The 3 stooges
Nothing funny in long-ball defense by Celts
CLEVELAND — Standards alone made Marcus Smart grimace at the thought of anyone shooting 50 percent from 3-point range against his team.
“It does bother me,” the Celtics guard said after yesterday’s practice at Quicken Loans Arena. “We’re a better defensive team than that, because we’ve guarded the 3 well this entire year, and in this series. For them to go out there and do exactly what we know they want to do — shoot 3’s — to go out there and lay an egg was not up to par for us.”
Cleveland’s 17-for-34 performance from long range included a 4-for-4 effort by Kyle Korver and four other Cavs making three.
The Celtics’ 3-point defense was only part of a breakdown at both ends of the floor in their Game 3 loss. The arc has to be tightened in Game 4 tonight.
“We just got a little too comfortable. We were doing things we shouldn’t have been doing, and things we were supposed to do we weren’t doing,” said Smart. “Things we haven’t done all season that hurt us, especially against a team like this.”
Marcus Morris, who labeled himself as one of the best LeBron James stoppers on earth, didn’t exactly shine in Game 3.
“Personally, I think I did a (expletive) job defensively with LeBron,” said Morris. “He was too comfortable when I was guarding him. I made myself very vulnerable on screens and wasn’t disciplined. We can’t have that in a game of this magnitude, and it showed. They did a great job of exposing that. Personally, I think I have to do better.”
Al Horford has pinned part of the problem on a lack of communication.
“We did a very poor job communicating, and that’s something that we feel like we addressed today, and I feel like we’ll be better tomorrow,” he said.
The 30-point loss was the Celtics’ worst of the postseason and one of their worst overall. It was reminiscent of the Celtics’ first two playoff losses in Milwaukee. That same tentative, passive Celtics team was on the floor Saturday.
“I just think that Milwaukee game, it’s just different,” said Horford. “Over there, I feel like they were really riding on an emotional wave. Like here, they just executed way better and were able to get those open looks.”
On the one hand Smart said, “It’s not the crowd,” while also admitting that it’s been difficult to overcome the hostile noise.
“Sometimes it is hard to hear with everything going, and you’re screaming at the top of your lungs, and it’s still not enough because things happen so fast,” said Smart. “That’s the whole purpose of having a game plan and knowing it.”
Celtics notes
Horford took only four shots in Game 3, and none during a first quarter when the Celtics couldn’t establish their offense. That has to change.
“I just didn’t think our offense in general was very good. Our defense wasn’t much better,” said C’s coach Brad Stevens. “We got thoroughly outplayed on both ends. Obviously we’re going to need to play through him more than that.”
Said Horford: “I just think that we were a little out of sync. I think that tomorrow we’ll be better in making sure that we have better ball movement. I’m not worried about that. I know I’ll be able to get more shots tomorrow . . . .
Smart’s mother, Camellia, has started chemotherapy, and he continues to be driven by her battle.
“She’s doing well. Everything is up to par, the treatments are working, and it’s a big motivation for me,” he said. “It gives me hope. It allows me to keep fighting and gives me the strength to keep going.”