Magic (16-8) at Celtics (19-5) Game #25 12/17/23

[Yuckabuck33]

I liked that the Celtics responded to physical play with physical play of their own. Showing some toughness.

[Silas]

Cs are rolling....

[Phantom255x]

Obviously another half to go but I’m loving this stretch from the Celtics since the IST. We went in thinking it’d be a tough 8-game stretch coming up and so far they are 3-0 (including a win while severely undermanned) against good opponents. With another good half, could become 4-0

The kind of attitude and execution a team with championship aspirations should have.

Keep it going

[blink]

that was  a foul on Banchero he shoved off on JB
what a joke

[liam]

These refs are puke!

[Neurotic Guy]

JB seems to be embracing the assist game. He’s making the right plays. Great to see.

Yes

[Silas]

JB seems to be embracing the assist game. He’s making the right plays. Great to see.

Yes

4 assists along with 4 rebs, 1 stl,1blk and 0 turnovers.

[Atzar]

There’s a limit to how long you can play like Banchero is playing before you just run out of gas.  He’s playing extremely high effort for his points.  I’m fine with him doing everything by himself.

Good half of ball.  Brown and Holiday were excellent.

[jpotter33]

Am I the only one who thinks Jaylen has been playing better than Tatum lately? Maybe my expectations for jayson are higher but idk

I do think expectations for JT are so sky high that they're skewing his play this year. In particular, even with how well he played last year I think people expected yet another leap this year, without considering how his numbers would be impacted by the additions of both KP and Jrue.

I mean, JT is averaging 27.5 pts, 8.8 rebs, 4.2 asts, and 1.0 stls per game on 48.7% fg% on the best team in the league. Those are MVP-level stats yet again this year - particularly when considering team record and the amount of firepower we have offensively - yet the prevailing opinion is that he's not played quite as well as he can so far this year.

So I do think really lofty expectations are definitely impacting how Tatum is playing, despite him playing very, very well so far, as highlighted by his Eastern Conference Player of the Month Award.

(But all that said - that's not to take away from JB either. He's been playing some of his best basketball during this homestand, and it goes way beyond his individual scoring and more into his much better team play.)

[liam]

Banchero with 0 fouls. LOL

[SCeltic34]

Franz Wagner is struggling to create good shots for himself with JB on him in this game and the last game.  JB's speed is giving him problems.  Tatum guarded him well too.

[liam]

Am I the only one who thinks Jaylen has been playing better than Tatum lately? Maybe my expectations for jayson are higher but idk

I do think expectations for JT are so sky high that they're skewing his play this year. In particular, even with how well he played last year I think people expected yet another leap this year, without considering how his numbers would be impacted by the additions of both KP and Jrue.

I mean, JT is averaging 27.5 pts, 8.8 rebs, 4.2 asts, and 1.0 stls per game on 48.7% fg% on the best team in the league. Those are MVP-level stats yet again this year - particularly when considering team record and the amount of firepower we have offensively - yet the prevailing opinion is that he's not played quite as well as he can so far this year.

So I do think really lofty expectations are definitely impacting how Tatum is playing, despite him playing very, very well so far, as highlighted by his Eastern Conference Player of the Month Award.

(But all that said - that's not to take away from JB either. He's been playing some of his best basketball during this homestand, and it goes way beyond his individual scoring and more into his much better team play.)

We don't need Tatum to dominate to win this year like we did last year. The refs are also treating Tatum like a rookie this year.

[keevsnick]

Am I the only one who thinks Jaylen has been playing better than Tatum lately? Maybe my expectations for jayson are higher but idk

I do think expectations for JT are so sky high that they're skewing his play this year. In particular, even with how well he played last year I think people expected yet another leap this year, without considering how his numbers would be impacted by the additions of both KP and Jrue.

I mean, JT is averaging 27.5 pts, 8.8 rebs, 4.2 asts, and 1.0 stls per game on 48.7% fg% on the best team in the league. Those are MVP-level stats yet again this year - particularly when considering team record and the amount of firepower we have offensively - yet the prevailing opinion is that he's not played quite as well as he can so far this year.

So I do think really lofty expectations are definitely impacting how Tatum is playing, despite him playing very, very well so far, as highlighted by his Eastern Conference Player of the Month Award.

(But all that said - that's not to take away from JB either. He's been playing some of his best basketball during this homestand, and it goes way beyond his individual scoring and more into his much better team play.)

Also: Who cars who's playing better? It does not matter. All that matters is what they do as a team. The c's have both guys, we don't need to make everything a Tatum vs Brown thing.

[keevsnick]

Since the 0 assist Pacers games Brown has 21 assists to 9 turnovers in 4.5 games.

[SCeltic34]

I just realized we don't play the Magic again after this game, unless we meet them in the playoffs.  Let's get it