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Celtics Wrap: Jayson Tatum Back On Track, Leads Boston Past Cavaliers
Tatum broke out of his mini slump


NESN by Greg Dudek

BOSTON — After dropping two overtime games to the Cleveland Cavaliers already this season, the Boston Celtics didn’t let it get to that point Wednesday night, taking care of business with a 117-113 win over the Cavs at TD Garden.

The Celtics improved their record to 45-18 while the Cavaliers slipped to 39-26.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Jayson Tatum hasn’t looked like his usual self since earning MVP honors at the league’s marquee exhibition event.

He missed at least 10 shots in three straight games and even received his first career ejection Monday in a loss to the New York Knicks. But the four-time All-Star put an end to his mini slump in a big way against the Cavaliers.

A one-handed, put-back slam dunk from Tatum early in the second quarter, which would make it on any player’s highlight reel, ignited his performance. He turned it up a notch in the third quarter, taking over the stanza by scoring in a variety of ways. He netted 18 points alone in the quarter as Boston outscored Cleveland, 41-26, in the frame.

Tatum even displayed some terrific passes to unlock his teammates and helped the Celtics, for the first time this season, easily dispatch the Cavaliers.

The Celtics sure look like a completely different team when their best player is clicking on all cylinders.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Tatum put together a stellar performance, flirting with a triple-double by netting a team-high 41 points on 13-for-31 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds and eight assists.


— Al Horford had one of his best showings on the campaign. He hit his first eight shots — six of which were 3-pointers to tie his career high — and finished with a season-high 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting. He also grabbed 11 rebounds.

— Donovan Mitchell was the catalyst for the Cavaliers. He scored a game-high 44 points on 17-of-32 shooting.

WAGER WATCH
DraftKings Sportsbook set Robert Williams’ point total over/under at 8.5 with +105 odds. He cleared that by the third quarter with his ability to finish around the basket as he scored 11 points. A $100 wager would have netted a total of $205.

UP NEXT
The Celtics play host Friday to the Brooklyn Nets, who look a lot different than the three times Boston has already played them this season. The Celtics look for the season-series sweep with tip off from TD Garden coming from 7:30 p.m. ET.

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Tatum and Mitchell put on a show, but the key to the win was Big Al and the defense our bigs played on Allen and Mobley. RWill with a strong game, getting alot of boards after being outworked by Mitchell Robinson the game before. Al on fire from 3 with excellent defense by both our starting bigs. Tatum carried us, big 2nd and 3rd quarters, impactful defense and rebounding. He is really making great highlights lately on offensive rebound putbacks/dunks where his length and athleticism is put on full display. Kudos to coach Joe for emphasizing this aspect of the game that had been dormant for years.

Mitchell is really something, so strong and skilled, fearless too quick for Jaylen and too strong for White and Brogdon. We have many talented guard and wing defenders, as good as or better than any team and he took it right to all of them, it didn’t matter. Jaylen, Brogdon and White all with off shooting nights, thankfully Tatum and Al carried us. GWill was benched, something going on there. Maybe he is talking too much and won’t listen, if he’s one of these guys that his cup is filled and refuses constructive criticism that can’t be good.

This should have been an easy double-digit, 15 point or more, win.  Instead we hang on to win by 4.  An important, but very uninspiring, W.  

Donovan Mitchell went nuts going to his right.  Nobody drove him to his left except Al, once.  It was dumb defense, and guess who never called a timeout to tell his guys to give themselves a chance and overplay Mitchell's right and force him left?  Do they have Time Out Classes for Coaches?  Joe called one @ 9:38 left in the 4th and the score 98-85, down from an 18 point lead after 3.  The Cavs called the next time out at 5:19 and the score 107-94, still a 13 point lead.  The 3rd AND FINAL timeout of the game came with just :25 and that by Cleveland.  They outscored us 35-21 in that quarter and Joe only called time out once.  In the 3rd quarter Joe called exactly zero timeouts.  Now, I can understand not wanting to break your team's rhythm when they're on their way to a 41 point quarter, but then call them in the 4th quarter when you're on your way to a 21 point quarter and they're going nuts.  Break their rhythm with a timeout, Joe.  Joe called ONE timeout in 24 minutes of play.  One.  I'd say he's saving them up for the next game but even as a joke that falls flat since we know he wouldn't use them in that game either.

Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
1 minute ago
With 41 in his final game as a 24-year old (39 in the final three quarters), Jayson Tatum passes Giannis Antetokounmpo and will finish 7th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list for players under 25.

Here's the new list:
https://twitter.com/SeanGrandePBP/status/1631128365242392576


My game ball, though, goes to Al Horford.  Against a team with a very long, young, athletic and active front court he was 8-10 for 23 points, 6-8 from 3, 11 rebounds.  Don't look now but Al is currently 6th in the league in 3pt fg% @ 43%.  Jarrett Allen clearly doesn't like coming out to the perimeter and Al made him pay for his fears.  Big Al with the BIG game.

Overall we had all 5 starters in double-digits while they had 3 starters and LeVert.  Better balance by us, but their talent level 1-8 is impressive.  Caris LeVert coming off the bench?!  Man, now that's firepower on demand. Bickerstaff played 9 players but Cedi Osman only played 5 minutes and Rubio 7, so it was effectively a 7-man roster for them today.  Mitchell played 44 minutes and, it was abundantly clear, was completely gassed by the end.

Brogdon with a non-factor game.  2 points on 1-5, 0-2 from 3, 2 assists and 3 turnovers in 23 forgettable minutes.  Watch, I'll show you how it's done.  Whoosh, I've forgotten what I was writing about.  

RWill with an 11/11 game.  He was everywhere.

We shot 50% from 3.  Glad we got that out of our system.

28ftas vs 23 for them.  Not that much of a home court edge, 5 ftas, but they only hit 13 out of their 21 opportunities and there's their loss.  They're 18th in the league in ft% @ 77.9%, averaging 22.8ftas/game.  So their 23 ftas this game is right at their average.  They average 17.9 ftm/game.  So they underperformed at the frito line by 4.9 points (17.9 - 13 = 4.9 points).  If they had just shot their average they'd have 4.9 points and that would have gotten them to OT if not an outright win, and then think how embarrassing and painful the 18-down-to-4 collapse would have been.

They had 92 fgas vs only 78 for us.  Another anemic offensive showing for us.  12 turnovers by us vs only 6 for them.

They had 20 fast break points.  We were repeatedly getting beaten in transition defense all game.  It appeared to me like Jaylen and Brogdon were the two biggest culprits for getting caught watching the paint dry.

12 points for our bench vs 10 for theirs.  This game was all about the starters, a good look at these teams' playoff rosters.  The depth of our bench this year is why we're 2nd in the East and they're only 1 game in the loss column ahead of the Knicks, who are in 5th place.  The Knicks have a 7 game winning streak going and are 9-1 over their last 10.  The Cavs are now 6-4 over their last 10.  The Cavs have 17 more games, the Knicks have 18 more.  I don't know who owns their tiebreakers but with only a 1 1/2 game lead it wouldn't be crazy to think of the Cavs, despite their killer talent, not having a home court series in the playoffs.  All it would take is an injury to one of their top 6 since they don't really have much past 8.

68-44 Points in the Paint.  LeVert with 4 offensive rebounds.  They kept penetrating and either finishing or making it easy for one of their guys to get a layup.  I have not been particularly impressed with our perimeter defense all year and this game didn't help to back me off the ledge.  If there was a silver lining it's that I was so distracted by our pathetic transition defense I stopped focusing on our flat-footed perimeter defense.  It's like stubbing your toe to make you forget you jammed your thumb. Eventually you remember it and then they both hurt.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401469090


Bob


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cowens/oldschool wrote:Tatum and Mitchell put on a show, but the key to the win was Big Al and the defense our bigs played on Allen and Mobley. RWill with a strong game, getting alot of boards after being outworked by Mitchell Robinson the game before. Al on fire from 3 with excellent defense by both our starting bigs. Tatum carried us, big 2nd and 3rd quarters, impactful defense and rebounding. He is really making great highlights lately on offensive rebound putbacks/dunks where his length and athleticism is put on full display. Kudos to coach Joe for emphasizing this aspect of the game that had been dormant for years.

Mitchell is really something, so strong and skilled, fearless too quick for Jaylen and too strong for White and Brogdon. We have many talented guard and wing defenders, as good as or better than any team and he took it right to all of them, it didn’t matter. Jaylen, Brogdon and White all with off shooting nights, thankfully Tatum and Al carried us. GWill was benched, something going on there. Maybe he is talking too much and won’t listen, if he’s one of these guys that his cup is filled and refuses constructive criticism that can’t be good.

Cow,

According to Joe's post-game presser he said the reason why Grant didn't play is "match ups".

As much as I like Grant that does makes a little sense. Their team is very long, very athletic and very quick and Grant is none of those things.


Bob

.

We were ahead by 13 with 1:20 to go and were never in danger of losing the game. There was absolutely no need to call timeouts.The Cavs "run" was too little and too late. Mitchell scored 71 points against the Bulls. If only Billy Donovan had called enough timeouts and reminded his guys to play him to drive right, I suppose they could have held him in check. (Yeah, right.) I'm guessing that Smart etc. knew exactly how they wanted to play Mitchell. The idea of the coach "reminding " them, thus holding Mitchell in check, is, umm, whimsical, to say the least.He just happens to be very, very good.Celtics did a nice job of neutralizing the Cavs bigs None of them came out to cover Horford, and RWill had his way around the basket. IMO, we won more handily than the final score indicates. Nets are next.

We were ahead by 13 with 1:20  to go and were never in danger of losing the game. There was absolutely no need to call timeouts.The Cavs "run" was too little and too late. Mitchell scored 71 points against the Bulls. If only Billy Donovan had called enough timeouts and reminded his guys to play him to drive right, I suppose they could have held him in check. (Yeah, right.) I'm guessing that Smart etc. knew exactly how they wanted to play Mitchell. The idea of the coach "reminding " them, thus holding Mitchell in check, is, umm, whimsical, to say the least.He just happens to be very, very good.Celtics did a nice job of neutralizing the Cavs bigs None of them came out to cover Horford, and RWill had his way around the basket. IMO, we won more handily than the final score indicates. Nets are next.

bobheckler wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:Tatum and Mitchell put on a show, but the key to the win was Big Al and the defense our bigs played on Allen and Mobley. RWill with a strong game, getting alot of boards after being outworked by Mitchell Robinson the game before. Al on fire from 3 with excellent defense by both our starting bigs. Tatum carried us, big 2nd and 3rd quarters, impactful defense and rebounding. He is really making great highlights lately on offensive rebound putbacks/dunks where his length and athleticism is put on full display. Kudos to coach Joe for emphasizing this aspect of the game that had been dormant for years.

Mitchell is really something, so strong and skilled, fearless too quick for Jaylen and too strong for White and Brogdon. We have many talented guard and wing defenders, as good as or better than any team and he took it right to all of them, it didn’t matter. Jaylen, Brogdon and White all with off shooting nights, thankfully Tatum and Al carried us. GWill was benched, something going on there. Maybe he is talking too much and won’t listen, if he’s one of these guys that his cup is filled and refuses constructive criticism that can’t be good.

Cow,

According to Joe's post-game presser he said the reason why Grant didn't play is "match ups".

As much as I like Grant that does makes a little sense.  Their team is very long, very athletic and very quick and Grant is none of those things.


Bob

.

“Matchups”
The matchup issue is with Joe and Grant.
There’s something going on there that goes beyond “matchups” on the floor.
Correct me if I’m wrong but Grant’s always has been used in matchup adjustments now it’s an issue?
Not pointing fingers at either party because I don’t know. Just a sense I have.
Grant’s play on the court has suffered here lately and I think that’s a part of what’s going on between he and Joe. Something in the milk ain’t clean.
Hopes this gets worked out. He’s a good player who clearly has hit a stumbling block. The question is why? If whatever is going on is not corrected, Grant may be wearing something other than green next season.

While the official line on Grant not playing was due to "matchups", he is also nursing an injury or two. He is also getting a little out of control on the floor at times with the ref back-talk.

Any combination of the three issues could have led to the coach's decision.

It was great to finally get a win against this team.

I like Grant and in certain match ups we need him, but he literally never shuts up. I have seen him yapping alot and his own teammates not even looking at him and trying to walk away from him. His offense has been very off lately, a lot of 2-4 point games. He was great banging on Durant last year, Moose is a different kind of big, but has looked good and may cut into GWill’s playing time. As long as we continue to win that’s all that matters. I would think we could have used GWills defense, but our defense shut down Cavs bigs without him, so Joes strategy worked.

cowens/oldschool wrote:I like Grant and in certain match ups we need him, but he literally never shuts up. I have seen him yapping alot  and his own teammates not even looking at him and trying to walk away from him. His offense has been very off lately, a lot of 2-4 point games. He was great banging on Durant last year, Moose is a different kind of big, but has looked good and may cut into GWill’s playing time. As long as we continue to win that’s all that matters. I would think we could have used GWills defense, but our defense shut down Cavs bigs without him, so Joes strategy worked.

Cowens

I think we need Grant. His defense is far superior to the Moose. I wasn't impressed by the Moose last night. If he's not hitting his shots, he really doesn't provide much. He's very slow to loose balls and his rebounding is mediocre at best. Don't get me wrong he's a nice backup center, but Grant provides much more. The defense shut down the Cavs prior to the Moose entering the game in the third quarter. Grant maybe in a little slump, but he has proven he can hit the three. He's even developed a little game off the dribble and his defense and rebounding are above average. I do agree Grant yaps too much, hopefully he curbs that habit. I think CJ just wanted to get the Moose some minutes with the core rotation in case he's needed in the playoffs.

I have been saying for over a month that Grant Williams is not the same player as last year. I do not want to read about his shooting percentage, he passes up so many shots now that he would have take a year ago. Why? I have one theory, he does not want his shooting percentage to go down if he misses alot of shots. Silly theory, maybe...but watch him. His defense is no where near what it was before and if he does not learn to shut up, he is going to find himself at the end of the bench. We have no idea what goes on in the locker room, but it appears that he has ticked his coach off once too much. This won't last, the Celtics are going to need him, but he may learn he can be replaced. Enough about Grant, I have written about him way too much. If they did not want him he would be gone by now

Rosalie,

My theory is that he is injured. I read it over at CelticsBlog. Maybe something about his shoulder? I cannot exactly remember. If I see it again, I'll be more exact.

IMO, his defense is fine. We just played the Bucks and the 26ers and he definitely took the pounding for the team in green, so no worries there. I just think he is tentative with letting it fly from deep and there is a physical reason that has gotten into his head.

The final score 117-113 is closer than what happened in this game when it really mattered.  After squeezing out a 3 point halftime lead, the Celtics pushed that advantage to 10 points in less than 2 minutes into the 3rd (62-52)  

By the end of the 3rd the Celtics were comfortably ahead by 18.  With 3 minutes remaining in the 4th the Celtics were ahead by 15 points, 113-98.    The last 3 minutes was garbage time.  This was a decisive win for the Celtics but I hate to see the Celtics take their foot off the gas.  Overall, we only took 78 shots to 92 for them.

The Cavs are a very solid defensive team because of their twin towers who do a good job protecting the paint.  

Last night our preferred 2-big lineup won the scoring and rebounding battle against their bigs.  

This was a very important win for the Celtics.  I am not all that concerned about the Celtics dropping down to 2nd place.  When the final bell rings, I fully expect the Celtics to finish the regular season at #1.

Tatum had a huge bounce back game last night and AH was tremendous on offense.  RW played great and recorded a double double along with 3 assists and 2 blocks.  He also made 2 great 50/50 plays while hitting the floor and tipping the ball to a teammate.

We shot 50% from the field and 50% from deep (16-32)

The Celtics had problems defending Garland and Mitchell.  Our guards could not stay in front of them and because we were pretty much switching everything our bigs where matched up against smaller and quicker players.

Our 3 PG's did not play well on either end of the floor. They shot a combined 6-21.   Donovan was unreal as he Euro-stepped his way into the paint and at the rim for easy scores and Garland has a super quick burst that allows him to get by defenders.  

Even given the Celtics inability to slow their guards down, they still beat the Cavs down.

Overall I thought that SIASJ got most things right except for:

Putting Muscala in the game in a single big lineup where he looked as confused while playing in the post as a drunk roaming a parking lot in search of his car.

To CJ's credit, Muscala's second stint including having RW in there with him.

I also thought we could have used a few more timeouts late in the game.  This is what is most troubling about CJ.  He took one timeout in the 4th at 9:38 and a coaches challenge at 4:40 and that was it.    Per the NBA rules you can take up to 4 timeouts in the 4th QTR including 2 in the last 3 minutes.  A lot of folks lost money last night but aside from that CJ has yet to prove that he can be a great game manager.

Big mouth Grant Williams got a rare DNP coaches decision.  In previous games vs the Cavs he did not play in the first game because he was suspended by the NBA for his bum rush against a female ref.  In the 2nd game he scored 11 with 7 rebounds in 32 minutes but he also had 5 fouls.  Joe indicated GW did not play because of matchups and I think that is true but at the same time Grant has not been playing well and CJ needs to see what he can get from Muscala.

Hauser made a huge play.  He saved Tatum from having 4 turnovers.  Tatum passed the ball in the general direction of Sam and Sam managed to keep it from going into the stands.  Sam takes a step to the left and launches a 3 pointer over Mitchell with the shot clock running down...bang!