For all the ugly statistics to come out of the Boston Celtics’ Game 2 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday — trust us, there were plenty — there’s one that possibly provides hope: If you take away both first quarters, the Celtics have outscored the Hawks by 10 points so far. Of course, that stat is little solace for a Boston team that managed just 72 points at Philips Arena on Tuesday to fall into an 0-2 hole in the best-of-seven opening round series. It also ignores the elephant in the room: the Celtics’ extreme aversion to the first quarter. The C’s have been outscored by a combined 28 points in both first quarters
Tag: celtics
Celtics Show Resolve With Game 1 Comeback, But Slow Starts A Concern
There are two different ways to look at the Boston Celtics’ Game 1 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday, and both have their merits. First, for the glass-half-full crowd: The Celtics played arguably their worst offensive first half of basketball, yet only lost by one point. After scoring just 34 first-half points and trailing by as many as 17 points, Boston displayed courage and resolve by actually taking the lead early in the fourth quarter and fighting until the very last second. “Hey, we ride this way, right?” head coach Brad Stevens said in a postgame interview aired on CSN New England. “We guard, we grind, we try to find a way. And to
Celtics Win NBA Draft Tiebreaker, Have Five Picks In Top 35
The Boston Celtics had the Luck of the Irish on their side Friday. Kind of. The NBA conducted tiebreaker coin flips to determine the order of June’s NBA Draft. Boston owns the third-best chance at the No. 1 overall pick, via the Brooklyn Nets, but also has two other first-round selections: their own natural pick and a selection from the Dallas Mavericks, via the Rajon Rondo trade. The latter two were involved in the tiebreaker. At 42-40, the Mavericks finished the season as the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, meaning the pick Boston receives is not eligible for the NBA Draft Lottery. Dallas’ record did tie them with the Memphis
Kobe Bryant Makes Presence Felt In Epic Final Chapter Vs. Celtics
For an arena housing the second-worst team in the NBA, the Staples Center sure had plenty of buzz Sunday night. Such is the larger-than-life presence of Kobe Bryant. Running on fumes as he nears the end of his illustrious 20-year NBA career, the Los Angeles Lakers legend turned back the clock one more time against the Boston Celtics, dropping a game-high 34 points in a 107-100 loss to his old foe. Never mind that Bryant entered the game shooting just 35 percent from the floor and had scored seven points total in his previous two games. Sunday night belonged to Kobe, a fact he established immediately by drilling an 18-foot jumper and deep 3-poin...
Al-Farouq Aminu’s Unexpected Performance Foils Celtics’ Well-Laid Plans
Brad Stevens had a blueprint for success Thursday night, and the Boston Celtics all but executed it to perfection. With defensive maven Jae Crowder back in his lineup for the first time since March 11, Stevens tasked Crowder and Co. with shutting down the Portland Trail Blazers’ dynamic duo of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum and forcing their teammates to beat Boston. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened. The Celtics held both Lillard (14 points on 3 of 16 shooting) and McCollum (17 points on 8 of 19 shooting) to relative off-nights, but unheralded Blazers swingman Al-Farouq Aminu poured in a career-high 28 points to lift Portlan...
Celtics Swing For Fences But Come Up Empty In Blowout Loss To Clippers
The Boston Celtics have a lot of good things going for them, but star power isn’t exactly one of them. So, when the Celtics found themselves down early Monday night to the talent-laden Los Angeles Clippers, they faced a bit of a dilemma: Chip away with some hard-nosed play, or try to match the Clippers shot for shot. Needless to say, they chose the wrong course of action. Boston’s offense suffered through one of its more disappointing outputs of the season, as the C’s shot 35 percent from the floor and placed just three players (Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley) in double figures in a 24-point loss at Staples Center. “I
Celtics Wrap: James Harden, Rockets Spoil Boston’s Home Win Streak
James Harden, Michael Beasley and the Houston Rockets spoiled the Boston Celtics’ home win streak, upending the Celtics in a 102-98 road victory Friday night at TD Garden. Harden led all scorers with 32 points, while Beasley contributed 18 off the bench for the Rockets in what amounted to a sloppy, close game the entire time. Isaiah Thomas scored a team-high 30 points for the Celtics, while Jared Sullinger added 24 points of his own. The loss drops Boston to 39-27 on the season, snapping their 15-game home win streak and a streak of nine consecutive games in which it scored 100 or more points. They now sit just a half game ahead