Celtics drop 2nd in a row on West Coast Trip

 

About midway through the second quarter last night, I told JR that I thought this was going to be a blowout win for the Celtics. Boy was I wrong. From then on the Warriors dictated the game with a little help from the Zebras, and the Celtics dropped their second game in a row to a sub-.500 team. I don't think there should be cause for concern, but it certainly does look like the Celtics sometimes play down to their competition.

This game was all about defense, or rather the lack thereof. The Celtics played no perimeter defense at all. Often times they resembled a bunch of street ball players letting Golden State shoot open three after open three. Monte Ellis is legit and needs to be an All Star. Even so, what were the Celtics thinking leaving him open for so many open three pointers?

The Warriors have some solid young talent and are exactly the type of team the Celtics struggle against. I was amazed how active the Warriors were in the passing lanes. I don't know if it was careless Celtics passing or opportunistic Warrior defense, but they seemed to have about 40 steals in the game.
On the positive side, Rondo played out of his mind last night scoring 30 points and dishing out 15 assists. He also did a decent job from the line and even hit a couple long perimeter jumpers. However, he did struggle a bit defensively. TB pointed out that his foul at the end of the first half against Turiaf ended up being one of the deciding factors in the game.

Ray played well in the first half, but missed a few key shots that could have swung the game. I thought Big Baby had a very solid game and should play more. Eddie House hit some critical threes for Boston and kept them in the game late. Rasheed had his typical up and down game. He played pretty well defensively, but took some horrendous threes. If there is such thing as three point addiction Rasheed definitely has it and needs serious help.

All in all a pretty bad loss for the Celtics, but one that can be forgotten if they can take out the Suns in Phoenix tomorrow night. The NBA is a fickle league. You can be riding high one week and be in the dumps the next. The key is keeping everyone rested and healthy come May and June.