The Celtics Won't Stop Playing Like Ass And It Is Starting To Get Annoying
There's no other way to really say it, last night was another frustrating performance. Not just because of the loss, but because of how it all went down. You can tell me it was a back to back against the best team in the league with the Celtics missing one of their best players, but I don't really give a shit. The same way I didn't really give a shit that the Sixers game was on a back to back. Guess what, the Celtics schedule is going to get harder over the second half of the year because they played like 10 games in the first three months. Figure it out. There are going to be B2Bs, or of stretches 9 games in 14 days, that doesn't give this team an excuse to continue to show this sort of effort. They are one of the youngest teams in the league and again, have played the fewest games of anyone.
The frustrating part is I have to balance being upset with the result, but also acknowledging the fight we saw from this team. To be honest part of me wishes they would have just lost by 30 so I wouldn't have to spinzone for them. Instead they scratched and clawed their way back and actually showed a spine. That's an improvement from last year where this team 100% quits. How do I know that? Well I watched the playoff series between these two teams last season. I know what it looks like when they quit, and last night they did not quit. If we're being honest, my mindset after last night's loss is pretty much this legendary GIF
Getting down by 20 just 13 minutes into the game? Pathetic and embarrassing for all involved. Not giving up and actually showing life and fight while making the game competitive? Something positive to file away long term in regards to the mental makeup of this team.
But don't let that take away from the overall point, which is for some time now the Celtics have played like ass, whether it was against a good team or someone well below .500, the product has been ass. That has to chance and has to change immediately. We are quickly going from just a small blip in the middle of the season to potentially something more serious. Big picture this team is still in the 3 spot with just a game separating themselves from MIA for the 2. It's not blow up and start over time, but it is time to acknowledge what we are watching simply isn't good basketball.
OK, let's get into it.
The Good
- The one thing I don't think we'll ever have to worry about is Kemba Walker's compete level. No matter how much this team is down on any given night, Kemba is going to give it 100% at all times. That is refreshing and something they could have used last Spring. The fact that the Celtics were even able to make this somewhat of a game at any point in the night is because of what Kemba did offensively, his 40 points on 14-23 shooting was gigantic
At the same time, here's the frustrating part. He didn't score until the second quarter. His slow start in the first portion of this game was a factor in why the Celts were in such a hole. There is no denying he was brilliant in 75% of this game, but that first quarter did sting and he certainly wasn't alone. They didn't lose this game because of Kemba, quite the opposite. He was one of the main reasons this team showed any heart at all despite getting down 27. I just wish he found a way to get off to better starts, because that's been an issue all year. It felt like things were forced early, but once he snapped out of it you saw what a weapon he can be, even against the length of MIL.
Moving forward I think one thing is clear when these two teams play. Put Kemba in a billion high P&Rs when Lopez is on the floor and just let Kemba zoom past him. If you can convince him to not settle for those pullup threes and instead just blow past Lopez, maybe that forces the Bucks to make a lineup change.
- Kemba may have been the best offensive Celtic last night, but to me Daniel Theis was the best all around Celtic to touch the floor in this game. So much is always made about how the Celtics need to trade for a starting big, and I just don't get it. If you watched this game and saw Theis' 12/10 with 2 blocks, I don't know how you can think big man is the issue right now. He more than held his own against a big MIL team and that was a pleasant surprise
He's active, he can space the floor, he makes a bunch of energy plays to keep possessions alive, he's solid defensively, I get that he's like 6'8 but Theis has been solid in this role all season. There are much more glaring holes that Ainge should prioritize, and for Theis to play this well against the best team in the league is encouraging. That block on Giannis came out of fucking nowhere and shouldn't really be a surprise considering Theis has one of the best BLK% in the entire league.
- Rebounds were close, Celts had more points in the paint, more second chance points, and no MIL starter had more than 1 OREB. These are usually areas that lead to wins so like I said that's pretty frustrating.
- We got the full Marcus Smart experience in this game, both the good and the bad. On the good side, he had an efficient-ish 24 and his three point shooting actually kept them in this game. It was his huge steal on Giannis in the final seconds that even gave the Celts a punching chance before he airballed the three. That's the deal, you live and die with Smart because you can't on one hand love the 5 3PM and then on the other hate that he took that final shot. If he doesn't get that steal there isn't even a shot to take to begin with.
At the same time, it's an issue when Marcus Smart is your second leading scorer. That can't happen in a game in which Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward are playing.
- You'd think in a game the Celts got down 27 that they turned it over a bunch but they only finished with 7. They had just 3 in the second half and 0 in the fourth quarter. Annoying that they decided to just turn it over a bunch to start which dug their early hole, but at least they took are of the ball for the most part after that first quarter.
- He had his ups and downs, but I thought overall Semi was a positive in this game. He made a couple threes, did an OK job on Giannis at times, and finished a team high +7. At the end of the day that's all I ask of Semi, and while I didn't always love his shot selection, you make a couple threes and play defense then how can I complain about the 12th guy on the bench.
The Bad
- Someone has to say it, and if it has to be me then it has to be me. Jayson Tatum hasn't been showing up lately against elite teams. Period. He was a no show in the loss to the Sixers the other week, he shot 8-20 in this game but started 3-9 which contributed to their early hole, and on a night with no Jaylen the Celtics needed Tatum to play at an elite level. Thats didn't happen. He did have a good fourth quarter which helped make it close, but they needed him to show up in every quarter in a game of this magnitude. It's honestly starting to turn into a trend and I'm not sure it's being talked about enough. See for yourself:
1/16 vs MIL: 8-20 shooting, 17 points
1//9 vs PHI: 4-13 shooting, 15 points
12/28 vs TOR: 3-7 shooting, 12 points
12/25 vs TOR: 5-18 shooting, 11 points
12/12 vs PHI: 5-18 shooting, 15 points
12/11 vs IND: 4-13 shooting, 16 points
I don't think it's a coincidence that since that IND game when the wheels started to come off, that Tatum has struggled in every game for the most part against good competition. He is not alone, and we will get to everyone's new favorite target later in this blog, but we can't just ignore what we are seeing from Tatum. The efficiency isn't there against teams with a legit defense and last night was a perfect example. The way he started this game in terms of his shot selection was so maddening, and it simply can't happen.
- Just like we saw against the Pistons, this defense needs to wake the fuck up. I get the Bucks are good, but they aren't never miss a shot good. There were numerous lazy contests, leaving shooters wide open for three in their own building is a bold strategy and it did not pay off. Not sure what you expect this team to do if they are giving up 76 points in a half, allowing 61/80% shooting and 12-15 from deep over the first 24 minutes. Yes, Jaylen Brown didn't play, but everyone else did. The numbers don't lie
this is the second game in a row Marcus Smart is getting torched on defense. Second game in a row Grant has been a complete disaster. If this team can't be lock down defenders on the perimeter then it doesn't matter what their frontcourt looks like. Stop getting cooked by opposing guards for me one time. You want to look at a reason for the Celtics struggles, start on the defensive end. Over the last week or so this is the 19th ranked defense in the league and they aren't exactly playing world beaters every night. If we aren't going to actually play any goddamn defense, nothing else matters. That's what got the Celtics off to such a good start, they've never been all that impressive shooting the ball, but they ya know, actually stopped other people from scoring. That hasn't happened in some time now.
- I don't know how you could watch this team consistently and not see that their #1 glaring weakness is the bench. Look at the difference in this game, it was the second units. I don't care what the big situation is, this team needs bench scoring help in the worst way. That has to be the #1 priority this trade deadline, it just has to be. This is nothing new, we already knew that the Celts had one of the lowest scoring second units in the league, but last night was brutal from pretty much everyone. Wanamaker was a nothing offensively, Grant struggled on both ends, Kanter had 1 fucking rebound in 15 minutes, and they shot 9-22 and 4 of those were Kanter layups/dunks. You compare that to what MIL threw out there and it looks like a completely different league. This team isn't good enough offensively to have this weak of a second unit. I hope we can all agree on that.
- I know we joke about this, but it truly is ridiculous how good Khris Middleton is whenever he plays the Celtics. It honestly makes no fucking sense. Another 8-13 performance for him, I'm surprised he even missed 5 times because it sure as shit didn't feel like it. I can handle Giannis pushing their shit in, he does that to everyone. But Middleton turning into the best player in NBA history whenever he sees the Celtics on the schedule is so goddamn annoying.
The Ugly
- OK let's get to the good stuff. I just have one question. Why can't Brad Stevens get this team to be ready to start games? Honestly what's the deal there. Why is this team the worst first quarter team in history? On the season they have the 17th ranked first quarter offense while ranking 22nd in first quarter points. They are losing games within the first 2 fucking minutes! You sit down and blink and boom they are down 10 points. It's inexcusable for this to keep on happening.
Take the start last night. The very first possession we see is a contested Tatum long two being challenged by Giannis. That's basically a turnover. Then they actually turned it over on back to back possessions when they weren't fouling, and it was 12-4 just 3 minutes into the game. They simply aren't ready to go and Brad has to own some of that blame. This team has to know that getting off to a good start is crucial in that building and we got the exact opposite. A bad two minute stretch is all you need to get killed by MIL, and time and time again we are seeing the Celtics have those stretches to start games. Same shit happened the last time they played and the Bucks got up 19. Wake up.
- We knew heading into this game without Jaylen Brown, someone who plays well in MIL, that it would be an uphill battle. What I did not expect was that the Celtics were going to have to try and beat the bucks without Jaylen AND Gordon Hayward. That's nearly impossible. Look I'm not going to sit here and tell you that a 1-10 performance is anywhere close to being acceptable. I don't care if Hayward makes 30M or 5M. This was by far his worst game of the season in my opinion and everything that annoys me at times about Hayward we saw in this game.
Once it was clear that his shot wasn't falling, how about switching it up? How about running some P&R so he can get into the midrange or better yet attack the rim and get fouled? Instead none of that really happened. He tried to shoot himself out of his slump and it only made things worse. I mean his misses weren't close. Brad didn't use him as a playmaker and instead just stuck him in the corner so part of that is on the coach and how he's using Hayward but at the same time Hayward needs to take it on himself to be aggressive. He was great the first time they played to the tune of 21/10/7, so I'm still not sure why they didn't use the same approach in this game. It's baffling to me that they still can't find the right way to use Hayward consistently, but that's no excuse. Hayward HAS to be better. He gives them a 4-10 performance and maybe they win this game. To go 1-10 and do nothing to help contribute to winning is a rough outing no doubt about it.
- The Bucks made almost as many FTs as the Celts attempted. Shit they missed 9 so things could have been even worse. This team had no idea how to defend Giannis without fouling, and I get that blocking calls can be 50/50 at times and being at home helped, but the man took 20 FTs. That's the most he's had all season. Watching that game though you can't tell me someone like Drummond or Steven Adams makes a difference. Giannis just runs into you and the refs make a judgement call. Giannis wasn't exactly the problem in this game despite his 32/17, but it didn't really matter who the Celts threw at him, Giannis found a way to get fouled.
- I dunno, this seems like a pretty obvious goaltend
You can take a moral victory if you want given the late life the Celtics showed. The problem with that is those don't actually count. You know what counts? The 2-5 record the Celtics have over their last 7 games. The fact that three of those loses are against bad teams and the other two are against two Eastern Conference teams the Celts will be fighting all season long. It's clear we are living through the worst part of the Celts season, and the Lakers come to town on Monday. A win there would go a long ways to calming people down, but what have we seen from this group to suggest they won't shit their pants at home again? This team needs to show me they can get back to beating the better teams in the league like we saw over the first 30ish games, because they've been 0-fer since the Christmas win and the Raptors were missing 90% of their team.