Bobby Mushkin, @bmushkincourant
Celtics basketball is officially back and in full effect, and this week the Celtics had a busy four game schedule. And what a week it was for those Boston Celtics, they wound up winning all four games, putting their record at 7-3; tied for first in the Eastern Conference.
The Celtics started out their week in Detroit against the Pistons, this was the second game of a back to back series against those Pistons. They had lost their previous game vs the Pistons in a gut wrenching fashion, and they went into game number two looking for vengeance. The Celtics got out to a hot start, taking a 61-57 lead at the half. The Pistons came out in the second half firing away, but the Celtics managed to fend off the Detroit run. The second half was a game of runs, both teams trading jabs but at the end of the game, it was 120-120 with twenty seconds remaining, Celtics ball. The ball was in Jayson Tatum, the Celtics young superstar’s hands, game on the line. Tatum drove right, crossed over to his left and took a fall away jumper with time waning down. Splash. Game over, Celtics win a thriller. Tatum finished with 24 points, 8 rebounds, and 12 assists, and his fellow star Jaylen Brown finished with 31 points. The Celtics started off their week on a high note, stealing a win against a questionable Pistons team.
The next day, Monday, the Celtics went down to Tampa Bay to face the Toronto Raptors, a division rival and the team the Celtics beat in 7 games last year in the semifinals of the NBA playoffs. While many were expecting a close game with solid defense in this rematch, it was quite the opposite. The Celtics went down 32-23 early in the first quarter, but had their best quarter of basketball all season the second. They outscored the Raptors 38-14, taking a huge lead into halftime. Jayson Tatum was hot all game, finishing with 40 points in 3 quarters, one point away from his career high. The Celtics took a lead as big as 28 and never looked back, winning handily 126-114. The Celtics looked good all game and appeared to be gaining their step early on in the season. A huge bright spot for the Celtics in this game was rookie Payton Pritchard. He finished with 23 points and 8 assists and has been impressive for the Celtics all season. The four year collegiate player has come in off the bench this season and been a consistent shooter, a more than capable playmaker, and overall a high energy guy. The Celtics will continue to need Pritchard’s contribution this season as they look to make a deep run in this year’s playoffs.
Wednesday brought another game the Celtics had circled on their schedule; a rematch with the team who eliminated them in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics sought revenge against the Jimmy Butler led Heat in South Beach Miami. In the first quarter of this one, the C’s started out blazing hot. They started 5-6 from three point range and took a lead as big as 17 points.
But, the Heat came storming back and the Celtics majorly cooled down. Miami took their first lead in the third quarter, and held that lead until the Celtics tied the game back up going into the fourth quarter. The shooting of the Celtics continued to struggle, and Miami kept fighting, despite poor shooting on their end as well. The fourth quarter was a back and forth battle, no team giving the other an inch. With 3 minutes left the game was tied at 95. From there, the Celtics got hot fast, going on a quick 10-0 run and taking a 105-95 lead with 1 minute and 30 seconds left.
But the Heat weren’t going away that easy as they responded with a 10-0 run of their own, tying the game up at 105 with 13.7 seconds remaining. This was the Celtics chance to get that long awaited revenge. This team crushed their hopes 4 months ago, it was time to return the favor. They put the ball in Tatum’s hands and he drove and took a little floater in the paint, no good! But out of nowhere, in flies Payton Pritchard to tip the ball in with no time remaining. 107-105 Celtics. Ball game. Pritchard comes up huge again and the Celtics knock off the rival Heat in a back and forth bout.
The fourth game of the week for the Boston Celtics was against Bradley Beal and the Washington Wizards. The Celtics were large favorites to win this game, but Brad Beal, coming off a 60 point performance was hungry for a win. Beal managed to score 41 against the Celtics, but all game the Celtics proved to be too much. The C’s were up by as much as 30 in this game, and to their credit the Wizards went on a 43-18 run, cutting the Celtics lead to just 5 in the fourth quarter. This alarming blown lead was one of many the Celtics sustained this past week, but they did manage to close this game out and take a nine point win, 116-107. Tatum scored 32 and Brown added 27 to boost the Celtics in Boston to their fourth straight victory, putting them at 7-3 on the season.
Sunday 1/10:
Sunday, January 10th the Celtics were scheduled to face the Heat again, but the game was postponed due to coronavirus contact tracing within both squads. Jayson Tatum tested positive for the virus, and on the Heat there was an inconclusive test. The NBA decided to postpone this game, but have no plans to pause this NBA season.
This week in review:
Overall, this week was very successful for the Celtics, winning four straight, the longest active win streak in the NBA right now. The Celtics are currently sitting in a tie for first place in the East, and tied for second in the whole league. They took a huge step forward this week, really improving on their ability to finish games, and the way they start games off. The beginning of the season was slightly concerning, the Celtics were struggling to get off to good starts and constantly were playing from behind. But this week they were much better, and despite their recent covid outbreak they look to take their momentum into next week and are hopefully able to continue the win streak on Tuesday against the 4-7 Bulls.
Concerns:
With a 4-0 record, it is hard to find many things to complain about this week. But if I were to have one complaint about the Celtics this week, it would be their inability to hold onto their big leads. Whether it was because they cooled down shooting wise, or they took off the clamps on the defensive end, they struggled to finish off teams this week. On three separate occasions this week, the Celtics had 15+ point leads and had them cut down to single digits, or even lost them. Basketball is a game of runs, and the ups and downs of a game are inevitable. Momentum is won and lost, teams are going to make runs and cut down your lead, there is no way around it. But, how you respond to adversity is what measures the character of your team. You need to be able to respond to those jabs with a jab back of your own. The Celtics seemed to let the runs get out of hand this week, not responding well to the adversity or not responding quick enough. To win in this league, you need to be able to maintain leads. If the Celtics can improve on this, I really don’t see many flaws in their game.
Bright spots:
The bright spots this season continue to be the emergence of the lethal combo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The two of them are both under 25 and are growing into superstars before our very eyes. They are the third highest scoring duo in the NBA, and are both averaging over 26 points per game. Tatum’s average is up 3 from last season, and Brown’s average is up an astounding 6 points. They have become one of the most polarizing duos in the NBA and are proving that they can both lead an elite squad in today’s NBA.
Another bright spot for the Celtics is that they can expect all star guard Kemba Walker back on Friday against the Orlando Magic. The 30 year old all star has been nursing a nagging knee injury since last season, but is finally ready to return to action this week. The Celtics will be happy to have their third star back to add to an already potent offense.
Overall, the Celtics have a lot to be happy about going into week 4 of the NBA season. They appear revamped and ready to make another run at the Larry O’brien trophy this summer. Expect the Celtics to continue to make lots of noise in an Eastern Conference that is packed with talent.
