Some believed that Jonas Jerebko would lose his spot in the rotation now that Marcus Smart is back in the lineup.
Those beliefs were wrong, as Jerebko teamed up with Isaiah Thomas and Amir Johnson for the most important stretch of Sunday night’s win over the Knicks at TD Garden.
Thomas connected with Jerebko for what may have been the highlight of the night. The 5-foot-9 point guard crossed up Jose Calderon with a behind-the-back move, from right to left, and attacked the basket down the left side of the lane. When the defense collapsed on him, he went back-to-back with the behind-the-back, this time whipping a pass with his left hand to Jerebko, who stood behind the 3-point line on the right wing. Jerebko caught the dish and connected from long distance to give Boston a 14-point lead at the 1:58 mark of the second quarter.
Jerebko’s 3 capped an 18-6 run by Boston during which he, Thomas and Johnson scored 16 of their team’s points. Thomas scored seven of those points and assisted on four more. Meanwhile, Jerebko scored five and Johnson contributed four. Evan Turner accounted for the other two points of the run with a pullup jumper.
From the 6:27 mark of the quarter to the 1:58 mark, when Jerebko canned his 3, the Celtics shot 8-of-10 from the field. They missed only one more shot than New York made during the span of the run.
Boston was never truly able to turn this one into a blowout, but it controlled the remainder of the game. Its lead never dropped below five as it easily won its fourth straight, 100-91.
Carmelo Anthony scored a game-high 29 points Sunday night at the Garden. Jae Crowder scored 18. Who do you think won that battle?
If you guessed ‘Melo, you’d better guess again.
There is no doubt that Crowder was the most efficient and effective small forward on the court during Boston’s 100-91 win over New York. The numbers are clear evidence.
Crowder needed only 11 shots to score his 18 points. That fact is due in large part to his efficient performance from long distance, where he converted on three of his five attempts. Three other players in the game attempted more shots than Crowder did against New York.
Anthony, meanwhile, fired up way more shots than anyone on the court. He needed to shoot in bulk to reach his 29-point total. He attempted a game-high 26 field goals, eight more than any other player in the game, and connected on only 11 of them.
Crowder, who has been on a rebounding tear of late, also provided six boards, which tied for third on the team. He also dished out two assists and grabbed a steal.
Here’s the most telling stat of all when it comes to the Anthony-Crowder matchup: Boston outscored New York by 14 points while Crowder was on the floor, and by 12 points while Anthony was on the floor.
Like we said, if you guessed ‘Melo, you’d better guess again. Jae Crowder was the top small forward on the court tonight.
Brad Stevens on Boston’s perimeter defense against New York.
