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1. The Boston Celtics stored the nice occasions rolling with a ninth consecutive victory. The newest victims had been the New Orleans Pelicans, who rallied a number of occasions however had been by no means in a position to recover from the hump to really problem Boston.
The Celtics are actually 13-3 and lead the Milwaukee Bucks by 1.5 video games within the Japanese Convention. It’s nonetheless too early to be on “standings watch”, however the wins all rely the identical. That Boston has been in a position to stack this many victories collectively whereas being with out key contributors is big. It’s a assure that may matter once we get to March and April and begin watching the standings day by day.
2. The Celtics went 20-for-46 from behind the arc on this sport. It was one other sport in a string of huge efforts from downtown. By way of quantity and accuracy, Boston has been the league’s prime three-point capturing group.
On this sport, the Celtics took benefit of the way in which the Pelicans had been defending the arc. In pick-and-roll actions, Jonas Valanciunas is sort of at all times going to drop to guard the paint. That left Al Horford wide-open to start the scoring:
Nevertheless it wasn’t simply Valanciunas. Each Pelicans defender was laying again within the display sport. Right here, Jayson Tatum walked into an open pullup:
And typically the Celtics needed to work for his or her triple. It is a good job by Sam Hauser to maintain the ball alive earlier than Luke Kornet kicked it out to Derrick White:
3. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 27 factors, however it was his playmaking that stood out. (Sure, we’ll discuss concerning the turnovers, however that’s coming later.)
Brown may be so affected person now. That begins together with his preliminary assault off the catch however continues throughout. When he attracts a number of defenders, Brown makes the straightforward kickout to Grant Williams:
A few performs later, Brown is making an attempt to overpower Jose Alvarado right here. That attracts Naji Marshall to the paint to assist. Brown sees Marshall coming and makes the straightforward go out to Derrick White:
4. Derrick White…there simply isn’t far more to say. He was excellent on this sport. With Marcus Good out once more and Malcolm Brogdon working his manner again, White stepped up with 35 huge minutes and a few nice play on each ends of the ground.
White could also be among the finest gamers within the league on the rear-contest block. Shooters get by him, however White by no means quits on a play:
If he’s not Boston’s finest transition participant (that’s most likely Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum), White is the Celtics most opportunistic transition participant. On this play, White sees the one participant between him and the rim is rookie Dyson Daniels. After a very good push, White spins and floats it in:
Due to Boston’s excellent spacing, White is ready to actually assault mismatches. Jonas Valanciunas is a fish out of water right here. He has no likelihood of stopping White on this play:
5. As talked about above, Malcolm Brogdon was again. His timing on his shot was clearly off. That can most likely take a few video games to get again. However Brogdon made an affect as a passer with 4 assists in 18 minutes off the bench.
It is a veteran profiting from a rookie on a SLOB play. When Dyson Daniels doesn’t get his head round to see the ball, Brogdon zips it by his ear to get Derrick White a layup:
It is a nice learn of the ground by Brogdon. It’s one of many uncommon occasions Jonas Valanciunas got here as much as the extent of the ball. C.J. McCollum is within the paint as Luke Kornet begins his roll, however Sam Hauser’s gravity as a shooter pulls McCollum away. As a result of Payton Pritchard and Jayson Tatum have the courtroom spaced effectively, their defenders can’t assist both. That’s straightforward cash for Brogdon to toss it to Luke Kornet for the dunk:
6. When he was drafted, Grant Williams was billed as an all-around participant. It’s taken a number of years, however that’s precisely what Williams has advanced into on the NBA degree. No, he’s not a star by any means, however Williams is a jack-of-all-trades participant who does numerous issues fairly effectively.
Probably the most evident enchancment has been with Williams’ off-the-dribble sport. Williams is a recognized amount as a shooter now, so he attracts the arduous closeouts. That is in opposition to Herb Jones, who is likely one of the NBA’s higher perimeter defenders too. Additionally, discover how Williams will get his physique into Jones to guard his shot as he goes up for the layup:
Halfway by means of the third quarter, Williams missed a floater so badly that everybody kind of froze and he received his personal rebound with ease. However Williams being dedicated to creating the floater work is what makes photographs like this one so satisfying:
7. The Celtics had 28 assists on 41 baskets. They proceed to ping the ball round unselfishly to seek out the most effective photographs. That is simply attractive basketball. Drive and kick out of pick-and-roll, adopted by driving a closeout for a kickout, adopted by a swing go for the most effective look:
You recognize Jayson Tatum needs to assault C.J. McCollum right here. We’ve seen that 1,000,000 occasions in his profession. However Tatum additionally is aware of Herb Jones is drifting in direction of that mismatch to assist. That opens up Sam Hauser, who wants little or no time and area to let it fly:
8. In an effort to be balanced, Jaylen Brown was a large number for a big portion of the second half. Six of Brown’s seven turnovers got here after halftime. There have been a number of giveaways the place it regarded like Brown had by no means dealt with a basketball earlier than.
However Brown greater than made up for it late. He performed an element in three scores to assist Boston maintain off New Orleans. First was this good pretend to Grant Williams on the break earlier than leaving for Al Horford for the loud end:
A few performs later, after a nasty turnover, Brown received to his spot for the pullup jumper:
And this was pure hustle and energy from Brown to keep it up:
Brown took possession for the turnovers and stated he and the Celtics should be higher with the ball. However making up for it within the second is what actually issues, and Brown got here by means of.
9. It wasn’t an enormous scoring sport from Jayson Tatum, however he made numerous performs as a passer, along with a pair as a scorer. This was Tatum’s finest particular person play of the evening, as barely anybody breaks Herb Jones down off the bounce like this:
Late within the sport, Tatum delivered too. This was an enormous play, as a result of the Pelicans had simply reduce the Celtics result in six. Tatum may have compelled this, however he trusts his teammates and finds Grant Williams in his nook workplace:
A little bit later, Tatum did it himself by muscling over C.J. McCollum for the floater to complete off New Orleans:
10. 9 wins in a row. It’s actually exceptional how effectively Boston is taking part in proper now. Subsequent up is a visit to Chicago to play the abruptly reeling Bulls. Chicago has dropped 4 straight to fall to a disappointing 6-10 on the season.
However the Celtics know nothing comes straightforward for them in opposition to the Bulls. The excellent news is that Boston has the weekend off earlier than taking part in in Chicago on Monday evening. Is a double-digit win streak on faucet? Tune in Monday to see if it’s 10 in a row for the blokes in inexperienced.
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