Back to back wins!
Last night when the Celtics-Clippers game was on, I was simultaneously watching Syracuse-Georgetown. Georgetown came out blazing and ran to a 14-2 lead. Even after not scoring a field goal for the first 5 plus minutes of the game, Syracuse’s intensity never faltered. They managed to completely knock Georgetown off of their game. It started on the defensive end. At the beginning of the game, Georgetown was killing the Syracuse zone by draining shot after shot from beyond the arc. That meant that Syracuse had to shift out more, and Georgetown exploited that by getting the ball inside and scoring in the paint. But Syracuse shut it down- all the sudden Georgetown was misfiring from three and couldn’t get the ball inside. Syracuse got points off transition and got in to their game and Georgetown never recovered. The Syracuse zone is excellent at trapping- their opponents often find themselves locked in a corner in a sea of Orange, unable to find the light of day. Last night was no different, the Orange swarmed and the Hoyas coughed the ball up. That means that Syracuse played a lot of their offense in transition, running the ball on the fast break for an easy two. In past games, Syracuse played the transition too fast, overthrowing the outlet pass because it was thrown in a rush, or over passing the ball and missing the lay up because they play so unselfishly. There was none of that carelessness last night- the Orange protected the ball well all night. Jim Boeheim said that his team wasn’t great yet, but had the potential to be. Last night against Georgetown, you could really see Syracuse improving.
The same thing goes for the Celtics- they could be really great, but they need to improve. There’s no denying that they’re not playing at an elite level right now. You could say that the Celtics’ win last night against the Clippers was lackluster and not all that impressive. That being said, I’d much rather look at it from the perspective of it being a good, solid win. While I don’t consider the Clippers to be a formidable opponent, they’re definitely a capable team. If Blake Griffin wasn’t out for the season, they’d be even more interesting.
It looked like it was going to be another long night for the Celtics. Even though the score was close after one, the game was being played much more at the Clippers pace and it looked like the Celtics were barely hanging in, as opposed to playing competitively. The Green showed some signs of life at about the eight minute mark in the second. After going down by as much as seven, they put together successive defensive stops. Offensively, instead of settling for jump shots, they looked for the second and third options and effectively took the ball to the basket. Ray connected a couple of times, but I think it was mostly Rondo who provided the spark, both in getting the ball moving more and in pressuring the Clippers defense by taking it in the paint himself. He also did a pretty great job staying in front of Baron Davis. The third quarter was their best showing all night- a welcome sign. It was when they had the most flow- the ball was moving, the defense was turned on, and different guys were scoring- they outscored the Clippers 21-15, the biggest point discrepancy of the night. The Clippers shot under 30 percent in the third and the Celtics had assists on four of nine field goals. We should remember that this is only the second game with the original starting five playing together in more than a (long, adversity filled) month. They’re not a finished product and they will improve.
Lastly, I thought KG looked pretty great last night. He was running the floor really well and he looked smooth and confident in his gait and remained that way over thirty minutes of play. He was banging around on the post and not staying on the outside, which was lovely to see. The difference he makes is huge, and it goes way beyond the stat sheet. He’s getting back in to the swing of things and will improve statistically as time goes on, but that’s not what’s important about him. More than anything, I think he really just calms the team down and makes them play much more cohesively and confident. They rally around him and it raises their intensity and focus- two things sorely lacking in his absence. And he was vintage KG- the Celtics turned the ball over and KG chased Baron Davis down and blocked what would have been an easy two for the Clippers. Then, he started screaming obscenities at himself, pumping his fists in the air and slamming himself on the chest. The crowd went wild, and he screamed, “I’m back!” Indeed. And I can dig it.
