Post Game - Celtics vs. Nets - Friday, November 10 (W)

Celtics bench aids Tatum, Brown en route to 121-107 In-Season Tournament win over Nets

https://sports.yahoo.com/celtics-bench-aids-tatum-brown-031742101.html

Jack Simone
Fri, Nov 10, 2023, 10:17 PM EST·5 min read



In their first In-Season Tournament game of the year, the Boston Celtics took down the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night, earning a 121-107 victory. Al Horford was sidelined for Boston, as his rest nights on back-to-backs returned this year, but the Celtics’ offense outdueled a Nets lineup that was missing its top scorer in Cam Thomas.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown led the way for Boston, a phrase uttered time and time again over the better part of the last decade, letting their scoring lead the way. Brown ended the night with 28 points, while Tatum chipped in with 23 of his own. However, it was the Celtics’ bench that stole the show, as Sam Hauser, Payton Pritchard, and Luke Kornet shook off some early-season struggles and gave Boston consistent production throughout the night.

While the Nets were able to stay in the game throughout the first three quarters, a final push from the Celtics in the fourth was enough to put the nail in the coffin.

First half

Brown and Tatum provided a one-two punch for the Celtics in the first and second quarters, respectively. Brown poured in 12 in the first, but Tatum one-upped him with a 13-point second quarter.

Boston’s bench got off to a nice start, too. Hauser and Pritchard each nailed a couple of threes in the first half, a welcomed sight after some early-season struggles.

Kristaps Porzingis attacked the smaller Nets lineup, as they were without Nic Claxton and Ben Simmons, but Tatum’s and Brown’s red-hot scoring quickly took the lead.

For Brooklyn, Lonnie Walker IV was the primary scorer, dropping 13 points in the first half. Thomas’ absence with an ankle injury was felt, but the return of Cam Johnson helped juice Brooklyn’s three-point attack, which was a focal point of their first-half offense.

Boston’s defensive scheme varied throughout the half, starting with Porzingis dropping back into the paint and adapting to have the Latvian big man roam the perimeter. The Nets’ three-point shooting forced the adjustment, and even after it, Brooklyn was still able to generate good looks when the Celtics’ defense got scrambled.

The Celtics closed the half up 66-54, but the Nets’ fight was evident.

Second half

Like Brown and Tatum before him, Derrick White decided to fill things up in the third quarter. His driving attack and three-point shooting kicked up a notch in the third after a brutal first half. He finished the period with seven. But Brown, not to be outdone, continued his path of dominance, dropping seven points of his own.

Porzingis’ post game was once again a go-to for Boston when the waters got rocky, as he had a mismatch on every possession with the Nets’ lack of size.

That said, the story of the third, and for the majority of the second half, was Brooklyn’s complete lack of offensive creation. Thomas being out restricted their offensive flow, and outside of catch-and-shoot threes and transition opportunities, the Nets struggled to generate any semblance of consistent offense.

There was far too much dribbling from players who aren’t used to having the ball in their hands, and the Celtics took advantage, forcing bad shots and 24-second violations.

But even though the offensive consistency wasn’t there for the Nets, they continued to battle. Brooklyn made tough shots and hit open threes when they presented themselves, keeping the game manageable heading into the final frame.

Unfortunately for the Nets, that’s when Tatum time happens.

The Celtics superstar kicked it up again in the fourth, nailing some threes and imposing his will on the Nets defense, turning what was once a relatively close game into the eventual blowout the game became.

Tatum’s offensive greatness, mixed with the steady shooting of Hauser and the barren Nets offense, was enough to seal the deal for Boston.

Final thoughts

While his impact wasn’t as noticeable, Jrue Holiday was quietly one of Boston’s top contributors. He didn’t score in bunches like Tatum and Brown, but he gave the Celtics steady production throughout the night, ending the game with 13 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists.

Pritchard’s scoring will be the biggest takeaway for fans, but his offensive rebounding was crucial to the Celtics’ success. He snagged four offensive boards on the night, giving Boston multiple second-chance opportunities.

Boston’s bench revival should give fans a reason to quell their worries, as the Celtics’ second unit was crucial in their success against Brooklyn. Pritchard, Hauser, and Kornet led the way, snapping out of the early-season funk they found themselves in.

For the second time in the span of a week, the Celtics took down the Nets, and this time around, it led to a 1-0 start in group play of the In-Season Tournament.

The Celtics’ next game will be on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time against the Toronto Raptors.

Celtics-Nets takeaways: Brown takes over in first In-Season Tournament game

https://sports.yahoo.com/celtics-nets-takeaways-brown-takes-032358830.html

Justin Leger
Fri, Nov 10, 2023, 10:23 PM EST·5 min read



Celtics-Nets takeaways: Brown takes over in first In-Season Tournament game originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Three Key Storylines

Tatum and Brown bounce back
Encouraging night for the bench
Jrue Holiday does it all

The Boston Celtics opened their NBA In-Season Tournament run with a victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night.

On a new-look TD Garden court, the C's had seven players in double figures and shot 43.6 percent from the floor to earn their first win in the Group Stage, 121-107. Jaylen Brown (28 points) and Jayson Tatum (23 points) led the way while Sam Hauser (15 points) provided a spark off the bench.

Lonnie Walker IV and Dennis Smith Jr. paced Brooklyn with 20 and 14 points off the bench, respectively.

Boston's next Group Stage game is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 17 on the road against the Toronto Raptors. For the full schedule, and an in-depth explainer for the inaugural In-Season Tournament, go here.

We'll get a preview of that tournament showdown on Saturday as the Celtics will host Toronto at 7 p.m. ET. First, here are our takeaways from their win over Brooklyn.

The Jays bounce back

Jaylen Brown had a night to forget in Wednesday's loss to the Philadelphia 76ers as he shot just 4-for-13 from the field and finished with 11 points. The two-time All-Star put that performance behind him with an outstanding showing on Friday night.

It took him only seven minutes to score more points (12) than he did in all of Wednesday's defeat. He went on to drop 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting in the first half.

As for Jayson Tatum, he went scoreless in the first quarter but erupted for 13 points in the second. The Jays combined for 34 points in the first half after totaling only 27 in the entire game against Philly.





Brown finished with a game-high 28 points and was efficient, shooting 10-for-19 from the field and hitting five of his nine 3-pointers. He also dished five assists.

Tatum went quiet again in the third but helped the C's pull away with 10 more points in the fourth to finish with 23 points (6-17 FG, 4-11 3-PT) and 10 rebounds.

When both Celtics superstars are making their shots, there aren't many teams in the league that can keep up. Brooklyn shot 44.4 percent from the floor and 41.7 percent from 3 and it still wasn't enough against Boston's vaunted offense.

Encouraging night for the bench

Payton Pritchard entered Friday's game desperately needing to see a shot go through the net. He was 0-for-10 from 3-point range over his last three games and 3-of-20 from deep this season.

The Celtics guard busted out of his slump with a 13-point performance vs. Brooklyn. He converted two of his seven 3-point attempts and made five of his 10 shots altogether.



Pritchard also came down with five rebounds -- four of which were offensive boards -- and notched three assists.

Sam Hauser has been a bright spot for the struggling C's bench and that continued on Friday. The sharpshooter stayed hot from long range, hitting five of his 10 3-pointers to finish with 15 points.



Luke Kornet stepped up to make several big plays for the second unit. The big man tallied seven points (3-5 FG) and was huge on the boards, racking up nine rebounds (six offensive) in 18 minutes.



All in all, it was a strong performance from a Celtics bench that has been lackluster so far this season, and it didn't have Al Horford (right knee injury management) to help out.

"Obviously we need points off the bench," Celtics president Brad Stevens said during Friday's broadcast. "It's good to see Payton get a couple, Sam, that helps, but we just need everyone to continue to get better together, learn how to play together, and make sure we are taking the right strides, and certainly the bench is a part of that."

Friday's performance was a step in the right direction.

Jrue Holiday flirts with triple-double

Holiday showed again in Friday's win why Brad Stevens is all smiles whenever his name comes up in conversation.

The veteran guard did a little bit of everything to help Boston earn a decisive victory. He posted a stat line of 13 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists -- making him just one assist short of his fifth career triple-double.

It's the second time in less than a week that Holiday has flirted with a triple-double. He had 18 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds in the Celtics' win last Sunday against -- coincidentally -- the Nets.

Holiday is now averaging 13.4 points 7.9 rebounds and 5.8 assists through eight games this season.

From another perspective:

Decimated Nets lineup gets completely outmatched in loss to Celtics

https://nypost.com/2023/11/10/sports/nets-get-completely-outmatched-in-loss-to-celtics/

By Brian Lewis
Published Nov. 10, 2023, 10:30 p.m. ET

BOSTON — The Nets’ lineup has been decimated. Friday was the first time it looked that way.

That’s what being down three starters on the road against the NBA championship favorites will do.

Injury-riddled Brooklyn lost 121-107 to Boston before a sellout crowd of 19,156 at TD Garden in an NBA In-Season Tournament game that was far more lopsided than the final score would indicate.

Missing Ben Simmons, Nic Claxton and leading scorer Cam Thomas, the Nets were double-digit underdogs.

They played hard throughout.

But they were outsized, outmanned and in the end, thoroughly outplayed, dropping their 12th game in their past 13 meetings against Boston.

The Nets saw the much bigger Celtics pile up a staggering 29-5 edge in second-chance points, and lean on their All-Stars.

Jaylen Brown poured in a game-high 28 points on 5-for-9 shooting from deep, while Jayson Tatum added 23.

Playing without Simmons, the Nets lacked the frenetic fast break that they so desperately needed to have any chance at pulling off an upset Friday.

Lonnie Walker IV led the Nets with 20 points off the bench, and fellow backups Trendon Watford and Dennis Smith Jr. were the next-highest scoring with just 14 points apiece.

The loss saw the Nets fall to 4-5 for the season, and evened their mark at 1-1 in East Group C for the In-Season Tournament.

They host the Wizards on Sunday at Barclays Center, then the Magic two nights later in their next In-Season Tournament game.

The Nets only can hope their injury crisis has eased up at least a little by then.

While forward Cam Johnson returned and played his first game since opening night — going straight into the starting lineup and scoring 11 points on 4-for-13 shooting — the rest of the lineup was still threadbare.

With the aforementioned trio all out, Brooklyn’s starters were outscored 84-47 by Boston’s.

The Nets went 1-for-9 with three turnovers during a second-quarter drought, and lost contact.

Brooklyn had lost by a combined 20 in their other defeats.

They trailed by 24 on Friday to the Celtics, favored to not only come out of a top-heavy Eastern Conference but win the NBA championship.

Friday didn’t have the same venom that Nets visits to Boston have had over the past few years, when former Celtic Kyrie Irving was around and the emerald-clad locals whipped themselves in a frenzy.

This had more of a perfunctory feel.

The Nets played hard throughout, but in the end they were playing out of their league.

The Nets had no answer for the Celtics’ stars.

Down just 38-35 with 9:42 left in the half following Spencer Dinwiddie’s free throws, and very much in the game, Brooklyn gave up a 10-3 run to lose contact.

Brown’s foul shot capped the run and made it 48-38 midway through the second quarter.

By the time Johnson finally broke the drought with a 3-pointer off a Royce O’Neale feed with 5:51 remaining in the half, the Nets had shot 1 of 7 with a turnover, falling behind by double-digits.

The deficit swelled to 66-49 on Brown’s running layup with 1:34 to play in the second quarter. His 16-foot jumper padded it to 81-63 with 4:47 left in the third.

Boston’s lead just kept growing, until it reached 116-92 with four minutes left on Payton Pritchard’s layup.

It was good to see the bench starting to produce. Hauser did well. It will be good to see PP hit more of those 3s.

It has been fun to watch the Celts so far.

Just to flail once again at a dead horse, our in-season tournament court is butt-ass ugly.  Here's an idea:  maybe, instead of focusing on visual marketing like new courts and uniforms, they should enhance the popularity of the league by focusing on homogenizing the refereeing?  Nobody is going to run out and buy a new basketball court because they want this one too.

A game we really would have had no excuse for losing.  The Nets are even more undermanned than they were the first time we played them, without Cam Thomas too, but Jacque Vaughn really has them running and gunning.  It will be interesting to see what they're like when gunner Thomas, distributor Simmons and defender Claxton are back.  I mean, damn, imagine that team with bigs, any bigs.

We had just lost 2 in a row.  Coming out with fire and focus was even more important than usual.  JB did that.  His numbers are off from last season but he's shooting 38% from 3, so that's good.  The bad news is that he's down to 69.7% from the line, after years of steady improvement from there.  Still early.  He's taken 33 ftas this year.  He took 344 last season.  Aside from it being very early I believe we need to wait a little more before concluding whether Jaylen's having a good season or not.  The Js are not expected to carry as much of the load this year with the additions of Z and Jrue.  Ray Allen gave up a lot to win a Championship, to join two other future HOFers.  This might just be that, and Brown might have reconsidered what his role on this team is.  JB deciding he was going to set the tone in this game after losing two straight may be how he considers his leadership role this year, and that would be a good thing.  We don't have Marcus Smart anymore.  We don't have him to emotionally lead us now, and maybe that's how Jaylen sees himself.




Tatum 6-17.  Could not buy a basket for most of the game.  0-3 after 1, 4-11 after 3.  Went on a mini-tear in the 2nd quarter with a couple of straight 3s but then cooled off for the rest of the game.  I mean, 2-6 in 4 minutes in the 4th?


This is the 2nd time in 8 games Jrue has been one stat away from a triple-double.  13 points, 10 rebounds (3 offensive) and 9 assists, just one assist away.  Zero turnovers.  9 assists, zero turnovers.  I don't care about triple-doubles, per se, but I do care that he is contributing in a lot of different ways.  His floor general stats so far are that he's averaging 5.8apg and 1.6TOpg.  That's an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.63:1 and that is absolutely outstanding for a point guard who handles the ball a lot.

Z with a pretty quiet night.  He should have feasted all night, they have no bigs.  He could have just turned and faced the basket and flat-footed shot over anybody Vaughn threw at him.

Derrick with zero turnovers.  Our entire back court (Jrue, Derrick, Payton and Dalano) combined for ZERO turnovers.  Of our 7 turnovers (overall an excellent team effort) the Js accounted for 5 of them.  Svi had the other 2.  


Our bench did their job by delivering 37 points on 13-30 shooting but with a mediocre 7-20 3pt fg% (35%).  Oshae was 0-3 but gave energy.  Luke with 7 points on 3-5 but, more importantly, he had 9 rebounds, 6 of them offensive, in 18 minutes.  Now that's crashing the boards, 6 offensive rebounds out of 9 total.  That is what Z should have been doing.  Luke with another good game.  We were concerned given his lack of playing time in the preseason and his fairly underwhelming early games but he's starting to look more like the Green Kornet that we saw last year.  With Al taking a rest day he was Z's only back up big with Queta nursing a right foot stress fracture.  According to multiple medical sources on the internet including The Cleveland Clinic and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons stress fractures generally require 6-8 weeks for full recovery.


Sam with 15 points on 5-10 from 3.  When he's on he's a game changer.  When he's on.  Remember how icy cold he was in preseason and to start the regular season?  Well, his 3pt fg% is now up to 42.6%.


I think the thing I liked the most about Payton's game last night was his defense.  He was playing  full-court in-your-grill defense the whole game.  He's not known as a great m2m defender but he can do this, he can be a pest and help take time off of their shooting clock.  That is, in my opinion, a very underrated defensive contribution.  At :17 of the film you see him defending full court, then switching onto the much larger and stronger 6'6" Bridges and stealing the ball off of great foot movement and earning a clear path foul on Bridges.  Then he gets his own frito miss and puts it back in (that must have driven Jacques Vaughn crazy.  There is no excuse for a frito shooter getting his own putback).  From the video it looks like it was Dennis Smith Jr.'s job to step in front of him, but he was late.  Other Nets on the lane were boxing out their man, which gave a clear path to the rim for P Rabbit.  5 rebounds for Payton, 4 of them offensive.  That is just crazy for a 6'1" guard.  At 1:06 he sneaks baseline weakside and gets an O-board, is swallowed up by 2 Nets.  He's able to get it out to Sam who cans the 3.

In terms of all-round game this is as good a highlight film for PP that I've seen.  He's doing everything you could ask a basketball player to do.  He defended, he rebounded, he shot from range and he moved without the ball.





I think that, from now on, I'm not going to hammer so much on how players are doing vs last year.  With the addition of Z and Jrue the starters have to spread the wealth more than last year, so it'd be understandable if their totals aren't as impressive.  Efficiency is more important, maybe.  Assist-to-turnover ratios, rebounds/minute, that sort of stuff, not total ppg.


6-2 is still pretty good, it's just not as gaudy as 5-0. Nick Nurse has Philly playing well, as we knew he would. Funny, it looks like they're playing better without The Beard. Whoda thunk that, huh? The Clips are on a 4 game losing streak. They beat Orlando with Harden watching and not playing, and then lost 4 straight. Harden played in 3 of those 4 losses.


https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401584098



Bob


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https://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar-post-20231110-pritchards-hustle-shines-through-cs-grab-first-ist-win



Pritchard’s Hustle Shines Through as C’s Grab First IST Win


Taylor Snow
Sr. Writer

November 11, 202312:55 AM EST


BOSTON – Boston’s stars were out in full force for its first In-Season Tournament game Friday night. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum combined for 51 points. Jrue Holiday came one assist shy of a triple-double. And Kristaps Porzingis’ presence in the paint against a small-ball Brooklyn Nets lineup opened the door for his teammates to score.

The unsung hero of the 121-107 win, however, was Payton Pritchard.

“He changed the game for us tonight,” said head coach Joe Mazzulla.

Pritchard came off the bench and tallied 13 points, five rebounds, and three assists in 30-plus minutes of turnover-free action, which were filled with hustle plays.

Four of Pritchard’s rebounds came on the offensive end, tying a career-high in that category. Those four offensive rebounds led to eight second-chance points, five of which Pritchard scored himself.


Not bad for a 6-foot-1 point guard.

“Payton just brings a different energy to the game,” said Jaylen Brown, who led all scorers with 28 points. “He’ll pick up full court, he hits tough shots, he can hit shots from the parking lot if you let him, and he’s also a great offensive rebounder.”

It was an excellent offensive-rebounding night in general for the Celtics, who grabbed a season-high of 17 in that department. Thirteen of those boards came from the bench unit, including six from Luke Kornet. All of that extra effort on the offensive glass led to a season-best 29 second-chance points for Boston, the fourth-highest total by any NBA team this season.

On top of his hustle-play contributions, Pritchard also snapped out of a rough shooting skid. He opened the night by making 2-of-3 from long range after shooting 0-for-11 from the field in his previous three outings.

"I think it started messing with me mentally a little bit,” Pritchard said of his prior struggles. “But then I went back to what made me a great shooter in the first place, so I just dialed it back into that. It's kind of just a mental game. It starts to kind of affect you, you start second-guessing shots. But at the end of the day, you put in too much work, and I believe in myself."

His teammates believe in him, too.

“I think every shooter and every player is going to go through a shooting slump, so I think staying positive mentally and staying aggressive, taking the best shot you can is key,” said Jrue Holiday. “Knowing P, he can get to the basket and score whenever he wants to. And knowing when his 3-point shot is falling, he’s damn near unstoppable.”

The bench in general seemed unstoppable at times Friday night, particularly the trio of Pritchard, Kornet, and Sam Hauser. Those three combined for 35 points on 13-of-25 shooting from the field, led by Hauser’s 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from deep.

When that group is clicking together, along with the starters, Boston is going to be a tough team to beat. And Pritchard's role as a floor general will be critical to their success.

“Him playing well and him being confident in himself is going to be good for us down the line,” said Brown. “Payton is a big part of what we do.”


Bob
MY NOTE:  More.  We need more.  A little more consistency, if you please.  Success breeds confidence and confidence breeds more confidence and more success.  Payton's admission that it "messed with him mentally" reminds us he's still young.  He's old chronologically, he's almost 26, but he's only beginning his 5 year in the league and his minutes have been irregular.  Time to grow up a bit more, kid, we need ya. We need more like last night. Even if your shots not dropping you can still be aggressive on defense and facilitate your teammates.


.

2 Things I Saw:

1. Pritchton Comes Alive, Just like Mr. Frampton- Do You Feel What I Feel?!! If Peyton can put a complete game together on both sides of the ball night in/night out like he did last night, that just about solves the bench problem. Doogie is now full on. We should see and expect 15-16 points a night plus rebounds plus maybe even some moderate defense. But he falls under Vinnie the Microwave status for now. When he's hot, please get him the ball.

2. Think about this. Our 4th or 5th scoring starter in his last two games has come just one tick short of a 3D. Let me repeat that....Our 4TH or 5Th STARTER is beginning to flirt with 3D's on a regular basis. AND plays hellacious, in your face, lock you up defense ALL THE TIME. There's your story. That's frightening for the competition. We just need the whole line-up playing hellacious D all the time like Jrue does. That will lock up Lillard or Giannis, Embiid, Joker, AD, LeBron, Curry, et al. Everything is not quite all in place. Probably another 20-25 games will be necessary.

Al needs to get it together. Pritch ain't out of the woods yet but hopefully what happened to Doogie is what is happening to Pritch, just a couple of weeks later. He's not going to come up short, no pun intended. He plays too hard. There's too much at stake. Everyone is still trying to find their seat at the table. Doogie found his. Al and Pritch are next. Give them a couple more weeks.

That's it. TOR at home tonight!

db

dbrown4 wrote:2 Things I Saw:

1.  Pritchton Comes Alive, Just like Mr. Frampton- Do You Feel What I Feel?!!  If Peyton can put a complete game together on both sides of the ball night in/night out like he did last night, that just about solves the bench problem.  Doogie is now full on.  We should see and expect 15-16 points a night plus rebounds plus maybe even some moderate defense.  But he falls under Vinnie the Microwave status for now.  When he's hot, please get him the ball.

2.  Think about this.  Our 4th or 5th scoring starter in his last two games has come just one tick short of a 3D.  Let me repeat that....Our 4TH or 5Th STARTER is beginning to flirt with 3D's on a regular basis.  AND plays hellacious, in your face, lock you up defense ALL THE TIME.  There's your story.  That's frightening for the competition.  We just need the whole line-up playing hellacious D all the time like Jrue does.  That will lock up Lillard or Giannis, Embiid, Joker, AD, LeBron, Curry, et al.  Everything is not quite all in place.  Probably another 20-25 games will be necessary.  

Al needs to get it together.  Pritch ain't out of the woods yet but hopefully what happened to Doogie is what is happening to Pritch, just a couple of weeks later.  He's not going to come up short, no pun intended.  He plays too hard.  There's too much at stake.  Everyone is still trying to find their seat at the table.  Doogie found his.  Al and Pritch are next.  Give them a couple more weeks.

That's it.  TOR at home tonight!

db  

Agreed.  I was thinking that if Hauser continues his shooting, perhaps the bench unit should actually look for him as a front line option instead of a pressure release valve.

Watching the wrinkle slowly getting ironed out.  It will be interesting to see that with so many potential scorers who will sacrifice what.

dbrown4 wrote:2 Things I Saw:

1.  Pritchton Comes Alive, Just like Mr. Frampton- Do You Feel What I Feel?!!  If Peyton can put a complete game together on both sides of the ball night in/night out like he did last night, that just about solves the bench problem.  Doogie is now full on.  We should see and expect 15-16 points a night plus rebounds plus maybe even some moderate defense.  But he falls under Vinnie the Microwave status for now.  When he's hot, please get him the ball.

2.  Think about this.  Our 4th or 5th scoring starter in his last two games has come just one tick short of a 3D.  Let me repeat that....Our 4TH or 5Th STARTER is beginning to flirt with 3D's on a regular basis.  AND plays hellacious, in your face, lock you up defense ALL THE TIME.  There's your story.  That's frightening for the competition.  We just need the whole line-up playing hellacious D all the time like Jrue does.  That will lock up Lillard or Giannis, Embiid, Joker, AD, LeBron, Curry, et al.  Everything is not quite all in place.  Probably another 20-25 games will be necessary.  

Al needs to get it together.  Pritch ain't out of the woods yet but hopefully what happened to Doogie is what is happening to Pritch, just a couple of weeks later.  He's not going to come up short, no pun intended.  He plays too hard.  There's too much at stake.  Everyone is still trying to find their seat at the table.  Doogie found his.  Al and Pritch are next.  Give them a couple more weeks.

That's it.  TOR at home tonight!

db  

DBrown,

I agree with everything you said, especially about Jrue.  

............................mpg...........fg%..........3ptfg%..........pts/36mpg........ast/36mpg.........TO/36mpg.........reb/36mpg.........blk/36mpg.........stls/36mpg..........OffRtg.......DefRtg
Jrue Holiday---------34.1--------44.1--------35.1-----------14.4--------------6.1----------------1.7---------------8.3----------------1.1----------------.7------------------121--------108 (+13)
Marcus Smart-------31.6--------43.3--------26.9-----------14.8--------------6.0----------------4.1---------------2.9----------------.4-----------------.4-------------------95---------112 (-17)

These numbers will change, no doubt, when Ja returns.  Furthermore, Steven Adams is done for the year and that is a BIG hurt, especially on defense.  Nevertheless, Jrue is doing one helluva good job of helping me stop missing Marcus.  And, no, Jrue's rebounds/36mpg is not a typo.  He's averaging over 8.  The top rebounding guards so far, according to NBA.com, are:

Ausar Thompson (Detroit) - 10.0rpg.  He's listed as a 6'7" SF, so how he got into this as a guard I have no idea.
Jayson Tatum (Boston) - 9.8rpg.  This makes even less sense than Ausar Thompson.
Luka Doncic (Dallas) - 8.9rpg.  Guard?
Jrue Holiday (Boston) - 7.9rpg.  This is the first true guard on the list, which would make him the top rebounding guard in the NBA.


I think the coaching staff needs to spend more time with the 2nd unit.  Pritchard is coming around, same with Sam, but I think they need to draw up more plays for them and not just use them as a bail out option.  That is what will make them truly dangerous.  If they are seen as more than just a bail out that will make double teaming anybody else a very dangerous choice.  I've said this before, Spoelstra in Miami runs plays for Duncan Robinson, he's not just a bail out option.  That's what we need to do for Sam.  We need to convince opposing players and coaches that chasing Sam and Payton around is critical because we run plays for them and this might be one of them.  Oshae, I think, will be offensively limited no matter what, so just turn him loose and let him be our clean up guy.  Miss a shot?  Go get it, Oshae.

But even with those players we're only at 9 (Al, PP, Sam, Oshae).  That's too short a bench for the entire season.  Playoffs?  Sure, but not 82 games.  We need the coaching staff to put time into integrating newbies Svi and Lamar.  We need to get to a legit 11 man rotation, at least, although 12 would be better.  Luke, plus those two, will get us there but we need to use them for them to be effective and the coaching staff (read 'Joe') needs to have confidence in them.

Nevertheless, I cannot think of a better Top 6 on any other NBA team and 7 & 8 are definitely coming around.  


Bob


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But even with those players we're only at 9 (Al, PP, Sam, Oshae).  That's too short a bench for the entire season.  Playoffs?  Sure, but not 82 games.  We need the coaching staff to put time into integrating newbies Svi and Lamar.  We need to get to a legit 11 man rotation, at least, although 12 would be better.  Luke, plus those two, will get us there but we need to use them for them to be effective and the coaching staff (read 'Joe') needs to have confidence in them.

Hi Bob, I think you are spot on with your conclusion. This and good health are two factors which could bring us banner 18. Here's hoping!

Berlin-T

Well, no chicken counting, as if we can't win @ PHI, Banner 18 will not come this season.  Oh!  Guess who's on the schedule this week come Wednesday and where?!!  Let's get a little payback.  But Knicks are first on the agenda.  

db