Boston Celtics Doc Rivers Has Some Reasons To Smile After Loss To Hornets
The Boston Celtics have lost three out of four games since winning 14 in a row. The first loss is pinned on Nate Robinson and Doc Rivers for keeping Nate in. One of the losses was due to Kevin Garnett being injured during the game and the players being utterly disinterested after. The recent loss to the Hornets at home is tough to swallow. The Celtics had a great chance to win that game, but the offense went silent down the stretch. The painful part was watching Ray Allen bomb up a three off a broken play with more than enough time to drive to the basket to tie the game. However, despite the pain from the 83 to 81 loss, Doc Rivers can take a lot of positives from this game.
The first positive is without KG, the Celtics defense was still tremendous. They gave up only the 83 points. If not for some miracle shots by Trevor Ariza and Chris Paul, the Hornets would have scored even less. Every player from Paul Pierce to Luke Harangody bought into the defensive schemes. Jermaine O’Neal did a particularly great job. JO rotated well and sealed off the paint. He blocked three shots and grabbed four defensive boards. Marquis Daniels was also all over the place. He not only had two steals, but blocked two shots as well. If the Celtics had Rajon Rondo back to defend Chris Paul, this defense would have been even better.
The other positive was the bench played great at both ends of the floor. The defense was great by Daniels and JO, but they showed some offense as well. Daniels had 10 points using his size to shoot over his man off the drive. JO moved well without the ball and attacked the rim off the feeds from his teammates. The result was JO got 8 points. Guys like Harangody and Wafer played hard and it showed on the plus minus list. Luke Harangody played hustle defense and finished a great plus 18. Von Wafer also played with energy. He played smart and was a plus 9 points on the day.
The last great news was the Celtics won the rebounding war 40 to 35. This is huge because the team is missing KG’s double digit rebounds. The team stepped it up on the boards with his absence. Paul Pierce dug in with 7 rebounds. Ray Allen hustled for 6. JO was in on it with six. The bottom line is the team put the effort into getting the rebounding going without KG.
A loss is never a reason to smile. However in defeat, Doc had some encouraging signs to show him this team can survive two weeks without KG. The Toronto game is a game if Boston plays the way it did on Friday in the paint, on the boards, and on defense, the Celtics will walk away with a win. Remember Go Green Or Go Home!!!!!!!!
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