Smart’s alley-oop and-one, Bradley’s dagger over Gasol push Celtics past Grizzlies
Last Wednesday, Marcus Smart was the one who made the picture-perfect inbounds lob pass that propelled the Boston Celtics to victory. This time, he was on the receiving end.
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With 52.2 seconds remaining in a nip-and-tuck battle with the visiting Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, the Celtics found themselves trailing 90-88 after a Zach Randolph layup and looking for a bit of inspiration to keep pace. They turned, as they have so often this season, to the mind of head coach Brad Stevens, who drew up yet another bit of fried gold out of a timeout.
As Evan Turner prepared to trigger the play, guarded somewhat loosely by ex-Celtic Jeff Green, Boston wing Jae Crowder cut off a high Kelly Olynyk from the top of the key through the paint to the near corner. As he did, Smart curled around backcourt partner Avery Bradley and also-ex-Celtic Tony Allen at the left elbow, gaining just enough of a lead over also-ex-Celtic Courtney Lee to hit the lane unfettered.
Because the Celtics had gone small out of the timeout, Grizzlies center Marc Gasol was up top guarding 3-point threat Olynyk, and Crowder’s cut had drawn his man clear of the paint, there was absolutely nothing but open air and opportunity between Smart and the rim once he beat Lee off the curl. Unmolested by Green, Turner lofted a lob toward Smart at the tin, but his pass was a bit short, which gave Lee a chance to defend the play.
The sturdy 6-foot-4 Smart made the catch, though, and put the ball off the window and through the net, finishing through Lee’s body contact to draw an and-one foul shot. The rookie out of Oklahoma State made his freebie, giving Boston a one-point lead with 51.6 seconds left. (Apparently, an awful lot can happen in six-tenths of a second.)
With so much time still remaining on the clock, though, the game was far from over. The Grizzlies had possession and a chance to tie, but Boston center Tyler Zeller swallowed up Green’s driving attempt to regain the lead for his third block and sixth rebound of the game, prompting Gasol to foul him and send him to the line for a pair of free throws that pushed Boston’s lead to three. The 7-footer’s interior defense was a touch less stout on the ensuing Grizz trip, though, as Green was able to grab his own miss and put it in to cut the lead back to one with 29 seconds left.
Boston had possession and needed a dagger. Over the past couple of weeks, this is when they would have turned to pint-size powerhouse Isaiah Thomas, who’s been an offensive dynamo — 21.4 points and 5.4 assists in 27.6 minutes per game — since coming over from the Phoenix Suns at the trade deadline. But with Thomas out, perhaps through next week, after bruising his back and right elbow in a tough fall suffered late in the Celtics’ 100-90 win over the Miami Heat on Monday, Stevens had to call on someone else, and Bradley answered the bell:
Celtics win 95-92 over the Memphis Grizzlies. Avery Bradley w/ 17 points and a pull up dagger to close out the game. pic.twitter.com/3iIRkW7LEV
— Celtics News (@celticsfans36) March 12, 2015
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After ragging some clock to ensure that the Grizzlies wouldn’t get the ball back with too much time no matter what happened, Bradley worked a switch on a high screen-and-roll and wound up one-on-one with Gasol. He stutter-stepped, raised up and splashed through a 21-footer that gave Boston a three-point lead with seven seconds remaining.
The Grizzlies had a chance to tie, but point guard Mike Conley — back in the game after suffering a scary third-quarter injury that, thankfully, turned out to be simply a sprained ankle — missed an open straight-on look in the final second, allowing Boston to finish off a 95-92 win that had the TD Garden faithful in full throat.
Bradley led five Celtics in double figures with 17 points on 8-for-17 shooting to go with five rebounds, two assists and two steals in 34 minutes in the win, Boston’s seventh in its last eight home games. The win improved the Celtics to 27-36 on the season, drawing the C’s within one game of the ninth-place Charlotte Hornets and 1 1/2 games of the eighth-seeded Miami Heat in the race for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot.
It wasn’t the prettiest game, with the two teams combining for just 78 first-half points and the Celtics coughing up 21 turnovers on the evening. But it was a tough, physical, hard-fought battle — the sort of game on which Memphis has built its reputation over the last several years — and this time, it was the guys in kelly green who made just enough plays when it counted.
Meanwhile, in the other locker room, the Grizzlies — who have been playing just over .500 ball for more than a month (8-7 over their last 15 games) — apparently sounded a bit like the grind might be getting to them:
Conley finished with a team-high 20 points on 9-for-12 shooting, including a pair of big fourth-quarter 3-pointers, though he did turn the ball over five times in 33 minutes of work. Allen added 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks in 27 minutes of typically frenetic work off the bench in the loss, which who left Memphis sitting six games back of the top-seeded Golden State Warriors and just 1 1/2 games up on the No. 3 Houston Rockets.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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