Disaster Avoided Thanks To Guess Who
This 6 game home stand had a wide variety of wins. It started off by rising from the “dead” and beating WSH to essentially lock down the 2 seed, and had everything from blowouts to nail biters. This may not seem important on the surface, but I put a certain amount of stock in seeing the Celtics pull off a wide variety of wins. People often forget this team is actually really really good in close games, and that’s because of the Real Killa plain and simple. When you have Isaiah you have a chance, when the game is on the line he has the stones and the talent to win games they probably shouldn’t win.
Also, take a look at the standings right now. TOR has passed WSH for the 3rd seed. While a late season game against a poopoo team like ORL may not seem important, it sure looks like this is how things will shake out, which makes that #1 seed VERY important for the Celts. In years past we see this team lose a game like this, the world freaks out and it’s a whole ordeal.
Really the win covers up what would have been an inexcusable performance so it isn’t all lollipops and butterflies, but sometimes you need to win ugly. As I like to say, a wins a wins a win.
Let’s talk about it
The Good
– It’s a shame that Isaiah is having this type of season at the same time Harden and Westbrook are going absolutely bonkers. Any other year he probably wins the MVP, but that is a debate for another day. What isn’t debatable is where we are starting today. All hail da Gawd. Enjoy.
All in all, 35/3/7 with 43/40% splits from our fearless leader. What’s the one thing we all agree a franchise’s best player should be able to do? When enough is enough he puts his foot down and wins you the game. We see all the stars throughout the league do it, and Isaiah is no different. We call him King Of The Fourth and for good reason. How does 9 points on 50% shooting in the final frame sound to you? Here’s why that line matters. In this quarter ORL did what we’ve heard is the key to stopping Isaiah. They threw length at him, guys like Aaron Gordon and shit in hopes that Isaiah wouldn’t be able to carve them to shreds. Well……he did. The cherry on top for me was in his 10 min, he had just 1 TO. In a game where everything seemed to be a disaster for pretty much everyone, it is comforting to know we can always rely on the consistent Isaiah Thomas.
– Another spot start for Jaylen, more intoxicating plays. It really isn’t rocket science, when Jaylen plays more than 20 minutes, he usually turns in a solid performance. In 22 minutes last night he threw in a modest 12/4, but it was how he did it that has me buying more and more Jaylen stock. Those threes in the first quarter? Insert heart eye emoji here. Safe to say were ALL wrong about Jaylen’s shooting coming out of college. His form looks legit and his confidence is souring. That’s a deadly combination.
But aside from his shooting, I am continued to be impressed with his basketball IQ. From early on Jaylen has shown the ability to move without the ball and put himself in a position for easy baskets, usually with great athleticism. You know, like this
– Remember how wonky Brad’s rotations were against MIL? The bench barely played and things looked out of wack. Well wouldn’t you know, things got back to normal and the bench actually played! The way this team plays and the luck they have with health, the second unit is going to be very important, so it was great to see guys like Terry and Gerald play well. As a group they hit the glass, they moved the ball, and most importantly they actually scored the ball.
– OH SHIT THAT’S YABU MUSIC
– Sorry, back to regular scheduled programming. Nice bounce back effort from Jae compared to what we saw against MIL. How he shot the ball in this game was much similar to how he’s played throughout this homestand, and it’s no surprise that when he plays well, this team usually wins. The biggest difference for me was how he approached scoring the ball. Early he was aggressive and focused more on attacking the rim than settling for jumpers, and that mentality makes me very happy. If Jae is going to end up living in that 18/5 range in the playoffs, that changes a lot in terms of how teams are going to have to defend this team.
– Not the most dominant performance from Al, and yet his 12/9/6 were extremely important in this victory. For a guy who supposedly disappears down the stretch of games, it was the exact opposite last night. His late FTs were huge, and his five rebounds (all of which seemed to come in the last two minutes) were even bigger. Honestly, what a fucking month it’s been for the guy. Worth every damn penny for a team in first place.
– Chalk another one up for Angry Brad! Down 64-57 at the half, the Celts entered the fourth up two. The Magic scored 52 points on just 38% shooting in the second half, and while part of that has to do with them being terrible, you cannot discredit the work of Angry Brad.
– I’m all for seeing this team continue to come back from double digit leads. I am not for falling behind by double digits to shitty teams. It’s an internal struggle I deal with.
– Finally, they didn’t blow it.
The Bad
– It is somewhat concerning how bad the defense was for this first half. Coming off a game in which the Celts were unable to string together defensive stops, nothing really changed in this game. Even late in the fourth we didn’t see that true lockdown defense that enables them to pull away. I don’t know if it’s a lack of focus or what, but the defense overall has to improve in the next three weeks in a big way. You defend like this against ANY team that makes the playoffs and you are playing with fire and will probably get burned. That’s a fact.
– One day this team won’t shoot themselves in the foot with a horrendous second quarter. This has been an issue that has plagued the Celts the entire year, and it makes no sense. I get his is when the bench comes in, but even still, giving up 35 points to a team like ORL is simply inexcusable.
– Not great that the Celts lost almost every hustle category. Rebounding, points in the paint, second chance points, TOs you name it the Celts lost it. Some would say that’s the main reason the Celts were lucky to pull this one out. I won’t reject that.
– Thankfully he only took six shots, because Marcus is still shooting like dogshit. Not only that, but I also still hate how four of his six shots were threes. WILL SOMEONE LOCK HIM IN A ROOM AND SHOW HIM SOME FUCKING FILM. JESUS.
The Ugly
– What, the Celtics can’t throw lob entry passes now? When did that become a problem, and why can’t they do it? Soft lobs into the post where ORL has three guys there? Lobs that basically go out of bounds? Clean it up my lord.
– How about this sequence. Jesus fucking Christ
We now move on to a little afternoon date with the Knicks tomorrow before the big showdown with CLE on Wednesday. The seeding seems to change daily so it’s hard to know what I prefer to happen in that game. Part of me wants to blow CLE out so we can see their fans continue to deny being shook, but again I care more about what happens between TOR/WSH and their race. Either way at the moment the Celts continue to sit atop the Eastern Conference, something that really only happens in my 2K season.
Now, say it with me….
49 down 3 to go