Winning any basketball game without Jayson Tatum is impressive.
It’s hard has shit.
Sometimes that’s certain schemes or lineups, but other times it requires something different.
We saw what that was last night.
The Celtics over the last two years have done a great job of appeasing the Basketball Gods.
They play hard, they play the right way, they sacrifice, they put in the work.
All of that was rewarded last year with Banner 18.
They’ve taken it up a notch.
This time around, the Boston Celtics have made a blood sacrifice to the Basketball Gods.
And not just any blood, unicorn blood.
Perhaps the most valuable kind of blood there is.
Whatever it takes to win.
You may think I’m kidding, but I’m not.
The Basketball Gods are always watching.
You don’t think they respect the offering of unicorn blood?
What are you, dense?
Just remember this moment as the playoffs go on, that’s all I’m going to say.
That’s what makes them Champions.
But to fill the Tatum role, you have to do more.
That’s energy, effort, and leading by example.
That was about as Jayson Tatum-esq as you’re going to get.
- Objectively, Kristaps Porzingis was mostly dogshit in Game 1.
Nowhere close to impactful enough, especially offensively.
14 FTA alone for KP is part of the reason that Brad traded for him.
In previous versions of the roster, those lulls were killer.
The Magic do not have a player that can guard KP, he’s a fucking giant.
When in doubt, just lob it into the big man and let him go to work.
The Magic only had 7 OREB, and lost the 2nd chance points battle 20-10.
Derrick White had 6, Jrue Holiday had 4, Pritchard got his nose in there.
Those are the margins the Celts had to win, and they dominated.
The Celts only turned the ball over 10 times and allowed just 5 fastbreak points.
For those like myself who aren’t big math guys, that’s a winning percentage of 85%.
Said another way, the Celtics are playing at a 70 win pace over their last 21 playoff games.
People understand how insane that is correct?
In Game 2, we saw how important #math really is when it comes to playoff basketball.
The Celtics lost the shot margin 82-80 and were outshot from the floor 47.6% to 45%.
The Magic made more FGM (39 vs 36) in this game and still lost.
For the second straight game, they opened things up by getting back to playing Mazzulla Ball.
The Magic simply do not have the shooting to keep pace, and they know it.
It’s what Pritchard did defensively
This is what having a DAWG on your roster looks like.
That’s a weapon he possesses, but it’s not all he is as a player.
Payton Pritchard is a complete basketball player with an insane competitive drive.
Our answer so far?
About a billion times better
- Al Horford is pissed.
We all know what that means
- Shoutout to the Celtics for not dropping a Game 2 at home!
The Bad
- Through 2 games, we still haven’t seen the Celts shoot all that well.
Hey morons, have you not been watching the last, I dunno, 3 seasons?
Well, the Celts are only taking 37 3PA a night in this series, and they’re 2-0.
But if they miss their 3s?
It’s all people cry about.
Why do we think that is?
The ball sticking possessions that usually result in a pretty disgusting dribbling turnovers.
You know which ones I' talking about.
These
These are the possessions where once that initial drive isn’t there, just keep the ball moving.
There’s a chance it might even find its way back to you!
We saw it against MIA, we saw it against GS etc.
If a play is dead, move the rock and then move your body.
Keep it simple and trust your teammates.
Just a bunch of losers man.
If you might’t beat a team, too bad.
There was absolutely no reason for KCP to take the route he did getting back on defense.
The court is massive!
But somehow he just so happened to target Al and get his feet tangled?
Yeah OK, sure thing pal.
Stuff like this is why the Celts just need to end this series as quickly as possible.
The Tatum injury, KP getting smashed in the face, targeting Al.
These aren’t “hard playoff fouls” no matter how badly Magic fans want to spin it.
These are reckless plays that have one sole purpose.
Considering they are two crucial bench pieces, that’s an issue.
He can’t rebound, he’s fumbling passes, it’s all been bad.
This team cannot keep relying on Al Horford to be superhuman.
They can’t keep relying on the starters + Payton Pritchard to do everything.
- Does Tatum play Game 3?
That’s now the question.
I say if he’s good to go, go for the kill.
2 down, 14 to go.
