Clippers (34-14) at Celtics (23-23) 2/3

[TenaciousD]

We already have 8 guys in double digit minutes with two more with 4 and 5.  We have 9 players with 4-8 points and one more 3 points.Great balance and  defense so far.

Uhm-hm.  And only 5 TOs.  What happends when passing is in the flow of the game vs Looking To Pass.  So fewer forced passes.  This is how Docs offense can work, once the, uhm , bottleneck is remeoved.

[Chief]

Looked very good.

[tonyto3690]

10 Celtics played the first half.

10 Celtics have scored

0 Celtics have scored in the double digits

Pierce is the only Celtic to have taken more than five shots (6)

Nine Celtics have a rebound

All five starters have at least 2 assists

Celtics bench has 1 turnover

Clippers bench has 7 turnovers

Our best two +/- players are from the bench (Terry, Green)



Absolutely beautiful basketball.

Celtics 33 point first quarter and 59 point first half are both the best of the season.

Hilarious how much better we're playing without Rondo.  It's a shame he doesn't play like it's the playoffs every game and doesn't ball hog.  We would have been unstoppable.

[cman88]

I know the Celtics are definitely less talented without Rondo....but they just look to be playing better as a team without him.

now that Green/Terry/Lee/Barbosa get to operate with the ball in their hands...and the team is just passing freely

[KGs Knee]

Clips definitely look terrible without Paul

And maybe the Celtics are just that good.

Well yeah and Chris Paul is the greatest point guard in the league and a serious offensive weapon who could score 30 a night if he wanted to... makes sense they'd play poorly without him.  Rondo's a passer playing with a bunch of guards who can create their own shots.  It makes sense that we wouldn't be that much worse without him.

Maybe Ainge should have thought of that before he constructed the team the way he did.

Maybe Ainge didn't have a choice.  Rondo needs shooters.  The best shooter in the league hated Rondo and bailed on the team.  Ainge scrambled and took the best available guards, Terry, Lee and Barbosa.  Neither of which are pure shooters.  It was a good decision... it's not like we had a better choice.  All three of those guys are capable guards.  I wouldn't call any of them starters, but they are capable. 

I think in most seasons, losing Rondo would be more impactful, but we just so happen to have talent on this roster that can step up in his absence.  Rondo's absence defines roles, gets more minutes for our guards, moves undersized Bradley into the PG slot, puts our best defensive guards in the starting back court, gives Jeff Green an opportunity to play like Jeff Green... etc.  So far it seems like a net gain.  It fixed some of our roster issues.

Maybe...

Let's see what happens in the playoffs (if we get there) when the games slow down and become far more half-court oriented.  Let's see what happens when we face the same team 7 games straight.

17ppg/11apg/6rpg is not easily replaced.

[Rtpas11]

Bass is so irrelevant we need to like trade him like yesterday... "clueless" haha Great Half! Saw it coming... this team is so exciting to watch nowadays 

[WeMadeIt17]

Some great ball being played there in the 2nd quarter. I beleived that this team would play a little better with these injuries because it allows guys like Jet and Green to flourish as far as having the ball in their hands to make plays. Not sit in the corner and run baseline to baseline. Not saying Rondo is the problem to everything but hey. These guys are playing really well right now.

[danglertx]

What team can the Celtics beat that the Rondo crowd will admit, this team is better without Rondo slowing down the offense and not playing any defense?

First it was that we needed two overtimes to beat the Heat.  Blow it up.  Then it was, well the Magic and Kings aren't any good, never mind Sactown destroyed us, especially Isiah against Rondo, not that long ago.  Blow it up!  Now we are blowing out the Clippers and here comes, they don't have Chris Paul of course we would blow them out.

[CelticConcourse]

Wilcox-Collins with eight solid points!

[danglertx]

Clips definitely look terrible without Paul

And maybe the Celtics are just that good.

Well yeah and Chris Paul is the greatest point guard in the league and a serious offensive weapon who could score 30 a night if he wanted to... makes sense they'd play poorly without him.  Rondo's a passer playing with a bunch of guards who can create their own shots.  It makes sense that we wouldn't be that much worse without him.

Maybe Ainge should have thought of that before he constructed the team the way he did.

Maybe Ainge didn't have a choice.  Rondo needs shooters.  The best shooter in the league hated Rondo and bailed on the team.  Ainge scrambled and took the best available guards, Terry, Lee and Barbosa.  Neither of which are pure shooters.  It was a good decision... it's not like we had a better choice.  All three of those guys are capable guards.  I wouldn't call any of them starters, but they are capable. 

I think in most seasons, losing Rondo would be more impactful, but we just so happen to have talent on this roster that can step up in his absence.  Rondo's absence defines roles, gets more minutes for our guards, moves undersized Bradley into the PG slot, puts our best defensive guards in the starting back court, gives Jeff Green an opportunity to play like Jeff Green... etc.  So far it seems like a net gain.  It fixed some of our roster issues.

Maybe...

Let's see what happens in the playoffs (if we get there) when the games slow down and become far more half-court oriented.  Let's see what happens when we face the same team 7 games straight.

17ppg/11apg/6rpg is not easily replaced.

At least we might make the playoffs without Rondo.  We were headed to not even making the 8th seed with him.

[KGs Knee]

What team can the Celtics beat that the Rondo crowd will admit, this team is better without Rondo slowing down the offense and not playing any defense?

I'm not sure what you mean by Rondo crowd, but I will not be impressed unless we make it further into the playoffs.

So, unless we make the Finals.

[CelticConcourse]

What team can the Celtics beat that the Rondo crowd will admit, this team is better without Rondo slowing down the offense and not playing any defense?

I'm not sure what you mean by Rondo crowd, but I will not be impressed unless we make it further into the playoffs.

So, unless we make the Finals.

Or at least ECF

[LarBrd33]

10 Celtics played the first half.

10 Celtics have scored

0 Celtics have scored in the double digits

Pierce is the only Celtic to have taken more than five shots (6)

Nine Celtics have a rebound

All five starters have at least 2 assists

Celtics bench has 1 turnover

Clippers bench has 7 turnovers

Our best two +/- players are from the bench (Terry, Green)



Absolutely beautiful basketball.

Celtics 33 point first quarter and 59 point first half are both the best of the season.

Hilarious how much better we're playing without Rondo.  It's a shame he doesn't play like it's the playoffs every game and doesn't ball hog.  We would have been unstoppable.

If Rondo played like he played in the playoffs... 17 points 11 assists, 5 rebounds, etc... It would require him to play 43 minutes a game like he did last year.  If Rondo played 43 minutes a game, that would leave only 53 minutes total for Avery Bradley, Courtney Lee, Jason Terry and Leandro Barbosa to split... So maybe 13 minutes each for these interchangeable guards?  So in other words, you'd probably end up seeing Barbosa get a bunch of DNPs which is shame, because Barbosa is one of our more talented players.  That would be a waste of a quality roster spot. 

Meanwhile, Paul Pierce would be playing close to 40 minutes a night, because he's our best offensive player.  That would leave about 8 minutes at night for Jeff Green at the SF spot.  I guess KG would remain at C, so you'd have Bass and Sully fighting for minutes at PF. 

Rondo's injury frees up another 43 minutes a night for our guards to gobble up.   SUlly's injury means you're going to see Jeff Green (our 4th best player) have a serious role on this team.   He'll probably be playing out of position, but he's going to need minutes. 

Should be a fascinating end to this season. 

[danglertx]

Because that is where we were headed with Rondo?  We weren't even .500.

[hpantazo]

Bass is so irrelevant we need to like trade him like yesterday... "clueless" haha Great Half! Saw it coming... this team is so exciting to watch nowadays 

unfortunately we need Bass now that Sullinger is done for the year.