Celtics Look Tired Against Bulls, Lose 96-83

Celtics Look Tired Against Bulls, Lose 96-83
January 14, 2010 by Lee Herman

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston needs to figure out how to get some continuity going after tonight’s frustrating loss against a sub .500 Chicago team. They can start by practicing free throws from the end of the game until the start of the next one on Monday.

The Celtics shot an abysmal 52% from the line on 14-27. That alone was the margin of defeat. They also could learn to box out on the defensive end since they gave up 15 O boards and 49 overall. Boston grabbed 39. The C’s only had five more assists (17) than turnovers (12). Needless to say, that is not a recipe for winning.

Glen Davis had one of the most inefficient performances off the bench I’ve seen in a long time scoring 6 PTS in 26 minutes. To be fair, he did grab 8 REBS but that is about it. Tony Allen only scored 2 PTS in his 14 minutes.

The starters are tired and it showed in the second half. Perkins walking back after offensive misses and a plethora of flat shots from Pierce and Ray Allen signaled the toll of that stretch of 40+ minute games is catching up to them. Ray only went 4-10 and didn’t hit a three pointer. Pierce had 20 PTS, 8 REBS and 6 ASTS for a decent night but couldn’t turn it on down the stretch. It’s a disconcerting trend that when the C’s fall behind early by 11 or so they can never seem to close the gap. Whenever they get close they give up another 10-2 run and have to start digging out from another hole.

Chicago had 10 blocks as a team with Joakim Noah collecting four of them. If I was blocked by Noah and he started talking junk to me, I’m not sure I would be able to keep my fist from trying to reach the back of his ugly head through his rat face.

One bright spot was Kendrick Perkins collecting another double double with 14 PTS and 10 REBS. It was something to cheer for in an otherwise excruciating game to watch. Chicago took advantage of the tired legs of Boston and ran the tempo up from the start, only slowing down when the likes of Brad Miller were in the game.

Now the Celtics have three days off and will host Dallas on Monday night. If they can’t address some of their season long issues with turnovers and rebounding I doubt that game will be very much fun to watch.