At the halfway point of their trip, the Celts sit at 2-1.
The important part though is what came next.
I’m warning you, more weird shit is on the way.
Just look back in history to how games go in POR and in UTA.
At this point of the season though, it’s not about style points.
It’s about wins.
The Celts have to keep pace.
That’s what last night was about for me.
I wanted to see how they would respond to without a doubt the worst loss of the year.
The shooting was horrific, but that shit happens.
That’s called progress last time I checked.
Even if there are parts that will make you want to vomit.
Actually, let me rephrase that if that’s alright with everyone.
All NBA Jaylen Brown is carrying the Boston Celtics.
How about a little 35/10/1 on 12-24 (5-8) shooting in his 37 minutes?
As a “#2” option I’d say that’s pretty fucking good.
That thing has legit powers.
The sample size paired with the production is simply too hard to deny.
If you want to talk consistency, just look at what Jaylen has done since returning.
That’s a leader.
When one struggles, no worry, just give it to the other #1 option.
- So much of the Celtics success comes down to whether or not they take care of the ball.
When they keep things to under 13, they are 29-4.
If they go over 13, they’re 14-14.
This is an issue that shouldn’t surprise a single person.
Without the live ball turnovers, you’re not dealing with teams scoring in transition.
It’s something so simple, like yeah, not turning the ball over is good.
But for this team, it’s literally one of the biggest determining factors to how things play out.
When they aren’t careless with the ball, you really don’t have a shot.
When they are, they can lose to the worst teams in the league.
It’s not just his shot making, but his overall involvement that has this team at its best.
That’s how it went for both teams really.
But what I can say is the energy defensively was a billion times better.
This is what I mean when I say how Smart plays basically dictates how the team will play.
When he’s good, it changes things.
His 5 assists tied Horford for the team lead.
His individual defense was much better.
Because he got back to doing everything else that makes this team successful.
- The same is true for someone like Derrick.
He didn’t exactly shoot all that well (3-8), but he did everything else.
- For most of Grant’s 26 minutes, he was pretty bad.
Just 1-5 (0-3), his minutes were tough.
On the whole, it’s been spectacular.
But, his rim production is still baffling.
Very weird decision for such a high IQ player.
That brings me to my next really confusing part of Brogdon’s season.
What is going on with these end of clock situations?
This was the play last night.
That was the whole idea was it not?
Overall on the night I thought Brogdon was pretty good.
His offense carried early when both Jays were on the bench.
- The late game OREB issue is still a problem.
Two more OREBs, both coming under the 4 minute mark.
Al Horford had 0 rebounds in his 9 minutes.
Smart/Brogdon had 0 rebounds in their minutes and they played 9 and 8 respectively.
Grant had 1 rebound in his 7 minutes, and none came on the defensive glass.
This is the throw in of bad habit that is going to lose you a playoff game.
Joe can really only do so much with this.
He called the team out about it to the press after games.
Everyone knows it’s an issue.
It’s on the players to wake the hell up and stop this shit from happening every single game.
Given that shooting is what he does, maybe give him a couple looks.
Just 12-40 from three, and the annoying part is almost all of the 3PA came off good process.
Those are looks I want everyone to be taking.
The issue was they finished 10-33 on those shots.
We’re going to see playoff games be impacted by this shit and that’s a problem.
The Ugly
- I’m not sure where else you could put Jayson Tatum right now.
Since the break, he’s shooting just 43/29% with 3.2 TOs and just 5.7 AST.
Over his last 2, he’s at 31/11% with 3 TOs and 4 AST.
Given he’s their best player, that’s kind of a big deal.
To me, he’s basically having his normal October production in March.
He has a stretch like this every season, only usually it comes before Thanksgiving.
He’s just playing like ass.
But in the meantime, man it is tough to watch.
It cannot be this hard.
- While it didn’t cost them, I’m still not loving the end of game offense.
Not enough player and ball movement for my liking.
Last night Smart was able to get to the rim, but I didn’t love the process.
There are too many good players on the floor in these moments for them to be so predictable.
So now we move.
You have to be locked in and ready to go.
Do that, and keep this momentum rolling into UTA.
