Evan Turner claims Kyle Korver 'can't guard to save his life'

 

After a promising 3-3 start capped by a victory over the Chicago Bulls a month ago, the Boston Celtics began blowing big leads on a near nightly basis. Their inability to close games has translated into eight losses in their last nine games, punctuated by the Atlanta Hawks' 23-point comeback on Tuesday night.

     Celtics coach Brad Stevens stopped short of calling his team soft, but he might as well have during a self-described "broken record" of a postgame session. "When it comes easy, we've been good," he told reporters after the 109-105 loss. "When it gets tough, we haven't. It's a pretty simple formula."

And, yet, here is Evan Turner complaining about Kyle Korver's defense in Wednesday's Boston Globe.

      “They started pressuring and it’s tough to score when you have two hands inside your jersey as well,” he said. “At the same time, I got a foul call on Korver and they said I pushed him and tripped him and he just fell. He can’t guard to save his life and he’s grabbing Marcus Thornton and he’s grabbing me and he has no business being in the game on the defensive end but what can you possibly do if they’re allowed to have their hands on you?

      Just a hunch, but Stevens might suggest Turner return that physicality on the other end.

Regardless, it's never a good look when a player blames one more choke job in a string of choke jobs on jersey-clutching — a savvy tactic adopted by any number of veterans over the years — especially when Korver torched the Celtics for 24 points on nine shots to go along with six rebounds and four assists. Oh, and, as Peachtree Hoops rightly notes, the Hawks switched Korver onto Rajon Rondo down the stretch.

It's also fairly comical that Turner is the one to claim Korver "has no business being in the game on the defensive end," since the former No. 2 overall pick has never been lauded for his own defense. The Celtics currently rank 27th in defensive rating, allowing 110.3 points per 100 possessions, according to Basketball Reference, and that number is more than three points worse with Turner on the court (113.7). For the most part, those numbers are consistent with his career in Philadelphia and Indiana as well.

In addition to their defensive woes, nobody on the Celtics has proven capable of creating his own offense when the NBA game gets tight in the fourth quarter. Rondo facilitates, Jeff Green excels in transition and Jared Sullinger either hangs out at the 3-point line or cleans up offensive rebounds. Ironically, Turner was their best option down the stretch on Tuesday, and that suggests bigger issues than a jersey tug or two.