If Wednesday night time was about what Kristaps Porzingis can do for the Celtics, Friday night time’s win over the Miami Warmth was all about teamwork! (jazz arms)
The Warmth rolled into city and instantly selected violence, strapping threes from humorous angles and giving my whole family PTSD from final 12 months’s playoffs. However this Celtics squad isn’t that very same one that nearly misplaced custody of their dignity to the Warmth final 12 months. At their worst, that group felt like a group of people. This group is… a group! (jazz arms once more)
The best way the Celtics unfold out their scoring final night time jogged my memory of injury-riddled variations of outdated groups, typically led by the mixed efforts of legends like Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynyk, and Jonas Jerebko. Evening after night time, these Celtics would handle convincing wins on the backs of 5 and even six guys in double figures.
Not that these guys weren’t licensed ballers—I nonetheless rock a Bradley jersey and Olynyk would possibly unironically be my favourite Celtic ever—however final night time noticed that idea prolonged to a lineup with 4 complete All-Stars and one complete Derrick White. Double figures throughout, led by White and Jaylen Brown within the scoring division.
This spread-out assault is one thing each NBA group would like to do in principle, however no different group approaches the extent of offensive expertise the Celtics have kicking round. Jayson Tatum is among the premier bucket getters within the league, and he’s surrounded by 4 different three-level scorers. Porzingis and Brown are elite, whereas White and Vacation can get the job executed after which some.
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Photograph by Brian Babineau/NBAE through Getty Pictures
And man did White get the job executed on Friday. Actually, the job was so executed he began choosing up new jobs to avoid wasting additional dough for retirement. He scored 28 factors on nice effectivity, and head coach Joe Mazzulla described his play as “sick.” I concur.
Final 12 months, I witnessed the Celtics blow a bunch of superior White video games, just because he was the one man doing something in any respect within the half court docket. However this 12 months, the remainder of the group had his again, and whereas the half court docket offense didn’t all the time work, it all the time felt prefer it would possibly.
Any Celtics fan will inform you that final 12 months’s half court docket offense was both as easy as butter or as tough as a crappy greenback retailer nail file. Generally getting good pictures felt inconceivable, and the Celtics’ success hinged on if somebody may pull a bucket out of skinny air.
However this 12 months, that form of stagnation feels virtually inconceivable with the quantity of scoring choices operating amok on the parquet. Nothing doing on the perimeter? Discover that 7’3” man down low. Is he double-teamed? Kick to one of many 4 shooters. Did the protection get better? Have Tatum go 1-on-1 within the submit. An excessive amount of warmth down low? Have Brown or Vacation penetrate off the dribble.
Did that sound like rather a lot? It felt like rather a lot, and I didn’t even get a White shoutout in there. This group simply has means too many choices to constantly look misplaced. Guys can cowl one another’s weaknesses and cook dinner in all kinds of the way. That was on full show Friday night time.
There was a darker model of this recreation that nearly occurred. Jaylen misplaced the deal with a few instances early, even air balling a few simple seems to be. The Warmth have been undoubtedly in his head, and that actual challenge tends to sink the Celtics. I instantly had visions of the Warmth diving at Jaylen each time he put the ball on the ground. The nightmares…the phobia! Not once more not once more not agai—
However then one thing great occurred. Brown may loosen up, and let his teammates take over whereas he regrouped. It wasn’t all on him as a result of it simply didn’t should be. Vacation stabilized the offense with a pair strong drives, and Tatum slowed it down within the submit—shredding rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. like a contemporary block of mozzarella. All of the whereas, Jaylen acquired it collectively large time, drilling the dagger three-ball to ship the Celtics to 2-0.
If this even-steven method to offense can crystallize into one thing actually constant, and the Celtics can grow to be sure of their identification within the half court docket, that is going to be superior.
