Celtics (44-19) at Rockets (44-13) Game #64 3/3/18

[azzenfrost]

Not the best effort but we learned something. The bench can keep up with the west.

[Chris22]

Refs not granting Boston the time out when Horford and Stevens were calling for it is frustrating

The fix was in from the beginning.

[Phantom255x]

Man, those technical fouls really seemed to hurt us at the end. And it's just never going to be fair when Harden gets the kind of calls he does from the refs on a regular basis... 

I think Brad Stevens is a fantastic coach and usually never criticize him. That said, I have no clue why he didn't let Monroe play until the end instead of Horford who was awful tonight. 

Monroe was on fire and it's not like he was playing 25+ minutes regularly before. Should have let him continue against an elite Rockets team on the road. The match up was perfect for him.

And I usually criticized Olynyk for this, but Horford at times had good, open looks and pump faked and passed on the shot. It ultimately cost us at the end with him getting double teamed and then him falling to the ground and turning it over. 

But still, that was a fun game, and I'm still encouraged with this team with the effort they put out tonight. Just have to keep playing well and now they need to take care of business going forward again. 

Also, the C's I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) are 0-4 this season on ABC games played. Maybe we should hope to avoid having ABC air the playoff games for the C's, at least until the Finals 

[satch]

Random thoughts..Effort was there but execution down the stretch was spotty.- Direction of the team is good.- Would Theis made a difference? Can we get 18 out of Monroe again? Can Gordon hit seven 3"s again?  Are you sold on the Houston's coach?

[Phantom255x]

Random thoughts..Effort was there but execution down the stretch was spotty.- Direction of the team is good.- Would Theis made a difference? Can we get 18 out of Monroe again? Can Gordon hit seven 3"s?  Are you sold on the Houston?

I'll be honest with you, about Houston, they NEED the #1 seed.

I still think Golden State beats them in a series, even if GSW don't have home court, but for HOU to have a chance, they need a hypothetical Game 7 at home.

That said, while I think HOU can take Golden State to 6-7 games, the reality is, the way the C's shot tonight is about how Golden State shoots on a regular basis, or even slightly better. Playoff Warriors are even better, which is scary. Unless Houston can play some better defense and if they can shoot extremely well for 4 out of 7 games vs. GSW, they have a legitimate chance. But I don't see it. What makes GSW great is also that they are actually a pretty decent defensive team too.

[hwangjini_1]

Fun game in spite of the outcome.

I don't know why anyone is complaining about the game. The Celtics went toe to toe with arguably the best team in the league. Then, some Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. luck/breaks, bad referring, and 2 minutes of poor execution. Change any of those and they would have won.

This game gave me hope for a finals appearance by the Celtics.

[celticinorlando]

I am just as p---ed tonight as I was when they lost in San Antonio and earlier in the season. Had both of games won

[ozgod]

Just a reminder - Al also blew the game winner for us last year in Houston by missing a bunny layup at the buzzer. (Granted, that was a game that the refs LEGITIMATELY stole from us by incorrectly calling an AB 3 a 2.)

http://www.nba.com/video/2016/12/06/0021600311-vo-bos-horford-gamewinner-miss#/

Al also made the shot that gave the Celtics the lead the last time the Rockets and the Celtics played.

Sure, but IIRC, Al was also pretty bad that entire game before making the winning shot.

Either way, he’s been very bad since ASB and has to step it up.

Agreed that Horford's clearly in a funk, but tonight's loss wasn't just on him. The Celtics as a team had plenty of chances to put it away and they didn't.

Also, that game where Horford missed the buzzer beater last year in Houston, he put up a statline of 21-9-6. That's a pretty good line in a big game.

Games like tonight happen and there's not much anyone can do about it.

Al plays best when he is aggressive. I didn't mind him taking those shots at the end, the 3 and the 2, because I want him to be aggressive. They were good shot opportunities that he just missed. I'm more upset about his play leading up to that point where he was a bit too passive. Brown and Tatum also had relatively quiet games. Despite all that we led with a couple minutes to go and it took a layup that rolled in and out and a couple of key threes from Houston to beat us.

We need to do a better job with composure at the end of the game, I felt they were going to some lengths to get the ball into Kyrie's hands which led to a couple of bad options, rather than doing what they had been doing the entire game which is move the ball around. And we need to look after the ball in those clutch moments, there were a couple of fancy passes that didn't come off. But overall I think we're in good shape with 18 or so games to go.

[jpotter33]

I always have to laugh at the dumb, reactionary hot takes after a close, tough loss.

There isn’t anything “hot takey” about saying our stars, especially Horford, played like poo tonight and were fundamental in us coughing up the game; it’s legitimately empirically verified in the stats. It’s fairly difficult to have such low +/- numbers in a 3 point game.

Further, Al has been garbage ever since the ASB, distancing this critique even more from a “hot take.”

 

You're also the person who continually dismisses the Rockets for no apparent reason.

Hard to take anything you say seriously.

Lol! Where to start?

A) Perhaps you should look up what a "hot take" really is, because I just laid out for you exactly why it's not a "hot take." It's kind of strange and illogical to use language and concepts if you don't know what they mean...

B)This is me "continuously dismissing the Rockets for no apparent reason:"

Yikes! The turnovers! That’ll kill us.

These Rockets are legit title contenders though. They’re not going to beat themselves. C’s gotta show what they’re made of tonight.

I still don't buy them getting past the Warriors. Their style is just not conducive to beating a team like the Warriors four games out of seven.

What style? Top tier defense with an unstoppable offense? They’ve looked like a juggernaut as of late.

What style is conducive to beating the Warriors then?

Jacking up an inordinate amount of threes. It's that exact style that put them up 26 on us in Boston only to let us come back and win by one. They're not going to be able to make enough threes to win four games over GS in a seven game series.

So saying I don't think they can beat GS in a 7 game series is now somehow me "continuously dismissing the Rockets for no apparent reason."

Good job; good effort. But clearly that's an insane, illogical argument.

[jpotter33]

Just a reminder - Al also blew the game winner for us last year in Houston by missing a bunny layup at the buzzer. (Granted, that was a game that the refs LEGITIMATELY stole from us by incorrectly calling an AB 3 a 2.)

http://www.nba.com/video/2016/12/06/0021600311-vo-bos-horford-gamewinner-miss#/

Al also made the shot that gave the Celtics the lead the last time the Rockets and the Celtics played.

Sure, but IIRC, Al was also pretty bad that entire game before making the winning shot.

Either way, he’s been very bad since ASB and has to step it up.

Agreed that Horford's clearly in a funk, but tonight's loss wasn't just on him. The Celtics as a team had plenty of chances to put it away and they didn't.

Also, that game where Horford missed the buzzer beater last year in Houston, he put up a statline of 21-9-6. That's a pretty good line in a big game.

Games like tonight happen and there's not much anyone can do about it.

Al plays best when he is aggressive. I didn't mind him taking those shots at the end, the 3 and the 2, because I want him to be aggressive. They were good shot opportunities that he just missed. I'm more upset about his play leading up to that point where he was a bit too passive. Brown and Tatum also had relatively quiet games. Despite all that we led with a couple minutes to go and it took a layup that rolled in and out and a couple of key threes from Houston to beat us.

We need to do a better job with composure at the end of the game, I felt they were going to some lengths to get the ball into Kyrie's hands which led to a couple of bad options, rather than doing what they had been doing the entire game which is move the ball around. And we need to look after the ball in those clutch moments, there were a couple of fancy passes that didn't come off. But overall I think we're in good shape with 18 or so games to go.

My issue with Al is his suddenly questionable decision-making. He was never really a big-time scorer, but he made up for that with his excellent passing, playmaking, and decision-making. All of those characteristics have been absent since the ASB, and he's been regularly making questionable decisions leading to TOs or poor possessions lately. He's got to be better with that with us having such a young, impressionable team.

[PAOBoston]

In 2 games vs the Rockets, Cs have done a fantastic job of limiting Harden. They have made it hard for him in both games.

[celticinorlando]

Horford was not good tonight. Especially under 4 minutes to play. Three or four possessions where he missed shots

[Phantom255x]

Eric Gordon was insane tonight, kudos to him.

But I think that Irving layup that went in-and-out was the ultimate killer. Could have become a 115-107 game after that if it went in (and 99% of the time it does) but instead it quickly became just a 113-112 lead and HOU came back. 

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

That was some exceptionally dumb basketball by Boston in the last few minutes of the game.

So many botched opportunities—fumbling the ball, turnovers, good looks missed. Like a bunch of headless chickens. Irving couldn’t even miss a free throw when he needed to. Horford looked inept at times, getting caught in double teams and not being able to pass out of them without turning it over. Smart missed a couple of bunnies and also made a really stupid pass late in the game after Houston turned it over. And there were SO many plays in the fourth in which the ball was loose and two or three Celtics would have their hands on the ball but they were already thinking "fast break" and consequently never got control of the ball and gave it right back to Houston, and then usually Houston went on to hit another 3.

And how many times does Eric Gordon have to be left wide open and drain a three before Boston considers guarding him?

People can talk about being impressed with Boston’s performance this game, and there certainly were some positives, but their collective basketball IQ was pretty low tonight. They totally should’ve won this game but blew it.

[CelticSooner]

The only reason this loss stings is because Toronto goes up another game. Really good game against a very good Rockets team. C’s are playing good ball again thankfully.