Jaylen Brown trying not to miss shots, the impending return of Marcus Smart, and 10 things we learned from Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2019/12/jaylen-brown-trying-not-to-miss-shots-the-impending-return-of-marcus-smart-and-10-things-we-learned-from-boston-celtics-vs-cleveland-cavaliers.html



Jaylen Brown trying not to miss shots, the impending return of Marcus Smart, and 10 things we learned from Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers



Today 5:00 AM




Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) drives against Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson during the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 27, 2019, in Boston. The Celtics won 129-117. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)



By John Karalis | JKaralis@masslive.com



BOSTON - The Boston Celtics were the cat to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ ball of yarn on Friday evening. Boston toyed around with the Cavs, mostly doing just enough to keep an over-matched team at bay. They also got another special performance from their young wings, which was just as fun.

Here are 10 things we learned as the Celtics dispatched the Cavaliers.


1. Jaylen Brown & Jayson Tatum are a special combination


If there’s a downside to the more common occurrence of Brown/Tatum combined dominance is that there isn’t much left to say about how well they’re playing right.

“I don’t think we saw anything today that we haven’t seen out of those guys in the last couple of weeks, last couple months,” Brad Stevens said. “They’ve been playing well. They’re obviously playing confidently and feel good.”

All the usual caveats apply (It’s early, they’ll have tough stretches, it was the Cavs, etc.), but right now the Jays are enjoying a moment.

This was the first time they’ve combined for 60 points. It’s the seventh time they’ve combined for 50 or more this season (the Celtics are 7-0 in those games).

“We’ve known from the moment that they stepped on the court, and they first started games together, even before Gordon got hurt when we had those guys in that first training camp you could see it was pretty unique,” Stevens said. “When we drafted Jayson we thought having those two versatile wings that could guard a number of different positions and do a number of different things, but also weren’t exactly the same players, but would be good compliments for each other.”

There was a stretch in this game where they were combining to outscore the entire Cavs team 37-36 in the second quarter.


2. Brown has a great strategy for efficient shooting performances

“I’m trying to be efficient with what I get,” Brown said. "Even if I only take 10 shots, if I make all 10, that’s still a good night for me. I’m trying not to miss. That’s my goal.”

I’m going to apologize in advance for getting too technical with my analysis here. I understand that sometimes I can get too deep into the minutia and nuance of basketball, so if I get too heady with what I’m about to say, you can email me for further clarification.

That said, I think trying not to miss is, in fact, good.

I’ll let that sink in for a minute.

You see, in basketball, you can make shots, or you can miss shots. Making shots is good, because it gives your team points. Missing them is not good, because the team gets no points.

So, in the end, having more points is good. Not missing baskets so you can have more points is a good strategy. In my expert opinion, more players should try to not miss.

I’m not sure if they’ve thought of that.


3. The win was great, but the defense was not

“It’s a good thing we scored 129,” Stevens said. “We just have to be more consistent on the defensive end of the floor… They present a lot of issues in situations but yeah, if we play like we did today tomorrow we’ll get beat.”

There was no chance Brad Stevens was going to sit at the microphone and gush about beating the Cavaliers. He was always going to find something to nitpick about.

That said, he’s right about how the game went. This could have been third quarter garbage time if the team wanted it to be. The team didn’t put the proverbial foot on the gas the whole way through.

On one hand, the goal is to play a complete game. On the other, teams almost never play complete games. Stevens just needs to motivate his team to play hard against Toronto, and this is part of how he’s doing it.


4. Gordon Hayward did just enough, in just the right spots

He didn’t have the most memorable night, but 5 of Hayward’s 7 points and 3 of his 8 assists came in a third quarter where Boston was especially sloppy. He was in control of the game in that third quarter stretch, and was a huge reason why Boston didn’t completely slip and relinquish too much of their lead.

This is one of my favorite little moments. It’s not much, but it’s Hayward collecting a rebound and waving Brown out to the 3-point line, which is where he passed the ball, and where Brown made another shot.


Gordon Hayward assists Jaylen Brown's 3-pointer

Not much, but impactful, and in control. That’s Hayward.


5. Marcus Smart will be back soon

It’s possible Marcus Smart will play against the Raptors

“I’m super excited,” Tatum said. “Obviously, you want everyone to play every night and be healthy. Smart’s been through a lot lately with his eyes. I know he’s excited to be back and we miss him. I know the fans are going to be excited if he comes back tomorrow.”

The fans will, in fact, be excited. So will Jaylen Brown.

“Super eager,” Brown said. “Marcus brings a dimension to this team that not a lot of teams have in this league. Marcus, the way he comes out and changes the game, his energy, his ball pressure, stuff like that, helps tremendously. It helps us win games, helps us make teams uncomfortable. So when he comes back it just takes us to another level, especially when we got everybody clicking on all cylinders.”

It’s hard to add to that. Boston hasn’t been at full strength for quite some time, so it will be nice to have almost everyone (Robert Williams still exists) for however long it lasts.


6. Grant Williams had some spectacular defensive possessions

Williams’ contribution to this win might go unnoticed, but defensive possessions like this are important.


Grant Williams defends against the Cavs

He dropped and defended Sexton, kept him away from the rim, forced him to give it up, then came down and boxed out Tristan Thompson so Cleveland wouldn’t get the ball back.

So to recap: fleet of foot enough to hang with Sexton but then strong enough to box out a stronger Thompson.

He had a few of these kinds of possessions. It’s good to see from someone just learning the game.


7. The 4 PM start is helpful

The Celtics begin a stretch of four straight weeks with back-to-backs. At least this time they get a couple of extra hours to prepare for it, thanks to a 4 PM start time.

“I think it’ll help for sure. Obviously we’ll see tomorrow,” Brown said. “Tomorrow’s a big game for us, for this team, so having the game a little bit earlier today definitely helps on the back-to-back, but at the end of the day it’s a back-to-back and we still gotta come out and play well. Toronto is probably going to be looking to come out to a good start. We have to be ready to match their intensity regardless of whether it’s a back-to-back or not.”


8. Enes Kanter has just the trick to help Daniel Theis get some foul calls

There is a well-documented... ok, often tweeted-about war on Daniel Theis. He’s a foul magnet, fouling out once this season and having four more games with five fouls, including the Friday night Cavs game. Keep in mind, Brad Stevens challenged another foul on Theis, a block that became a charge, so he could have been kicked out of this game too.

Not to worry. Kanter has some thoughts, all of which basically involve sucking up to the refs.

“I actually try to talk to (the refs) before the game, shake their hands, ask how their Christmas was,” Kanter said Seriously, you have to be nice to them, smile and talk to them during the games. Ask where they’re from, how their families are doing. Don’t call them man or what’s up, dude. Call them by their names. That’s very important.”

File this under: “whatever works.”


9. Kanter is happy to be free to travel internationally

You know by now that Kanter is persona non grata in Turkey and that’s spread to other countries, but his trip to Canada has opened up a lot.

“For me it was more than a game,” he said. “For me it was take that, Turkish government, shove it up your ….face. It was more than a game for me. I just want to thank the American and Canadian government for working with me.”


10. Carsen Edwards’ quads are just naturally quaderiffic

This one is strictly for Weird Celtics Twitter, which has an obsession with Carsen Edwards’ quadriceps