It May Be A New NBA Season, But The Celtics Sure Look Like The Same Wagon That Destroyed The League With Ease

Two games, two 20 point wins. Is that good? Well, what if I told you that had the Celtics not been up 30 heading into the 4th quarter of each game and actually played their regulars and not the deep bench over the final 12, things would look even better? For some that might be hard to process and for most hard to accept, but not us. We watched this movie over 100 times last year. We know that this is simply who the NBA Champions are. They had at least a 20 point lead in 50 of their 101 games last season. So far, they are now 2 for 2. 

The supposed contender and challenger in the East New York Knicks? Light work. Arguably the worst team in the NBA in the Wizards? You can get it too after that fake Jordan Poole bullshit in the first quarter wore off. 

Last season, the Celtics owned the best road record in the NBA at 27-14. They also owned the best record in the NBA against teams under .500 at 30-3. So, does this result surprise anyone? Not really. But this isn't really just about beating the Wizards. Everyone is going to do that this season. This is more about the champs and how they have entered their title defense season looking as locked in and as good as they ever have. Sure it's literally only Game 2, but so what? They all matter. If they had struggled, I'm sure I would be told that matters. So why shouldn't the opposite be true? 

New year. Same wagon. It's as simple as that. 

With that said, let us begin.

The Good

- Serious question, at what point do we think Jayson Tatum finally plays a 4th quarter minute? So far he's 0 for 2 and the Pistons are up next. Maybe Monday against MIL? The point is, while some teams are holding their best players out for "load management" in October, Jayson Tatum is also getting his own load management……while playing games. I could get used to a life where the Celts only need to use Tatum for 3 quarters, and even though watching him play is great, I'll take the monster nights + an early night of rest every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

While what he did to Sarr is going to get all the highlights and the hype, that wasn't even my favorite part of Tatum's night. I know he can break people down and drill threes in their eyeball. Especially a rookie playing in his first game. What I care more about is how Tatum continues to completely dominate every facet of the game while he's on the floor. Scoring, shooting, rebounding, passing, defense, it's all been tremendous.

Take a possession like this. You look in the box score and you won't see Tatum get attributed with any stat for a play like this, but like everything else with this team, it starts with him and his decision making

Forcing a defense into rotation, knowing the entire time where his outlet pass is going to be, not forcing things offensively and instead playing the right way, which ultimately gets rewarded by the Basketball Gods. You see, basketball isn't complicated if you play it the right way and your superstar understands how to fully play Celtics basketball. Quick decisions, playing with purpose, sharing the ball. This team becomes unstoppable when that happens.

By law, I am also required to mention that when it comes to Jayson Tatum's start to the year, he once again finds himself in a sentence with none other than Larry Legend himself

I'm telling you, something happened here

Since that moment at last year's All Star game, everything changed for Tatum. He finally met Larry, which finally led to him winning his own Larry, and now he's starting the year doing shit we haven't seen since Larry. It really makes you think.

- While there were some early signs of bozo basketball from Jaylen Brown, he ultimately calmed down and got back to the regularly scheduled programming of kicking the shit out of everything in his path

You don't need me to tell you what happens when the Jays combine for an efficient 52 points but I will anyway. Blowout city.

With Jaylen, there are still some things I don't exactly love (more on this later) about the start of his season, but I can't help but ignore the fact he's 8-15 from deep and 8-9 from the FT line. I also love how he only has 3 TOs through 2 games and is hitting the glass with force. For as long as KP is out, the Jays being active on the defensive glass is extremely important. They can't just hope Al does everything, that's not fair to him in his elder years. 

What stands out to me with this year's version of Jaylen is just how strong he looks compared to his defenders. It hasn't seemed to matter who is in front of him, nobody has really been able to prevent Jaylen from getting to where he wants to go. This is partly what makes the best duo in the NBA so dynamic. They can shoot, they can hit midrange, they are elite in transition, and they can play bully ball when needed all while guarding multiple positions. How many teams can say that about their two best players? 

- I'd like to present the latest example of Mazzulla Ball and why math matters. In the year of our lord 2024, you are simply not going to beat the Celtics if you lose the 3pt margin 17-7. Of the Celts 90 FGA, 45 were 3PA, mostly generated through good ball movement like you saw above.

The Wizards destroyed the Celts in terms of points in the paint 66-46 and they got to the line 18 times. They won the fastbreak points battle 27-22. Pretty good! Yet, they were down by a billion because shot profile matters. Trading 2s for 3s isn't going to cut it I'm afraid.  

- There aren't too many experiences more enjoyable than watching Derrick White play basketball. It feels extreme calling him a perfect basketball player…..but he's kind of a perfect basketball player. He does everything. The big things, the small things, the quiet things, the loud things. Offense, defense, vibes, all of it is about as good as someone could possibly be

Anyone could have traded for this guy and they just let Brad Stevens get him. What morons. 

The C&S being automatic is nice, but we're used to that by now. What I continue to be happy with when it comes to White's start is how much more he's willing to get into the paint and unleash his floater. I'll also take an uptick in FTA if we're being greedy. On a night where Jrue didn't really give the Celts anything offensively, it didn't matter because Derrick was there to pick up the slack. That's the beauty of this roster. 

- I could not think of something more obvious than Payton Pritchard having a great performance after his brutal 1-9 showing in the opener. Especially in a game against the Wizards with no Hauser. That's a Pro Am Pritchard spot if I've ever seen one, and he of course delivered

Ho hum, just another game with a little 5-10 from deep from a player off the bench (12), something no player in Celtics history has more of. We even got a taste of the Pritchard heave, even if it was 0.1 seconds too late

We all agree he's the best heave shooter in the NBA right? Regular season, playoffs, Finals, it doesn't matter. If he's on the floor, Pritchard needs to get the ball in every buzzer beating heave situation.

- While it may have started out as mostly a joke, the more we see Neemias Queta play the more he really does feel like Rob-Lite. I'm not talking about prime 2022 Rob who was one of the most ridiculous defensive bigs we've ever seen, but the building blocks are there

Queta's path to minutes is simple. Rebound (especially on the offensive glass), protect the rim, catch lobs, and find ways to stay on the court and defend without fouling. While the Celts looks for ways to navigate life without KP, I think Queta proving to be playable is big. Al's minutes need to stay low, and while Tillman is servicable, he's not the same type of vertical threat that Queta is. 

I'll take 12/7 in 13 minutes and you should too. It's a long NBA season and getting playable minutes from your 4th/5th big is an incredible luxury to have. It's felt like this is where we were trending after last year and then what we saw in Summer League, and I'm intrigued in seeing more.

- Tillman's 3 is real. It's time to say it. A respectable 35% doesn't seem too crazy, and really that's all he needs. I will say, there's a difference between being "real" and being "consistent". We aren't at the consistent part yet, but the signs are there. Open corner 3s, pick and pop C&S, those are shots Tillman has proven he can make when wide open. Hitting shots that get contested? We're not there yet, but that's OK.

- While he has lifetime immunity, the Al minutes weren't all that great. He didn't score, defensively he looked a little lost early and did a whole lot of "ah shit" clapping after allowing easy buckets, and to my eyes he looked a little slow. 

It feels mean to even care about this stuff with Al, but I have to tell the truth. We've all seen Horford play better than he did last night, and while it doesn't matter because they won by a billion, these are all things to keep a tab on as the season goes on. I honestly wouldn't hate if he got the night off tomorrow against the Pistons, because the version we got last night is not going to be good enough against MIL on Monday.

- If possible, I would like Joe Mazzulla go to back to the same sub patterns we saw last year. I don't really love Tatum playing the whole first and then sitting the first 5 minutes of the 2nd. I don't love having a Tatum/Derrick pairing and a Jaylen/Jrue pairing when the opposite worked so well last year. 

In back to back games to start the season the 2nd quarter lineups have been pretty dogshit in terms of production. A small sample sure, but I'm not sure why there's been a change here if things clearly weren't broken. We're seeing the offense stall early, no real ball movement, all things that we know don't work.

I much prefer the early Tatum sub in the 1st and then he returns within the first minute of the 2nd quarter along with Derrick. I guess if there's a time to experiment with lineups it's now, but so far the 2nd quarter returns have not been great in my opinion.

- Speaking of their approach, the ball movement wasn't anywhere close to where I think it needs to be and should be for the Celts to be at their best. I know the Wizards are terrible and loaded with bad defenders which can be like red meat, but staying disciplined is important. Not taking the bait and falling into those traps is key, and frankly, it felt like that happened way too often in this game. Sometimes it worked out, but overall it's not the style we know brings the best out of this team.

After a 33 assist 3 turnover showing in the opener, the Celts finished with just 21 assists and 14 turnovers in this win. I can't imagine anyone calling that "good", even if the Celts did hit their magic number anyway (120).

- I can't lie, that Jordan Poole 1st quarter gave me 2022 Finals PTSD. Remember that bullshit halfcourt buzzer beater he hit? Fuck that. Fakest shit we'd ever seen until the Caleb Martin ECF experience. 

The Ugly

- The deep bench should feel shame today. Another chance for them to see the floor and protect a 30 point lead, and another game where they completely fumbled the point differential. Granted these are all rookies/Maine guys but still. Joe isn't going to play the deep bench in blowouts if they continue to play terrible basketball, and selfishly the fact that two separate 30 point wins became 20 point wins all because of the deep bench minutes in the 4th annoys me. I need total and complete destruction, not scoreboard math trying to figure out if there's enough time left to maintain a 30 point lead.

Clean it up.

To no surprise, the Celts once again lead the NBA in wins. Everything we hoped to see to start the year is happening, and they're just getting started. Just think about that for a second. Boy are we blessed.