Celtics Annihilate Wizards in Washington (10/30/23)

After the Boston Celtics had two hard fought victories over two teams in the Eastern Conference that made the second round, people wondered how they'd do against a "bad" team. The answer is completely blow their doors off for three quarters. The Celtics feasted on the Washington Wizards in a game that was a blowout from start to finish. Jaylen Brown had a monster game, going 8 of 13 from downtown with 36 points while Jayson Tatum pumped in 33 of his own. The Celtics had a 51-40 rebounding advantage and it was one of the worst beatdowns Washington has ever seen....until the fourth quarter. The Wizards outscored the Celtics 32-18 in extended garbage time as the Celtics bench didn't play much defense. Still, the Celtics won their first road game of the year 126-107 at Capital One Arena.

                                                              Celtics crush the Wizards

The Celtics broke out to a 10-5 lead when Jaylen Brown buried a 3 with 8:54 remaining in the first quarter. Jrue Holiday stole the inbounds pass and dished it to Jayson Tatum for a dunk. It was 17-7 Celtics when Brown hit another 3 with 6:30 left. With 6 minutes left Derrick White found Krystaps Porzingis for a slam and with 4:43 left, Payton Pritchard found Porzingis for a jump hook two pointer. KP then blocked Jordan Poole and the lead swelled to 32-11 when Tatum threw an alley-oop to Horford for another bucket. With 2:24 left Brown buried another three then another with 1:38 off a dish from Pritchard. Horford got a steal and a bucket with 34 seconds left. The Celtics led 42-19 after the first quarter.

                                                          Brown couldn't miss

Kyle Kuzma tried to start a rally for the Wizards with back to back buckets. With 2 minutes gone, Pritchard passed to Tatum for another three pointer. Kuzma answered with a three on the other end then Poole hit a layup. White then hit a three from downtown to quell the momentum. With 5:22 left in the second quarter Brown hit another three pointer to give the Celtics a 30 point lead up 60-30. Poole hit a layup but Brown did a no-look pass to Porzingis for a three pointer. Tyus Jones hit a three but Holiday passed to a wide open Jaylen for......you guessed it....a three. With 3:09 left Brown passed to Tatum who found Holiday in transition for a bucket. Brown then was up to 25 points with another three with 2:46 left in the half. The Wizards went on a 10-0 run but Tatum hit a baseline layup to stop that. The first half ended with the Celtics up 26 by a score of 77-51.

                                                      Tatum adds to the lead

The Celtics then got back to back buckets to open the third quarter but the lead was still 84-53 with 8:36 left in the third. Tatum slammed home a dunk but Kuzma answered with a jump shot. Brown then dribbled across the lane and finished with a hook for another 2. With the score 88-59 with 6:16 left, Brown hit a fadeaway jumper to put the lead back to 31. With the score 90-61 with 5:39 left in the quarter, Porzingis went over a double-team and scored off the glass. Tatum hit a layup after a Wizards make then hit a 3 to make it 97-63 with 4:29 left. The Wizards scored 5 in a row but Tatum hit another three to to make it 100-68. With the score 103-71, Pritchard dished it to Holiday for another three pointer. Tatum hit a fadeaway to make it 108-71 with 1:23 left in the quarter. The quarter ended with the Celtics ahead 108-75.

                                                          Holiday drives to the cup

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla put in the bench to play the fourth quarter and it almost came back to bite them. The Wizards led by Eugene Omoruyi and Ryan Rollins went on a 10-2 run. Sam Hauser did hit a put-back jump shot though with 6:55 to make it 112-85. Lamar Stevens hit a shot as well and Hauser hit a 3 to make it 117-94 with four minutes to go. Dalano Banton also hit a basket and the final score read Boston 126 and Washington 107. The Wizards outscored the Celtics 32-18 in that quarter even if it was garbage time.

                                                         Celtics win

Hero of the Night is Jaylen Brown. He was 8 of 13 from three point land and had 36 total points to lead the onslaught.

                                                              Hero Brown

Bawful Report:

Scalabrine Award for DNP-CD - Jordan Walsh

End Rant:

This game was definitely a good news/bad news situation with the good news is the Celtics starting 5 may be the best in the league for the first time since the new big 3 in 2008. The bad news is this game highlights their one weakness is their bench strength is weak. After Al Horford and Payton Pritchard it gets pretty bad pretty quick. I don't know why Mazzulla isn't giving Jordan Walsh a chance but he's going to have to eventually. Guys are going to get hurt, guys are going to need a break, you never know what's going to happen. This could be an 86-87 Celtics situation where the starters may be playing 40 minutes a night, which isn't good. Still, on a night like this where Tatum or Brown can't miss, it won't matter. The other frightening factor for the rest of the league is if you double team Tatum, now you got a wide open Brown or Porzingis. Then if you double team KP in the paint, he can easily outlet pass to a driving Tatum or Brown. That's almost impossible to defend. It was a good win against a team they needed to beat. The Celtics look to make it 4 wins in a row to start the season this Wednesday night against the Indiana Pacers. The game begins at 7:30 PM at TD Garden.

Celtics Outlast Heat Late (10/27/23)

Its a new year and the new look Boston Celtics defeated the Miami Heat in tonight's game, sending a message that last year is in the past. Derrick White was the hero in this one with 28 points and 3 big blocks at the defensive end. Jayson Tatum had 22 points while Jaylen Brown had a nice bounce back game with 27 points. The Heat were led by Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo with Jimmy Butler having a rough night. The Heat took a 28-25 lead going into the first quarter but the Celtics took control in the second quarter to take a five point lead at halftime. The third quarter ended almost dead even with the Heat up by 1. The key to the game was White hitting a three to give the Celtics the lead to open the fourth quarter. The Celtics never looked back and made some key stops to win the game 119-111 at TD Garden.

                                                          Celtics put the clamps on the Heat

The first quarter began with Jayson Tatum finding Jrue Holiday open for a corner three pointer to open the salvo. Bam Adebayo of the Heat answered at the other end for the first of his 27 points. Tyler Herro made back to back buckets with 9 minutes gone in the first but Derrick White made a big block to prevent an outlet pass from going in. Herro and Adebayo remained red hot to give the Heat a 24-13 lead with 5:30 remaining in the first. Holiday and Jaylen Brown answered with big shots at the other end to help Boston claw back. Down 28-23, Tatum dished to new Celtic Oshae Brissett for a slam to cut the Heat lead 28-25 to end the quarter.

                                                     Welcome to Boston, Brissett

After Thomas Bryant slammed one home to begin the second quarter for the Heat, Payton Pritchard answered with a very long three pointer. Trailing 33-28, Tatum got the next five points to tie the game with 9:28 left in the quarter. Duncan Robinson answered with a three on the other end to give the Heat the lead back. Tatum clawed the Celtics back in the game with another three but the Celtics got a great play with 2:55 left in the second. White dribbled into the lane then passed to Holiday on a cut for the layup to tie the game. Brown stole the inbounds pass and stuffed it to give the Celtics the lead just like that. Up 56-53, White hit a three pointer with 55 seconds left in the half. With the Celtics up 60-55, White rejected Butler at the rim to end the half with the Celtics up by 5.

                                                      White doing it at both ends

The ageless Kevin Love hit a three for Miami to open the third quarter although it was the Celtics who bolted out to a 69-62 lead with three minutes gone. Herro came around a pick and buried a triple to cut the lead. With the Celtics up 71-65 Herro hit another three. Porzingis was able to stop the momentum with a putback off a Tatum miss. The Heat went on a run to take an 81-80 lead and Jimmy Butler hit a step back two with 2:11 left. Tatum hit a shot then Pritchard made a big block on the other end to prevent more damage. With the head leading 88-84, Tatum hit a three with 3 seconds left to end the quarter with the Heat up by 1.

                                                             Celtics hanging in there

The Heat led 90-88 with one minute gone in the fourth quarter when White buried a three pointer. With the game 93-90, White hit another three with 9:30 remaining. The Celtics led 98-96 with seven minutes remaining when Brown hit a pullup three pointer. With the Celtics ahead 102-98 with 5:12 left, Brown hit a jumper in the paint. Tatum hit a slam dunk on their next possession but got hit with a bogus technical foul for "excessive celebration". A big key to the game was with the Celtics ahead 106-101 with 4:22 left and Holiday stripped Adebayo in the paint. He passed to a wide open White who nailed a three pointer to give the Celtics an 8 point lead. Adebayo blocked a Brown jumper and Butler took off only to be denied at the rim by White with 3:46 left in the game. With the lead down to five, Brown dribbled with his left hand and caught the Heat asleep with a layup with 2:49 left. The Celtics looked to have the game in the bag leading 112-105 with 1:28 left but Herro hit a big three to keep the Heat in it. Holiday responded with a jumper in the lane to put the lead back to six. Love hit a three with 59 seconds left but the Celtics responded with a pair of free throws to make it 116-111. They hit some more free throws and the game ended 119-111 Celtics.

                                                       Celtics win


Hero of the Night is Derrick White. His 28 points were a team high and he had a few key blocks as well.

                                                      Our Hero comes up with the ball

Bawful Report:

Scalabrine Award for DNP-CD - Luke Kornet, Dalano Banton, JD Davison, Lamar Stevens, Jordan Walsh, Svi Mykhailiuk.

End Rant:

This is the second game in a row the Celtics have won a game they most likely wouldn't have last year. When they had the Heat down, they made the plays that mattered to win the game. Holiday had 17 points and 10 rebounds while White led the team with 28. Brown had a nice rebound game with 27 points and the fact they have Holiday and KP at the end of games to relieve the pressure paid dividends again. Heat fans are claiming injuries and "they're not worried" but the bottom line is the Heat are running back almost the same team from last year while the Celtics made huge changes. If Heat fans think they're going to get lucky with injuries to other teams two years in a row they have another thing coming. The Celtics once again didn't go to the bench but to be fair, these two games felt like playoff previews considering both the New York Knicks and the Heat made the second round last year. If Mazzulla wanted to get an early playoff type game atmosphere, he got it. Hopefully the Celtics can avoid key injuries because the starting 5 they have is better than anyone, just need to get some bench help at the deadline. The Celtics now travel to Washington for their first road game of the year. They take on the Wizards on Monday night at 7 PM at Capital One Arena

Porzingis, Tatum Drop Knicks on Opening Night (10/25/23)

The Boston Celtics might have found a difference maker. General Manager Brad Stevens rolled the dice when he traded Marcus Smart, Mike Muscala and Danilo Gallinari to get Kristaps Porzingis and for one game the trade worked out. Porzingis made his Celtics debut against the New York Knicks by scoring 30 points, grabbing 8 boards and blocking 4 shots. Jayson Tatum led the way in scoring with 34 points and 11 rebounds but the story of the game was Porzingis. The Celtics led by 5 at the half and 9 going into the fourth quarter when the Knicks rallied in the fourth quarter. The Knicks led 101-95 with three minutes left when the Celtics rallied, highlighted by a go-ahead three pointer by Porzingis with 90 seconds left. Clutch free throws from Porzingis and Payton Pritchard sealed the deal as the Celtics defeated the Knicks 108-104 at Madison Square Garden.

                                                         Welcome to Boston, Kristaps

Jayson Tatum scored the first points on the season off the glass on a two pointer to get things started. The Celtics used three pointers from Tatum, new Celtic Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis to open a 24-13 lead with 2 minutes left in the first quarter. The score at the end of the first was 30-18, a good start.

                                                            Let the season begin

Things went south in the second quarter as the Knicks battled back thanks to the efforts of RJ Barrett. Quentin Grimes hit a big three to cut the lead to a few points although Tatum kept the Celtics in the lead with some big shots. The Celtics looked to have a good lead going into halftime but Isaiah Hartenstein tipped in a shot at the buzzer with the Celtics only up 51-46 going into the break.

                                                            Celtics lead at the half

The third quarter started with a 7-2 Celtics run highlighted by a running Tatum slam dunk but the Knicks held on. The Knicks went on a 15-6 run highlighted by a Julius Randle three pointer to cut the lead 64-63 with 5:48 remaining in the quarter. After the Knicks tied it, the Celtics retook the lead then got a big three by Al Horford. Horford keyed the run that ended with a Porzingis putback that gave the Celtics a 82-73 lead going into the fourth quarter.

                                                              Knicks aren't going quietly

The Celtics took their foot off the gas and they almost reverted to last year's team as the Knicks went on a 11-4 run to pull within a point. Then Josh Hart hit a three pointer to give the Knicks their first lead of the game with 8:57 remaining as Celtics fan groaned. With the Knicks leading 90-88, Porzingis hit a three with 5:48 remaining to put the Celtics back on top. With the score tied at 93, the Knicks went on a run where Randle and Grimes hit back to back threes to put the Knicks up 6 with 4 minutes left. Grimes was fouled on the play but he missed the free throw which cost them dearly. The lead was 101-95 Knicks with 3:23 remaining when the Celtics took control. With Knicks fans chanting expletives at Kristaps, Tatum found Holiday for a layup that keyed a 6-0 run to tie the game. Then with 90 seconds left Porzingis hit a backbreaking three to put the Celtics on top to stop the chants against him. He hit two free throws and Payton Pritchard hit two free throws of his own to wrap up the scoring. The Knicks failed to score off an inbounds play and the Celtics had won it 108-104.

                                                      Celtics win

Hero of the Night is Kristaps Porzingis. He scored 30 points with five big three pointers, grabbed 8 rebounds and blocked 4 shots. His three with 1:34 left put the Celtics up for good.

                                                         KP The Hero

Bawful Report:

Scalabrine Award for DNP-CD - Lamar Stevens, Oshae Brissett, Neemias Queta, Svi Mykhailuk, Dalano Banton and Jordan Walsh.

End Rant:

This was NOT a game the Celtics would have won a year ago. Usually when things went south the Celtics would try to do too much and go hero ball. Marcus Smart, Brown & Tatum would try to play the hero and it usually never worked. Having KP to settle things down and actually hit a big shot makes the difference in the world. The Celtics went on 15-5 run to end the game and that's the element that was missing last year under Joe Mazzulla. There were still a LOT of things wrong in the game including Jaylen Brown being awful and Mazzulla only using 9 guys in the game, but having a guy that can take over a game pays big dividends in the end. The deadly part is Brown had an off-night, what's going to happen on nights he's red hot? If he starts drawing double teams, Tatum or Porzingis will be wide open. That's good news for Boston and bad news for everyone else. The Celtics have the whole season to get Brown on track and find some semblance of a bench rotation, hopefully Mazzulla can take a step in year two as a coach. The Celtics are back in action Friday night and they better bring their A game because up next is the defending Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat. Jimmy Butler & Tyler Herro come to town Friday night at 7:30 PM at TD Garden.