Well, you can't say that the Celtics didn't play hard for this one. They did.
Unfortunately, playing hard isn't necessarily related to playing smart. And, even more unfortunately, they ran into a Chainsaw Massacre by the name of Kyrie Irving.
From the outset, Irving had blood in his eyes and the support of an unselfish, unafraid cast of young "Don'tKnowNoBetters." Actually, that's an unfair characterization...I think they knew full well and they just didn't give a sh8.
Irving scored just 20 points less than the entire Celtics starting five, whirling, shooting, upfaking and driving his way to 40 points. He was joined by Tristan Thompson who scored 21 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block and 1 steal.
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This will depend, of course, upon whether the team can suck it up and listen to Coach Doc Rivers and learn to trust each other within the prescribed system. As it stands now, they're like a bunch of rec league all-stars who meet at the gym from time-to-time with a new player to work in here and there. The will is there, the chemistry is still getting its ankles taped in the locker room.
Don't get me wrong...I still believe in these C's. I still think that, if they can learn to play free and smart, they can make a strong challenge for the Conference Finals and beyond. Why? Because they have a tremendous amount of firepower in Garnett, Pierce, Courtney Lee, Jason Terry, Jeff Green, Rondo, Brandon Bass etc.; have a developing phenom in Sullinger; a handful of the League's best individual defenders in Garnett, Avery Bradley, and Lee and, though I hear the chorus growing louder with every loss to say otherwise, but also one of the League's best coaches in Rivers.
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The million dollar question on the table is: Will they do it this year and if they do, will it be the names on the roster that you see today?
Tale Of The Tape
Box Score
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