Recap: Young Celtics flash some old school grit-and-balls in OT loss

Holy sh*t. I didn’t see that coming. Coming off yesterday’s upset win over the Wizards, I think everyone was prepared for a blowout loss in Washington. And it appeared that blowout was coming to fruition when the Celtics trailed by 23 points late in the 3rd quarter. But god damn this team never quit.

There were so many great plays by so many players, I don’t know where to begin. Kelly Olynyk (19 points, 11 reb), Marcus Smart (career high 23 points and suffocating defense) and Evan Turner (18 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds) fueled the 4th quarter rally and overtime play.

The bench carried this team back and Brad Stevens rewarded them by playing them the remainder of the game. Well, most of them. Jeff Green (28 points) was the only starter to log significant minutes in OT. Jared Sullinger and Rajon Rondo remained on the bench for the final 15 minutes of action.

The Wizards won this one (133-132) because of the lightning fast John Wall (26 points, 17 assists) and savvy, clutch play of Paul Pierce (28 points). Not sure how you feel, but this is as close to a feel good loss as you can get.

The Green:

The Celtics bench scored an absurd 82 points. That’s the highest in something like 50 years.

Kelly Olynyk played his ass off in the 4th quarter and both overtimes. 7 offensive rebounds and 1 (controversial) charge.

Marcus Smart’s defense was fantastic. What did he take, 2-3 charges? He also displayed some phenomenal flopping skills.

The Gross:

Aside from the sloppy play in the 1st 3 quarters, it’s hard to focus on anything negative in this game. I will question Brad Steven’s decision to leave Sullinger and Rondo on the bench for both OTs.

Greenlights:

Evan Turner’s 3 sends the game into OT

Marcus Smart making plays in OT

Turner with the strip and dunk

The Grid

• Boston took 102 shots
• Boston made 29 of 32 FTs
• Rondo was the only Celtic to play but not score

Box score