In 2023 the 21-5 Celtics got their asses handed to them by Steph Curry on the road in GS.
It wasn’t out the realm of possibility that this could have been another disaster slide.
Especially when we learned Tatum was sitting against the Kings and Porzingis was sitting against the Clippers.
Instead, let’s focus on what the hell we just saw.
I considered last night the swing game of the trip.
That’s a MUCH different feeling than this was
There was no snowball this time around.
Sometimes open looks just don’t fall, but it’s more than that.
The Celtics don’t even need to shoot “well”.
That’s not the bar.
The bar is literally just don’t miss the most 3s in franchise history
33%!
That is why you shoot with confidence.
All you have to do is beat 33% as a team and you become untouchable.
That’s not that hard to do for a team with this pop in of talent.
Just look at these last two wins.
The Celtics' style or approach didn’t change.
They played how they always play, only this time they didn’t miss a franchise record of 3PA.
Wouldn’t you know it, they blew the fuck out of whoever they were playing.
With those missing pieces being your best player and your cheat code player.
I mean these are massacres on the road against good teams.
Sure didn’t look like it.
So far, they’re handling it like champs.
One thing we can still say about this team is they remain tough to beat twice in a row.
It’s only happened once all season and that was in the first week of November.
In case you were unaware, it’s December 24th.
A beautiful follow up to the blowout Kings win, yesterday’s was just as fun.
Let’s talk about it.
May I present to you, said masterclass
Best player on the floor punch in shit.
As a reminder, he only goes there once a year.
Of his 9 FTA, 6 of them came via fouled 3PA.
I still thought there was a good balance of drives combined with taking good looks.
Nothing really felt stalled or forced, everything Tatum did was made with force.
Just like Jaylen had to do against the Kings, this was Tatum’s turn.
The last month of the Jaylen Brown experience is really making it easy to get past his start.
That level of player was nowhere near good enough.
The guy we’ve been watching for over a month?
This is a championship #2.
Efficient, consistent, versatile, and available every night.
Slowly but surely that’s coming back up to where it needs to be.
I will continue to say it until I am blue in the face.
Fuck that pitting one against the other bullshit that certain fans are obsessed with doing.
Those weirdos are missing the point.
For Jaylen, he seems more comfortable in his new role with every passing game.
He’s still passing like he was to start the year, the defense has been great.
That’s why I didn’t really get why so many were freaking out early.
We knew the shooting would come back around, and here it is.
- We need to take a second and talk about how hard the Celts are Mazzulla Balling right now.
Oozing out of everyone’s skin.
Then on the other end, we finally got to see what defense looked like.
I’ll take 108 points on 46/32% shooting.
Just accept it, Mazzulla Ball works.
Joe knows what he’s doing.
The Celtics are destroying teams on both ends of the floor since the second he took over.
This year, they have more ways to beat you than ever.
That is what this trip has shown us.
Those are important pieces to their puzzle.
But so is the guard play.
I would argue it’s one of the most important determining factors of the Celts success.
When they get elite guard play, you’re cooked.
Oh, and some NBA history
Let’s start with Holiday.
Much like Jaylen, his shooting has been ROCK SOLID for almost a month now.
His TS% is already recovered from the low 50s to 56.6%.
Open 3s, getting into the paint, nothing has felt forced or out of control.
He’s a special basketball player, I don’t know how else to describe it.
- With a largest lead of 39 points, you have to pretty much do everything well.
To do it in back to back games is impressive.
It’s time to convert Queta’s 2 way into a full time deal.
We have seen enough.
I know he has negative touch around the rim, but I don’t give a single fuck.
For his role as a 4th big, he is thriving.
If it’s out there cool, but if not?
Just convert Queta and give him some extended run when needed.
At some point I imagine he’ll learn how to have soft hands on a jump hook.
you could teach that.
But the height and the offensive rebounding is already making an impact.
For a depth piece, Queta has been MORE than good enough whenever he’s been given his opportunity.
That has to matter.
Especially with guys nursing some ankle injuries, this is the time to utilize your depth pieces.
Over his last 4 games, just a brutal 16.7% from deep on 4.5 3PA a night.
He snapped out of it and shot 48% for like 2 months.
So while this isn’t an area of panic, it certainly hasn’t been good.
- 6 missed FTs I suppose would qualify here.
Not a disaster, but 22-28 was annoying, with Tatum again having a muti-miss FT game.
At this point I’ve become numb to those.
They happen way too frequently.
- What does the lead have to be for us to see some Jordan Walsh minutes?
Apparently 39 wasn’t enough so what is it?
Can we just just see what he looks like at the NBA level?
Even if it’s only for 10 minutes.
If possible, I would like to institute a rule.
Call it the “35 Rule”.
Why not let him develop with a mix of NBA speed/action?
If it stinks, take him out.
But what if it rules?
Really the only thing I deem worthy of this spot is no different from after the SAC game.
That could be anything from a minor tweak to a high ankle to potentially worse.
Wyc nearly lost his shit on the broadcast about it and I think we all understand why.
It’s a season killer.
I don’t think it’s anything intentional, those things just happen when you have a strong closeout.
He probably wouldn’t let it happen even if the team tried.
So instead we all hold out collective breath for the foreseeable future, for both Tatum and KPs ankles.
Fucking closeouts man, the absolute worst.
