After starting 3-2, the Spurs are currently 5-27.
Finally, they get their games against DET/TOR/SA.
These are the games against under .500 teams that every contender needs to handle.
That is all that matters at this point of the season.
He buried them, again.
In 2022-23, it destroyed the entire flow fo the team.
For a while there, the Celts were broken.
A completely different response to the same situation that we saw last season.
I would argue it’s actually impossible to do any better.
Go ahead, check my math.
Tell me how you could possibly have more than 6 wins in 6 games.
Me too, and that is all that matters.
Other than that, they’ve taken care of their business.
There has been no playing with their food.
Of our 32 game sample so far this season, that is definitely something to note.
Add it up and you have the best team in the league.
Some part of you has to be praying that one of them is off right?
Pretty much the exact same approach, 9-16 vs the Clippers and 10-17 last night.
He played 30:20 against LAC and 30:50 last night.
Why is that important?
If you leave Jayson Tatum open, he’s going to bury you.
This is not new news.
If the guards are putting pressure on the rim, the Celts become unguardable.
What exactly do you do?
Last night was an example of that.
This is what I meant when I talked about both Jays showing up.
His +167 in his 572 minutes is 2nd on the team, trailing only Derrick White (+192).
That team is especially cooked if it’s the San Antonio Spurs.
Quite simply, they are the best basketball team on the planet.
Be mad about it if you want, that’s the reality of the situation.
Let’s hope 2024 brings more of the same.
He’s been just as dominant even without the ability to made an open three to save his life.
If you thought that 32% number was tough, it’s even worse over his last 13 games.
In that sample, Porzingis is only shooting 26.7%.
Just think about that for a second.
How the hell is this possible?
Because the beauty of Porzingis is he’s a 3 level scorer.
If the three isn’t dropping, it’s all good.
The Celts will just get him a switch at the FT line and that’s automatic points.
Watch that video again.
That’s the plan.
Give the ball to Porzingis at the nail/in the post off a switch and watch him cook.
Porzingis was 0-7 from three in this game, and was still a +33 in his minutes.
Now imagine what things look like when he shoots say…..34% from three instead of 26%.
- It’s one thing to hear myself and other Celtics fans gush about Derrick White.
The man shaved his head and turned into a completely different guy.
When exactly could you ever remember Derrick dunking the ball like this while he had hair???
That would have been a quiet, fundamentally sound right handed layup in seasons past.
Bald Derrick is bringing the thunder and then screaming afterwards.
That’s a guy with an entirely new aura.
You mix that love with the Celts fans in attendance
and Derrick put on a show.
Plays like this
are a great example of that.
If he commits to cutting off the drive, the lob is there.
Who is the defender going to worry more about?
The only difference is look how much more committed the defender is to stopping White at the rim.
That’s an easy pass that Derrick can make with his eyes closed.
- Good to see Sam Hauser snap out of his funk for the moment with 3-5 showing from deep.
I know it was for me.
- Against fringe NBA players, Payton Pritchard may as well be Steve Nash.
It’s why watching him in Summer League/preseason is so much fun.
That’s basically what last night was for him against the Spurs.
To then also finish without a single turnover is how you earn Joe’s (and mine) trust.
That’s how you blow a team out by 30+ points.
- What did I tell you?
Maybe we just go with this play
What the hell even is that?
George Gervin is blushing watching another fellow Spur execute a finger roll like that.
The Ugly
- Nope, the rules are the rules.
After 5 wins in a row, we skip this section until the Celts lose again.
As easy as these last 3 opponents may have been, that is not the case moving forward.
We now turn the page to a run of @OKC/UTA/@IND/@IND/MIN/@MIL.
Another great opportunity to prove what we’re seeing is as real as it gets.
