Down 17 Points And Without Their Second Best Player, The Boston Celtics Are Still Finding Ways To Win

Maddie Meyer. Getty Images.

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12 wins in their last 14 games. 3-1 since returning from the break. The Celts woke up this morning just 0.5 games from CLE and the 5 seed (CHA vs CLE tonight), 1 game from the 4 seed, 2 games from the 3 seed, and 3 games from the 2 seed. Everything is absolutely still in play with 18 games to go and the Celts playing this level of basketball. As we make our way down the stretch run of the season, I think we're all looking for certain boxes to check. How do they handle adversity late in games? We checked that box in the close game against DET. Last night was an opportunity to check another box, and that's exactly what this team did.

Two days ago, every Celts fan said the same thing. This upcoming homestand was going to tell us a lot about who they are. Good or bad. A string of games against good teams, pressure rising given where we are on the NBA calendar, it was going to be a great test. The Hawks came into the Garden winnings of 12 of their last 18. They own the 2nd best offense in the NBA. A few weeks ago we saw the Celts defense hold this team to 95 points in a victory, so it wasn't crazy to think we could see that again. Then Jaylen got hurt 3 minutes into the game. The Celts were careless, the defense was nonexistent after the first few minutes, and suddenly they found themselves down 17 points to a Hawks team that seemed to have found their offensive groove.

To me, this was a fork in the road moment. Here was another opportunity to potentially check a box. Would the team do what we've seen in the past and fold? Chalk it up to Jaylen getting hurt and feel bad for themselves? Or, would they punch back. We saw that 18 point comeback against the Pelicans, but this Hawks offense is legit. A much different beast given all their shooting. So what did we get? We got a team that punched back and then some. They once again stared down adversity, this time against a legit offense, and responded. All without their second best player. You know what to do

It showed us this team has some guts. For those who keep shifting the goalposts and scream that the only way the Celts can be good is to do this stuff against a good team, well the Hawks were 12-6 and heading into this game with the 2nd best offense in the NBA. They once again didn't crack 100. 

In a perfect world, this team doesn't get down by 17 in the first place, because odds are you aren't always coming back from that. So that's not exactly a habit I would like to see them form. But as we navigate through this final stretch, this was an important step in that journey. Let's relive it shall we?

The Good

- The second Jaylen went down, the pressure on Tatum to carry this offense became even greater. He wouldn't just have to score, Tatum would have to find a way to do it in an efficient manner. If there's one glaring weakness on this Hawks team it's their defense, and that's exactly what Tatum did

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The cool thing about Jayson Tatum is all it really takes is one shot. He sees the ball go in and more often than not that's all he needs. The three point shooting was still kinda shitty at 3-10, but Tatum finished 12-25 with 33/8/7 and just 2 TOs. When it came time to carry, Tatum put the team on his back like your franchise player is supposed to. He was locked in on both sides, and despite his huge need to score, we saw Tatum repeatedly thrive as a willing passer. This man doesn't even come close to panicking when an opposing team doubles. Especially if those doubles are kind of lazy like what the Hawks were doing. Tatum will eat that shit up every single time. Now his teammates are just knocking down the shots, that's why things feel different. Tatum has always been making these reads/passes this season. It's why any time you hear someone say Tatum is a selfish player or is someone doesn't pass the ball or make his teammates better, you know they aren't actually watching. They are just regurgitating this weird narrative. 

It was pretty noticeable what this team talked about at the break, because they came out in the 3rd and everything was at the rim. Tatum made 3 FGM that quarter, 2 of them were in the paint/at the rim. 5 of his 12 FGM on the night were in the paint. When Tatum is aggressive, you basically can't stop him. Not with this new strength. Once he gets his shoulders down, it's a wrap for any defender.

On a night where they needed Tatum's scoring, defense, and playmaking to all show up at the same time, he answered the call. Box checked.

- The second half defense this team played is what dreams are made of. Not the first 24 minutes, we'll talk about that a little later. But the final 24 minutes? I mean holy shit. You give up 65 points in the first half and hold that same team to under 100, I mean who does that? I'll tell you. The NBA's best defense that's who. 

You hold the 2nd best offense to 33 points on 33/12% shooting with 4 TOs and you're going to find yourself in this section. It's what sparked that huge run to open the third. It took the Celts a total of 3:45 to wipe out a 14 point deficit and they cut the lead in half in just 90 seconds. How do we think that all happened? Defense. The Hawks didn't score a point until 7:26 in the third quarter.

I know this team has some shooting issues at times, I know it can feel like they'll never score again over the course of a game, but everything, and I mean EVERYTHING about this team comes back to the defensive end. When they defend, it changes everything about them. When they don't, they die. Simple as that. You can survive the offensive lulls when your opponent cannot score on you. That's their formula, for better or worse.

- After having what I would call his "worst" showing as a Celtic a few games ago, last night was by far the "best" Derrick White has looked as a Boston Celtic.

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Someone on the supporting cast was going to have to find a way to make up Jaylen's offense, and White rose to the challenge. A nice little 18/2/5 on 7-13 shooting in his 27 minutes, White was also the only Celtic that truly had any sort of success guarding Bogdan Bogdanovic (25 points). On a total of 23 possessions, White held Bogy to just 4 points. He was much better at getting into his body and making things tough, which is a large part of why Brad made this trade. White's size defensively is a versatile weapon, just like Smart. He can guard on ball, off ball, point guards, wings, doesn't matter.

Offensively, while his three still struggled (1-5), White was so much better at attacking and finishing in the paint. It's all about setting him up for success offensively. Will he make the occasional three? Sure. But the key for him is to get him moving towards the basket. Either cutting off ball, or finding a way to open up driving lanes so he can use his size to finish in traffic, again, much like Smart. Celts don't make this comeback without the play of White, I think we can all agree there.

- The exact same thing is true for Grant. You wanted role players stepping up in Jaylen's absence? Grant was happy to oblige as well

As mad as we may have been when he blew that wide open transition right handed layup, I feel confident in saying Grant more than made up for it. I'd say this was surprising but it's not. This is what Grant has been all season. From October to now, Grant's Year 3 leap cannot and should not be overlooked. I have now reached the point where I assume every three Grant takes is going in. Do you know how insane that is given where we started with Grant? I am legit shocked when he misses a corner three. Can you blame me though? This is Grant's shot chart on the season

Will you please read those numbers from the corners. Insane efficiency on good volume from either side. The internal development we've seen from Grant is pretty remarkable and why I have no problem if you have to maybe overpay for him. He fits perfectly next to your two best players and provides a skill that the roster desperately needs. 

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- Another game, another hit on the assist total threshold. As a reminder, the Celts just need to hit 20 and things tend to work out. Last night they had 27 assists and are now 33-20 when they do it. Three players with at least 4 and five players with at least 3. Not surprising the Celts shot 47% from the floor. They made their huge momentum threes? Why? Because the Basketball Gods reward good ball movement. That has been and will always be the case. You play the right way, you get rewarded.

- Ho hum, another 9/13/2/1/2 night on 3-3 shooting and 3-3 from the line while being a team best +19 for Rob. How about 4 blocks for Al and some big threes late? I thought both were very good at staying with quicker guards off the dribble, especially Trae. They didn't ever really bite for any of his fakes once he established his pivot foot. They stayed grounded which was very nice to see from Rob because he's known to bite on a shot fake or two. 

- There's a reason why we love and trust Marcus Smart. It wasn't just his 16/6/4 on 6-14 shooting, it's for the entire package. Safe to say it was Smart's defense that truly pushed this game over the hump. Shit like this

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Make no mistake, his first half was pretty gross. Very careless with the basketball and the defense wasn't quite up to par. But like he so often does, Marcus figured it out and found a way to make an impact on winning. 

- He didn't make a shot, in fact his misses nearly broke the entire basket, but I thought Aaron Nesmith really made an impact with his energy in his 17 minutes. Nothing crazy, just hustling his ass off, hitting the glass, and trying to create some chaos. It worked for the most part. At some point I would like him to ya know, actually make some shots, but a game like last night needed someone to provide that energy shift and Nesmith certainly did his part. Ime agrees

If this is the role Aaron can carve out for himself, great. If he could maybe knock down a couple open threes, been better. 

- How about not collapsing in the fourth quarter! New year new team baby. As awesome as that third quarter was to regain the lead, a 4 point lead for this team heading into the final 12 minutes is not exactly something that gives you confidence. We've been hurt too many times before. But they didn't choke. In fact, they played pretty well! 

25 total fourth quarter points on 47/50% shooting with good shot balance in terms of 3PA and 2PA. Defensively they held ATL to just 20 points on 36/12% shooting. Do you know how dangerous this team will be if they've figured out the fourth quarter? The one thing that had been their achilles heel to start the year? Since we got to 2022, fourth quarters have been so much better. 

Offense: 7th

Defense: 4th

Net rating: 3rd

Look at that shit! 

- 20-3 second chance points difference. That right there is how the Celts clawed back into this game and the 11 OREB were a huge reason why. Not often we see a 20-3 different in that department, but given who the Hawks were missing it was good to see the Celts take advantage.

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The Bad

- This team still didn't really shoot all that well from deep as a group. Just 11-35 (31.4%), we saw what can happen when shots aren't dropping and the defense disappears against a good offense. They've really struggled from three since coming back from the break and I'd say it's probably a fluke but sadly I've watched every second of this team play this year. Outside shooting like this is just who they are, and now they've subtracted Jaylen from the equation. Makes me a little nervous moving forward.

- There is just no excuse for what Marcus Smart was doing with the basketball in the first half. 5 TOs for him is way way too many. The worst part is so many of them were momentum killers when it looked like the Celts were starting to put together a run. I dunno if they had a problem telegraphing their passes or what, but when a single player has nearly half of the teams total TOs, that's not great. 

It was what dug them such a big hole in the first place considering the majority of those turnovers led to Hawks points. Seeing as how they only had 2 TOs in the second half and the Hawks barely scored, that feels related.

- Along those lines, what the hell was up with the 3 straight turnovers in the last 2 minutes, 2 of which came from Tatum. Are we not allowed to have a stress free ending? Is that too much to ask? All you had to do was not give the ball to the other team, yet it got late and all the sudden this team would not take care of the ball. That was gross.

- For yet another game we saw an opposing player get to wherever he wanted in the paint/midrange. As I mentioned earlier, everyone outside of DWhite had big time issues guarding Bodganovic, especially when he put the ball on the floor. He was great at using his size to creat that separation, and this is something the team has to figure out. We saw it against the Pistons and Pacers as well. These bigger wings are getting into high efficient areas with little to no resistance. That's something I imagine they clean up on film, but it was definitely another problem last night.

The Ugly

- Jaylen's ankles sprain has me shook. I can't help it. Even if the early reports were positive, my guess is he misses tomorrow against the Grizzlies which is pretty unfortunate. You just have to be extra cautious given where we are in the season, and it sucks that such an important player went down. This team has had unreal stretch health for the last 2 months, so maybe they were due for something like this, I just hate that it was Jaylen. The hope is nothing lingers and he'll play again on this homestand, but I wouldn't bet on it. I almost want them to be overly cautious, even though wins are super important right now. 

- Everything about that first half was pretty terrible. All the fouling of three point shooters in the first quarter, giving up a billion points in the first half, I mean before we got to the final 24 minutes, this was the previous 10 Celtics quarters

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That is nowhere near acceptable defense. As good as they were in that second half, that's how bad they were to start. It was the second game in a row against the Hawks where they did the exact same shit. I don't exactly love the idea of spotting good shooting teams 15+ point leads, and I can promise you if they do that against Ja Morant it will not work out well.

The Celts really struggled with ball pressure and it was no different from DET/IND games. Notice how those teams looked great offensively too? When this team doesn't impose their will defensively, they get shredded.

So here we sit. First game of the homestand goes into the win column. Nice little rebound from the disappointing B2B loss against the Pacers, and now it's time to keep building. It's only going to get harder from here, but this looks like a team that is ready for the challenge. To think of where this team was 2 months ago compared to what we see now is crazy. They turned their season around just like we all hoped, and now it's time to keep this train rolling.