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Last Night Was Real And It Was Spectacular

Greenie
Greenie4/02/2016 5:16 PM

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My apologies for the delay, I had to rewatch the game to convince myself this was real. Before we start bring up your mug and refill on some Kool-Aid, because things are about to get real real fun.

Now don’t let anyone tell you they saw this win coming. I was happy with a cover. Based on the double OT loss we all were of the thinking that the Celts could hang around, even make it competitive for long stretches, but 54 games is a serious number. So in that regard, even as the biggest Celtics honk on the internet I can’t sit here and tell you I knew this was going to happen. That’s what makes it so crazy to believe. Does this change anything? For GS, no. For Boston? In my mind it changes everything. On a night when they saw ATL lose, but CHA and MIA both win (fucking schedules) the fact that the Celts were able to keep the pace while overcoming the team of death is a big deal.

If the Celtics are going for the “nobody believes in us theory”, they are playing it to a T. It goes without saying this is the biggest win of the year, and we need to appreciate it. First we had the Avery game winner in CLE, now this. We are truly #blessed.

What’s crazy is that it took the Warriors probably playing their worst game of the year to even have a chance, and they still had a shot to win it late. That’s scary. But you know what they say, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. And boy were the Celtics lucky, maybe the luckiest team in the history of the NBA last night.

GS now joins the likes of OKC/LAC/CLE/TOR as elite teams the Celtics have now beaten.

Slice it up anyway you want, but this team is for real. FOR REAL. Sure they have their warts, but they have shown on any given night, they can play with the best of the best, and win.

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Now also seems like a good time to tell you to clear your schedule. This is going to take a while. Side effects of reading this blog any further have been found to be dizziness, arousal, laughter, pain, joy, heart palpitations, ejaculation, and hubris. But it will be awesome.

Let’s begin.

The Good

– So this was basically Rocky IV in real life. No joke, the exact same shit. The Warriors, much like Drago, were built in a lab, they aren’t real. The Celtics were the little guy, the opponent that was supposed to get crushed. The underdog if you will. Oracle Arena is about as hostile an environment as you can have, or you know, like Russia in the 80s for an American. Bad things happen there.

As the game started, GS came out right away swinging. The 6-0 lead early was just like the start of the fight. Things didn’t look great for the Celtics. But then, they clawed back, they took punch after punch and stood tall. The Celts were able to do the unthinkable and hold Curry/Klay to actual human levels. The second quarter they backed it up, just like in the second round of the fight, they gave the punch that finally cut the Warriors and took a halftime lead. GS streak of 21 consecutive halftime leads snapped. One streak down. I mean tell me this wasn’t the end of first half?

That second half, and third quarter especially, was carbon copy the final round of this fight. Steph Curry came out absolutely firing, landing punches left and right from ridiculous places. There was simply nothing the Celts could do. But with each make, the little guy came right down and punched back. The Celtics basically were taunting the Warriors, as if to say, “go ahead, give me your best shot, hit a trillion threes in our face, we’ll still beat you”. Sort of like Rocky asking to be punched in the face. They took GS best punch and survived. In fact, they extended their halftime lead. As the clock wound down the Celts made enough plays to finally land that nasty hook, and put this team to sleep. Like I said, this game was Rocky IV.

– BRB just need to change my pants real quick

– So how did they do it? How did the Celtics stop the longest home winning streak in NBA history? Well I’d like to start on the defensive side of the ball. The fact of the matter is, the Celtics actually match up well against the Warriors. Their biggest strength plays into our biggest strength. I feel way more comfortable having someone like Avery Bradley or Marcus Smart defend a team’s best player, than having to worry about some dominant low post player. The Celtics perimeter defense makes them who they are, and I think we’ve seen enough times where they are able to give GS’s backcourt fits. You can never really shut them down completely, because remember they are aliens, but the on ball defense the Celtics played last night is why they won this game.

The pressure led to another huge factor of how the Celts were able to hang around, and that’s the 22 turnovers. Curry had 9 himself, and this was huge because it prevented GS from going on any sort of run early. They probably won’t turn over the ball like this again all season, so its most definitely an outlier, but I’ll take it. Credit the Celts for making it tough.

– Much respect for Avery Bradley. Tasked with slowing down Steph Curry, Avery still managed to continue his trend of strong offensive play in the first quarter. His seven points were a team high, and it was how Brad was getting him shots that I love. He played every minute of that opening quarter, and without him, the Celts are in a big hole.

But back to his defense. Avery is putting on a god damn clinic. Shut down Lillard, and held Curry to one of his worst games of the year, despite him making 8 threes but whatever. His feet are just so quick, and when you combine that with his athleticism and anticipation you’re seeing why players are calling him the best on ball defender in the league.

– I would love to be Jared Sullinger’s agent right about now. Holy moly. 7-13 (2-4 from deep) 20 points 12 rebounds 3 assists against the best team in the league on national TV. Sully was absolutely fantastic. Sure he started slow with some annoying contested long jumpers, but the kid showed up. GS didn’t have an answer for his ability to use his gigantic ass down low. He consistently drew his man away from the basket to create space offensively, since GS had to respect his jumper. And his four offensive rebounds were all big, and led the team.

Sort of like the Aminu disaster, GS probably went with the idea that hey, if Sully makes it from deep so be it. They took that same gamble, and Sully burned them.

What impressed me most about Sully was how soft he is around the basket. His ability to get position and find a way to get a tip was crucial to this win. His hands and timing are elite level.

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- In all these great performances, perhaps none was more important than Evan Turner’s. He was a team high +9, and his 21/5/5/3 on 8-13 shooting were what you could call, GIGANTIC. After missing a couple midrange jumpers, early, Turner figured it out and was as reliable as any option the Celts had. His bucket with 1:15 left to go up 105-101, and then his FTs to ice it with 18 seconds left were absolute BALLS. He’s another guy that is playing his way into a shit ton of money. At this point, as crazy as it sounds, I’ll be disappointed if he leaves. He’s turned me.

– Welcome back everybody who gave up on Marcus Smart. You’re so stupid. Again, his line was nothing to sneeze at (7/4/6) but this was another example of Marcus making huge impacts in other ways. He is such a better player when he is asked to be a play maker, rather than a scorer. How many times did we see him use his size to get into the paint, draw a defender, and make the right interior pass decision for an easy layup. That’s the stuff that excites me. He has the physical tools to overpower his opponent, either coming off the wing, or in the post so you live with his shooting woes. We do that because every once in a while, he’ll actually knock one down

Marcus played all 12 minutes in the fourth and that tells me that Brad trusts him, and realizes he puts them in winning situations. If it’s good enough for Brad, it’s good enough for me

– Terry Rozier’s rebounding. This is becoming a thing, and I don’t hate it

– OK, it’s time. It’s time to talk about Isaiah. His third quarter battle with Curry was surreal. He showed he belongs in the discussion of elite guards in this league. As unconscious as Curry was , Isaiah matched him every step of the way. After being scoreless in the first half, all it took was a new pair of shoes and one make, and we were off.

22 points in the second half, Isaiah was the nail in the coffin. His performance was why I wasn’t mad at him for what happened in POR, this is how Isaiah makes his living. Getting into the paint, being aggressive, and making shots. I mean look at this!

How Isaiah gets these running hook shots off over 7 footers makes zero basketball sense. For a guy they say he can’t be your best player or is a bench player on a title team, he went into the lions den and showed why he can. Isaiah wanted the ball in his hands late, and with the game on the line, made the play of the game, over one of the best defenders in all of basketball.

For me, it was also good to see Isaiah get back to his old ways of finding his teammates for buckets. His 6 assists were his highest total since March 21st. Da Gawd showed why we should believe in him, and I’ve never been more proud to be an Isaiah defender than I am right now.

– I cannot stress enough, this win came on a back to back and without Jae Crowder. This all makes zero sense.

– We also got a look into the genius of Brad Stevens with his ATO to end the first half with an Avery three. I’ve said it before, but I trust Brad Stevens with my life. That little bit of momentum heading into the half was so important to the psyche of the Celts IMO, all credit to Brad.

– Another underrated key factor was the ability of the Celtics to hold the Warriors to just one shot trips. They won the rebounding battle 44-41, but they held GS to just 8 offensive rebounds. The work on the glass is an area the Celts tend to struggle, but last night it was great.

– This kid’s tears

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– How we feeling? Everyone OK? Need a second? It’s ok don’t be embarrassed, take your time.

The Bad

– Look, as great as this win was, the Celtics were by no means perfect. For example, I hated their first couple possessions. They didn’t guard the three point line on one end, and Sully was taking long contested jumpers that he missed, Amir was taking threes, and the offense made no sense. I thought their decision making early was a little suspect, primarily Smarts drive with about 30 seconds left in the first where he just forced it. Not the best.

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– Rozier’s shooting might be worse than Smart’s. I know people were ready to sit Smart for Rozier, but let’s pump the breaks. He does a lot of things really well, but right now, shooting is not one of them. His misses aren’t even close.

– I didn’t love the lineup the Celts started the second quarter (Smart/Rozier/Jonas/Amir/Turner). Not enough shooting in my opinion. The Celtics only shot 38% in this quarter, and this lineup had a lot to do with that. Weird choice by Brad.

– No foul on Draymond here. Man the NBA tried so hard to stop this win

– And finally, the worst part about last night, the missed fucking FTs. Had the Celtics lost this game while missing over 10 FTs Barstool would be in the market for a new Celtics blogger because that would have been it for ya boy. This entire trip would be different had they just made FTs, it’s infuriating. I cannot believe this didn’t come back to bite the Celtics. Again, the Celts were lucky as shit.

The Ugly

– lol yeah right

 

And that’s that. What a win, what a night, what a team. This is what it looks like when the little guy wins in real life, and I really really hope Kevin Durant was watching. God I love this team.

44 down 3 to go.

 

 


Greenie
Greenie4/02/2016 5:16 PM