Goes back to the game around NYE 2017/2018
A little over 5 years ago…where does the time go?
View: https://youtu.be/difg1ERWZfU
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2022-2023 General Celtics thread
- Thread starter RorschachsMask
- Start date
A little over 5 years ago…where does the time go?
View: https://youtu.be/difg1ERWZfU
That remains near the very top of the list for Celtics regular season wins for the post Pierce era. That version of Harden was the very best - he would win the MVP that season, after finishing 2nd the year before (and he'd finish 2nd the following season as well). And Smart just went and snatched his soul. That said, my favorite moment of that clip is without a doubt Chris Paul smiling in shock, at 4:56.
It may get lost in the incredible ending (and the Horford going 5-5 from 3 in the 2nd half), but I greatly enjoyed Brown going full Jordan (including slight push off) on Tucker late in the 4th to keep Phill at arms length:
View: https://twitter.com/espn/status/1629689990111281153?s=20
View: https://twitter.com/espn/status/1629689990111281153?s=20
I can’t find a clip of when Smart drew consecutive charges from Harden including one completely pointless one near mid-court where Smart was laughing at him from the floor.
I did find one of Harden knocking Smart like 20 feet back and then doing a little shimmy to show off… and then absolutely bricking it.
I did find one of Harden knocking Smart like 20 feet back and then doing a little shimmy to show off… and then absolutely bricking it.
This is from awhile ago, and obviously Tatum’s sample is smaller, but yeah it’s a ridiculously low percentage shot in late game situations.
View: https://twitter.com/lissmx14/status/1603060150671380480?s=20
I missed the game, but ... Philly's 35 foul shots to Boston's 12 really stuck out in the box score. I realize that, in game threads, there's always bellyaching about the refs but Embiid alone got six more foul shots than the entire Celtics team. The Celtics couldn't have been that passive on offense, could they?
Philly was the beneficiary of some very questionable calls, particularly a couple against Smart that took him off his game.
That said......Embiid earned almost everything he got, and was a total monster. His gameplan to attack early to avoid doubles worked great.
On the other end, it was less that the Celtics were passive, and more that Embiid was really intimidating down low, combined with Tatum playing one of the worst games I've ever seen him play.
It was nice to squeak out a win, but this was another indication of team weaknesses that need to be addressed in the final quarter of the season.
In 2 games since the break, Tatum has 9 turnovers, Brown and Smart 7 apiece. That's how they lost in June. The rest of the team has only 4 turnovers combined in those 2 games (White 2, Brogdon 1, Rob 1). If Smart, Brown, and Tatum aren't better with the ball against the best teams, the Celtics aren't winning this year any more than they did last.
Mazzulla was the right guy to hire to coach this team, but right now some of his tactical decisionmaking is poor and hurts the team. At the end of the day, I don't care whether he calls time outs because the other team is on a run. That doesn't always work. But a benefit of not calling those type of time outs is that there are more time outs to use situationally, and Mazzulla lets key moment after key moment go by without a timeout.
There was a classic example last night. Tatum gets the huge tip in to put the Celtics up 4 with 1 minute left. Grant fouls Harden at the other end, with 46 seconds left, and he hits both to cut the lead to 2. Mazzulla has 2 time outs, and he could call one here to set up the Celtics for the final 46 seconds. If the Celtics go fast they could try to get 2 for 1, for example. But Mazzulla does not call a time out here, and that is OK. If they have a quality possession and score that all but puts the game away, and they don't necessarily need a timeout to be able to do that. But they don't have a quality possession, they have a busted possession that ends with Tatum throwing up a desperation airball with 1 second left on the clock. Mazzulla absolutely needed to call a time out once he saw that the play was going nowhere. But he didn't.
At the end of the play, he challenged the call that Tatum's shot missed the rim, and that burned a time out. He lost the challenge, but that wasn't a bad use of a challenge/time out. It did let him reset the team for the next play, etc. But not calling one earlier was not just a bad decision, it was a type of bad decision that Mazzulla makes repeatedly. All the more so when you consider that ATO plays actually seem to be a Mazzulla strength. Embiid was fouled at the other end and hit his free throws to tie the game with 10 seconds left. With 5 seconds left, Mazzulla calls his final time out and sets up a play that does what it is supposed to do - get Tatum a decent shot he can make. And he does.
Personnel is another issue. Derrick White was the best Celtic on the floor last night. The bench players (and Rob) were generally better than the starters. But White is getting 7th man type minutes. Last night White's strong play allowed the Celtics to come from behind and nearly put the game away, only to have the starters nearly blow the lead they were handed. White checked in with 6:51 left in the third and the Celtics trailing by 11 (67-56) and looking like they weren't going to even make a game of it. By the end of the quarter, they were up 80-78, a 24-11 run to take the lead. White played the first 5:20 of the fourth and the Celtics extended their lead to 97-91. Overall, 41-24 during White's 12 minutes. White did not see the floor again until the final play, as Philly went on a 16-10 run to tie it up against the starters.
White cannot be 7th on the team in minutes while he is playing better than most if not all of the guys ahead of him. Last night, the Celtics offense only had ball movement and assists while White was in (White himself had only 2 assists, but the offense moved the ball with him and didn't without him).
In 2 games since the break, Tatum has 9 turnovers, Brown and Smart 7 apiece. That's how they lost in June. The rest of the team has only 4 turnovers combined in those 2 games (White 2, Brogdon 1, Rob 1). If Smart, Brown, and Tatum aren't better with the ball against the best teams, the Celtics aren't winning this year any more than they did last.
Mazzulla was the right guy to hire to coach this team, but right now some of his tactical decisionmaking is poor and hurts the team. At the end of the day, I don't care whether he calls time outs because the other team is on a run. That doesn't always work. But a benefit of not calling those type of time outs is that there are more time outs to use situationally, and Mazzulla lets key moment after key moment go by without a timeout.
There was a classic example last night. Tatum gets the huge tip in to put the Celtics up 4 with 1 minute left. Grant fouls Harden at the other end, with 46 seconds left, and he hits both to cut the lead to 2. Mazzulla has 2 time outs, and he could call one here to set up the Celtics for the final 46 seconds. If the Celtics go fast they could try to get 2 for 1, for example. But Mazzulla does not call a time out here, and that is OK. If they have a quality possession and score that all but puts the game away, and they don't necessarily need a timeout to be able to do that. But they don't have a quality possession, they have a busted possession that ends with Tatum throwing up a desperation airball with 1 second left on the clock. Mazzulla absolutely needed to call a time out once he saw that the play was going nowhere. But he didn't.
At the end of the play, he challenged the call that Tatum's shot missed the rim, and that burned a time out. He lost the challenge, but that wasn't a bad use of a challenge/time out. It did let him reset the team for the next play, etc. But not calling one earlier was not just a bad decision, it was a type of bad decision that Mazzulla makes repeatedly. All the more so when you consider that ATO plays actually seem to be a Mazzulla strength. Embiid was fouled at the other end and hit his free throws to tie the game with 10 seconds left. With 5 seconds left, Mazzulla calls his final time out and sets up a play that does what it is supposed to do - get Tatum a decent shot he can make. And he does.
Personnel is another issue. Derrick White was the best Celtic on the floor last night. The bench players (and Rob) were generally better than the starters. But White is getting 7th man type minutes. Last night White's strong play allowed the Celtics to come from behind and nearly put the game away, only to have the starters nearly blow the lead they were handed. White checked in with 6:51 left in the third and the Celtics trailing by 11 (67-56) and looking like they weren't going to even make a game of it. By the end of the quarter, they were up 80-78, a 24-11 run to take the lead. White played the first 5:20 of the fourth and the Celtics extended their lead to 97-91. Overall, 41-24 during White's 12 minutes. White did not see the floor again until the final play, as Philly went on a 16-10 run to tie it up against the starters.
White cannot be 7th on the team in minutes while he is playing better than most if not all of the guys ahead of him. Last night, the Celtics offense only had ball movement and assists while White was in (White himself had only 2 assists, but the offense moved the ball with him and didn't without him).
Mazzula's ATO on Tatum's jumper seemed pretty good though. And it was good have a TO left for that possession. Agree on White getting more minutes down the stretch, but who do you sit?
The timeout stuff seems nitpicky to me, although Mazzulla could probably improve at calling mid-possession timeouts late in games.
I agree that White's minutes need to increase. He's been the 3rd-best player on the team for awhile now, and is better at initiating the offense than Brogdon, and a better scorer than Smart.
There is at least a sound thought process here though: the Al+TL lineup utterly dominated the league last year, and Mazzulla wants to see whether that can come back, now that everyone is healthy. That seems reasonable: you have a lot of evidence that you're basically the 96 Bulls when that lineup is clicking, and it hasn't played at all this year. That lineup makes the rotations such that it's hard to get DWhite the minutes he needs and deserves.
If it turns out that TL just isn't himself, Horford has lost a step, or that White has hit a new level that demands he play 33 mins/game (I think that one is the most likely), then yeah, you adjust. But Joe would be negligent in his coaching duties if he didn't see whether the magic is still there.
You sit one of the centers and play Tatum at the 4. Or you sit Smart as a one-time thing, because he just didn't have it last night.
Exactly. I said this last night when discussing matchups. Philly presents issues as we are forced to play 2LARGZ (I can’t call Grant a big but he’s largz) due to Embiid, obv Tatum/Jaylen and Smart is the physical guard denying Harden his spot to get Embiid the ball where he wants. It all begins defensively regardless of how loud Bill Simmons screams about it on Twitter…..which is generally a good sign we are doing things correctly. The Simmons Theory = The louder he screams the greater the chance that the coach was correct.
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Derrick’s mere presence occupying the weak side motivated Horford to go on his 3-pt shooting barrage in the 3Q……and Embiid’s eyes lit up down the stretch after he was replaced. Are we really back to plus-minus nonsense?
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View: https://twitter.com/Kungu_NBA/status/1629845355264192517?s=20
This is why I really don't buy most of the Mazzulla late-game tactical criticism. They execute about as well as anyone late-game, and have been better against good teams. This isn't 2019-20 Bucks bum-hunting.
The Celtics are now 14-5 against top-10 net-rating opponents, with a +9.6 point differential in those games, per CTG. The next closest is Dallas at +2.3.
At a certain point, NBA basketball is really hard, and you can always find examples of execution problems. On balance, however, the Celtics are really, really good against good opponents and in crunchtime situations.
Criticism is reasonable, because regular season success doesn't guarantee you anything, and there is always stuff to improve. I do think, however, that if the coaches are going to take criticism, they should also get recognition for how much the team has improved in execution, seen from a 30,000 foot level.
This is why I really don't buy most of the Mazzulla late-game tactical criticism. They execute about as well as anyone late-game, and have been better against good teams. This isn't 2019-20 Bucks bum-hunting.
The Celtics are now 14-5 against top-10 net-rating opponents, with a +9.6 point differential in those games, per CTG. The next closest is Dallas at +2.3.
At a certain point, NBA basketball is really hard, and you can always find examples of execution problems. On balance, however, the Celtics are really, really good against good opponents and in crunchtime situations.
Criticism is reasonable, because regular season success doesn't guarantee you anything, and there is always stuff to improve. I do think, however, that if the coaches are going to take criticism, they should also get recognition for how much the team has improved in execution, seen from a 30,000 foot level.
Yeah, if you look at the game in terms of away/home records, Celts came into the game at 19-10 (away) and Philadelphia 24-8 (home), so on that basis alone, with both teams at basically full strength, the oddsmakers might have favored Philly by a point or two. So the outcome was pretty close to expected. Glad Celtics came out on the winning end!
Embiid had one of the better games I've seen him play, on both ends, and Tatum was hot garbage. Celtics aren't going to win tons of those, and they did a great job not letting go of the rope in the 3rd quarter. Yeah, Al had a heater, but the team didn't waste it, because the Jaylen bench unit followed up the heater with a great opening to the 4th.
I actually like that CJM doesn't call timeouts to stop runs. I think it conditions a lot of resiliency and focus. When Philly came roaring back in the final minutes to take the lead and the crowd was on fire, every other coach in the NBA would have called a time out. Mazzulla didn't, instead allowing the players on the floor to regain control of the game in hostile territory...and he was right. They played well down the stretch to eek out the win, and as other posters mentioned, he did use the timeout he didn't call in the final moments of the game.
Not only did the Celtics win the game, but it also feels like the Celtics are tougher and focused than their opponents. It's advantage to be able to withstand runs and momentum and remained focused and poised to seize control of the game back.
Not only did the Celtics win the game, but it also feels like the Celtics are tougher and focused than their opponents. It's advantage to be able to withstand runs and momentum and remained focused and poised to seize control of the game back.
If you go blow by blow in your post, you seem to praise Mazzulla’s use of TO last night on balance, including a TO that they wouldn’t have had if they called one or two earlier, yet you think one alleged misstep in TO usage overwhelms what you seem to think were good TOs. And you can’t know if they wouldn’t have needed a TO or two in the final seconds if they used them earlier, but I think you’d be criticizing Joe if they did find themselves tied with no TO in the last ten seconds notwithstanding more aggressive TO usage earlier.
Yeah, I mean I think nearly everyone is happy with the result and most of the process. The NBA is super competitive.
I think it's easy to read into every little mistake this team makes and think it's representative of a fatal flaw.
Some of the disagreements also seem to have to do with risk tolerance. If you're okay with this team being one of five or six teams that can win a title, and maybe the one with some of the best odds, you'll be thrilled with last night. If you want a sure thing... I don't know what to tell you.
I think it's easy to read into every little mistake this team makes and think it's representative of a fatal flaw.
Some of the disagreements also seem to have to do with risk tolerance. If you're okay with this team being one of five or six teams that can win a title, and maybe the one with some of the best odds, you'll be thrilled with last night. If you want a sure thing... I don't know what to tell you.
Hey, 2018 Warriors highlights will always be there on Youtube. Time to become a retroactive fan of the most dominant team ever!
The other way you can look at this (and the fact that Brogdon was +18) is that Niang and McDaniels were -22 and -23. respectively, which basically means our bench was a lot better than theirs last night.
Of course, Brogdan is a former All-Star and if White had hit 39% of 3Ps at SAS, he would have been an All-Star so that's not surprising.
There was no challenge on the Tatum shot that missed the rim. Philly called timeout after it. Nothing burned there.
It's why he had two timeouts left to set up one play, Philly took their foul to give, then Celtics called their final timeout to change to the last play.
Pretty useful having those timeouts saved there.
I just rewatched the last minute: you're absolutely correct. The Celtics had two timeouts when Tatum took his desperation shot, and had two left on the next Philly possession.
Mazzulla could have called a timeout once Tatum got the ball with 9 seconds left without an advantage, and I think this is part of the game he could improve on. However, that's a really marginal criticism. Having 2 timeouts with 20 seconds left is valuable (the Celtics got value from them just in this game!).
A Tatum iso on the perimeter, low-ish shot clock, isn't bad EV: if he gets doubled, he passes to Smart for a decent shot. If not, he usually gets off a 30%+ 3-pointer. In this case, because Tatum played the game like he was drunk, he only got off an off-balance 2. It probably is better to save the timeout there and expect better execution from Tatum in general.
Going to the previous possession: horrible defense by Grant. He was clearly told to force Harden right (where Horford and Smart could have helped off). Instead, he reached, and let Harden go left to his strong hand, where Philly had 2 good shooters stationed, so it was harder for Tatum to help. Because Grant was beat so badly, he had to foul to avoid an easy layup.
It's always fun to nitpick the coach's timeout usage, but the players failed to execute some pretty basic stuff in that stretch, on both ends. Letting Jaylen get switched on to Embiid is also pretty bad, and rarely happens in the normal flow of the game.
Agreed... Game to game +/- is pretty dumb. Also ignoring it over 1600 minutes (or a career) is equally as dumb
Not saying you're doing that, but people dismiss it like it means nothing after 3/4s of a season.
To your point, Smart's net on/off this year is -0.8, White's is +10.2. There are certainly arguments on both sides for the descriptive and predictive nature of that particular stat, but it's definitely not a one game sample.
For those that want to savor more of yesterday's game
Does Embiid get hives guarding the perimeter?
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nMgsc6oL40
Does Embiid get hives guarding the perimeter?
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nMgsc6oL40
Man this guy really sounds totally disgusted. LOLFor those that want to savor more of yesterday's game
Does Embiid get hives guarding the perimeter?
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nMgsc6oL40
He's not great at it, but it's similar to Utah's situation the past few years with Gobert. Is the problem that Embiid is unwilling or unable to extend pressure out to the perimeter? Or is the problem that he has to stay home to clean up everyone else's mistakes, because there are precious few plus defenders in their rotation beyond Embiid?For those that want to savor more of yesterday's game
Does Embiid get hives guarding the perimeter?
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nMgsc6oL40
Thanks for posting. Amazing thing I learned is that Luka only had 7 makes (of which 4 were 3Ps). Without looking it up, feels like Luka has at least 3 buzzer beaters against the Cs alone.
Agreed, very similar to Gobert (Joker, Lopez, & any classic BIG). Joel rarely extends, it's probably a combination of both (elite rim protector is one of his super powers)
The counting stats are at the rim (rebounds + blocks). So it's really hard to convince a BIG that it's better for them to guard the perimeter when it will kill their box score stats. Plus there is a higher probability they will get embarrassed by a dribble drive when they guard the 3pt line.
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It was announced early yesterday as part of todays game report so it sounds like this may have been a planned absence as it didn’t just come up today.
@luckiestman has the full end-of-game clip above, but here’s the shorter clip of the back to back offensive fouls:
With a fair whistle, we lose tonight by 8-10 instead of 15. We also got away with a bunch of blatantly moving screens. The refs weren't the difference here, frustrating as it was.
We all know the story tonight, and it was not hitting our 3s. There's off-nights, and then there's... whatever the hell this was. With even a bad shooting night from 3, we're still in this in the last few minutes. With an average shooting night, we're decently ahead, even with the ref nonsense.
1 of 82, whatever.
We all know the story tonight, and it was not hitting our 3s. There's off-nights, and then there's... whatever the hell this was. With even a bad shooting night from 3, we're still in this in the last few minutes. With an average shooting night, we're decently ahead, even with the ref nonsense.
1 of 82, whatever.
Our best player is -32 on court, +24 off court with 13 turnovers over the last 3 games . Him getting his all star mvp head out of his ass would help.
I love Tatum and have commented about how much he's matured since day one, but he absolutely has come out of the break like he wants his flowers and the refs won't call FTD, let alone a foul on his man.
He's started to get better at the constant turn to the ref after every drive, but now it's back in a big way. Is he getting screwed? It does seem like he gets a brutal whistle for a guy who averages 30 a game, but it's really hard to judge.
I'm going to harden my Cassandra reputation around here by saying this, but something looks very wrong with this team.
Tatum had his All Star MVP fun and then came out of the break and delivered three straight subpar games. This is not MVP or first team All NBA stuff.
Going to the wire with Philly is to be expected, but the subpar performance of the starters in that game (they were saved by White and the bench) is a bit of a concern.
Nearly losing to the Pacers and then failing to compete against the Knicks is something else entirely.
And using "didn't hit threes" is a bullshit excuse. When Tatum walks the ball up and jacks up a three at the earliest opportunity, the only Celtic to touch the ball on the possession, that's not good offense.
There were other weird things in this game. Mazzulla gave Blake a lot of first quarter minutes to disastrous effect. I'm not ripping Mazzulla or Blake for this - it was an unusual move that didn't work but he must have had a reason for it - but it is a little weird to see Blake in their ahead of 2 better players, Muscala and Kornet, the latter of whom has been here and played more than Blake this year.
Muscala, after his 43 minutes against the Bucks, had yet to see the floor again until, finally, the mid to late third quarter of this game. As has been noted, the Celtics struggled mightily from three in this game, enough so that the consensus here seems to be that this poor game should not be held against them. But Muscala is a caeer 40% shooter from three who had shown a consistent ability to get that shot off quickly. He came into this game with 23 three attempts in 81 minutes as a Celtic. And during the last 5 minutes of the third, they did not look to him from three even once. Someone, I think Marcus Smart, actually ran one pick and pop with him but did not give him the ball. So, they struggle from three, they finally decide to try their 40% shooter from three, and then they make minimal effort to get him the ball.
One possible explanation for the dismal play out of the break is that they Celtics are basically in playoff cruise control mode. But Tatum, who has yet to play a good game since his All-Star MVP show, went 36 minutes, leaving the game only because he was thrown out of it. You don't play Tatum those kind of minutes if you are just working on playoff readiness and not so worried about winning.
Offensively, under pressure, this team goes away from some of the things that make it good. Defensively, this team has not yet reached the level of play that brought it to the finals last year.
They have plenty of time to right the ship before the playoffs, but that needs to actually happen.
Tatum had his All Star MVP fun and then came out of the break and delivered three straight subpar games. This is not MVP or first team All NBA stuff.
Going to the wire with Philly is to be expected, but the subpar performance of the starters in that game (they were saved by White and the bench) is a bit of a concern.
Nearly losing to the Pacers and then failing to compete against the Knicks is something else entirely.
And using "didn't hit threes" is a bullshit excuse. When Tatum walks the ball up and jacks up a three at the earliest opportunity, the only Celtic to touch the ball on the possession, that's not good offense.
There were other weird things in this game. Mazzulla gave Blake a lot of first quarter minutes to disastrous effect. I'm not ripping Mazzulla or Blake for this - it was an unusual move that didn't work but he must have had a reason for it - but it is a little weird to see Blake in their ahead of 2 better players, Muscala and Kornet, the latter of whom has been here and played more than Blake this year.
Muscala, after his 43 minutes against the Bucks, had yet to see the floor again until, finally, the mid to late third quarter of this game. As has been noted, the Celtics struggled mightily from three in this game, enough so that the consensus here seems to be that this poor game should not be held against them. But Muscala is a caeer 40% shooter from three who had shown a consistent ability to get that shot off quickly. He came into this game with 23 three attempts in 81 minutes as a Celtic. And during the last 5 minutes of the third, they did not look to him from three even once. Someone, I think Marcus Smart, actually ran one pick and pop with him but did not give him the ball. So, they struggle from three, they finally decide to try their 40% shooter from three, and then they make minimal effort to get him the ball.
One possible explanation for the dismal play out of the break is that they Celtics are basically in playoff cruise control mode. But Tatum, who has yet to play a good game since his All-Star MVP show, went 36 minutes, leaving the game only because he was thrown out of it. You don't play Tatum those kind of minutes if you are just working on playoff readiness and not so worried about winning.
Offensively, under pressure, this team goes away from some of the things that make it good. Defensively, this team has not yet reached the level of play that brought it to the finals last year.
They have plenty of time to right the ship before the playoffs, but that needs to actually happen.
"This is not MVP or first team all NBA stuff": I swear you're trolling at this point. There's literally a discussion in the EDIT: Postseason concerns thread about how this is absolutely something even All-NBA players do. With, you know, multiple people giving examples. Examples, which I would note, whenever you make sweeping generalizations like this, you are loath to actually give.
They're 7-3 in their last ten. They just won 2 out of three on the road with Jaylen Brown missing for the Knicks game. I can't understand how quickly people panic.
Defensively this team is, btw, 6th-best in the NBA.
"They are 44-18. They have won at a >70% clip"
"Yes but the 30% of the time when they are losing, they play terribly"
"Yes but the 30% of the time when they are losing, they play terribly"
I said defensively the were better last year, and it seems that at least we agree on that.
Jokes aside, the level of terrible they need to play at to lose a game is truly one of the most impressive things about this team.
Last night they shot the ball like they'd all gone for laser eye surgery from Dr. Nick Riviera, and yet the Knicks never pulled away, it was pretty much always within the 9-15 point band for the entire second half.
We've all seen them have bad nights and win, even a few terrible nights against bad teams and win. How many 20-point holes have they pulled themselves out of? It's part of what makes the team so fun for me, honestly, is how scrappy they can play when it's just not their night. Very mentally tough team, imo.
I don't blame Mazzula for trying Muscala in that game, using a five-out offense, but it didn't work. The Knicks isolated Brunson on Muscala and let him go to work. The Celtics tried to counter with the kick-out/scram double team, and the Knicks shredded it for open buckets. On the other end, I don't think it's a lack of effort to get him the ball, I just thought he wasn't open.
That game was....whatever. We're post All-Star, but not yet in postseason tuneup territory. No Brown. The Knicks are a tough team to run up against in a regular season game like that. They play hard, they're a good defensive team. They know where their shots are going to come from. When Randle shoots the ball like that, Brunson is doing his thing, and guys like Josh Hart get the C's to turn the ball over, it's going to be a tough night.
Of course the Celtics, even without Jaylen Brown, should beat this Knicks team. Of course they should play with more focus, especially offensively, where they need to stop turning the ball over. Of course it's frustrating when they play great defense for 20 seconds and then break down at the end of the possession for an open three.
They're going to be fine. If they're healthy, they're one of the five-ish teams that can win the title. It looks like they're reasonably healthy. Tatum will figure it out because that's what he does. He absolutely does suffer without a running mate, though. As good as he is, he's not Luka offensively. When he's the other team's sole focus defensively, he's still prone to making bad decisions.
That game was....whatever. We're post All-Star, but not yet in postseason tuneup territory. No Brown. The Knicks are a tough team to run up against in a regular season game like that. They play hard, they're a good defensive team. They know where their shots are going to come from. When Randle shoots the ball like that, Brunson is doing his thing, and guys like Josh Hart get the C's to turn the ball over, it's going to be a tough night.
Of course the Celtics, even without Jaylen Brown, should beat this Knicks team. Of course they should play with more focus, especially offensively, where they need to stop turning the ball over. Of course it's frustrating when they play great defense for 20 seconds and then break down at the end of the possession for an open three.
They're going to be fine. If they're healthy, they're one of the five-ish teams that can win the title. It looks like they're reasonably healthy. Tatum will figure it out because that's what he does. He absolutely does suffer without a running mate, though. As good as he is, he's not Luka offensively. When he's the other team's sole focus defensively, he's still prone to making bad decisions.