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Recap: Celtics close out preseason with a win

John - Red's Army (@RedsArmy_John) October 22, 2014 Recaps 13 Comments on Recap: Celtics close out preseason with a win

sully rebounds vs nets

The preseason is over!  The next time the Celtics play a game, it’ll actually mean something.  The C’s closed out the preseason tonight with a 100-86 over the Brooklyn Nets 

The Celtics struggled a little early, but finished the first quarter tied with the Nets.  Then, after falling behind by five in the 2nd quarter, the Celtics whipped off a 29-10 run to close the quarter and go up 14 at halftime.  Marcus Smart had 11 in the 2nd quarter to finish with 16 at the half.  Jared Sullinger had 7 of his 13 first half rebounds in the quarter as well.

Both teams played mostly even in the third quarter, with the last half of the third and all of the fourth really becoming garbage time (except for Jared Sullinger’s return to the game midway through the quarter for some reason).

The Green: 

Gerald Wallace played pretty well tonight.  He had a big role in that second quarter run, scoring 8 points and dishing 3 assists in the quarter.

I’ll mention James Young in this because I think he played the right way.  His numbers won’t wow you, but he busted his ass, made some hustle plays, and was one of the unheralded keys to that second quarter run.

The Gross:

The one thing I saw early is Kelly Olynyk just not boxing out.  I’m not going to go on a crazy tirade about it, but Olynyk isn’t good enough to just turn and look when the shot goes up.  DeAndre Jordan can do that because he’s huge and he defies gravity.  Olynyk needs to put a body on guys and, even if he doesn’t get the board himself, keep his guy off the boards.

The Greenlights:

Jeff Green chase-down block:

James Young checks in and immediately drains a 3

Young leads the break… Sully eventually sticks a 3

  “Young kicks it, Sullinger….sticks it.” #Celtics   A video posted by KWAPT (@kwapt) on    

Brandon Bass corner threes are a real thing!  

The Grid: 

  • Sullinger:  15 points (7-10 fg, 1-4 3pt), 17 rebounds
  • Smart:  16 points (5-8 fg, 2-5 3pt), 4 ast, 2 stl, 15:38 min. played
  • Zeller: 11 points (2-9 fg, 7-7 ft), 9 reb
  • Points in the paint:  Celtics 52, Nets 40

Let’s toast the end of the preseason.  The Celtics are now off until they host the Nets for real a week from tonight.

Box Score

Condensed version of game

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  • Red’s Cigar

    If nothing else, this team will be fun to watch.

  • Dirk Diggler

    The 2014 Celtics will have the best perimeter defense in the NBA.

    Brad Stevens is hands down the best coach in the Eastern Conference and is having the team play to the team’s strengths — which is transition offense featuring tons of floor space, tons of passing, and tons of threes.

    Regarding the interior defense, which may be the worst in the NBA in 2014. However, the league is surely transitioning into a league in which teams are going to be built more like the Celtics because ‘dominant’ big men are a premium and they can’t hit free throws (typically) among several other factors.

    The Celtics are light years ahead of the curve. And the fun is just beginning for us Celtics fans.

    Is the roster perfect? Not by any stretch of the imagination. But considering the circumstances of cap space, unfortunate lottery luck, and the players who will not be here long term…the Celtics look good…as in lower seed playoff good. And I like it when I think about the C’s having significant cap space open up with an up-and-coming core here to sign free agents and/or trade some of Danny’s acquired ‘assets’ for a Marc Gasol type guy that we can call our legitimate big man that we have not had since Danny effectively ended hope for another Celtics banner with The Big Three since trading Perk. A colossal, championship costing, mistake.

    With that said…The Core is coming together and starting to gel. Defense is a priority. And we have more draft picks on the way. From the Nets. And despite a decent showing in 2013, we all know the Nets suck.

    The future is bright, and banner 18 will be hanging from the Garden rafters soon enough.

    • Curt Hays

      Great post. My concern is when they lift the cap. So many stars are asking for removal of it. I guess it won’t come this generation, but if it does, then we’ll have lots to compete against.

  • Richard Jensen

    “Olynyk needs to put a body on guys and, even if he doesn’t get the board himself, keep his guy off the boards.”

    Big, underrated aspect of rebounding–in the almost totally different, yet still basketball, world of women’s college BB, the team I follow has consistently had above average rebounding guards who can quickly initiate the transition because posts are taught to body their assignments off the block first, opening the lane for their guards to get the rebound. Key takeaway is the coach treats RBs as a team assignment.

    You’re spot on. If you can’t get the RB, you need to make sure you’re negating at least one other player’s shot at it as well.

  • Roy Sanchez

    Preseason over it’s time for real ball to start!

  • swissflix

    Poor Teague. Smart ate him alive on multiple occasions! He is going to be an impact player from the start. Very, very excited about this team, except for Klynyk and Zeller maybe. Both look like the cannot keep up with the pace.

    • Curt Hays

      Kelly will. The kid runs the floor.

  • Curt Hays

    I think you SHOULD go on a crazy tirade about Kelly not blocking out. Maybe he’ll catch wind of it. That kid can’t afford to try to be like Dirk on offense AND defense.

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