Technically speaking
Refs rankle Stevens
CELTICS NOTEBOOK
Brad Stevens was angry enough with the officiating in Game 4 to get called for a technical foul. But as he did Monday night, the Celtics coach again looked inward yesterday to explain the 103-92 loss to the 76ers.
The Celtics, now ahead, 3-1, in the conference semifinal, get another chance to close things out this evening in friendlier confines. And looking seems to interest Stevens only inasmuch as it reminds his club of issues it needs to correct.
“I’ve got no comment on the technicals,” during a teleconference with the media yesterday afternoon. “That’s not something that I’m going to talk about. I’ve said before I realize that the officials have a really tough job, and there’s always going to be spirits and tensions running high in a long series.
“But at the end of the day, we didn’t play well enough to beat Philadelphia. That has nothing to do with anything but Philadelphia and us, and we need to do better.”
In addition to allowing 16 points off 15 turnovers, the Celtics gave up 16 offensive rebounds for 18 second-chance points and were outscored, 52-30, in the paint.
“They were clearly the more physical team (Monday) night,” Stevens said. “There’s no question about it, and they did a great job of establishing that early and obviously posted a number of different guys up and were very good down there. (It) obviously led to points in the paint, fouls, etc.”
The Celts and Sixers wound up shooting the same number of free throws (26), though the C’s were called for five more fouls and had players in foul trouble early.
“We’ve got to do a better job as a team playing without fouling, and it starts with transition and then it goes in to guarding the halfcourt and obviously finishing plays,” said Stevens.
As for the glass, he said, “They were an outstanding offensive rebounding team coming into our series .. .. I think we have to do a better job of keeping the ball in front of us, we have to be more alert to their cutters, and we just have to make contact earlier. You know, easier said than done.”
Welcome home
Shane Larkin left Game4 with a left shoulder injury and was still getting it checked yesterday. Stevens said he will likely know more about the situation at this morning’s shootaround.
In any case, the Celts are clearly looking forward to getting the Sixers in the Garden after a frustrating night in Philly that featured some trash talking by the hosts and responses from the C’s.
“Oh, man, I’m ecstatic,” Marcus Smart told the Herald. “I’m ecstatic, man. We get to play in front of the greatest crowd in NBA franchise history, you know? We know what our crowd’s going to bring, and we’ve just got to bring it to them and do our job on the court.
“I’m excited. I can’t wait. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be fun.”
No matter how things go tonight, the Celtics are guaranteed to host a game on Sunday at 3:30. It will either be Game 7 against the Sixers or Game 1 of the conference finals against Cleveland. That latter series will begin that day even if it takes the C’s until Friday to finish off Philly.
“We definitely can use a break,” said Smart. “Everybody can. This is playoff basketball. It’s not for everybody. That’s why 30 teams weren’t in it. Everybody can’t do it. It’s hard.”
Foul mood
There has been much public criticism of the referees from Celtic followers regarding Game 4, but at least one fallacy needs to be corrected.
The argument that the league office sent specific officials to the game because the Celtics were ahead, 3-0, and they wanted the series to continue to draw more revenue is patently false. The NBA makes the referee assignments for the first four games of each series prior to its beginning. And it should be noted, as well, that the roster of refs shrinks each round, with the better rated officials advancing.
Some calls are certainly open to question, but as Stevens pointed out, the Celts were not as physical or alert as the 76ers Monday, which means they were reaching more. Philadelphia was getting a step on the C’s on drives, which left the latter’s defense out of position and was at least in part the cause for the discrepancy in fouls.