Post Game Thread - vs Cavaliers, Home 1/24/21

[bobheckler]

Cruised from beginning to end.  It would have been closer if they had Kevin Love, but it would have been just as bad or worse if we had Tatum.  Or would it...?

Jaylen with another MVP-worthy performance.  It is just looking SOOOO easy for him now.  The game has slowed way, way down and his skills have improved SOOOO much, especially his handle, which has opened up the effectiveness of the rest of his game.

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
yesterday
Jaylen Brown has joined Chet Walker as the only players to score over 30 points in less than 20 minutes in NBA history, per @Sportradar. Coincidentally, Walker did it against the Celtics back in the 1965 playoffs.

Chet Walker turned 25 in February of 1965 and was in his 3rd season with Philly; Jaylen Brown turned 24 years old in October and is in his 5th season.

Jaylen did this by shooting 13-20 and 3-4 from 3, not really many of those points from range.  He's is just SOOO effective in the mid-range and getting to the rim.  Defenders, I mean really really good defenders, are struggling to stay in front of him and still be able to maintain contact with him to challenge a shot if he pulls up from mid-range.





It's just SOOOOO easy now.


Thompson with only 5 points but 12 boards in just 22 minutes.  One of the beneficial side effects of playing with Thompson is that Theis has felt liberated on the offensive end.  Thompson's banging with the big boys and that frees up Theis to dominate whoever is guarding him.  It's tough playing hard against players that are bigger, stronger and heavier than you and still be high energy on the offensive end too, but that's what Theis has been doing for the last few years.  His fg% is, get this, 62.9%.  His eFG%, which gives credit for the extra points that comes from 3s, is 68%.  He says his natural position is 5 and not 4, but he's flourishing this year at 4 and that's because Thompson is taking some of his defensive responsibilities off him.

Despite all the concerns about our front court we played against Andre Drummond and Jared Allen last night and gave up a total of 23 points on 9-16, 12 rebounds in a combined 44 minutes.  Our top two front court players, TT and DT, had 22 points on 6-13, 18 rebounds in 46 minutes.  That's not too bad a comparison, is it?  Like I've been saying, there'll be plenty of opportunities to panic when the time comes.

Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
yesterday
Theis is shooting 46 percent from 3-point range in January (7-of-15)

Chris Grenham @chrisgrenham
yesterday
Daniel Theis with the impressive block on Jarrett Allen:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1353498448461500418

Our bigs, running the floor.
Marc D'Amico @celtics
yesterday
Beautiful pic.twitter.com/hYG54WdoGp



We need to lie to Carsen Edwards and tell him we're playing Cleveland every night.  18 points on 7-12, only 6 of those 12 fgas from 3.  He's a 2 in a mini-1 body but if he plays like this defenders struggle with his speed.  Still a bit reckless in his drives but he's not second-guessing himself and that's important.



Aaron 3Smith (full kudos to ktron who coined that nickname last night on the Game On! thread.  I think it's brilliant) finally looking comfortable out there.  4-6 and 3-5 from 3.  His two misses were wide-open 3s from the corner, the easiest 3 in the game.  I don't expect that to continue, he'll hit those.  One of his 3 3pt fgm was a straightaway bank shot.  I don't expect that again either.  I guess that was the basketball gods paying him back for the corner 3 misses.  11 points and 6 rebounds in 17 minutes.  I'd take that every night.  One thing I've noticed about him, and I think I've mentioned it before (at least on the Game On!), is that he really sticks his nose in there for rebounds.  Hope he wears a mouth guard because he's gonna get popped like that.  He isn't athletic but he hustles for all he's worth.  He saved a ball that was going out of bounds by just not giving up on it and tipping to a Celtic before he and the ball went out of bounds.  The best outing of his short career BY FAR.  Better hurry back Romeo.  There's only 240 in a regulation game.



One of the ongoing questions for our front court is "is/can Tacko Fall be a legit NBA center?".  "Can he be a legit 3rd string center?".  He's been doing well but boy was he in trouble last night.  Career 3rd string journeyman Javale McGee schooled him mercilessly.  I mean, I really felt bad for Tacko.  He looked like he didn't belong last night.

Teague sucks.

Grant Williams was the last Celtic in the game last night and looked bad.  It has been a very, very bad 2 weeks for GWill.  We've seen him play better but, wow, what a two weeks.  

Smart with a Smarty game.  9 assists, 5 steals out of our total 14.  When he shoots 5-8 like he did last night he's an amazing player with few flaws at either end.

How's this for a little "French Pastry" as Al Maguire used to call it:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1353510129795092480


Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
yesterday
141-103, Final. 141 most points ever scored in regulation by the Celtics at TD Garden. Most in a home game since 1992. 38 point win is the largest for the Celtics since the record road win in Chicago in 2018. Their largest at home since a 38 point win over Washington in 2015.

Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
yesterday
73-51, Boston at the half. Celtics first half against the NBA's #2 defense... 73 points 53% shooting 47% from 3 Boston was 29th in offense in the last week without Jayson Tatum.


https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401267410






Bob


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[cowens/oldschool]

Jaylen Jaylen Jaylen

Superstar!!!

Can’t wait to see this team further down the road with a healthy Tatum to inflict more damage both ways. RWill slowly rounding into shape had some good moments vs Drummond. I still see him as our energy guy and will get alot of clean looks playing off 2 J’s. Tough tough stretch for GWill, his game has completely fallen apart and what a strong driving game by CE, keep attacking like that and he will have to earn minutes.

I think a lot on the board were too impatient, calling out the 2 bigs line up. Theis is a natural 4 and whether it’s TT or RWill I like this alignment, as our bigs are not immovable dinosaurs. Smart Jaylen Jayson Theis RWill could be easily our best defensive line up, with 4 athletic shot blockers.

[dboss]

Bob

Thanks for getting this one started.

After 3 straight losses, the Celtics really needed  a big game like this.  We play our next 7/8 on the road with one home home game against the Lakers.  This schedule has been brutal.

There were several really outstanding performances last night.

Marcus Smart played a perfect complimentary game in scoring 12 points on an efficient 5-8 shooting and 9 assists with 1 turn over.  On defense he was the ultimate disrupter with 5 steals.  if you could bottle this game for him, he would be at a perfect place for this team.  Marcus is scoring more in the midrange and his efficiency was great last night.  The Celtics do not need for him to do more.  With Kemba quickly rounded back into form,  the profile of this team in terms of roles and functionality becomes clearer.

As Brad continues to experiment with 2 centers in the lineup, Theis has managed to display a more consistent stretch capability.  If he can continue to knock down those outside shots it provides enough spacing to live with a low post guy like Thompson.  More on the lineups later.

Every time I think that we have seen the best of Jaylen Brown, he paints yet another masterpiece. His exponential development is now moving at warp speed.  He has turned into a freakin scoring machine.  He is fast becoming a guy who is unstoppable one on one.  We all know why.  We have talked about it for a few years.  If only he could slow down a bit.  If only he worked on his handle. If only he could step to the line and drain those free throw.  Many times you see where a player needs to improve and you hope that they achieve some measureable goals.  It seems Jaylen has blown away our expectations.  It has taken hard work and dedication to his craft and an opportunity to do more things.

His handle is lightning quick but his offensive game now goes well beyond a solid bounce of the ball. He is seeing the entire floor and reading openings in the defense.  He is using a variety of cross over, between the leg bounces mixed in with a bullet quick first step combined with industrial level brakes to change up the pace.  He is mastering the art of scoring from everywhere.  It's incredible!  I predict that Jaylen will become an everyday 80+% shooter from the line. At 77.7% he is almost there.  His overall shooting efficiency can produce 50/40/80 numbers this year.

It was good to see Aaron Nesmith find some offense.  

Grant Williams appears to be slipping down the rotation ladder.

Semi continues to play well at PF.  I always liked his defense.  There is no reason on earth why GW should get minutes over him.  

In his 2nd game back since the Covid episode,  Robert Williams played very well scoring 9 points and collecting 6 rebounds.  He also had 3 block shots, an assist and no turnovers.  Here is an interesting development.  Over the past 4 games Rob has not missed a free throw while going 8-8.  He actually has a nice stroke from the line.  He still only played 15 minutes in this game.    In my opinion Brad Stevens is impeding his development.  He needs to be playing 20 MPG.  

Now that Kemba is back and Tatum should be returning tonight the on going question about the lineup comes into play.   I want to see the DT/TT front court some more.  But that means that JT move back to the 3 which is fine.  It also means that Marcus will become the 6th man once again which is also fine.  

There are advantages and disadvantages to playing DT/TT together.  The good thing is that you can match up better with bigger teams.  The big question revolves around DT.  He never played PF on this team in any meaningful way.  If he can make those open looks, the combo can work.  The other good thing impacts RW.  RW should get more opportunities when you start DT and TT together,  As a matter of fact, I saw where Brad had RW in there in a brief stretch with DT as well.  Brad should not play GW at center again at the expense of RW not getting adequate playing time.  

The disadvantage may be related to having Marcus in there at the jump to solidify our defense. However, Marcus is well suited to start or lead the second unit.

This is an interesting topic that will take time to figure out.  Brad will continue to experiment with things until he reaches a level of comfort with his starters and the rotation.  I do think that you could bring Marcus and PP off the bench together.

[bobheckler]

Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
about 17 minutes ago
Fun sidebar from the simulated game the Celtics played Saturday for Jayson Tatum's conditioning. Brad Stevens told me Carsen Edwards played so well in that game, he pulled him, telling the other coaches "he's playing [Sunday]."


Bob


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