pointed out) was terrible and there was a point in the 3rd quarter where it almost looked like we were dismantling them one by one.

And then, stupidity took over.

Bradley fouling Kyrie trying to make a 3, ditto with Thornton on the white guy backing up Lebron (Harris I think it was).

And then, I don't know what the hell Rondo was trying to do at the end of the game on that last possession.

It's like we gift wrapped the Cavs a win.

yeah, amazing. it's almost as if the celtics were a bad team or something.

[Fred Roberts]

Hey - we can compete with the league best and be disappointed when we lose. Seems like we've made some serious progress even if the outcome last night is a huge bummer. I like this squad.

[obnoxiousmime]

What p---es me off about last night's loss is we had Cleveland on the ropes.

Lebron's body language (as Gorman pointed out) was terrible and there was a point in the 3rd quarter where it almost looked like we were dismantling them one by one.

And then, stupidity took over.

Bradley fouling Kyrie trying to make a 3, ditto with Thornton on the white guy backing up Lebron (Harris I think it was).

And then, I don't know what the hell Rondo was trying to do at the end of the game on that last possession.

It's like we gift wrapped the Cavs a win.

It really felt like a case of the team with the stars making amazing individual plays and overwhelming the less talented team that played better together. The Cavs definitely haven't figured it out yet, but last night LeBron took over and Kyrie made some huge shots and that was enough to still eke out a win.

[snively]

We got some players getting good stats.  The team is scoring a ton of points.  They also are giving up a ton of points.  Fun team to watch, but we're probably a lotto squad this year again.

Yeah, just make sure you skip the fourth quarters. The blown leads are infuriating

Not a bad approach.  Even in wins like Chicago and Indy, the 4th quarters have been aesthetic disasters.

[D.o.s.]

That was true even with the Big Three, though.