After A Week Off, Your First Place Boston Celtics Beat The Absolute Piss Out Of The Magic

Brian Babineau. Getty Images.

For a while there it didn't look like we had any idea when we would see this Celtics team play again. That's basically how I feel it's going to be with every team for the rest of the year. Nobody knows when a game will get postponed, and if it does actually happen who will even be available to play. Some games you might have 15 guys, others 8. But what I do know is that after waiting a full week to see the Celts finally hit the hardwood, boy was it worth the wait. It makes no difference to me that this win game against the free falling Magic, you think I give a shit? Let's not start pretending like the Celts playing a bad team is a guaranteed win. Other teams with good records have been able to feast on bad teams to start the year, so it's just the Celts turn in their schedule. They still have to go out and play well and actually execute, something they don't always do when you think they will.

But the facts are the facts. The Celtics through 11 games remain in first place. They have the longest winning streak in the East and are tied for the longest in the NBA. That's just the reality of the situation and they've had a total of zero (0) minutes from their All Star point guard. Life is pretty good. So the fact that they came back last night and put up 124 points without Kemba Walker or Jayson Tatum in the lineup was not only a surprise, but it was exactly what I was craving after not seeing this team play for 15 years. It gave us pretty much everything we wanted to see and then some. A hit of the good stuff if you will.

OK, enough stalling, let's dive in.

The Good

- One of the more impressive parts of Jaylen Brown's All NBA season so far is the fact that he is continuing to show the ability to morph into whatever this team needs on any given night. I don't want that to be lost on you. It's a really big deal. One night, he needs to be a primary efficient scorer, the next night he needs to make an impact on the glass, and then there's last night. In a game where the offense needed to come from a bunch of different people, not only does Jaylen do his part as a scorer, but now he morphed into a career best passer

The adjustment was what I loved most. With no Tatum on the floor to help create space, I thought the Magic did a really good job of shutting Jaylen off in the midrange. So what did he do? He didn't force it. We saw some other areas of his development like the pullup three off the dribble in the P&R a la Jayson Tatum, but we saw him switch things up and be more of a playmaker. 

The man had a 28% usage rate which is what you expect, but did ANYONE see a 50% AST% coming? Because that's what Jaylen did last night. Let me put that into context for you. Marcus Smart, Jeff Teague, and Payton Pritchard had a combined 39% AST%. Jaylen was not only efficient (6-12, 2-5) but he made all his FTs (7-7) and had to play just 25 minutes. 

I think most of us thought that once Jaylen was active that it would be a game where he took 20+ shots and did most of the scoring. Instead, he switched it up and became the scorer/playmaker that we didn't even know was possible for him. It was beautiful to watch.

- Look, don't even ask me to explain it. I can't. You can't. The smartest minds of our generation can't explain it. Semi is just flat out good now. It's not a fluke, it's not a hot stretch, this is just who he is as a player in 2020-21

18/6 on 6-10 (3-6) shooting in 20 minutes off the bench? I think it's fair to say this Semi is unrecognizable. He's not just automatic from the corners where he is shooting 50%(!!!!!!!) from either side, but we're seeing him put the ball on the floor and attack closeouts while finishing at the rim. Shit, we even saw him initiate offense out of the P&R as the primary ball handler! I cannot stress how rare that is, but let me try and explain for a second. 

You can't even look up his P&R stats. NBA.com literally has nothing. That's how infrequently he does it.

But now I'm seeing him read defenses and find Payton Pritchard in the corner for open threes by making cross court passes? OK. I'll take that thank you very much. If this is the Semi we can now bank on as a reserve rotation wing off the bench, that is GIGANTIC for the ceiling of this team. They needed someone to step up and be an NBA quality rotation player at that reserve position, and Semi has been lights out since the season first started. Couldn't be happier for him.

- This is an honest question. How green do you think Payton Pritchard's green light is? To ask in a different way, who do you think has more of a green light, Steph or FastPP? Is there any shot you don't want him taking right now? He could pull up from the logo and I wouldn't even blink. I want him shooting it anytime he wants without hesitation. The level of trust I have in this kid makes no sense but I know in my heart it's right. Every single game it's shit like this

Oh, and he did it on 6-13 (4-8) and didn't turn the ball over once in his bench high 25 minutes. He's not a meme. He''s not some regular kid who won a contest that allowed him hang around the team for a week. Payton Pritchard can fucking play. He's firmly in the ROY conversation. That's just a fact. Others might be putting up big numbers on teams that stink, Payton Pritchard is putting up solid numbers while getting 25 minutes a night on a first place team. They are not the same.

His shooting, his vision, his poise, his toughness, it's better than any of us could have imagined and is easily one of the biggest steals of the draft. Remember, there were 7 other PGs taken ahead of Pritchard. 

- This has to be one of the most complete defensive efforts we've seen from the Celts this season. No quarter over 28 points, they held ORL to just 40/25% shooting, shit, they even played defense in the third quarter! It'll get harder once they play good teams, but you have to build your foundation somehow. The Celts had been such a disaster at that end to start the season, I'll take any trend in the right direction I can get.

- For a team that everyone had questions with when it came to their bench, I'll just let you know the Celts second unit put up 66 points in this game. That's right, 66.

- OK, enough is enough, just enjoy the Tacko show

What else is there to say. Tacko is a legit weapon. Fact, not opinion. His lateral quickness is getting so much better to the point we're seeing him stay with guards while guarding the perimeter. Offensively nobody can stop him and that was before he unleashed his smooth as butter three point shot. I remember when people tweeted at me after Summer League that he wasn't an NBA player and the Celts were wasting a Two Way on him. Idiots, the lot of em.

- Finally, this was the Jeff Teague I was promised

After his great game in the opener against the Bucks, Jeff Teague sort of stunk out loud in every game since. Couldn't buy a bucket to save his life which is a bit of a concern considering his entire role on this team is to be a scoring guard off the bench. That requires putting the ball in the basket for those unaware. Well last night it was back to what we need to see from Teague. Good outside shooting, getting to the rim with ease, efficient, if this or something close to this is what the Celts get from Teague it's a homerun signing by Danny Ainge.

- Call me crazy, but I didn't think Nesmith's defense was all that bad. It certainly looked better than it did in his earlier opportunities and that is really important because if Brad can trust him on that end, he's going to play. We saw some good flashes from him in this game, once he got comfortable his three-ball was pure as shit, he attacked the rim and both finished and created for others.

My biggest takeaway is that I just want to see more of him, which is a good sign. He looked like it was starting to come around for him which should only get better the more he plays over this weird stretch.

The Bad

- How bad could things be when you were up 29 points? It's not much, but I think we can all agree that the Celtics were rather pathetic on the defensive glass. They allowed 15 OREB which led to 20 Magic second chance points. It wasn't just off jumpers either, but missed FTs too. That just cannot happen. It's not great that outside of Thompson (11), no other Celtics starter had more than 2 rebounds. I'm going to need more of a focus from everyone on boxing out in the future.

- I still don't love the Tristan Thompson iso offense. I get the sense that we have a little bit of a black hole situation on our hands. When he gets the ball and has his mind set on getting a shot up, that ball is NOT coming out under any circumstances. We all played with that guy in high school, it's annoying.

- Not thrilled with the fact that 10 of Smart's 13 FGA were threes either. I would say only 2 or 3 were ones I wish he didn't take, but he has such a size advantage at the PG spot, I want to see him be more aggressive during this weird stretch. I know he made them early, but his only FGA in the second half were threes. Maybe it's because this game was never really close over the final 24 minutes, but I don't want him falling into bad habits after he's shown an improved shot selection so far.

The Ugly

- By now you should know the rules of this blog. The Celts win at least 5 in a row we officially skip this section until they lose. It's my little way of saying thank you for making my life so much better. Very pleased I was able to do this in just their 11th game of the season. 

Tomorrow provides another opportunity to keep this momentum rolling with the Knicks coming to town, and this team better be focused. This isn't the Knicks of old that were pushovers. They play hard. They can beat anyone on any given night and they start games really really well. All I know is I'm just happy this team is back in our lives again because that hiatus was fucking brutal.