Coming off their mostly shitty play to end December (2-3), they responded rather well.
Back on their .800 pace.
But instead, they had to fuck around.
That’s the story of their season at home (15-8) compared to the road (15-5).
And let me make myself very clear.
I do not give a shit that the Warriors were missing so many players.
Steph Curry played right?
Wiggins was out there?
Those three have killed the Celts consistently since 2022, so tough shit.
Beating the Warriors whether it was by 50 last year or 40 this year will always bring me joy.
But that’s the beauty of the 2024 title.
Enough of the inconsistent one step forward one step backward dance.
That’s shit a Play In team does, not a title contender.
It sure helps when instead of the entire roster being a disaster, everyone shows up.
Crazy what a difference that can make!
That’s also partially what makes the Celts rut so infuriating.
All they need to do is just not be the worst basketball team of all time.
Stop shooting 39/24% every game and chances are you’re going to get back to your winning ways.
Make your open looks!
Take care of the ball!
We got it all against GS and it should surprise no one that a beatdown came with it.
We saw it all the time because it’s the truth.
At the end of the day, this team will go as the Jays go.
When they are engaged, locked in and executing, this team is unbeatable.
When they lay an egg, it spreads to the rest of the roster.
With 5 games in 7 days, finding ways to get Tatum rest will always be a good thing.
They all came out aggressive, they took care of the ball, and they played defense.
Once again, I go back to the best players here.
Both Tatum and Brown were great to fire up the 2nd half and the rest was history.
- With Jaylen’s night, it was a bit of a different approach.
Changing things around and letting him operate through the post is interesting.
Instead, finding an advantageous matchup with Jaylen in the post is a pretty efficient way to operate offensively.
Last night was the perfect example of what that can look like.
And we can be honest, some of those GS misses were wide open.
But while he’s on the floor?
KP has been great.
Even in their losses like TOR/SAC/OKC, Porzingis was solid.
Hard not to respect that.
- I’m not sure who needed a vintage Mazzulla Ball performance more.
The players, the fans, Joe himself, Brad, take your pick.
The approach in this game was the same thing we saw against ATL.
It was the same thing we saw against ORL.
In the GS and ORL win, the Celts didn’t miss every shot they took.
In the ATL loss, it was right back to sub 30% shooting and bonehead basketball.
So for the 1000000000000000000th time, the Celtics do not need to change their scheme.
All of this nonsense during their rut comes down to one simple thing, execution.
When the Celts make their open looks, they rarely lose.
When the Celts don’t get zero production from their bench outside of Payton Pritchard, they rarely lose.
Al hit a corner 3 and was also great defensively in his 20 minutes.
Too many no shows and not enough execution.
Crazy to think that once that execution shows up, the team looks a whole lot better.
Really that’s all I’m looking for from either guy.
Can you develop into a playable NBA player.
That’s the goal.
I will say, the Jordan Walsh improvement as a three point shooter most certainly has my attention.
They have a point differential of a 60+ win team right now (+9.6).
Just take a deep breath.
Things are OK.
- Much better all around performance from the Stock Exchange.
A combined 7-10 (4-7) with just 3 TOs and they held Steph to 6-15 (4-12).
These guys simply have to get back to hitting their open 3s at a more acceptable clip.
What was noticeable was the fact that they didn’t really take low percentage looks.
Derrick’s 3PA were much more in control, as was the same with Jrue.
Basketball doesn’t have to be complicated.
Play with force, take care of the ball, rebound, make your open shots.
It’s really that simple.
One of the fakest things we’ve ever seen.
- One issue that seemed to have carried over from the ATL loss is the OREB/2nd chance points problem.
I just firmly believe that giving Steph Curry teams multiple chances to score is overall not a great idea.
Sure it didn’t matter in this game, but it’s about the bigger picture.
The Ugly
- Look, the Celts won by 40 and were up by as much as 45.
There isn’t going to be a lot to complain about.
But you know what I will complain about?
This team’s inability to throw an entry pass.
They can’t do it.
It’s one of the most inexplicable things about them.
just get it together.
