Celtics
Jayson Tatum and the Celtics desperately needed a giant win, and on Friday they got it against the Magic, picking up a 121-94 win.
Here are the snack bars.
Jayson Tatum brought the Celtics under control.
Tatum has had more dominant games and much more notable results, but his 30-point, six-rebound, four-assist night on Friday understates the impact he had on the sport, particularly within the second quarter when the Celtics gave the impression to be hinting at one Blowout.
With just below nine minutes left within the second quarter, Tatum scored back-to-back layups, bringing his total to nine points. The layups themselves were relatively unremarkable, but otherwise helped Tatum expand his status as perhaps the most effective isolation player within the league this season (1.15 points per possession).
But the back-to-back layups felt like a press release of sorts from the Celtics star, and so they cheered him on until halftime – Tatum finished the second quarter with 15 of his 30 points. His offense seemed almost casual and in perfect flow, which was helpful on an evening where the Celtics relied on everyone getting on target.
What's perhaps notable is that Tatum's big night began with a 3-pointer, but he found a rhythm as he headed to the basket. After reaching the rim several times, he prolonged his shot back to the 3-point line, which appeared to work well – he finished the sport 4-9 from behind the arc.
The Celtics really needed this.
Things didn't look good for the Magic on Friday. Their defense was porous, their offense was uninspired, their 3-point performance was the eighth-worst of any team this season (5 of 32, 15.6 percent) and the energetic shorthanded group that beat the Celtics was unlikely to be seen just just a few weeks ago it looks like Paolo Banchero could be expected to do anything for her.
But the Celtics won't care. After enduring certainly one of their worst losses of the season – which was immediately preceded by certainly one of their worst wins of the yr, which was immediately preceded by certainly one of their worst losses of the season – they really needed a win like this.
They saw the shots go downfield (45.9 percent from 3-point range). They needed their star players to seek out their rhythm (Tatum scored 30 points while Jaylen Brown added 20 points and went 9-for-9 on the free throw line), and so they needed their star players to appear like stars of their roles. They got to see the ball flutter across the sideline just a few times prefer it did earlier within the yr, even when it meant they didn't hit the ball each time.
“I think it was healthy for us to have an ugly loss,” Kristaps Porzingis said. “It's a bit of a wake-up call. We've had a lot of ups and downs lately and I think a defeat like that really, really hurt – the way it's supposed to hurt. And tonight we were a different team.”
The Celtics have a whole lot of games coming up, which suggests they’ve loads of opportunities to prove that Friday's result wasn't an oasis in the midst of the desert. It is entirely possible that they’ll relapse and have problems again.
But bouncing back in dominant fashion after a loss to the Raptors and picking up a win over a playoff team that showed hints of their success earlier within the season was a great start.
“It definitely felt good to hit some shots, but I just liked how physical we were early on,” Tatum said. “The starters haven't necessarily started the game as well as we would have liked recently. But I think we matched their intensity from the start tonight and the guys coming off the bench did a great job of moving the game forward.”
Kristaps Porzingis was incredibly efficient.
Porzingis was the one Celtic to perform fairly well against the Raptors, and he continued to knock down shots Friday, going 7-for-10 from the sphere and 3-for-5 from deep. When the Celtics were capable of get the ball inside, Porzingis dominated within the post. He's been pretty much as good as Tatum in isolation within the post this yr (1.15 points per possession, 81st percentile), and if he starts scoring on each pick-and-pops and within the paint, it would be for the Celtics overall really difficult to stop.
“I think today was a step in the right direction for sure,” Porzingis said. “We played good basketball.”
Porzingis gave everyone at TD Garden a heart attack on that fast break when he landed awkwardly.
He also by chance wiped Banchero's eye within the third quarter, causing a lengthy delay as Banchero tried to shake off the injury and get to the free throw line to avoid sitting out (which he did).
Porzingis said that the Celtics' franchise and fans were a bit spoiled by the success (not in a nasty way).
“You don’t know what it’s like to play on a sub-.500 team or really struggle and not be able to get wins,” he said. “And of course the expectations aren't the same, but still as a player you just grit your teeth and go to work the next day.
“But here it's an incredible privilege in a way that we're supposed to win every game. We go into almost every game as favorites, if not every game. Of course it’s a weight that we have to carry or a little bit of pressure that we have to carry, but that’s to be expected with this thing.”
The starters were good.
The starting lineup's struggles have been well-documented, but this group was +15 on Friday, and Mazzulla returned to them together within the second quarter, which seemed a bit like a chance for them to proceed improving chemistry, even when Mazzulla denied it.
“The pattern was just like that tonight,” he said. “I thought they got off to a good start. They had a great rhythm and that was kind of the pattern that prevailed there and I thought they did a good job, really got off to a good start and played consistently throughout.”
Tatum noted that “results may vary” depending on plus/minus statistics.
“I find [I liked] How connected we were on both sides of the field, especially on defense,” he said. “Everyone was on the same page, we were connected and helped each other.
“Regardless of the plus/minus, the way we approached it today was much better.”
Jrue Holiday and Al Horford hit threes.
For the Celtics as a whole, it was encouraging to see 3-point shots go down, but Jrue Holiday's 3-for-6 go-ahead was perhaps one of the most interesting stats of the night. Holiday's precipitous decline from 42.9 percent from three to 33.7 this year has been a bit puzzling, and the Celtics would benefit greatly if he starts ticking up.
Horford, meanwhile, went 2-3. He's been off the mark less than his teammates in recent weeks, but his presence provides a crucial outlet for the Celtics' drive-and-kick offense, and when he makes shots, the defense is forced to close harder, which helps Ball swings much more smoothly around the perimeter.
Everything is much easier for the Celtics when they shoot well.
“I liked the way they shot their shots better,” Mazzulla said. “Al got some great kick-out threes just by penetrating Jaylen and Jayson. Jrue got two catch-and-shoot looks in the corner. In the pick-and-roll, he made two dribble three-pointers that went to his left hand.
“So I just like the type of recordings they do. And to me, if we can give these guys good looks based on our performance on our offense, it just makes us better.”
The Celtics have some hot takes.
And as is the case with hot takes, you probably won't like them.
Jrue Holiday, for example, believes that coffee is overrated. Payton Pritchard doesn't like cannolis (and whoever produces the Celtics' in-house entertainment…maybe don't know how to spell “cannoli”?).
Sam Hauser drew the most important response when he once more expressed his support for Aaron Rodgers as certainly one of the three best NFL quarterbacks of all time (he didn't even diss Tom Brady this time).
However, Luke Kornet suggested that each NBA game starts at 11am. Fans would hate this, after all, but Kornet is guaranteed to resonate with sportswriters with this particularly hot attitude.
Jaylen Brown focused more on defense.
Brown took just five shots in the primary half and finished the sport with just 12 total shots (5 of 12).
But Brown wasn't discouraged – he recorded three steals and earned enthusiastic applause from Mazzulla at one point for his defensive effort.
“I liked how intense he was and I think that’s important for us,” Mazzulla said. “He brings a different mentality to us sometimes and I thought tonight he brought a high level of intensity. He had 20 points on 12 shots and he has the ability to impact the game without shooting. I thought he just influenced it in a lot of different ways.”
Jaylen Brown's shoe got here off Jordan Walsh's foot.
Celtics players who wear Brown's 741 Performance Rover shoe swear by it, but within the interest of journalistic integrity, we should always note that it got here directly from Jordan Walsh's foot when Cole Anthony stepped on him within the fourth quarter. Walsh grabbed the shoe and stomped it back on, so we should always also note that it's just as easy to placed on and take off again.
The path ahead.
The Celtics will face the Hawks on Saturday at 7 p.m. before getting back on the road and traveling to the West Coast to face the Warriors on Monday.
image credit : www.boston.com
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