Boston Celtics

6 thoughts on the Celtics ahead of their Christmas Day game

The Celtics carry a three-game winning streak going into their Christmas Day game against the defending champions.

Tacko-mania has taken over Boston.

By Sam Packard

7 minutes to read

Some basketball scholars often say the NBA season doesn’t start until Christmas. Most do not say that, but some do, which is important. In anticipation of the Celtics’ game against the Raptors on Wednesday, here are six thoughts on the team’s final weekend of preparation…

Jayson Tatum’s defense is worth some attention.

Jayson Tatum completely dominated the Charlotte Hornets in the second half of Sunday night’s win. Boston’s third-year, full-beard wing scored a career-high 39 points — including 22 in the fourth quarter — on 15-for-29 shooting. Although this dazzling display of high-volume offensive efficiency was the highlight of the night, other aspects of Tatum’s improved game captured coach Brad Stevens. “I can’t believe it’s not talked about more how good he is defensively,” Stevens said after the game. “I think, for whatever reason, that gets lost in the shuffle. How much effort he’s been playing with all year has been like — he’s really become a great defender.”

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Boston is allowing 103.6 points per 100 possessions this season, which ranks fourth-best in the league. Tatum’s defensive prowess is one of the major reasons why the Celtics have been able to maintain top-level defense even without Al Horford and Aron Baynes. His length makes it tough for smaller guards to beat him off the dribble and allows him to get his hands in passing lanes. This year, Tatum is averaging a career-high 1.4 steals and 2.8 blocks per game (4.2 stocks). 

Romeo Langford has arrived.

Celtics fans got their first extended look at lottery pick Romeo Langford this weekend. Langford, who has been sidelined with wrist, knee, and ankle injuries, played 18 minutes against the Pistons Friday and 23 minutes against the Hornets Sunday. Early returns would suggest the 19-year-old guard is NBA-ready.Over those two games, Langford scored 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting, including two three-pointers. He showed off his silky smooth approach to the basket as well as a much-improved jump shot. Langford’s shooting motion was a focal point during training camp, as you may remember assistant coach Joe Mazzulla taping a ping pong paddle to Langford’s left hand. The purpose was to keep Langford’s guide hand off the ball on the follow-through. Among the other points of emphasis were 1. to create a smooth, fluid motion and 2. to not cock his release so far back. Now, almost six months later, Langford said he’s “a lot more comfortable” with his new shot. “It feels natural now,” he said Sunday. Langford’s ability to put the biscuit in the basket should not be surprising — he did score more than 3,000 points in high school — but the fact he even got to play is also a good indication of his defensive ability. With Marcus Smart’s lingering eye infection and Charlotte’s dangerous guard combination of Devonte’ Graham and Terry Rozier, the Celtics had a need for perimeter defense. Young Romeo stepped up to the challenge.Traditionally, Stevens will not play rookies whom he does not trust to make the right decisions on defense (see Young, James).  But Stevens had high praise for what he saw from Langford over the weekend. He highlighted both Langford’s high energy and effort. “His defense was excellent today,” Stevens said Sunday. “He’s a very versatile wing defender. He got his hands on some balls, he chased people off screens, and he played really hard.” When fully healthy, the Celtics probably won’t need Langford to play huge minutes, but it’s nice to see he is continually improving at this very early stage. (Kaizen.)“I think what this does is it gives you great comfort in that if you have to throw him in there for an extended period of time, he’s going to do exactly what we need him to do,” Stevens said. 

Tacko-mania is real. 

I was initially a little uncomfortable with all the attention Tacko Fall was receiving from Celtics fans. Fall is quite talented and working incredibly hard to get better, but he is clearly not yet ready for the NBA. While I believe everyone has only the best of intentions, the obsession with Fall, at times, felt like a weird fetishization of his superhuman height.Those feelings of slight discomfort completely faded Friday night when the TD Garden crowd started chanting and demanding that Fall enter the game. In an otherwise boring and ugly game, the energy in the building matched that of a playoff game. With the Celtics leading by more than 20 points entering the fourth quarter, it became clear that if Stevens wanted to survive the night, he would have to play Tacko. Leader Brad, a firm believer in positive psychology, seemed to understand the gravity of the moment. He even let his stoic guard down and had some fun to give the people what they wanted. 

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The collective explosion of joy that took over the Garden when Fall went to the scorers’ table was simply euphoric. The only people who seemed to enjoy the moment more than the thousands of fans were his teammates on the bench. 

Sunday’s energy didn’t match Friday’s, but the collective joy was the same. I think it’s important Fall returned at the end of another blowout. He is the new human victory cigar. His mere presence means there is reason to celebrate. He has replaced Gino, who has completely lost his luster. (The Celtics should make a shot-for-shot remake of the Gino video but with Tacko in the Gino shirt.)

As long as Celtics fans only call for Fall on the right occasions, I think we should all feel good about the collective joy he brings.  

Vincent Poirier has embraced “Vinnie Sex Pants.” 

Celtic center Vincent Poirer is the best-dressed man in the locker room. After the team signed the Parisian big man this summer, Celtics Twitter quickly noticed his sartorial duende. As a whimsical individual, I often find myself giving nicknames to people in my life. Once my brain settles on a name, it’s hard to get those words out of my mind. On a podcast, I dubbed Poirier: “Vinnie Sex Pants.” I continued to call him “Vinnie Sex Pants,” and, largely due to Vinnie’s endless supply of outfits erotique, the name caught on with the odd and small corner of the internet I frequent. Poirer seems to have taken a liking to the nickname, too. When asked about it, he offered a simple endorsement: “Oui, Sex Pants.” Vinnie has since really taken the nickname and run with it. After successful surgery to repair his broken pinkie, he posted this tweet:

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Now, I will say, the phrase, “Vinnie Sex Finger,” is inherently gross, but with a name like “Vinnie Sex Pants,” what can you expect? The man exudes so much sexual and sartorial gravitas that any accessory, even a cast, immediately falls under the “Vinnie Sex” umbrella. He has quickly moved on to “Vinnie Sex Jacket” and “Vinnie Sex Shades.”

I don’t know what the future holds for “VSP,” but I hope he is in our lives for as long as possible.

Yabu crawled, so Vinnie could run. 

The standings will matter.

It looks like the 27-4 Milwaukee Bucks are going to walk to first place in the Eastern Conference, but the regular-season race for second will be incredibly important come playoff time. There are six good teams in the East: Milwaukee, Boston, Toronto, Philadelphia, Indiana, and Miami. The second seed will get to avoid playing one of them in the first round. The 20-7 Celtics are currently second and have already suffered two losses to the 76ers and one to the Pacers. They’ve also notched wins against the Raptors and the Heat. Boston plays Toronto twice in the next week, which is fortunate timing for Celtics fans because the Raptors have recently been decimated by injuries. Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, and, most importantly, Pascal Siakam will all most likely miss both games. If the Celtics can win both, they will secure the tiebreaker with the Raptors. 

Should Terry Rozier have gotten tribute video? 

Terry Rozier’s regular-season return to the Garden passed with little fanfare on Sunday. The Hornets already played the Celtics during the preseason, so the reunion wasn’t nearly as special. Fans still gave Rozier a nice ovation when he was introduced, but I would have preferred a little something extra. The Celtics are probably a little gun-shy, though, after the entire Isaiah Thomas tribute video controversy. They elected not to show one for Al Horford earlier this month, but I would have liked to seen one for Rozier, who was drafted by the team in 2015.   Rozier was never an amazing player, but as Stevens said before Sunday’s game, he played with a warrior’s mentality. He always worked hard. Plus, during his tenure with the Celtics, he was clearly the coolest member of the team, which I think too many people overlook. In his four seasons with the team, Terry — or “Tito Three Sticks” as I liked to call him — got up to all sorts of hijinks that earned my respect. I personally enjoyed all of the times he told people on Twitter, “Shut up lil buster,” and when he destroyed Eric Bledsoe in the playoffs, both on and off the court. Most of all, Terry was fun. And in my personal brand of sports optimism, fun and cool people deserve to be celebrated. I also enjoy that Terry is good friends with Daniel Theis.

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