If The Celtics Game 4 Win Taught Us Anything, It's To Never Underestimate The Heart Of A Champion

Fernando Medina. Getty Images.

Survive and advance. That's the name of the game this time of year. Get through the early rounds as quickly as possible and as healthy as possible, and move on to the next challenge. So far through 4 games of ORL/BOS, the Celts are doing their best to make that a reality. The health part is still up in the air, who knows when we'll see Jrue Holiday again, Tatum's wrist will always be a concern, and Jaylen Brown is clearly banged up with both his knee and dislocated finger. Those things probably aren't changing anytime soon.

That's why the first half of that statement is so important. Get out of these rounds quickly. To do that, winning Game 4 on the road was about as close to a must win as you can have despite being up 2-1 in a series. The best road team on earth and the 2nd best road team in NBA history (fact, not opinion) could not leave Orlando without a win. Not with the opportunity they have this season to get back to the top of the mountain. You have to handle your shit and find a way to win, especially after they let Game 3 fall through their hands. There's a case to be made that the series should have ended last night, but at the end of the day, the task of this trip was to secure a split, and secure a split they did.

Why are 3-1 leads so significant? Well, teams with that lead are 275-13 (95.5%) all time. In the first round, they're 82-3 (96.5%). I can't lie, the psychological difference between 2-2 and 3-1 is ginormous. I know it's just a 1 game difference, but that 1 game is everything. Heading home up 3-1 compared to heading home for a swing Game 5 tied 2-2 isn't even in the same galaxy in terms of how you feel when you're in each position. That's partially why last night was so important. Not just for what it means historically, but what it also means for my general mental well being. 

And while it's important to remember, you do not advance by winning 3 games in a series. It puts you in a great position to advance, but you have to seal the deal. Steph on throats and bury your opponent. Send them to Cancun and be done with them. That, is what the Celtics must now do after taking this commanding 3-1 lead. 

But before we get there, let's first talk about what we saw last night

The Good

- New rule. Every single day, you are to wake up and say a thank you prayer to the Basketball Gods for not only creating Jayson Tatum, but for making him a Boston Celtic. This is non-negotiable. I said my prayers this morning, did you? Because make no mistake, what we witnessed yesterday was a religious experience

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This is a man who was on the road, in a hostile environment, and got MVP chants so loud you could hear them from outer space. I'll remind you, he's doing all of this with one good wrist too. It remains fascinating that so many people continued to be blinded by their hatred for the Celtics that they don't even realize they are witnessing a historic generational player. Not just in Celtics history, but in NBA history

It's why the Magic knew their only chance in this series was if they found a way to injure Tatum and take him out. Because when it comes to having to guard this man on a basketball court, nobody can do it. Not this version. Not NBA Champion Jayson Tatum. This big bad physical elite Magic defense? How would you say they're doing so far?

Tatum vs ORL: 30/12/3.7/1.0 and a +10.3 in his 40 mpg

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An injured Tatum, against the #2 defense in the NBA, is averaging 30/12. Good fucking luck!

In this win, Tatum gave you the full arsenal. We saw him unleash his Dirk fadeaway on numerous occasions which is somewhat of a new wrinkle to his offense, and a shot that, if he can find a way to hit at a respectable cli,p gives the defense even fewer options in how they can try and guard him. When it came time to be aggressive, Tatum was aggressive. His 14 FTA (and 14 FTM) were exactly how you punish an undisciplined defense that can't play without fouling. When it came time to win the game, Jayson Tatum took matters into his own hands and won the game

This was pretty similar to the close we saw Tatum have a few years ago on the road against the Sixers when he basically outscored their entire roster to backpack the Celts to a massive road playoff win. I'm not sure what it is, but whenever Tatum's back is up against the wall he always finds a way. Suddenly he can't miss, he makes every play on both ends, and he reminds the world why he's one of the best basketball players on the planet.

As we know, when Tatum's rebounding is locked in, the Celtics become unbeatable

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Given how important rebounding was going to be in this Game 4 win, to see him once again take on that responsibility and set the tone was a gigantic factor in this win. The Magic didn't have anywhere close to the impact on the offensive glass/2nd chance points like we saw in Game 3, and a lot of that was Tatum (and Brown) making sure they handled the glass. Those are the details around the margins you need to own if you want to come out with a big road win.

As is tradition when it comes to Jayson Tatum, most will ignore what he's doing and say some bullshit about efficiency or whatever. They'll try and cope and pretend none of this happened, because that's what everyone does with Jayson Tatum. Tey are so upset he keeps having games like this that it's easier for them to try and pretend like his entire career hasn't happened. Meanwhile, he just keeps doing it. It doesn't matter where, it doesn't matter against who. We are witnessing one of the greatest playoff performers in history, whether you're ready to accept that reality or not.

- The beauty of this team of course, is that in addition to Jayson Tatum, opposing defense also have to worry about this Jaylen Brown fella, who even despite not being close to 100% is still able to find ways to dominate

A big 22/11/1/2 in his 41 minutes, what we're seeing is the very definition of the Warrior Mindset. While this may be the case for some, it is NOT an act when it comes to Jaylen. The way he's battling while playing hurt is incredible, and in a game like this with a chance to put the Magic on life support, getting great performances from your two best players is what it's all about.

And how about the 9-10 performance from the FT line? Back in March I told you to keep an eye out on Jaylen's FT shooting in 2025. The signs of improvement were there. In this series, Jaylen is shooting 88.9% on 6.8 FTA a game. I can't even believe I just typed those numbers, but it's true. He's been GREAT from the FT line. The fact that both he and Tatum combined to go 23-24 from the line, I mean I might pass out

Giphy Images.

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It's certainly no secret that there are some out there who continue to be extremely weird about Jaylen Brown. For what reason, I have no idea. To see how massive he's been for this team during their last few playoff runs, to see how he's playing now despite dealing with injuries, I don't know how you couldn't love him. He goes to war for this team every single night. He doesn't make excuses and delivers when the team needs him to. It's all exactly what you want in a franchise player.

In this game, after what I would call a pretty gross first half, the way Jaylen came out in the second half was massive. His scoring runs during the 3rd quarter are what kept the Celts afloat while keeping the Magic at an arm's length. In the 4th quarter he didn't try and force things, instead understanding his role and responsibility while Tatum was on a heater. 

There are still things you'd like to see cleaned up as the Celts move forward in the playoffs, things like his ball security and a few too many possessions where he should probably keep the ball moving and then relocate as opposed to being the only one to have the ball for a full 24 seconds, but those are details you can clean up in film sessions. 

But I'd say those few possessions are just the cost of doing business, given everything else Jaylen gives you. I know at the end of the day, this is a guy I want in my foxhole as you go through playoff battles. Jaylen doesn't back down, he does what needs to be done to win. 

- The Game 3 loss was largely attributed to the Celtics being pretty awful in all three of the main playoff problem areas. They turned it over a shit ton, gave up a billion points off those TOs, couldn't rebound and couldn't make a 3PA. When they do all three of those things, it's how they lose a game they had no business losing.

Last night? A complete 180. The Magic finished with just 7 OREB for 14 2nd chance points. They only turned the ball over 10 times, which only led to 8 Magic points. As a reminder, this number was 26 in the Game 3 loss. 

After allowing 42 (of their 95) points off self inflicted wounds in Game 3, the Celts turned around and allowed just 22 last night. There's your game right there folks. It's not a new formula and something that is no different from when the Celts played those MIA series. Against teams that cannot score who play physical defense, as long as you own the glass and take care of ball, they do not have the firepower to hang with you. It's why Game 3 was so annoying, because as we've now seen in ALL 3 wins this series, if the Celtics take care of the ball and make the Magic beat them by executing in the half court, they struggle.

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- I could make the case that this was quietly one of the most Derrick White-esq performances Derrick White has ever had. Nothing crazy, nothing super loud, just an all around solid showing from a guy who seems to do nothing but have solid all around showings

18/7/7 on 7-11 shooting in his 39 minutes, I thought Derrick was great in terms of his ball security (1 TO), he found ways to make timely baskets, especially his 4th quarter 3PM which is starting to become a trend, and then you add in everything he gives you defensively and it was great to see Derrick step up and be really the only guard production on the roster.

With Jrue out and Pritchard giving them 0 in terms of scoring output, Derrick White really needed to have an efficient night like we saw in Game 4. The fact that he was also super active on the glass tells you that Joe definitely made this a point of emphasis for everyone, and it's no surprise that Derrick White went out there and did whatever he could to impact winning.

That's what he does. Whatever the game calls for in that moment, White finds a way to make it happen on a possession-by-possession basis. Given this was the 4th option for the Celts in this game, I'd say that was pretty good.

- Which brings us to the 3rd option in Kristaps Porzingis. I'd say it's pretty hard to play worse than he did in Game 3, where essentially every aspect of his performance was dogshit. He played soft, he rebounded soft, offensively and defensively he did more harm than good, it was all bad.

Like he so often does, KP owned it and took responsibility after the game, vowing to be better. Also like he so often does, he backed that up

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19/5 on 50/50/100% splits is all I think we're looking for. Now let's be clear here, it wasn't perfect. There were still some brutal possessions on both ends of the floor at times, but this was better. The goal was to be better than Game 3, and he was. His two 3PM in the 4th were MASSIVE shots, and while I do have concerns with how he's handling physical defenses, at the end of the day I'm not going to complain on an efficient 19 points from the 3rd option. That's what the role requires, and for a night, KP lived up to it. That's a good thing.

You also have to hope that now that he's finally seen the ball go in, his 3pt shooting will start to come around. Given he hadn't made a single 3PA all series you could say he was due for some, but really what I'd like to see is KP get back to completely abusing switches. That's why he was brought to Boston, and that's something he's struggled with all series long. Perhaps that won't matter against the Knicks should they meet since they don't switch, but it's something KP needs to get back to being elite at should the Celtics make a deep run.

Given how spotty his production has been as a Celtic in the playoffs, it's important that KP start to find some consistency. We cannot be doing the one bad game, one good game dance all through the playoffs. Hopefully a game like this snaps him out of his funk, because when he's right and is producing at his normal level, it raises the Celtics ceiling even higher, and that shit is already high as hell.

- Sam Hauser finally scored in this series. Two 3PM at that! For a while there I was starting to get nervous he was going to go 0-fer in the series, so that was great to see. His defense was also not terrible this time around, and he was a team high +13. Not bad!

- And while the bench only had 6 points off those Hauser 3PM, Payton Pritchard still found ways to impact winning. His individual defense on Paolo was solid, he grabbed a MASSIVE OREB which is what he's done all year, and to be able to have him on the floor and get a positive impact all without him making a shot is a nice development. Eventually he's going to have to you know, make a fucking shot, but in the meantime? I'll take it.

- Finally, we end this section with Al Horford. I don't even know what to say about Al that hasn't been said already. He's perfect

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What he's able to do at 38 makes no fucking sense. We talk so much about LeBron and his longevity, well what about Al? Look at what this man is doing!

When you see Al play this way, it's impossible to not be fired up. Guarding players full court, defending any and every position, rebounding, blocking shots, nobody wants this shit more than Al and when he's locked in everyone follows suit. He's the ultimate winner and frankly I have no idea where this franchise is going to be without him. There is no Al Horford replacement, that guy does not exist. 

The Bad

- The Magic deserve a lot of credit for this, but at some point I'd like to see the Celts have a normal 3P shooting performance. Another disaster going just 9-31 (29%), everything from their efficiency to their volume has been way down this series. On one hand it's great that the Celts are finding ways to win even without making 3s, something that MANY people declared they'd be unable to do, but on the other hand….make your open 3s.

While you won't find a bigger supporter of high 3P volume than me, I did not like at all how the Celts approached this early in the game. Of their 12 first quarter 3PA, I'd say 2-3 were good looks/decisions. Way too many were forced, rushed, and came via isolation as opposed to ball movement. Jaylen had a brutal one early, Tatum as well, it's just not the way to go about it. High volume is fine, as long as you generate it the correct way. Swing the ball, get into the paint and force rotations, things like that. The Magic have done a good job limiting those things, but last night felt like one of the rare times we saw the Celts jack up the 3s just to do it, as opposed to playing the right way and having a possession result in an open 3PA.

It got better in the 2nd half in terms of their approach, even if the efficiency didn't match. For me, their three point shooting will always come down to process over results, and I'd say this game was a mixed bag at best.

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- Isn't it ironic that a team and a fanbase that puffed their chest out all series long about how physical and tough they are, about how they are going to do nothing but muck the game up and all that shit, can't seem to stop crying about fouls?

I mean, this is just sad. What about all that talk about physicality? Mind you, the Magic fouled 3 times with the game over which bumped up the foul and FTA totals. Take those away, and it was 21-17 in terms of fouls, and 26-20 in terms of FTA. You know, against a team that is the worst in the NBA in fouling.

This comes off as a team and a coach that wants to talk about how tough they are, but can't accept reality of what comes when you do nothing but foul. It sums up exactly how Magic fans are also acting during this series. 

"We're so tough! We're physical! Boston is soft!"

"Wahhhhhhhh why are they calling so many fouls?!?! No fair!!"

Just pathetic really. You have Cole Anthony talking crazy every time he's in front of a mic. You have KCP trying to injure the entire roster. They want to be about that life, but then complain when it doesn't work. Very bizarre.

- As I mentioned above, we're still seeing Jaylen be a little too careless with the ball. That back tap turnover in transition is a good example of it. Just give the ball up and get to your spot, limit your chances of being stripped and causing a live ball turnover. He led the team with 4 which was 40% of their team total, and I'd even argue his offensive possessions that resulted in poor quality FGA were basically the same as a turnover. 

A small thing, but an important thing. He needs to live around 2-3 TOs a game, not 4-6.

- Something that's important to keep an eye on is how the Celts have kind of struggled containing drives in this series. Franz/Paolo seem to get wherever they want, especially when attacking KP. The lateral quickness has been an issue for every big outside of Al Horford because he's a God, but the inability to prevent those two from getting to the rim has been a problem all series. Not the best point of attack defense, and then KP hasn't really been there on the back line to protect the rim. 

How many times are we seeing guys finish over him at the rim? Or get him into space and blow by him forcing a rotation? That has to get better as the playoffs go on. It's what made him so good all year, that KP could handle himself in space and at the rim. This series? Not so much

The Ugly

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- I'm still trying to process this possession. How does this even happen

This is the inability to punish switches that I was talking about. I hate everything about this possession really. Everyone standing around watching, KP continuing to force things even though he clearly had lost that possession only to force up a bad shot, it's all gross. We've also seen him have this same issue when attacking Cory Joseph on a switch. Teams are going to be physical with KP in this spot, so he has to figure this shit out ESPECIALLY when going up against a player who is a foot shorter. That should be an automatic bucket about 95% of the time. In this series, I don't think he's scored on a single switch so far.

- At some point, the bench scoring is going to need to show up. Just 6 points last night, Pritchard has been a non factor as a scorer in the last 2 games, the Celts can only rely on their starters so much. You look across the league and contenders are getting legit depth production every night. That stuff matters. The Celts are only playing 8 guys anyway, so they cannot have a world where only 5 of them are producing offensively.

I don't need bench 40 bombs, but I can't have a total of 6 points from the three guys who play.

- What happened to the Tatum/Kornet two man game? Have we seen that once when both guys are on the floor? We saw KP be able to thrive as a rim runner in his early minutes in the first quarter, so where's it with Kornet? That's been such a big part of the Tatum + bench lineups and it's basically disappeared now that we've entered the playoffs. I'd like to see that make a return here shortly.

So here we go. Up 3-1 and a return home for a chance to close this series out and be done with this team. This is the opportunity to not play with your food and earn some rest, which for this team in particular is especially important. Winning 3 games is nice, but the goal remains the same. It's first to 4.

3 down, 13 to go. LFG.