Bobby Mushkin, @bmushkincourant
The Celtics came into this week riding a four game win streak after an undefeated stretch last week. They were scheduled to play four games this week, one away game and three home games. Their week was scheduled to start on Tuesday, January 12th in Chicago against a young Bulls squad led by high flyer Zach Lavine. Lavine is in the midst of a career year, averaging 27.4 points per game, a career high. Many people were looking forward to watching Lavine go up against Celtics star Jaylen Brown.
But unfortunately, the game never happened. The Celtics did not have the required eight players available due to Covid-19 health and safety protocols. All-star forward Jayson Tatum and third year player Robert Williams both tested positive for the corona-virus and about half of the Celtics roster was unavailable due to contact tracing. The game against the Bulls has been postponed to a later date. The Celtics were also supposed to travel home on Wednesday night to face the Orlando Magic. However, the Celtics still couldn’t meet the required eight players, so this game was also postponed to a later date. Covid-19 has already hit the Celtics hard four weeks into the season, we will see how much more the virus affects Celtics basketball this year.
Jayson Tatum testing positive is a very big deal, as the Celtics really need their star player in order to continue the winning path they have been on. We will see in the upcoming week how Tatum’s absence will affect the Celtics level of play.
Friday 1/15: Magic @ Celtics
On Friday the 15th, the Celtics were back in action for the first time since last Friday. The Orlando Magic came into TD Garden to try and play spoiler against an injury riddled Celtics team. However, the Magic were undermanned as well, with Markelle Fultz, Jonathan Isaac, Evan Fournier, Michael Carter-Williams, and Mo Bamba all being unable to play. The two injury ridden teams tipped off at 7:30PM ET.
As the game began, the pace quickened right away, both teams shot the ball well in the first quarter as the Celtics finished the first quarter with a 34-28 lead. The second quarter brought cooled down shooting from both sides as the Celtics outscored the Magic 26-20 and took a 60-48 lead into halftime. The second half saw the Celtics continue to dominate the Magic. The bench scoring for the Celtics was better than ever as players like Semi Ojeleye and Payton Pritchard combined for 34 points and Javonte Green added another 10. Jaylen Brown had 21 points and a season high 8 assists.
The Celtics wound up winning in a blowout 124-97. The Celtics shot 51.1% to the Magic’s 40.4%, but the biggest discrepancy between the Magic and the Celtics was the three point shooting. The Celtics were 17/42, 40.5%, the Magic were 7/28, 25%. That, along with free throw shooting and assists was the big reason the Celtics were able to knock off the Magic in such convincing fashion.
The one thing the Magic did dominate was the offensive glass, out rebounding the Celtics 15-6. This is something that the Celtics must clean up moving forward this season. Overall, Jaylen Brown stepped up as a playmaker with Jayson Tatum out, and the bench players made a huge difference in a big Celtics win.
Sunday 1/17: Knicks @ Celtics
The Celtics looked to extend their win streak to six in a 1:00PM matinee game against their division rival, the New York Knicks. The Celtics came into this game at 8-3 and the Knicks sat at 5-8 due to a five game losing streak. The Celtics, even as undermanned as they were, came into this game as the clear favorite to beat their oldest foe. They were getting all-star guard Kemba Walker back from injury, which was supposed to be a huge lift in an easy Celtics win.
But this game was quite the opposite. The Celtics had their worst offensive performance I have seen in the last ten years and weren’t too difficult to score on either. They shot 29.8% from the floor, and 15.2% from three point range. They even shot a season low 62.1% from the free throw line. They had seventeen turnovers and struggled to get anything going on offense.
Was it because of the Knicks solid defense? The Knicks are ranked number one defensively this year, so that could be the reason the offense struggled so much. But even with a great defense, shooting 29% from the floor is really bad and shouldn’t happen when you are a top three team in the Eastern Conference. Let’s give the Celtics the benefit of the doubt, sometimes it’s just not your day and shots aren’t falling. So the poor shooting can be excused, basketball is a game of ups and downs, Sunday’s shooting was just a case of an extreme down.
But what cannot be excused, no matter what, is the lack of effort that came from the C’s on Sunday. They appeared lackadaisical and unprepared, every loose ball went to the Knicks. If the ball was on the floor, the Knicks were the first to dive on top of it, every single time. That is unacceptable and Brad Stevens, a soft spoken, even keeled man had every right to express the type of anger he showed on Sunday.
We just have to hope that the Celtics learned from an embarrassing defeat against a below average team. It will be interesting to see how they come out to play on Wednesday against a high powered 76ers team.
This week in review:
Overall, it was an interesting week for the Celtics. They didn’t play many games this week, and the games they did play just felt different without Jayson Tatum. It was a great win on Friday against the Magic, with great shooting overall and incredible bench scoring. Sunday brought a disconcerting loss against an OK team in a home game against the Knicks. The Celtics looked horrible for the entirety of the game and Kemba Walker’s highly anticipated return was spoiled by a pesky Knicks team. The Celtics head into next week with a matchup looming against their biggest rival, the Philadelphia 76ers. Jayson Tatum’s availability is in question, but the C’s could really use his scoring lift.
Concerns:
The Celtics sit at 8-4, first in the Eastern Conference ahead of the Bucks and the 76ers. With that, you wouldn’t think there would be much to be concerned about, but that isn’t the case, and some of that isn’t the Celtics fault. My first concern is something I have been worried about since the Celtics won their first game against the Bucks a month ago. I don’t think the Celtics have enough scoring off the bench to make a deep run in the playoffs. They have gotten surprising contributions from Payton Pritchard, Jeff Teague, and Semi Ojeleye. But even with the help from these guys, I think the Celtics need more guys who can go out and get themselves a bucket, and more guys who can consistently knock down three pointers.
While the Celtics are 6th in three point percentage in the league, a lot of that comes from their starters. They need someone who can come out and play with the second unit and score in volumes. All the top teams in the league have at least one of these things: they either have one to two guys off the bench who can go out and get 15+ points on their own. Or, they have 2-3 players who can come off the bench and knock down threes consistently.
The Celtics have Jeff Teague off the bench who is a great playmaker, if they can surround him with shooters who space the floor, their second unit will be lethal. I know what most Celtics fans are probably thinking, the bench has played well this year, we are first in the east, and we have one of the best starting fives in the league. How much more can we need? See, the Celtics are really good. The bench is pretty good, and in a normal situation, there wouldn’t be anything to change. But this season isn’t normal, and the Celtics expectations this season are different.
Number one, the Nets have just acquired James Harden and right now are the most stacked team in the league. They have three superstars who can score with volume. They never have to play without KD, Harden, or Kyrie on the floor. In watching the Nets play, even without Kyrie the two stars are never both off the floor. When KD goes out, Harden goes in. A playmaking scorer is on the floor at all times.
The Celtics have been to the Eastern Conference Finals 3 times in 4 years and have yet to advance to the finals. The Celtics organization and fans will not be satisfied with another ECF loss. That is why the Celtics need to go out and make a move for more scoring or shooting. We need to be able to compete with teams like the Nets, the Bucks, and the Lakers. So, my concern is more of a big picture issue. I think the C’s must go out and make a trade to acquire more firepower.
Bright Spots:
This week brought two bright spots for the Celtics. Number one, Kemba Walker is back, which adds so much to the Celtics team. They needed the third scorer to go along with Brown and Tatum. And although his return to play was spoiled by a horrible effort and loss against the Knicks, Kemba showed flashes of his old self and seemed to be feeling healthy. His explosiveness, quickness, and speed seemed to all be there. Celtics fans can only hope and pray that Kemba is able to stay healthy to create a real big three with Kemba, Tatum, and Brown. Secondly, the Celtics bench shined on Friday night and showed what they are capable of. If we can get even half of the contributions we got Friday from the bench, the Celtics will be very successful this season.
Something I would like to see from the Celtics when Tatum returns and the team is completely healthy is balancing the lineup. I think what could really help the Celtics would be if they let Kemba Walker play a lot with the second unit to help elevate the scoring from the bench. I strongly believe that if one of the Celtics three stars subs out early and then comes back in to play with the bench, their team scoring will be elevated by a lot. Because with one of the three stars coming in to play with the second team, one of those stars becomes a playmaker which the other bench players can feed off. I hope to see this occur when the team is back and healthy.
This week was an up and down one for the Celtics. They look to avenge their loss with victories in Philadelphia on Wednesday and Friday.
