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

[green_bballers13]

The Celtics are neither underperforming or overperforming. They're beating the teams that they're supposed to beat, and losing to all of the good ones. I'd say that they probably could have 4 more wins right now, but they weren't really bad beats as much as non-clutch last moments. Horford was brutal in that last minute. I'm waiting on Smart to hit one of those clutch shots to get his shooting momentum going.

In the long term, I think it's not a bad thing that they lose these tight games on the road. It doesn't get Danny fooled that he has developed a contending team. If he's interested in doing some damage this year in the playoffs, he'll make a trade or two. They are still 2 stars away from a shot at the Warriors.

[csfansince60s]

The KNICKS are ahead of us in the standings!!!

The blankin' KNICKS,!

[jpotter33]

Smart at +12, Jaylen at + 2, and Amir somehow at +7.

Everyone else in the negatives. Bradley leading with a -12.

[jpotter33]

The KNICKS are ahead of us in the standings!!!

The blankin' KNICKS,!

At least the Lakers might beat them tonight. Also, they beat the Kings the other night, which at least helps the Boogie trade chances.

The Sixers also won, and the Suns look like they'll take another win, too, which are both great for the Brooklyn pick at least.

[TrueFan]

The KNICKS are ahead of us in the standings!!!

The blankin' KNICKS,!

At least the Lakers might beat them tonight. Also, they beat the Kings the other night, which at least helps the Boogie trade chances.

The Sixers also won, and the Suns look like they'll take another win, too, which are both great for the Brooklyn pick at least.

Cousins likes being in Sacramento and he's on record saying he would like to play on a team with John Wall.

I don't think we are even on his radar and if he's content in Sacramento then the owners can just keep trying to build around him.

[csfansince60s]

The KNICKS are ahead of us in the standings!!!

The blankin' KNICKS,!

At least the Lakers might beat them tonight. Also, they beat the Kings the other night, which at least helps the Boogie trade chances.

The Sixers also won, and the Suns look like they'll take another win, too, which are both great for the Brooklyn pick at least.

TP for the good news.

Needed some.

[TrueFan]

Anyone know what happened to Jerebko going back to the bench?

[jpotter33]

The KNICKS are ahead of us in the standings!!!

The blankin' KNICKS,!

At least the Lakers might beat them tonight. Also, they beat the Kings the other night, which at least helps the Boogie trade chances.

The Sixers also won, and the Suns look like they'll take another win, too, which are both great for the Brooklyn pick at least.

TP for the good news.

Needed some.

Well, New Orleans and Phoenix going to OT. Doesn't really matter who wins, since a win for either team will help the Brooklyn pick. I trust New Orleans to stay above Brooklyn more than Phoenix, though.

[MBunge]

Anyone know what happened to Jerebko going back to the bench?

Who knows?  Does anyone in the media ever ask Stevens about this stuff?  Why is Amir considered an automatic starter?  Does anyone know why Green seems to be getting less run than RJ got last season, even when Jaylen wasn't getting minutes?  Why has KO never really been given a try as starter?  Why does Smart play off the ball so much when it clearly limits his effectiveness?

Stevens probably has answers for all that but nobody in the media asks the questions?

Mike

[kozlodoev]

[It's a shame because he was having a really strong game in the first half.  His disappearance in the 4th is a big reason why we couldn't pull this one out.  With IT out he needs to step up.

Sometimes I have this feeling that people only watched Horford during All-Star games. There is a reason all those ATL teams never got anywhere.

He's not a true number 1 option on a contending team, and neither is IT. I think they could both be excellent 2 and 3 options, but we need a dominant center or wing number one option to really take the next step.

Cousins and George both fit that mold. I think by adding Cousins we'd be a true contender, but we'd still have to get another frontcourt starter by adding George.

Hard to trade for George when we are just now starting to figure out what we got with Jaylen.

George has played a lot of snaps at PF recently. Just saying.

[TrueFan]

Anyone know what happened to Jerebko going back to the bench?

Who knows?  Does anyone in the media ever ask Stevens about this stuff?  Why is Amir considered an automatic starter?  Does anyone know why Green seems to be getting less run than RJ got last season, even when Jaylen wasn't getting minutes?  Why has KO never really been given a try as starter?  Why does Smart play off the ball so much when it clearly limits his effectiveness?

Stevens probably has answers for all that but nobody in the media asks the questions?

Mike

Good point. The media does try to protect the coach and players too much so they dont lose their access to the team. It's only on the post game shows such as Felger or WEEI on the radio when you hear our local sports media questioning the team at all.

[TrueFan]

[It's a shame because he was having a really strong game in the first half.  His disappearance in the 4th is a big reason why we couldn't pull this one out.  With IT out he needs to step up.

Sometimes I have this feeling that people only watched Horford during All-Star games. There is a reason all those ATL teams never got anywhere.

He's not a true number 1 option on a contending team, and neither is IT. I think they could both be excellent 2 and 3 options, but we need a dominant center or wing number one option to really take the next step.

Cousins and George both fit that mold. I think by adding Cousins we'd be a true contender, but we'd still have to get another frontcourt starter by adding George.

Hard to trade for George when we are just now starting to figure out what we got with Jaylen.

George has played a lot of snaps at PF recently. Just saying.

George is not a fan of playing power forward.

[jpotter33]

[It's a shame because he was having a really strong game in the first half.  His disappearance in the 4th is a big reason why we couldn't pull this one out.  With IT out he needs to step up.

Sometimes I have this feeling that people only watched Horford during All-Star games. There is a reason all those ATL teams never got anywhere.

He's not a true number 1 option on a contending team, and neither is IT. I think they could both be excellent 2 and 3 options, but we need a dominant center or wing number one option to really take the next step.

Cousins and George both fit that mold. I think by adding Cousins we'd be a true contender, but we'd still have to get another frontcourt starter by adding George.

Hard to trade for George when we are just now starting to figure out what we got with Jaylen.

George has played a lot of snaps at PF recently. Just saying.

He's a pretty vocal opponent of playing PF iirc, though.

[jpotter33]

So, apparently the foul count was 22-9 with a 27-8 free throw advantage for them.

During the game, it didn't seem to me that the refs were too bad or lopsided, though. Other than a few bad calls, I thought were seemingly consistent and fair overall, but 22-9 is a pretty ridiculous disparity, especially given the fact that OKC is just as aggressive as us defensively.

[walker834]

I more think we have to wait and see on Smart and Brown.  Both of them could be starting for us.  Amir is plus 7 for a reason though because he is that open and is a good out for players that drive and get shut down and swallowed up. 

We could trade off IT and Crowder and some of these picks for a legit big man to go with Horford imo but smart basketball is hard to come by.  We just have to be patient and hope they work this stuff out.

Having IT is basically our go to guy scorer and playmaker right now.   It's not a bad thing.  We keep losing these close games it gets a bit annoying.  people need to lighten up though to the things people say and everything else.  I could say trade IT and Crowder and a pick for boogie but people would take that too seriously.  It's a forum and these are just ideas.  The fact I even have to think about saying that is a bit absurd because someone is going to take it the wrong way. Lighten up in general.

CErtain games teams collapse on our shooters and  having a guy who can play inside and get open and block shots would be nice.

Marcus really is a starting  quality pg though.  Br own is coming too.  They aren't that good offensively where having Isaiah and Crowder doesn't help though. 

Brad is a little slow on the uptake utilizing Amir in those situations right now when teams collapse on our drivers and shooters.

If we had another big man it would be even better but Boogie isn't exactly the brightest tack in the shed himself.