2022 - 2023 POST GAME ORLANDO MAGIC - HOME

Celtics Wrap: Boston Crumbles In Fourth Without Jayson Tatum
Tatum missed the game due to 'personal reasons'


NESN by Keagan Stiefel

The Boston Celtics dropped their second-consecutive game Sunday afternoon, falling to the Orlando Magic, 95-92, at TD Garden.

The Celtics fell to 22-9 on the year, while the Magic improved to 11-20.


ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
In a game where they were missing Jayson Tatum due to “personal reasons,” the Celtics transitioned their entire offensive identity into playing with energy. At least for stretches.

Boston continued its regression to the mean against Orlando, shooting 11-for-43 from beyond the arc. After starting at a historic offensive pace, the last few games have provided a harsh return to reality for the Celtics’ 3-point shooters. It took a while for that to become apparent, but when it did the Celtics started playing with more pace and turning to transition in an effort to rebound from their Friday night loss to the Magic.

Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart seemed to be the two players who understood the need to shift the team’s offensive identity. After combining to start 2-for-14 from beyond the arc, the duo started driving to the bucket and combining to supply most of Boston’s offense in the minutes leading into the fourth quarter.

When it came down to the end of the game, the Celtics had an opportunity to take the last shot only down one point. Grant Williams had different plans, however. The 24-year-old threw the ball away on an inbound, allowing Orlando to push the game to three with five seconds left. He had a chance to redeem himself, but airmailed an attempt to tie the ball game.


STARS OF THE GAME
— Brown took over as the main offensive option for the Celtics in Tatum’s absence. He scored 24 points, adding 14 rebounds and three steals in the effort.

— Paulo Banchero has already established himself as an elite offensive player. The Magic rookie finished with 31 points on 9-for-21 shooting, pitching in six rebounds and a pair of steals on the defensive end.

— Smart, as per usual, brought the hustle for Boston. He finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, a bloody face and a headband.

WAGER WATCH
DraftKings Sportsbook set the total for Grant Williams’ point total at 10.5, giving him -120 odds of surpassing the number. He finished with 11, meaning a $100 bet would have netted a total payout of $183.33.


UP NEXT
The Celtics will continue their homestand Wednesday, taking on the Indiana Pacers at TD Garden. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.

112288

It's official.  The Celtics are in a slump after dropping their 4th game in 5 outings.

They are having a very difficult time making 3 point shots.  Many are wide open looks.  (12/47 from deep)  This team does not know when to do something on offense other than to keep firing away.   They are clearly oblivious to any other alternatives.

So I guess we have to wait until they start shooting the deep ball and making those shots again to get a win lol..

Defense was very good (gave up 95 points)

Funny

When I saw Grant trying to pass the ball in, I just knew something bad was going to happen.

Hey Joe, you do know that Grant is not the guy you want to do that.

Post Game Pouting:

Obviously Defense is not the main issue here. It’s not quite where we want it to be but that hot make everything offense has been pretty offensive here lately.
Remember when some here were saying “ When Rob comes back we’re going to be unstoppable”. Blah blah blah. Yeah I’m paraphrasing but that’s what appeared to be the prevailing thought here.
I said it then and I’d rather not say it now, but I shall.
Rob could come back and put together HOF worthy performances but it won’t mean much or solidify us the Kings on the hill if the rest of our performance is sub par. Slump or whatever this is notwithstanding, it appears I guessed right.
We have issues that we can easily overcome but as Ime once said, “Stop playing like A holes”.
Coach Joe, what say you? Whatchu gonna do?

It's not whether the three ball is falling or not.  They've stopped the randomness.  What was tripping every team up that played us when we were cruising was the defense had no clue what we were running against them each play down.  

Now what the randomness looked like was several plays of driving to the basket, mid-range shot, back-doors, dunks, then about ten 3-point shots in a row, back to driving the lane, mid-range jumper, etc.  I know, not very random with the 3-ball but that was the beauty of it.  They never led with the 3-ball.  When you lead with the 3-ball, the result is very predictable with this team or any team for that matter. We just keep shooting it until we shoot 20% and the 4th quarter horn goes off and wonder why we've lost two games at home to one of the worst teams in the league.  It somehow has gotten in their heads that the 3-ball is the killer.

But it's not.  It's the randomness that's the killer.  Get back to not calling a play but taking what the defense gives you, move the ball and pick them to death to get open or the match-up you like and the court will open up for wide open shots, lay-ups, open lane and yes, the 3-ball.  

We all admitted a gazillion times, that was was amazing to watch.  And it was.  But we've seen this old 3-ball movie before.  The league has seen this movie before.  If you rely on the 3-ball, you will die by the three ball.  And we're dying.

Teams have said just let them shoot the three ball.  We know the script.  Here it is.  And guess what?  That's how you beat us.

We're probably not going to have a great Christmas afternoon playing like this.  We're back to returning gifts.  Here you go MIL.  We'll take second, maybe third through fifth if we keep tanking and playing this way.  It's a very easy fix.  Let's hope we figure it out soon.  Keep it random.  Quit using the 3-ball as a bailout and use it as a weapon.  Use it as a weapon after you establish the randomness, NEVER the other way around.  Amen. Holy )*$$$! Where's the Tylenol?!!    

db

It is simple, they went away from their previous style of play. RUN, GUN, PASS, ATTACK THE PAINT!

112288

YOU LIVE OR DIE BY THE 3 POINT SHOT! I HATE THIS SORT OF BASKETBALL MYSELF!

112288,

True on the hating the 3-ball because we know the result.  Eventually you go cold and use it as a bail out and pretty much go 0-X, where x = Loserville.
The beauty of what the Celtics were playing was what you just said about run, pass, attack paint, screen, create TO'S for fast breaks, etc. but not centering their game around the 3-ball.   By the time Boston got around to 3-point shooting, they were so wide open even you and I could make the shots.  Plus the defense was slam out of energy to cover.

Come on, CJ.  Lighten up on that gum and figure this out!  This one is easy.  Don't let this team regress to the one about 2-3 years ago.  

Love Always,

db

Boston has gone from the beautiful world of mathematical randomness back to the stale old world of predictability, which, by definition, is predictable, especially in the 3-ball world!!

db

Long season, we played alot better in this game defensively. Jaylen was off, he’ll come back better. Almost pulled it out, GWill with a terrible pass and couldn’t control defensive board against bigger team down the stretch. Let’s see how Joe responds

I have concluded that we are yet an unfinished product.  We need another sniper like Eddie House, and a pin down defensive specialist when we need to stop runs like a Tony Allen.

112288

It's a long season, a slump was inevitable.

That being said said if the three ball is not going down, you have to try to take the ball to basket or use post ups. Smart is good in the post against smaller guards, and Al still has some game in the post. Al could not buy a three, why not use other parts of your game?

Hauser finally hit a three, first one i think in like 5 games. He's a shooter, I think he will come around.

I really think Coach Joe should have given Pritchard more run. He missed a couple shots, but I didn't think Coach let him get any rhythm. Jaylen tried to will us, but his turnovers are killing us. Twelve in the last two games is just not acceptable. He's got to clean up that part of his game, but in fairness to him he played hard and tried to do everything he could for a W. Kornet is really not contributing anything right now. I think Blake could add more depending on the matchup.

No longer have the best record in the NBA. Hopefully a couple days off and some practice will cure what ails us.

112288 wrote:I have concluded that we are yet an unfinished product.  We need another sniper like Eddie House, and a pin down defensive specialist when we need to stop runs like a Tony Allen.

112288

In other words, the 08 team would kick this teams ass

YES! BECAUSE THEY DID IT AGAINST BETTER COMPETITION!

112288

Cowens

Let us put it this way, KG would make Tatum soil his shorts with his trash talking and defense, and Pierce would totally make Brown discombobulated!

The '08 team were possessed, they were animals on the court! Look how they blew Kobie and the Lakers out in game #6! What 40 points!

112288

112288

The Team has been struggling to make shots.

I believe that they can and will shoot much better.  The team is still getting a lot of wide open looks.  There are some early shot clock attempts that must be discouraged.  The main thing is to keep the ball and man moving throughout each possession.  

With Rob back, we should see a noticeable improvement on the defensive side of the ball.  That should lead to more transition opportunities.

CJ has to reevaluate his rotations.

Personally I do not like White starting alongside of Marcus.  My preference would be to have Smart and Jaylen in the backcourt.  Complete that lineup with Tatum, Horford and Robert Williams.  

That is the lineup that got us to the championship round.  

Remember the big issue for us last year was the lack of bench scoring.  

Our top rotation guys in the order of importance are Brogdon, G Will and Derrick White.  Hauser and Pritchard are our designated shooters and Kornet and Griffin give us some depth at center.

Time to get back to being a dominant defensive team.  Get stops and the makes will take care of themselves.