The Celtics Avoid Disaster In Philly Thanks To Isaiah Thomas Per Usual
Much like Friday night against SAC, last night’s game was important for a number of reasons. One, you can’t lose to the Sixers under any circumstances, especially when their best player doesn’t play. Second, people seemed to have a tough time with reading comprehension when I said SAC was a must win the other night. Well this game is similar NOT IN A SENSE THAT THEIR SEASON DEPENDED ON IT, but instead that these were two very winnable games against bad teams that the Celts really needed to win because their schedule is about to be a fucking bitch. This game was important because anytime you can win on the road on the second night of a back to back that’s a positive. I don’t care if they won by 1 point, or 40 points.
Last night was also a relief because if you remember the first few weeks of the season, the Celtics lost games like this to shitty teams. It’s why everyone was a bit frustrated with their start, so it was good to see them avoid potential Twitter disaster.
When you woke up this morning you see the Celts are now in sole position of the 3 seed, and if they win in HOU tomorrow they’ll be on a 51 win pace. All this talk about how this team needs to make trades, or this season is a disaster have been greatly exaggerated.
But like with most Celtics wins, this game was all about Isaiah, so I won’t waste anymore time. Let’s begin
The Good
– Big, BIG night for the Isaiah Thomas defenders and supporters. Games like this are what makes it all worth it, all the Twitter fights, all the blogs, this game is the reason we fight because let me make myself very clear. Isaiah Thomas is have an ELITE season whether you want to admit it or not. He is developing into a legit STAR whether that is hard for you to accept or not. Big time players step up with the game on the line and give you the “there is no way in hell we are losing to the fucking Sixers” performance, and that’s exactly what Isaiah did.
First, the line: 11-19 (2-3) 37 points 4 rebounds 7 assists 2 turnovers.
Off the bat what stands out to me is the efficiency. Coming off the disastrous shooting performance the night before, it was great to see Isaiah not only shoot well from the floor, but also get to the line at an elite rate (13 made FTs). Philly had absolutely no chance of staying in front of Isaiah at any point in this game, and when Isaiah knows he can get to wherever he wants on the court, he usually has a shot chart like he did last night
This is about as dream offensive scenario as I could want for Isaiah, so it’s no surprise he had a big night. And here’s the thing, I fully understand this was against the Sixers, who are god awful, but I also fully give zero shits. When I heard that excuse yesterday all I could do is laugh because to me that just shows how desperate you are to discredit what he is doing.
So let’s talk about the fourth quarter, because really the Celtics lose this game without it. Heading into the final frame Isaiah had played just 25 minutes, and the game was tied at 74. He had 24 points with about 6 minutes to go, and next thing you know he’s scoring 12 straight. He finished with 13 huge fourth quarter points, not to mention 2 assists, so in a quarter in which the Celts scored 33, Isaiah pretty much accounted for half of them.
Think of everything this team said they wanted in a “go to player” when the rebuild started and try and tell me Isaiah isn’t fitting that bill. You can’t.
His performance was so great I could cut it up and break it down, but you should enjoy it uninterrupted.
– Offensively, it’s hard for me to be unhappy with how the Celtics played. I’ll never complain when they shoot 50%, and I thought they were much better when it came to shooting the three. Not in terms of the percentage, but I can live with 26 attempts. I especially love to see more FTA then 3PA, and that’s what we got in this game (29 vs 26).
The key in my opinion was the Celts being relentless in getting Okafor in the P&R. The knew it would work and they went back to it about 100000 times. Okafor had no idea how to defend it, and really the Celts got whatever they wanted when they screen with his man. I know there are some people who begged the Celts trade one of the BKN picks for Okafor, and I’m sorry, I just do not see it.
– As great as Isaiah was, his Tacoma Twin was no slouch either. After a couple rocky shooting performances, Avery really has turned things around since Thanksgiving. Another 20 point 9 rebound performance on 50% shooting in this game, Avery’s rebounding continues to be the biggest surprise of the season for me. How has he not slowed down even a little? I don’t think there is one person on this planet that had Avery Bradley leading this team in rebounding, but here we are.
You know Avery is feeling good when his midrange game is on point. NBA teams often try to avoid the midrange jumper, some say it’s the worst shot in basketball, but I had Avery 6-8 from midrange, and when that happens, the Celtics offense is tough to stop.
– I won’t say they played great, but FINALLY the Celtics got some life from their second unit. I thought Jaylen looked OK after finally getting some good minutes (15), and a lot of that probably has to do with this being a back to back. As is tradition, Marcus didn’t shoot the ball well, but did everything else, Kelly didn’t play much but also didn’t miss a shot, and Jonas, despite what happened, threw in a solid 5/6.
Now when the Celts play a good team, this production from the second unit is going to have to go WAY up, but on a night when they needed everyone on the roster, at least they showed up.
– A quiet but solid night from Jae Crowder won’t jump off the box score at you, but I care more about the min (32) and the shooting percentages (50/50%). Throw in four rebounds and three assists, and this was the sort of do everything game that makes Jae so important to this team
– The best part of last night? That picture at the top of this blog. Boy did seeing that make my heart overflow. I’m not sure what my favorite part is. Gerald drinking a fucking Modelo, Jaylen nutting, Kelly being Kelly, Brian Doo the GOAT, to James Young simply being around to be a part of it, just a fantastic picture.
– Heading into halftime you’d think the Celtics were down 400 points. My Twitter feed was loaded with people raging, calling to fire Brad, all this shit. Honestly I was a little offended because it’s as if nobody is paying attention. EVERYBODY should know that a slow first quarter is going to equal a great third quarter. We’ve done this dozens of times by now, but let’s check the tape
First quarter: 22 points on 56% shooting (weird). Down 30-22
Third quarter: 29 points on 52% shooting. Tied 74-74.
You can try and deny The Theory all you want, but that’s like saying Global Warming isn’t a thing.
– Brad ATOs with the game on the line continue to be solid as fuck. I won’t lie, I do not miss the days of Paul Pierce dribbling for 17 seconds only to not get an elbow jumper off.
– Also quickly, I’m not saying Walter saved the season, but Walter saved the Celtics season. Pre-Walter: 3-4. Post-Walter: 12-8. Feel free to thank him when you have a moment.
The Bad
– OK look, if you need to see my type it I will. I did not enjoy how the Celtics let Philly hang around, especially at the end of this game. At that point you need to step on their throat and call it a day, but the Celts had trouble putting this team down.
– Part of that was their inability to guard the three point line. I wasn’t aware that Philly had some of the best three point shooters in the league, but watching them go 15-33 is a problem. It will always bother me when the Celts decide not to guard the three point line, especially in a game in which the opposition is knocking them down.
– Poor James Young was the only player to get a DNP.
– The race for the Shitty Player Who Is Shitty But Plays The Celtics So He Isn’t Shitty Award was about as close as it’s been all season, but the committee has decided to go with Sergio Rodriguez. Not only did he score double what he averages on the year, but as a 33% three point shooter he made 4-7 and was a huge part of why the Sixers played so well. This is a career 4/3 player, but just add him to the list of guys the Celtics make look fantastic.
– We didn’t get to see Embiid. I know he doesn’t play back to backs, but you’re lying to yourself if you weren’t sad he didn’t play. He’s that amazing.
The Ugly
– Listen I know we’re internet friends, and I will always stand up for him but look, the blog game is a tough place. We are fair around these parts, so when you get murdered like Jonas did, I have to call it out.
The good news is absolutely everyone who has played any sort of competitive basketball has had a moment like Jonas did here, but shit man. Ts + Ps to his family.
So with this win on the first game of a three game road trip, and really a stretch where they’ll play eight on the road in their next 10, you gotta take these wins any way you can get them. The course of the season does not change one bit based on the fact that they beat Philly, but had they lost, who the hell knows what happens. With teams like HOU/ORL (always tough for Cs)/OKC/TOR/SA/CHA up next, I think this stretch will give us a clearer picture of how the Celts stack up.
12 down 40 to go