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Celtics Wrap: Boston Holds On Vs. 76ers Despite Poor Offensive Night
The Celtics improve to 12-10 after a 88-87 victory


NESN by Sean T. McGuire


BOSTON — The Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers set high-scoring basketball back a decade at TD Garden on Wednesday, but, as they say, a win is a win, and Boston earned just that with a 88-87 verdict.

Boston improved to 12-10 while Philadelphia fell to 11-11.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
The Celtics could have used an encouraging and complete performance prior to leaving for a five-game Western Conference road trip, and given the fact they had their full complement of players with Jaylen Brown and Robert Williams, it seemed in the cards. That, however, proved to be the case only on the defensive end despite the fact Boston started strong through the first six minutes.

The ball movement and open looks then started to become less frequent, all while flat-out missed shots clearly played a role. The Celtics, after all, shot 42.6% from the field with 12 turnovers during the first three quarters. They finished they game shooting 42.3%, but recorded 18. assists on 33 baskets.

Of course, it’s worth noting how Boston, again, played well defensively. And it held Philadelphia to a brutal 35.7% from the field — and while some of those, like the C’s, were just missed opportunities, Boston’s efforts were rewarded.

THE GAME[/b]
— On a night where there wasn’t much going, Celtics star Jayson Tatum once again led the team in scoring. Tatum finished with 26 points on 9-for-20 from the field, but did add 16 rebounds to go along with two assists.

— Al Horford made his impact on the defensive end (five blocks, key forced turnover with 1:25 left) while helping hold 76ers center Joel Embiid to a terrible 2-for-16 from the field. Embiid scored six of his 11 points at the free throw line. Horford added 10 points on an efficient 4-for-6 from the field with eight rebounds.

— Robert Williams re-entered the Celtics starting lineup and finished with 10 points on 5-for-6 from the field in 25 minutes. Ime Udoka noted pregame Williams would be on a minutes restriction, but the big man, who missed each of the last three games, played with his normal energy on both ends. He added two blocks.


WAGER WATCH
Al Horford had what felt like a profitable propositional bet entering Wednesday contest with his over/under 3-pointers set at a modest 1.5 (+110). Sure enough, Horford got half way there just minutes into the first quarter and hit the Over with 10 minutes left in the third quarter. A $100 bet on the Over would have made one lucky bettor $110 richer, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. Horford had six games with two or more 3-pointers in 14 games this month.

UP NEXT
The Celtics will begin a five-game, Western Conference road trip Friday as they travel to Utah to face the Jazz before playing the Trail Blazers in Portland on the second night of a back-to-back.

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Is JB ok? He keeps grimacing during the game and looks a step slow. Then a play or two you see him being athletic.

I will take the win. Hopefully, the guys keep finding their rhythm on the trip.

They are brutal in Philly. Brutal! Lol

With 2 days off we sure were not sharp or energetic, good cop bad cop, our defense was good, we put out alot of effort for the most part. Playing so hard on defense, does that take away from our offense? I don’t know, but the offense was very painful to watch. I really hope Jaylen gets better/healthier ASAP, every year he’s improved, but looks nothing like last years good version of Jaylen. Does he need more time off? With that time, can this clueless training staff do anything? I’m going to be really curious to see how Devin Booker responds to the exact same injury on the left leg. If he comes back faster and better, that will really tell us all we need to know about this staff.

Looks like Ime is going to get defense burned into their brains and DNA first and foremost, then worry about offense. He must be thinking we can't be that bad on offense. And he's probably right. Law of averages has to kick in at some point. Only thing I can think of.

Kind of a weird game. I was thinking all along this has a last second shot to beat us written all over it. Then the human pogo stick took care of that with a perfectly timed and spaced blocked shot to end the game. It probably would have gone in. We needed that for sure. It's great to see the kids excited about winning a pro game instead of "It's my job. It's what I do for a living," typical attitude after the game. Liking Freedom more and more. He has captured the heart of the country and maybe the world. He's earning his spot on the floor.

Tatum looked solid. He's going to the basket more and made all of his FT's this time. He's learning. At least our 3-point % was just over the Mendoza Line. Took a while. Al looking good. I'll take 27 bench points any day in an 88-point game.

For as awful as Embiid looked shooting, he was scaring a 3-D! We need that. We need a KD.

Well, big road trip coming up that includes the Lakers for the third game of it. Jazz up first will be no slouch. We will continue to wallow in Mediocreville until we get past a win streak of 3 or more. Each loss now is like an albatross with a noose around our necks, especially if you are going to do it WOLOWOLT. (Thought of another moniker for this team until it emerges...Forrest Gump/Box of Chocolates. We never know what we're going to get or who's going to show up or not.)
Again, the NBA waits for no one. The games keep coming.

Good to see RWIII back and Marcus lobbing him for easy scores. Game-saving block. Almost deserves the game ball. Give it to Tatum, though. Loved the celebration afterwards.

I'll go ahead and dub this an inflection point road trip coming up. Can't afford any lapses, excuses, etc. Let's see what happens. BAM 4-1. Sorry. Tough love.

db

Win on a defensive play by RWIII.

The only stat I need to know to make me happy... for now

Ime said in his post-game presser that he "won't apologize for an ugly win".  He shouldn't.  My nerves don't like close games, even ones we win, but I'll bet our guys learned a lot more about themselves last night than they would have had it been a cake walk.  The 2nd half was a battle in a phone booth (I think everybody on this board is old enough to remember phone booths, right?).  Wins like this are hard on my nerves, and hard on their bodies perhaps, but are character building wins and character is just as important to winning games as hitting shots (ok, maybe hitting your shots is a little more important but you can't count on hitting them and that's where character kicks in).

Boston Celtics @celtics
yesterday
Jayson Tatum: “It feels good when you find a way to win a game like this.”

Do we still have problems with our offense?  Yep, but our defense is proving to be even more elite.  We have the #8 defense in the league.  Considering how many OTs we've had (OTs mean giving up even more points in a game) that's not bad.  We're < .05% away from 6th, that's how close it is.

Life is good living rent-free in Joel Embiid's head.  At this point it's even comical, like Al Horford's free throw flinch.  But credit to Al for knowing his former teammate and making life miserable for him.  A great game by Al.  Embiid's 13 and 18 are the type of numbers that make Sportcenter but that's because they don't mention the 3-17 fg shooting that got those points.  He was even 6-10 from the line.  He really should talk to Simmons' shrink to see what can be done about his Celtiphobia.  Touching on an issue discussed on another thread this game is another data point that supports the claim that Brad did a helluva good job swapping Kemba out for Al.  Two years in Boston and Kemba never had a game like this against his former team, the Charlotte Hornets, nor against Atlantic Division rival Philly (nor against hometown team NY Knicks, to the best of my memory).  5 blocks by Al.  5.  Big Game Al.

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
yesterday
Al Horford said after a bad year in Phily & getting traded, it was a "very low point for me." "I can either cave in, or make the most of this opportunity." But OKC welcomed him with open arms & now "There's a lot of satisfaction being back here and playing at a high level."

Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
yesterday
Ime Udoka on Al Horford in Philly: "I don't think we used him properly."

Ouch.  Did you feel that, Doc?

A. Sherrod Blakely
@ASherrodblakely
Al Horford continues his back-to-the-future play with a "you've been son'd" performance in limiting Joel Embiid (13 pts, 3/17 shooting) in Boston's 88-87 win.



When coaches talk about the importance of having a high/low front court they're talking about Al and Robert Williams.  Al is shooting a very respectable 35% from 3 this year and Robert Williams is as much of a pnr nightmare as Bam and Capela.  RWill was 5-7 in his 25 minutes and had his potential game saving block on Niang.  His 3 blocks, along with Al's 5, gave us almost as many blocks as the entire Sixer team (8 vs 9).  Between Al playing like he's 5 years younger, The Time Lord's ability to erase shots like they never existed and Kanter's rebounding and low post play we actually have a pretty good, and diverse skill-wise, front court.  We didn't see this coming 21 games ago, did we?

Chris Forsberg @ChrisForsberg_
58 minutes ago
NBA’s defensive tracking data for Celtics vs Joel Embiid. 3-16 FG vs Horford + Freedom. pic.twitter.com/cStFxARwMc


Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
yesterday
Joel Embiid went 3 for 17 Wednesday night. It was the 3rd time in his career he failed to shoot 20% from the floor (minimum 10 shots). Two of the three have been at TD Garden. 0-11 - Nov. 25, 2019 at Toronto 1-11 - Feb. 1, 2020 at BOSTON 3-17 - Dec. 1, 2021 at BOSTON




Shake Milton kept them in this game, with some help from George Niang and Seth Curry, at least in the 1st half.  Shake had 14 of his 16 in the 1st half on 6-7 shooting, 2-3 from 3.  I like Nesmith a lot but, I gotta say, I would trade him for Shake.  He's the real deal.  Aaron Nesmith might someday be one.  

Tatum finally broke out of his scoring slump.  Now we have to see if he stays out of it.

Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
yesterday
11 of Jayson Tatum's 26 came in the 4th quarter tonight. He's four behind DeMar DeRozan for the league lead... NBA LEADERS - 4th QUARTER POINTS 1. DeRozan, Chi 147 2. TATUM, BOS 143 3. LaVine, Chi 136 4. George, LAC 120 5. Herro, Mia 119


Chris Forsberg @ChrisForsberg_
1 minute ago
Brad Stevens on @Toucherandrich on anonymous quote about Jayson Tatum not caring about winning. “Obviously, he’s never been around Jayson … To me that line was a joke … totally wrong in that guy’s assessment.”


Mark Murphy @Murf56
yesterday
Tatum on deferring to Schroder for the game-winner: "I seen a report the other day that said I was a selfish player. That seems pretty unselfish of me, but whatever it takes for us to win. I guess more often than not it’s going to be in my hands, but we play 82-something games."

One of the problems here, perhaps, is that Tatum is even reading his press.  This is what Wilt Chamberlain did.  He read that he was a selfish player who didn't pass enough and he backed off his scoring, which he could do at will, in order to increase his assist totals.  Do what got you here and let them surround you with players who can/will do the things you're not great at.



Jay King @ByJayKing
yesterday
Jayson Tatum on his rebounding: "I think just being committed to trying to help us win and trying to do everything that I can to contribute to that. Rob gets mad at me sometimes because he feels like he boxes out and I come steal it."




Jaylen with another off game.  He's clearly being impacted by his hamstring.  This is part of the problem when you are a player who relies so much on athleticism.  Any loss of that athleticism, be it to injury or age, has a larger than otherwise impact on your game.  Jaylen didn't say he was hurt.  We'll see how he feels today, now that the adrenaline has worn off.

Gary Washburn @GwashburnGlobe
yesterday
Jaylen Brown definitely looked like he was laboring tonight but Udoka said he didn’t say anything about being hurt. Wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t sit out a game or two on this five-game West Coast road trip. # Celtics

They took 17 fgas vs 15 for us.  They can't complain about homecourt zebras.


https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401360146


Bob



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The defense won this game for us.  Once again this game came down to a couple of possessions.

The Celtics defense really looks good.  The 5 game road trip will either confirm the quality of the defense or throw cold water on it.

Jaylen Brown looks like a lame race horse.  The hammy is not healthy.  You saw multiple times where he was grimacing.  Why is Ime playing him?  Even Stevie Wonder would cry out "brother take a seat, la la la"  No doubt, we win by double digits with a healthy JB.

AH had a solid game on defense but I would be remiss not to point out an error in A Sharrod's article posted by BobH

He states that "Al is shooting a very respectable 35% from 3 this year"

Al is actually deep in the tank at 30.4% for the year.  Hell, if he was shooting 35% I would be as happy as a  PIS and I would have one less thing to criticize him about.

So Boston hits the road beginning with a game at Utah followed by games at Portland, LAL, LAC and the red hot Suns.  No easy picking in that group.  

I am going to hope and pray for a successful tour.  To me that means we come back off of a 3-2 campaign.  We have to go B2B against the Jazz and Blazers.  Then after 3 days off we have another B2B against the Lakers and Clippers.  As written by Glen Campbell, "by the time I get to Phoenix"...I'll change the lyrics here a bit..."we'll be wasted"

It is as though this is an ultimate 'prove it to me' road trip.

Prove it to me, inflection point. Sounds like we're in agreement. dboss, is 4-1 totally out of the question? (I forgot about PHX at the end before I threw my BAM ultimatum out there in the pre-game thread! DOH!! This may bring 3-2 or worse 2-3 into play...Seriously cannot afford either of those.)

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dbrown4 wrote:Prove it to me, inflection point.  Sounds like we're in agreement.  dboss, is 4-1 totally out of the question? (I forgot about PHX at the end before I threw my BAM ultimatum out there in the pre-game thread!  DOH!!  This may bring 3-2 or worse 2-3 into play...Seriously cannot afford either of those.)

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Db

IF we pulled off a 4-1 trip it would put us in the conversation for being a top 4 team in the East.

I would be shocked if that happened.

Our offense is so inconsistent and with JB likely unable to be great I do not know how we can win 4.  And let's not forget that there are two B2B game grouping in the mix.  We could easily crap out and get swept or win one game or 2.  There is no way to predict outcomes.

I am hoping for the best but preparing for the worse.

I’m dumbfounded how they are using the injured Jaylen, who is game, but is struggling to finish lay ups. No lift or explosion. Romeo could have gotten some run, he has been defending/playing well of late. The way Jaylen looks, I’m very concerned with a re-injury to his hammy, do we want to see a thoroughbred limping in second gear without the afterburners?

cowens/oldschool wrote:I’m dumbfounded how they are using the injured Jaylen, who is game, but is struggling to finish lay ups. No lift or explosion. Romeo could have gotten some run, he has been defending/playing well of late. The way Jaylen looks, I’m very concerned with a re-injury to his hammy, do we want to see a thoroughbred limping in second gear without the afterburners?

Cow, JB is out tonight and he should probably sit out tomorrow vs Portland.

The medical staff on this team cannot manage a damn hangnail.  Why did he come back if he was not 100%

One injury can lead to another.

Yes Romeo should have played and JB should have sat in street cloths.  Coach Ime appeared to be oblivious.  WTF ...what, where, who...I didn't notice anything.

I like Ime. He has a commanding presence much like Phil Jackson did but without the Turrets Syndrome occasional response to a bad call. Phil would almost have been better in a recliner on the sidelines the way he used to sit for most of the game, but the ref would make a really bad call and he'd hop out of his chair in one motion to vertical and lay into them. Otherwise he was very calm, cool and collected.

dboss wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:I’m dumbfounded how they are using the injured Jaylen, who is game, but is struggling to finish lay ups. No lift or explosion. Romeo could have gotten some run, he has been defending/playing well of late. The way Jaylen looks, I’m very concerned with a re-injury to his hammy, do we want to see a thoroughbred limping in second gear without the afterburners?

Cow, JB is out tonight and he should probably sit out tomorrow vs Portland.

The medical staff on this team cannot manage a damn hangnail.  Why did he come back if he was not 100%

One injury can lead to another.

Yes Romeo should have played and JB should have sat in street cloths.  Coach Ime appeared to be oblivious.  WTF ...what, where, who...I didn't notice anything.

Good hallelujah

Yeah at this point if I was Jaylen, I’d get my own medical people/staff. These guys are clueless and putting his promising career in jeopardy, just pathetic since Lacerte and Doo left….

Bob


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