Over the course of an NBA season, embarrassing losses are going to happen to everyone.
Take the Rockets for example.
We’ve seen them beat the Sixers, Bucks, Suns, etc.
But here’s the thing with that.
The Sixers win came on December 5th (with Embiid/Harden playing).
The Bucks win came on December 11th (fully healthy).
There is a drastic difference when you look at what the Celtics did last night.
Last time I checked, it’s March 14th.
We are now at the point of the season where you cannot have these types of losses.
That is an unrealistic expectation that just isn’t real.
Like, what are we doing?
After last night, the Celt are now 28-8 against teams under .500.
When you looked at this 6 game road trip I imagine we all did the same thing.
We saw the game at HOU and counted it as a win.
That’s fine to do because we are fans.
We do not control what happens.
When you fuck around, you tend to not like what you find out.
And I’m sorry, but the players have no one but themselves to blame for this situation.
This comes from their best player to their starting point guard to their reserves.
When you play mediocre/losing basketball, you get mediocre/losing results, it’s honestly not that complicated.
That’s the problem with dropping one of the gettable games of the trip.
Grow the hell up.
With that said, let’s dive in.
He knew how important it was to be focused and play with the right amount of energy and effort.
He attacked, he was aggressive, he defended.
He gave this team enough to win.
As you’re able to expect, he owned it after the game.
The one thing I never really question when it comes to Jaylen is his leadership.
For perspective, all starters not named Jaylen had a combined 3 points in that frame.
If we’re being honest, I almost wish Brogdon was even more selfish offensively in his minutes.
- That’s it.
We’re moving on.
Many people will just point to the three point volume.
To me, that’s misguided.
Because they mastered the details.
Let’s take a look at each one of these areas Joe mentioned in this clip.
The Four Factors if you will.
These last 10 games?
They’re 25th in the NBA in opponents' FTA rate.
The Celts are 29th in opponents FTA (26.3) since the All Star Break.
They were #1 at 20.7.
OK, now let’s talk rebounding.
Pre-break, the Celts were the #1 team in opponent OREB%.
That’s losing basketball.
Why does that matter?
Pre-Break, the Celts were 6th in the NBA in limiting opponents' 2nd chance points.
Over the last 10 games?
And finally, the turnovers.
We all know about this one.
These are also things that the Celtics control, which is why this is frustrating.
Rebounding, defending, that’s all effort.
Taking care of the ball, that’s playing smart.
- Just in this game alone we saw HOU finish with 15 OREB and 17 2nd chance points.
If you want to know why the Celts are in this hole, start with those problem areas.
One of those nights, sure, but a bad time to have one.
Al can coast in a game and still give a little more.
- The Houston Rockets have the 28th ranked offense in the NBA this season.
Even if there are issues defensively, that’s an offense you should be able to stop.
Jalen Green got whatever he wanted.
To me, I’m looking at everyone.
The perimeter defense by Smart/Tatum/White was dogshit.
Guys are not guarding their yard and as a result the collective team defense is regressing.
They are simply not guarding anywhere close to an acceptable level right now.
They closed 18-13 and it didn’t matter because that first unit couldn’t win their minutes.
The Ugly
- If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a million times.
How he plays pretty much always dictates how the team will end up playing.
It’s why guard play is so important to this roster.
Quite frankly, Smart hasn’t even been bad.
I’ll take bad.
you could win with bad.
What you cannot do is win with whatever version of basketball Marcus Smart is currently playing.
He’s playing losing basketball in almost every sense right now.
Take this play
Did you happen to catch the end there?
Smart misses a corner three, fine, that’s whatever.
But what happens next is the inexcusable part.
He stands there, asking for a foul.
Meanwhile, the ball is going the other way and guess what happens?
His man, the man that contested the 3PA, beats him down the floor and finishes.
I’m sorry, but what the fuck is this?
When we talk about energy and effort and doing the little things to win, this is it.
That’s not a “coming back from injury” thing, that’s a decision making thing.
Unfortunately, there’s more of this.
We move to the 4th quarter.
During this 10 game shitfest, that is not happening.
Here’s an example of that
As always, time and place is important.
I have zero problems if Smart takes 3PA that come with good process.
The ball is moving, it swings to him, fine.
Shoot that shit with confidence.
That is not what we saw in that play.
In other words, it’s a low quality decision paired with a low quality shot.
That’s not an accident.
A few minutes later, I have more issues with decision making.
There is absolutely no driving lane here
so to me this is just trying to do too much.
It was a momentum killing turnover that you simply cannot have in that spot.
I think it’s fair to say that we’re watching Smart’s worst stretch of the season.
The shooting will come and go, I don’t ever really care about that.
I care about his decision making and his approach.
Since the break, about 62% of Smart’s FGA have been 3PA.
While he’s shooting 35%, that’s not the right balance.
In the first 59 games that number was closer to around 54% of his FGA.
His decision making was better, his approach was more balanced, and he filled his role perfectly.
Since he came back, it’s been the opposite and the team results speak for themselves.
- Of course, we can’t ignore the performance of Jayson Tatum.
You’re the best player, you’re the MVP candidate, and expectations for you are different.
I mean on what planet is this acceptable?
Tatum played 1 quarter in this game, that’s it.
It got their best player a wide open layup at the rim.
If Tatum makes that layup I’m not sure people care that Jaylen didn’t get the shot.
Tatum and Brown have said it all season, that the team goes as they go.
To do that shit against the worst team in the league is just nasty business.
Sadly, they’ll have no one to blame but themselves.
