The Way The Celtics Destroyed The Magic Last Night Was Extremely Erotic
If you walked away from the Celtics first preseason win against the Hornets with more questions than answers, not feeling totally great about the fact that the starters got outplayed by the lowly Hornets, I wouldn’t blame you. That was bad, real bad in fact. However, last night against the Magic who by all accounts are MUCH better than CHA and have looked great so far this preseason, I’m not sure it’s possible to feel better about how the Celtics look. That’s the beauty of these fake preseason games, they’re a rollercoaster and last night we were blessed with some of the best Celtics porn we’ve seen in over a year. The fact that this all happened and they still get to add an All NBA point guard to the mix has me feeling things I thought my body was incapable of feeling after what we were put through last season. Now I may be drunk off Kool Aid still but I’m no dummy. I’m not going to say that because the Celtics played so well last night that means everything will be awesome this season and you can pencil them into the Finals. Don’t be ridiculous, but what I will say is this team is so much fun to watch when they play like they did in this game and we saw a ton of encouraging signs that should have you excited. These games are getting everyone ready for the regular season, and I think we can all agree they look WAY more ready after last night on both ends than they did against the Hornets.
OK, enough waiting. Let’s dive in
The Good
– With Kemba sitting out with a sore knee, this was Jayson Tatum’s opportunity to step up and be the #1 option we all want him to be. How did he respond? Well he had a 33.6% usage rate and a +56.4 net rating in his 21 minutes. Is that good? That feels good but maybe you’re more of a visual learner so here’s what it looked like
For the second game in a row Tatum lived up to his promise of an improved offensive approach. More threes and more FTs is what he declared and of his 15 FGA only two of them were midrange shots. Everything else was either at the rim or behind the arc. He’s more aggressive, his decision making is looking better and better every time he’s on the floor in terms of his shot profile, and while that should excite you, what really stood out to me wasn’t the scoring, it was the defense.
If Brad is going to play Tatum at the four, he’s going to have to defend bigger players. Well few have more length than the Magic and Tatum was one of the best defenders of the whole group. Not only did he lead the Celts with a Drtg of 50 (!!!!!!), but he also held his own on the defensive glass. We saw flashes of that rebounding improvement with Team USA and it’s clearly translating into this new role. I mean Jonathan Isaac was a non factor in this game, and guess who played a role in making that happen.
He wasn’t perfect, it felt like he was forcing passes a little bit as he led all starters with 3 TOs, but overall I’ll take this version of Tatum every day of the week. I loved him leading everyone in FGA, I loved how he set the tone defensively early, there’s no other way to say it the man is ready for the regular season.
– If we’re being honest, the play of both Tatum and Jaylen Brown gives you a great sense of what might be this season. When they are both locked in like they were in this game it changes everything about this team on both ends
We talk a lot about Tatum’s new approach, but what about Jaylen? Pretty much EVERYTHING from him has been attacking the paint/rim. He’s taken only 2 threes all preseason and this is a guy who has turned into a legit three point shooter. I mean look at this
Not only is he attacking, but he’s finishing at the rim! We all knew he could get wherever he wanted on the floor because he’s an athletic freak, but more often than not he would somehow miss the layup. Just in this game he had multiple beautiful left hand finishes and attacked with confidence. Another wing that played lock down defense, what stood out to me was also Jaylen’s ability to read defenses and make the correct extra pass that would lead to buckets. It was how me made the right pass in transition and didn’t fuck it up. If there’s one sign I want to see improve in these games it’s Jaylen’s playmaking, and that’s another thing that seems to be translating from his time with Team USA. Instead of just putting his head down and being out of control, or instead of forcing things offensively and turning it over, Jaylen seems more comfortable understanding the flow of the offense and what the right basketball play is.
That’s not insignificant.
– What do I always say. The formula for the Celts is pretty simple, if you defend and if you rebound, you’re going to win. Well, they held ORL to 31/19% splits, caused 21 TOs and they won the rebounding battle 59-44. If that doesn’t get your dick hard (or give you a lady boner) I’m pretty sure you’re a dead person which is impressive that you’ve read this much of the blog already.
Not only that, but a team that has no size beat a team with a plethora of size in scoring in the paint 52-30. They had more second chance points and more fast break points. I mean this was a total beatdown everywhere you looked god damn I’m getting dizzy again.
– I would follow Marcus Smart into the depth of hell without question, and that’s without seeing him do shit like this
His shooting was awesome and that probably stands out most to a lot of people but for me it continues to be what he does as a playmaker. Yes it was awesome seeing him turn into Steph Curry on that corner three, but it was equally as awesome watching him run a perfect P&R with Kanter with that sweet lob. He led all starters with 4 assists and it’s what makes him such a swiss army knife. You can have Smart run point, you can have him off ball and guard wings, you can play him at center it doesn’t matter the guy just makes an impact.
– Right from the opening tip this team played with purpose. Unlike against CHA they weren’t reactionary. They imposed their will, built an early lead and never took their foot off the gas. There was no blown 15 point lead which we as fans have come to accept. They owned their air space like Brad keeps preaching and they punched first. That may have been the best part of this entire blowout.
– If Grant is going to start making threes, especially pull up threes out of the P&R while also proving to be a much larger Marcus Smart on the defensive end in terms of drawing charges and making the right reads, well he’s going to become a hero in this city
– Call me crazy, but Tremont Waters has an Isaiah flair to his game. Tell me these don’t look alike
It was garbage time but the dude can play. He’s crafty, he’s smart, he can finish despite his size. You’re seeing what Ainge saw in him and why he’s an intriguing prospect
– Speaking of the kids, he didn’t play much but we did get to see our first minutes from Romeo
Pretty great that we heard so much about his ability to get to the rim and then immediately once he gets put in he has a nice left to right cross and gets to the rim with ease. Can’t wait to see more of him on Sunday.
– He wasn’t efficient, but this was probably the best we’ve seen Gordon look in a long time. His first step was back, he was blowing by guys on the perimeter and then he had that nice fast break two hand dunk finish. The shooting still needs to come around before I allow myself to truly buy in, but in terms of his mental approach and not being afraid that sure as shit happened.
And how about his defense on Aaron Gordon? Completely locked him down and that’s not hyperbole. Gordon was completely taken out of this game and finished 1-14, and Hayward’s defense on him (without help) was a huge reason why.
– No player in the NBA has a greener light than Carsen Edwards and I’m not sure it’s green enough.
– Daniel Theis might just win the starting center spot. He rebounded well, passed as close to Horford as we’re going to get, and his defense continues to be nails even though he’s undersized. The fact that he can also stretch the floor, my money is on Brad giving him the first crack.
The Bad
– Of course things weren’t perfect. For example the Celts didn’t even shoot the ball that well, just 41/30% splits. Hayward and Tatum combined to go 9-25, Edwards went 4-12 off the bench and Kanter 1-7. So while this was a blowout it wasn’t because of the offense or the shooting and that still doesn’t totally make me comfortable. It’s unrealistic to think the Celts will always defend at this level, so any sort of shooting drought is going to be a problem and I feel like they are still susceptible to cold streaks.
– The rebounding was solid, the defense was acceptable, but I wasn’t thrilled with what we saw from Kanter offensively. Lot of turnovers out of the post, he’s gotta clean that up because against second units where he has the advantage over a big, teams are going to send guards down to try and swipe the ball from him. Can’t have that.
– What would you say Max Strus does?
– Only 5 minutes for Poirier which was surprising. I would have liked to see him get more of a look against legit NBA size, but he didn’t exactly do much with his minutes other than turn it over a few times.
– The NBA doesn’t have an answer for Tacko, but I also was surprised to see him not even challenge shots around the rim. It’s also bullshit that they don’t just dump him the ball every time he’s on the floor. Literally nobody can stop him.
The Ugly
– 21 turnovers was gross and far too many. Also let’s not pretend like the Magic didn’t play the Celts even after that first quarter. The Celts only finished with 38 second half points on 32/25% splits with 12 TOs. That’s gross basketball.
Again, don’t over react. This was a preseason game that means less than nothing in terms of what the future has in store for this team. Having said that, they fucking dominated and it was beautiful to watch. Get me to Sunday immediately.