Get a couple of consecutive stops.
Take care of the ball.
I’m just talking about on any given night in the regular season.
How do I know that?
It’s only 1 game, but the entire feel of the trip changes coming back 3-1.
This win also got us one step closer to the all important 40/20.
If that’s the case, then 8-5 should be doable.
And perhaps the best part of this win was, of course, the Celts looked like themselves.
Guys made the shots we’ve seen them make for 200+ games.
To no surprise, that team blew doors.
If you become the fastest Celtic to do something major in Celtics history, you start the blog.
What does that mean?
It means we begin with Jayson Tatum
In terms of Tatum’s actual game?
So why is he in this section?
The Tatum + bench minutes were great in both of their shifts
2.
Just being on the floor helps everyone else
3.
Youngest ever,in NBA historyto crack 13,000 points.
Look at those names!
Why does this matter?
Bird, Pierce, Havlicek.
As a reminder, at this point, it’s the end of 2026-2027.
Tatum has 2 more guaranteed years + a player option left on his extension.
So 3 more years through his age 31 season.
So yo, appreciate what we are watching.
These things are objective facts, backed up by both his production, and his ring.
- Unless you watch this team every night, you really wouldn’t understand the importance of Derrick White.
You see, Brad Stevens built a basketball wagon that presents the following challenge.
If it’s possible for you to’t stay in front, they will finish at the rim.
If you give them space, they will bury you with threes.
They can iso, post up, create their own shot, you name it they can do it.
As a result, you are left with a choice.
Either send help, or die.
Because of this attention, defenses are now forced to rotate.
What makes what Brad has built so diabolical is around those two wings are all 40% shooters.
Now, there is no good choice.
But in order for this entire system to work, those “others” have to produce.
They have to make their open shots.
That’s where Derrick White comes in.
He’s the X factor.
When this team gets a productive Derrick White you might’t defend them.
If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times.
As Derrick goes, the Celtics go.
It’s not just the C&S 3s either.
He’s too good a shooter to simply miss every shot he takes.
That’s just not a thing that happens to a player of his caliber.
It’s not like he was bad as a Mav, he was just always hurt.
As a fan, that’s all I want.
If Derrick White is the X-Factor, KP is the cheat code.
He’s what breaks the spirit of the opponent.
There’s no answer for him other than to just hope he misses.
The Celtics are going to force you into a switch and that’ll be that.
If you don’t switch, congratulations you now have an undersized defender on Jayson Tatum.
Surely that will work out well for you!
It doesn’t always have to be late 4th quarter ones either.
His 3PM allow you to exhale a little bit if that makes any sense.
You’re looking at 10-12 max, and that’s if he’s super aggressive.
Considering the shot quality he gets as an off ball player, he has to be efficient.
Can’t miss every shot you take, especially the open ones.
In fact, the starting backcourt as a unit finished with 0 TOs.
Wild what can happen when the guards don’t play CTE basketball isn’t it?
That feels like a crazy sentence to pop in, but it’s the truth.
First time all year they all had at least 15+.
Can this just be the thing that lifts this roster wide shooting slump?
Have we not suffered enough?
- Which brings me to my next point.
As long as they don’t shoot 38/29%, they’re most likely going to win.
That’s the bar.
Once you finally start making your shots, you’re no longer dropping your head.
Your energy is different.
Made 3s means teams can’t cheat off shooters which increases driving lanes for your best players.
It’s all connected back to shotmaking.
That’s why you hear Joe reference their spacing and their offense whenever defensive struggles happen.
When this team executes offensively, everything else falls into place.
When that doesn’t exist, they are as tough to beat as they ever were.
To me, this is how you know the Celts are getting back to normal.
That’s what makes the contenders tough to beat.
Their best players can get rest, and things won’t go to shit.
Then in the Tatum + bench minutes, it’s his opportunity to be aggressive.
Sometimes that’s by scoring or sometimes that’s by creating for others.
Those minutes were great last year and were great last night.
Coming out of the half, it’s back to the best starting 5 in basketball.
To me, that’s why I like these rotations split.
When the subs start, that’s when the Jays pick it up.
Klay Thompson was supposed to be the wing defender/shooter that swung this matchup?
That’s what I was told, but that is not what I saw.
He was a non-factor on either end really in his 26 minutes.
- We can’t have a game in DAL without reliving Game 3.
What a moment that changed all of our lives forever.
Call it tired legs, call it saving your energy for the playoffs, call it whatever you want.
I’ll choose to call it an unacceptable level of individual defense.
Does that look like what’s happening here?
Let’s all be honest.
When Luka was defending like this on the perimeter in the Finals, we crushed him for it.
It was all night too.
- Classic Scott Foster special to keep an undermanned team close.
Or at least give a shot to.
Nothing to see here.
Speaking of FTs, tough showing for Jaylen with a brutal 2-6.
Offensive rebounding still continues to be a problem, regardless of lineups.
DAL finished with 13 OREB for 22 2nd chance points, Gafford himself had 8 OREB.
That simply cannot happen, it’s losing basketball.
You allow bad teams to hang around if you’ve got the option to’t finish possessions cleanly.
That’s Day 1 stuff really.
What good is forcing a miss if you might’t get the ball?
It almost always leads to points, and for this entire month their OREB issues have been a problem.
It cost them the game vs ATL for example.
That needs to be figured out.
The Ugly
- Another game the Celts were really awful at the rim.
How can so many good rim finishers somehow be so bad?
League average is 66% from this zone and the Celts have put up 38% and 36%.
We needed to see them play well, and they did.
Now if they can finally figure out how to play this way at home, that’d be great.
The Cavs have lost 3 straight and 5 of 8, so there is a window.
The Celts just need to get serious and take advantage of it.
