A Celebration Of Marcus Smart And A Celtics Blowout Win Was Exactly What The Doctor Ordered
The fact that the Celts played a severely undermanned Grizzlies team last night is mostly an afterthought. Last night wasn't really about bouncing back from an extremely embarrassing loss to an undermanned Lakers team the game before, it was a night of celebration. The franchise and fanbase's first opportunity to honor and thank Marcus Smart for his 9 years as a Celtic and one of the best Celtics of this post-Big 3 era.
The fact that there was also a basketball game in which the Celts won by a billion didn't exactly hurt either. Given that Smart won't have a jersey retirement ceremony, this was probably the closest he was going to get, and it was nice to finally not lose one of these celebrations (see: the KG and Pierce losses on their jersey retirement). Overall it was about as perfect a night as you could possibly ask for.
In terms of the actual game? I'm not sure what you can really take away from a game against a roster that was about 95% rookies and 10 day guys given how many injuries the Grizzlies have. The main takeaway is probably the fact that the win now moved the Celts to 17-2 against teams under .500 on the season. You know all the freaking out about how the Celts lack mental toughness and can't win a title because they lost a game to a bad team? Those 2 losses mark the 2nd fewest in the entire NBA.
Crazy what things look like when you incorporate a little perspective huh?
I'll tell ya what though, it makes no difference to me how the Ws get stacked as long as the Celts continue to stack them. That's what matters right now, and at 38-12 and 23-3 at home, I'd say they're doing a pretty fine job of doing just that. Frankly I thought they missed an opportunity to keep the score at 36 to honor Smart, but I'm also probably the only person on the planet who thought of that.
On what was an emotional night, it's hard to have too many complaints about how things turned out. Honoring a Celtics legend and winning by 40 is a fairly decent way to spend your Sunday night, so let's talk about it.
The Good
- Easiest no brainer in the history of no brainers to kick us off this morning. Everything around Smart's return was awesome, from his pregame presser
to his pregame chat with Abby
to the actual tribute video/moment
I'm not sure there was a dry eye in that entire building. For me, two parts hit especially hard. First, when we heard Tommy talk about Marcus during the tribute video, he LOVED Marcus probably more than you love members of your own family. Then, after it was over and Mike Gorman hopped back on the mic all choked up, you could tell he was also crying.
That's when I teleported to Waterworks City, population me.
I knew it was going to be emotional heading in, and it sure was. It's hard to really explain to people who aren't a part of this fanbase, but all you had to do was watch this game to see what this player meant to the city and the fanbase
I don't know how Brad is going to do it, but we will live in a world where Marcus Smart is back to wearing his 36 in Celtics green. It's destiny.
- Once that ceremony ended, we were able to get back to our regularly scheduled programming of Jayson Tatum absolutely demolishing this Grizzlies roster. It was very obvious early in this game that Tatum had zero interest of playing the 4th quarter, and that's exactly what he went out and did
34/8/7 in just 30 minutes on 12-22 (6-12) and a team best +27, there was no resistance for Tatum in this game. I'm not sure there was a single defender that Tatum even noticed while on the court. He got to where he wanted to go with easy, he got whatever shot he wanted, and once his outside shot was locked in early you knew this was going to be a 3 quarter type of night.
I never understood the takes following the Lakers loss that Tatum "doesn't have that killer instinct" or whatever bullshit you hear whenever the Celtics lose. It was a bad game, get over it. The reason this way of thinking is stupid is now after this blowout win and great Tatum performance, does he now have that killer instinct? How do we get to pick and choose which game against a bad team means Tatum is soft and which means he's a killer?
It's lazy analysis in my mind. Given what we've seen Tatum pull off over the course of his career, down 3-2 in multiple series, 6-2 in Game 7s etc, none of that shows that he has a killer instinct, but a random February loss to the Lakers shows he doesn't have it? I get it, the Celts are a fucking wagon right now so you need something to get on them for, but if the Lakers loss meant Tatum is soft, then this 40 point win in 3 quarters of work must mean he's mentally strong and has a killer instinct right? I'm just trying to keep up.
- I don't really care who it comes against, if I see the Celts throw up 131 points in regulation while makeing 19 3PM and finishing with 30 AST, it's going in this section.
The fact that this was a wire win, was never tied, a lead as high as 4- and the Celts winning the points in the paint, 2nd chance points, and fastbreak points battle, this was the very definition of an ass kicking. No matter where you looked, the Celts took care of business.
Defensively? They allowed 91 points on 38/28% and forced 20 TOs.
Obviously, this was barely an NBA caliber roster for the Grizzlies, but I'm sorry I forgot the part where I'm supposed to give a shit. That's not my problem, I'm not a Grizzlies fan. I care about protecting the Garden floor and the Celts getting back into their winning ways, it doesn't matter to me what is in front of them. It could be a contender, it could be the worst team in the NBA. A win is a win is a win.
- If the Grizzlies proved they had no answer for Tatum, they most definitely didn't have an answer for the 7'3 basketball unicorn and human cheat code known as Kristaps Porzingis
How about 27/8/2 on 10-17 (2-5) and a +26 in his 27 minutes? That seemed pretty good.
A great balance of inside/outside offense from KP against a team with zero frontcourt
and it looked like the additional rest did his rolled ankle some good That's maybe the biggest thing when it comes to this lighter schedule right now, the Celts will finally have some time to rest their knacking injuries, specifically KP. It's fairly obvious what he can do as a two way monster when he's healthy, and as his ankle gets stronger and stronger, I imagine his outside shot will continue to round into shape as well.
Of all the great things that KP has shown us so far this season, I continue to be so impressed with his timing and ability to block shots/absorb drives without fouling. That length is a legit weapon. The shooting, the post ups, all that shit is great, but having a big that can not only impact shots, but actually block them all without fouling is a huge boost to this defense. Players keep trying to attack him because they think he's slow, and the next thing you know he's blocked the shot and the Celts are off in transition, which is almost always an easy bucket.
- One of the issues against the Lakers in that loss was the fact that the Celts got dogshit guard play. Things aren't going to look all that great if the Jays are struggling and then the Celts are also getting subpar guard play from Jrue/White. You can survive with one, but you can't survive with both.
That's why it was good to see Derrick bounce back to looking like the player we've seen all year
Over his last 4 games, White is back to shooting 45/43%, on 7.5 3PA a game. Hell, in their only losses over the last 8, we saw White go 0-8 (0-4) against the Clippers and 4-11 (1-5) against the Lakers. When Derrick is making his jumpers and getting into the paint and converting his floater, it changes how this Celtics offense looks.
What I've loved this season is even coming off his stinkers, we're still seeing Derrick shoot the ball with zero hesitation and the utmost confidence. There's been no reverting back to what we saw in 2021. Everyone who has watched this team knows that they are at their best when Derrick White remains aggressive, so it was great to see him finish 5-10 from the floor, with 8 of those FGA being 3PA (4-8).
Add in some steals and a very impressive block at the rim, this was as vintage a White performance as we've had all year.
- We will one day tell our grandkids about where we were when we witnessed Jordan Walsh's first basket as a Celtic. What a moment
We all see it right? The size, the length, the way he sees the game already, there's something there with Jordan Walsh. I'm not sure what that is yet considering he's only played like 15 seconds this season, but I'm intrigued.
What stood out most to me is even after his first basket, Walsh continued to play the right way. He didn't hunt his shot and take bad shots just because he had scored. I think part of that is the fact that he's most likely deferring to the vets, but also I think it goes to show how he reads a game. I think we all wanted to see him grip it and rip it, but instead he chose to make the right play and keep the offense flowing.
Playing in blowouts against a G-League team is one thing. But after seeing it, I just want to see what happens when he plays in a game against a team with a pulse in a situation where the Celts aren't up by 35+. Let's just see it!
- We might now also be at the point where Neemias Queta has shown Brad Stevens enough to convert his Two Way contract into a guaranteed deal between now and the deadline.
To me, his offensive rebounding is a weapon. His size is legit and his 6 fouls can be a weapon. I do think that what Brad decides when it comes to Queta is going to dictate what path he goes down in terms of trades. If he has the 4th big on the playoff roster in Queta, he can use his assets to address the wing position for depth.
If he doesn't feel like Queta is ready, he needs to use it to bring in a big. But given how Queta has looked over these last few weeks, I feel like you can do a whole lot worse when talking about a 4th center.
The Bad
- I may be alone here, but I would like Jrue Holiday to remember that he's a pretty damn talented offensive player and understand that it's perfectly OK for him to be aggressive and take layups. This is true especially on nights when Jaylen or Tatum are out, so him finishing with just 6 FGA isn't the way.
How many times have we seen Holiday be right at the rim in a position to take a layup floater, only to pass it back out to 30ft? I get having ball movement and forcing the defenses to rotate, but I also would have no problem if Jrue Holiday decided to score every once in a while as well.
Last night marked the 3rd straight game that Jrue has had under 10 FGA, and he hasn't had more than 11 since the 1/22 win over DAL. I get everyone is sacrificing, and no player is sacrificing more than Holiday given his current role, I just don't want him to become too passive just for the sake of being passive. It's OK man, you're really good! Your offense is partly why Brad traded for you!
This doesn't mean he needs to spam early shot clock pullup 3s or anything like that. I'd just like him to chill out on passing up point blank looks when he doesn't have to.
- The Celtics are suddenly incapable of holding an opponent to under double digits on the offensive glass. The allowed another 16 last night, and over their last 5 games the Celts rank 30th in the NBA, allowing 14.8 OREB a night.
They are literally the worst team in the NBA at keeping their opponents off the glass.
So many people freak out about 3P volume when it comes to a playoffs series, and to me that's nowhere near the issue that OREB is. Giving your opponents multiple possessions is the kiss of death, especially when that team is going to be pretty damn good in the playoffs.
It's no surprise that when the Celts have been near the top of the league in opponent OREB, they never lose. This past week? They've been dogshit and are 3-2 as a result.
The Ugly
- Whole lot of cardio from Pritchard and Hauser in this game. Pritchard wasn't anywhere close with his 2-8 (0-6), and honestly I wonder how much concern this gives Brad. If the shooters aren't shooting, the bench gets real thin real quick.
Speaking of the bench, the fact that Svi/Banton continues to ice Jordan Walsh out whenever they are at the end of these blowouts is complete bullshit. I get it, they are playing for their bench spot lives, but guess what? Brad has probably already made up his mind at this point. We as fans NEVER get to see Walsh on the court, so when he finally is, I'd like him to touch the basketball. Way too many possessions where they simply never look his way or refuse to pass him the ball, even when he's open.
That needs to stop. I don't need Lamar Stevens isolations when I could have Jordan Walsh possessions.
Look, the Celts schedule is about to lighten up big time as they finally get to play all the teams the rest of the East has been feasting on, so "learning" anything from these games isn't going to be the easiest task. The only thing that matters is they don't play with their food and get out with a win and health. If they do that, everyone is happy. With another two days off before their game with the Hawks, this is going to be their life until the All Star break, and they have to take advantage. Up 5 over MIL entering today, I see no reason why that lead can't grow before everyone hits pause for a week.