It Will Never Get Old Watching The Celtics Break The Bucks Spirit (Again) And Send Them To An Even Lower Level Of Futility

In most cases, I'd say it's no big deal to beat a 2-8 team that currently sits 14th in the Eastern Conference. When you're at the top of the mountain, you should be beating the worst teams in the league. 

Fortunately, that is not the case when it comes to beating the Bucks (again). In fact, since Joe Mazzulla arrived in 2022-23, the Celtics are 6-3 against the Bucks in their 9 games. They live at a 54-win pace when playing their supposed "challengers," which, in my opinion, is pretty good. 

As low as the Bucks probably are right now, this loss sends them to an even lower level of futility. You see, after getting completely embarrassed by the Knicks in their previous game, this was supposed to be the game where they punched back. Giannis complained about effort (which is always a great sign!) and the Bucks stormed out to a 16-2 lead in just 2 minutes. They made every shot they took. Early in the 2nd quarter, they were up by as much as 17 points.

Surely they won that game and it has sparked a turnaround for their entire season right?

Oh, damn, that score says they lost by 6? Well, at least they were awesome for the first 2 minutes!

Listen, do I think the Bucks will spend all year in 14th in the East? Of course not. But what this game did tell us is no different from what the first meeting told us. The Bucks have a matchup problem when facing the Celtics. Sure their offense is dogshit because Doc Rivers has no idea what he's doing, but this is simply a talent issue. The second their magnet ball bullshit stopped, so did their chances to win this game. They don't have the perimeter defense, they don't have the shooting, they don't have the depth. Sorry, don't get mad at me, this is just the reality of the two rosters.

And sure, we were told the Bucks vastly improved their depth last year by adding….Taurean Prince and Gary Trent Jr, and that THIS was the year Dame was in the best shape of his life, and none of those pieces have proven to make a lick of difference in this matchup. Gary Trent Jr didn't do shit in the first meeting, Dame is shooting 36/18% vs BOS so far this season, and if you want to tell me the Bucks didn't have Khris Middleton OK fine. The Celtics haven't had their 7'3 unicorn either and how do we think things are going to look once he's back?

To be honest, I'm not sure how the Bucks solve their Celtics problem. It's not like there's a trade out there that will turn their trash into blue-chip talent. This was the life they wanted when they decided to move on from Jrue Holiday and hire Doc Rivers, nobody forced them to do either of those things. And now here they sit as far away as ever from contending. That's tough.

Now, to the fun stuff

The Good

- When you realize that Jayson Tatum has spent years and years tormenting the Bucks both at home and on the road, you start to understand why their entire fanbase suffers from broken brain syndrome when it comes to Tatum

There really must be something about this building, because Tatum truly loves shutting that entire arena up. There was the 46 point Game 6 in the playoffs a few years ago, and then last night in a game Tatum didn't even really shoot all that well, when it came time to bury these old ass bums for good, he delivered. 

You see, there's a benefit of your best player being a true 3 level scorer and not someone who just has to run into crowds and wait for officials to bail him out. Even with Giannis doing his best to undercut Tatum and try some of his typical bullshit

when it came time to deliver the knockout blow, Tatum was more than happy to oblige 

Right in Giannis' grill. Again. Interesting how he was able to close out here without sliding under his foot isn't it? Weird!

So far through 11 games, I think it's fair to suggest that we are not only witnessing the best basketball of NBA Champion Jayson Tatum's career, we're watching one of the best starts to a season of any player in the NBA not named Nikola Jokic. We've now reached the point where 31/12/6 has become the standard. It's not like Tatum was incredible in this game, he was just his normal dominant self

There are currently only two players in the NBA who lead their team in PPG, RPG, APG and SPG. Nikola Jokic and Jayson Tatum. That's it, that's the list. 

What makes Tatum special is you're getting elite production on both ends of the floor. He can guard 1-5, he rebounds at an elite level for a wing, his playmaking continues to get better and better, and he's a true 3 level scorer, all of which is happening at the beginning stages of his NBA prime years. Appreciate what we are watching, because players like this do not come around often.

- The more we see him play the more it becomes a legitimate conversation that 6MOY might not be enough when it comes to Payton Pritchard. I mean, this is a starter level player on the majority of teams in the NBA

If it weren't for Payton Pritchard and is ultimate green light, the Celts are down by 25+ early in this game. At a time when the Bucks couldn't miss and the Celts were playing full on CTE basketball, it was Pritchard's makes that kept them attached and never let things truly get out of hand. To do that on the road off the bench is big time stuff, because it wasn't like he came in and then got warm before burying 3 after 3 after 3. He came in and IMMEDIATELY started making off movement 3s.

To me, this development is the biggest reason for his jump. He's no longer just a C&S guy. Now he's running off screens like he's Patty Mills or some shit and it's made him so much tougher to guard. At this point I'd say Pritchard has a pretty nice lead on the 6MOY race, but how about MIP? I mean, he's making a gigantic impact on the best team in the NBA. Is Pritchard's development and improvement not what MIP should be about? I think it is.

- I'm still waiting to see the Celts do it for a full 48 minutes, but for as horrific as their team defense was in the first 24 minutes, the defense they played over the final 24 minutes was the stuff of legends. The Bucks scored just 48 total points, never scoring more than 23 in either quarter. They finished 36/20% with 8 TOs while only getting to the line 9 times.

So, not only were the Celtics finally much better at providing resistance, they did it without fouling. All that fake bullshit from deep that MIL was making in the first half clearly gave them a false sense of hope, because their entire starting group went a combined 0-9. Honestly, once the prayers stopped dropping the Bucks became very easy to guard. All you really have to worry about is Giannis barrelling into the paint, there's no real movement, everyone sort of just stands around and watches Giannis Dame ISO, and if Dame isn't getting the fake bailout fouls he's pretty much useless. 

- Once the Celts came out in the 3rd with a quick 12-1 run in the first 3 minutes of the 3rd, you could feel the spirit of the Bucks breaking before your eyes. All that work in the first half gone in a blink of an eye, and from there the rest was history. Just 15 points in that 3rd quarter, what we saw was a championship response from a championship team. Simple as that. They cut the bullshit, played to their standard and the Bucks simply couldn't match due to their aging roster.

- On a scale of 1-10 how badly do you think it burns Bucks fans to watch Dame throw up stinker after stinker vs BOS only to see Jrue Holiday make great play after great play to seal the win?

Publicly they'll deny it, but you know it burns them inside that Holiday has been so good for the Celtics. How could it not? If the roles were reversed it would bug the shit out of me, and in a weird way despite being older it sure looks like Jrue's game is going to age much better than Dame's, so that's tough.

- I really like how down the stretch of this game the Celts made a consistent effort to target Dame on the defensive end. It didn't matter who it was, they were Dame hunting. Killer Whale offense like you read about. This is important for two reasons

1. He can't defend for shit

2. Making him work repeatedly on defense against bigger stronger players kills his legs, which eliminates his offense

This is the problem the Bucks have no way of really solving. Teams are always, especially in a playoff series, going to hunt Dame and make him work defensively. The fact that the Celts can do it with their point guard (Jrue) or either wing (Tatum/Brown) means there's truly nowhere to hide Dame against this roster. If his legs are cooked and he has no lift/range on his shot, he's a minus player. Sorry, that's the truth. 

- After being pretty "meh" against the Nets, this was also a nice bounce back effort from Derrick White as well. I'll always take 6 AST and 0 TOs, but the beauty of Derrick White is that you know in your heart if there's a big shot to be made, he's going to make it

An efficient 50/50% with 3 3PM, few were bigger than this make right here

What you're seeing there is the empowerment of Mazzulla Ball. This is what happens when Derrick has the confidence to shoot without hesitation because everyone knows he's good enough to make a shot like that in a big spot. I could make the case that Derrick White is the best clutch time shooter on this entire roster, and his 60/50% splits in the clutch certainly back that up.

(Also, notice how Giannis was able to close out AGAIN without ending in the landing zone? So weird!"

- Boom roasted

The Bad

- Alright, I'm willing to entertain the idea that Hauser's back is still cooked, because this is getting tough. Another 1-6 (1-5) performance, Hauser is now down to just 30.2% from deep on the year. Considering he's a career 41.6% shooter, that is pretty drastic. The law of averages tells us things will level off, but he doesn't look anywhere close on his 3PA right now. The thing is, given the Celts wing depth it's not as if they can just rest him, but there has to be something else at play here other than just your normal shooting rut. 

We've seen Hauser shooting ruts before, I'm not sure we've seen them span 8 games. Just something to keep an eye on.

- Everything about the first 24 minutes of this game. For the second straight game, we saw the Celts fall in a quick 16-2 hole. Their defense was nonexistent, their offense was lazy and settled way too often, and while it's great that they have the mental toughness to dig out of those holes, how about not getting in them in the first place?

For the last handful of games, I've hated how the Celts have started these games. Over their last 3 games, they have a -10.2 net rating in the first quarter, which is 23rd in the league. Their ORTG of 101.3 ranks 25th, and this is WITH Jayson Tatum being the best first quarter player in the entire league this year.

The point is, over the course of 82 games, you cannot live like this. Sure you may win the game now, but it's a long season. Having to repeatedly dig yourself out of these type of holes is taxing, and frankly this team is too good to be down 14 points in 2 minutes to start every game. I'm not sure if it's a focus issue or opposing teams are just super jacked up to play and try and beat them or what, but what I do know is the Celts have been nowhere close to good enough to start games for some time now.

- I can't sit here and tell you a combined 11-34 (5-17) from the Jays is "good". It was Jaylen's first game back so he gets a bit of a break, but that doesn't excuse his poor decision-making at times. His hip was hurt not his brain. On a night when his shot wasn't there, I didn't need him holding the ball and then taking 35 footers that were nowhere close. Those may as well have been turnovers.

At times when Tatum had a smaller player on the block, I don't need him fading away. Go at the guy, you're Jayson Tatum.

So while it's great the Celts can still win when their best players shoot like shit, eventually they'll play a team with an actual pulse and both will need to be much more efficient.

The Ugly

- It remains insane that Giannis plays under a different set of rules. The closeout on Tatum not even getting reviewed was extremely fucked, the fact that he's allowed to swing his elbows at people's heads and that isn't reviewed is fucked, and the fact that this for some reason isn't a travel because it's Giannis is you guessed it….fucked

Wouldn't you know that when Giannis was the victim of a play that was a clear flagrant (Jaylen's shove) suddenly the officials COULD review plays? Weird how that works isn't it? When it happens to Tatum, they get a "sorry, we missed it!", yet when it happens to Giannis it somehow is always called. 

Again, all I'm looking for is consistency. Why is that so hard? 

The bailout fouls on drives I can live with. That shit happens. But the blatant ignoring of the actual rules of basketball when it comes to Giannis is what is indefensible. Last night may have been one of the worst cases we've had all year.

But hey, whatever. The Bucks are 2-8 and a complete disaster, even with the help. Meanwhile, the Celts wagon keeps on rolling to an NBA leading 6-1 road record. These two teams couldn't be headed in more opposite directions, and at the end of the day, that's all that matters.