2022-2023 General Celtics thread

benhogan

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Coming up, the next two games are with Miami. They will want to make it a street fight but the C's has been so focused from the tip recently. I'll be interested in seeing how they do turnover-wise, that was the C's kryptonite in the Miami series.

Over the opening 12 minutes, the Celtics made 10 3-pointers and handed out 13 assists on 17 made field goals. Three Boston players reached double figures in scoring before the end of the quarter, including Jayson Tatum, who scored 16 of his game-high 35 points during the period. Brogdon scored 10 first-quarter points on perfect 5-for-5 shooting off the bench. Marcus Smart racked up 10 points and eight of his career-high 15 assists before the second quarter arrived.

As a sign of just how well their offense flowed early, the Celtics took all of their first-quarter shots from inside the paint or outside the 3-point arc.

They hung a 72-point first half against the Wizards on Sunday with Tatum out of the lineup. They have scored at least 112 points per 100 possessions (essentially the league average so far this season) in all but four of their 21 games. They have scored at least 116 points per 100 possessions (which would rank second in the NBA throughout the entire season) in 14 of their 21 games. Mazzulla said it takes “spacing” and “decision-making” to manage such consistency. Then he pointed out the one late-first-quarter stretch during which the Celtics deviated from those strengths.

“We had four straight possessions with turnovers,” Mazzulla said. “And so that’s how you have off nights on offense is when you don’t value the basketball and you don’t fight for your space. And there’s moments in the game tonight where we didn’t do that. And they might not have cost us tonight, but if we don’t continue to work on it, it will cost us eventually. So that’s the fight we gotta have. We gotta fight for our spacing, we gotta fight for our decision-making.”


https://theathletic.com/3947648/2022/11/29/celtics-victory-hornets/

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Deathofthebambino

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The Celtics went crazy in the first running out to an 43-16 lead with 2:40 left. Then they started fucking around and trying all sorts of fancy passes none of which worked. They were trying to be the Globetrotters but ended up more like the Washington Generals. They wound up with 6 turnovers in the first, most at the end of the quarter, but, incredibly, Charlotte could not take advantage. At the end of one, it was 45-19.
I was there last night, so haven't had a chance to read the game thread, but at 43 points with 2:40 left in the 1st, the C's had a real chance of breaking the Warriors 1st quarter record of 51 points.

Every shot the C's took seemed wide open, and they just made everything. I don't know what this team's ceiling is, but damn, last night was crazy to watch.
 

Eddie Jurak

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I was there last night, so haven't had a chance to read the game thread, but at 43 points with 2:40 left in the 1st, the C's had a real chance of breaking the Warriors 1st quarter record of 51 points.

Every shot the C's took seemed wide open, and they just made everything. I don't know what this team's ceiling is, but damn, last night was crazy to watch.
It really was. And, yes, Charlotte was missing key players. But so were we.
 

Kliq

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Thinking about the Blake Griffin dunk last night and what that says about the offense; only a truly great offense could get Blake Griffin a dunk from a half-court setting.

On the first lob to Blake, it's a great example of what makes the Celtics so good from a personnel standpoint. Tatum handles the ball and they run a screen-and-roll with White in a big-little action. The other players are all in optimal spots for this action, Grant and Blake in the corners and Smart on the right wing. The Hornets hedge the screen and try and double Tatum, who calmly flips it to a rolling White. This is the kind of pass that Tatum would struggle to make earlier in his career, reading the double-team quickly and not making the right pass immediately. Now White has the ball with space at the free throw line. The help defenders can't cheat off Grant in the corner because the scouting report is out on him and nobody wants to leave Grant open. The other defender stays glued to Smart because as much as Smart's shooting can be hot-and-cold, you still don't want to leave him open on a catch-and-shoot.

That means Blake's man has to be the one to come over and help, which he does. Blake wisely abandons the corner and creeps in off the baseline for a lob. White reads it perfectly and makes a great pass.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMNvVuPlDk0
 

PedroKsBambino

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Thinking about the Blake Griffin dunk last night and what that says about the offense; only a truly great offense could get Blake Griffin a dunk from a half-court setting.

On the first lob to Blake, it's a great example of what makes the Celtics so good from a personnel standpoint. Tatum handles the ball and they run a screen-and-roll with White in a big-little action. The other players are all in optimal spots for this action, Grant and Blake in the corners and Smart on the right wing. The Hornets hedge the screen and try and double Tatum, who calmly flips it to a rolling White. This is the kind of pass that Tatum would struggle to make earlier in his career, reading the double-team quickly and not making the right pass immediately. Now White has the ball with space at the free throw line. The help defenders can't cheat off Grant in the corner because the scouting report is out on him and nobody wants to leave Grant open. The other defender stays glued to Smart because as much as Smart's shooting can be hot-and-cold, you still don't want to leave him open on a catch-and-shoot.

That means Blake's man has to be the one to come over and help, which he does. Blake wisely abandons the corner and creeps in off the baseline for a lob. White reads it perfectly and makes a great pass.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMNvVuPlDk0

Good call-out. I would say that Oubre doubling Tatum there was probably not a wise choice, espeically after a brief pause. Then as you note, Tatum read and reacted perfectly
 

billy ashley

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a small thing from last night, Kabangele looked really uncomfortable on defense. I don't know if it was nerves, or not being totally familiar with the system, but he looked really tentative and jumpy in limited time.

I like his athleticism, but he looked a little out of place. It was 8 minutes of garbage time and his Celtics debut, so it's not a big deal but it sort of supported going with Vonleh over him for the final spots on the roster.
 

The Gray Eagle

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Meh, they’re still the worst team in their own building.

/Shaughnessy, probably
This team is now at the point where the classic Shaughnessy troll tactic will be to build them up as much as possible and declare that they are unstoppable and must win the championship, or else the season will be a colossal failure and they will be total frauds if they don't deliver.
That way if they win, he can claim he knew it all along and called it way before anyone else because he is so smart, but if they don't win the title, he can bury them for "ripping off the fans" by failing to deliver us our rightful championship, and thus try to make Celtics fans feel as angry as possible.
Lots of clicks and comments, no matter what happens.
 

benhogan

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This team is now at the point where the classic Shaughnessy troll tactic will be to build them up as much as possible and declare that they are unstoppable and must win the championship, or else the season will be a colossal failure and they will be total frauds if they don't deliver.
That way if they win, he can claim he knew it all along and called it way before anyone else because he is so smart, but if they don't win the title, he can bury them for "ripping off the fans" by failing to deliver us our rightful championship, and thus try to make Celtics fans feel as angry as possible.
Lots of clicks and comments, no matter what happens.
OMG sad but true

there is so much to like about this team (and the NBA in general) with plenty of content to download...not sure Shank can secure that Celtic fan click/comment
 

MyDaughterLovesTomGordon

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I have been wondering if all the globetrottery stuff could blow back on them somehow. Oubre is a sort of classic dick - I still remember him getting into it with Kelly O -and he was definitely going hard at some Cs last night because he clearly felt a little disrespected. I thought Scal was interesting in saying that the Hornets would get on the bus actually feeling pretty good about themselves? That seems impossible to me, but I don't know how much of Luke Kornet doing the Kornish Hen celebration pisses other players off or if they're happy for him because, hey, we're all just doing our job here.

Maybe it's ghosts of Charles Oakley, but is there a danger we see some enforcer types go at Tatum/Brown/Smart? They're now +8.4 on the season. If they start averaging a double-digit win, do they start to feel some championship pressure that derails them in the playoffs? Do they start to believe their own press too much? That will be Joe's big test, I think: Will we see a post-Christmas malaise of some kind?
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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I have been wondering if all the globetrottery stuff could blow back on them somehow. Oubre is a sort of classic dick - I still remember him getting into it with Kelly O -and he was definitely going hard at some Cs last night because he clearly felt a little disrespected. I thought Scal was interesting in saying that the Hornets would get on the bus actually feeling pretty good about themselves? That seems impossible to me, but I don't know how much of Luke Kornet doing the Kornish Hen celebration pisses other players off or if they're happy for him because, hey, we're all just doing our job here.

Maybe it's ghosts of Charles Oakley, but is there a danger we see some enforcer types go at Tatum/Brown/Smart? They're now +8.4 on the season. If they start averaging a double-digit win, do they start to feel some championship pressure that derails them in the playoffs? Do they start to believe their own press too much? That will be Joe's big test, I think: Will we see a post-Christmas malaise of some kind?
Imo, the league has changed. Demonstrative behavior is the norm after doing something good, almost regardless of score.

Of course I am not in the league so I don't know but my sense is that the culture essentially lands on the idea that you can celebrate but you have to take it when the other team is beating you handily. That doesn't preclude the Tsunami Papi from reacting but its not really normal behavior.

For the record, enforcers are stupid. If you don't like how the other team is playing you, stop it. Don't change sports.
 

MyDaughterLovesTomGordon

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Imo, the league has changed. Demonstrative behavior is the norm after doing something good, almost regardless of score.
That’s my impression too - the “too small” maneuver Oubre (or someone) pulled down 30 last night being an example.

Mostly I’m just spitballing as to what might derail what currently looks to be an unstoppable freight train.
 

Deathofthebambino

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I have been wondering if all the globetrottery stuff could blow back on them somehow. Oubre is a sort of classic dick - I still remember him getting into it with Kelly O -and he was definitely going hard at some Cs last night because he clearly felt a little disrespected. I thought Scal was interesting in saying that the Hornets would get on the bus actually feeling pretty good about themselves? That seems impossible to me, but I don't know how much of Luke Kornet doing the Kornish Hen celebration pisses other players off or if they're happy for him because, hey, we're all just doing our job here.

Maybe it's ghosts of Charles Oakley, but is there a danger we see some enforcer types go at Tatum/Brown/Smart? They're now +8.4 on the season. If they start averaging a double-digit win, do they start to feel some championship pressure that derails them in the playoffs? Do they start to believe their own press too much? That will be Joe's big test, I think: Will we see a post-Christmas malaise of some kind?
I would love to see someone try to enforce anything on Marcus Smart.

Or on a teammate of Marcus Smart.

He seems like a guy perpetually waiting for the right opportunity to go Kermit Washington on someone's ass. And by right opportunity, I mean, any opportunity where he's in the right, like defending himself or a teammate.
 

Jimbodandy

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HomeRunBaker

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a small thing from last night, Kabangele looked really uncomfortable on defense. I don't know if it was nerves, or not being totally familiar with the system, but he looked really tentative and jumpy in limited time.

I like his athleticism, but he looked a little out of place. It was 8 minutes of garbage time and his Celtics debut, so it's not a big deal but it sort of supported going with Vonleh over him for the final spots on the roster.
I haven’t seen a Celtic with less court awareness and savvy since Gerald Green in 2006. He even looked that way in the half of a G-League game I caught. He’s has the physical upside, as Green did, to grow mentally and improve ball skills some day but he isn’t close to being an NBA player anytime soon.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Imo, the league has changed. Demonstrative behavior is the norm after doing something good, almost regardless of score.

Of course I am not in the league so I don't know but my sense is that the culture essentially lands on the idea that you can celebrate but you have to take it when the other team is beating you handily. That doesn't preclude the Tsunami Papi from reacting but its not really normal behavior.

For the record, enforcers are stupid. If you don't like how the other team is playing you, stop it. Don't change sports.
Sort of on topic: JJ Redick’s latest podcast with Steph is a fantastic watch in general, not least towards the end, after a glass or two of wine (wish they showed the label!), when JJ calls him out for being a “dickhead” on the court. Steph takes it in total stride, of course, even slyly mocking his stans [raises hand] who say it’s “just expressing joy!”

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-I8D7tQwnJA&list=PLKfCn7f_hJhA1iOJeloRnJUetVYRdXBQR
 

billy ashley

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I haven’t seen a Celtic with less court awareness and savvy since Gerald Green in 2006. He even looked that way in the half of a G-League game I caught. He’s has the physical upside, as Green did, to grow mentally and improve ball skills some day but he isn’t close to being an NBA player anytime soon.
I have not seen any G-League, disappointing that you're seeing that there, too. I was really perplexed why they went with Vonleh to start the season. I still don't think he's anything but emergency filler, but he's filled the role in a way that Kabangele probably can't, right now.

How has JD Davison looked in G-League?
 

ZMart100

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a small thing from last night, Kabangele looked really uncomfortable on defense. I don't know if it was nerves, or not being totally familiar with the system, but he looked really tentative and jumpy in limited time.

I like his athleticism, but he looked a little out of place. It was 8 minutes of garbage time and his Celtics debut, so it's not a big deal but it sort of supported going with Vonleh over him for the final spots on the roster.
He was in great defensive position on Pritchard a few times.
 

HomeRunBaker

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I have not seen any G-League, disappointing that you're seeing that there, too. I was really perplexed why they went with Vonleh to start the season. I still don't think he's anything but emergency filler, but he's filled the role in a way that Kabangele probably can't, right now.

How has JD Davison looked in G-League?
The little I saw of Davison in G-League he looked to me like he did at Alabama. He’s so fast and quick that he doesn’t yet know how to utilize these traits. He has great vision which sometimes gets him in trouble by trying to make the difficult passes that often lead to turnovers. He’s also nowhere near ready to play in this league and needs time to figure out how to run a team. He has the physical skills but needs to learn how to channel these skills into being an efficient basketball player at this level.
 

RorschachsMask

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Some fun early season lineup data, per CTG.


Jaylen on, Tatum off +14.9 in 395 possessions.
Tatum on, Jaylen off +28.9 in 512 possessions.

Smart/Jaylen on, Tatum off +6.9 in 237 possessions.
Smart/Tatum on, Jaylen off +27.9 in 223 possessions.

Tatum on, Jaylen/White/Al/Smart off +54.0 in 101 possessions.

Jaylen on, Tatum/White/Al/Smart off -3.7 in 40 possessions, which who cares as it barely happens.

Jaylen/Hauser on, Tatum off +31.4 in 182 possessions.

Tatum/Hauser on, Jaylen off +34.9 in 321 possessions.

We finally have a good enough team where we are actually pretty good when Tatum sits. Between Jaylen improving some and adding Brogdon + White being fully comfortable in the system, it’s great to see.
 

Jimbodandy

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thanks, and that tracks with the very limited sample we've seen in garbage time with the Celtics. Kid's an athlete and has a lot of energy.
Word. And I'd second HRB's callout of the JDs vision too. He might still be forcing a little (probably is), but he has actual point guard instincts. I'm pretty excited to see where he goes once the game slows down for him.
 

benhogan

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Does Draymond do anything but enforcery things these days?
Slugging a one-dimensional twig is probably the most intimidating thing he has done this season.

Back to more Celtic porn with Lowe/Scal.
@ 28:30 Lowe was giving Tatum credit for his off-ball screens springing wide-open 3s for Horford/Grant. Lowe had a good stat on Celtic OFF-BALL SCREENS (OBS), last season the Celtics set 48(OBS) per 100 possessions (middle of the pack), and this season up to ~60(OBS) per 100 (top5).

ALSO the team is up to 2nd in the NBA by Asst/TO, which was their Achilles Heel last season.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wkbu-1zSfc
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Does Draymond do anything but enforcery things these days?
Yes. He does himself no favors with his actions and words and its going to irk some people however Green is still very good at the stuff he has always excelled at. Mainly defense and distribution.

But yeah he does goon stuff too. It works.
 

joe dokes

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ALSO the team is up to 2nd in the NBA by Asst/TO, which was their Achilles Heel last season.
Keeping the TOs about the same (13.6 to13.3)' getting more assists (24.8 to 27.3).
(like giving blood in college; increase the BAC by keeping the alcohol the same but decreasing the blood).
 

JM3

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Dray's also shooting 60% & having his highest scoring season since he was 27 ('17-'18).

He also has a +21.9 on/off, which would be even more impressive if Steph's wasn't +27.3.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Yes. He does himself no favors with his actions and words and its going to irk some people however Green is still very good at the stuff he has always excelled at. Mainly defense and distribution.

But yeah he does goon stuff too. It works.
Agreed. He’s the ultimate “intangible” guy who fills a role in that lineup which would be a glaring hole without him. He’s more valuable to the Warriors than Klay imo.
 

benhogan

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Keeping the TOs about the same (13.6 to13.3)' getting more assists (24.8 to 27.3).
(like giving blood in college; increase the BAC by keeping the alcohol the same but decreasing the blood).
I have nothing to measure it by but it seems like the live ball TOs (that turned into runouts last season) have decreased. The refs are whistling walks/screens more than ever, so we should be happy with a TO flat line (+ Asst/TO increase)
 

MyDaughterLovesTomGordon

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I have nothing to measure it by but it seems like the live ball TOs (that turned into runouts last season) have decreased. The refs are whistling walks/screens more than ever, so we should be happy with a TO flat line (+ Asst/TO increase)
This is a good point. Average team is at 14.9 TO a game this year, vs 13.8 last year.

Staying the same is getting better.
 

joe dokes

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I have nothing to measure it by but it seems like the live ball TOs (that turned into runouts last season) have decreased. The refs are whistling walks/screens more than ever, so we should be happy with a TO flat line (+ Asst/TO increase)
To your point, their TO *ranking* has gone from 13th to 3rd (And assists from 14th to 7th). So, yes, the flat line does represent a better result.
 

HomeRunBaker

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I have nothing to measure it by but it seems like the live ball TOs (that turned into runouts last season) have decreased. The refs are whistling walks/screens more than ever, so we should be happy with a TO flat line (+ Asst/TO increase)
It’s even more important to limit these turnovers without having the take foul to bail you out anymore.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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This team's offensive evolution is something to behold. Before this season, opposing teams such as the Heat were more easily able to bog them down, muck up their sets and force Tatum/Brown into bad decisions (ISOs, inefficient shots etc) because there was really no consistent scoring help after them.

No other teams have been able to do that yet - at least not sustainably - because their rotation is really deep and very sound. Hopefully, the memories Stevens and Udoka after him looking down the bench at what amounts to NBA lint and spare nickels - praying they can steal a few hoops- are long gone.
 

Jimbodandy

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This team's offensive evolution is something to behold. Before this season, opposing teams such as the Heat were more easily able to bog them down, muck up their sets and force Tatum/Brown into bad decisions (ISOs, inefficient shots etc) because there was really no consistent scoring help after them.

No other teams have been able to do that yet - at least not sustainably - because their rotation is really deep and very sound. Hopefully, the memories Stevens and Udoka after him looking down the bench at what amounts to NBA lint and spare nickels - praying they can steal a few hoops- are long gone.
Yep. The Celtics just keep coming in waves. Draft picks notwithstanding, we basically traded two guys who aren't real players in Nesmith and Langford for two guys who are in White and Brogdon. The difference is huge.

Joe deserves some credit for implementing a movement offense that players buy in on. The cutting is shit that we just didn't see here before. Guys getting a lot of easy baskets.

Miami was shorthanded. But we threw the ball around like idiots and barely played any defense at all for long stretches, and it didn't matter.
 

lovegtm

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Yep. The Celtics just keep coming in waves. Draft picks notwithstanding, we basically traded two guys who aren't real players in Nesmith and Langford for two guys who are in White and Brogdon. The difference is huge.

Joe deserves some credit for implementing a movement offense that players buy in on. The cutting is shit that we just didn't see here before. Guys getting a lot of easy baskets.

Miami was shorthanded. But we threw the ball around like idiots and barely played any defense at all for long stretches, and it didn't matter.
And Miami was hitting ridiculous 3 after 3 over tight contests. Hightower had open ones and stuck them, but they shot wayyyy over expected value on the others.
 

Eddie Jurak

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This was kind of a strange game that finally ended as a clear Celtics win because of Tatum and Brown dominance.

The Celtics opened up an immediate big lead, then slacked off, especially defensively, and let the Heat back into it. It then went back and forth for a while. A big advantage for Miami during the first three quarters was Jaylen Brown's foul trouble. The Celtics entered Q4 up by 6 and a Brown + subs lineup with Tatum resting let Miami close the lead to 2 before Horford and then Smart came back in. With about 7 minutes to go, Miami called a time out with the Celtic up 8 points (116-108) and I thought Tatum would be coming back and that would be it, but Mazzulla decided to hold Tatum back and Miami went on one more small run, scoring 5 straight before Tatum did come back in. Celtics went on to win 134-121 and the margin could have been bigger.

They broke the Miami 1:3:1 zone on the first play, by having Horford with the ball in the corner pass to Tatum cutting stright down the lane for a dunk. The Celtics offense used to seem relucant to break zones. There have been a lot of games where teams have gone to zone and the Celtics offense goes through a few possessions were they seem stuck motionless on the perimeter before finally using Horford or Tatum to break it. Today they just broke the Heat zone onnthe opening play. Brogdon, too, can break zones pretty effectively and he showed it later in this game.

Jayson Tatum just exploded in this game, finally shooting well from three (8 of 12) on his way to a 49 point, 11 rebound game. He also got to the line (11-12) and had 3 assists and 2 steals.

Miami's secret weapons in this game were Jaylen Brown's foul trouble and turnovers. He picked up a couple of offensive foul calls on his way to playing only 16 minutes in the first three quarters. At the half, he had 15 points on 6 of 9 shooting, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and... 4 turnovers and 3 fouls. Then, in the opening minute of the third quarter, he picked up an offensive foul, his 4th foul/5th turnover, and then sat for the rest of the quarter. But he had a great 4th quarter, playing all 12 minutes and scoring 11 points, including some amazing drives to the basket. He had one transition dunk where it looked like Miami tried the "let's put 2 guys on either side of the lane and have them turn and watch Jaylen drive by them for a dunk" defense. I think Jaylen is the guy who has struggled the most to adapt to the Celtics new offense, particularly when it comes to turnovers (all told he had another 6 today), though he has been an figuring it out more lately.

This really wasn't a great game for the Celtics bench, other than Brogdon who was great, shooting 7 of 10 for 21 points and 6 rebounds. Williams, Kornet, and Hauser (who played only 7 minutes and missed both of his attempted threes) did not do much.

Smart had a 10 point, 5 reound, 9 assist game, which is starting to be the expectation for him. White shot well and scored 15 points with 5 assists. And Horford was quiet offensively, scoring 6 points by hitting 2 of 4 three attempts and adding 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

Beyond Brown foul trouble, turnovers were a big problem for the Celtics, they had 17, most of which were hy Brown (6), Brogdon (4), Smart (3), and White (3). Helped Miami stay in the game long enough to have a shot in the 4th.

Onward to Miami in Miami, maybe with Jimmy Butler back.
 

benhogan

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Yep. The Celtics just keep coming in waves. Draft picks notwithstanding, we basically traded two guys who aren't real players in Nesmith and Langford for two guys who are in White and Brogdon. The difference is huge.

Joe deserves some credit for implementing a movement offense that players buy in on. The cutting is shit that we just didn't see here before. Guys getting a lot of easy baskets.

Miami was shorthanded. But we threw the ball around like idiots and barely played any defense at all for long stretches, and it didn't matter.
Agreed. It's weird. 134pts. 13pt win. Yet it felt tenuous.

Guess we're conditioned to always be apprehensive with the Heat/Spoelstra

That's a loss last year with all the 3s (18-40, 45%) the Heat buried
 

128

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This was kind of a strange game that finally ended as a clear Celtics win because of Tatum and Brown dominance.

The Celtics opened up an immediate big lead, then slacked off, especially defensively, and let the Heat back into it. It then went back and forth for a while. A big advantage for Miami during the first three quarters was Jaylen Brown's foul trouble. The Celtics entered Q4 up by 6 and a Brown + subs lineup with Tatum resting let Miami close the lead to 2 before Horford and then Smart came back in. With about 7 minutes to go, Miami called a time out with the Celtic up 8 points (116-108) and I thought Tatum would be coming back and that would be it, but Mazzulla decided to hold Tatum back and Miami went on one more small run, scoring 5 straight before Tatum did come back in. Celtics went on to win 134-121 and the margin could have been bigger.

They broke the Miami 1:3:1 zone on the first play, by having Horford with the ball in the corner pass to Tatum cutting stright down the lane for a dunk. The Celtics offense used to seem relucant to break zones. There have been a lot of games where teams have gone to zone and the Celtics offense goes through a few possessions were they seem stuck motionless on the perimeter before finally using Horford or Tatum to break it. Today they just broke the Heat zone onnthe opening play. Brogdon, too, can break zones pretty effectively and he showed it later in this game.

Jayson Tatum just exploded in this game, finally shooting well from three (8 of 12) on his way to a 49 point, 11 rebound game. He also got to the line (11-12) and had 3 assists and 2 steals.

Miami's secret weapons in this game were Jaylen Brown's foul trouble and turnovers. He picked up a couple of offensive foul calls on his way to playing only 16 minutes in the first three quarters. At the half, he had 15 points on 6 of 9 shooting, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and... 4 turnovers and 3 fouls. Then, in the opening minute of the third quarter, he picked up an offensive foul, his 4th foul/5th turnover, and then sat for the rest of the quarter. But he had a great 4th quarter, playing all 12 minutes and scoring 11 points, including some amazing drives to the basket. He had one transition dunk where it looked like Miami tried the "let's put 2 guys on either side of the lane and have them turn and watch Jaylen drive by them for a dunk" defense. I think Jaylen is the guy who has struggled the most to adapt to the Celtics new offense, particularly when it comes to turnovers (all told he had another 6 today), though he has been an figuring it out more lately.

This really wasn't a great game for the Celtics bench, other than Brogdon who was great, shooting 7 of 10 for 21 points and 6 rebounds. Williams, Kornet, and Hauser (who played only 7 minutes and missed both of his attempted threes) did not do much.

Smart had a 10 point, 5 reound, 9 assist game, which is starting to be the expectation for him. White shot well and scored 15 points with 5 assists. And Horford was quiet offensively, scoring 6 points by hitting 2 of 4 three attempts and adding 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

Beyond Brown foul trouble, turnovers were a big problem for the Celtics, they had 17, most of which were hy Brown (6), Brogdon (4), Smart (3), and White (3). Helped Miami stay in the game long enough to have a shot in the 4th.

Onward to Miami in Miami, maybe with Jimmy Butler back.
Friday nite game is in Boston, too. This is the new format the NBA adopted this year.