Celtics Demolish Raptors 122-100 and send a strong message

YOU CAN'T CHECK US

The Boston Celtics called off the dogs long before the final buzzer sounded with them earning a 122-100 win over the Toronto Raptors.  Toronto went into the game sporting an impressive 3-0 record including wins over both the Lakers and Heat.

I was not surprised by the win but this was a message sending blowout handed to a team that may very well be our 2nd round matchup.

They are a well coached veteran group but they are not playing in Toronto where Boston has struggled against them.  The Celtics did break their losing streak in Toronto this year and now have a decisive 3-1 record.  The Raptors are a top defensive team but they cannot defend the Celtics elite level wings.  Lowery is a great player and Vanvleet is as tough as nails but they are too small.  They have bulk but no length.

About the game.

Boston put up a Houston like (on a slow game) 46 (3) point shots and hit 16 of them. Jaylen Brown led a balanced attack with 20 points as he continues to play like an allstar.  He knocked down 4-8 from deep.  He made  the offensive play of the game with a 3/4 length bounce pass to a cutting Gordon Hayward and the defense was right there but the pass was picture perfect.

Jayson Tatum matched  Brown's 7-14 shooting with 18 points.  He also secured 7 rebounds, made 4 assists and had 2 steals.  Another day at the office form him.

Kemba scored 17 in only 23 minutes and he also had 4 assists.

Daniel Theis, the most under-appreciated center in the NBA, had a double double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Gordon Hayward had a rather quiet night with 9 points but he also had 9 rebounds and 2 assists.

Overall the Celtics put 7 guys in double figures as the big lead opened up lots of playing time for the rotation.

Marcus Smart made the defensive play of the game by diving on the floor and taking the ball away from a surprised Vanvleet.

Robert Williams again made a statement for rotation consideration with 10 points off the bench in a mere 11 minutes.  He also collected 4 rebounds.  He looks like a good matchup against Serge.  He scored early after entering the game off of a lob from Smart.  I think that Smart has taken this kid under his wing and is really helping him blend in.  Robert scored on a short baseline jumper and went 2-2 from the line and 4-5 overall.  He is making us rethink the notion that he is just a dunker.  His stroke at the line is smooth.

This was a team effort with Wanamaker scoring 15 and Semi going 3-5 from deep like a legit wing scorer.  During the game I was thinking what has gotten into Semi.  Semi can see that RWIII is going to get minutes and maybe some of his.

I am not sure if the Sixers can secure 4th or 5th seed.  They are tied with Indy and sit in 6th place as Indy holds the tie breaker.  Both teams are 1 game behind the Heat.   This is a very fluid situation at 4,5 and 6.  The Celtics will have to play one of these teams before matching up with the Raptors.  I like our chances.

Good post dboss, if I didn't know that was you, I would have thought that post was by bob heckler....

Last night there was a question on the Celtics broadcast from Abby:

What player runs the most during the course of a game? Got any answers. I got it right away, lets see what you have to say.

RosalieTCeltics wrote:Last night there was a question on the Celtics broadcast from Abby:

What player runs the most during the course of a game?  Got any answers.  I got it right away, lets see what you have to say.

How about GH

cowens/oldschool wrote:Good post dboss, if I didn't know that was you, I would have thought that post was by bob heckler....

I plagiarized his style.

You are right dboss, those "experts" on tv last night had Brown and Tatum first. Just watch GH he is a man in motion the whole time he is on the floor. Imagine if they ever kept track of this stat when Havlicek was playing???

One of the subtle skills that Bird picked up was his ability to move without the ball. Granted he wasn't as relentless at it as Havlicek, but it was great to see those passes underneath from Tiny, DJ and Walton. Would be great to see 2 J's further add some of these Hondo attributes to their game.

For what it's worth I liked reading DBoss's summary more than mine.  Crisper, less rambling.

Between this and the Brooklyn game our offense must be one of the top ranked offenses in the bubble.  This was such an obliteration of a high quality opponent, who hadn't lost yet in the bubble, Kemba wasn't able to play the full 30 minutes he was cleared for.  He only played 23 and was sat to clear out the bench.

Theis made Marc Gasol look old and slow.  High quality game by Theis.  EXTREMELY underrated, especially by the refs.  It really is amazing at this point how rarely they give him any break at all.  He's the starting center on a good team.  You would think that would earn him some court cred, huh?

Wanny back to being solid after some not so solid games.  We need him to be solid.  We need 15 good minutes from him per game every game.

It's amazing The Time Lord only played 11 minutes, his impact on the game was so much larger.  I've been impressed with his frito shooting in the bubble.  He's 64.5% for the season but is 6-6 in the last two bubble games he played in.

We could have beaten the Bucks.  We would have if we didn't get off to such an icy cold start (and the refs refusing to foul Giannis out even though he clearly deserved it).  We just demolished a team that is the reigning world champions and who hadn't lost a bubble game until last night.  Success in the playoffs has to do with coaching, because you play the same team a minimum of 4 games in a row and adjustments are made after each game, and timing.  Playing like shit and thinking you can just turn it on in the playoffs is a bad, bad perspective.  You want to be playing your very best ball the last half a dozen or ten games of the regular season so you are flying high into the first round.  We are now 5 games into 8 seeding games and the last two have been things of beauty.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401224754





bob



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Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP
·
9h
Realizing the Celtics (113.eight) are going to finish with their highest scoring season in over 30 years, it made me wonder where this team ranks in franchise history in terms of offense.

Spoiler: Very High.

(Offensive rating is points per 100 possessions)




bob


.

I just wanted to add that as bob pointed out Kemba only played 23 minutes and Tatum had a very bland average game for him and we still won by what?. In other words we can bring it up a few notches, like when Tatum has his 3 point stroke and other facets going full bore attack mode. Interestingly enough just got a call from a NYC hoop junkie friend of mine that was ravishing about Jaylen Brown, we all know hes an all star, even if the L didn't let him play because of politics. Well he has been the C's best player in the bubble and my friend was saying he should be first team all defensive based on the way he can cover 2-4. I'd like to see both 2J's get some all NBA recognition and think its deserved with their 2 way ability. I don't see how anyone could put say a Jimmy Butler ahead of either one and Paul George missed alot of games and time recovering this year.

I can’t remember the last time they shared the ball like that. Certainly goes back to Horford and pre-Irving. Much higher quality offense than being hot on threes to win, which has been the Celtics approach for far too long. They can compete for and win a Championship playing the kind of two way team basketball they played last night.

Jay King @ByJayKing
about 10 hours ago
Jaylen Brown averages in the bubble: 22.2 points, 59.9% true shooting, 45% 3PT, 6.0 rebounds, 3.6 made 3s per game.



Jay King @ByJayKing
about 10 hours ago
Small sample size theater: The Celtics have a plus-47 net rating during Robert Williams’ 30 minutes so far in Orlando. They have outscored opponents 99-68 with him on the court.



Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
yesterday
Tatum on Celtics stepping it up on D: "We saw we were one of the last ranked teams in the bubble (on defense) and that was unacceptable."

reply retweet like


Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
yesterday
Brad Stevens going full Bill Belichick tonight: "We have played a little better the last two games."


Marc D'Amico @celtics
yesterday
Daniel Theis: “On the defensive end, I have to be the anchor. I’m the last guy. I’ve got to speak and I’ve got to be loud for everybody to see everything.”



Steve Jones Jr.
@stevejones20
·
13h
Watch the effort from Marcus Smart here. Switches onto FVV, doesn't get screened, contains the drive and dives on the loose ball.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1291930696123121665
MY NOTE: Smart was EVERYWHERE!


bob


.

BingBang! wrote:I can’t remember the last time they shared the ball like that. Certainly goes back to Horford and pre-Irving. Much higher quality offense than being hot on threes to win, which has been the Celtics approach for far too long. They can compete for and win a Championship playing the kind of two way team basketball they played last night.

Yes. I've been quite worried up to now with the 1 on 1 hero ball we've been playing in the bubble. Maybe everyone was just practicing driving to the hoop.

Whatever, last night was a revelation. Keep it up and we can beat anyone.

Berlin-T

For me the biggest takeaway from watching the highlights of this game is that the Celtics REALLY play as a team.

Brad's offense has many dimensions to it but the singular requirement for success is to share the ball.  The ball was really moving last night.  Some nights the ball will not fall but as long as you play high level defense you can stay in games.  

The announcers especially Reggie Miller began the game just gushing about Toronto.  I thought he was going to have an orgasm.  After the Raptors cut the lead to 10 at 55-45 and Boston went on a sustained run, he changed his tune and had to settle for a wet dream!

Reggie Miller was not alone, I sat here in Boston listening to the likes of Blakely, Scal and Draper sing the praises of Toronto, predicting that "it might be tight" but Toronto would win this ohands down. They are the better team". After a while it got sickening. No one was rooting harder than me for a long, hard run at these guys.

This game could have been blown out in the first quarter if the Celtics hit the open shots they were getting. When they caught fire, there was no stopping them. Jaylen Brown did an awesome job on Siakam, his two way play was phenomenal. I just love what that kid is doing on the floor night in and night out.

Why bother playing Walker if the game is in hand. The last thing we would want to see is a cheap shot or a crazy fall to ruin this.

This is the team Danny put together at the start of the year. This is what he hoped and prayed would happen. Injuries have just put us back alot, and then, of course, Covid. It is awesome to watch this team function the way they did the last two games. This is no fluke, they are a terrific team who know what to do with the ball and how to play tight defense.

I love it, it is a joy to watch

Rosalie, this is a terrific team and such a pleasure to watch. I listened to the game on Sirius XM, and Cedric Maxwell was 100% in the Celts corner, all the way.

I do not doubt that Worcester. Sometimes it is so much more enjoyable to listen to the radio and shut the chatter off on the television, I do not listen to national announcers as they tend to be extremely biased. The only one I really like is McHale. I can take a little criticism from him because I know he is truly rooting for the Celtics. It is a habit I have had for years. Johnny Most made me who I am!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me too!

The elephant in the room remains.  GH will leave the bubble.  We do not know exactly when this will happen.  You figure he will get a call that labor has begun.  From there he will head to home asap.  I hope he can fly on the Celtics plane.  Eat the cost Celtics. After the baby is born and Robin is ok he needs to head back to Orlando.  New borns just mostly sleep so there is no reason to hang around.  

An excused absence would force a player to quarantine for only four days as long as that player tests negative for COVID-19 each day the player is outside of the Orlando campus.

So I figure he misses 5 days.  Day one "how ya feeling honey"  a kiss and hold your son.  And then "I gotta jet."  

Best case scenario.  The Celtics sweep in round one and immediately Gordon gets the call.  Their next opponent is engaged in a protracted 7 game series that is tied 2-2. While that is going on Robin has the baby and GH spends a day with her before heading back to Orlando for 4 days of quarantine non-activity and then joins the team again at the start of the 2nd round.

1st round begins on August 17th and 2nd round begins on August 31st.  That's 14 days in between.

dboss wrote:The elephant in the room remains.  GH will leave the bubble.  We do not know exactly when this will happen.  You figure he will get a call that labor has begun.  From there he will head to home asap.  I hope he can fly on the Celtics plane.  Eat the cost Celtics. After the baby is born and Robin is ok he needs to head back to Orlando.  New borns just mostly sleep so there is no reason to hang around.  

An excused absence would force a player to quarantine for only four days as long as that player tests negative for COVID-19 each day the player is outside of the Orlando campus.

So I figure he misses 5 days.  Day one "how ya feeling honey"  a kiss and hold your son.  And then "I gotta jet."  

Best case scenario.  The Celtics sweep in round one and immediately Gordon gets the call.  Their next opponent is engaged in a protracted 7 game series that is tied 2-2. While that is going on Robin has the baby and GH spends a day with her before heading back to Orlando for 4 days of quarantine non-activity and then joins the team again at the start of the 2nd round.

1st round begins on August 17th and 2nd round begins on August 31st.  That's 14 days in between.

Dboss,

inre Hayward's departure:

If a player leaves the bubble for an excused absence, he must quarantine for four days once he returns as long as he tested negative for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) each day he was off campus, league protocols state.


Robyn Hayward is expecting in September.  The playoffs run August 17th - October 13th.  She's right in the middle.  Probably EC Semifinals or EC Finals.


bob


.

If this were your wife and she said, "Honey, come home for a few days while I have your baby," are you telling me you would not go?

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=robyn+hayward&atb=v101-1&iax=images&ia=images&iai=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2Fxsv6Qut.jpg

Brad's family -
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=brad+stevens+and+wife+photo&t=chromentp&atb=v101-1&iax=images&ia=images&iai=http%3A%2F%2Ffabwags.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F02%2FBrad-stevens-wife-tracy-stevens-picture.jpg

And Jaylen's gal pal - https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Jaylen+Brown%27s+girlfriend&atb=v101-1&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Ffabwags.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F05%2FJaylen-Brown-girlfriend-Jacqueline-Hawileh-pics.jpg

I will not comment further on this situation. What Hayward does is his business, too bad if fans do not accept it. Obviously, he wants to be here with his team, BUT, we are talking about his child and his wife. NOOB. They will survive, and I am sure he will return ASAP. Life goes on after basketball, so God bless him and his family. I guess I am of a different thinking than alot. eh.....