The Celtics Blowout Of The Magic Was Perhaps The Most Cathartic Win Of The Season

Brian Fluharty. Getty Images.

It doesn't happen often, but I think it's fair to say that last night's matchup against the Magic was your classic situation where it certainly wasn't a "must win", but it absolutely was a "can't lose" type of game.

You can't call it a "must win", because it's January. Must wins do not exist in January. But given how the Celtics have been playing for the last month plus, coming off arguably their most embarrassing loss of the season to the 9 win Raptors, last night was very much a game they could not lose. 

That makes sense right? It does to my moron brain, so hopefully that's translating here on the blog. 

I also think it's safe to say everyone needed a performance like that. The players, the coaching staff, Brad, you, me, everyone in the arena, the whole operation. I've truly felt for weeks now that 95% of the problem we're seeing around this team simply comes down to them seeing the ball go in the basket. That's it. The second this shooting slump from hell that infected the entire roster ends, so too will the dogshit play and so too will the losses that should never happen. It's all connected, and frankly I think everyone needed to see and experience this team playing well for a full 48 minutes on both ends of the floor. 

We needed to see them be crisp around the margins, smart with the basketball, and most importantly, execute. 

During this inconsistent stretch, a lot has been made about the Celts approach and their scheme. Despite the extremely large sample size we have (that includes, ya know, a title) that tells us how the Celts play works and works at a high level, any time they lose a game or have a poor stretch, the scheme is to blame.

No, the execution is the problem. Not the approach.

Last night was a great example. Their scheme and approach were no different last night than any other time we've seen the Celts play. The difference? Their execution on both ends was much better and back to their standard. You saw the same drive and kicks against ORL as you did against TOR. Only this time guys made their open looks as opposed to missing every shot they took. You saw the same ball movement into open 3&S 3PA. You saw the same exploitation of mismatches in the post. You saw the same aggressiveness to the rim. The scheme works, but part of the gig is that for it to work, you have to actually execute.

Wouldn't you know, making shots and taking care of the ball helped prevent transition opportunities, and instead allowed the Celts to set their defense. Now that they had seen the ball go in, they weren't hanging their head or defending without energy because they felt defeated by the lack of buckets.

Now, does this mean the dark days of the worst basketball this team has played int he last 3 years is over? You don't answer that with one win or one performance. But in a game that the Celts absolutely had to have, they put up one of their best all around games. That, was a relief.

Let us begin.

The Good

- Lost in all the horrendous looking basketball these last few weeks is the fact that ever since Kristaps Porzingis has returned to the lineup, he continues to get better and better. I think the hope was that as he played his way into shape he would continue to look like the same old KP, and we're getting closer to that guy by the game

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23/4/1 in his 23 minutes on 7-10 (3-5) with a block and some overall solid defense, the reason I have KP at the start of this blog is because I respect accountability. If KP is going to be open and honest to the media and say the things he said (which is completely fine, because he was right), then you need to make sure when you step out on the court that YOUR play lives up the expectations. KP has been without a doubt the most consistent Celtic in terms of offensive production these last few weeks, and we all know how important of a piece he is when it comes to the ceiling of this basketball team.

He is the cheat code. He is what makes them virtually unbeatable. When KP is KP, this team levels up as long as everyone else does their part. That does sort of feel like what we're getting from him recently

I'll take 19/8 on 48/47% splits with 2/6 3PM a night and you should too. So not only are we seeing a good streak of KP availability since his return, the production is right in line with where he needs to be. There are definitely still times he gets destroyed in space, but to me that's more him getting his game shape and timing back than anything else. Maybe some slight normal regression, but definitely still playable. At the rim, he's the same monster he's always been.

Was I absolutely terrified when Wendell Carter Jr chased him down from behind on that fastbreak? Hell yeah. My life flashed before my eyes. I was certain his season was over. I remember as soon as I saw WCJ make contact my eyes immediately went to KP's lower legs to see how he landed. Thank fucking God they avoided disaster there.

In this win, you saw how important the versatility of KP is. Early it was pounding it inside, destroying switches and scoring on smaller players. Then he also mixed in some 26fters which look better and better each game. It was the perfect balance for him and exactly what the offense needed, which in turn helped juice up the crowd, everyone exhaled, and the rest was history.

- As I said, I respect accountability. So when you're coming off a game where your two best players were objectively awful and played with zero energy because they were most likely hungover, the bounce back performance from each guy is very important. Those two set the tone, and they always will.

What we got, was something much more along the lines of their normal standard. Watching a performance like this only reiterates how hungover they much have been against the Raptors, because both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were fantastic in this win

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I loved pretty much every aspect of Tatum's game last night. For starters, he actually defended like he gave a shit. Compare his energy and effort level/aggressiveness last night to TOR and it's night and day. Frankly, I can't believe that was even the same player.

I think what felt different about this Tatum run was now in his lineups where he was paired with the bench, he was the aggressor in terms of who took the shots. When this game first started to turn was in the 2nd quarter, which was started by the Tatum + bench lineup. In that quarter, Tatum played all 12 minutes and took 11 shots, making 7 of them. All of them came in rhythm, when passes were to be made he still made them, but he utilized those bench minutes exactly how they needed to be managed in terms of his shot volume.

When things got to the 4th, it was the same thing. When Tatum started that quarter with the bench, it was once again his opportunity to be aggressive and lead the team in FGA. He still made passes and was involved in the offense like he always is, but what you saw was a much more aggressive Tatum in those possessions. That's not a scheme difference, that's a player decision difference. 

Tatum wasn't "involved" more in the offense. He "didn't have the ball more". He just made more aggressive decisions. That, is ultimately the solution. Aggressive doesn't always have to mean shooting either. It just means playing with purpose. Not settling. Not taking yourself out of plays. Be forceful. When Tatum does that, he's unstoppable.

- Something I think most fans had been praying for was for Joe Mazzulla to at least entertain the idea of going back to last year's sub patterns. You can understand why things had to change to start this year with KP out and Hauser's back issues, but now with everyone back and things clearly needing a shake up, changing the rotations back to something you know works felt like a no brainer.

Given what we saw last night, Joe agreed. 

Tatum subbing at the midway point of the 1st, coming back at around 2 minutes for Jaylen and then him playing the entire 2nd, playing half of the 3rd so he can then start the 4th, that is the way. I think it solves the following issues

1. Has Tatum on the court to start a high leverage quarter. The Celtics have been the worst 4th quarter team in the NBA this year, and Tatum sitting for half of it to start certainly plays a role in that.

2. It helps maximize when Jaylen is usually at his best. Early in the 1st quarter and then in the 3rd quarter. Those are perfect windows of a game to let Jaylen do his thing. 

3. It gets us back to pairings that we know work. Jaylen/KP minutes. Tatum/Derrick minutes etc. To no surprise, guys felt comfortable and started making shots again. 

So much is made about shot volume, a hierarchy and usage, and all this other stuff. When really I don't think those are issues at all. What had to change was simply when all of those things were happening. Their approaches didn't change in either shift, whether it was the starters, Jaylen led units, or Tatum led units. But what changed was the part of the game we experienced each. That's what matters more, not changing how they play.

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- Speaking of Jaylen, he's another guy that had to show some accountability for how horrendous he was against the Raptors. Completely unacceptable level of basketball from anyone, let alone your second best player.

Last night? Much, much better on both ends of the floor as well

20/6/6/3 on 5-12 (1-2) and 9-9 from the FT line in his 32 minutes, this was a much more engaged version of Jaylen. You can tell the change in rotations really helped him as well, and his 15 straight points to close out the 3rd before Tatum returned was beautiful to watch. He led the team in AST, notched his 10th game of the year with 6+ assists, and his leap as a playmaker and how he reads defenses are the keys to unlocking this new level.

From an approach standpoint I think Jaylen also played exactly how the game called for. Early, when other guys where getting it going, he moved the ball and created for others. Then, in the shift without Tatum when it was his turn to get shots up and carry the scoring load, he did. When the starters came back out, he got back to playing however the game needed. Given his career high in AST% (21.7%), Jaylen has been much better in this area this season. His ability to process and read defenses quickly is getting better, his comfort level as a passer is getting better, and all that's missing now is just his efficiency to start to come back.

I'd also like him to start taking 3s again, mostly because I believe in spacing and how important it is for Jaylen offensively. 

But on a night where as one of the leaders of the team you needed to make sure things were handled correctly, I thought Jaylen helped do exactly that.

- It's crazy what things look like when the Celts don't miss every shot they take. Honestly it's been so long since we've seen them have a shooting performance like this, the fact that it came against an elite defenses who specializes in taking away 3s was very funny.

I mean this is a team that hasn't been able to shoot over 30% from three for about a month. They just shot 39% from the floor against the worst defense in the NBA the game prior. So a 52/45% showing with 17 3PM was just what the doctor ordered. Like I said, we ALL needed to see a performance like that.

Suddenly Derrick and Jrue were hitting their open 3s. Hauser had some. Al was making his corner C&S 3PA. Tatu, was making his open C&Ss. I don't think you can underestimate the power of a guy simply seeing the ball go through the basket.

- Sure the Magic didn't have Franz or Suggs, but I'll never thumb my nose up when this defense holds an NBA team in 2024 to under 100 points. Given how they've been defending recently, I'll take that type of production and execution on the defensive end every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

Zero 30 point quarters, only 48 second half points, only 18 4th quarter points. Given how bad the Celts have been the later games get, I was both surprised and relieved to see them actually play a full 48 minutes. See, they are capable! 

The communication felt better, the willingness to fight over screens felt better, the contests felt stronger, it felt like a team that said OK, enough of the bullshit, time to get back to defending like we know we can defend. Making the shots was awesome and all, but we all know nothing really matters if you can't get stops on the other end. 

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Get stops, get wins. It'll be that way until the end of time. 

- 20-22 from the FT line. Considering the Celts have been missing anywhere between 6-9 FTAs a game recently including a horrific 9-18 against TOR, that was certainly a nice thing to see. There's no reason why this team should be hovering around 60% at any point of the season, especially when it's been all their good shooters missing. Tatum, Pritchard, White, Luke etc, all have been bricks lately. You accept Jaylen's struggles, and he went 9-9. Hopefully that's a sign of more to come.

- Turnovers were low (10), and I'd bet there were even fewer live ball turnovers. When the Celts take care of the ball and also make their 3s, you find yourself down 27 points. Only 6 fastbreak points for the Magic because they just weren't given the opportunity through shot making and ball security. Those are the things around the margins that impact the result, and the Celts were pretty buttoned up around the margins (outside of 2nd chance points).

The Bad

- Just because they won by 27 doesn't mean it was perfect. There were plenty of things that I'd describe as not so good. For example, what would we say happened on this possession? 

Clearly a misunderstanding/miscommunication. You could see Jaylen lose his shit screaming "No ice!!" over and over. Not sure what Queta was thinking either, but these are the sloppy miscues that can bury you. 

- I'm not sure what the hell was up with Payton Pritchard, but 4 TOs by him is a very uncharacteristic number. His passing was weirdly off, whether it was the turnover to Hauser in the corner

or his blown swing pass that put White in a tough spot

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or his lazy entry pass to end the first quarter that had Joe Mazzulla bullshit

Just a very weird passing night by Pritchard that we almost never see. He made a couple 3s which was nice, but part of what makes him so valuable is he never does the things like you see above, so that wasn't great.

- Honest question, why are the Celtics the worst entry pass throwing team in the NBA? I legitimately don't understand how it's possible. It's not just the guards who can't seem to do it, even Tatum struggles!

I swear, we get 2-3 of these types of turnovers a game, and that might even be low. We can't throw entry passes to a 7'3 giant who is covered by a point guard? We can't feed Tatum an entry pass when he has someone posted up? What is going on?

The Ugly

- Did anything truly qualify for this section? I dunno, considering this was the best they've played in about a month it's hard really decide if anything is worthy.

Maybe Derrick still feeling kind of cold from deep (2-7)? Only taking 37 3PA is pretty gross and most definitely not sustainable in 2024 when it comes to contending for a title (you'll remember OKC just took 53 3PA against CLE). The whistle in the 2nd quarter where the Celts played 7+ minutes in the bonus and were in a quick 5-0 foul hole wasn't great, but we've come to expect a horrendous whistle. 

So really, just minor things and boy is that a nice change of pace.

The fun part is we get to see just how out of their funk the team is with another game tonight against the Hawks. Another team that will be confident seeing as how they already beat BOS this year, and a much, much better shooting challenge than what the Magic provided. The defense looked great, but it also played a team that cannot hit a 3. That is NOT the case with ATL, so I'm interested in seeing how they respond to that challenge.

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Play to their standard, and things should be just fine.