Sometimes, You Need To Dig Through A Pile Of Shit In Order To Pull Out A Win

Brian Babineau. Getty Images.

Let's be very clear about something right off the jump. This was the worst performance by the defending champs of the entire season. We've seen them take the floor 10 times to begin 2024-25, and last night was without a doubt, no two ways about it, the worst we've seen the Celtics play

So why do I kind of love it? Objectively, it was a mostly disgusting display of basketball for 48 minutes. Lazy defense, horrendous shooting, bad turnovers, it was the first time I'd say the Celtics played losing basketball. You can play well and lose, but you can rarely play like shit and win, so in some twisted way, my brain looks at last night as a win the Celtics needed to experience as they continue their journey up the mountain.

Shorthanded, playing like absolute assholes, can you fight through it and find a way to win? When nothing is breaking your way and frustration starts to creep in, can you find ways to execute in the biggest moments on both ends of the floor?

You know who does shit like that? Champions. 

While it would be my preference for the remaining 72+ games to not ever play like this again, I'll take the character building win and be on to the next. Remember, every team in each season is a completely new organism. Just because things went a certain way last year or last year's team was able to do this or that, this current group has to relearn it all and go through those experiences as if last year never happened. They have to go through their own experiences and pressures and ultimately figure it out. 

So weirdly in what was one of their most disgusting displays of basketball of the season, it was somehow one of the most valuable wins of the year? It sounds crazy I know, but it's honestly the truth.

Now let's dive into what we saw

The Good

- See here's the thing about Jayson Tatum. In the entire history of the Boston Celtics, I'm talking about every era and every player, there have only been two instances of a Celtic scoring at least 300 points in the first 10 games of the season. Two. 

Jayson Tatum in 2022-23 and Jayson Tatum in 2024-25.

Would I say this was one of Tatum's better games this season? No. Not really. Probably one of his worst showings overall this season. So why is he in this section? Pretty simple, when the team needed their superstar, their superstar delivered.

Early in the game, it was his 5 3PM. When nobody on the roster could hit a shot, Tatum's early shotmaking is what kept the Celts relatively close. Things could have gone off the rails and into the 20+ territory, but Tatum's production from behind the arc kept the Celts attached which would become pretty important down the line. 

While he only finished with 6 AST, don't let that number fool you. Tatum's passing in this game was once again fantastic. Right after having 14 potential assists against the Warriors, Tatum followed that up with another 18 potential assists last night. He was getting the ball to his teammates in great positions to score, they just have to not miss every shot they take and that AST number looks even better. 

Just think of what this production has been over the last two games. 32 potential assists with just 8 actual assists. We're seeing the best Tatum playmaking of his career, and his teammates have been nothing but an absolute brick. That's tough.

In the fourth quarter/OT, it's time for the best player to win the game. That's how things work, Shorthanded, those are the moments where the franchise pillars take over and carry the team to the win. That's what Jayson Tatum did. He finished with 6/4/3 on 50% shooting and finally woke up defensively on the final possession to seal the win. When it came time to make a play (score, rebound, pass, defend), Tatum checked every one of those boxes down the stretch. That is why he's in this section.

- Brad Stevens has made a lot of great decisions ever since he made the move into the front office. In fact, it seems like he only makes great decisions. Somewhere high on that list is his refusal to grant Payton Pritchard's trade request. It's as if he knew what he had and he knew what was to come and instead told Pritchard to be patient.

Now? Not only is Pritchard a rotation player on a championship team, he's arguably the 6MOY and MIP through the first 10 games

We are currently watching a version of Payton Pritchard that can only be described as incredible. I could make the case he's been their 3rd or 4th best player of the entire season, and everything we're seeing is sustainable. His biggest leap being how much better he is in the paint and finishing at the rim isn't something that is going to just go away. The patience he shows, the strength to be able to create his own space and finish, the way he can stop and pull up for a turnaround in the paint, these are all things that are not flukes. This is who he is.

There were signs of this leap early in his career, and we saw it every time Pritchard would beat his man to the spot in the paint, stop, pick up his dribble, and get into trouble. It was very frustrating. It was also very obvious that once he figured that part of his game out and how to Nash dribble/use his drive as a scoring threat, everything would change. Suddenly his finishing at the rim skyrocketed, now he looks way more comfortable attacking in space and doesn't panic once he enters the paint even if there's traffic, instead just continuing his dribble back out to reset a possession. 

So when I say what we're seeing with Pritchard is sustainable, it's because this growth is mental. It's an improvement in how Pritchard sees the floor and is able to read defenses, which is no different than when Tatum made that leap in the Bubble or when Jaylen started to make that leap a few years ago. We're seeing Pritchard make that same leap in terms of how he sees the game and how it's best for him to attack.

He's always going to have an automatic green light to shoot from wherever the fuck he wants. I mean he's Payton Pritchard. You don't tell him when he can and cannot shoot, he tells you. But his growth as a play finisher/creator in the paint is the biggest reason for this jump.

- Shoutout Joe for paying tribute to his boss and our lord and savior Brad Stevens in one of the the biggest moments of the game

I love this play. We've seen Joe do this before, you may remember when Jayson Tatum dunked on Jarrett Allen back in 2022

and all it is is an ode to Brad's brain. He loved this set and what's great about it is you can use it for a running dunk like what you see above, or you can bury someone with a three

I'm a big fan of the "steal from Brad's basketball brain" whenever the opportunity presents itself, and credit to Joe for recognizing that was the perfect moment to unleash that play.

Aside from that, Joe also delivered postgame. If I were to describe a core aspect of Mazzulla Ball and what it teaches, I'd say this does a great job of summing it up

"live by principle, not by feeling" is incredible and it couldn't be more true when it comes to how this team plays and this game was a perfect example.

In a game where they couldn't hit an open 3 to save their lives, they never wavered. They never moved away from what they believe in their core is how they need to play. They didn't let the disappointed feeling of misses get them off track, instead staying true to their basketball principles and in the end, they were rewarded. Hell yeah. 

- Everything you thought you knew about Al Horford, I'm afraid you have to scrap it. That was the Al Horford of old. You have to remember, we're dealing with Sir Al Horford now. He's a Knight. He's a Champion. When you need him most, Al Horford will always be there for you, that's what makes him one of one. Whatever is needed to win, that is what Al Horford is going to do.

Last night? It was this moment

Sure he also had a double-double, but nothing Al did on the floor was bigger than that shot. A beautiful left handed pass from Tatum, I love that Horford didn't hesitate even for a breath. He knew his role in that spot was to take that open 3 with confidence, and it was as pure as pure gets. 

To me, this is your classic reward from the Basketball Gods for playing the right way. Tatum didn't force his offense and try to be the hero by scoring in the final minutes of OT. He made the right play. He trusted his teammates to come through and they responded.

- The Sam Hauser make was the exact same thing. Here's a guy who was missing WIDE THE FUCK OPEN 3s all night. Just nowhere close on anything which considering who Sam Hauser is, was rather annoying. 

But when it was time to make the big one?

Same exact shit here. Final 2 minutes of regulation, Tatum with the aggressive drive and another BEAUTIFUL pass to the corner three to a shooter who takes the shot without hesitation and is as pure as pure gets.

Tatum easily could have tried to force that play at the rim and try and finish over two guys. Instead, he made the right play. He trusted his teammate to come through in a big spot, and the Basketball Gods rewarded him. 

- I'm just noticing. That's all. 

The Bad

- I don't think we've ever seen the Celts start a game worse than what we had last night. I think they missed their first 7 shots (could be worse, I kind of blacked out), they provided absolutely zero defensive resistance, they were careless with the basketball, and before you knew it they were down double digits. You look at the box score and see they only lost the quarter by 4 points, but make no mistake, their first 6 minutes were about as bad as bad gets. 

It literally took them over half a quarter to score more than 2 points. 

So what was the deal? Well, it once again looked like the Celts weren't ready to handle physical ball pressure. Listen, the book it out. With no Jaylen/KP in the lineup, teams are going to be physical as shit and really get into the Celts airspace. The Pacers did it, the Warriors did it, and the Nets did it last night. It's a little concerning that the Celts still seem to struggle with this and shouldn't be expecting every team to do it, but you could tell last night it had them out of wack. Almost like they were punched first and then were in some sort of daze. 

We also saw a slow start against GS, so I'd really appreciate it if the Celts outside of Tatum could figure out how to start these games well.

- Is it me or does it feel like Tatum misses a shit ton of technical FTs? I know this is a thing where your best player takes them by default, but it may be time to let Derrick or Payton take them if they are on the court. 

- Outside of his defense in the closing moments, I was not very impressed with Tatum's defensive effort for about 95% of this game. Way too flat-footed, always a step slow on drives, it was pretty clear he wasn't locked in. When you compare his final possession defense to stuff like this

There's a reason why Tatum admitted in his postgame interview that his defense was dogshit and he didn't snap out of it until Joe challenged him in a timeout to stop defending like an asshole and actually lock in. 

It may not be fair, but Tatum has to show up on both ends of the floor every night. That's what makes him elite. I know it's November and he was probably coasting to some degree, but when you do that, you're playing with fire. It's so apparent when he's giving a shit defensively/on the glass, and when he does, the Celtics win. It's as simple as that.

- Just a complete ass kicking on the boards. The Celts aren't going to win a lot of games they get outrebounded 51-39, and once again offensive rebounding was an issue. Another game of 12 OREB which led to 16 2nd chance points, more late game opponent OREB into points, the rebounding on this team has to be figured out. It cannot just be Queta and Tatum and we're not going to ask Al Horford at 38 years old to be the best rebounder. It instead has to be a collective effort to box out and be aggressive, especially in the biggest moments.

- We're at the point where Xavier Tillman may not be playable. Joe gave it a look for 5 minute to open the game and we didn't see him again, and it was the right decision. If he's not going to be able to make open 3s, the spacing on offense gets fucked. Defensively he looks a step slow still, and at that point just play one big. 

I'll also say the same thing with Walsh. He has to become a somewhat consistent threat on open 3s. If he doesn't take them, it hurts the spacing. If he can't make the ones he does take, it hurts the spacing. 

- I'm not going to react to Jrue's current 0-10 streak from deep, nor am I going to overreact to Derrick's 1-6 and questionable shot selection last night. I won't say either were good, but I'm not going to pay them much attention….yet. Overall they played well, Jrue offensively and Derrick defensively, and that's what I care more about.

But it'd be sweet if they got back to hitting their clean looks.

- In high leverage situations, you need to take care of the basketball. If we're to tell the truth and be objective, we have to mention how Tatum was once again pretty careless with the basketball in high leverage situations at the end of regulation. Possessions are so valuable in those moments, he did fall victim to a bit of CTE ball which is an issue. It didn't cost them last night, but it will down the road. He's the best player, he's going to have the ball in those moments, he can't have those mental errors.

The Ugly

- Where else would we put the 14-53 from deep? This wasn't a game where the Celts did nothing but take bad 3 and the volume was an issue. The issue was simply they couldn't make shit.

Celts were just 4-14 on open 3PA (28.6%) and 10-31 on wide open 3PA (32.3%). 

I'm not a huge math guy, but 14-48 (29%) on clean looks doesn't seem all that great. Do you know what a prayer it is to get that type of shooting performance from this team? This should be an automatic loss, which is what makes the win that much more impressive. You had lifetime 40% three point shooters missing wide open 3 after wide open 3 and yet the Celts still held on. Insane. 

- Another game another classic instance of Jayson Tatum getting fouled, the ref missing the call, Tatum telling the ref he missed the call, and then the ref double downing on his error by giving Tatum a tech. This bullshit really is every game, you almost have to respect it. 

Look, winning ugly is still winning, and there are going to be moments over the course of 82 where you're not blowing everyone out. Win close, win while shooting like shit, you need to check those boxes as you work your way up the mountain. The Celts once again stopped the bleeding after a loss which is all that truly matters, and now we turn the page to what should be a motivated MIL team tomorrow night. If there could be a time to snap out of this shooting funk, I vote that game.