[外電] Celtics winning formula without KG?
新聞出處(必填):
http://www.celticsblog.com/2013/3/30/4163756/celtics-show-a-little-life-without-kevin-garnett
作者:
Three nights ago, after the Celtics took on the New York Knicks without Kevin
Garnett on Tuesday night at the TD Garden, Paul Pierce addressed the media
and said there would be no excuses for the team's performance in Garnett's
temporary absence.
"This is what it is," Pierce said. "This is what it's going to have to be out
here. We can't look over our shoulders and wait for Kevin to be back
tomorrow, or Courtney Lee, or our regular starters. The guys that are filling
their roles have to be ready to step up and play expanded roles. They have an
opportunity."
Those words rang hollow on Tuesday night. The Celtics had just an ugly one to
the Knicks, 100-85, getting absolutely wrecked by J.R. Smith and Carmelo
Anthony. There were no opportunities in that game -- it was just a vast chasm
of KG-less hopelessness.
It took a couple nights, but eventually the Celtics were able to clarify what
Pierce meant on Tuesday. In a decisive 118-107 victory over the Atlanta Hawks
tonight, it began to show through.
True, Pierce himself was dominant, putting up a triple-double with 20 points,
10 rebounds and 10 assists. But this win was an unexpectedly well-rounded
team effort -- Jeff Green and Jason Terry each outdid Pierce in the scoring
column, and Shavlik Randolph came out of absolutely nowhere to throw down
nine points and 13 rebounds.
Randolph was the story of the night. It was by far his best performance in
the NBA since returning from China a month ago, and it provided a glimmer of
hope that the Celtics might be OK without Garnett after all.
"He does what he does," coach Doc Rivers said of Randolph. "He's proven that
he can rebound, and he mixes it up. He's been put in that position, and he's
doing it. I'm really, really happy for him.
"I thought he gave us so much energy. When you see the bench get up and jump
around for a rebounder, that's really impressive. Then I thought he did a lot
of good things when he got it, too -- some of the times he put it back up,
and a lot of the times he threw it back out. I just thought he did a lot of
good things. I'm really happy for him."
The thing about this particular effort, though, was that it wasn't just one
guy. Randolph was tremendous, to be sure, but Green made 11-of-20 shot
attempts including 3-of-5 threes, and Terry was similarly efficient with
7-of-10 shooting and 5-of-7 from long distance.
The key to this game wasn't any one player getting his numbers. The Celtics
won with unselfishness and smart ball movement -- they passed when it was
right to pass and shot when it was right to shoot. It sounds simple, but it's
a technique that's failed the Celtics countless times this season.
When the C's offense clicks, it's hard to stop.
"It's tough," Green said. "You never know who's going to get it going what
game. You've just got to go with the flow of the game, and whoever has it
going, you've got to feed him. Tonight JET had it going and we fed him the
ball, and when he's got it going, it's tough for the defense to pack the
paint when we've got a guy who can shoot the 3."
"Ball movement and execution," added Terry. "When we didn't have it, we lost
six in a row. It's a glaring fact -- when we don't move the ball, we're not a
good team. It doesn't allow us to get our defense set -- it allows other
teams to get out in transition and run on us. With the numbers we have,
without KG, we have to take good shots. We have to execute and make sure we
get what we want every time."
All season long, this team has been finding a way. They lost Rajon Rondo,
they lost Jared Sullinger, and so on and so forth. With each loss, they
adapted and moved on.
Without Garnett, this team realistically has zero chance of making a peep in
the Eastern Conference playoffs. But at least for one night, it showed a
little bit of life, and there's something to be said for that.
--
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