What promised to be a fun matchup was killed off by foul trouble.
BOSTON -- As a measure of Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley's Wednesday night, consider this:
Of Deron Williams' 18 field goal attempts, only three came with Bradley as the primary defender.
This isn't offered as proof that Bradley did an exemplary job defending Williams, even as the Brooklyn Nets point guard went off for 29 points and 12 assists. Rather, let the record state that during Boston's 101-93 loss, Bradley didn't do much defending of Williams at all. What promised to be a fun matchup was killed off by foul trouble.
Bradley picked up his first foul less than a minute into the first quarter. His second came three minutes after that. He sat the final 8:16 of the opening period, returning briefly in the second quarter only to notch his third foul. His fourth foul, because it was that type of outing, came less than a minute into the third quarter. He was laying on the ground at the time.
"I actually think he’s playing really good defense, and I don’t know, those are the ones that I didn’t like," said coach Doc Rivers. Bradley finished with only 12 minutes played. "He had one of those games when you pick up two fouls, you take him out; you come on the floor and you bump into your third foul. He starts the third quarter, I thought Deron pushed him down, and then all of a sudden your feet get tangled and you get your fourth foul. Those games happen. It had to be unbelievably frustrating for him."
Williams missed two jumpers in the opening minutes of the first quarter with Bradley guarding him; he didn't shoot again against the Celtics guard until less than five minutes remained in the game, scoring on a nice crossover move into the paint. Williams did net two free throws which originated from a Bradley foul, and also hit a 3-pointer from the right corner on a possession that started with Bradley defending (a switch put Jeff Green on Williams; when Green declined to close out properly, Williams drilled the triple).
But mostly, the matchup never materialized. Brooklyn's star guard was defended instead by Courtney Lee (a solid on-ball defender in his own right), Jordan Crawford (not so much), Terrence Williams (maybe one day) and Jason Terry (maybe years ago).
"It was really frustrating for our team as well, because we needed him," Rivers said. "It’s no coincidence that right when Avery went off the floor, Deron Williams got ultra-aggressive. And I give Deron a lot of credit. When Avery picked up that first foul, he attacked him. Because they know, they want him off the floor. So Deron’s smart, he wants to score. And the best way to do that is taking Avery off the floor."
Indeed, Williams admitted to wanting Bradley in foul trouble.
"Yeah. You know, Avery's a tough defender and you can't really afford to play around with the ball, so I was just trying to make quick moves -- one or two dribbles and then go," Williams said. "Then once I saw that he was in foul trouble I tried to be a little more aggressive."
Since the last time Boston met Brooklyn, when Williams managed just 10 points and six assists, he has returned to his perch among the league's best point guards.
Before Wednesday's game, Rivers was asked about the revival.
"Well, I hope he plays like he played last time. That'd be terrific for us," he joked.
Not so much like last time. Not so terrific, either, at least for Boston.