Celtics leave effort in Boston, lose to Raptors 84-79
Rajon Rondo did not record a point or rebound in the first three quarters. To me, this highlighted everything wrong with the Celtics in this game. They did not play hard on either end of the court consistently tonight. Grabbing an early lead may have been the culprit to an entire team effort (or lack of) to expect an easy win.
Every time Avery Bradley defended a shooter, he was whistled for a foul, at least it felt that way. Rebounding was another issue with the Celtics as they have gone back to their old ways of poor team rebounding. Toronto hung around early with free throw and three point shooting. Boston was up early but that lead disappeared with a 19-4 run by the Raptors in the third quarter.
The Celtics offense was embarrassing. No shots were put up through the offense but were forced without making the extra pass. Resorting to east and west movement doesn't work without the north and south push, which is suppose to come from Rajon Rondo. The offense suffered because of the lack of effort. No Doc River's Celtics' team has failed to tally at least 70 points in a game, tonight they pushed very close for that.
Boston tried making it interesting late but this was a classic case of too little too late. They did get within one point but the fact they needed to play that hard for last 3 minutes to make it close is the issue. Hopefully the Celtics do not take this attitude to the remaining non playoff teams on the schedule. With only a few games remaining, now is not the time for the Celtics to stop being hungry.
