It’s sort of what that group does.
There will be many of these types of games over the regular season’s homestretch.
The point is, we have officially entered the “just get out healthy” portion of the season.
I care about winning and staying healthy.
None of these games actually matter anymore.
Who gives a shit really?
When you’re playing tanking teams, it can be a challenge to keep your focus.
That’s sort of why I respect the tanking Nets.
Those are reps that can only help for when the games actually matter against better opponents.
Especially with the Celtics down Jaylen/White/Horford.
Let’s dive in.
There are a lot of fascinating parts to KP’s game.
None of it makes any sense.
Sure the opponent probably plays a role into that too, but whatever.
You know what I missed?
This
The old “just throw it to the 7'3 dude” offense.
Last night was a perfect reminder of exactly why Brad Stevens made this trade.
When KP is on the floor, you cannot switch.
If you cannot switch against the Celtics, you are dead.
I mean just look at the guy.
He’s a fucking giant!
This was about as good a debut for KP as you could possibly ask for.
This game served as a great reminder of just how dynamic Porzingis makes the Celtics offense.
In a shooting slump as a team?
Lob it to the big fella and let him take a turnaround from 5ft away.
A team goes zone?
Put the man at the nail and get him the ball.
Here’s a 30ft bomb with a quick release after a high ball screen.
Remember, they basically won the title without having him around last year.
While important, it doesn’t really show you what I’m talking about.
To me, you learn this about a player when you see how opposing coaches defend him.
Are they willing to sell out defensively all so you don’t get going?
Not weirdos on NBA Twitter who are still very upset Tatum keeps beating their favorite team.
When you see this
it tells you everything it’s crucial that you know.
like look at the time on the clock.
This is 3 minutes into a basketball game.
Think of how insane it is to sell out defensively like this against the Celtics.
Guess what, it doesn’t work.
He’s too good a passer.
Guess what happened on this possession?
You still weren’t able to stop Tatum from getting to the rim, which put you in rotation.
Once the Celts have you in rotation, you’ve lost.
It’s not a matter of “if”, but more so “how”.
Will they kill you with a 3?
Will they kill you wth a paint touch?
Either way it’s death.
Few players in the entire league feel more comfortable being trapped than Jayson Tatum.
Because he deals with it for 48 minutes, nearly every possession.
That, is real motion.
What happens if you don’t take the ball out of his hands?
- Against the Heat, the Celts needed Jrue Holiday’s scoring.
Against the Nets, his role changed.
My guess is the truth is somewhere in the middle.
Now, it’s also important to remember this was the Heat and the Nets.
But I can’t lie, it just feels great to see him play well.
It’s a relief thing more than anything else.
Of course he did.
I know the man can shoot.
It’s Payton Pritchard!
He can still find ways to produce scoring possessions, only it comes via lobs instead of 3s.
I’ll talk that every day of the week.
In these shorthanded games, those are the guys who need to confirm to produce along with Pritchard.
Usually in the games we see the Celts lose against better competition, those 3 struggle.
If it kills his 65 Game limit eligibility, so be it.
He is far too important to not be overly cautious with.
Even with the days off before they play BKN again, sit him.
We saw what back issues can do, just look at Hauser.
I feel this way about pretty much everyone for the rest of the season.
I know that sounds crazy, but the math is the math.
- Another bizarre night from Queta, not too different from his MIA performance.
He’s just such a roller coaster player that things change possession by possession.
The inability to defensive rebound is maybe the most shocking.
He didn’t have a single DREB in his 13 minutes!
Meanwhile, the Nets are getting OREB after OREB despite the Celts playing 2 bigs.
But then there would be possessions where he held up in isolation and forced a miss.
There were some OREBs and made FTs.
It’s not about teams going on runs, of course that’s going to happen.
I think most rational people could live with a 21 point lead getting down to 10-12.
It’s the next wave that I find extremely annoying.
The one that gets the score into the 4-7 range.
That’s the shit that cannot happen.
The Celts actually were great in the non-Tatum minutes!
That should be enough!
Instead, it was another night of having to sweat out a 21 point lead.
I need to be able to trust 21 point leads.
Figure it the fuck out.
- Like clockwork, the root of this comeback came from very fake 3pt shooting.
And this wasn’t even a situation where the Celts were doing nothing but giving up wide open 3PA.
Most of these were contested!
The Cam Johson 30 footer at the end?
I mean give me a fucking break.
So part of me watches that shot making and chalks that up to God.
How is it possible that all these tanking teams find this black magic in the 4th quarter?
This is why I said last night was a bit of a prayer.
Look at that 4th quarter shooting!
But hey, a win is a win is a win.
