Control What You Can Control

After winning their first three games of the season, the Boston Celtics finally lost their first game to the Chicago Bulls last night 120-102. The game had everything, a 15-point first quarter from the current Eastern Conference player of the week in Jayson Tatum, Joe Mazzulla being ejected in the second half, and a Grant Williams ejection after bumping into the referee. Safe to say, there was a lot of discourse on Celtics’ Twitter regarding the refereeing decisions and the performance of the team. Let’s set the scene before we get to the ejections.

The Celtics exploded early in the first quarter. The first three possessions saw the Celtics be aggressive and get two layups and a dunk to start the game. Boston would open up on a 12-0 run within the first three minutes of the game. The offense was clicking on all cylinders and they were playing some beautiful basketball. Everyone was locked in and was making the right play, whether it was the extra pass for a better shot or constant cutting into the lane to either get a layup or bring the weakside defender in to help, which would mean someone else would be left open for a shot. Before Tatum was subbed out at the 4:10 mark, it did not matter if he was open or had three guys defending him, he was on fire from the floor. Tatum had 15 points on 5/6 shooting, three rebounds, and three assists before being substituted. The offense continued to click for a couple of minutes after Tatum went to the bench with Smart hitting a three to take a 35-16 lead. Every starter for the Celtics hit a three in the first quarter and despite the Celtics shooting 8/11 from three in the opening quarter, the Bulls would make a run of their own. The Bulls went on a 14-4 run to close the quarter to only trail by nine points heading into the second.

One of the keys for the Celtics coming into the game was to limit the offensive rebounds and to push the pace on offense. After Tatum was substituted, it seems as if the Celtics lost the keys. The Celtics were bullied on the boards. The Bulls out rebounded the Celtics 60 to 45. Nikola Vucevic alone had 23 rebounds alone, 10 of which were offensive rebounds. The run that the Bulls ended the first quarter continued into the second quarter cumulating to a 30-9 run to take the lead at 46-44. The Bulls were in a groove and the Celtics were as cold as ice from beyond the arc. When Brad Stevens was the coach of the Celtics he used to talk about “the law of averages” in regards to the C’s shooting poorly and then, because of “the law of averages”, they would be “due” to catch fire to balance the prior poor shooting. It seemed like the law of averages took the hit on the Celtics and then some. From shooting 8/11 from three in the first quarter, the Celtics would proceed to miss 11 of their next 12 three-point attempts. People have heard the saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” well the Celtics refused to try and fix what was broken. Boston kept chucking up threes trying to shoot their way out of the slump, but to no avail. They stopped doing what worked for them in the first quarter which was the constant cutting and the extra passes. Not only did the offense go cold, but their defensive intensity also dropped. Nikola Vucevic had his way on the glass along with Andre Drummond allowing the Bulls multiple second-chance opportunities. The Bulls would extend their lead to 14 before Marcus Smart would bank in a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to trail 65-54.

Boston started the third quarter relatively well. They were moving the ball well, finding the open player, and started to attack the paint once again. Jaylen Brown began to attack the paint with aggression while Tatum and Smart found some rhythm from behind the arc. The Celtics were able to cut the lead to three within the first five minutes of the quarter. Chicago, however, would respond with back-to-back baskets, one of which was a goaltending by Tatum who, at the time, thought the whistle was for a foul and he punched the air in disgust by the call which led to a technical foul being called on him. The Bulls would proceed to go on a 7-0 run. Chicago found a weakness in the Celtics pick-and-roll defense. They would constantly single Al Horford out since he would consistently “drop” deep on the help defense allowing for the ball handler to get an open look or if Horford helped too much would allow Vucevic to have a mismatch in the paint. Chicago was able to stretch the lead back to 14 with 5:12 left.

Remember how I said I would set the scene before getting into the referee discourse? Well, the Celtics throughout the second and third quarters were not happy with some of the calls. The C’s believed they were not getting their fair share of foul calls. To be fair, the Bulls did have 29 attempts from the free throw line compared to the Celtics’ 12 by the end of the game. I do not believe the referees had a great game, but players need to remember they can only control what they can control. Players and coaches can have discussions with refs regarding calls, but they cannot control the whistle. They can control their performance and how their energy levels. This game was a prime example of the Celtics not being able to control what they can control.

Joe Mazzulla was ejected after two quick technical fouls. Mazzulla was unhappy that Vucevic was not given a technical foul for an overt reaction similar to what Jayson Tatum got called for minutes prior. After the first tech, Mazzulla did not leave the court but was trying to have a conversation with the other ref regarding the situation. Even though Mazzulla was trying to talk to the other ref, he was hit with his second technical foul which is an automatic ejection. Damon Stoudamire would take over the rest of the game as head coach.

The next ejection came when Grant Williams was hit with an automatic ejection when he “intentionally” made contact with one of the officials. Leading up to the ejection, Grant was called for an illegal screen. (I think if it was challenged, they would have overturned the call since Grant was stationary for about three seconds before contact was made). On the next play, Williams was called for a blocking foul (the right call in my opinion). Williams stormed to his feet yelling at the refs and was hit was a quick technical. As he was pacing towards the bench, he did bump into the official which is an automatic ejection. The Celtics’ emotions got the best of them this game and as you watched the remaining third quarter you could tell it was not going to be their night. The Bulls were the more aggressive team on the glass, controlled the pace of the game, and made the right plays. Chicago would lead after the third quarter 100-79.

In the fourth quarter, Stoudemire left the main players on the floor to see if they could make one more run to try and close the gap. They were unable to do so. Chicago found a weakness of the Celtics and kept exploiting it. The Celtics would “throw the towel” and put their bench unit in for the remaining six minutes. Not much changed when the bench unit was in and the Bulls were able to see out the victory 120-102.

The Celtics will not be in action until Friday when they will host Donovan Mitchell and the 2-1 Cleveland Cavaliers @ 7:30 pm.

Déjà Vu in Miami

 

The Boston Celtics took on the Miami Heat last night in a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals that went to Game 7. A lot of people knew this would be a good game, but I wonder how many people thought the game would play out eerily similar to most of the games in the series last year. Within the first two minutes, the Celtics had two poor turnovers to start the game. Jayson Tatum lost possession of the ball and then Marcus Smart stepped out of bounds in the corner. In the ECF, it was the turnovers that hurt the Celtics who would build a solid lead before turning over the ball carelessly and letting the Heat ride the momentum to get themselves back into the game.

The Celtics not only started the game by turning the ball over, but they missed their first six three-point attempts. Boston kept getting open looks from deep, but they were also making it a point to attack the paint. By them staying aggressive by trying to get the offensive rebound and fighting over screens set by Miami’s Bam Adebayo, the Celtics would get the Heat’s big man in foul trouble early. When Adebayo was subbed to the bench, the corner three for the Celtics became wide open as Al Horford exploited the weakness in Miami’s defense and drained a three to take the lead. Not only was the corner three open, but with Bam out, the paint opened up and the Celtics were able to get to the rim with ease not worrying about Bam contesting their shot at the rim. Jaylen Brown was one of the players to take advantage of the big man being out. Brown scored 9 points, grabbed 2 rebounds, and dished out 3 assists in the first quarter. Brown said after the game on Adebayo’s early foul trouble, “Bam is their rim protector. I would say he’s their only rim protector in a sense.” Boston was able to take a two-point lead after the first quarter 30-28.

Boston was able to start the second quarter strong opening the quarter on an 11-4 run in the first four minutes. The Heat would then go on their own run by making seven straight shots. Bam who came back on the floor kept up his perfect shooting and added fuel to Miami’s run. The C’s were able to keep Miami at bay and it was the dirty work by Noah Vonleh who secured Boston second chance opportunities and a couple of baskets. The half would continue to be a back-and-forth battle with Tyler Herro scoring eight straight points for Miami to close the gap to five points. The C’s would be able to hold onto the lead going into the half up 59-51.

In last year’s ECF, it was the third quarter where the Celtics would let the game get away from them with careless turnovers that ended up costing the Celtics a couple of games. Last night, it was like Déjá Vu. The Celtics would constantly turn the ball over early in the quarter and commit careless fouls. The Heat went on an 8-0 run and were in the bonus with 8:11 left to play. The Heat thrived off of the turnovers and was locked in defensively. The Celtics had 10 total turnovers with seven minutes left of the quarter. The Heat went on another run this time to tie it up at 69 a piece. The Celtics, when they did not turn the ball over, were able to get good looks and make plays. The Celtics were able to force Bam to pick up his fourth foul which sent him back to the bench, in addition, Bam would be given a technical foul for arguing against the call. Jayson Tatum and the Celtics would take advantage of Bam being out again with Tatum scoring six straight points to regain the lead with four minutes left in the third. Tatum scored 12 points in the third quarter alone. The Celtics regained the momentum after the technical foul and would go on a 10-2 run to finish the quarter leading 89-77.

In the fourth quarter, you could tell both teams wanted to win. Each of them making the right play. The Celtics stuck to their principles by pushing the ball every chance they got to make it hard on Miami’s transition defense. The Celtics were able to obtain a 14-point lead with eight minutes left. Jaylen Brown was the catalyst for the Celtics in the early fourth quarter until he picked up his fifth foul and was subbed out at the 5:44 mark with 28 points on 12-18 shooting. During last year’s playoffs, if Brown were to pick up his fifth foul there is no doubt he would eventually check back into the game. This year, however, the Celtics have more depth and were able to close out the quarter without their all-star. The Celtics had Brogdon, Smart, Tatum, Williams, and Horford out on the floor. The Heat had their moments, continuing to force the Celtics into turnovers and going on a 9-0 run of their own with 3:30 left to make it 100-95. However, it would not be enough as Tatum continued his hot start to the season by ending the run by making two consecutive baskets and being aggressive to try and get to the free throw line. Tatum scored 29 points in the game and was able to close the game out despite the team turning the ball over 20 times to win the game 111-104.  

The Celtics will play their second game of the back-to-back tonight in Orlando to take on the young and upcoming Magic who will open up their season in front of their fans for the first time this year. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7:00 pm.  

The Boston Celtics Are Back!

The Celtics and the NBA community will be honoring Bill Russell throughout the season.

            It has been a long 125 days since the Boston Celtics lost game 6 of the NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors. Throughout the offseason, the Celtics were reminded about the loss and how they could not see the series out after attaining a 2-1 series lead. Not only dealing with the frustration of defeat in the Finals the players were also hit with another blow as the team suspended head coach Ime Udoka for the entire NBA season. The Celtics announced that Joe Mazzulla will be the interim coach for the season, making him the youngest head coach in the league. When asked on Monday after practice if the season opener against the Philadelphia 76ers would be a statement game, Mazzulla responded saying “every day is a statement”. With the Celtics hosting the 76ers on opening night with the entire NBA world watching, Mazzulla and the team would certainly want to make a real statement that they are still one of the favorites for the title.

            Preseason showed us a glimpse of how Mazzulla wanted to play. Similar identity to Udoka’s defensive philosophy, but wanted to push the ball up the court and play with speed. The Celtics started with their small-ball lineup of Marcus Smart, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Al Horford they immediately started the game fast by going on a 9-2 run. That lineup, however, would not last long together because the one thing everyone knows about playing Philadelphia is that they are going to attempt a lot of free throws. With James Harden and Joel Embiid, the 76ers have a great inside/out duo who also know how to get to the free-throw line. Horford, who normally does a solid job on Embiid, had to head to the bench early after picking up two fouls within the first four minutes. With Robert Williams out for the first half of the season it was always going to be interesting to see who the first big off the bench was, and last night it was Noah Vonleh. The former 9th overall pick had a solid preseason with the Celtics and earned his roster spot. Vonleh, like Horford, would also pick up two quick fouls but unlike Al, he would stay in the game. The 76ers kept drawing fouls and were in the bonus with 3:39 left in the first. Harden was fouled three times while attempting a three-point shot which is essentially giving him three free points since he is a great free-throw shooter. The quarter ends with Philly leading 29-24 with the Sixers having shot 14 free throws to the Celtics eight.

            The second quarter was a lot of back and forth with each team going on their respective runs. You can tell it is the first game of the season because the defensive rotations seem to be off by a second or two which in the NBA means a wide-open shot for someone. The Celtics continued to push the ball even after Philly made baskets and had 13 fast break points before the break. Ending the half on a 10-5 run which had both teams level going to halftime.

            The pace did not slow down for the Celtics when they began the third quarter. At one point the Celtics had 20 fast break points compared to the Sixers two fast break points. With the new “take foul” rule, which does not allow a player to stop a fast break attempt by fouling them, it is safe to say that the league average for fast break points will be higher than in previous seasons. The third quarter also showed why Jayson Tatum was the Eastern Conference MVP in the playoffs. Tatum erupted for 17 points in the third and was hitting what seemed to be every shot he put up. Boston fans know all too well that when Tatum gets “in his bag” and is feeling it, he is a very dangerous player to try and guard. The Celtics outscored the Sixers by 10 in the third to take a 98-88 lead going into the fourth.

            The Celtics continued to make big shots and never really allowed the Sixers to come back into the game. Jaylen Brown who started the game missing his first three, three-point attempts ended up making 4/12 behind the arc, but it was his aggression and midrange pull-ups that helped him tally 35 points while shooting over 58% from the field. Tatum who finished the game shooting 65% from the field also had 35 points of his own to combine with Brown for 70 points, 15 rebounds, and 6 assists. The duo had it going and it was enough to see out the game and for the Celtics to win the first game of the NBA season 126-117. This team will go as far as Tatum and Brown can take them. In the Finals, Tatum slowed down and while Brown kept up his production, he could not do it on his own. Both of them need to be great, and yesterday they were both great.

The Celtics next game will be Friday in Miami for a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals with the Heat.

No Longer The Second Option?

The Celtics finished off their four-game road trip with a 114-103 win over the Utah Jazz. The Celtics went 3-1 during the trip with wins over the Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, & the Jazz. Their only loss came when they played the Los Angeles Lakers, a close game that saw Jayson Tatum tie his career-high in points with 41. After that loss, the Celtics had to travel to Portland to face the Trail Blazers who would be without Damian Lillard. The Celtics would go on and win that game behind a game-high 36 from Tatum. After the game, the Celtics would fly to Utah for a tough back-to-back game with the Jazz who is led by their first-time all-star Donovan Mitchell and their two time, reigning defensive player of the year, Rudy Gobert.

During the first quarter, the Celtics defense was forcing the Jazz to a lot of poor jump shots and limiting their penetration into the paint. The defense was performing so well that they held the Jazz to only 6 points on 2 /13 shooting with 4:46 left. Tatum who has been superb during this road trip (entering this game has been averaging 35 ppg during the trip) scored seven points in the first quarter. However, despite the strong defense, the Celtics were only up 23-15 at the end of the first quarter.

That strong defense the Celtics were performing, forcing the Jazz into tough pull up shots and limiting drives to the rim, completely disappeared in the second quarter. Enter Donovan Mitchell, the 13th pick in the 2017 draft. Mitchell had two quick fouls in the first quarter and was benched for most of the first. In the second quarter, he came out firing. From mid-range jumpers to aggressive drives, he was making everything, truly showing why he deserved to be an all-star this year. The Celtics though, also have an all-star that they drafted in the 2017 draft, Jayson Tatum. Both all-stars went bucket for bucket, respectively scoring seven straight points for their respective teams. The Jazz were able to cut the first-quarter deficit due to a 17-3 run. The Jazz were up 43-39 with 3:30 left and shooting 75% during the second quarter. The Celtics could not buy a basket, so they did the one thing that has always worked during the past 5 games, give the ball to Tatum. Tatum alone went on a 9-0 run and scored 11 of the Celtics final 13 points to close the quarter. The Celtics went into halftime leading 53-51.

After the intermission, the game went back and forth no team could seem to find the right defensive formula to slow the other team down. Jaylen Brown started to find his groove scoring 10 points in the third quarter and help the Celtics push their lead to six with 1:34 left. The Jazz would continue to scrape back into the game and tie it at 82 only for their former player, Gordon Hayward, to drill a big three right before the end of the quarter for the Celtics to claim a three-point lead going into the fourth.

Heading into the fourth quarter it was looking like whoever had the ball last, either Tatum or Mitchell would have the chance for a game-winner. However, another former Jazz player, Enes Kanter, started the quarter strong scoring four straight points to increase their lead to seven warranting a Jazz timeout. Usually, when a team calls a timeout it is used to kill the momentum of the other team. This time, however, it seemed to heat up Marcus Smart. Smart drilled three straight three-point attempts. If you are a Celtics fan, you know when Smart gets hot he will 99 out of 100 times shoot a “heat check” shot. I guess the other night was the 100th time because he had the opportunity to shoot another three for potentially his fourth straight, but he delivered a beautiful wrap-around pass to Enes Kanter who made a tough catch and finish to further the lead 100-87 with 7:22 left. The game was pretty much in the bag at that point. Whenever the Jazz would hit a three or go on a little run, it was stifled by a shot from Brown or Tatum. The Celtics were able to see out the game to secure their third win on the final day of their four-game road trip.

Jayson Tatum has been playing like an all-star all season, but ever since the Clippers game right before the all-star game, he has started to show his potential as an elite player. In February, Tatum is averaging 30.5 points and 7 rebounds while shooting 50.7% from the field and 49% from three. People said early in the season that the Celtics will make the playoffs but shouldn’t be taken as a threat to reach the finals. However, with the major leap Tatum is taking, it is hard to argue the Celtics don’t have much of a shot as the next team. Oh, and during the past 4 games, the Celtics were without Kemba Walker. Some will think once Kemba comes back into the lineup it will hurt the rhythm that Tatum is currently in. People think this since last season we saw that happen when Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward were reintroduced to a team that made it to game seven of the ECF the year prior. This year is different. Kemba is not Kyrie. From all the games I watched last year, I cannot remember a single time where Kyrie deferred to Tatum. Kyrie wanted to be the number one guy in Boston and did not want to be overshadowed by a young “kid”. When Kyrie was in Cleveland he was the second option to LeBron. When Irving was traded, he no longer wanted to be the “sidekick” he wanted to be the go to guy with Tatum to be the second option. Kemba is different. Kemba is embracing the growth of Tatum and Brown. Multiple times this year Kemba has willingly deferred to Tatum when Tatum was in his bag. Kemba is not hesitant to give the ball to Tatum when the Celtics need a big shot. The strides Tatum is taking this season is only a glimpse of what he is capable of and if he can continue playing at this high level, it will be very difficult to defeat this Celtics team in the playoffs.

We Needed To Trade For A Big Man?!?

A lot of Celtics fans were wishing that Danny Ainge would go out and find a big man for our roster for it to be “complete”. Ainge did what the smart decision was to do and did nothing. We do not need a “big man” to compete for a championship this season. We do not need to trade away a core piece like a Gordon Hayward or a Marcus Smart for the likes of a Clint Capela or a Tristan Thompson. We have Daniel Theis. The man who is as dependable as anyone. You know what you will get from him every time he steps onto the court. He will challenge at the rim, switch and play decent defense on a guard and hold his own. He will get stuck in and rebound with the best of them. And tonight against the Minnesota Timberwolves, he did all of that, and then some.

Theis scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds. When the offense got stagnant, he would bail us out by grabbing an offensive board and would go back up strong and either dunk the ball or get to the free-throw line. He does not need to create his own basket to be productive. He scores by getting his hands on a lob during a pick and roll or battling other bigs in the paint to secure the rebound and go back up strong. He cleaned the glass today and stepped up “big”.

When a star player misses a game you need your other top players to pick up their game and do a little more than they are used to to make up that player’s absence. At times you would get one player forcing more shots up instead of letting their game come to them. This was not the case today. The shot selection and the team play was balanced. Along with Theis who picked up his game, Gordon Hayward, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum all picked up their games. Specifically their scoring. In the first half, Jayson Tatum picked up right where he left off from his 39 points double overtime win over the Clippers right before the All-Star break. He scored seven of the Celtics’ first nine points. He continued his all-star form finishing with 28 points and 11 rebounds.

Going into halftime up 61-53, it seemed like Tatum was going to have another big scoring night considering he had 18 at the break. The Timberwolves would not go away, every time it seemed like the Celtics would go on a little run, the Timberwolves (especially Hernangomez) would hit a three and then they would go on a little run. The third quarter they capitalized on some sloppy passes by the Celtics which led them to go on a 12-2 run to make it to a two point game. However, Theis and Hayward kept us in the game. Gordon had 15 points in the third quarter alone. Theis had 17 points and 11 rebounds going into the final quarter. The Celtics were able to get their seven point lead again heading into the fourth 95-88.

The Timberwolves were in the bonus early with about nine minutes left. Every time the Celtics would try to put the game away the Timberwolves would either draw a foul and go to the line to kill the momentum or hit a three. Jaylen (even though he fouled out with 4:35 left) had a quiet 25 points. There was not a stretch where he just kept scoring bucket after bucket, rather he was efficient throughout the game shooting 10 for 17. The defense picked up and held the Timberwolves without a field goal for about five minutes of game time. Towards the final minutes of the game, it seemed like every rebound was grabbed by Theis and either kicked back out to take time off the clock or he would go up strong and add to his career-high in points. He was a monster, easily the MVP of the game. He proved his value tonight, he can do a little bit of everything. He does not take shots away from anyone, he knows his role and he excels at it. Even when the refs, who had a quick whistle, he would still challenge vertically and make each shot difficult for the opposing player. Without Theis tonight the game could have ended differently, but because of a balanced play of our core player and the performance by Thies the Celtics were able to pick up victory number 39 of the season and a big win to start their four game road trip.

Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens (shoutout to Brad for victory 309 which is fourth all-time in Celtics history) know the value of each player and they knew it would not be smart to make a rash decision to try and bring in a big man. Especially when we have one who can defend with the best of them and can switch and do a decent job guarding quicker guards. Theis has improved a lot this season and is shutting up the haters that thought we needed someone else to do the job he has been doing consistently all season long.

Why I Decided to Make a Blog Page…


“Damn, how did you know the announcers were going to say that?” is a common question I get whenever someone watches a Celtics game with me. I am the type of person that could stay up hours upon hours reading anything related to the Celtics. The love I have for the game came from an early age. I played basketball for most of my life, from recreational basketball in elementary school, to travel basketball in middle school, to varsity basketball in high school. My final competitive game of basketball came against one of the most storied high school programs in the country, Saint Anthony’s, coached by the legendary Bob Hurley. That was an experience I will never forget. When it came to decision time to where I wanted to go to college, I decided to take my talents to the couch and become a professional sports watcher.

When I went to college, I went from playing basketball every day to playing two or three times a week. With more freedom and time I now had for being in college, it allowed me to study the game of basketball. It allowed me to study the Celtics in particular. I’ve been a Celtics fan my whole life but between all the sports I played growing up I didn’t have that time to study them. I told myself during the 2014 NBA Draft that I will try and watch every Celtics game I possibly could. That season I ended up watching ~60 of the 82 regular season games. We made the playoffs that year as the 7 seed but got swept in the first round to LeBron and the Cavs.

My sophomore, junior, and senior year of college I watched about 80% of all the Celtics games and the games I could not watch, I would be on my phone always checking the score. I love the game. I love everything about the history of the Celtics and the history of the game of basketball. After graduation, I decided to go to law school. What is special about me going to law school? I go to law school in the same city where basketball was created, Springfield Massachusetts. It’s only fitting that I start my blog not only where the sport was invented, but also in the state my favorite team plays, the Boston Celtics.