At this point of the season, there’s really only one thing that matters.
As I always say, if loving and trusting was easy, everyone would do it.
The Celtics are not perfect.
Sometimes they are going to lose.
I hate to break it to you, but the NBA Playoffs are hard.
Give the Hawks credit, they made their adjustments after Games 1 & 2 and played well.
If you are someone who loses faith any time the Celts lose a game, that’s your choice.
More often than not, this team gets it done.
At home, on the road, it tends to not really matter.
The Celts are now 9-1 during the Tatum/Brown era when they have an opportunity to close out a series.
As we know, it only gets harder the deeper you go in the playoffs.
I think it’s safe to say they more than delivered
I want to begin with Jaylen.
When it came time for HUGE plays down the stretch, guess who delivered?
And then there’s Jayson Tatum.
I dunno, this seems pretty killer instinct to me!
Pretty good list imo.
This is why I never really understood the “killer instinct” argument.
Game 5 was an execution issue, that’s really it.
Of his 20 FGA, 10 were 3PA just like in Game 5.
This time, he shot 40% instead of 10%.
He took 2 FTA in Game 5 and 4 FTA in Game 6.
Tatum had 8 drives in Game 5 and 9 drives in Game 6.
See what I mean?
It’s not a matter of if Tatum has a “killer instinct” or “dawg mentality”.
It’s whether or not he executes.
It doesn’t mean he’s always going to be perfect.
It doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be nights where he shoots the ball like shit.
But time and time again he has proven that he’s the guy.
The entire team was MUCH more prepared for it, and that starts with Tatum.
Frankly I think they should just decide to do that more often, but maybe that’s just me.
Terrible situational awareness, careless TOs, it wasn’t great.
He was literally involved in all 12 of their points.
That was perfect management by Joe, and perfect execution by Smart.
- Huge minutes of Grant.
I’m not kidding.
I know he had that one boneheaded turnover, but nobody is saying Grant is perfect.
The goal is to win and advance, and that is what Joe has this team doing.
I am begging you.
Talk shit to this man.
When they needed him most, Al Horford was there.
Defensively he was awesome.
When he stepped off, it dropped to -12.8.
That’s a +26.8 swing!
They stayed the course.
They played the right way, and found ways to execute.
This is important because in a playoff game, things aren’t always going to go your way.
Can you stay committed to the goal?
They lost it in Game 5.
They kept it in Game 6.
The results of each should then not be surprising.
As you look around the playoffs you see guys who are absolutely unstoppable from midrange.
The KDs, the Bookers, the Jimmy Butlers, the Jaylen Browns.
you better be able to get into high efficient zones and come through.
That is what Brogdon does.
There are some issues defensively in terms of on ball defense, but nobody is perfect.
His importance next series comes with how he does in the non-Embiid minutes.
When these teams go to their second unit, that is where Brogdon needs to dominate.
This was another game of practice shots.
John Collins, a 29% shooter, getting all the wide open 3s he wants.
You or I could make wide open 3s like that.
Stop helping off the corner shooter when you don’t need to, it’s only asking for trouble.
If the Celts are going to double Embiid at all, this becomes even more important.
In Round 1 their three point defense was dogshit.
In Round 2 if that’s how they defend it, things won’t go well.
Everyone has em at some point.
What I did like was that even though they missed, he still shot the ball with confidence.
What we need to avoid is that lack of aggression in the event they don’t.
So the way he still let it fly despite the struggles will be important.
Allowing 34, 33, and 33 points in the first 3 quarters is not going to cut it.
That is…horrendous.
This game was a perfect example of what we all know.
It doesn’t matter what you do offensively if you don’t defend.
All game the Celts offense was nails, but they were in a dogfight because of why?
Because they couldn’t get stops.
Once they got stops, they pulled away.
It’s a simple concept, but something they clearly struggled with this series.
- Then there’s the offensive rebounding.
Jesus Christ was this shit annoying.
Even with Rob on the floor, they were still giving up OREBs at an alarming rate.
The Hawks started this game by securing 5 of their first 12 misses.
That’s losing basketball.
And for the love of God, will they just communicate on rebounds?
If I told you the Hawks scored on this play, would it surprise you?
Add in 13 points off turnovers, and that’s 37 points off self inflicted wounds.
If you do that shit as you get deeper into the playoffs, you’re cooked.
And now here we go.
4 down and 12 to go.
A chance to knock the Sixers out of the playoffs for the 3rd time of the Tatum/Brown era.
My advice would be to ignore everything that has happened in the past between these two teams.
None of that matters.
Do not to the same stupid assumption shit that many did with the Hawks.
The playoffs are different.
Nothing is won on paper and nothing is won based on what happened in the past.
It’s about executing in the present.
Time to lock in.
