The Celtics Had A Very Confusing Opening Night Win
Talk about a wave of emotions. After months of waiting, cock teases of Summer League and Preseason, things finally got under way at the Garden and the most anticipated Celtics season in years became a reality. As they seem to do recently (BKN two years ago, PHI last year) the Celts started the year with what was largely expected to be a cakewalk. The Nets are only favored in around four of their games this year which is worst in the league, and their roster is not what you would call competitive. That all sounds well and good, but as Celtics fans we have seen this movie before. This team lost to Brooklyn multiple times last year. Shit can happen.
The good news is they had no problem with this team during the preseason, and for about 98% of last night’s game, that was again the story. If I were a betting man, I’d say that a portion of this city will still claim last night was a failure, and that this team is really not that good. Please pump the brakes. YES they deserve to be crushed for how they ended this game (and we will get there), but they also showed us how good they can be.
So go refresh some coffee and buckle up because now the fun begins
The Good
– The top spot in the first regular season breakdown. A high honor around these parts, there were no shortage of candidates for this spot. I want to go in a little different direction, and start this blog with what I firmly believe is a crucial part to the 2016-17 Celtics Season. The intro. A few days ago I had prayed that we would be closer to the ’07-08 version (the GOAT) and not some of the horrific intro’s we’ve gotten recently. When I say this intro delivered, I mean it is absolute FIRE. Perfect short video, and that beat, holy shit if it didn’t make you want to run through a wall, my condolences to your family because you are a dead person.
100000/10. Any nerves I may have had about this season were instantly put to bed. You don’t lose with that intro. If whoever came up with this is a stoolie please get at me.
– If that intro doesn’t get you hyped, Isaiah’s performance is sure to do the trick. This summer Isaiah talked about his focus on this season was becoming a more efficient basketball player. He knew that since the talent had gotten better he wouldn’t need to have such a high usage rate, so as a result he needed to make a bigger impact with the run he did get. Last night was a perfect example of what that looks like. The overall line was pretty standard Isaiah: 25 points 6 rebounds 9 assists on 7-14 shooting and a team high +15. On the surface as good as this looks, when you look at how he got it is where the excitement lives.
His shot struggling early, Isaiah made an impact in a way that still put his team in a position to succeed, and that was by creating scoring opportunities for his teammates. His ability to find the open man resulted in 7 assists before the half, and to me that mattered more than his 2-6 shooting, because everyone knows Isaiah will always be a confident scorer, what’s important is that he was helping others feel that same confidence.
That wasn’t to say he didn’t have some offensive moments early. Poor Jeremy Lin, he in no way shape or form has any idea how to stay in front of Isaiah, especially in transition. I’m not sure anyone does. Isaiah sizes you up on the left side you may as well say a prayer
But really, Isaiah showed us why he is our leader in the third quarter. With the halftime lead an underwhelming six points, we got a performance of a guy who never loses his confidence. Isaiah woke up in the third, and he did it a variety of ways. He hit threes, he got to the basket, he essentially blew this lead up all by himself. That’s what I want out of my best player, an “enough is enough” moment and just like that the lead went from six to 16.
– I think we can all agree that a healthy Jae Crowder makes a world of difference. From his first basket (the patented running start layup), to his always steller defense, this is a different team when Jae is at 100%. Nowhere is that more evident than on his jump shot. If you remember towards the end of last year and during the playoffs, he had virtually no lift due to his messed up ankle. As a result his shot couldn’t have been more broke. Well, he told us he spent all summer working on his shot, he feels great, and boom look at the results. I’m not saying Crowder is always going to make that many threes, but the thing with him has been can he take that leap to be a 18-20 point scorer. After what we saw in this game, I’m leaning towards the “yes” camp.
– Part of the reason Jae was able to have a game like this, was because of how BEAUTIFUL the Celtics ball movement was. This is their calling card, and when the ball doesn’t stick good things tend to happen. A total of 36 assists on 48 baskets. That’s an assist percentage of 75%!! That is OUTRAGEOUS. It absolutely helps when you are playing a terrible defense, but ball movement is more a philosophy than anything else, and they put on a clinic.
We got our first look at how deadly the Celtics ability to spread the floor can be, and I can’t remember a time I’ve seen a team get that many uncontested looks. We have to remember it is the Nets, but still, this is beautiful basketball that is going to win you a lot of games no matter who you play.
– In the Season Preview Series Part 3, I talked about how I felt the Celtics could use Jaylen in a way that would put him in a good position to succeed. One of the things I thought would help, is playing Jae with the starters. Well, it is a little rewarding to know that Brad reads the blog, because early in the first quarter we got the first glimpse of Brad’s rotations. The five of Isaiah/Avery/Jaylen/Jae/Horford is virtually the exact lineup I had hoped for. It’s no surprise that Jaylen got involved right away, and for me, my expectation for Jaylen is simply to defend multiple positions and attack the basket. He showed good awareness on his first NBA bucket
notice how he takes a dribble to gather himself, which enables him to use his strength to body Scola out of the way for a strong two handed layup. Fundamentally sound like you read about. If we learned anything from Jaylen this summer, it’s that he is in no way scared to attack the rim at the NBA level. The question was would he be able to do that once the season actually started. What do you think?
So Jaylen played with the starters, attacked the basket, checking two boxes off my checklist. The third was my thought that you know what, I saw Jaylen put so many people in a bodybag when he went down to the block, the Celtics should absolutely put him down there and tell him to do to work. I believed in the Jaylen fadeaway this summer, and last night my faith was rewarded. This is an unstoppable move
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Watch how he takes his time, doesn’t panic when his first spin doesn’t work, and uses fantastic footwork to then reverse his spin over his left shoulder into an unblockable fadeaway. I mean look at that!! I may not know about a lot of things in life, but I know this team, and I know an NBA caliber move when I see it.
Oh and I am all in on the 80s shorts for Jaylen.
– Guys, forgive me for going out on a limb, but I have a feeling this whole Al Horford thing is going to work out. Pretty solid debut and right away we got a taste of what he can bring to this team. He wasted no time, showing what good spacing can do on just their second possession
First, notice the ball movement. Second, I can’t tell you how much more confident I am in Horford taking this three than Sullinger. What on earth were the Nets doing? Do they not read scouting reports? Aside from his stroke, the best part of Horford’s night for me was his passing. Having a big man who can make plays by putting the ball on the floor and finding the open man is going to be incredibly valuable. How many times did we see Sullinger lead a fast break? Horford’s awareness was off the charts last night, and what you love about a veteran like him is he knows how to make the right basketball play, like he did on this Avery three
And if you were wondering how his chemistry with Isaiah is looking now that the games actually count, don’t worry, it’s still awesome
– How the Celtics were going to find a way to replace the scoring of Evan Turner on the second unit was probably the biggest question heading into the season. Terry Rozier showed that he deserved the first crack at the chance, so how did he do? Well, it was a mixed bag for the second year player, and that was to be expected since this is the first time he was getting real minutes. One thing we did see is that his confidence from this summer translated, and he showed me that he can already do things that Evan Turner couldn’t. Like make threes. Remember in the preseason we saw him knock down shots both off a pass, and off the dribble. Well…
I think Terry is going to be just fine.
– Hey they shot 54% for the game!!Maybe they can shoot!
– Also nice to see the Celtics win the rebounding battle (47-44) which was definitely a concern losing Sullinger, and just like they always do had another double digit steal performance (13). More times than not, you do well in these categories, you’ll win games.
– Shout out to Amir Johnson for his incredible hustle in this game. The Celtics won’t ever run a play for Amir, but he is the type of glue player good teams have. He was relentless on the glass especially on the offensive end, and not once did I question his effort. People scoffed at this signing, but sometimes it’s the little ones that make all the difference
The Bad
– It bothered me during the preseason, and it bothered me again last night. Too much lazy passing, bt everyone. Isaiah had his issues, Horford forced a pass early in the game, we were throwing it to the other team inbounding the basketball, just terrible mental lapses that you really can’t have an excuse for. Careless passing is going to cost you games, and this needs to be addressed before it truly becomes a habit. 19 turnovers is a tad too high for me.
– I hated how the Celtics defended the three point line, or in other words, didn’t defend it. Maybe their thought was Brooklyn was so shitty to just let them hoist it up, but for a team that did this very well last year, last night was no bueno. As good as Jaylen’s night was, something tells me Brad is going to pull up this play to bring him back down to earth. You can’t go this far under a screen, and when it happened you could hear on the broadcast the coaches yelling “JAYLEN!!”, need to be better here
– Maybe it’s just me, but does Terry Rozier dribble the ball kinda high when he’s pushing it up the floor? I didn’t think I’d see an instance where he gets caught from behind, but it happened.
– Color me shocked that the Celtics were up 20+ and James Young couldn’t crack the floor. We may have won the battle, but we haven’t won the war #FREEJAMESYOUNG
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The Ugly
– Ok lets just get right down to it. It was absolutely pathetic and unacceptable how the Celtics ended this game. Not only did you put a damper on what was a great opening night, you cost everyone Gino, you cost everyone money, and it was 100% self inflicted. This was the worry with the second unit without Smart/Olynyk. There is letting up off the gas, and then there is what the Celtics did in the final six minutes of this game. It was disgusting. They were playing to the clock instead of just closing out the game. They lost focus, they turned it over, they played no defense, and they got extremely lucky.
Here’s why this is so annoying. The Celtics play again tonight, and you had a situation where your starters had the opportunity to end their night early and rest up for Chicago. You NEVER want to have to ask your starters to come back into a game and win it for you a second time, especially when a back to back is on the horizon. It’s not as though the game was every really in jeopardy, but things are going to be tough if the starters can’t rely on the second unit to pull their weight. Remember this unit was so important to the success of this team last year, this performance was strictly inexcusable.
Maybe the good news is at least now there is a teachable moment, but fuck was that terrible.
– You also cannot give up 117 points to the Brooklyn Nets. Defense is supposed to be this team’s calling card, and that is certainly NOT what we got last night.
Despite the shitty ending, for me this was still a successful opener. Obviously getting the win is what really matters, but also the starters looked great, Brad was pretty good for the most part, and the crowd was electric. We now turn the page to a little Celtics reunion in Chicago so it will be interesting to see if this year’s Celts are going to be as solid on the second night of a back to back as they were in previous years. I think a win tonight will help get the bad taste of last night out of everyone’s mouth. Can’t wait.
1 down 51 to go.