Celtics Player Grades vs Cleveland Cavaliers
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| The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Boston Celtics 95-90 |
CelticsLife Game Recap
Grades:
I grade on a curve!
Kevin Garnett: 16 Points, 5 Rebounds
Garnett did not have a great night. The 5 blocks were great, but the rest of it was ugly. He wasn't great defending the pick and roll, he didn't rebound great, and he didn't shoot very well. The 16 points seem decent, but he did score a bunch of points off of some late free throws he arguably didn't deserve. Not his best game.
C+
Brandon Bass: 8 Points, 6 Rebounds
Bass was more productive than usual, but he still had a ton of boneheaded mistakes. He cost us on several offensive possessions where he failed to properly position himself on the court during a set, and his lack of awareness got the Cavaliers some easy buckets. But with expectations for Bass so low, this was a decent game. We might have to stop thinking of Bass as a piece we can depend on, unlike last season.
B-
Paul Pierce: 12 Points, 7 Rebounds, 7 Assists
Well let us get the ugly stuff out of the way first. Pierce shot like absolute crap (3-15) and did some hero-ball in less than optimal situations. He did rebound well, and made some nice passes, but his inability to hit shots of any degree cannot be ignored. Pierce has really fallen off in the past couple games.
D+
Rajon Rondo: 17 Points, 13 Rebounds, 8 Assists
Rondo had a pretty good game with some bad thrown in. He didn't shoot that well (7-17), and he made mistakes late in the game (the failed loose ball save was particularly frustrating). His defense on Irving was lackluster as well. But we wouldn't have been in this game without him.
B
Avery Bradley: 7 Points
Bradley is a difficult situation to judge right now. He is still recovering from injury, and shouldn't be judged too harshly, but we need more production from him. Bradley is probably the king of "non-boxscore" impact on this team, but we do need more from him in that department. Under 10 points a game without any other major statistical contribution isn't exactly helping the team on that end. Obviously it is up to the team to get him some more shots, but it is up to him in the end. I do have confidence that he will give us more later on.
B-
Jared Sullinger: 12 Points, 10 Rebounds
Sully had a great game tonight. This guy just keeps on overachieving. He was a major reason why we outrebounded the Cavs, and he kept us in the game during the second quarter. He gave us all he could to give us the best chance to win this game, and he has been a bright spot during this dark time.
A-
Jeff Green: 5 Points, 3 Rebounds
You know, it would be great if Jeff could give us a little more on days when Pierce plays poorly. But alas this was not the day. Wouldn't say it was a bad performance, merely just another disappointing one.
B-
Courtney Lee: 9 Points
Courtney had a pretty good game, in limited time. He didn't shoot particularly well overall, but he did do a good job from 3-point land (3-5). His defense wasn't great however, and he did get burned a couple times. While Lee is a good defender, he does make a lot of mental mistakes on that end.
B-
Jason Terry: 4 Points
We need more from this guy. That is the bottom line.
C-
Boston Celtics: 90 Points, 48 Rebounds, 24 Assists
After a loss to a bad team in Detroit, the Celtics lost to another bad team in Cleveland. What was particularly disappointing about this loss was that the Celtics had multiple opportunities to win, but they could not keep their composure. They failed on defense the entire night, which is particularly sad against such a bad offensive team. Irving carved up the Boston guards for 40 points, and their bigs got wide open shot after wide open shot. This team is still making the same mistakes it was making in preseason. The Celtics next play on Thursday (01/24/13) at home against the New York Knicks.
How did you feel about the game tonight? Sound off in the comments!
You can follow Jun Pang on Twitter @CjEuLnTICS
