Celtics Ups & Downs: Bass Continues Bench Dominance
BOSTON (CBS) – The Boston Celtics went over the .500 mark with their 89-70 win over the New Jersey Nets Wednesday night.
The Celtics struggled against the injury-riddled Nets for the first half, but began to pull away in the second.
New Jersey was without their top two players in Deron Williams and Brook Lopez, and was also missing forward Kris Humphries. But the Celtics got their offense in order during the second half and was able to easily put the Nets away with some more solid defense and quality play off the bench.
Here are the Ups and Downs of Wednesday night's win at the Garden.
Ups
Garnett's Double-Double: Kevin Garnett was all over the boards, taking advantage of Sheldon Williams and Mehmet Okur's lack of rebounding. Garnett pulled down 12 rebounds while putting in 14 points for his first double-double of the season. He played well at center in the second half when Boston went with a smaller lineup, thanks in large part to New Jersey's lack of size down low.
Bass Off The Bench: Brandon Bass continues to shine off the Celtics bench, scoring 15 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in his 26 minutes on the floor. He showed off his moves to the rim, throwing down a couple of rim-rattling dunks as the game was becoming a bit of a blowout in the third and fourth quarters. He even had an assist in the game, just his third of the season.
Doc On Bass Getting An Assist
No Ray, No Problem: The Celtics were without Ray Allen, who missed the game due to cold symptoms, and after some early offensive struggles were able to get contributions from everyone. KG had his double-double, Paul Pierce scored 24 points off 8-for-14 shooting, and Rajon Rondo helped with 12 assists.
Bradley Impresses: Celtics second-year guard Avery Bradley got out of his scoring slump, at least for one night, going 4-for-8 from the field and putting in 11 points. Bradley had been struggling from the floor, but looked a lot more confident Wednesday night. He was already playing defense at a pretty high level, and if he can form some kind of steady offensive game, he will be a big boost to the C's bench.
Doc On Avery Bradley
Downs
Another Slow Start: Despite all of New Jersey's injuries, the Celtics couldn't get into an offensive rhythm early on. They played well on defense, although struggling with rookie MarShon Brooks, but could not pull away on offense. Boston scored just 34 points in the first half, and turned the ball over 10 times. They woke up in the third quarter, scoring 29 points, and only turned the ball over three times in the second half.
