The Only Thing That Matters Now For The Rest Of The Celtics Season Is The Health Of Jayson Tatum's Ankle

Thearon W. Henderson. Getty Images.

One would think that going on the road, playing on the second night of a back to back and winning that game by nearly 20 points would have someone feeling pretty good this morning right? Especially when that win made it now 6 in a row and 11 of the last 12. You should be excited right?

Wrong. Well, sort of.

On the one hand, I am very pleased with how the Celts played last night. Winning in that spot is certainly not easy, but then again, considering the 2024-25 Celts have the 3rd best road differential in all of NBA history (+9.72), combined with the best road record in the NBA, perhaps for them it is.

But on the other hand, the only thing I care about for pretty much the rest of the season is the health of Jayson Tatum. That's all that matters. The wins mean nothing, any loss they may have over the final 10 games means nothing, finishing 7-3 so they can snag a 60 win title defense season means nothing.

The only thing that matters is making sure that Jayson Tatum's ankle is 1000000000000000000000% healthy for the postseason. Initial reports are good, but who the fuck knows. I was once told KG's knee was no big deal, so forgive me for still being a little on edge until we actually see what he looks like on the floor, whenever that may be.

Last night was a quick reminder that as dominant as the Celts can look at any moment of a game, you're only one play away from disaster. This is true of any team with title hopes entering the postseason really. It's why this part of the NBA calendar is so tricky to navigate. You have to play, but at the same time, you don't want any of your good players to play because one reckless closeout and your entire season could change before the playoffs even start. The only goal is to get through this final stretch healthy, and I do wonder if what happened with Tatum was enough to reinforce to the team why being cautious down the stretch is the way to go. Sit guys, keep the minutes low, all of it. 

So while the Tatum part of last night sucked, there were still some bright spots that deserve some mention. Plus, it's a great way to trick your brain into not thinking about Tatum's injury. Let's talk about it.

The Good

- There are a lot of annoying parts of Tatum's injury, but somewhere on the list is the fact that it robbed us of another Tatum masterclass. He had 25/7/8 in just 26 minutes on the court, which leads you to believe we were definitely on pace to get a back to back 30/9/9 game, which is something we basically have never seen before in Celtics history

For the second game in a row, Tatum was a complete maestro on the court. Whereas in the Blazers' win, he dominated every aspect of the game while shooting poorly, last night was the opposite. He dominated every aspect of the game while also being efficient (8-15, 5-9). We're currently at the part of Jayson Tatum's season where he turns into Basketball Jesus and prepares for another deep playoff run, and during this stretch, you could argue he's been playing some of his best basketball of the entire season

When you watch Tatum play, he looks like a player who has all the answers to the test. Whatever scheme or defense an opponent throws at him, Tatum immediately identifies the solution as to how to break it and then executes it to perfection. Sometimes that means scoring himself, sometimes that means creating for others, sometimes it means hockey assists etc. In terms of Tatum's development, this season more than any other has shown me that Tatum has taken a mental leap. The way he sees the game is lightyears better than, say, 3 years ago, and that guy was already really fucking good at it. That's what experience gives you. The same way LeBron/KD/Steph etc have counters to everything and never seem like they can be schemed for? 

That's this version of Jayson Tatum.

Whatever you try, he's seen it and beaten it already. The way he understands his teammates and how he elevates everyone around him is what gives him the advantage. For as long as Jayson Tatum is on the floor, the Celtics have the advantage. Sorry if that offends, but that's the truth and it's why he's so fucking important. 

- With Sam Hauser getting the night off, that meant the Celts' bench was only going to have one of their shooters available. When that happens, it becomes extremely important that Payton Pritchard show up and carry the load, and even more so once Tatum went down.

You'll never believe this, but Payton Pritchard showed up and carried the load, like he so often does

Last night marked Payton Pritchard's 21st game of the season with at least 20 points while coming off the bench. That number leads the entire NBA. The next closest? De'Andre Hunter with 18.

His C&S 3PA from about 29-30ft is such a weapon, it prevents the defense from ever having even a second to relax. Everyone is locked in and watching Tatum dribble the ball, he reads it perfectly and throws a bullet pass to Pritchard who is sitting right above the break and he lets that shit go without a moment of hesitation. Considering Pritchard is shooting 45.8% on C&S 3PA this season, I'd say that's a pretty good option!

It's partially why I believe that C&S 3PA from the wing is the 2nd most important shot in the Celtics' entire offensive ecosystem. Only Tatum's pull up 3PA is more important. Guys like Pritchard, White, KP, and Hauser all feast off this play, and it's what helps maintain their spacing while also breaking the spirit of their opponent. You know they don't want to guard out 30ft from the rim, but if they don't, that's going to be a 3PM, and now the avalanche has started. 

- Look, I fully accept and understand that March basketball is weird. You have to take the games and the standout performances with a grain of salt because this is the time of year where weird shit happens. All across the league, you see guys going crazy during this month who were nowhere near that level for the entire season, so do keep that in mind.

At the same time, the more and more we see Baylor Scheierman see the floor, the more and more I'm starting to allow some extremely dangerous thoughts to enter my brain. I can't help it. I'm seeing a guy that looks like he's well on his way to being a playable NBA player, and at this point of his career, that's all I'm really asking for

At what point do we say these final 10 games mean nothing so it's time to give Baylor Scheierman the keys and let him cook? It's obvious Joe is starting to trust him more and is rewarding Baylor for his strong play in his limited appearances, and considering how important it is that Brad ends up hitting on some of these end of bench picks, I now not only want Baylor on the floor at all times, I want the ball in his hands!

There's just something about the pace that he plays with that I find extremely interesting. The three point shooting is the primary reason he's on the floor, but the reality is that Baylor has been delivering in every aspect of the game since he got the call. His rebounding is great, defensively, he's holding up probably better than most expected, even if there are some possessions against the super quick guys that he had issues with, like some LaVine drives. 

But his hustle? That's real. Sometimes, you can create your own good fortune simply by playing hard, and time and time again, we see the Basketball Gods reward Baylor for his energy and effort. Giving extra effort to force another possession only for that possession to end in a Baylor 3PM is exactly what I'm talking about. Not giving up on the play and fighting for a steal, which turns into an incredible behind the back assist. This is the Basketball Gods smiling down on Baylor and rewarding him for playing winning basketball.

Now, don't be stupid with it. This does not mean Baylor is ready for playoff minutes or is ready to pass anyone over in the playoff rotation. What this means is that Baylor has earned the right to play more NBA March basketball to close out the regular season. It means you can maybe be extra cautious with Tatum's ankle and give him an additional game or two to recover. 

- Yesterday was a day that ends in "Y" which means that as expected, Luke Kornet was awesome in his reserve minutes. Nothing flashy, nothing special, just a bring your lunch pail to work kind of performance from the best back up center in the NBA

No Al Horford no problem, Luke's got you covered. He finished 6-7 from the floor, of his 8 REB half of them were on the offensive glass, his rim protection was solid as he made sure to stay down on every DeRozan drive and not bite on his pump fakes, and he barely fouled. 

If you want to talk about a player who is playing well who WILL see playoff rotation minutes, then Kornet is your guy. He's been tremendous and he's turned himself into one of the most consistent players on the entire roster. Every single night I know what Luke Kornet is going to bring, and there's value in that, especially as a reserve big. I have no idea what his market price is at this point, but it sure as shit isn't the league minimum. I could make the case that Kornet could be the starting center on the majority of the teams in the league, yet here he's the 3rd center who LOVES being a Celtic. 

Pay the man whatever it takes and let's keep this thing going, especially with how uncertain the frontcourt situation might be after this year.

- For all the crying about how the Celtics shoot too many 3s (I cannot believe there are morons who still do this btw), I'd just like to remind you the Celts just went out West and swept a B2B by taking 100 3PA in 2 games. They finished 42-100 and won both with ease. 

It's almost like, when the team plays the style that has made them the most dominant team in the NBA over the last 3 years…..they win? Who could have seen this coming? Oh, that's right. Anyone with two eyes and a working brain. 

Since the trade deadline, the Celts have the 2nd best record in the NBA. What changed? They got back to playing Mazzulla Ball. Ball movement, player movement, shooting with confidence, not trading 3s for 2s etc. Celts have averaged 47.5 3PA over this stretch, are making 18 (37.9%), which just so happens to be the highest percentage of any team taking at least 40 3PA a game  (there are 10).

No matter who is available, Mazzulla Ball works. It wins. That's why we are here. For some to still be pushing back on it makes no goddamn sense.

- If you find yourself wondering if Joe Mazzulla can coach, I'd advise you to watch the defense of last night's 4th quarter. With the Maine Celtics on the floor and no Tatum or Brown, Joe had that group defending their dicks off. The Celts won another 4th quarter, this time without their two best players, and they allowed just 17 points on 33/14% splits while causing 3 TOs. 

I saw a stat out there that last night was also the 13th straight game the Celts have entered the 4th quarter without trailing. That's pretty fucking impressive given the lineup inconsistency during that stretch, and if you can tell me that this team can find a way to be average in the 4th and not the worst 4th quarter team on planet earth like they have been all year……well that changes things a little bit.

- No walking boot, good spirits, let us continue to pray

The Bad

- Let me begin by saying I do not think Sabonis intentionally hurt Tatum on that play. I do not think he was closing out and he said to himself

"OK Domas, go for the feet! This is your chance!"

That's insane. Whenever plays like this come up, it becomes a debate over if something was "dirty" or not. For me, there's a clear distinction between "dirty" and "reckless". Shit that Draymond Green does, that's dirty. There's real intention behind his actions. Stuff that guys like Sabonis or Giannis do are more "reckless" to me. They don't have the intention to hurt or injure someone, but they are playing a reckless style. Think Aaron Nesmith. Is he dirty? Not to me. But he's reckless as shit given how hard he plays. 

So when you see the closeout by Sabonis, I don't think there was ill intent here, it was just a reckless play

My issue is more with the league than the player. This was the second consecutive game Jayson Tatum had someone land in his landing space during a 3PA. It literally happened against the Blazers the night before, and other was no review, no flagrant, nothing.

The NBA has done NOTHING to protect guys like Tatum and Steph, two players who always seem to have this shit happen to them. How is it possible that two plays that were the exact same, only one had a review for the flagrant? Not only that, they only reviewed it because he got hurt!

So to me, this isn't a Sabonis issue, this is a NBA officials issue. Stop me if you've heard that before. What's the point in having a rule to deter defenders from doing this shit, if you never call it? Do they need another Kawhi situation where someone's season ends because of this shit? There's obviously no way to get it out of the game, guys play hard and reckless shit happens. That's basketball. But they also know they can challenge like that and almost never see it get called, especially if you're doing it against Jayson Tatum. We saw it about 4 separate times last playoffs with Tatum too, and not a single one was called for a flagrant.

In a league that rewards some of the worst flops you've ever seen, how this play seems to never be consistently called is beyond me. 

Sabonis apologized after the game which is something not a lot of players do in that spot, so I don't really think there was ill intent on his play. 

But it was reckless, and that's the kind of thing the NBA needs to figure out. Make it an instant ejection or something. It's possible to contest 3s without landing in someone's space. It happens all the time! But until the league makes it hurt to have a play like that, players will continue to do it and disaster is only a moment away.

- We're still dealing with a bit of a ball security issue when it comes to the Jays, with both Jaylen and Tatum finishing with 3 each, and combining for 6 of the 10 total turnovers. Some, you can live with. A moving screen, maybe a travel here and there. Fine. Those happen.

What remains inexcusable to me are the brain dead CTE passes. The ones that have no logical explanation as to why they were thrown. In this game, we had two of those instances

There was a whole lot of CTE basketball being played to open this game, mostly by Jaylen and Jrue. Perhaps that was the rust from sitting the night before, but boy was it gross. 

Why I care about this specifically when it comes to Tatum and Brown is because they are going to be the guys who have the ball the most in the playoffs. When that time comes, both guys have to be WAY better at valuing possession and taking care of the basketball. Being this careless and allowing live ball turnovers is how you lose playoff games. It gives the opposing team easy buckets and loads of confidence while also hurting you in the shot margin battle. The lazy passing we've seen these last few weeks has been annoying as hell, especially when it's coming from the best players.

- I'm not really what Jrue did last night other than get some cardio in, but the 2-11 (1-5) with only 3 AST and 1 rebound in 231 minutes isn't exactly what I was looking for. It is a bit fascinating that Jrue is either one extreme or the other. Either he can't miss from anywhere on the floor, or every shot he takes isn't going to be close to going in. There's no in between, and that's the risk heading into the playoffs.

Last year? Jrue couldn't miss. It was unlike anything in his playoff history to be honest. This year there's been massive regression as a shooter, but there have been some flashes here and there this month that he might be turning a corner. Then we get a game like this. I don't know what's real and what to expect in a few weeks, all we can do is pray it's somewhere in the middle. Maybe he doesn't shoot 60% from the corner again, but perhaps it could be a little bit better than the 20% he's currently shooting. I'll take a measly 36%. Just be average!

- I wouldn't say KP's night was a disaster, but I also wouldn't say it was all that "good' either. Just 5-13 (1-4) and a +6 in his 30 minutes, I would say he was "meh". His first half struggles is sort of what kept SAC attached, and the starting unit still doesn't look all that great together. This is the argument for why these guys should all play, so they can get their chemistry back closer to what we saw last year, because so far it has not been great.

The normal starting 5 has now played 21 games together for a total of 320 minutes. Not a huge sample, but that's the sample. In those games?

ORTG: 113.0

DRTG: 114.7

Net rating: -1.7

That stinks. Tell the truth, it stinks. If we saw those numbers for any other 5 man combination, what would we say? That it stinks. That doesn't mean it will always stink, but for whatever reason, that group has not dominated their minutes anywhere close to what we saw last year

Part of that is the shooting regression from guys like Jrue and Jaylen. Part of that is mixing KP back into things. Part of that is some defensive regression on the perimeter as well. It all adds up to what you see above, which to be clear….stinks.

The Ugly

- 6 in a row, we can move on.

Halfway through the West Coast trip, the Celts sit at a perfect 3-0. Who knows how many games Tatum plays the rest of the way (if any), and with teams like PHX up next who are playing well (W4), it'll be another challenge that will serve as a good test. Can this team beat someone with high end talent who is playing well, all without their best player? If anyone is up to the task it's the Hospital Celtics, but if you'll excuse me I have some more praying to do. I need Tatum's ankle to be fine in a month.