With Every Game They Play, The Celtics Somehow Find A New Low
I don't even really know what I'm even going to say in this blog. The Celtics aren't just bad right now. Like I said the other day, calling them bad would be an insult to teams that are actually bad. The Celtics team we are watching right now is playing worse than any team in the entire league. I don't even feel like that's dramatic. That's the reality. They might never win again, certainly not with the effort and execution we're witnessing. I mean holy christ every single game they play somehow ends up being a new low. It's incredible but not in an awesome incredible way, more in a I want to gouge my eyeballs out and jump off my roof kind of way.
We turn in now not to see how the Celts might turn things around, but what new way they will decide to rip our hearts out. Losing to bad teams is entry level stuff. We're now taking AP level courses in pain. The 24 point blown lead, the Luka daggers, and now this. A complete and utter thrashing at the hands of Danilo fucking Gallinari making 10 3PM. A wire to wire blowout. It's almost as if when things are bad, shit reallllllly spirals. It's like a tidal wave or a snowball. When it rains it pours or some shit like that. I dunno, what can I say? This team fucking suuuuuuck right now and that covers everyone. Ainge, Brad, the two Jays, the bench, all of it. That's just the reality of the situation.
They look broken. No other way to really say it. I don't think that's a stretch to say considering what we are watching is about as lifeless and disconnected as we've seen this team in a long time.
Alright, let's begin.
The Good
- Enough is enough. It's time I get tough on this team so we're skipping this section entirely. I will say I thought Carsen and Nesmith looked good, but that's it. No more. You fuck around and decide to lose all your games in an extremely painful fashion to teams you have no business losing to, well then this is what happens. You get no love from me.
I am nothing but fair.
The Bad
- When you're struggling, you need to rely on your best players to put the team on their backs and carry everyone out of the mess. It's not fair, it shouldn't have to be that way, but that's the role of the franchise guy. The bad news is, when both of your franchise guys are also struggling big time, you're not going to turn things around.
The Jays are really struggling, and it's coming on both ends. Offensively? Both have been a mess for some time now. Let's just look at this most recent stretch of 4 losses in 5 games. Jaylen has shot under 37% in 3 of them. Last night he was 6-16. From three, over this stretch he's currently 11-38 (28%).
Then we have Tatum.
His struggles have actually been a little longer. He's now down to 39/32% for the month of February. Last night he finished 4-20 (1-8). Over his last 5 games from three he's currently 13-42 (30%).
I mean, what games do you expect this team to win when their two best players can't score? And yeah, they've had to carry this team all year and are probably tired…..but every team in the league is tired. The schedule isn't going to get any easier, so what, we just can't expect the Jays to not play like this? I'm sorry, but I hold them to a higher standard. Again, I know it's not fair, but that's what comes with being THE GUY. You have to live up to unrealistic expectations and it's no surprise that during this brutal stretch, both had been playing their worst basketball of the season.
Advertisement
- Is it a little fluky that Gallo went 10-12 from three and made multiple 35 footers? Partly. But it was also a little fluky that he missed every shot he took in the two games in Boston, so it's mostly whatever. The issue was something we've seen be a problem all year. The Celtics perimeter defense is dogshit. They allowed Gallo to get comfortable, and then he got in that rare shooting zone. We've all been there before, where anything you throw up goes in. The Celts allowed him to build his confidence and the rest was history so by the time they even contested his threes, it didn't matter.
We then saw once again that this team has no idea how to defend Trae Young. There was no adjustment to their strategy by Brad after the first two games Young dropped 40 on this team. That's bad. But at the same time, what resistence did we see from the players? Who did we see take the personal responsibility to make his life tougher? Nobody. Brad failed this team in terms of their defensive strategy, but the players were lifeless. It felt like Jaylen was really the only one who showed any effort defensively to start this game, and it probably cost him his legs offensively.
- There's just no excuse to come out and allow a 40 point quarter. The thing is, it was a close game with 2 minutes left in the first quarter! It was 30-27! Then coming out of a timeout the Hawks went on a 10-0 run to close it out. They then started the second quarter with a quick 7-0 run and Brad called a timeout. By that time it was 17 and the game was over.
- I know they counted, but I mostly don't care about the Nesmith/Tremont threes at the end. For the majority of this game, it was a 21-3 3PM difference (Celts finished with 8). That is simply outrageous and doesn't even feel real. We saw the Hawks break the franchise record of 3PM against the this team. That's what I mean about how when things are bad they reallllly spiral. Now we're allowed franchise record threes? As if things weren't bad enough?
- No, I can't explain Grant playing 20 minutes to Rob's 14. When I try and think of a reason the only thing I can think of is Brad knew this game was a wrap and they want to protect Rob's hip. I also don't find it an accident that in a game where Grant and Teague played that this team got ragdolled. And Teague wasn't even that bad to his credit, but still.
- Killed on the glass, only 20 assists on 42 FGM, just 25% shooting as a team from three, and their largest lead was 2 points. That feels bad.
- I find it very annoying that this team finally gets a night where the bench actually shows a pulse, but the Jays struggle and the starters can't score and it comes in a blowout. Why does that feel a little backwards.
The Ugly
- When you find yourself in a situation where you can't score, it usually makes things a billion times worse when you also cannot defend. I'm not sure we saw 2 consecutive minutes of good defense in this game. As a team, the Hawks finished with 52/54% with 23 3PM. They never had a quarter under 27 points and had over 70 at the half. Outside of Huerter, no Hawks starter shot under 50%. Do you know how hard it is to get killed like the Celts did while also taking 10 more FGA?
Not only that, they won the turnover battle 17-6!! When have you ever seen this team get blown out while forcing 11 more TOs. It's shit that makes no sense and only happens when you are down bad, which the Celtics currently are.
- We've reached the point where you cannot look at the schedule and think to yourself, OK, this is the game they can get on track. I look at how this team plays and I seriously wonder if they will ever win another basketball game. Maybe that's a little emotional but it's also the truth. Who should they be favored over? Who would you feel confident playing? I have a lot of feeling about this team right now and confidence sure as shit isn't one of them.
They stink!
But it's not just normal stink. You can live with that. For example, the Bucks lost 5 in a row, but they didn't feel like this. The Lakers are currently losers of 4 straight and that's not the same as what we're seeing. This is a type of soul crushing pain that feels different. With those other teams, Giannis is still Giannis and LeBron is still LeBron. With the Celts, their two best players are a huge part of the issue. That's the difference. Sure the supporting cast also blows a little bit, but the two Jays aren't playing and executing at the level this team needs them to be in order to be successful.
Advertisement
- And finally, while I am not in the fire Brad crowd, I do have eyes. I still see a team that looks like they have no strategy on either end. That's my issue with Brad and where I need him to figure his shit out. I don't want to hear about being tired. I want to see tangible adjustments in terms of lineups/rotations/approach that can help this team get out of this spiral.
It's not about "motivating" or any of that bullshit. Call plays. Try weird defenses, and if the players don't execute it, that's on them. But show me there's an ability to adapt because right now that is NOT happening. It's no surprise then that each game this team plays goes the exact same way.
- We're learning that when Kemba, Jaylen, and Tatum are all struggling at the same time, this team has no chance. No deadline trade is going to fix that either. This team needs its best players to start playing like their best players. Play up to the hype that they have rightfully earned so far in their careers.
Until that happens, not only is this team nowhere near being a contender, it will only bring more pain on the horizon and frankly I don't know how much more I can take.