The Celtics Own The Utah Jazz
I don’t know about you, but I am still absolutely hammered on Kool Aid. If not for that stupid dud in SAC this team is riding a 10 game winning streak, and with each shorthanded win, my glass is getting bigger and bigger. For the first time in what feels like years, the Celtics are 16 games over .500 at 35-19. They wake up this morning 2.5 back of CLE, and have started to assert themselves as the second best team in the conference. They’ve done all this without one major factor. Health. There is a lot of talk about who the Celtics should bring in at the deadline to get them over the top, well about about their own players? Adding guys like Avery and Jae to a team that is rolling like this is basically the same thing.
So far on this West Coast trip, in my opinion the Celtics had played pretty shitty teams, and while we just got done talking about how what a great win POR was given the circumstances, the one team I really cared about during this trip was Utah. You know, the owners of the league’s stingiest defense. Having already beat the Jazz in early Jan (Isaiah had 29 then too nbd), the Jazz had their own injury issues this time around as well with Rodney Hood being out until the AS break. But make no mistake about it, the Jazz play very well at home. In fact before this game their 19-9 record is essentially the same as the Celts 19-8. This game is important to me because everybody knows one the playoffs start defense becomes 10000000x harder, and I was interested to see how the Celtics would play in a tough environment against a team that will give you as close to playoff defense as you can get in mid February.
The result? Well, let’s talk about it.
The Good
– It took a heroic performance from Marcus Smart to bump Isaiah from the top spot in our last blog. Well, Isaiah clearly came back motivated and put up an ast……
Wait….no…it can’t be….no way…is that….is that..IT IS!! IT’S JAMES YOUNG MUSIC MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!!!!!!! BOO!!!!!!
I have waited for two years to put James at the top of this blog and you know the rules. It takes a unreal performance to overshadow a 29/5 from Isaiah, and boy did James do just that! So much to talk about, but before we get specific we experience the performance uninterrupted. Enjoy.
(best part of this whole video is Marcus’ face after the And1. Even he couldn’t contain his laughter at the dominance he was witnessing)
As the last person still on the #FREEJAMESYOUNG movement, this was a special night for me. When I saw Young walk to the scorers table I almost couldn’t believe it, but I had never been more confident at the time. No chance he was going to come into this game and not make his presence felt. That’s not the James Young who had like one good Summer League game I know and love.
It’s no surprise that in the postgame interview with Gerald Green (who we’ll get to) all he could do was talk about James Young’s performance. Make no mistake, the Celtics needed every bit of his 10 points, and if he didn’t miss two wide open threes things would have been even better. With Jae coming back on Monday, I suggest we all take a little extra time, maybe watch that highlight video a few hundred times, because we might not see James Young again for months.
– Now back to Isaiah. The last time these two teams played, the Jazz didn’t have George Hill, and say what you want about him as a player, but that makes a difference. Not only is he having a great year, but he’s a pretty good defensive guard, and one of the reasons why I was excited to see this game. We could talk more about the 29/5 with 56/57% splits, the 10 points in the fourth quarter, the fact that his scoring average actually DROPPED after this game, all of that is insane but I want to talk about something else.
Chances are the Celtics are going to play a team in the playoffs that have a legit rim protector. In the past we’ve seen how defenses are able to bottle up Isaiah and make things a little bit tougher than normal. How the Celtics counterpunch this defense is going to be crucial to any success they plan to have in April, and I think last night we got a little glimpse of what they might do.
It all comes down to spacing. For Isaiah to be at his best, he needs space. Well when the Celtics are playing these teams with premiere shot blockers, one thing they make sure to do is bring a high screen with that guy’s man. One of Isaiah’s biggest strength is a transition three, so do make that happen in a half court set, the high screen is crucial. First we saw it with Amir
Look at Gobert here, he is so far out on an island he probably has a split second of indecisiveness, and that’s all Isaiah needed. Then again later in the same quarter the Celtics went right back to it.
The beauty of Isaiah’s ability to consistently make this shot at a high clip, is once a defense sees it a few times, they start to overcompensate and get just a little too far out. When that happens, we get this
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Now what was the common theme you just saw in all these GIFs? The spacing. There is not one player below the three point line in any of these plays. When you think about the ATL series last year, and how the Hawks were able to clog the paint and make things tough for Isaiah, it was because the Celtics didn’t have the shooters around Isaiah to create that space. We can now see, that even against an elite defense with a tremendous shot blocker, the Celtics have an answer. If this team is healthy this postseason, we are going to see this 10000x. When the defense did a good job at collapsing on Isaiah, guess what happened…
– It was the Kelly Olynyk show!!! 19 points and 7 rebounds 3 assists on 8-11 shooting (3-5 from deep), Kelly was absolute nails in this game. I think the Celtics are something like 9-1 when he gets over 15 points or something crazy like that. Biggest reason for his success? Absolutely ZERO hesitation. Guy was gripping and ripping like we haven’t seen him do in quite some time. Kelly led all bench players with 27 minutes, and really he set the tone for the second unit in the first quarter.
So far this month Olynyk has played in six games. In five of those six he hasn’t shot worse than 50% from the field, hasn’t had fewer than 7 rebounds and has made at least one three in four of them. In fact if you go back a little further, to say January 25th, Kelly has only two games in which he shot under 55% (and one was 50%). Basically I’m trying to point out what a roll he’s on, and why it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Celtics are winning during it.
– We talked about James, we just touched on Kelly, but it would not be right if we didn’t spend a little time talking about the performance that Gerald turned in. The very definition of a streaky player, this is stupid
This is starting to feel like that stretch Jonas Jerebko had earlier in the season where he went like two weeks without missing a shot. If Jaylen’s hip injury is going to be anything serious, the Celtics need this type of Gerald Green. A second unit that averages around 30 points a night, came in and dropped 50 in this game, and the best thing I heard from Gerald after the game was how they acknowledged that the bench fucked the Celts over against SAC, and they were determined to not let that happen in this game. Mission accomplished.
– Don’t look now, but after outplayed DeAndre Jordan, Al Horford hung with Rudy Gobert every step of the way. Some would even say he outplayed him, but I won’t go that far. Another game where Horford stepped up against good competition (16/9/3/1) and he did it with great shooting splits. Want to talk fourth quarter? Another time when Horford supposedly doesn’t show up? Well no player not named Isaiah Thomas scored more, and he didn’t miss a shot.
So much is made about Horford’s rebounding, despite the fact he is averaging 0.5 fewer rebounds than last year, so take some comfort in knowing that to this point, February has been his best rebounding month of the season.
– Listen anytime you start a game making 14 of your first 18 shots, put up 112 points and shoot 59/43% for the game against this defense, on the road, shorthanded, in a game you led wire to wire, you can see why many are calling this the best win of the year. But let’s not act like the defense didn’t show up either. The Jazz didn’t have a 30 point quarter till the fourth, when they were already down 20. They made just 12 baskets in the second and third quarters combined and with just 16 assists on 35 baskets, that tells me the Celtics did a good job of rotating, forcing the Jazz to primarily score one on one.
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– I’m officially saying it. Marcus Smart is off the trade table. If it costs Smart+BKN+more to get a guy like Jimmy Butler or something, I think I’m all set.
– The Celtics completely own Utah. Winners of 11 out of 13, the Celtics are now 6-1 against the West’s 3-6 seeds
The Bad
– Would it have killed them to not kinda blow a 20 point lead? At least the Celts are staying true to who they are and refusing to blow people out. Close wins builds character anyway.
– Put me in the camp that is sneaky worried about Jaylen’s injury. I’ve already accepted we probably don’t see him until after the All Star break as well, and I am praying that having to go almost a whole year with constant injuries will allow us to be 100% healthy for a complete playoff run. It’s only fair in my humble opinion.
– The Celtics were lucky the Jazz couldn’t hit a shot, because 16 turnovers was again way too many. Isaiah, Al, and Marcus all with at least three was pretty annoying. I guess when you play a good defense this is bound to happen, but what bothers me was it wasn’t so much great defense as it was lazy passing and bad habits.
– I thought the Celts Parquet jerseys were bad, those Utah ones though, woof.
The Ugly
– One of the things I love about Al Horford most is his patience. I tweet about it every chance I get because I am a firm believer in that skill is what has helped the Celtics improve this season. One thing I detest though, is while displaying that patience, allowed cutters to run through, or simply turning and facing to take a jumper, he can’t stop traveling. I don’t know why it happens, but nobody, and I mean NOBODY seems to travel out of the post more than Horford. For a guy that has pretty good footwork, is fundamentally sound, this is so bizarre to me.
– The game ended I had to wake up from this dream I was having where James Young played and did things.
One last stop in Dallas tomorrow and finally this West Coast trip will be over. It’ll be nice to add Jae to the rotation, and something tells me he is going to bring it. It’s very important the Celts don’t let up and end this trip on a positive note, because up next is a home game with PHI and then another road trip. Am I concerned the Celtics are 1-7 vs DAL in their last eight meetings? Not in the slightest. Say it with me…
35 down 17 to go