Watching The Celtics Win Despite Playing Like Absolute Shit (Again) Is Both Encouraging Extremely Infuriating All At The Same Time

Brian Babineau. Getty Images.

One thing you should never, ever do is apologize for wins. Big wins, close wins, wins over elite teams, wins over very bad teams, they all count the same. The goal of a regular season is to stack as many of those little green Ws as you can and avoid as many red Ls as possible on your schedule. Over the course of 82 games those Ws are going to come a variety of ways, so you NEVER apologize for however your favorite team is able to achieve it.

What you also should never do is try and make a win actually be a loss. That is incorrect. By definition, a win is actually the exact opposite of a loss. I saw a lot of chatter after this most recent disaster performance that resulted in a win that things actually felt like a loss. That sure the Celts may have "won" but in reality, they actually "lost" given how close it was and the quality of the opponent.

Nope. Sorry. You did not witness a loss, as much as the doomers of the world will want you to believe. 

What you witnessed was a dogshit win, and there's a difference. It's very rare that this team pulls off the "dogshit win" or winning ugly as some may say. As you'll learn today, the Celts did pretty much everything you should not do on a basketball court if your goal is to win, but they found a way to lock in just enough to come out of it on the right side of the win column. It's not pretty or how they should be or need to be playing, but a win is a win is a win. Given how they are collectively playing right now, you should not thumb your nose up at any win right now. 

We are in the part of the season where the Celts need to get back to stacking Ws, and frankly, I don't give a shit about how they do it. This is not some sort of unproven team that needs to use the regular season as a test run of what's possible come the Spring. Their goal is simple. 

1. Be as healthy as possible

2. Win as many games as possible to secure the highest possible seed

That's it. You don't get an extra boost in the standings for blowing out a bad team and you don't lose ground in the standings for playing like gigantic assholes yet still somehow finding a way to win. What matters is finishing with at least 1 more point than your opponent. Period. 

Having said ALL THAT, let's also be very clear about something

This team needs to cut the bullshit and get out of this collective rut. I should not be having heart palpitations because this team cannot get separation over an 8 win team. And sure maybe that's just a "me problem" but also not really. The Celtics have been playing trash basketball for weeks now. It's OK to say that, we're all watching it! It's not as if I'm making anything up by suggesting that, and this game was another example of it. Good enough to win last night sure, but nowhere close to the standard this team has established for themselves. Against any other team with a pulse, I feel confident in suggesting the Celts get run out of the gym given the quality of execution we witnessed last night.

So that leaves you in a weird place, right? Happy to see a W, but also very annoyed with the quality of basketball being displayed for over a month now. I suppose the bright side of the argument is 28-11 while playing like this is pretty damn impressive, but also…..what the hell. Stop playing like dickheads. Stop missing every shot you take. Stop playing with zero resistance defensively. Stop turning the ball over. Stop letting teams feel confident, especially on your home floor. 

Alright, I think you get the idea. Let's dive in.

The Good

- How many times during a Celts game do you sit there and thank the Basketball Gods for bringing us Jayson Tatum? I'm probably averaging around 5 times a quarter. It's just such a blessing to have this caliber of player in our lives and for the foreseeable future. With no Herb Jones available, this was the exact matchup where Tatum needed to have a monster scoring night coming off another home loss, and just like he always does, he delivered

We'll get to his FTs in a minute, but overall? Not too many complaints when it comes to Tatum's performance. You'll see he finished with just 1 AST, but that again doesn't tell the full story. He finished with 8 potential assists, and we are currently experiencing a phenomenon right now where every single Celtic refuses to make a jumper coming off a Tatum pass. Look at the production over these last 4 games! Just 13 AST on a team-leading 34 potential assists. I cannot ever remember this team missing so many wide open looks coming via Tatum gravity/passing, but it's been brick city lately. Given how much Tatum has the ball and how many looks he creates for his teammates, partially why things look so weird right now is the simple fact that nobody can make a shot off a Tatum pass.

Tatum's 30 FGA in this game was his highest total of the season (14-30, 46.7%), and I thought his shot distribution was great. It's not as if he was settling for a ton of 3s, it was the perfect mix of inside/outside/midrange attempts

You could even make the case that had he not smoked a couple of bunnies at the rim, things look even better. 

There's been a lot of complaints recently when it comes to Tatum that everyone just ignores him and that Joe is a moron for how he's used. I never really understood that because this isn't exactly the first year of this system. Sometimes Tatum just doesn't take it upon himself to be aggressive, especially when it comes to his shot attempts. That can be both a good and bad thing depending on what the game needs on any given night, and last night they desperately needed his offense. So what did he do? He shot the ball.

Tatum led the team with 2nd half FGA (17), and made 9 shots including a very big 4-7 in the 4th quarter and I'd say nothing was really forced. This is sort of the entire point. Sometimes, Tatum has to take over with his shooting like in this game. Other times, his impact comes via drawing defenders and creating for others. Both are OK! Both are good! Both lead to winning! 

This was also Tatum's 3rd double/double in his last 4 games, and as we know, he remains the best rebounding wing in basketball. Find me another wing that consistently rebounds (and finishes) like a center, you can't. 

Sometimes in a game like this where you are on the verge of without a doubt the most embarrassing loss of the year, you need your best player to shut the door. Next time, it'd be nice if you could just also make your FTs with 6 seconds left, but I'll take 38/11 with a big 4th quarter to secure the win. Again, we do not apologize for winning.

- I don't really know what to make of KP yet. We're still in the "give him time" portion of his season, and on one hand, he's now pulled off 3 straight double/doubles, which is good

The more he plays, the more we're starting to see that devastating combination of insane rim protection combined with consistent outside shooting with some elite post up offense mixed in. 

At the same time, defensively he still looks a little bit rough, especially in space, so the question becomes how much is that regression and how much is that game shape/being in rhythm? It's probably a combination of both.

Efficiency wise, it wasn't the best KP night, just 7-19 (3-9), but given how important it is that he see the ball go in and start to feel like his old self shooting, I can live with it right now. He needs the reps. He had the same amount of OREBs as the Pelicans did as a team, so at least he was still able to find a way to make an impact despite his shooting issues. That, is the value of having a giant 7'3 dude on the court, especially during a time where no Celtic can shoot the ball. Those offensive rebounds/putbacks were huge, and being active on the glass and finding extra possessions will always be a valuable component of winning basketball. 

At the end of the day, it's clear that KP mostly needs a consistent stretch of being available. The sad news is that's becoming an impossible task at this point, but man what I would give for like a 10 consecutive game played stretch (with B2B resting). I think we'd all be surprised how much better his shooting looks with that type of run.

- The Celts now move to 6-0 when Jaylen has at least 7 assists, and the way he was passing the basketball in this game very much moved me. These are reads and passes that he was not making in his younger years that now feel more like the standard and not the exception.

For a guy that only took 5 FGA in the first half, it was good to see Jaylen play within the offense and create for others. There's a reason he currently has the highest AST% of his career this season (21%) and it's plays like this. What used to be forced shots in traffic are now turning into beautiful dimes for a dunk. That doesn't mean he's perfect with the ball, we saw some brutal turnovers via his dribbling/being doubled, but in terms of his passing? We're watching a big time leap from Jaylen, which is fantastic. 

The more teams feel like they can load up on Jaylen, the more important it is that he continues to read defenses like this and put his teammates in easy positions to score. He's getting better and better at understanding the situation and what the right basketball play is in these moments, and the results speak for themselves. For all those out there crying that Jaylen runs the offense too much or has the ball too much, shit like this is what you use the regular season for. Reps with that type of responsibility is important for when the games truly matter, and I struggle to understand why that's hard for some to grasp.

The Jaylen + bench lineup in this game and the success they had together was a huge contributing factor to this win, because it allowed the Celts to survive the non-Tatum minutes. Anytime you do that, it's a win.

- I cannot stress enough how great it feels to see Al Horford getting back to making his open corner 3s. Everyone knows how important the safety valve 3PA is, and so far in the month of January Al is shooting 40% from deep. He's 8 for his last 17 over the last 4 games, and hopefully this is a sign that the collective slump is coming to an end. Considering he shot 28.6% from deep in December, him seeing the ball go in is going to do wonders for his confidence.

I also love back to back games of just 23 minutes for Al. The Celts need to start figuring out how to not rely so much on Al in his minutes, and if he's only going to play around 20 or so minutes, he has to make his open looks. He finished 3-4 from deep last night, and every single one was massive. 

- Along those same lines, it was also nice to see the bench not be a complete zero in terms of their production. That was a huge issue against SAC in that terrible loss, and they as a group responded with 33 points and 7 3PM. This all coming with Hauser playing just 9 minutes too.

This was the group that fucked things up to end the 3rd/start the 4th against the Kings, and playing at home there's really no excuse for that group to be a collective negative on the floor. Between Prithard/Hauser and  Al's age, the defense can be too spotty to have shifts where nobody makes a shot, and this was an example of what things can look like when that group doesn''t all throw up a collective egg. 

The Bad

- You can probably count the times we've had back to back tough showings for the Stock Exchange on one hand, but so far that's what we're getting over these last two games from Jrue/Derrick. Just not good enough on either end.

Offensively, a tough 4-14 (1-9). Derrick is something insane like 0 for his last 10 from deep. Defensively, we're not exactly seeing the perimeter resistance that I would deem good enough. Game after game we're seeing an opposing guard go off, especially from the perimeter. Sometimes that means open 3s, sometimes it means zero resistance as they get into the paint and finish at the rim.

Call it coasting, call it luck, call it whatever you want. I'm going to call it not good enough. When those two are locked in on both ends of the floor, we know what a difference it makes. When they aren't, you get a stretch of play like we're currently experiencing. 

What made the Celts defense so incredible was the fact that you couldn't attack anyone on the perimeter and they were in your asshole whenever you tried to attempt a 3PA. Would you say that's what we're getting right now? I would not.

We're also seeing bizarre mental errors. From an inability to throw an entry pass (Jrue), to Derrick White not being able to catch an inbounds pass

or throw an inbounds pass within 5 seconds, I really hope everything is OK with Derrick off the court. These mental lapses are NOT NORMAL for him, so I wonder if his head is anywhere else at the moment. Is it all just due to his shooting slump that's starting to impact everything else? 

I've always felt like Derrick is a decent barometer for this team. When he's in a rut, everyone feels like they're in a rut. When he's normal, I feel like everyone else is normal. 

- Every single game we're seeing the Celts play is coming with their opponent outshooting them from 3. That, is a problem. Last night, it was 17-13. Teams putting up 50% from deep in a half as the worst shooting team in the NBA. Then on the other side, the Celts can't make an open look to save their lives. It makes no goddamn sense.

Whenever this happens, you always hear the Celts are just not guarding. In reality, we're in some sort of voodoo situation where even the contested 3PA are going in. I watched a 26% 3PT shooting in Dejounte Murray make at least 3 contested 3PA in this win. It's all very annoying.

The numbers, are as bad as you think. 

Over their last 7 games, opponents are shooting 38.8% vs BOS. That's good for 25th in the NBA in terms of opponent defense, The 15.1 3PM they're allowing right now is good for 27th. If you narrow things down to their last 4, you're looking at 28th/27th in those categories.

To put it simply, the Celts have been among the worst teams in the league at limiting their opponent 3P production, all while during a team they are currently unable to make an open 3 to save their lives

That's why things feel so off. The Celts are getting Mazzulla Ball'd every night, which is both ironic and very annoying. 

The Ugly

- Despite ending in a win, do not convince yourself that the Celts were good in the 4th quarter of this game. They weren't. It was another game that was close entering the final frame which we then watched the Celts play absolute dogshit defense. This time, it was their 2nd highest points allowed quarter of the game, and once again we saw an opponent start the frame 8-12 from the floor.

This is what I consider the Celts biggest problem so far this season, they simply cannot continue to throw up final quarters like this, especially at home against a terrible team

Remember, if CJ McCollum's floater drops and the Celts lose this game, something that happens 99.9% of the time, all you have to do is look to their 4th quarter production on both ends of the floor.

Watching the Celtics smoke point blank bucket after point blank bucket only to see them give up a 3 or an AND1 on the other end was so infuriating. It's the clearest example of how you know this team is in a rut. All I am asking for is for this team to be normal. Just don't be a complete disaster on either end and none of this is a problem. How is it so hard for them to do that right now?

- Look, he was awesome, but come on. Jayson Tatum cannot brick 2 FTs with 13 seconds left up 3 points. That, should be the game ending FTs. Instead, he bricked them both (his only misses of the night) and it gave us all that terrifying ending. Between those misses and the Derrick 5 second call, I don't even know what to say. The Celts were doing EVERYTHING in their power to lose that game last night, and I have zero idea why they were spared by the Basketball Gods.

Your best player stepping to the line to seal the game on a night he was awesome should be automatic. At worst, you go 1 for 2 and make it a 4 point game. That's the BARE MINIMUM in that situation. To miss them both? Disgusting.

But as I said, a win is a win is a win. At the end of the day, winning is what matters. But would it kill this team to stop playing the worst basketball in the history of the sport? Maybe play a full 48 minutes on both ends of the floor? You know, play championship caliber basketball?

We know they can do it, we've seen it. I sure would like to see it again.