Well, that was certainly more like it.
Dating back to last season, the Celts really don’t lose 2 games in a row.
You may think Karl Malone’s record is out of touch, but you’d be wrong.
Al Horford is playing forever.
He’s never retiring.
So the joke’s on you for even thinking that was going to be a possibility.
Go ahead, pick a name from any team and any era.
Understand the Celtics just made this history with5 gamesto spare.
But then you see the list of the top 5
1.
2023 Celtics
Let me ask you something, what seems familiar with all those teams?
Ah yes, Mazzulla Ball.
It has completely taken over NBA history.
Remember how, years ago, people claimed the Celtics were trying to become the Warriors of the East?
And that it wouldn’t work because they didn’t have Steph and Klay?
Not only did they do it, but they are better.
As you’re able to see above, the Mazzulla Ball Celtics own this stat.
They’ve had 3 of the best 3PT shooting seasons in NBA history in 3 consecutive seasons!
The question, is does playing this way translate to wins?
It’s a valid question, given they’ve committed so much of their approach to this system.
So, since 2022-23, who has the most wins in the NBA?
Oh right, that would be the Boston Celtics with 178 (next closest is OKC with 161).
But that’s the regular season.
Who has the most playoff wins over that span?
OK fine, but did they ever win the title?
Oh right,
Alright, so let’s recap
1.
Playing this way has resulted in the most wins in the NBA over this timespan
3.
It has also resulted in the most playoff wins
4.
All things considered, not a bad night at the Garden.
This is not normal.
There are fanbases that wait their entire lives for a team and a run like this.
With that said, let’s begin.
How could they not be?
The details around what’s going on are still so vague it’s hard to know how to feel.
On one hand, he’s clearly in pain and it’s clearly an issue.
Given how important he is to this team and their playoff run, that’s not great.
That part about how he wishes he could tell us more details?
I don’t love that.
But then talking about how he’s adjusting and picking his spots and will manage is encouraging.
You watch his game last night and you could see that in real time.
How he got to the midrange.
That was all Paul Pierce.
This was his 12th game of at least 20/8/8 on the season, the most since Larry had 15.
Sure he was 1-8 from deep, but his misses weren’t all that terrible.
My stance is he should be taking even more 3s despite being in this rut.
Was nobody paying attention these last two postseason runs?
c’mon take a deep breath.
That’s not to say his outside shooting hasn’t been gross, the percentages are the percentages.
Remember, no matter how poorly Tatum is shooting, teams are ALWAYS going to guard his pull up.
Whereas if other guys are cold, perhaps teams change their defense to bait them into shooting.
That is NOT ever going to happen with Tatum.
If he catches fire, great.
If not, defenses still have to guard it because of the simple threat of him catching fire.
To me, that’s why I’m not even remotely concerned about his 3pt slump.
We know this, because we just watched it on the way to a championship.
When he’s locked in as an off ball shooter, there’s no guarding this team.
- Early in this game the Celts were killing the Suns with math.
They still dropped 123 points despite taking only 39 3PA in their 87 FGA.
For those who think “all the Celtics do is shoot 3s”, here you go.
The beauty of Mazzulla Ball is it can morph into whatever a game needs.
Think of how insane this development is.
From basically out of the league to being a legit valuable piece to a title favorite.
Luke Kornet deserves the world.
We already know he’s the best offensive rebounder in the NBA.
His two man game with Tatum trails only Jokic/Murray in terms of points per possession.
He protects the rim SO much better than previous seasons.
Above all of that, what I continue to love most about Kornet is his processing speed.
It’s fast as fuck.
To win at a championship level, you should probably be fast processors.
Quick decisions are crucial, and those decisions better be right.
This is why I feel like Kornet fits so well with any lineup.
- Was I certain that KP broke his face when he caught that elbow?
A random elbow causing a random injury to KP?
Another example of why a healthy KP is the ultimate cheat code.
The way he raises this team’s ceiling on both ends of the floor is so important.
It’s partially why I’m ready to shut him down.
Play him in one of the B2Bs and then call it a regular season.
- 28 AST and only 7 TOs while also winning the rebounding battle.
Good from the FT line too (86%), won points in the paint, etc.
That tells me they had good mental focus.
It’s something so trivial I get it, but collectively, they should not be this bad.
He has to be able to guard his yard, so that was concerning.
- Outside of his rebounding which was solid, another off night for Sam Hauser.
I don’t know what, but every single night we’re seeing this bullshit.
Like I said, it’s every game with this bullshit.
Let Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh, and JD Davison cook.
