Despite Looking Mostly Like Shit, There Were Some Positives To Take Away From The Celtics First Action Of The Year

Tim Nwachukwu. Getty Images.

Remember the rules when it comes to preseason games. The final score doesn't really matter unless your team plays well. Don't let any Sixers fan get under your skin if they talk shit to you this morning, this is all they have considering they can't win more than 1 playoff game against the Celts. It's OK to acknowledge that for long stretches of this game the Celts looked like shit offensively. This is a time where you're just looking for trends and signs of improvement once the regular season rolls around.

So while nobody should get bent out of shape about their first preseason performance, that still doesn't mean I can't be annoyed with shit. Maybe this is a me thing, but I prefer the Celts to play well whenever they step onto the court, whether it's a fake game or a huge playoff game. They all matter to me. No, I do not think this performance means anything in terms of how their season will go and anyone who does is just trolling, and the same would have been true if they won by 30. But there are things that I found a little troubling, as well as some nice surprises. That's usually how these preseason games go. Let's dive in.

The Good

- When the Celtics signed Jeff Teague, the reaction from non-Celtics fans was mostly "meh". Shit, the reaction from some Celtics fans was "meh". Here's what I know. Last night Jeff Teague scored 18 points off the bench on 7-9 shooting (4-4 from deep). Guess how many times that happened with a reserve point guard last season not named Marcus Smart?

Zero. Not a single game all year.

That sounds crazy, but it's true. There wasn't even a random night in a game that meant nothing where someone went off and had at least 18 points. 

Now, do I think Jeff Teague will look like this every game? Of course not! But this is why I liked the signing. It gives them the option of having someone who is even capable of putting up that type of offense in the first place. That's something the team did not have last year from that position. That's an improvement. A night like this was never even an option from this position last year, and it was great to see Teague get off to this start. I don't need him to be All Star Teague, I just need him to find a way to be a consistent like 12-14 point scorer off the bench for the second unit. Nothing I saw last night told me he couldn't be that moving forward. 

- One of the things I think we all had our eyes on heading into this game was how Ainge's latest draft picks would look. Are they guys that could potentially play right away? Well, based solely off one preseason game it's hard to argue that he didn't nail both of these picks.

Despite Brad not playing Aaron Nesmith in the first half, once he did come in we saw a lot of what he brings to the table. He had great size, he hit some shots, he was active on the glass, and he even made plays defensively

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I'll take 8/5 with a three a good defense in 19 minutes in his debut. The biggest thing was he looked like he belonged. It didn't look like he had no idea what to do or that he wasn't ready for this level. That was encouraging.

Then there was Fast PP. When he was taken in the first round, Ainge was killed for it. Especially with other point guards on the board when he was picked. Well, now that we've seem him play, I think it's only fair that we talk about #11 to the rafters being back on the table

16/4/2 on 6-10 shooting in his 21 minutes, Payton was probably the best player on the floor not named Jeff Teague. Everything we heard about him from practice showed up in this game. The dude is not afraid, he plays hard, and he was even able to get by people at the NBA level and finish at the rim. That was a nice surprise. 

Watching him play, he's basically living out the dream of every 6 foot and under white kid from Massachussetts. We ALL pictured ourselves wearing a Celtics jersey at some point in our lives. That's what is so weird when I watch him play. Fast PP is me. He is you. He is all of us. 

- Rob Williams finally got his shot and it was……not so bad! He had a rough start for sure, his positioning was still a little bit of a mess, but there are positive signs to his night overall. He finished with 8/5 with a block in his 19 minutes, and once Brad figured out that he was best used in some DHOs so he could then roll hard to the rim, he was a monster. The lobs to Rob are still a weapon.

Now to tell the whole story, he did have his issues guarding Embiid. By guarding Embiid I mean Embiid got whatever he wanted. So it wasn't a perfect night for Rob, but it was about what I expected and nothing told me he shouldn't get more run with consistent minutes.

The Bad

- OK, while I love Tacko, we don't need him running the break. That was a disaster. Just throw it up high and let him dunk it.

- We can tell the truth, the Celts pretty much got worked this entire game. There was only 2 lead changes the entire night, and after their initial burst, it was pretty much downhill from there. Offensively, this team was mostly trash. They hot just 35/25% in the first quarter, followed that up with a stellar 36/36%, and then when they started to improve in the second half, the defense went to shit.

Honestly, a lot of what we saw were the same issues we saw against the Heat which is slightly concerning. Bad isolation basketball, turnovers, offensive lulls, no real ball movement or attacking the rim, it was all pretty much gross. I know people say it's just preseason but….that shit was done by the Celts best players. Guys that have been in the league for a minute. That was a little concerning. 

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- I want to believe, but I am seeing fewer and fewer reasons why Brad should keeo trusting Semi. We're in what like Year 4? Felt like he fell asleep too much on defense, offensively he didn't bring much to the table, and if he's not going to defend at a high level then why even play him.

- I talked earlier about having concerns with Carsen/Tremont, and nothing I saw last night makes me feel any better. To me, they still don't look ready for the NBA level. I will say Tremont at least was a little better in terms of facilitating, but let's be real. Combined they went 2-9 in their minutes. I'm just not sold either guy can consistently score at the NBA level. I don't think either guy played all that well, and it's something to keep an eye on, especially if Pritchard keeps this up.

- What, you thought just because it was the preseason that I wouldn't be bothered by missing 6 FTAs? When 3 of them were missed by Jayson Tatum??? Boy is that annoying as hell.

The Ugly

- Listen I'm man enough to say it. The Jays fucking stunk out loud. I'll concede that if Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum go a combined 5-24 (1-9), the Celts will not win many games. Given who was out injured and who is off the team entirely, this is the type of performance we cannot have. It wasn't just about the inefficient offense, it's also about the turnovers. This is what KILLED them against the Heat. Well, Jaylen had 4 and Tatum had 3. If these two are going to have more of a playmaking responsibility with Hayward gone and Kemba out, they NEED to take better care of the basketball. It's that simple. 

It might not be fair, but the team decided they are the future. They are the cornerstones. You don't get to have off nights when you have that role. You need to bring it every single game. Preseason, regular season, postseason, all of it. You certainly can't have nights where both are complete non factors and do more harm than good. 

- Then there's Marcus Smart. I could say the same thing about his night. Another guy that is going to be a primary playmaker, well he finished with 3x as many TOs as FGM. He was a team worst -10 along with Jaylen. Sure he only took 2 3PA which I'm sure people will like, but he didn't play all that great either. 

I will say it was nice to see him take some charges despite it being a preseason game, but I need him to be more impactful if he's now going to be a starter. I'm sorry, that's just the truth. Him and the two Jays each played 22 minutes last night, and they were mostly pretty terrible.

- The lack of defense in the third quarter when the game was still in the balance was frustrating. In the battle of the reserves, nobody could even remotely slow down Shake Milton. Maybe ya know, try some different things, throw some different looks at him to maybe throw him off his game. Just a thought.

All in all, while there were some positives to take away from their first fake game of the year, I'm still not overly thrilled with what I saw. I expected the regulars to be much better. It was a weird game where the players we all expected to look good stunk out loud. and the guys we thought might struggle looked great. That's preseason basketball for ya I guess.

Unfortunately, you know what comes next. The hot takes will be plenty. The Celts are goign to stink, will lucky to be a 6 seed blah blah blah. It's OK, don't get triggered by it. But also don't pretend like there were no areas of concern from last night. This team has to play a whole lot better if they want to compete, so let's see how they look against Brooklyn.