You could make the case it could have and should have been even better, but 4-2 is 4-2.
Their 24-14 road record remains the best in the NBA.
That doesn’t mean this team has been playing their best basketball during this stretch, far from it.
There have been plenty of times when we’ve seen them play like assholes.
But what do I always say?
Perspective is still important.
I can understand being frustrated when this team doesn’t play to their potential.
Everyone feels that way.
But what I don’t understand is how many people can’t seem to handle a little adversity.
It’s almost as if the last like 200 games of Celtics basketball haven’t happened or something.
It’s really as simple as this.
We know the formula for how the Celts need to play for them to be successful.
The big picture stuff is already figured out whether it’s lineups or style.
What matters with this team is execution.
When they don’t, is when you see games like HOU.
What even is playing the wrong way?
You know it when you see it.
No shit when you do all that stuff in a game you’re probably going to lose.
But when the Celts don’t?
They are nearly unbeatable.
Which is why I think last night was important for this group, especially mentally.
Let’s talk about em.
May I present to you said franchise guy shit.
This was about as complete a performance from Tatum as you’re going to see.
Right away Tatum was aggressive and imposed his will on this game.
Post this man up.
First, let’s talk about the raw numbers.
It’s a weapon.
What I loved is this wasn’t something that Tatum did early and then faded late.
He put that pressure on all night.
In the 4th quarter, of his 6 FGA, only 1 came outside the restricted area.
In the entire second half, only 4 of his 12 FGA came outside the paint.
Seeing that and then seeing the score, and it all makes sense.
- Then there’s Jaylen Brown.
How rare is what we’re watching with these two?
Oh I dunno, pretty fucking rare
With Jaylen, this level of play isn’t all that new.
The man is putting this team on his back and then some while playing at an All NBA level.
That is fact, not opinion.
Look at those TO numbers.
I’ll take a 6 game stretch where Jaylen finishes with 24 assists to just 10 TOs.
In this game, Jaylen finished with 13 drives.
- Outside of the Jays, the most important area of this team for me is guard play.
If the Celts get shitty guard play, nothing else really matters.
When their guard play shows up?
You cannot beat them.
Last night, that starts with the play of Derrick White.
The Kings had just 2 fastbreak points all game!
Great ball movement, low turnovers, taking open looks with confidence, and defending.
That’s the formula.
They looked like the team we’ve seen all year, and that was very encouraging.
There was no blown leads once the Celts got up by double digits.
Every time the Kings tried to make a run, the Celts immediately responded.
Joe was great with timeouts.
- Rob looked like Rob.
The fact that he had no setbacks is also very important.
That might not seem like a long time, but we’re in late March.
One turned ankle can fuck your entire season up.
This was maybe OK to do in December, but not now.
Can we hey not do that again?
- While it didn’t end up mattering, I’m still not loving all these 4th quarter OREB.
It’s maybe been the #1 issue for this team since the break.
It’s a bad habit that we’ve already seen cost the Celts games.
What even was that?
That was very gross.
The Ugly
- What do we put in this section in a game that was a blowout?
What the fuck is going on from the FT line these last two games?
The Celts as a team shoot 82%.
I’m sorry, but shooting in the 60s from the line is pretty unacceptable.
We saw it in close games and we saw it in a blowout.
The annoying part is this is a very good FT shooting team, so what’s the deal.
Is it tired legs?
Well then why did they shoot 18-44 from deep?
hey stop missing so many.
And now here we go.
Back home for a couple before the massive game with MIL.
