After an impressive 33-point margin win on Monday against Olimpia Milano, the Boston Celtics continued their overseas trip to Madrid, Spain, where they faced the home team Real Madrid. Madrid, a team who has rich history of championship (32 Spanish championships to be exact) as respective as the green team themselves. Most notable, they have familiar faces on their roster such as Andres Nocioni, Rudy Fernandez, and Gustavo Ayon, all former NBA players. Celtics knew coming in, this was a team not meant to be taken easy. The Celtics went on to win the game with the final score of 111-96 and close out their overseas trip with a perfect 2-0 record. Boston played a similar game against Real Madrid as they did with Milano, which ultimately was very effective.
Defensively Intact:
Although it wasn’t pretty as their win again Milano, the 17-time champions still gave the Spanish team a handful. Holding Madrid to only 37 percent in field goals and 27 percent in three-point field goals was a strong indication how the Celtics kept them in check.
Despite those low field goal percentages, the biggest stand out was probably the turnovers that the Celtics had forced on Real, which was 26. Largest lead for Madrid was only four, and they had only won one quarter, which was the final quarter and that was just by one point as well.
In the end, they couldn’t keep up with the C’s, who played stellar defense and with an already up-tempo offense, it was just a plus.
Celtics Standouts:
Well, it almost seems like every game Isaiah Thomas is a stand out for the Celtics, as he had a stretch in the third quarter where he just took control of the game. Lob passes to David Lee, probing around the defenders, and yes, scoring, Thomas had a solid night with 15 points.
As for Lee, it seemed like he had his hands everywhere during his time in the game. 13 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists, a vicious poster dunk on Ayon, and all just under 21 minutes. C’s fans should be happy for what Lee can bring to this team.
Jae Crowder had himself a quiet but effective night, perfect from the field goal range, with eight points and six assists which was a team-high. As for the player who led head coach Brad Stevens’ offense in scoring, Avery Bradley had 17 points, most of them coming from beyond the arc. Bradley, who went a perfect 4 for 4 from the three-point range against Milano, was 3 for 4 against Madrid. What was Bradley’s weakness last season, the corner three is looking like his best friend so far. Practice makes perfect right?
Rookies Impact:
Terry Rozier could arguably been Boston’s best player on the floor tonight, putting up 14 points and four assists for the game. His fourth quarter showcase was exciting, putting up 12 points while shooting the ball with confidence. He wasn’t the only one who impacted the game in limited minutes. Power forward Jordan Mickey put on some flashy dunks. Defensively, both players looked swell, as Mickey even had a thunderous block late in the game which sent the ball to the other end of the court.
Coming Up:
As Celtics make their way back to the United States, they will next face the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center. That game will take place on October 14th, which means C’s do not play anybody for the next five days. That will sure give them time to recover from jet lag and give Stevens a chance to look over more to the bottom of the roster and rotations. The team tips off their regular season in 20 days, in very little time they’ll have to determine who makes the team or not. These next few games will be vital, so stick around.