POST GAME INDY PACERS - AWAY

Celtics Wrap: Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum Each Drop 30 Points In Win Vs. Pacers
Great game for the Jays to get back to .500


NESN by Alexandra Francisco

Making up for last game, the Boston Celtics have split their mini series with the Indiana Pacers with a win Wednesday night.

Boston led for the jump and didn’t look back in the 119-100 victory, helping them get back to .500 on the season.

With the win, the Celtics improve to 21-21 while the Pacers fall to 15-17.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Ime Udoka seems to be tightening up the rotation.

Nine players got some run Wednesday, with Payton Pritchard and Enes Kanter Freedom the only two players the only two who didn’t amass more than 10 minutes of playing time. This meant fringe rotation players weren’t on the court at the same time much, probably correlated to the reason Boston managed to keep its lead all game.

Perhaps we’ve turned a new page managing lineups, and we’ll see if this trend continues.


STARS OF THE GAME
— Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown both played very well in the same game, probably getting on the nerves of those ready to split them up. Both players created for themselves and others, with Brown racking up a team-high 34 points with five boards and three assists. Tatum followed that up with 33 points, seven boards, four assists, two steals and two blocks.

— Dennis Schröder has played well when he gets the chance to start for Boston, and in Marcus Smart’s absence Wednesday he had 23 points, two rebounds, three assists and a steal.


— Al Horford had one of his best games in weeks, scoring eight points in support for Boston with four rebounds, four assists, and a lot of the little things along the way.

WAGER WATCH
Schröder had -115 odds to score at least 15 points per DraftKings Sportsbook entering the game. It was a safe bet with Smart out, and a $115 bet would have profited $100.

UP NEXT
Boston has a tough stretch up ahead, traveling to Philadelphia next to face the 76ers before a matchup with the Chicago Bulls at home.

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Looks like Ime's message was received by the players. We will see if this was a fleeting moment or something retained.

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Sloppy reporting. How does winning both games constitute spitting their miniseries?

1. Keeping the rotation short in recent games is a smart move by Udoka.

2. Anyone who could recognize all 5 Celtic players on the court for the last two minutes may want to consider getting some new hobbies!

Yeah, jrleftfoot, I had to think about that a second myself. I'm going to guess Alexandra meant the season series. Also, I'm pretty sure the Pacers aren't 15-17. More like 15-27. A.K.A a really crappy team. Finally, not sure what she meant by turning a new page managing line ups comment. Three strikes and your OUT! Off with her head!!

Well, what a difference having almost all of our players back makes. I was a little concerned when I saw MS was going to be out and the Pacers would easily out shoot and out score us because our defense would be taken off the table but we really showed up there. We all know how we like the leave that lane wide open for our competitors.

Despite the level of competition, I'm going to put this game in the elite status. It was close to dominance from start to finish except maybe for a portion of the 2nd quarter where I started getting the heebeegeebees that this was going to be yet another huge lead blown. Nothing gets more under my skin than blowing leads. Period. To me, it's a the major sign of regression.

It was fun watching both J's finally score lights out and see what the opposing team has to change from their double team just one of J's philosophy...they fall apart because they can't double team. That's been the league's approach since neither have been consistently on at the same time all season.

Again, winning recipe...Just add ball movement and pace. Minimum of 5 passes past half court. Get the ball over half court before shot clock gets to the teens. Who would have known?!! Haven't seen the stat sheet but I'm going to guess the TO's were below our 14/game average. Finally started to feel I got my money's worth with LP.

I've noticed RWIII has taken something out of Bill Russell's old playbook. When RWIII can't spring high enough or can't get his big mitts on a rebound but he's in the rebound vicinity zone, he taps it out toward another Celtic close by that can rebound it. That's priceless and it has to be from watching Russell because no one currently in the league does that nor has done it since Russell. To do that requires an added level of intelligence or better yet team intelligence. You have to take more into account than just trying to rebound for yourself. You must know where your teammates are relative to you BEFORE you jump to possibly rebound it yourself. Then you have to have the wherewithal to position your body once in mid-air to bale out on your initial attempted rebound and tap it out to someone else who is in a better position two rebound secondarily. I'm going to say with certainty it is a lot harder than it looks.

Maybe Rodman did this. I don't recall but he was such a great student of rebounding he could tell you whether the opponent's ball was going in or not and if not where it would hit on the rim and where it would bounce coming off the rim a split second after it left their hand and ever got close to the rim. After watching more Russ, RWIII needs to call Rodman. He was always in position for a miss but that required massive practice, calculations and certainty to be in the right place at the right time far more than not. He probably didn't have need for a tap-out formula or mind-set if he'd mastered the former.

Well, haven't been able to say this but maybe once this season, but we are on a 3-game winning streak tear!!

Stick to the formula...Share.Pace.Defend Like Hell. Friday and Saturday are coming!! More answers.

db

Good solid win on the road against a poor team. As it should be. But it worries me a little that we made five more 3s than average. There are nights when shots are falling but as we know from just a couple weeks ago there are nights when they don't fall at all. 15 fewer points puts us into the oral manicure choke range. I don't see us hitting nearly 50% of 3s on average so I'd like to see us win when we're hitting a more likely percent.

dbrown4 wrote:Yeah, jrleftfoot, I had to think about that a second myself.  I'm going to guess Alexandra meant the season series.  Also, I'm pretty sure the Pacers aren't 15-17.  More like 15-27.  A.K.A a really crappy team.  Finally, not sure what she meant by turning a new page managing line ups comment.  Three strikes and your OUT!  Off with her head!!

Well, what a difference having almost all of our players back makes.  I was a little concerned when I saw MS was going to be out and the Pacers would easily out shoot and out score us because our defense would be taken off the table but we really showed up there.  We all know how we like the leave that lane wide open for our competitors.  

Despite the level of competition, I'm going to put this game in the elite status.  It was close to dominance from start to finish except maybe for a portion of the 2nd quarter where I started getting the heebeegeebees that this was going to be yet another huge lead blown.  Nothing gets more under my skin than blowing leads.  Period.  To me, it's a the major sign of regression.  

It was fun watching both J's finally score lights out and see what the opposing team has to change from their double team just one of J's philosophy...they fall apart because they can't double team.  That's been the league's approach since neither have been consistently on at the same time all season.  

Again, winning recipe...Just add ball movement and pace.  Minimum of 5 passes past half court.  Get the ball over half court before shot clock gets to the teens. Who would have known?!!  Haven't seen the stat sheet but I'm going to guess the TO's were below our 14/game average.  Finally started to feel I got my money's worth with LP.

I've noticed RWIII has taken something out of Bill Russell's old playbook.  When RWIII can't spring high enough or can't get his big mitts on a rebound but he's in the rebound vicinity zone, he taps it out toward another Celtic close by that can rebound it.  That's priceless and it has to be from watching Russell because no one currently in the league does that nor has done it since Russell. To do that requires an added level of intelligence or better yet team intelligence.  You have to take more into account than just trying to rebound for yourself.  You must know where your teammates are relative to you BEFORE you jump to possibly rebound it yourself.  Then you have to have the wherewithal to position your body once in mid-air to bale out on your initial attempted rebound and tap it out to someone else who is in a better position two rebound secondarily.  I'm going to say with certainty it is a lot harder than it looks.    

Maybe Rodman did this.  I don't recall but he was such a great student of rebounding he could tell you whether the opponent's ball was going in or not and if not where it would hit on the rim and where it would bounce coming off the rim a split second after it left their hand and ever got close to the rim.  After watching more Russ, RWIII needs to call Rodman.  He was always in position for a miss but that required massive practice, calculations and certainty to be in the right place at the right time far more than not.  He probably didn't have need for a tap-out formula or mind-set if he'd mastered the former.

Well, haven't been able to say this but maybe once this season, but we are on a 3-game winning streak tear!!

Stick to the formula...Share.Pace.Defend Like Hell.  Friday and Saturday are coming!!  More answers.  

db  

Whoa that’s some really bad reporting. Don’t get me started.

Yeah, Ktron, you must be pulling your hair out!

Please expound!! Let 'em have it!!

db

Good point dboss. Would be great if our 3 point shooting comes around.

I haven’t checked his stats, but my eye test tells me Schroder shoots better as a starter. We need Smart, but we need both guys hitting more of their shots. I would start Schroder, he also has a burst Smart does not have, and obviously Smart could still help us in his 6th man role.

dbrown4 wrote:Yeah, Ktron, you must be pulling your hair out!

Please expound!!  Let 'em have it!!  

db

Not much to expound on here. That’s just lazy and bad. Can’t even refer to that as a mistake. The only question is who’s responsible, the author, or the editor (if NESN has one. Never know these days).

dboss wrote:

jrleftfoot wrote:Sloppy reporting. How does winning both games constitute spitting their miniseries?

dito

Maybe the writer thought we lost another close OT game.

For the record we have 2 more games against the Pacers.

I believe this was only the second time all season where the Celtics put together a string of 3 wins.  More please!

I think everybody is happy to see the recent collaboration between Jayson and Jaylen.  I have never had doubts about them.  For all the tear them apart media types (Mannix, Perkins, Jeff Goodman, Bob Ryan, etc. etc. etc, all of you are dead wrong)

Atcross brings a reality check to the table.  I posted about our 3 point shooting and its' impact on winning a few weeks back.

So here is another update:

21 losses while shooting 30.1% from deep
21 wins when shooting 37.7% from deep.

Our everyday lineup features 2 out of 5 guys that are shooting at or below 30% from deep.  On top of that our Jayson Tatum is still trying the climb out of the basement.  For the season he is shooting 33%.  He is trending up (35% in December and 34.1% in January including that 0-7 result)  RW is not a 3 pointer shooter but he does not get enough scoring opportunities even though he is very efficient.

Our bench is unpredictable.  

So the question I ponder is all about the likelihood that this team can shoot 37%+ for the rest of the season.  If they can then I am quite certain we can get back in the game.

 Dboss, you grew up in Bosstown. How can you place Bob Ryan in that group? Some may not agree with his opinion on the J’s but he’s hardly in the category of a “tear them apart” media type. Agree or not, Bob has cache’ and is probably one of the best basketball writers in the history of the sport. He may have gotten somewhat cranky in his old age but he’d never been a sensationalist like those others.

I haven’t kept up with Bob Ryan, thought he’s lost alot of his abilities whenever he was on ESPN, is it old age, maybe,,,??? Anyway what is his take on 2 J’s?

My memory may be serving me badly, but every game Menace starts with Smart out, we play very well because Menace gives us the third scoring option we need at the beginning of the game. And all he does is drive to the basket, make and get fouled or he pulls up with that 8-10ft side jumper and never missing like KG used to do a little further out from the top side of the key. Marcus doesn't have that consistent scoring punch to start, IMHBAO. Everything else? Absolutely. That's what makes him such a tweener between starter and 6th man.

db

cowens/oldschool wrote:I haven’t kept up with Bob Ryan, thought he’s lost alot of his abilities whenever he was on ESPN, is it old age, maybe,,,??? Anyway what is his take on 2 J’s?

After months of holding steadfast and advocating patience, Ryan’s now saying that this core group is not working.

Ktron wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:I haven’t kept up with Bob Ryan, thought he’s lost alot of his abilities whenever he was on ESPN, is it old age, maybe,,,??? Anyway what is his take on 2 J’s?

After months of holding steadfast and advocating patience, Ryan’s now saying that this core group is not working.

Is he pedaling the nonsense to trade a J, that they can’t play together?

dboss wrote:In a podcast with Jeff Goodman and another guy and Bob Ryan they were discussing trading Jaylen under the mistaken notion the Jays cannot play together.

They threw out Sabonis's name and Ryan said he would do it in a heartbeat (trading Jaylen for Sabonis)

So yes Ryan has become part of the trade Jaylen chorus.

I like Sabonis, but certainly don’t like him enough to trade for Jaylen.

This confirms what I think of that old bag….