Celtics have plenty of room for improvement
Are the Celtics in trouble, or are expectations too high?
On one hand the Celtics are up 2-0 in the best-of-seven series. They were supposed to win two at home and they won two at home. Mission accomplished.
But is this really the Celtics team you expected to see in the playoffs? A quick glance at the stat sheet can’t please ardent fans: 42 points and 17 rebounds for Carmelo Anthony; 20 offensive rebounds for the Knicks; a three-point win for Boston despite the absence of Chauncey Billups for the entire game and Amar’e Stoudemire for the second half.
And the Knicks are confident heading back to the hornets’ nest that is Madison Square Garden.
“It came down to a couple of plays down the stretch, but for the most part throughout the whole game I think we played fantastic, man,” said Anthony. “Defensively we did. Offensively I kind of had it going tonight. I made other guys better, they felt confident out there … KG hit a tough shot over Jared [Jeffries], contested shot. For the most part we played great tonight. We can’t hang our heads over something like this. We’ve got to take this and build on it going back home.”
It could be worse. The Celtics could have easily lost either of these first two games. But the Knicks shot 36 percent from the field tonight and lost. You could look at that stat two ways: that the Celtics held one of the best offensive teams in the league to a poor shooting night, or that the Celtics barely eked out a win despite the Knicks shooting so poorly.
Both are correct.
“It was really good to get the win, but we’re disappointed with the way we played tonight,” said Paul Pierce. “We gave up a big lead and with the circumstances I thought we should have pushed the lead … We shouldn’t be satisfied with the way we played today. We’ve got a lot of things to clean up but hopefully we can play better when we get to New York.”
Glen Davis put it simply, “We gotta play better if we want to be champions.”
The big question surrounding this team is whether or not the Celtics are still playing at a championship level. Rajon Rondo took it to the rim over and over again on his way to 30 points. That’s a start. The Celtics are at their best when Rondo is aggressive.
In the playoffs, the Celtics have clearly been at their best when the starters on the floor. The Boston bench was outscored 23-10 in Game 2, and that was with former Celtic Bill Walker going 0 for 11 for the Knicks.
“It’s on the defensive end,” Doc Rivers said of his bench. “I could care less about our offense. Our offense will work itself out.”
Rivers has to be somewhat concerned with both his offense and defense heading into Game 3. The Celtics helped on Anthony tonight to the detriment of their defensive rebounding. And they still allowed 42 points to a player who lost his top two wing mates.
Come Friday night in New York, this isn’t going to fly.
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