2022 - 2023 POST GAME WASHINGTON WIZARDS

Celtics Wrap: Boston Cruises To 112-94 Bounce-Back Win Vs. Wizards
Tatum and Brown combined for 47 points in the win


NESN by Jason Ounpraseuth

The Boston Celtics beat the Washington Wizards, 112-94 at TD Garden on Sunday to break their two-game losing streak.

The Celtics move to 4-2 on the year, and the Wizards fell to 3-3.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
The Celtics leaned on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to help break their losing skid, and it was a sounds strategy for Boston. The duo combined for 47 points, 14 rebounds and five assists against the Wizards on Sunday, showing why Boston is a tough team to beat when the pair are firing on all cylinders. Interim head coach Joe Mazzulla and Marcus Smart acknowledged the Celtics need to improve on the defensive end, and they did just that. Washington made a run in the second quarter, cutting a 24-point Boston lead to 11 points, but the Celtics held firm in the second half to prevent a collapse. Boston’s defense also held All-Star guard Bradley Beal to 12 points on 4-for-16 shooting.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Brown led all scorers with 24 points on 7-for-18 shooting, along with a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. The Celtics guard also added 10 rebounds for a double-double.

— Tatum wasn’t far behind Brown with 23 points on 8-for-15 shooting, including 5-for-10 from the 3-point line. The All-Star also grabbed four rebounds and dished out three assists.

— Malcolm Brogdon provided 23 points off the bench to go along with four assists.

Kyrie Irving Gets Into It With Reporter, Won't 'Stand Down' From Controversial Tweet

WAGER WATCH
Brown had 6-to-1 odds to notch a double-double, and a $100 bet on the All-Star guard to achieve that mark would have paid out $700.

UP NEXT
The Celtics hope to avenge a loss to the Cavaliers as Boston travels to Cleveland to take on the Cavs at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Wednesday. Tipoff is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

112288

Hi,
We demolished hapless Wizards. But win is a win is a win. Especially, after 2 losses.
One thing about the current Celtics team I still can't understand is presence and PT (14 MPG this season) of Luke Kornet. Don't get me wrong - he seems to be a nice guy, he's 7-2 and can run. But that's the extent of his basketball skills. Oh, sorry - he can also hit 3pt once in a while. It's a real mystery.

AK

Last season, when he got 14.1 minutes per game, Payton Pritchard pulled down 1.9 rebounds on average and scored 6.2 ppg.

This year Luke Kornet is averaging 14.0 minutes per game, pulls down 3.3 rb per game and averages 2.5 ppg.

Go figure.

Sorry, not impressed.  Why not?  Why am I not impressed with an 18 point win where the opponent scored < 100 points?

1.  The Wizards aren't that great a team.

2.  The Wiz shot 22% from 3.  NO NBA team is that bad normally.

3.  They took 19 more fgas than us.  Any team that is having an even remotely decent shooting game will croak us with this.

4.  The Js carried us.  They shot a combined 15-33 for the game, 45.5%, but by halftime they had taken 24 fgas combined while the rest of the team took 19.

5.  They out-offensive rebounded us 15-4.  Our rebounding, or lack thereof, has hurt us in numerous games already and I don't think it's all about RWill being out.

6.  Bradley Beal was 4-16, 2-7 from 3.  He didn't score his first fgm until there were only 2.0 seconds left in the 3rd quarter.  How often can you count on that?!

We took 47 3pt fgas out of a total of only 79 fgas.  That's sick.  10 of Tatum's 15 fgas were 3s and 9 of Brown's 18 fgas were 3s.  I'm not liking this.

Brogdon with a great 2nd half.  Only 2-6 for 7 points, 1-2 from 3 and 2-2 from the line at halftime but he ended up with 23 points on 6-12, 3-5 from 3, and 8-8 from the line for a 16 point on 4-6, 2-3 from 3 and 6-6 ftm 2nd half.  That's highly efficient.  We only took 20 ftas and he got 40% of them.  His change of pace is so smooth, and yet so slow.  You'd think, with all the uber athletes in the NBA, they'd be able to stay in front of him but they can't.  He slows up, they square up, and he crosses over and drives past them.  Not fast, crafty.  And once he gets his shoulder past them they're cooked.  




Scal makes Ktron crazy.  I encourage him to mute game and listen to music.  Scal makes me a little crazy too but I love listening to Mike, and I don't know how much longer he'll be wanting to work, so most of the time I'll suffer with Scal.  Take the good with the bad and Mike is really, really good (Ktron noted last night on the Game On! thread that when Mike does his on-air commercials he's so smooth they don't sound like commercials).  Last night, though, I took my own advice and muted them and listened to music.  That's because if I had to hear Scal say one more time about what a "great game Luke Kornet was having" I was going to do something that was going to cost me a lot of money to replace.  I am not a fan of the +/- stat, certainly not on a game-level basis, so when Forsberg tries to point out how Luke's +13 was the 2nd highest (and you know he will) I'd like to point out that Derrick White's +15 was the highest and he had 5 points on 2-6.  I've said this before and I said it again last night, Luke must have naked pictures of Brad.  I cannot imagine any other reason why he's on this team.  He's a great passer?  he had 3 assists and 3 turnovers.  AND JOE ONLY PUT HIM IN THE GAME WHEN PORZINGIS WAS GOING OUT!!!!  Wtf does it say about our 7'2", 250# player that the coach is afraid to match him up with a 7'3", 240# center?  It says our 7'3" player plays much smaller than his measurements.  Why do we need a 7'2", 250# player who plays like a 6'2", 250# player?  I can't even say he plays like a 6'6" player since Grant can outplay him in the pivot.  If you go back and look at the Brogdon highlight film I provided, at about :28, you see Luke get an offensive rebound with a 6'6" Will Barton defending him and he passed it out instead of just immediately turning and shooting over him.  8" and 70# isn't enough of an advantage for Luke.  He hesitated, a double team came and he had to pass it out.

Blake with another Coaches -DNP.  He's new and hasn't had a chance to take pictures like Luke has.    

Sam the Show with another good performance.  9 points on 3-5, all from 3, and 5 rebounds in 23 minutes.  Rosalie pointed out his defense and rebounding have been surprisingly good, and I agree.  One of his 2 assists came from him dribbling across the lane (Sam Hauser, actually dribbling and not just catch-and-shooting!!  Yes, it's real!!) and then doing a dribble hand-off to a cutting Derrick White for the layup.  That was a very clever play.  It looked too smooth to just be ad hoc, so credit to Joe for putting that in.  

Which brings me to Joe.  He has a bad habit of letting players play for too long.  He needs to call timeouts sooner.  What he likes to do is to let players play through their ruts/droughts and that results in 22 point leads shrinking to single digits.  It has not been an effective in-game coaching style so far.  I will be watching to see if he "lives and learns" or if he sticks to his formula.  He might be a great practice coaches, long-time assistant coaches often are, and he might be a great locker room coach but we need him to be a great in-game coach for this team to get back to the Finals, because mid-game coaching decisions change the outcome of series in the playoffs.

Grant Williams showed up before the game in a full-blown Batman costume.  I've never seen a player lobby so hard for a nickname as him.  10 points on 4-6, 2-3 from 3 for Grant.  So far through the first half dozen games of this season Grant Williams is leading the league in 3pt fg% at 66.7% (Cowens' favorite player, Kelly Olynyk, is 2nd @ 64%).  You know it's early in the season and there aren't a lot of attempts when averages are a perfect 2-out-of-3.  Grant's eFG% is 91.3%.  He is not listed on the league leader board for this, perhaps because he's only taken 23 fgas.

Grant even did his post-game presser as Batman, including the voice. He doesn't give up easily, give him that...




https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401468244

Bob, I seriously would rather have PP on the floor instead of Luke. That's how little I value Luke.

It was a nice easy win. I have always liked Malcolm Brogdan and love that he is a Celtic. He just knows what to do out there. He has to play 30 minutes a game and in key junctures. I too am puzzled by the Luke Kornet usage. I just don't get it. I am afraid now that he hit a three he will continue to get minutes. The guy is turning down point blank shots, he's slow on rotations, and can't grab a rebound and those are his good points!. As was pointed out, I'm sure he's a nice guy, but c'mon he shouldn't get these minutes.

Another worrysome stat is how balanced is our scoring across the team. As of last nights game #6 the Celtics take on average 84.8 shots a game. However, Tatum and Brown combine average shots per 6 games is 46.46.

That is why when teams put defensive pressure on both Brown and Tatum we have trouble winning. Outside of Brogden who is a 6th man off the bench, there is no balance among the other 3 starters - Al, Marcus, and White. White is more of a bench guy then a starter.

The team may want to focus on getting a true starting shooting guard and put White on the bench.

112288

Difference between a win or a loss last night was being at .500 or being 2 games over .500

A couple of observations

When AH is not able to make the deep ball his offense is virtually non existent.  I remember a time when he could score in the post.  Not anymore as he has morphed into a center that lives by the 3 and dies by the 3.  

I was impressed with batman.  His on the ball defense was really good.  And he continues to knock down shots with limited opportunities.

Sam Hauser has not compromised his pure shooting stoke even though he is getting his shot off PDQ.  He is no defensive stopper but from what I can see he is staying with his assignments.  When you have a player that can shoot like him you may want to get him more playing time.  I would like to see him in there with the Jays.  Who would you rather have playing off of the Jays?  Marcus or Sam?

Malcolm had a very strong game.  23 points in 23 minutes.  The Celtics are a better team when he is on the court.  CJ, can you get him 27-28 MPG?  

CJ you have the luxury of having three starting level point guards on your team.  I do not know of any NBA team with that level of depth.  Malcolm is clearly the best of the three overall.  That is the reason he is 3rd on he team in scoring behind the Jays.  hello anybody there?

On Wednesday the Celtics will get a rematch with the Cavs.  That will be a high profile matchup on ESPN.

112288 wrote:Another worrysome stat is how balanced is our scoring across the team.  As of last nights game #6 the Celtics take on average 84.8 shots a game.   However, Tatum and Brown combine average shots per 6 games is 46.46.    

That is why when teams put defensive pressure on both Brown and Tatum we have trouble winning. Outside of Brogden who is a 6th man off the bench, there is no balance among the other 3 starters - Al, Marcus, and White.   White is more of a bench guy then a starter.

The team may want to focus on getting a true starting shooting guard and put White on the bench.

112288

112288

Where did you come up with 46.46? I came up with a combined 39.4 FGA. Last year they combined for 38 FGA.

We have 3 guys averaging double digits in scoring and White, Grant and Marcus are all in the double digit scoring range (9.7, 9.6 and 9.5 PPG) Round those number up and we have 6 players in double digits.

We do not have our vertical threat with Rob out. He's a double digit scorer as well.

I do not see offense as being a big concern. As long as the ball is popping and you have reliable shooters to play off of the j's, we should be fine.

bobheckler wrote:Sorry, not impressed.  Why not?  Why am I not impressed with an 18 point win where the opponent scored < 100 points?

1.  The Wizards aren't that great a team.

2.  The Wiz shot 22% from 3.  NO NBA team is that bad normally.

3.  They took 19 more fgas than us.  Any team that is having an even remotely decent shooting game will croak us with this.

4.  The Js carried us.  They shot a combined 15-33 for the game, 45.5%, but by halftime they had taken 24 fgas combined while the rest of the team took 19.

5.  They out-offensive rebounded us 15-4.  Our rebounding, or lack thereof, has hurt us in numerous games already and I don't think it's all about RWill being out.

6.  Bradley Beal was 4-16, 2-7 from 3.  He didn't score his first fgm until there were only 2.0 seconds left in the 3rd quarter.  How often can you count on that?!

We took 47 3pt fgas out of a total of only 79 fgas.  That's sick.  10 of Tatum's 15 fgas were 3s and 9 of Brown's 18 fgas were 3s.  I'm not liking this.

Brogdon with a great 2nd half.  Only 2-6 for 7 points, 1-2 from 3 and 2-2 from the line at halftime but he ended up with 23 points on 6-12, 3-5 from 3, and 8-8 from the line for a 16 point on 4-6, 2-3 from 3 and 6-6 ftm 2nd half.  That's highly efficient.  We only took 20 ftas and he got 40% of them.  His change of pace is so smooth, and yet so slow.  You'd think, with all the uber athletes in the NBA, they'd be able to stay in front of him but they can't.  He slows up, they square up, and he crosses over and drives past them.  Not fast, crafty.  And once he gets his shoulder past them they're cooked.  




Scal makes Ktron crazy.  I encourage him to mute game and listen to music.  Scal makes me a little crazy too but I love listening to Mike, and I don't know how much longer he'll be wanting to work, so most of the time I'll suffer with Scal.  Take the good with the bad and Mike is really, really good (Ktron noted last night on the Game On! thread that when Mike does his on-air commercials he's so smooth they don't sound like commercials).  Last night, though, I took my own advice and muted them and listened to music.  That's because if I had to hear Scal say one more time about what a "great game Luke Kornet was having" I was going to do something that was going to cost me a lot of money to replace.  I am not a fan of the +/- stat, certainly not on a game-level basis, so when Forsberg tries to point out how Luke's +13 was the 2nd highest (and you know he will) I'd like to point out that Derrick White's +15 was the highest and he had 5 points on 2-6.  I've said this before and I said it again last night, Luke must have naked pictures of Brad.  I cannot imagine any other reason why he's on this team.  He's a great passer?  he had 3 assists and 3 turnovers.  AND JOE ONLY PUT HIM IN THE GAME WHEN PORZINGIS WAS GOING OUT!!!!  Wtf does it say about our 7'2", 250# player that the coach is afraid to match him up with a 7'3", 240# center?  It says our 7'3" player plays much smaller than his measurements.  Why do we need a 7'2", 250# player who plays like a 6'2", 250# player?  I can't even say he plays like a 6'6" player since Grant can outplay him in the pivot.  If you go back and look at the Brogdon highlight film I provided, at about :28, you see Luke get an offensive rebound with a 6'6" Will Barton defending him and he passed it out instead of just immediately turning and shooting over him.  8" and 70# isn't enough of an advantage for Luke.  He hesitated, a double team came and he had to pass it out.

Blake with another Coaches -DNP.  He's new and hasn't had a chance to take pictures like Luke has.    

Sam the Show with another good performance.  9 points on 3-5, all from 3, and 5 rebounds in 23 minutes.  Rosalie pointed out his defense and rebounding have been surprisingly good, and I agree.  One of his 2 assists came from him dribbling across the lane (Sam Hauser, actually dribbling and not just catch-and-shooting!!  Yes, it's real!!) and then doing a dribble hand-off to a cutting Derrick White for the layup.  That was a very clever play.  It looked too smooth to just be ad hoc, so credit to Joe for putting that in.  

Which brings me to Joe.  He has a bad habit of letting players play for too long.  He needs to call timeouts sooner.  What he likes to do is to let players play through their ruts/droughts and that results in 22 point leads shrinking to single digits.  It has not been an effective in-game coaching style so far.  I will be watching to see if he "lives and learns" or if he sticks to his formula.  He might be a great practice coaches, long-time assistant coaches often are, and he might be a great locker room coach but we need him to be a great in-game coach for this team to get back to the Finals, because mid-game coaching decisions change the outcome of series in the playoffs.

Grant Williams showed up before the game in a full-blown Batman costume.  I've never seen a player lobby so hard for a nickname as him.  10 points on 4-6, 2-3 from 3 for Grant.  So far through the first half dozen games of this season Grant Williams is leading the league in 3pt fg% at 66.7% (Cowens' favorite player, Kelly Olynyk, is 2nd @ 64%).  You know it's early in the season and there aren't a lot of attempts when averages are a perfect 2-out-of-3.  Grant's eFG% is 91.3%.  He is not listed on the league leader board for this, perhaps because he's only taken 23 fgas.

Grant even did his post-game presser as Batman, including the voice.  He doesn't give up easily, give him that...




https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401468244

I am 100% on board with your analysis of last nights game.
Funny I questioned Luke going in when Porzingis went out. You set me straight on what would happen with Luke guarding Porzingis. What was I thinking? Luke, he’s tall but sure can’t ball. Dude did his 7-2 version of Ben Simmons on more than one occasion when he clearly should have (can’t say he could have b/cuz he never does) dunked in the face of a Wizard.
Yes he can pass- pass up great shots. Enough on that Stiff.
Brogdan was great and should be getting more minutes and he will.

Bob you’re right. I too put up with Scal because I love listening to Mike. He is so damn good. I put him up with some of the best on a national level and you know what, maybe Breen is close but no one else can rival Mike. Unfortunately he’s probably on his way to retiring soon (especially with Scal annoying the s**t out of him) Grandes is good but talks too damn much. He’s doing radio play by play on TV.
He should know better. He has been doing this a long time but still is unable or unwilling to make the transition. The only good thing that comes out of Grande talking too much is that we get to hear less of Scal.
I was watching the post game show with my shotgun aimed at the TV waiting for Forsburg to mention Luke’s plus minus and I never heard it mentioned so he gets to live another day.
I get a kick out of Grant. Love his personality. I know he runs his mouth a lot but just think he’s important as to what he brings us when he’s out there.

dboss wrote:

112288 wrote:Another worrysome stat is how balanced is our scoring across the team.  As of last nights game #6 the Celtics take on average 84.8 shots a game.   However, Tatum and Brown combine average shots per 6 games is 46.46.    

That is why when teams put defensive pressure on both Brown and Tatum we have trouble winning. Outside of Brogden who is a 6th man off the bench, there is no balance among the other 3 starters - Al, Marcus, and White.   White is more of a bench guy then a starter.

The team may want to focus on getting a true starting shooting guard and put White on the bench.

112288

112288

Where did you come up with 46.46?   I  came up with a combined 39.4 FGA.  Last year they combined for 38 FGA.

We have 3 guys averaging double digits in scoring and White, Grant and Marcus are all in the double digit scoring range  (9.7, 9.6 and 9.5 PPG)  Round those number up and we have 6 players in double digits.

We do not have our vertical threat with Rob out.  He's a double digit scorer as well.  

I do not see offense as being a big concern.  As long as the ball is popping and you have reliable shooters to play off of the j's, we should be fine.

Starting 5 players JT, JB, MS, White, AH- 46 should be 46% of 84 shots per game average.

112288