Everything you need to know about the Celtics' 100-99 loss to the Kings with BSJ insight and analysis...
HEADLINES
Marcus Smart’s buzzer-beat rims out as C’s blow late lead: The Celtics came within inches of becoming the first team in NBA history win 11 straight games after losing their season opener. However, Marcus Smart's floater rolled off the rim as the clock expired, allowing the Kings to hold onto a 100-99 victory over the Celtics in what was a back-and-forth matinee affair at the Golden 1 Center. Jaylen Brown had a team-high 18 points for the Celtics, leading six different players in double figures for the visitors who dug out of a 15-point hole in the first half to hold the lead down the stretch. However, some timely scoring from Buddy Hield (game-high 35 points) and Bogdan Bogdanovic (12 points, 10 assists) allowed the hosts to make enough big shots down the stretch to erase a five-point deficit. The C's now drop to 10-2 on the year and into a tie with the Lakers for the best record in the NBA.
Heartbreaker pic.twitter.com/uiwQhmmB2y
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) November 17, 2019
Semi Ojeleye comes alive in a positive outing for Boston bench: It has been a rough season for the third-year forward from an offensive perspective, but Ojeleye provided a nice boost on Sunday afternoon to help the C’s dig out of an early double-digit hole. Ojeleye tied his career-high with three 3-point makes, scoring 11 points overall on 4-of-5 shooting. Enes Kanter (10 points) and Brad Wanamaker (8 points, 3 assists) also chipped in with solid performances off the pine to balance out a sluggish first quarter for the starters and put the C’s in position to have a crack at continuing an 11-game winning streak.
The streak is over, but it shouldn’t have been: While it’s hard to get too frustrated with the C’s for dropping one after pulling off 10 straight wins, this is really a game they should have had. No De’Aaron Fox for the Kings took away the hosts’ best playmaker and the C’s did not do a good job against Hield (35 points on 14-of-24 FG), especially given the lack of secondary threats throughout the Kings’ offense. Combine that with a blown five-point lead in the final three minutes and the C’s will be regretting this one for a while, especially if they come up empty as the underdogs during the final three games of this road trip in Phoenix, LA (Clippers), and Denver. Wins aren't going to come as easy in the next few weeks without Gordon Hayward, so this is one that could sting a little bit given the fact it was right there for the taking.
TURNING POINT
The Celtics appeared to be on the verge of gaining control with a five-point lead after Daniel Theis grabbed a defensive rebound with 3:15 remaining. However, the big man was whistled for a loose ball foul on the play, giving the ball back to the Kings. Bogdanovic made a 3 on the ensuing possession, kicking off a 12-6 game-closing run for the hosts.
SECOND GUESS
A couple of decisions in the final minute proved costly for the C’s. To start, Marcus Smart made a sensational offensive rebound with 13.3 seconds remaining and the C’s leading by one on a Kemba Walker miss. However, his putback was blocked, leading him to commit a loose ball foul on Richaun Holmes. Smart would have been better off bringing the ball back out and forcing the Kings to foul with the shot clock turned off.
TWO UP
Daniel Theis: The center remained solid on the defensive end and finally started finishing around the rim in this one on his way to his first double-double of the season (14 points, 10 rebounds). Kemba Walker found him for a couple of easy buckets late, which should help give Brad Stevens confidence in sticking with him during crunch time.
Jaylen Brown: He scored a team-high 18 points but the more encouraging development was his continued success from beyond the 3-point line. He knocked down four on the afternoon, raising his season average to 38 percent on the year after a slow start. He also scored 18 points or more in his fifth straight game.
TWO DOWN
Marcus Smart: The hustle plays were there but he picked a bad day to lead the team in field goal attempts. He knocked down just 2-of-16 shots, including 1-of-8 from 3-point range, cooling off in what had been a terrific month of November. His decision not to pull the ball out after the offensive rebound ended up costing the C’s their best chance to win the game as well.
Grant Williams: As Brad Stevens attempts to find some consistency off the bench, it appears Williams’ woeful offense (25 percent shooting) earned him a spot on the bench in this one, as he was given his first DNP-CD of the season.
TOP PLAY
That pass ? pic.twitter.com/Y3HJruTyNs
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 17, 2019
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Brad Stevens made two interesting choices down the stretch that backfired. The head coach doesn’t deserve the bulk of the blame in this one but it’s worth second-guessing two of his decisions down the stretch. The first one came when he decided to challenge the foul call on Smart with 13 seconds remaining, which cost him one of his timeouts. That was an understandable decision (the challenge failed) given the importance of the play, but my bigger issue was him electing to save his final timeout after Holmes took the lead for the Kings with two free throws with 13 seconds left. Instead, the C’s inbounded and had to go the length of the court on the game's final possession, essentially giving them just one shot at winning the game by the time Smart got his floater up and the play developed. Calling a timeout to shrink the court (and give the C’s more than one potential opportunity on offense) could have helped matters in the closing seconds. It may not have given the C’s a win but it would have given the team a bigger margin for error when it came to clock management. Saving a timeout instead of using the challenge would have allowed Stevens to use a timeout after the initial free throws and still have one left over for later if needed. It’s possible he wanted to create more space for Walker in that instance by going full-court but the downside of wasted clock served as a bigger downside.
Slow starts are becoming an issue again: The C’s dug themselves a 15-point hole in the first quarter and that’s becoming a dangerous trend for this team that has lived on being a second-half team all year long. Now, with the degree of difficulty going up against playoff opponents on the road for the rest of this road trip, this group can’t afford to come sluggish out of the gate on both ends. The first options off the bench (Rob Williams, Javonte Green) had rough nights and did not see the floor in the second half, so it will be interesting to see how much reshuffling is done to the rotation to prevent these issues and whether the starters play with more fire early on. With Gordon Hayward out of the mix now for another month, there isn’t as much margin of error for the second unit.
