C’s run ends in OT
Pelicans’ Davis (45) too much
The Celtics have had remarkable success against the so-called better conference, with wins against Golden State, Houston, Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Minnesota this season.
PELICANS 116 CELTICS 113
But one of the Western Conference’s younger, more promising teams avoided the list last night. The Celtics fell to New Orleans in overtime, 116-113, bringing their leaguehigh seven-game winning streak to an end.
The Pelicans’ power axis of Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins was predictably dominant, with the two big men combining for 64 points and 31 rebounds — 45 and 16 from Davis and 19 and 15 from Cousins.
Kyrie Irving recovered from a three-point first half to finish with 27 points, but like the C’s, he fell just short.
From Brad Stevens’ perspective, the bad habits started early for a team that had only played one game — last Thursday’s win against Philadelphia in London — the previous nine days.
As unstoppable as Davis has become with that untouchable high-release jumper, the C’s coach identified plenty of ways his team could have done better defensively.
“You’ve got to make his catches harder,” Stevens said of Davis. “You’ve got to be more alert as a team. We’ve got to be, just, better.”
Not good words from the coach of the NBA’s leader in defensive rating.
“I thought our lack of defense started in transition all night,” he said. “I thought we were really, really behind for whatever reason. They were pushing the tempo. They did a great job of that. They only played eight guys, so we have no excuses not to be back. But I thought they really hurt us in transition. And Davis was awesome. I mean, he was great.”
Though the Celtics once again played their best basketball late, erasing New Orleans’ peak lead of 12 points without much trouble, and leading by a point with a minute left in regulation, this time their early mistakes hurt too much.
Never mind they came back from 22 points down to beat the Sixers last week, and an NBA season-high 26 down against Houston for a win at the Garden on Dec. 28.
Those early mistakes eventually catch up with everyone.
“We can’t come back every game. It’s as simple as that,” Irving said. “When a team is going to come in, sometimes they are going to hold the lead and play well. They were feeling pretty comfortable tonight in terms of their offense and what they were doing. They were making it tough within the lane on my drives and on our penetration. When you have two great bigs like that in DeMarcus and Anthony, and Jrue (Holiday) is just solid, and Rajon (Rondo) chipped in as well. They were playing pretty well at a great pace. We were on our heels for a little bit until we started fighting back.”
Irving, commenting on his own slow start, was no easier on himself, despite sending the game into overtime with a drive against Anthony with 11.8 seconds left in regulation.
“I got no excuses either way. I knew that in order for our team to be in a great position, I had to still be aggressive so taking a few tougher shots just based on the way defenses are playing me,” he said. “I just got to be a lot more definitive in my decisions because teams are trying to double me and get the ball out of my hands. I just have to make the right plays, and sometimes tough shots are going to be taken on my end, and I just got to be ready to knock them in, and if they’re not there, then make plays for my teammates.”
The lead changed hands five times in as many possessions to start overtime, with Davis tip-dunking a Cousins miss for a 110-109 Pelicans lead.
The Celtics gained a little traction when Marcus Smart followed up a Jaylen Brown drive with an offbalance 15-footer for a 113110 lead with 2:10 left.
But Cousins scored in the paint, and after Smart missed badly from 3-point range, Holiday gave New Orleans a 114-113 lead from 20 feet with 1:22 left.
Brown lost the ball under the basket, and Holiday banked a 10-footer, this time with 53.3 seconds left.
The teams swapped misses, including Irving’s downtown try with 2.5 seconds left, and the Pelicans closed the game with an empty possession.