a blog by Big Red With just 5 games left in the regular season, last night was a must win for The Celtics as we try and make a fun at the 3 seed in the east. Celtics played well last night, beating the Pelicans 104-97 in Boston. Lets take a closer look at the game. For starters, anyone that missed the game, check out this two minute highlight video. Isaiah played great last night and it will be pretty clear from these highlights. So last night, the celtics beat the Pelicans, in what was a game that I expected to get way out of hand. While I knew that Evan Turner was sitting out on the night, I had full confidence that a team missing Anthony Davis, Norris Cole, and Ryan Anderson would not be able to compete with us. While I was right for the most part, the Celtics always have this way of letting the bad teams crawl back into games. The Celtics went into half time with an 8 point lead, and in the third quarter were outscored 28-23 by the Pelicans. One of the things I've noticed this season, is that whenever we get a solid lead in a game, we always start settling for the worst shots. We are NOT a 3 point shooting team. Maybe if we had RJ Hunter and James Young playing significant minutes night in and night out, we could be referred to as a shooting team, however were not. Which brings me to an argument I have with many of my friends on a regular basis, Why isn't RJ Hunter getting minutes? Theres no doubt in my mind that RJ is a scorer. From the moment we drafted him, I've watched almost every highlight video around. I've listened to his father and former college coach speak about his game, and I've listened to everything the commentators have to say. This kid CAN play. I truly believe that if the Celtics give him the minutes he deserves, that he will be producing just as much as Evan Turner. We've seen games where they've given him 20 minutes of action and he produces. In two separate games against the Hawks, who are a solid team in the East, RJ stats are: 5-6 from the field for 12 pts and 2 ast in 21 minutes AND 3-3 with 8 points in 14 minutes of action. While these numbers aren't huge, he's still proving he can shoot the ball at a high percentage. One of the other qualities I love is that he's an elite passer, and this goes over looked. Check out his summer league highlights, and his classic game winner over Baylor in last years march madness tourney. And you're trying to tell me we couldn't use that shooting on our wings. Great video, his dad falling out of the coaching chair is great. Anyways, Isaiah played great last night. He was getting into the paint on what felt like every possession. He shot 10-19 from the field for 32 pts and 8 ast. Granted they didn't have Norris Cole, which would have definitely helped. However, these types of big games are huge for his confidence as we approach the playoffs. I was reading some comments and tweets on social media, and it seems like the only major problem Celtics fans have with Brad Stevens is the fact that he keeps letting our guys shoot. While I can agree that there are certain guys that I never want to shoot on this team (Marcus Smart and Evan Turner), there are guys on this team that I will always trust to shoot, whether there having an off night or not. Isaiah, Avery, RJ, James Young, and Jae Crowder are allowed to shoot three's at anytime in my eyes. Now I know some of you are thinking why is Jae Crowder on that list? Jae has hit 2-3 game winning shots in the last two seasons with the Celtics, and countless clutch 3's going down stretch. While he isn't the most consistent, in my eyes he's been pretty clutch for the C's. Even though it wasn't the prettiest victory, we will certainly take what we can get from this team. The Celtics face off tomorrow against the Milwaukee Bucks at 7;30 p.m. et at the Garden. Follow us on twitter for more interesting stories @ForTheBoys_Blog
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