A perfect week
Entering today, here is how things stand.
The Celts' overall record is 20-5.
They are 14-4 against teams .500 or better.
Against the Top 6 in the East, they are 9-2.
At home, they remain an NBA best 14-0.
Let’s just put that into perspective for a second.
That 14-4 record against good teams?
’s a 0.777 winning percentage.
That winning percentage would be good for the 3rd highest in the entire NBA.
That is, insane.
We are not the same
18 of their 25 games against teams .500 or better.
There are levels to this I’m afraid.
So let’s go back to this past week.
If things feel different, it’s because they are different.
At least so far.
There was no lack of focus.
The stars showed up and carried.
The role players showed up and filled their roles to perfection.
As we know from last season’s 21-5 start, the NBA season does not end in mid December.
In 2023 when the Celts are 20-5, they now find themselves on the road in GS tomorrow night.
This time around, things feel much more sustainable.
Last year the Celts were feasting on pretty insane outside shooting.
They’re winning games while their three best players are shooting under 32% from deep.
They are winning with a more sustainable approach on both ends of the floor, which is pretty scary.
This isn’t even close to the ceiling of what this team can be, and they are 20-5.
Let that marinate for a second.
I’m not sure how they couldn’t.
There just wasn’t that consistency you were looking for.
I look at Jaylen’s start to the year in two groups.
We have the first 13 games, and then we have from the MIL win on 11/22 on.
The 23.5 points are 2nd on the team.
All while having just 26 TOs.
Well isn’t this the very definition of consistent?
As the best players, that’s the expectation for both Jaylen and Tatum.
He was dominant, but not reckless.
The growth we’re seeing is the patience with which Jaylen now operates with.
In the first game against the Magic, we saw dominant Tatum.
An efficient 30 piece, he did a little bit of everything.
I’ll take that everyday of the week and twice on Sundays at this point.
That’s nearly a month!
No my turn your turn shit.
They are dominating together.
Did I thoroughly enjoy watching him get whatever he wanted against the Magic?
That’s just how things are going to go with KP.
With each game he plays, we see more and more of Brad’s vision.
He truly is the missing piece.
He’s bought in.
He’s under 30%!
- Imagine that there are still those out there who don’t believe in Joe.
They sit online and still cry wishing for Ime Udoka.
I’ll never understand it honestly.
All Joe does is continue to show that he is the guy for this team.
It’s all been about as good as you could physically be.
Mazzulla Ball is so hot right now, Mazzulla Ball.
Either get on board or get the hell out of the way.
Over that last 10 game sample, Holiday is shooting 50/50% from the floor.
His 62.7% TS% is higher than what it was as a Buck (59%).
These may not seem like huge plays, but I don’t think they should be overlooked.
- Oh yeah, the starting backcourt combined for 5 blocks in this game.
Derrick White had 3 and Jrue had 2.
Find me another backcourt that is doing that shit.
you’re able to’t.
- Am I crazy or does Al look more spry this season?
It also shouldn’t surprise anyone that he was a team best +19 in his minutes.
The defense turned up in the 2nd (19 points), and never really let up.
Call me crazy, but that seems good.
- Hard to not love the resilience after falling behind 16-6 early.
Normally in early afternoon tips when that shit happened it meant the Celts got killed.
It never felt like they were letting go of the rope, even with their 2-11 start.
To me that shows mental growth.
There was no “woe is me” bullshit.
Or “goddamit it’s happening again” nonsense.
The Celts instead hunkered down and found ways to execute.
That was great to see.
14 total TOs isn’t a disaster, but it’s not great.
Paolo gave that guy buckets.
- I’ll admit I was shocked to see the bench shooters go a combined 4-10 (1-4).
I’m just not really used to Pritchard/Hauser missing given how solid they’ve been for about month now.
Both were still fine in their minutes, I just simply expect them to never miss an open look.
- The NBA’s hanging on the rim tech call is the worst thing to happen to the sport.
Grow the fuck up
The Ugly
- You should know the rule by now.
This team wins 5 in a row, we skip this section.
Hope to see you never again!
So now we turn the page to GS.
Fuck that 2022 Finals.
They passed the homestand test, now let’s see them do it on the road as well.
