Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
Jayson Tatum leads Celtics to business-like win against overmatched Wizards: 9 takeaways
Jayson Tatum has a relatively quiet night, but still lead the Celtics to a win over the Wizards on Sunday.
Jayson Tatum and the Celtics weren’t world-beaters on Sunday, but they didn’t have to be to beat the Wizards in a comfortable 112-98 win.
Here are the takeaways.
1. Jayson Tatum had a quiet game-high.
If you were watching Sunday’s game, you might have found yourself surprised to check the box score afterward and see that Tatum had 28 points.
Tatum was a microcosm of sorts for the Celtics as a whole — not particularly efficient (12-for-26 from the field, 2-for-9 from three), not particularly crisp (four turnovers, four personal fouls), but more than enough to beat an overmatched Wizards team. Tatum finished with 12 rebounds and a pair of assists. He did most of his damage around the rim with 20 points in the paint, weaving through Wizards defenders out of the pick-and-roll and cutting for dunks and layups. While he never hit the heights he can reach, his presence was a quiet reminder throughout the game that the Wizards simply don’t employ anyone anywhere near his stratosphere.
Advertisement:
“We said it in a timeout: we felt like we were playing like s—, and we were up 19,” Tatum said. “Better than playing like s— and being down 19.
“But as long as you figure out a way to win. Some will feel better than others, but the main objective is trying to play the right way and coming out with a win.”
The Wizards and Celtics are simply very different NBA teams in completely different places. The Celtics are a fully realized juggernaut — a defending champion with few (if any) holes in their roster. They have 1A and 1B superstars, a bevy of borderline All-Star talent around them, and both borderline and former All-Star talent coming off the bench.
The Wizards have some promising young players — Bilal Coulibaly in particular looks like a keeper — but they are also deep in the throes of a rebuild that really needs to hit it big in the draft this upcoming offseason.
Advertisement:
2. Payton Pritchard really does not like being called bad at defense.
Pritchard continued his impressive stretch, scoring 15 points (on 5-for-10 shooting from deep) and grabbing 11 rebounds to go with six assists (and three turnovers). Four of his rebounds were offensive, and he talked plenty of trash at Jordan Poole while defending the Wizards guard well. He has now hit five or more 3-pointers in 13 games and after Sunday’s game, he is second in total 3-pointers made this season with 96, trailing only Anthony Edwards (105).
But Pritchard might prefer that we discuss his defense.
“I really want to be known as a two-way player,” he told reporters. “Sometimes I see things that say I’m a defensive liability, and that irks me. Every game I go out and try to prove that narrative wrong. Me trying to be a complete two-way player is something I’m always going to strive to be, if I can be known as an elite on-ball player and an elite offensive player, that’s a big goal of mine.”
Pritchard added that it’s important to remember that in the NBA, great players will hit great shots.
Advertisement:
“It’s just coming back and doing it play after play after play. And then by the end of their game, their legs are a little bit tired, so it causes them to miss.
“That’s doing your job. Causing deflections, getting steals. Eventually, hopefully I’ll get better at taking charges. I’m not the best at that, it’s something I’ve got to keep working on, but I’ve gotten a lot better at just using my hands and just creating havoc.”
That’s an admirable mindset, and one that Growth Mindset Advocate Brad Stevens probably likes to hear.
We also should probably note that people who say Pritchard is a defensive liability really have not been paying attention to the Celtics, but NBA players are notoriously good at manufacturing disrespect to find motivation, so we won’t deprive him of that.
3. Kristaps Porzingis missed the second half,
Kristaps Porzingis sat the entire second half with pain in his right heel after exiting the game and heading to the locker room in the second quarter.
As he left the court, Porzingis pumped his fist and cheerily waved to fans, and he told reporters after the game that it was “precautionary.”
Advertisement:
“I banged up my heel a little bit in the first quarter at some point,” Porzingis told reporters. “I kept on playing. […] And then like the second when it started, it was pretty sensitive, so the medical staff pulled me out of the game. I don’t think it’s anything major.”
Porzingis added that it wasn’t related to anything he had dealt with previously.
“It happened this game, one of the post-ups or rebounds, one of the lobs, I’m not even sure where,” he said.
One can certainly understand if the Celtics take a cautious approach with Porzingis in mid-December given his continued injury struggles (two early exits in seven games back so far) but also given how close to unbeatable they are when he plays.
4. Tatum says his knee is okay.
Tatum doesn’t generally like to miss regular-season games without a good reason, and he sat out the Celtics’ game Thursday against the Pistons due to an undisclosed knee issue.
On Sunday, Tatum told reporters he’s good to go.
“I’m feeling good,” he said. “A couple days off helped for sure. It’s just something that kind of comes and goes. Something I’ve dealt with before. I’ll be fine.”
5. Jordan Poole makes a lot of questionable decisions.
Jordan Poole continued a proud Wizards tradition of making genuinely baffling decisions on a basketball court. His greatest hit may have come midway through the third quarter when, after dropping Payton Pritchard to the floor with a pretty nasty crossover/pullback move, he pointed at Pritchard rather than launching an open 3-pointer. That gave Sam Hauser plenty of time to get back in the play and contest Poole’s shot, preventing him from getting off an open look.
Pritchard and Poole had been jawing back and forth prior, but Pritchard didn’t really get drawn into the fray.
Advertisement:
Poole, meanwhile, picked up his fourth and fifth fouls in less than 12 seconds less than a minute later.
“I know he pointed at me when he tripped me, stepped on my foot,” Pritchard said. “Good move, but obviously if you’re going to do something like that, you’re getting under somebody’s skin a little bit. I just tried to make things tough. Obviously he’s a tough shot maker, he’ll take a lot of them, and he hits tough ones. I just try to make it as hard as possible.”
In terms of raw basketball ability — as in the ability to bounce a basketball off the floor in creative ways and score it even in scenarios that aren’t ideal — Poole is a very talented player.
In terms of being an overall basketball player, however — as in the ability to help a team win basketball games — Poole is absolutely miscast as the primary scoring option for an NBA franchise. Absent the likes of ultra-professionals like Steph Curry, he may be miscast as a serious basketball player. He finished 6-for-16 with 16 points, six assists, and three turnovers.
6. Sam Hauser is rounding into form.
In the first ten games of the season, Hauser shot an uncharacteristic 30.2 percent from 3-point range. In the next 10, he hit 38.9 percent.
In his last 10? 43.6. He has hit 45.7 percent on 7.0 attempts per game in his last five. On Sunday, he shot 4-for-9, including a one-dribble step-back and three of the standard spot-up looks that make him so dangerous.
Advertisement:
“Any time he’s in the game, you know what you’re getting,” Mazzulla said. “You’re getting solid individual defense, you’re getting execution, and you’re getting a 3-point threat, but he can do other things as well with his passing and putting two on the ball. So it’s just a credit to him for the consistency he shows when he’s out there.”
7. Luke Kornet was excellent.
Kornet finished just 1-for-3 from the field, but that was because he missed several and-one opportunities. He pulled down 11 rebounds in his 26 minutes, five of which were offensive, and he even handed out four assists including a little behind-the-back dish to Pritchard that doubled as a screen assist as well.
Mazzulla noted that Kornet is not in an easy position on this roster.
“He starts sometimes, sometimes he’s not in, sometimes he’s in, so it’s difficult to maintain a rhythm of the way you need to play night in and night out,” Mazzulla said. “He does a tremendous job trying to do that, but I think moments where you can affirm him and let him know how important he is to the team regardless of how much he’s playing allows him to play with that freedom and that physicality.”
8. Not-so-free throws.
A weird stat that doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme: The Celtics were 14-for-24 from the free-throw line. Jaylen Brown was the worst offender (1-for-4), but the normally reliable Luke Kornet missed three free throws after earning an impressive eight trips to the line, and Derrick White was 2-for-4.
Advertisement:
In a game against a more competent team than the Wizards, those 10 points the Celtics left on the table may have mattered. On Sunday, it was an odd afterthought and the penultimate takeaway here.
9. Another big break.
The Celtics will return to action at home against the Bulls on Thursday before taking on the Bulls again in Chicago on Saturday. That jumpstarts a return to schedule normalcy after a weird stretch with the NBA Cup, with games against the Magic on Monday and the 76ers on Christmas Day.
“Too much of anything is not good for you,” Mazzulla said. “If you have too many games, it’s not good for you. If you have too much of a break, it’s not good for you. We just have to manage the middle, manage the margins and make sure we get better.”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com