The Clippers Survive Furious Warriors’ Comeback

http://kingjamesgospel.com/2014/04/25/clippers-survive-furious-warriors-comeback/

Sunday Fun-Day Notebook: Rondo, Pierce, Joel, Zarren and Grande

http://www.celticshub.com/2014/04/20/sunday-fun-day-notebook-rondo-pierce-joel-zarren-grande/

Celtics Beat with Sean Grande and Jared Weiss/Jimmy Toscano

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/clnsradio/2014/04/19/celtics-beat-w-sean-grande-jared-weissjimmy-toscano-41914

Keys to Winning in NBA: Corner 3-Pointer and Effective Field-Goal %

https://www.bsports.com/statsinsights/keys-winning-nba-corner-3-pointer-effective-field-goal

 

Celtics vs. Wizards Stat Pack

*Via Sean Grande: “Wednesday, April 16^th will mark the earliest end to a Boston Celtics season in 35 years (April 8th, 1979, BOS 127, NJ 101 – C Maxwell 22)”

*Jeff Green’s 133 made 3’s this season are the 16^th-most by a Celtic in a single season.

*The Celtics have given up 24 games of at least 50 percent shooting thus far this season.
–The last time the C’s gave up that many in a season: unsurprisingly, 2006-07 (27 times)
–The Celtics gave up a combined 18 games of at least 50 percent shooting in 2011-12 and 2012-13.
–The C’s averaged fewer than 11 games of giving up at least 50 percent shooting per season from 2007-08 to 2012-13.

*The Celtics have been a bottom-5 defensive team since the beginning of March.
–They are giving up 108.7 points per 100 possessions since March 1.

*The Celtics own the NBA’s best 3^rd-quarter margin over the last 3 games (positive 11.7 points per game).

*The Celtics are on quite a few 3-point streaks.
–9 games in a row with more 3-point attempts than opponent (longest for C’s since 2003: 20 games)
–6 games in a row with more 3-point makes than opponent (longest for C’s since 2012: 6 games) – last time with 7 in a row: 2006
–5 games in a row with better 3-point percentage than opponent (longest for C’s since 2012: 8 games)

*The Wizards are tied for the longest current winning streak in the league (3 games).

*Washington has forced its opponents to the 2^nd-highest turnover percentage in the NBA.

*The Wizards have played by far the most overtime games this season (12).
–Most single-season overtime games since Clippers and Kings played 13 each during the 2000-01 season.

*The Celtics are 10-7 against the Southeast Division this season, which is their only above-.500 record against a division.
–The Southeast Division has 4 playoff teams.

*The 76ers’ 54 bench points on Monday are the 5^th-most by a bench unit against the C’s this season.

*Via Elias: “The 76ers closed out their home schedule with a 113-108 win over the Celtics, in which Michael Carter-Williams provided 21 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals. You have to go back 36 years to find the last NBA rookie to hit all four of those markers in a game; Bernard King did that on March 24, 1978, playing for the New Jersey Nets against the Washington Bullets (26 points, 17 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals).”

*Recent Meetings: Celtics vs. Wizards
–The Celtics had won 6 straight home games against the Wizards before losing in December.

Celtics at 76ers Stat Pack

 

*There have been just 2 instances this season in which men in green have put together back-to-back games of at least 13 assists.

--March 16 and 19: Rajon Rondo

--April 11 and 12: Phil Pressey

*Pressey is the first Celtic to have at least 13 assists on consecutive days since Rondo on April 14 and 15, 2012.

--Before Pressey, the last Celtic not named Rondo to have at least 13 assists in consecutive games was Sherman Douglas (1993).

*The Celtics own the NBA’s 2^nd-best 3^rd-quarter margin over the last 3 games (positive 10.7 per game).

--The 76ers have the 3^rd-worst 3^rd-quarter margin in the last 3 games (negative 8.7 per game).

*The 76ers have by far the worst scoring margin in the league at negative 10.9 per game.

*The 76ers are the only Eastern Conference team that has lost each of their last 2 home games.

*The 76ers’ defensive effective field-goal percentage is the worst in the league.

*The 76ers’ offensive effective field-goal percentage and turnover percentage are both the 2^nd-worst in the league.

*On Saturday, Kelly Olynyk set his new NBA career-high with 12 rebounds. Only once in his college career did he have that many rebounds (12 against Saint Mary’s in 2013).

--Olynyk also matched his career-high in points. It was the first time he scored 22 or more points in an NBA road game.

*Avery Bradley’s plus/minus of positive 31 on Saturday is his 2^nd-best in his career.

*Jeff Green’s plus/minus of positive 21 on Saturday is his 2^nd-best this season.

*Recent Meetings: Celtics vs. 76ers

--The last time the Celtics lost a 4-game regular-season series to the 76ers was 2006-07.

Celtics at Cavaliers Stat Pack

 

*The Celtics enter Saturday on a 13-game road losing streak, which matches their longest road losing streak in franchise history (February to April 1979).

*The Celtics and Cavaliers own 2 of the 8 worst point differentials this season.

--Cleveland’s positive 5.7 point differential over the team’s last 3 games is the 5^th-best in the league.

*The last time the Celtics faced the Cavaliers was December 28, 2013: heading into that contest, there were 161 different 30-point performances in the NBA this season, and none of them were against the Celtics.

--The 162^nd one was Kyrie Irving’s 7^th one of the season, and the first one against the Celtics this season. Irving has had just 3 such performances in 2014.

--Irving is 1 of 15 players to score at least 30 points in 10 or more games this season.

*On Friday, Phil Pressey dished off a career-high 13 assists.

--Only twice in his college career did he have that many assists.

--In Phil Pressey’s 70^th career NBA game (Saturday at Detroit), he registered his first double-double. On Friday, he posted his 2^nd one.

--In addition, on Friday, Pressey stole the ball 3 times for the first time in a home game as an NBA player.

*3^rd-quarter margin is important: the Celtics are the 6^th-worst team in the NBA in this category, but they have been fantastic very recently. The Celtics are the 4^th-best team in the last 3 games in 3^rd-quarter margin.

--In 2007-08, the champion Celtics were the best 3^rd-quarter team.

--In 2008-09, the Celtics were the 2^nd-best 3^rd-quarter team. The champion Lakers were the best.

--In 2012-13, Miami was the best team in the category and won the championship.

*Al Jefferson made 16 field goal on Friday, his most ever against the Celtics. It was also the most field goal makes against the Celtics in a game this season.

--The last time a player made at least 16 field goals against the Celtics: LeBron James on March 18, 2013

--It was an odd night for Jefferson: the last player to score at least 30 points without a free throw attempt against the Celtics in the regular season: Derek Harper (February 28, 1990).

*Recent Meetings: Celtics vs. Cavaliers

--The Celtics have taken 4 of their last 5 games in Cleveland.

Celtics vs. Bobcats Stat Pack

 

*The Bobcats are the best team at protecting the basketball this season.

--Only 11.7 percent of their possessions result in a turnover (lowest in the league). The Celtics are 24^th in that category (14.2 percent).

*The Bobcats are among the best in free-throw differential this season. They attempt 4 more free throws per game than their opponents, which is tied for the 3^rd-best mark in the NBA. The Celtics are the 3^rd-worst team in that category this season (negative 3.5 free throw attempts per game).

--The Bobcats allow their opponents to shoot just 21.1 free throws per 100 possessions, the 2^nd-lowest mark in the league.

--The Bobcats foul just 19 times per 100 possessions, the 3^rd-lowest mark in the league.

*The Bobcats are on a 5-game winning streak for the first time since 2010.

--A Bobcats win on Friday would match their longest winning streak in franchise history.

*Only once in Jared Sullinger’s career has he had a streak of at least 3 doubles-doubles (January/February 2014). On Friday, he is in search of his 3^rd straight double-double.

*On Friday, Rajon Rondo is in search of his 2^nd double-double streak of at least 3 games this season.

*Avery Bradley scored 24 points on Wednesday after scoring just 20 points combined in his previous 3 games.

--It was just the 6^th time in his career that he made 4 shots from 3-point distance, but it was the first time that he made all of his 3-pointers when having at least 3 attempts from downtown.

*Al Jefferson owns a 1-12 record in games that he has played against the Celtics.

--The most free throws he has attempted against the Celtics in his career is 7 (done once as a member of the Jazz and once with the Timberwolves).

*For Saturday: the Celtics’ 13-game road losing streak has matched their longest road losing streak in franchise history (February to April 1979).

*The Celtics are still 9-7 against the Southeast Division this season, which is their only above-.500 record against a division.

--Their next-best winning percentage against a division: 5-10 vs. the Atlantic Division

*On Wednesday, the Celtics attempted 34 uncontested field goals, but attempted 50 contested ones.

*If the Celtics lose on Friday, they will have lost 14 straight games that were on the front end of back-to-backs.

--Their last such victory: November 29 against the Cavaliers

*Recent Meetings: Celtics vs. Bobcats

--The Celtics have dropped 3 of their last 5 games to the Bobcats after winning the previous 4 contests.

Celtics at Hawks Stat Pack

*The Celtics’ 12-game road losing streak is their longest since January/February 2007 (12 in a row).
–The ONLY time the C’s have lost more than 12 road games in a row in franchise history: February to April 1979 (13 in a row)

*If the Celtics lost the rest of their games this season, they will match their 2^nd-longest overall losing streak in franchise history at 13 straight losses.

*When the Grizzlies sent Jerryd Bayless to the Celtics, Bayless was on pace for his worst 3-point shooting season of his career (minimum 30 attempts). However, with 5 more makes from downtown on Saturday, he has set a new career-high for 3-pointers made in a season.
–When the Celtics traded Courtney Lee for Bayless 3 months ago, Lee had a better 3-point percentage (44 percent) than Bayless’ 2-point percentage (worse than 42 percent).

*In addition, Bayless became the first Celtic to sink at least five 3-pointers on consecutive nights since Antoine Walker in January 2003.

*As a Celtic, Bayless is also now shooting 40 percent from 3-point distance and could be the first man in green to do so since Ray Allen in 2011-12 (minimum 60 attempts).
–The only players to accomplish that feat over the last 5 seasons are Allen and Paul Pierce (minimum 100 attempts).

*The Celtics are 9-6 against the Southeast Division this season, which is their only above-.500 record against a division.
–Their next-best winning percentage against a division: 5-10 vs. the Atlantic Division

*Jeff Green’s 16.7 points per game are on pace to be the lowest for a Celtics’ leading scorer since Dee Brown’s 15.5 in 1993-94.

*Via Elias from Sunday: “The Hawks held the Pacers to 11 points in the first quarter and 12 in the second en route to a win in Indianapolis on Sunday. It’s only the second-game since the shot clock was implemented in 1954 in which a home team was held to no more than a dozen points in the first and second quarter. Miami lost at home to Utah in 2001, scoring 12 in the first period and 11 in the second.”

*Via Elias from Saturday: “The Pistons rallied from a 95-85 deficit at the end of the third quarter to beat the Celtics 115-111. It was Detroit’s first win in a game in which it trailed by double digits entering the final period since January 22, 2011 against the Suns. The Pistons had lost their previous 77 games when facing such a deficit, which had been the second-longest active streak in the NBA behind the Wizards (193 including Saturday).”

*Bayless, Jared Sullinger and Jeff Green were the only players to attempt double-digit uncontested shots on Saturday in Detroit.
–Bayless: 6-of-10 on uncontested shots
–Sullinger: 5-of-10 on uncontested shots
–Green: 4-of-13 on uncontested shots

*Happy belated 74^th birthday to John Havlicek, who celebrated it on Tuesday.
–He was also an NCAA champion in 1960.

*Recent Meetings: Celtics vs. Hawks
–The Celtics and Hawks have alternated victories in each of the last 8 regular-season meetings in Atlanta.

By The Numbers: Jerryd Bayless

http://www.celticshub.com/2014/04/07/th3-numb3rs-j3rryd-bayl3ss/

Celtics at Pistons Stat Pack

*Rajon Rondo is only the 2^nd player since 2010-11 with at least 11 points, 11 rebounds and 16 assists.
–Other player: Stephen Curry (14 points, 13 rebounds and 16 assists on December 27, 2013)
–Since the beginning of the 2010-11 season, Rondo has 4 such games (including 2 regular-season ones and 2 postseason ones). Coincidentally, 2 of those games were against the 76ers and 2 were against the Knicks.

*The Pistons’ 31.0 offensive rebounding percentage leads the NBA this season.

*The Pistons have made and attempted the 2^nd-most 2-pointers per game in the league this season.
–Best team: the Grizzlies

*The Pistons are 22-4 when outshooting their opponent this season.
–Otherwise: 5-45 (1 of those 45 losses was Friday night at Brooklyn).

*On Friday, the Pistons had 17 more offensive rebounds than the Nets.
–It was the first time that the Pistons did that against an opponent since April 3, 2013 against the Celtics (25 offensive rebounds for Detroit and 4 for Boston in the 98-93 C’s victory).

*If the Celtics lose on Saturday, it will be their 8^th consecutive loss.
–And that would mean that the 2013-14 C’s have 2 of their 12 worst losing streaks in franchise history.

*On Friday, the 76ers won their 2^nd consecutive game in Boston for the first time since 2006-07.

*The Celtics’ 11-game road losing streak is their longest since January/February 2007 (12 in a row).
–The last time the C’s lost more than 12 road games in a row: February to April 1979 (13 in a row)

*The last time the Celtics faced the Pistons, they had 38 assists and 5 turnovers as a team. It was only the 3^rd game of that kind in the NBA over the last 2 decades.
–January 23, 2008: the Cavaliers had 39 assists and 5 turnovers.
–February 28, 2003: the Timberwolves had 40 assists and 4 turnovers.

*In addition, the last time they met: the Celtics’ 118 points on Sunday were their 2^nd-most against the Pistons since the beginning of the 1995-96 season (119 points scored in 2010).

*One last thing from that meeting on March 9: Kelly Olynyk became the first Celtic to score at least 18 points in 18 or fewer minutes in the regular season since Al Jefferson in 2005.
–Paul Pierce did it in the 2012 playoffs, Rasheed Wallace did it in 2010 playoffs and Leon Powe did it in 2008 playoffs.

*Recent Meetings: Celtics vs. Pistons
–The C’s have dropped 6 of the last 8 meetings between the 2 squads.

Celtics vs. 76ers Stat Pack

*The 76ers have lost their last 13 road games, tying the 2^nd-worst road losing streak in the NBA this season.
–They have lost at least 13 road games 3 different times over the last 2 seasons.
–In their first 63 seasons of franchise history, they did that 3 combined times.

*The 76ers’ turnover percentage is the worst in the league.

*The 76ers’ defensive effective field goal percentage is the worst in the league.

*Rajon Rondo’s plus/minus of negative 26 on Wednesday was the 2^nd-worst of his regular-season career (3^rd-worst including the playoffs).
–Negative 28: March 7, 2012 at Philadelphia 76ers
–Negative 28: May 7, 2010 vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (Game 3 of Eastern Conference Semifinals)

*John Wall matched his career-high plus/minus (positive 30) on Wednesday.
–Coincidentally, his best was at Philadelphia on March 1, 2014.

*The Celtics’ 26-point loss on Wednesday was the Wizards’ largest margin over the Celtics since October 31, 2002.
–It matched the Celtics 5^th-worst loss to the Wizards ever.

*Wednesday was the first time that the Celtics had fewer than 30 rebounds as well as double-digit offensive rebounds in the same game since March 14, 2008.

*Low playing time for the starting big men in green
–Wednesday was Kris Humphries’ fewest minutes played in a start this season.
–Wednesday was Brandon Bass’ 4^th-lowest playing time of the season.

*Chris Johnson’s team-high 4.4 miles per hour on the court on Wednesday kept up his top-5 speed in the league.
–His 4.6 miles per hour this season are tied for the 3^rd-best spot in the NBA (minimum 30 games in 2013-14).

*The last time the Celtics won the first game of a back-to-back was November 29 against the Cavaliers (12 straight losses for the C’s in the first game of back-to-backs).

*Via Elias: “John Wall handed out 10 assists as the Wizards clinched a playoff spot with a victory over the Celtics. Wall has had at least nine assists in each of his last five games against Boston. Only two other players over the last 15 years had at least nine assists in five straight games against Boston: Allen Iverson (five-game streak from 2004 to 2006) and Jason Kidd (five, 2009-2011).”

*For Saturday: the Celtics’ 11-game road losing streak is their longest since January/February 2007 (12 in a row).
–The last time the C’s lost more than 12 road games in a row: February to April 1979 (13 in a row)

*Recent Meetings: Celtics vs. 76ers
–The 76ers are looking for consecutive wins in Boston for the first time since 2006-07.

Celtics at Wizards Stat Pack

*The last time the Celtics faced the Wizards, the C’s ended their last 10-game road losing streak.
–The Celtics’ current 10-game road losing streak is tied for the 2^nd-worst active one in the NBA.
–Since the beginning of the 2007-08 season, the only other Celtics’ road losing streak that was longer was the 10-game one earlier this season.
–The last time the C’s lost more than 10 road games in a row: January/February 2007 (12 in a row)

*Also, the last time the Celtics faced the Wizards: each of the 5 Celtics starters blocked a shot for the first time since February 21, 2010.

*In addition, the last time the Celtics faced the Wizards: the Celtics hit 15 shots from 3-point distance for the first time since 2009.
–It was the first time the Celtics made that many 3-pointers in a game that went to overtime.

*If Jerryd Bayless scores at least 12 points on Wednesday, then he will have his longest streak of scoring that many points in a row (4 games) this season.
–Would be his longest streak since March 2013 (8 games)

*Brandon Bass heads into Wednesday night with his first 2-game streak of double-digit scoring games since the beginning of March.

*The Celtics have made at least 10 free throws in each of their last 33 games, which is the franchise’s longest regular-season streak since 2007-08 (56 games).

*When outshooting their opponent by at least 1 percent this season, the Wizards are 28-3.

*Joakim Noah made a game-high 72 passes on Monday after making a team-high 78 passes on Sunday.
–Rajon Rondo had a game-high 83 passes on Sunday.

*For Friday: the last time the Celtics won the first game of a back-to-back was November 29 against the Cavaliers (12 straight losses for the C’s in the first game of back-to-backs).

*Recent Meetings: Celtics vs. Wizards
–The Celtics had won the last 8 of the last 9 meetings with the Wizards.