Jayson Tatum Missed His Game Winner In What Was A Brutal Loss To The Pacers

Andy Lyons. Getty Images.

We're three games into the season and I'm pretty sure I've aged 15 years. I mean we've had two games come down to the buzzer and one that started great and then ended in complete shit. Part of me has missed the stress of watching this team play while another part of me doesn't really care for it. This is a team that's a shot away from either 0-3 or 2-1. The margin for error is that slim, which is what makes a loss like yesterday so frustrating. While we all wait for Kemba to get back you can't be throwing games like this away. Especially with Oladipo coming in Tuesday's matchup. The Pacers were on a back to back, the Celts had plenty of opportunities to take control of this game, and they let it slip. Something they've started to make a habit of, which is another thing I don't exactly care for. 

It was a weird night in the NBA on Sunday, there's no two ways about it. The Hornets beat the Nets with KD and Kyrie playing, the Bucks lost by 20+ to the Knicks, the Sixers got waxxed by the Cavs without Embiid but with everyone else. So forgive me if I don't join in on the sky is falling, Brad needs to be fired, trade everyone narrative that floats around Twitter after every loss. That doesn't mean you let the team off the hook for blowing a very winnable game, but let's all take a deep breath. There is a long way to go.

But the start of the season hasn't exactly been what I would call....ideal. Some positives for sure, but a whole lot of negatives that need to be corrected fairly quickly. With a condensed schedule and Kemba still weeks away, it's not like this team has the luxury of fucking around. These early games matter. 

So just like we always do, let's dive in.

The Good

- Am I crazy to have wanted maybe a little more Jaylen in this game? He finished with 18/2/4 on 8-13 shooting, but only had a 20% usage rate. 

He continues to show such an improved patience with his game offensively, it's no surprise we're seeing it immediately translate. He's efficient, he's getting to his spots with ease, he's finishing at the rim over shot blockers, I think it goes without saying that he's been the best Celtic on the roster through three games. Jaylen showed up in the fourth with 6 points on 3-5 shooting and I think it's time we start playing through Jaylen at the end of these games. Let's just see it. That's not a knock on Tatum, who did make some big shots down the stretch, but I want to see Jaylen get some opportunities. He's earned it. 

The encouraging part of Jaylen's game was also the 4 assists. That may not seem like a lot, but if you've watched Jaylen develop you know what a big deal that is. He's upped his assists every year of his career, and is currently averaging a career high 3.7 with a 20% AST%. How much of an improvement is that? It's double his previous career high. His development has been pretty much exactly what any of us would have wanted so far.

- I'm just going to say it. Payton Pritchard is an NBA rotation point guard. I've seen enough. I get that he can get picked on with his size and he's going to struggle to defend bigger guards, but whatever. He can play. Doesn't exactly know where the out of bounds line is and that you actually can't step on it, but that will come the more he plays.

Think of what he was drafted to be. A bench guard who could come in and provide a spark. A player with a great compete level and a great looking jumper. Well, he was 5-5 (3-3) last night and was by far the best reserve guard on the roster. I weirdly trust him to be on the floor at all times. It's not just me either, Brad feels the same way

Be honest, who saw this coming? That Pritchard would be getting rookie Tatum treatment and Nesmith can't see the floor? Nobdoy that's who. If this is the worst he's ever going to be, that's exciting. For what he is and the role he provides, Pritchard has been great.

- I was also very pleased with what I saw from Robert Williams. Performances like this are not only going to help him feel confident, but it's going to give Brad more confidence to actually play him. He wasn't perfect, there were still rotation issues, but there's no denying he made an impact. In his 21 minutes he finished with 12/4 with 4 steals and 2 blocks. Rob was everywhere

But I also love how he didn't care about any of that shit postgame. All he cared about was the final play that ultimately cost them the game. He took full responsibility for this saying he messed up the defense but I'm not so sure. He was definitely taking a bullet for Grant who had a rough night. 

No finger pointing. Just a guy taking responsibility for something that was most certainly not his fault. I love to see that. Now what I hope is that Brad actually rewards Rob with another consistent run on Tuesday. Let's build off this and see what he can do.

- I know we were all skeptical when Marcus Smart said he was going to really focus on his shot selection this year, but up until this point that has been nothing but the truth. He's been fantastic when it comes to his shot selection. There have been multiple times we've seen him rethink taking a three in order to get a better shot. Plays like this

How many times have we seen Smart take this three and be mad he didn't make the pass to Tatum who could step into an open three? A billion times. Too many times. Well this is not the first time we saw Smart react this way and it makes a huge difference. Especially a time like that play when the Celts DESPERATELY needed a bucket. If you want to complain about Smart's shooting, you also need to give him credit for starting to make the extra pass consistently.

He finished with an efficient 11/3/6/2 on 50/50% shooting, and this is a version of Smart I can get behind.

The Bad

- One of the frustrating parts of this game was watching the Celts repeatedly shoot themselves in the foot. I can handle getting waxed when a team is just flat out better than you. Like when KD and Kyrie went nuts, it didn't matter who was on the floor. They were going to get theirs. But this game? Total disaster when it came to turnovers. The Celts got off to a 15-4 start in the first 4 minutes of this game, but because they can't seem to ever make things easy for themselves and would rather play like assholes and be lazy with the basketball, all that early work was for nothing. They finished the first quarter with 7 turnovers. Despite shooting 56/40% and holding the Pacers to just 33/10%, because of those turnovers this was just a 4 point game after one. The self inflicted wounds are what gave the Pacers life.

Getting off to good starts is something this team has enough issues with so seeing them finally do that but then give it all away because of turnovers is so goddamn frustrating. Then in the second half, it was a whole bunch of Tatum turnovers. He finished with 5 on the night which is obviously way too many. This is what I talk about when I say the Celts let the Pacers hang around. They finished with 25 points off turnovers, so yeah I'd say it was a pretty huge factor in how this game played out.

- There are a lot of things Tristan Thompson is good at. Rebounding, defensive versatility, things of that nature. Well I am confident in saying that I do not need to see him ever go 1 on 1 against any post defender. He's yet to score this season where he tries any sort of offensive move. He's great as a putback guy or as a drive a dish so he can dunk guy. But this isolation 1 on 1 nonsense? Garbage to start the year. It's like he gets in his mind that he's taking the shot no matter what happens and what happens is usually a disaster.

- Well isn't this some shit

Oh let's just end a 40 game win streak while we're at it. I was just saying how the one thing my wounds were missing was some additional salt. 

- He may have had 25/11/5, but I wouldn't say Tatum was the Tatum we need him to be. That feels weird when you look at his line, but he was just 3-10 in the second half with 4 TOs and was a team worst -15 in his 16 second half minutes. It's not just about that last shot which we'll get to, but I thought his passing stunk out loud all night. If he's going to be a primary ball handler and facilitator, he has to stop passing it to the other team. Let's just start there and see what happens.

- Rough night for Grant, I don't really know how else to say it. Didn't provide much offensively, was even worse defensively, and his 3 missed FTs were certainly costly. I did enjoy his nice stepback three, but if he's not going to defend, rebound, or facilitate I'm not really sure why he was getting minutes over Theis. Even if this is a tough matchup for Theis, Grant wasn't giving you much and his biggest mental mistake came at basically the worst time in the game.

- We cannot live in a world where Jeff Teague goes on 0-11 stretches. Can't have it. He's here to be the offensive spark off the bench I'm going to have to ask that he kindly puts the ball in the basket. I think he's getting and taking good shots, I just need them to go in. You could say the good news was that he went 9-10 from the line right? Wrong. The one miss came in the fourth quarter. The Celtics lost by 1.

The Ugly

- For a team that hangs its hat on defense, the defense we've seen from this team has been flat out pathetic. They aren't making teams work, you have guys not contesting threes in huge spots (like Grant on that late Brogdan three), and their energy level has been nowhere near good enough. I know it's only three games in, but the Celts currently have the 26th ranked defense in the NBA at a 116 rating. That is inexcusable. That has nothing to do with Kemba not being in the lineup. This team is too streaky offensively to be defending this poorly. It's #1 on my early season issues right now. If this team doesn't defend like they are capable of and a level they have proven to be, they're fucked. Plain and simple. 

The thing is, defense is like 93% effort, and there's no excuse for the effort to not be there. From Marcus, to Jaylen and Jayson to Theis. Everyone has to be better.

- I need someone to ask Brad what the fuck is going on with his third quarters. There is no logical explanation for this team to continue to be SO BAD coming out of the half. Last night it was a 12-0 run by the Pacers to regain control and it was painful to watch. Guys were sloppy with the basketball, offensively they started 1-10, and we had guys JOGGING back in transition. That shit offends me. Just like the bubble and then the BKN game this team cannot be trusted to not play like complete dickheads in third quarters and it is costing them games.

So who is to blame? Everyone. Brad for his lack strategy, the players for not being ready to do. These aren't rookies. They shouldn't need Brad to give a rah rah speech in the locker room. But for whatever reason they aren't ready to go and it is killing them and me.

- Speaking of strategy, I'm seeing waaaaayyyyyyyy too much standing around offensively. It's either give the ball to Jaylen or Jayson and then everyone just stand and watch what happens. Boy does that stink. I need movement. I need cutters. I need them to ya know, make the defense work.

OK, let's talk about the last shot. This game basically came down to what each team did with their final possession. Here's what the Pacers did

You can see a nice ATO to get their best player the ball with a set that has him going towards the basket. He's either going to make it or get fouled right? Well he got both. To me, this wasn't an open ended play where Sabonis got to decide what to do. He had clear direction and executed.

Now let's look at Boston's

With 7.7 seconds you see there's no plan. There's no play to get the ball going towards the rim. Brad basically called a clearout for Tatum and let him decide what to do. I have zero problems with Tatum taking step back threes. He makes those at around a 42% clip. I am comfortable living and dying with that shot because he has proven he can make it. I had no problem with him doing it against Giannis. But not all stepback are created equal. In the MIL game, Giannis cut off his driving angle so he had to go with the side step. In this play, you can see he was never making any sort of effort to attack. He was going stepback the entire way. Given the defender and the situation, I can understand not loving this shot. Had he made it we all would have loved it, but that's how the cookie crumbles.

I have more of a problem with the play in general. Or the lack of a play I should say. We need to get away from this type of approach in these moments. Run an action. Run something. Run anything. Just don't be so predictable. If Tatum got stripped or missed a midrange jumper, whatever. Fine. But they have to find ways to get Tatum looks that don't consist of just giving him the ball, him holding it for 5 seconds, and then taking stepbacks. There needs to be more available.

When you have no room for error, execution becomes that much more important. I thought down the stretch the Celts execution was pretty brutal, and they paid for it. Things are only going to get tougher on Tuesday with Oladipo in the mix, so let's see if they can use this as motivation to get their heads out of their assess and play a full 48 minutes the right way. It's early, but not so early where you can throw away games. That's what makes Tuesday pretty big.