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Celtics Wrap: Boston Erases 18-Point Deficit To Beat Pelicans
A gritty performance for the C's after an abysmal start


NESN by Logan Mullen

There was a real “oh here we go again” feeling to the Boston Celtics’ game Monday against the New Orleans Pelicans.

However, they managed to climb out of a hole and earn a gutsy win.

The Celtics erased a deficit that at one point was up to 18 to earn an ultimately convincing 104-92 win over the Pelicans at TD Garden.

Boston climbs back up over .500 and now sits at 23-22 with the win, while the Pelicans fall to 16-28 with the loss.


ONE KEY TAKEAWAY
This isn’t to say the Celtics should continue playing sloppily early in games, but the poor start against the Pelicans allowed Boston to display some of its best wire-to-wire resilience of the season.

The Celtics got off to a woeful start, but managed to buckle down later in the first half and start chipping away. A red-hot third quarter finally allowed them to pass the Pelicans and grab hold of the lead, which they managed to not relinquish (for a change) down the stretch.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Boston’s bench was quiet for a good chunk of the game, but that was no matter for Jayson Tatum, who took control and pushed the Celtics to victory. He finished with 27 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

— There were times the Celtics played with just Jaylen Brown and a collection of reserves on the floor, and he helped Boston stay afloat. Brown posted 23 points with eight boards and a pair of assists.

— Dennis Schroder managed to keep the Celtics in it by just doing a little bit of everything. When Boston needed him to score, he scored. When facilitating for Brown and Tatum was of increased importance, he was there to do that, too. He finished with 23 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds.

WAGER WATCH
The Celtics were -170 on the moneyline at DraftKings Sportsbook, so a $100 bet would have paid out $158.82. Prop bettors could’ve had a nice afternoon if they bet on the first field goal of the game. It was scored 1:40 into the game by Brandon Ingram, who was +750. Even a $10 wager on Ingram would have paid out $85.

UP NEXT
The Celtics continue their four-game homestand Wednesday when they welcome the Charlotte Hornets to town. Tip-off from TD Garden is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.

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Totally IMO: Since Schröder has been.running the point, this team has started to gel. The Js look better, because not only is Schröder a good distributor when he starts, but a dangerous scorer. If Robert Williams can stay healthy and Marcus Smart can stay away a little while, I think we’ll see more W’s. Smart is a valuable player, but not a PG and the team made the mistake of touting him as the pg-apparent in pre-season. This has led to confusion on the court. You can see the difference, the confidence, even without RW, when Schröder initiates the offense, and together they’re dynamite. I don’t understand the financial part of the game, those who believe we can’t afford to keep Schröder after overpaying Hayward, Walker, Irving, Horford, but I see no reason to bench our best PG, losing winnable games. This leads to hyper-criticism of the Js - can they play together, are they improving? The answers are yes and yes, but they need that PG spark plug who can score and that agile center who can soar. Incredibly, we have them both. Go Celtics! hawk

My feeling is that Schroder is a stopgap, not a long term solution and that he won't be worth what he'll command on the open market. That doesn't mean that he doesn't have value this season, though, and I see no reason to move him without getting something of significance in return. It's not like we've got a lot invested in him, so if he helps us win some games this season and walks, so be it.

The logic seems to be that since we likely can't re-sign Schroeder this summer, then we have to trade him to ensure he doesn't walk this summer with the Celtics getting nothing in return. However, whenever I read anything about his value, writers always suggest something like a second round pick or two. I think I would rather take whatever Schroeder can bring the second half of the season over a second round pick which will almost surely never contribute (and likely won't make the team).

hawksnestbeach wrote: I don’t understand the financial part of the game, those who believe we can’t afford to keep Schröder after overpaying Hayward, Walker, Irving, Horford, but I see no reason to bench our best PG, losing winnable games.

It's not a 'belief' that we can't afford him, but rather the NBA telling the team that they can't pay him. In some CBA weirdness, the Celtics are only allowed to give him a small percentage raise if they make him a new offer for next year, based on the type of signing he was (I think because they used an exception to sign him, though I'm not positive without looking up the details). He's on a way below market contract this year, paying under $6M. The team can only offer him around that for a new contract. He's likely to be able to get a lot more someplace else. So essentially, he was always a 1-year rental for the Celtics, with the option to turn him into an asset at the trade deadline if the team is out of contention at that point, giving one of the younger guys some running room.

I agree that there's no reason not to be playing him while he's here though. Every 20 point game he puts up increases his potential value in a trade, and helps the Cs win games in the meantime.

-V

Again, a "W" is a "W". We'll take it. We're back above .500 with Charlotte coming in the house tomorrow. Going to have to have a better start vs. Hornets to have a chance to win this one. These aren't the same roll over and play/stay dead Hornets of the past.

When is MS due back? Menace has been living up to his name, good and bad. Play across the season, starting/off the bench production value, trade value, continuity value, long term/short term value...you name it, he's like a greased pig...hard to pin down.

But despite all the line up changes, Ime always comes back to 2J's, Al, RWIII and MS. MS isn't going to the bench/be 6th man. So Menace stays the Menace, bouncing around as needed. He seems to be a more consistent starter since he can go for 38 if you need him, but him as part of the Big 3, we really are a Big 2.5 or 2.25 if you are looking for bigger scoring potential to the end of the season. Brooms out in the first round if we make it. Lather.Rinse.Repeat.

db

You guys are way too smart not to at least have a basic understanding about CBA rules.  Hell, GYSO is our CBA GURU and keeps us all informed about what you can or cannot do.

First you need to understand 'Bird Rights'  You'll know about Larry and the Bird Right Exception?

We can only offer Dennis 120% over his current salary.

But lets assume we could pay him whatever we wanted to.

Are you ready to kick him out 20 large?

What about 15?

It really does not matter what we would be willing to pay him.  We could use the Full MLE if we still qualified and that scenario seems unlikely because we are heading to tax payer status unless we can dump a dumb ass signing like Hernangomez.  AND if we were to use the full MLE we would be hard capped.  

Dennis is not our short or long term solution at PG.  If you really like the way he is playing, know this.  His value is increasing.  This guy has a family and is looking to get paid.  He is worth at least 2 to 3 times as much as his $5.9 million salary this year.

Marcus Smart will never be our answer at PG.  The one thing he seems to bring every game is energy and defense.  However what he does not bring is a consistent ability to score, play with pace  and show discipline in his overall decision making.

On to the game.  NOLA is a bad team.  I have no idea why we even turned this one into a competitive game.

Every team in the NBA pads their winning totals by stomping on scrubs.  We have not done that very well.  We are 4 games in the win column behind the likes of the Bulls, Nets, Cavs and Bucks.  I am talking about 4 games.  Can you come up with 4 games lost this season that should have been wins?

We are right on the cusp of being a play-in team or not.

dboss, yes, I would shell out $15m a year for Shroder, as you note, around the league, they think he’s worth that, or more. He gives us another scoring threat, aggressive defense, and when he starts, we usually win. Of course if we can’t, we can’t, but it seems a shame. Meanwhile I think he should start until he proves he shouldn’t, an unlikely outcome IMO. hawk