The Celtics are locked in an highly competitive race for that reward and will try to take advantage of back-to-back home games against eliminated teams, beginning Wednesday night against the severely short-handed New Orleans Pelicans. Crowder said that on Tuesday Stevens told the players not to pay attention to the standings; he said to just worry about playing well. The Boston Celtics are shooting 33.5 percent from beyond the arc and 78.8 percent from the free throw line.
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But after New Orleans tie the game for the last time at 93-93 on an open jumper by, you guessed it, Babbitt, the Celtics finally found consistent range.
New Orleans is well-acquainted with injuries and used eight players in their rotation at league-worst Philadelphia. The Boston Celtics have won 10 of their last 12 home games.
Bench: Point guard Tim Frazier provided a much needed spark, particularly in the first half when he scored 12 of his 18 points.
The Celtics scored eight straight points the start of the third quarter to increase their lead to 16.
A minute later, Boston finally broke the stalemate, getting back-to-back baskets by Bradley and Crowder to take a 97-93 lead.
Fueled by the rivalry, Kobe Bryant was unusually dead-serious and scored 34 points on 11-of-28 shooting.
The Pelicans catch a break tonight as Evan Turner will miss the game with an eye abrasion. He received four stitches, and said he was fine afterward.
But that was made possible by what Thomas and Bradley both called the most important play of the game – Amir Johnson’s block on Babbitt along the right baseline.
“You’ve got to have that killer’s mentality, no matter who you play”, Thomas said.
“Whenever we are going through adversity, we should be able to overcome it”, said Bradley, who scored 13 points. We got down and kept plugging away at it. Once we were down like 16, 14 and got the game tied. Time is still a little messed up for us.
The other side, the under is 10-1 in the Celtics’ last 11 games coming off a win and has cashed in six of their last seven games overall. The Celtics only committed 9 turnovers and finished the night with 10 steals. How have they dealt with them and why do they continue to play fairly hard despite fielding a roster of NBDL talent? Asked before the game if he was getting anyone back, coach Alvin Gentry laughed and said, “No, but if you want to dress out, I’ll give you a uniform and you’ll probably get 15 minutes”.
Boston fans greeted former Celtic and current Pelicans reserve center Kendrick Perkins with a round of cheers when he checked into the game in the first quarter.
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Brad Stevens, Celtics head coach, told reporters that Turner was bleeding but was not aware of the injury’s extent. Jae Crowder is grabbing 5.2 rebounds and Evan Turner is dishing 4.4 assists. Totals 36-87 22-27 104. Toney Douglas scored 8 third quarter points for New Orleans as the Pelicans quickly moved themselves back into the game. They shoot 48.7% from the field and 41.8% from 3, good for second and first in the league respectively.
