All they (and he) do is repeatedly rip their hearts out of their chest.
Now, let’s be fair and honest here.
But they were good enough to build a 26 point lead with 14 minutes remaining in the game.
What we saw last night was the same exact shit we saw in that Game 6 win.
The shotmaking, the passing, the defense, the rebounding,
That’s the good news.
You know what isn’t fun?
Being down 26 points to the hospital Sixers in the first place.
What was that shit?
That is both extremely frustrating and also the reality that in the NBA, nothing is given.
Games are not played on paper, and as always, it comes back to execution.
As I said after the Pelicans win, you never, under any circumstances apologize for winning.
Should the Celtics never even be in this position in the first place?
That’s not really how life works.
Are you going to pout, point fingers, and quit?
Or, are you going to step up and fight back?
Play with force, play together, and find a way to win.
Champions do the latter, and that’s exactly what the Champs did.
Let’s dive in.
The Good
- As a long standing blog rule, it’s pretty simple.
It’s the Larry Bird Rule, and nobody does it more often than Jayson Tatum.
The next 24 minutes?
The flip was switched and with it were the fortunes of this team.
When Tatum is locked in like this he starts to take over by scoring at all 3 levels.
Dominant at the rim, some midrange jumpers, and most importantly, the three point production.
Put the team on your back and win the goddamn game.
Forget about what took place in the first 30+ minutes and execute.
This is what Jayson Tatum does.
This is why he’s a champion.
This is why he’s a perennial All NBA player.
This is why he’s Top 5.
I’ll leave you with this little nugget.
Well, he’s 9-18 over his last 2 games from deep.
Jaylen Brown’s 1st half was also mostly a disaster.
Then the next 24 minutes happened
In the end, 21/10/6 and a +17 in his 43 minutes.
In the first half, Maxey got whatever he wanted.
In the second half, Jaylen took that assignment full time and completely shut the water off.
Maxey scored just 7 points in the second half with a couple of turnovers and honestly was a non-factor.
If it feels like Jaylen’s efficiency is starting to come around, that’s because it is.
Over his last 8 games, Jaylen is shooting 50% from the floor.
In his last 3, that number shoots up to 56.6%.
What has been working?
During this stretch, Jaylen has been incredible from the paint, averaging 59.5% from that zone.
It’s no surprise then that recently he’s looking way more like himself as a scorer.
Let’s also not forget about the 65% at the rim and 40% from the corner 3s.
You’d think this wouldn’t be an issue by now but ya know.
- I’m going to be honest with you.
For them to pull the Uno reverse card like that was incredible to watch.
- Kristaps Porzingis has changed our lives.
He then has been the one to go out and back it up with awesome, consistent play.
KP told us things were starting to turn for them, and they’re 7-3 in their last 10.
He’s been available.
- Another solid win for the Mazzulla Ball believers.
What you saw in this win is exactly why Mazzulla Ball works.
No matter the results, you stick with it as long as the process is correct.
I’m sorry, are you all new here?
When you’re trying to make a comeback like this, you cannot trade 2s for 3s.
In the 4th, they closed the 3pt gap and ran away with the game.
Their process did not change from one half to the next.
The difference was they simply started to make their open shots.
They do not have a system or strategy issue.
Their issues come via execution.
That’s all bullshit.
It’s shooting production.
It has always been their shooting production.
This was yet another example of that.
- Look at someone like Derrick White.
When that happens, we know he’s going to make the right play and trust his teammates.
If you want those doubles to stop, then those teammates HAVE to hit their open 3PA.
In those situations, Derrick White is often going to be the guy who Tatum finds.
It’s what he does.
He oozes the clutch gene.
Here’s the good news too.
Over his last 12 games, Hauser is now shooting 46.6% from deep on 4.8 3PA.
I’m not sure how many times or how many ways I have to show it.
The Celts stop missing every shot they take, and they win.
It’s not complicated!
On one hand, his time is the Spring, not February.
On the other hand, if he’s going to play, he has to be playable.
This is how I would treat his minutes.
Those miles are too valuable on his legs to waste them on games where he doesn’t have it.
If he has it, play him his normal 25ish minutes.
If not, save him for the next game and let the other bigs like Kornet get run.
He’s a slasher who is best at attacking the rim.
Make him beat you from 3 before you close out so hard on him!
I found that to be very weird and very frustrating.
There is no way that was the scouting report on him, yet everyone couldn’t help themselves.
Yabu wanted to come back, there was a need for him, but Brad went with Tillman.
I get why he did it, at the time you could understand, but now?
Yabu is basically exactly what this roster needs while Tillman is unplayable.
- Another game, another situation where NBA officials were complete dogshit.
Why is it so hard for things to be consistent?
Why is it so hard for officials to not get baited by flopping?
Just because a player yells DOES NOT mean he was fouled.
The Ugly
- Gross.
Either end of the court, the execution was awful.
What really hammered it home it was the final 105 seconds.
Ending quarter strong is non-negotiable to me.
Those are the margins of a game that so often decide an outcome.
The celts were fortunate this time, but that’s not how you want to live.
But hey, a win is a win.
Win that game, and suddenly things will continue to feel a whole lot better.
