Celtics (13-10) at Thunder (14-9) Game #24 12/11/16

[Chief]

Smart is the difference so far tonight.

On many nights whether he makes a bucket or not he IS

He's got that KG thing.

[TrueFan]

Smart triple double tonight

Who'd have thought our PG would be the one on triple double watch.

Hes the difference but you have to think someone else is going to have to step up for us to win this.

We need some offense in the second.

[Vox_Populi]

Smart has looked quite quick off the dribble tonight.

[GratefulCs]

Great ball movement at the end, there

[alewilliam789]

If Smart consistently plays like this efficiently he should start. It's Brad decision of whether it should be Avery or IT. Personally I think it should be Avery, but I'm sure others on here would have something to say about that

[SHAQATTACK]

Seriously, we've been getting excellent, excellent looks with Smart's penetration and our overall excellent passing, but we can't hit jack crap!

Paul George could fix this

[jpotter33]

I think if we are shopping a starter it should be Bradley. Guy has completely stagnated after a hot start. Has a lot of value to teams like Utah, Toronto, Cleveland, Charlotte, or any playoff team.

Hes averaging 18 and 8.

He's our third best player.

That's his ceiling.  And I think Marcus, Hortford,  and IT4 are all overall better players.

I also think Brown and Rozier have more potential.

Bradley is best as the fifth starter who is just a spot-up shooter and cutter. He just doesn't have the skillset to handle the ball very much at all. He'd honestly be a perfect fit on Cleveland and/or Golden State where all he would have to worry about is locking down his opponent and hitting the open shot/making backdoor cuts.

[celticslove]

I think if we are shopping a starter it should be Bradley. Guy has completely stagnated after a hot start. Has a lot of value to teams like Utah, Toronto, Cleveland, Charlotte, or any playoff team.

Hes averaging 18 and 8.

He's our third best player.

That's his ceiling.  And I think Marcus, Hortford,  and IT4 are all overall better players.

I also think Brown and Rozier have more potential.

agree i think this is bradley's ceiling, still cannot consistently pass or dribble to save his life. but yeah he shooting better.

[bello_man09]

good half so far....we need to take care of the ball. At this point i will have Rozier handle it more than bradley is turnovers are really costly. he is getting exposed against this OKC team. Kelly has been decent, good Defense and decent rebounding. just needs to hit those corner 3s.

[BitterJim]

I missed most of the first half, I was surprised that we were winning when I tuned in after seeing some of the comments on here

[celticslove]

Smart has looked quite quick off the dribble tonight.

i think he always play good whether they visit oklahoma

[SHAQATTACK]

Smart is the difference so far tonight.

On many nights whether he makes a bucket or not he IS

He's got that KG thing.

Knowing he is the better man in most matchups

[TrueFan]

I think if we are shopping a starter it should be Bradley. Guy has completely stagnated after a hot start. Has a lot of value to teams like Utah, Toronto, Cleveland, Charlotte, or any playoff team.

Hes averaging 18 and 8.

He's our third best player.

I understand that, but his defense has regressed and offensively he is essentially limited to pull-ups and spot up buckets. Can't really create with the ball in hands and makes a ridiculous amount of dumb mistakes. We would be better off with adding Smart to the starting lineup because of his versatility as a playmaker

That statement is played on here like a broken record.

AB is one of the few guys that can actually get it going in a game. He hits those pull ups at a very high clip and he's added a nice dribble drive off the curl jumper he has.

He's a top 50 player. Smart and Rozier are probably near top 75 and 100.

[jpotter33]

Trade Bradley to the Cavaliers?

Oh yeah, let's help the Cavaliers out...

If it also helps us out? I mean, we need rebounding and an interior presence shooting, which Love brings, and Smart is absolutely ready to be in the starting lineup. And IT would be best off the ball where Smart can usually initiate the offense, but IT be there to iso penetrate if need be. I think a Love for Bradley trade makes quite a bit of sense, that is if we can't make a trade for someone like Boogie or Noel.

I also think Bradley's D is a bit overrated, because while he's an excellent ball-hawking guard, his team defense is actually subpar.

[SCeltic34]

I think if we are shopping a starter it should be Bradley. Guy has completely stagnated after a hot start. Has a lot of value to teams like Utah, Toronto, Cleveland, Charlotte, or any playoff team.

The guy is averaging 18.6 points and 7.4 rebounds THIS MONTH. I wouldn't call that "stagnation". He's averaging a career high in points, rebounds, assists, 3 point percentage and true shooting percentage. He has a lot of value to this team as he's the only guard who is proven to consistently knock down 3 point shots which opens up the defense for IT to drive. If you get rid of him the whole offense would stagnate.

*sigh*

Well said.  Previous 5 games:

37-70 from the field (53%)
11-24 from 3 (46%)
Shooting 42.3% from 3 on the season
7.7 RPG

I'd say that's pretty [dang] good.