On the other hand, they continue to play some of the grossest basketball the sport has ever seen.
Instead, we’ve been getting a whole bunch of performances that look and feel like last night.
It’s honestly impressive when you think about it.
In the first Nets game they shot 43/26% and needed OT to survive.
The numbers back it up too.
But here’s what I also know.
No win is a bad win.
At this point of the season, it’s about stacking Ws however you might get them.
So I think that’s where I’m at.
Annoyed at how they’ve been playing, but happy that the end result has been a win.
If it’s possible for you to win your stinkers, imagine what happens when you actually play well?
You saw the benefit of having both Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum on your team.
That is something that will always be bizarre to me.
The whole point is HAVING THEM BOTH is what rules.
When one guy has turned into a ghost, the other is there to pick up the slack.
When they both have it rolling in the same game, the team is unbeatable.
When it came time to make big shots late, Jaylen delivered.
See, that’s the beauty of this duo.
What makes this team so tough is they have two options to kill you in these late game situations.
In the 4th quarter when it was winning time, they delivered a combined 15 points on 6-10 shooting.
That’s the best way I can describe what we got from Jrue in this win.
When they needed a stop, he provided it.
When they needed a big momentum bucket, he delivered.
The mistakes were limited as he was able to fight off the urge to play CTE ball.
With KP out, it’s been impressive how Holiday hasn’t tried to force things.
We know he’s good.
Hauser on the other hand has been fighting through it big time to start the year.
Considering he also had 3 steals, it truly was a vintage Hauser performance.
Automatic on one end and baiting opposing players into bad isolation offense due to his whiteness on the other.
This is what he does.
As a reminder, Hauser only allowed 0.91 PPP as an isolation defender last season.
For comparison, DWhite was 1.11.
- Sneaky massive Joe ATO with about 4 minutes to go.
So what did Joe do?
He drew up this beauty
That was your classic “OK, enough of the bullshit” play.
No more screwing around, no more low percentage contested 3s, just use your size and finish strong.
Jaylen was clearly fouled after his up fake
but what else is new?
This is the key in of shit that the Celts deal with every single time they play.
Do I think in the moment he was thinking this is where I can swing things?
I think he was pissed that the refs were complete bozos.
Congratulations to Luke Kornet for winning back his reserve center rotation minutes.
I’m also not ruling out a return for Tillman either.
The Bad
- I mean, where do we start?
And yes, I know KP helps, but stop using that as a blanket excuse.
He’s elite in the paint and at the rim, but he’s not Jesus.
It’s partly why all these games feel familiar.
Cold shooting, easy buckets being given up at the rim and in the paint.
That is not a sustainable formula.
- Easily the worst game of Jayson Tatum’s season.
I can handle the brickfest.
I will not accept playing like you don’t give a shit.
I’m just saying it’d be nice to not have to wait until the 4th.
It’s OK to admit that.
They only took 46, but I’d say the majority came off terrible decisions.
No real ball movement, more contested iso’s and bombs from 40 ft.
So while a lot of people focus on the volume number, it’s more complicated than that.
That’s not to say there weren’t some bricks on wide open C&Ss, there were.
I can live with the learning curve mistakes that you would hope improve with more run.
That’s an effort thing.
That’s what gets you benched and passed over in the rotation.
I don’t think anyone expects Queta to be perfect, but he has to be playable.
That means quicker processing on the offensive end and to actually play with a pulse on the defensive end.
I seriously cannot get over that clip.
His development is going to be up and down, but the downs are reaaaaaalllly down right now.
Jayson Tatum can coast (but he shouldn’t).
Neemias Queta cannot.
Not if he wants to play.
