The 2019 Celtics Clover Report: Week 23
After completing their West Coast road-trip, the Boston Celtics returned home for a three game home stand. It started off against the Sacramento Kings. The Kings got off to a hot start but the Celtics took control in the 2nd half and won 126-120.
Kyrie Irving finished with a triple-double as he tallied 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists. Jaylen Brown continued his recent hot streak as he finished with 22 points off of the bench.
Next up, the Celtics hosted the Atlanta Hawks on St. Patrick’s Day Eve. This was the exact opposite of the Kings’ game as the Celtics got out to a huge lead.
But the Hawks overcame a 20 point deficit to the tie the game in the 4th. Luckily, Boston closed out the game to win 129-120. Irving finished with 30 points while Brown added 23 points off of the bench. Al Horford added a double-double against his former club.
The big game of the week came on Monday. Not only were the impressive Denver Nuggets in town, but it was also Isaiah Thomas’ first active game back at the Garden.
I was in the building and the crowd went wild during his tribute video (above). The Celtics would not be where they are now if not for Isaiah Thomas and he deserved every moment of that tribute video.
As for the game itself, that was a bit more disappointing. The Nuggets won 114-105 to sweep the season series from the Celtics. Nikola Jokic finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds, and 7 assists to continue his MVP campaign. It was a disappointing loss because the Celtics had their chances in this game.
Finally to finish out the week, the Celtics went on the road to face the Philadelphia 76ers for the last time this year. The Celtics lead most of the way but it was the 76ers who pulled out the win 118-115. Joel Embiid finished with 37 points and 22 rebounds while Irving finished with 36 points. Marcus Smart was ejected after getting into a fight with Embiid which hurt the Celtics down the stretch.
With that loss, the Celtics can pretty much kiss the 3rd seed goodbye. The goal the rest of the year is to get the 4th seed and get home-court. 43-29.
Steve Santoro (SVS_1993)
