I saw a lot of that talk after the game last night and I couldn’t disagree more.
Were the rotations different than normal?
Now is the time to try shit and be safe.
No, they tried.
They just got outplayed.
Poor defense, not guarding the 3pt line, opponent OREB, TOs, the stars laying eggs etc.
If anything, they are a reminder that this team can get got on any given night.
Probably to some degree.
At the end of the day, these guys are human.
That’s not how it works to my brain, they all matter.
With that said, let’s dive in.
I’m not even sure who you could say played well….maybe Tatum?
If that were the case, why the hell did Tatum get close to 40 minutes?
That’s going to be the approach we need in a few weeks.
- I honestly don’t even know what else to put in this section.
We can move on.
The Bad
- Let’s start with the first quarter shall we?
The game was essentially over in a blink of an eye.
The game was essentially over in a blink of an eye.
It was as poor a defensive start as you could possibly have.
41 on 1/11 and 37 last night.
it’s possible for you to blink and be down 19 on the road in an instant.
The spacing they provide allows everything else about the Celtics offense to flourish.
In the playoffs, your weaknesses will get targeted.
You’re doing them a favor by allowing them to sit back and clog things up.
That’s good for 26/20%.
Struggled against MIN, struggled against DEN, struggled against MIL and OKC etc.
Even in a reduced offensive role, we can’t be having 26/20%.
- Yet another game where the Celts were absolutely demolished on the glass.
The rebounding total ended up being 49-38, but it certainly felt worse.
Luke Kornet only had 2 rebounds in his 20 minutes.
Tatum only having 5 in his 36 minutes was a little concerning too.
Bobby Portis 4th quarter OREBs which turned into points.
When the Celts get elite guard play, they are nearly unbeatable.
When the guard play stinks, everything snowballs.
The Ugly
- Easily the worst Jaylen performance in months.
I just think he played like shit.
To me, this is what matters for the playoffs.
There are going to be stretches where shots don’t fall.
- 91 points on 38/32% is about as gross as it gets.
Especially when on the other end you’re doing a terrible job of limiting open looks for MIL.
Honestly, this was just a case of the refs taking things way too far.
Nobody wants touch fouls, but nobody also wants you to stop calling things that are blatant fouls.
Who on earth would ever envision a MIL/BOS game with 2 combined FTA?
That seems physically impossible given how both teams play.
- Largest deficit was 24, only 2 lead changes and 1 tie.
That’s as clear of a wire to wire ass kicking as you’ll see.
The good news is everyone walked away healthy.
The bad news the team played like shit and ultimately paid the price for it.
Just get through these last 3 meaningless games and we can all start to focus on what truly matters.
They all matter to some degree, even if the standings don’t reflect it.
