Feel free to take the Celtics seriously: 6 takeaways as team stifles Grizzlies
Jayson Tatum poured in 37 points on his 24th birthday.
On Thursday, the Celtics beat the Grizzlies 120-107 — their fourth win in five games since the All-Star break and their 13th in 15 attempts. Jayson Tatum scored 25 of his 37 points in the second half. Marcus Smart had a career-high 12 assists, while the Celtics assisted on 33 of their 46 field goals — a season-high in a regulation game.
The Celtics weren’t even particularly sharp on the offensive end — they coughed up 14 turnovers, including 11 in the first half, and the Grizzlies turned those miscues into a 15-6 advantage in fast-break points. The Celtics still won by double figures.
Maybe you are one of the Celtics fans who is still holding out. That’s fair, if so. For three months, they gave us every reason to believe they were the exact same team as last year. They were inconsistent. They lost to inferior teams. They blew leads. Maybe you listened to the media coverage that pilloried this team and you decided you’d wait and watch the Red Sox instead.
But the landscape looks a little different now (and the Red Sox won’t be playing for a while). Maybe you’re wondering if it’s safe to buy in now. We’re here to tell you it’s okay.
After all, “buying in” doesn’t mean you believe the Celtics are a surefire bet to win the Eastern Conference, or even that their recent success is a perfect indicator of their potential.
All it means to buy in is that you believe the Celtics *could* make a deep playoff run. Their defense is stifling and creative. Against the Grizzlies, the Celtics allowed just 45 points in the first half, and just 20 points in the first quarter. They developed a game plan to deal with MVP candidate Ja Morant, and they stuck to it with great results.
Their offense is led by a young superstar in Jayson Tatum who is finally scratching his potential. They have outlets for Tatum when teams double him, even when Jaylen Brown is out. They have Robert Williams, who increasingly is becoming the ultimate bail-out player. They have Marcus Smart, whose offense is starting to catch up with his defense.
“[Smart’s] so good at getting into the paint, acting like he might shoot it and last second finding the right person,” Tatum said. “He’s always been great at that.”
The Celtics might not win the Eastern Conference this year, but after 13 wins in 15 games — including nine straight against teams in the playoff picture — we’ve seen enough to believe it could happen.
Buy in. You won’t look stupid. This team is worth watching.
More takeaways
2. Once again, Tatum had a highly efficient game without highly efficient 3-point shooting — 37 points on 14-for-25 shooting, despite finishing 2-for-7 from deep. In his last 10 games, Tatum is shooting 32.9 percent from 3-point range but has a true-shooting percentage of 60.2 (that’s really good, if stats aren’t your thing).
In other words, Tatum can beat you even if he isn’t making 3-pointers. That wasn’t always the case, which is one of the reasons Tatum was such a streaky player early in his career — he could do more than just shoot, but his success was built on his 3-point shooting.
Now Tatum seems comfortable doing a lot more, even when his shot deserts him. He’s much more likely to cut backdoor off the ball, or put his shoulder down and drive directly into defenders. He’s taking 7.1 free throws per game over his last 10.
For years, Tatum has been considered a player with MVP potential. Now we’re starting to see a much clearer road map: Tatum simply needs to be who he is this season, but he needs to make a few more 3-pointers. His career average is 37.9 percent. Another season like this one with career-average 3-point shooting, and Tatum will put himself firmly in the conversation.
“We really like his aggressiveness, first of all,” Ime Udoka said. “But him as a screener or the handler gives people problems. So it’s whether he’s going against a small, or putting a big, Steven Adams or whoever may be in it, we have a lot of options with him. And he pretty much can take advantage of all matchups.
“And so he got it going obviously, didn’t force it, they tried to double him, he got rid of the ball, but when he had advantages, he attacked them and made the right play. So, love him getting downhill. They started going after him and he made them pay as well.”
3. The Celtics defended Ja Morant about as well as he can be defended … and he still put up 38 points.
Still: “It’s the quietest 38 I’ve ever seen,” Ime Udoka said.
Morant scored 14 of his 38 in the final quarter, going 6-for-8 from the floor. He started cold — 0-for-6 overall in the first quarter and 0-for-5 from 3 in the first half as the Celtics dared him (and the rest of the Grizzlies) to shoot. The strategy worked: The Celtics coaxed Morant into 12 attempts from three, nearly triple his usual output.
“He hit a bunch of shots late, but he’s an incredible player, obviously,” Udoka said. “To come out after that first half and go 10 for 15 and keep attacking shows how great of a player he is.”
Morant and Tatum dueled in the fourth quarter and had predictably different reactions to the results.
“It was a lot of fun,” Tatum said. “The place was electric tonight.”
For you, Ja?
“No,” Morant said. “I wanted to win.”
Fair enough.
4. The Celtics squandered an opportunity to put together an end-to-end blowout by turning the ball over repeatedly in the first half. Worse: The turnovers were largely pick-six steals by the Grizzlies.
“They got their hands on a lot of live balls from us, a lot of turnovers there that we could have prevented,” Smart said. “But for the most part, it was decent. We stuck with the game plan and everybody did their job.”
5. The Celtics’ depth has served them well recently, especially in the last two games since Brown sprained his ankle. On Tuesday, Derrick White lifted the Celtics in minutes without Tatum as they rallied against the Hawks. On Thursday, the big contributor was Al Horford with a monstrous 21 points and 15 rebounds.
“Al is the OG,” Smart said with a big grin. “Everybody thinks Al is up there in age and he lost it. He still got it. We love it.”
Horford played 40 minutes, which the Celtics need to monitor. They need him in the postseason, whether or not Joel Embiid is involved (but especially if he is).
6. Prior to the game, the NBA announced that Ime Udoka was named coach of the month in February. After the Celtics rallied in the second half, a reporter asked Udoka why the Celtics always seem to come back from halftime rolling.
“Well, you’ve got the coach of the month,” Udoka quipped, before assuring everyone he was joking.
The Celtics take on the Nets on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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