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Celtics Wrap: Boston Puts Historic Beatdown On Shorthanded Nets
The Celtics never trailed Wednesday night


NESN by Keagan Stiefel


BOSTON — The Celtics put an absolute beatdown on the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday, coming away from TD Garden with a 139-96 victory.

The Celtics improved their league-best record to 37-15, while the Nets dropped to 31-20.

Check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Have you ever seen a varsity basketball team scrimmage a junior varsity basketball team? If you have, you’d know that Wednesday’s matchup between the Celtics and Nets was far less competitive.

Boston, who hasn’t lost to Brooklyn since Nov. 24, 2021, thoroughly dismantled a Nets squad that entered without Kevin Durant and Ben Simmons. A historic opening frame in which the Celtics scored 46 total points set the tone for the remainder of the game, with one play by Nets center Day’Ron Sharpe encapsulating the flow of the game in one play.

There were a number of stats that help tell the story of this boat race basketball game.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined to go 14-for-24 from beyond the arc. The Celtics scored 79 points in the first half, their most since the 1989-90 season, according to Celtics.com’s Taylor Snow. Boston started 8-for-8 from beyond the arc. Six Celtics scored in double figures. Kyrie Irving finished as a minus-31.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Tatum finished the night with 31 points on 12-for-19 shooting, nine rebounds and four assists. He was a game-high plus-46 in 29 minutes.

— Brown appeared to be angling for a spot in the three-point competition before NBA All-Star weekend, scoring 21 of his 26 points by way of the deep ball.

— Robert Williams III imposed his will on Brooklyn, finishing with 16 points and nine rebounds in just 19 minutes. He finished with a game-high five offensive boards.

WAGER WATCH
The Celtics entered as 8.5-point favorites over the Nets, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. Boston went up nine points less than four minutes into the first quarter, and owned a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game. At -110 odds, $100 bettors cashed out with an easy $190.91 payout.

UP NEXT
The Celtics will host the Phoenix Suns on Friday night. Tipoff from TD Garden is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.

112288

Very pleasing win. Go Celts!

Quite the beatdown.

Kornet with 12 in 18 minutes. 4 assists, 2 turnovers. 1 block, 1 steal. Only 4 rebounds, one would hope for better from a 7'2" player, but otherwise a very good showing for him.

Sam @ 2-6 from 3 continues to lag. One good game and then it's back in the shitter for him. 5 rebounds in 11 minutes is what Luke should be grabbing against the other team's 2nd unit.

We had 30 fast break points vs 10 for them. 30. That's really, really impressive.

92 total fgas, 54 of them 3s. We shot 48% from 3. When we're taking that many fgas, that many 3s and hitting that high a percentage nobody is beating us. For those who care 54 is 58% of our total fgas and that's crazy except when you're hitting them like we were.

We outrebounded them 57-32. 21 more rebounds is crazy too. Some of that was the relative difference between our fg%, we shot 56% and they shot 40% so there were more misses by them to rebound, and some of it was offensive rebounding. 11-5 is 6 more possessions which is very profitable when you're shooting 48% on half your fgas.

Robert Williams is a game changer. We MUST keep him healthy.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401468927





Bob


.

Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
about 1 hour ago
In addition to a 43-point win, team records for Q1 points (46), lead (30) and home 3's (26), the Celtics outrebounded the Nets by 25, their best since 12/22/19 vs. Charlotte (+30). Boston is the NBA's #2 rebounding team in the last month, and has cracked the top 10 for the year.


Bob


.

OK, Ktron.  You're going to have to give me the following comment as even my wife noticed it last night.  I know the ESPN announcers were trying to make the best of a total annihilation after the first few minutes, but the amount of mentions for Durant/BS not being there vs. Marcus Smart not being there had to be remarkably close to and in the ball park of 3,486,734,934,749,334,943,049 to 1.  Check the above article out.  Author did not even mention Marcus Smart but did mention KD/BS a few sentences in just the throw shade on an otherwise perfect game and display.
It wasn't like the score would have been any different even with at least KD.  We know BS doesn't score anymore.  We showed KD what we can do to him when he's in the game in the playoffs.  Please come back, KD.  Please.  

But alas, the more things change, the more they stay the same.  Boston won't get credit for this great season until we hoist the O'Brien Trophy in June and even then recognition will be given begrudgingly by everyone except us here.  But I digress.

WOW!  So the key for us sweeping the playoffs and going 16-0 is to convince the scheduling committee to give us 3 days off between games!!  Good luck with that.  Wish we could say that's the answer but we've had time off like that before and then crapped the bed in the subsequent game so that ain't it.  That's about as near perfect a game as you are going to see...wait for it...even without OUR glue guy Marcus Smart, (OK, Ktron.  I'm done!!)  If you were ever going to use the word BARRAGE in a sentence, this would be the time.  Only other game in recent memory is the @PHX vs. DAL 2022 Playoffs and PHX is still smarting (no pun intended) and crumbling from that.  

Not a lot to say on this game really but DAMN!!! or HOLYCRAP!!!.  Reiterate that RWIII is a huge key and game changer for sure.  Stunning display for sure.  Jaw-dropping.  I almost felt so bad for BKN, I told my wife I was going to start pulling for them.  It was that bad of a beatdown.  But I thought better of it and remembered Kyrie.  

I thought the crowd was a little out of sorts as well, like they didn't know how to react.  Were they really seeing this?!  Stunned maybe.  Then possibly like me, they started feeling guilty and began wondering when SIASJ was going to pull the starters, which I thought he left ours out there WAY too long.  But I'm not SIASJ. (Ktron and dboss, I'm starting to like SIASJ because I notice it is typographically AND digitally pleasing while holding down the CAPS button!)  Maybe it was just the way ESPN was showing it, but the crowd should have been going apeshit the whole game IMHBAO.  I'll have to watch it again to be sure I wasn't missing something and to just check the accuracy of my KD/BS vs. MS mentions number.  There was one hilarious point when the crowd drew quiet and I'm going to assume it was a Celtic fan who shouted out, "Kyrie, you SUCK!!!"  I had to replay that for my wife.  ESPN of course ignored it.  We got quite a chuckle out of it.  I'm still laughing at it.  I think it was near the end of the 3rd quarter.

Well, speaking of PHX, they are up Friday.  Hopefully we can follow up this display with a similar barrage and officially send PHX to the funny farm.

db

Hi,
Yes, it was a WOW game.
The best part of it, IMO, was our defense in the 1 qtr. They relaxed a bit in the 2nd but it didn't matter - the damage has already been done. If the Celtics play at this level in the playoffs it could be 16-0 or close to it.

AK

3 days off of good practice/therapy was great for this team. If we can go into the playoffs with this kind of health and energy, we should go all the way. I would baby RWill the rest of the season to make sure he’s healthy and strong for the playoffs, his inside play the way he keeps balls alive, the defense is key to no 18. Great to see both J’s so on, we wrecked those little midgets, our defense was on from the start.

Rob Williams was changing shots, keeping balls alive, moving the ball, collecting rebounds, scoring with ease. When he plays like this we are on a different level. Agree should probably baby him some for the playoffs.

A couple of observations

The Celtics employed some traps combined with timely rotations.  We have not seen a lot of that during the season.  We saw some possessions vs the Lakers the other night.  It is great to see CJ add this wrinkle to the defense.  The Celtics have enough guys that can and will execute those traps and recoveries.  It is all about trapping a Kyrie and while the trap pressure is there have the 3rd guy and then the 4th guy rotate in sequence.  It's beautiful to watch.

With or without KD, the Nets do not match up well with Boston.    The biggest problem for them is that they cannot check Jayson AND Jaylen .   Their backcourt is too small and their backup backcourt is too small.  The other issue is our frontline vs their frontline.  When we go with our dominating 2-big pairing they do not have the players to match up.

The Celtics have now beat the Nets 10 straight.

Last night Robert went 7-8 from the field and we saw him getting the ball and his touches were not all alley opp.  His ability to finish at the rim on simple layups was good to see.  last night I believe he set an NBA record for FG % in 50 straight games.  He is also climbing up the offensive rebounding latter and has recorded 3.2 per game.  Last year he was 3.9 per game.  His MPG have been reduced because of injuries and a thoughtful approach to moving him forward with the goal of keeping him available.

dbrown4 wrote:OK, Ktron.  You're going to have to give me the following comment as even my wife noticed it last night.  I know the ESPN announcers were trying to make the best of a total annihilation after the first few minutes, but the amount of mentions for Durant/BS not being there vs. Marcus Smart not being there had to be remarkably close to and in the ball park of 3,486,734,934,749,334,943,049 to 1.  Check the above article out.  Author did not even mention Marcus Smart but did mention KD/BS a few sentences in just the throw shade on an otherwise perfect game and display.
It wasn't like the score would have been any different even with at least KD.  We know BS doesn't score anymore.  We showed KD what we can do to him when he's in the game in the playoffs.  Please come back, KD.  Please.  

But alas, the more things change, the more they stay the same.  Boston won't get credit for this great season until we hoist the O'Brien Trophy in June and even then recognition will be given begrudgingly by everyone except us here.  But I digress.

WOW!  So the key for us sweeping the playoffs and going 16-0 is to convince the scheduling committee to give us 3 days off between games!!  Good luck with that.  Wish we could say that's the answer but we've had time off like that before and then crapped the bed in the subsequent game so that ain't it.  That's about as near perfect a game as you are going to see...wait for it...even without OUR glue guy Marcus Smart, (OK, Ktron.  I'm done!!)  If you were ever going to use the word BARRAGE in a sentence, this would be the time.  Only other game in recent memory is the @PHX vs. DAL 2022 Playoffs and PHX is still smarting (no pun intended) and crumbling from that.  

Not a lot to say on this game really but DAMN!!! or HOLYCRAP!!!.  Reiterate that RWIII is a huge key and game changer for sure.  Stunning display for sure.  Jaw-dropping.  I almost felt so bad for BKN, I told my wife I was going to start pulling for them.  It was that bad of a beatdown.  But I thought better of it and remembered Kyrie.  

I thought the crowd was a little out of sorts as well, like they didn't know how to react.  Were they really seeing this?!  Stunned maybe.  Then possibly like me, they started feeling guilty and began wondering when SIASJ was going to pull the starters, which I thought he left ours out there WAY too long.  But I'm not SIASJ. (Ktron and dboss, I'm starting to like SIASJ because I notice it is typographically AND digitally pleasing while holding down the CAPS button!)  Maybe it was just the way ESPN was showing it, but the crowd should have been going apeshit the whole game IMHBAO.  I'll have to watch it again to be sure I wasn't missing something and to just check the accuracy of my KD/BS vs. MS mentions number.  There was one hilarious point when the crowd drew quiet and I'm going to assume it was a Celtic fan who shouted out, "Kyrie, you SUCK!!!"  I had to replay that for my wife.  ESPN of course ignored it.  We got quite a chuckle out of it.  I'm still laughing at it.  I think it was near the end of the 3rd quarter.

Well, speaking of PHX, they are up Friday.  Hopefully we can follow up this display with a similar barrage and officially send PHX to the funny farm.

db

Db,
When possible and depending on who’s doing the national game, i usually watch the local Boston channel. I put up with Scal only because I like Mike Gorman but it’s beginning to wear on me.

As to your question regarding the numerous mentions of KD and Simmons.
Networks are always going to look at whats most buzz worthy.

Know this, that the Networks and sports telecasts in general are focused on the casual viewer. You and I and everyone on this board would not be considered casual viewers. We are P1 Hardcore and are always locked in. The casual viewer is not.

This is why we see the Lakers still being shown damn near every week and sometimes twice a week. The casual viewer doesn't know or care what a teams record is. They know LeBron plays for them and the Laker name still is top of mind with casuals. It also doesn't hurt that LA is a top 3 market.

You can apply the same logic to your question. ESPN has the national broadcast. Nationally, whose names are most buzz worthy?
KD, Ben Simmons or Smart?

The casual’s pay attention when you mention the KD’s etc. Simmons has a lot of buzz around his name because of all the drama surrounding him.
Marcus Smart is well known but not on the same level as far as eyes and ears nationally.
We notice the redundancy because we’re locked into our team, the casual viewer would not pick up on the redundancy because they're not as locked in and they're more than likely in and out of the room or if there’s multiple choices there is a good chance they're channel surfing.

I don’t know how many local TV games you get there but if you notice, Sean Grande tends to latch on to a topic or theme and repeats it over and over throughout the telecast.
Grande is used to doing radio where the attention span is under 8 seconds (cognitive overload) and folks are more than likely listening in their cars so they are in and out unless they're on a long commute so its understandable why it works more for radio.
It doesn't translate very well for local telecasts.. Its local and most viewers from a local standpoint are not casual.We are watching damn near the whole game so Grande begins to get very redundant.
Grande just needs to adapt to something thats not as familiar to him as radio. He’s good and he’ll get there but right now he’s annoying because he has not fully transitioned.

Hope this helped!

45 point win Bob. 45 points.

bobheckler wrote:Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
about 1 hour ago
In addition to a 43-point win, team records for Q1 points (46), lead (30) and home 3's (26), the Celtics outrebounded the Nets by 25, their best since 12/22/19 vs. Charlotte (+30). Boston is the NBA's #2 rebounding team in the last month, and has cracked the top 10 for the year.


Bob


.

Al is not a particularly strong rebounder for his position, GWill doesn’t have the length to be consistent on the boards. J’s are great players, good at all phases of the game and very good rebounders. The obvious key to our rebounding resurgence is the Timelord and he’s playing on a minutes restriction. Amazing the impact he’s already making and were taking it cautiously and slow with him.

cowens/oldschool wrote:

bobheckler wrote:Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
about 1 hour ago
In addition to a 43-point win, team records for Q1 points (46), lead (30) and home 3's (26), the Celtics outrebounded the Nets by 25, their best since 12/22/19 vs. Charlotte (+30). Boston is the NBA's #2 rebounding team in the last month, and has cracked the top 10 for the year.


Bob


.

Al is not a particularly strong rebounder for his position, GWill doesn’t have the length to be consistent on the boards. J’s are great players, good at all phases of the game and very good rebounders. The obvious key to our rebounding resurgence is the Timelord and he’s playing on a minutes restriction. Amazing the impact he’s already making and were taking it cautiously and slow with him.

Cow,

Jaylen is averaging 1.0 more rebounds per game than last year (7.1 vs 6.1). Even with his increased minutes he's still rebounding better /minute than any other time in his career.

Jayson is averaging .7rpg this year, .4 better /36minute.

Brogdon's rebounds/36mpg is at a career high too. Who did Brogdon replace on the roster this year, whose minutes did he get? Pritchard? Brogdon is a FAR superior rebounder than PP.

Brogdon didn't eat into White's minutes because Derrick is playing roughly the same number of mpg as last year after he came here. White's rebounding is flat. So is Smart's.

Grant is averaging 4.7rpg. Last year he averaged 3.6rpg in 10% fewer minutes. He's grabbing a career high 6.1reb/36mpg, matching his previous career high in his rookie year, but he's doing this over almost 28mpg and not 15mpg.

My point is that we are a better rebounding team, despite Al not being a great rebounder and despite White's and Smart's numbers being flat, because every other player who is playing significant minutes have upped their rebounding game. I would rather have that than have a single dominant rebounder and that's it. We're the 7th best rebounding team in the league. Philadelphia is 28th. Who are their rebounders? We have 3 players in the top 50 for rebounding (Tatum #26, RWill #34 and Brown #47). Philly has one, Embiid @ #13. You have to get to #59 before you get to Harden. Lose either one of those players and Doc is in trouble on the boards. If Joe loses any one of our 3 he still has two in the top 50 AND we have Al at #71, which isn't TOO far behind Harden's 59.

Grant, btw, is at #129. That puts him ahead of the likes of Rui Hachimura, Saddiq Bey and Marcus Morris Sr. They are all playing comparable mpg, are all 3/4s like Grant, but are worse rebounders than Grant.


Bob


.

Great breakdown Bob, all legit points

My point was more about RWill’s impact also in limited minutes

Ktron,

Excellent, brilliant post! Very helpful to have your perspective. Thank you for putting up with my justified hyperbole!

db