Hello Gordon Hayward, I've Missed You
The one thing we know about this Celtics team is that they make no sense. They shouldn’t be able to win like this while missing key pieces, one of which is their best player who is playing at an MVP level, but just like they always do when you think they are going to zig they zag. It’s puts the brains of Celtics fans everywhere in a bit of a pretzel, because part of you wants to say things like “See!! Doesn’t matter who is available, this team has depth and can beat anyone!” But then they are missing players against a team like Milwaukee and it’s “Well, they were missing key pieces!” The whole thing is very confusing so don’t even try to make sense of it.
What we do know is that the Celtics are undefeated in 2019. That’s a great start given how 2018 ended. It’s weird that the Celtics looked more like the Celtics last night, with good shot selection, three point shooting, good defense, ball movement etc despite who was out, but who on earth could complain. They needed a performance like this to kick off their homestand, and sure the Wolves are pretty bad but I don’t care about them. I care about seeing this team play well no matter who they play. Who are we to thumb our noses at MIN when we lost to teams like PHX/NYK/ORL? This team isn’t nearly good enough to take any team lightly, so it was good to see them come out with the right energy and effort in the new year.
We have a lot to get to, so let’s stop wasting time and dive right in
The Good
– I’m starting to think Gordon Hayward really doesn’t like the Timberwolves. His career high of 39 is against them, and he’s now had 104 points against them in his last three games. Last month he had his first great game of the year against this team dropping 31 on the road. Last night? Another 35 points on 14-18 shooting in what was by far his most complete performance of the year
What I don’t want you to do is just blindly say Gordon Hayward is back to the old Gordon Hayward. He’s not. Not yet. But what we can say after watching this performance is it was another step in the right direction. With Kyrie out we needed Gordon to step up and be the #1 option he is used to being, and everything about his approach was perfect. He was aggressive, he attacked the basket, he was money in midrange, and then late he showed the killer fuck you instinct from behind the arc. Look at this shot chart
Tell me that isn’t nearly flawless. While it’d be silly to think Hayward is going to go 14-18 all the time, what you can take away from his performance was the fact that for the first time in a long time he didn’t look hesitant. He didn’t over pass or anything like that. It may seem like something small, but that’s so important as he continues to work back to being the player he was before the injury. Confident Gordon is a scary player, you add in his playmaking ability to that (33% AST% last night) and you have someone who is a real problem.
Defensively, no player scored more than 3 points on Hayward, opponents shot just 2-7 against him so he wasn’t a complete negative on that end either. It was great to see, but we’ve been here before. After the 31 point outing against this team last time he then went on to pretty much stink for the rest of the month. Let’s see him build on this and keep it up becasue guess what, Kyrie is going to be out for a while and they need this level of play from Hayward.
– Does it make sense that Terry Rozier is a completely different player when he starts? Nope, sure doesn’t. But it was Terry that got things started for this team yesterday, started the game 5-5 and even went full Rondo
While the scoring is nice, we know Terry can get hot at any moment, that’s not all that new. What was new though was how much better his passing looked. He actually ran an offense at times! He did a much better job of switching up his shot chart, with only 5 of his 10 FGA coming from behind the arc. I was proud of Terry that he realized there was such a huge mismatch at the guard position and that MIN had nobody that could stay in front of him so as a result he actually attacked the rim.
Defensively, as a guy who you could argue was the root of a lot of their issues was much better as well, with 5 steals, opponents shot 5-11, and honestly anything would have been an improvement from what we’ve seen lately. Now just like with Hayward, don’t do that thing where you say “Maybe Terry should start and they should trade Kyrie!” like what happened last playoffs. He played well there’s no denying that, but let’s not get carried away. I would hope he could outplay Tyus Jones, and just like with Hayward the next step is being consistent with this level of play.
– It’s no surprise this team looks 10000x better when the ball moves. A night with 34 assists on 45 baskets, I’m not sure you could ask for better ball movement. It didn’t stick, there was barely any isolation play, five different players had at least 4 assists, and wouldn’t you know it the Celtics finished with 115 points and 59% shooting. 59%!!!
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– Add in some quality defense, and that’s how you get a blowout folks
– Could there have been any more of a typical Al Horford performance than what we got in this game? He was really the only player that showed the ability to slow down KAT, held him to 2-9 shooting in the first half, and then on the other end his 15/5/4 gave them a little bit of everything
– Speaking of classic performances, how about Marcus Smart finishing with just 2 points, going 1-2 from the field, but also finishing a +17 in his 22 minutes. He caught a HUGE break by not dislocating his shoulder when it definitely looked like he fucked his shit up, and I thank the Basketball Gods for that prayer. This was a game where you felt the presence of Smart without him shooting, which is a very typical Marcus Smart thing.
The one thing about Smart’s game that I still feel like isn’t talked about enough is his ability to pass the ball. His work in the P&R/Pick & Pop as a facilitator is such a weapon, he led the team with a 39.7% AST% last night, and I would say that after maybe Horford and Kyrie he is the best pure passer on this team. That may not sound like a big deal, but when he’s playing with the starters and guys who all need shots, to have a plus passer out there with them is a nice bonus.
– It was mostly an up and down night for Jaylen, where for the most part he gave them what they needed off the bench, 10 points on 4-7 shooting with 5 boards. On a night when Wiggins went off, he shot just 2-5 for 9 points in 29 possessions against Jaylen. That’s the good. The not so good is obviously his 5 TOs which he absolutely needs to clean up and maybe play a little defense without fouling. That would help too.
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It wasn’t a blow your dick off performance, but it wasn’t a complete disaster either which is something we’ve seen from time to time with Jaylen.
– Yabu was the first big off the bench, didn’t miss a shot, played with great energy and even pulled out some McHale level post moves
The facts are that at a time where the Celtics need big men to step up and play at an acceptable level, Yabu has stepped in and actually looked like an NBA player. I’m happy the rest of you can finally see why Yabu rules, and that my love for him is not a schtick. He can play decent minutes in a reserve roll, he’s just needed to actually get on the floor.
Also, shout out to Daniel Theis for also playing well for the first time in what feels like forever. The minutes from him/Yabu were huge once Al went out.
The Bad
– Of course, things were not perfect. For example, not the best night offensively for Jayson Tatum. He finished just 3-11, and missed every single shot he took that wasn’t at the rim (while also missing a couple layups)
Not ideal. The reality is that Tatum is in the middle of a little 5 game slump, avergaing just 10.8 points on 37/11% splits. He’s just 2 for his last 17 from three which certainly isn’t ideal, and I don’t think I need to explain why having him be a consistent secondary scorer is pretty important to this offense. The one thing that bothers me about this slump isn’t really his shooting, we know that will come around, it’s his inability to get to the line. He has just 2 FTA over his last four games and part of me thinks this is because he complains so much after ever play. Officials aren’t going to give him the benefit of the doubt and it’s really hurting his offensive game. Getting to the line more is an everyone problem on this team, but Tatum especially.
– I don’t mean to pick on him because he’s been so awesome this season, but it was a little annoying how Mook settled offensively last night. He showed early that Wiggins didn’t want him on the block, but by the end of the night 7 of his 9 FGA were threes. He’s usually so good at mixing up his FGA’s, and it was clear he could get to the rim whenever he wanted I was surprised we didn’t see it more.
Oh and this neck injury couldn’t have come at a worse time, if this fucks up his shooting I am going to be pissed.
– Didn’t love the 16 TOs. For a team that averages like 11-12 a night, they were sloppy with the ball for sure. Mostly Jaylen, but everyone had their moments.
– Whatever the strategy was to defend KAT in the second half, never use it again. He was 10-12 over the final 24 minutes, and really him and Wiggins gave the Celts trouble all night. I can’t wait until AD gets traded and the internet can collectively turn their attention to trading KAT. That will be fun.
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The Ugly
– What the hell is going on with the third quarters? I mean why is it so hard for this team to play anything that even remotely resembles defense during this period? The Wolves dropped 39 points, right after the Spurs dropped 46 in the third during that loss. You knew once the Celtics hit a 20 point lead there was no way they were going to keep it because that’s what they do, but shit can they not have these absolutely horrific quarters just one time for me? Like have a shitty quarter, give up 30, fine, but these 39-40 point quarters are unacceptable.
Giving up 69/50% splits makes me irrationally angry when they had been playing good defense all night. Do this shit against a “good” team and you’re going to get killed. We literally just saw that happen so this needs to be fixed ASAP.
– Call me crazy, I know they were up 20 for most of the night, but they only won by 13 points. Not exactly a time to drop GINO, but whatever.
Considering the last time this team began a four game homestand they lost to PHX, I would say this was an improvement. While it’s fine to enjoy this win because we finally saw them play well, let’s see them keep it up. 2019 should be all about being consistent, and the only consistent thing so far about this season is that the Celts are inconsistent. With DAL/BKN/IND up next it’s not exactly getting easier, but if the Celtics are going to make moves up the standings, it starts with crushing the month of January where like 80% of your games are at home. It was great to see Gordon look like Gordon again, let’s just hope he now doesn’t disappear for the rest of the month.