76ers (18-7) at Celtics (17-6) Game #24 12/12/19

[CelticSooner]

So the next game against Philly is on the 2nd night of a B2B with them having two days rest? Screw you NBA 

[keevsnick]

Tatum shoots 5 for 18 is a hard game to win.

Yep, same as last night.

In fairness he did hit two big threes down the stretch.

So he was 5-18 instead of 3-15...

Ya I know he was bad, I'm just saying he made a charge late and that should count for like a little bit. Like a D- instead of an F.

[jambr380]

We murder them with Smart back.

I'm not worried at all - any team that shoots 50% from three has a pretty good chance of winning the game.

Actually, this was a real step forward for Kanter in terms of his role on this team.

Hard loss to take after getting done by Indy, and now walking into the Doncic buzzsaw. Hope Smart's back and has a huge game. Dude is probably licking his lips to match up with Doncic.

Totally agree that Tatum's ISO game is becoming a problem though..

They were missing Horford. Even with my greenest tinted glasses on, you can at best call that a wash. We were also at home.

I understand we were on the 2nd night of a back to back, but perhaps we should be a little less enthused about the Nuggets and Heat wins as both of those teams were also coming off of back to backs.

We simply got outmatched and outhustled in the 4th quarter. Maybe a few bounces go our way and we still pull it out, but there was way more eye rolling happening on my end than I would have preferred.

[SparzWizard]

Horford wasn't playing otherwise it would have been worse for Boston

[Atzar]

We have to be better to beat good teams.  I feel like we’re in a lull here where our defense is giving the other team too many shots that they like, while our good shots are hard to come by.

We rely more on iso ball than we should, IMO.  Yes, all of these guys CAN create their own looks... but when they’re playing together, they don’t have to.  I don’t need these possessions where Kemba dribbles aimlessly for 22 seconds and then hoists a contested three.  That possession would get a different player benched.  Let’s aim for better than that.

We failed this test tonight.  Do better on the next one.

24 games into the season and the C's are slipping in the energy department. The offense is becoming lazy and way to ISO-centric. The biggest culprit is Tatum, he can kill any rhythm the team has single handily.

I agree that Tatum does it too much, but it’s not just him.  Pretty much all of our ball-handlers except for Hayward are too willing to play hero ball.

I’ve seen enough good basketball from this group to know that they can play better.  We just have to see it more consistently. 

[Banner18now!]

As much as I hate Embiid and Philly, I'm more upset about the loss last night.  We looked like complete garbage the entire 4th quarter and there was very little reason to lose that game.

Tonight was a much tougher game, coming off a back to back and playing against a better team than the Pacers.  A win would have been nice but I didn't have strong expectations to come out on top.

When Harris is outplaying Brown and Tatum that bad the Celtics can’t beat Philly. Embiid would rest and Harris would take over. Meantime Tatum was brick city. Kanter and Theis kept the Celtics in the game. If they didn’t play as well as they did this game would have been a blowout.

[CelticSooner]

We have to be better to beat good teams.  I feel like we’re in a lull here where our defense is giving the other team too many shots that they like, while our good shots are hard to come by.

We rely more on iso ball than we should, IMO.  Yes, all of these guys CAN create their own looks... but when they’re playing together, they don’t have to.  I don’t need these possessions where Kemba dribbles aimlessly for 22 seconds and then hoists a contested three.  That possession would get a different player benched.  Let’s aim for better than that.

We failed this test tonight.  Do better on the next one.

24 games into the season and the C's are slipping in the energy department. The offense is becoming lazy and way to ISO-centric. The biggest culprit is Tatum, he can kill any rhythm the team has single handily.

I agree that Tatum does it too much, but it’s not just him.  Pretty much all of our ball-handlers except for Hayward are too willing to play hero ball.

I’ve seen enough good basketball from this group to know that they can play better.  We just have to see it more consistently.

Problem is Tatum is the worst shooter among them.

[slamtheking]

as much as we bricked away tonight, have to say the Embiid love from the officials was nauseating.  officials certainly weren't helping things tonight

[Greenblood35]

I think this 5 day break will be good for the team. Marcus can get extra healing time, we can rest up our bumps and bruises, and Tatum can regroup. He has been brutal these last few games and maybe just needs a physical and mental break.

Without Marcus its crazy how thin our bench is. Hopefully the rooks will continue to get better as the season moves along.

[Kuberski33]

Despite Embid's dominance I thought the biggest positive tonight was Kanter.  He can add another dimension to this team offensively and they were actually looking for him.  Theis was decent as well. 

I did think they got into a bit of of a rut where everything was going through Hayward and Kemba while Jaylen got ignored. Hayward's injury I think set the development of the team back a bit and they're still working through it.

What I didn't like was the Sixers D really bothered the C's.  And Kemba seems to struggle against length.  Overall a pretty good game - essentially decided by a crappy non-call when Jaylen got plowed over on that in bounds.  Would have been nice if his teammates had recognized the Sixers press and someone had dropped back to help out.

[liam]

Tatum shoots 5 for 18 is a hard game to win.

Yep, same as last night.

In fairness he did hit two big threes down the stretch.

So he was 5-18 instead of 3-15...

Ya I know he was bad, I'm just saying he made a charge late and that should count for like a little bit. Like a D- instead of an F.

Yeah, I can see that...

[footey]

We can play better, but credit to the Sixers. I thought Harris and Richardson were good. Scott was ridiculous from 3. They did this without Horford. Their defense is impressive. They really seem to be jelling as a team.

[obnoxiousmime]

Tatum's increased load has resulted in decreased efficiency. He's a good player, but he's just not hitting shots. He's still not strong enough to stay in control on drives nor savvy or athletic enough to create consistent FT opportunities. I just don't know if he can improve enough this season at his young age to become the player they need him to be. I would like him to pick his spots better and become more efficient, but he seems intent on chucking it and playing the part of an elite scorer when he doesn't have the ability yet. There's no reason he should be shooting 41% on a team with so much talent. It's not like he's the only scorer on a bad team.

So far this season he's 17th in the league in FGA/G at 17.2, but has the lowest FG% of those players until you get to Kristaps Porzingis at #36 with .398. Basically, he has one of the worst percentages in the league for a high volume player.

[Spicoli]

Richardson and Thybulle put Brown and Tatum in chains. Completely locked the both of them up. There are literally no mismatches for the Celtics to exploit against them. Plus the Celtics are not a great shooting team. Other teams seemingly make shots with ease while the Celtics go hot and cold. I have to lower my expectations for this team and just enjoy the ride. They don't look like contenders to me.

[Kuberski33]

Tatum's increased load has resulted in decreased efficiency. He's a good player, but he's just not hitting shots. He's still not strong enough to stay in control on drives nor savvy or athletic enough to create consistent FT opportunities. I just don't know if he can improve enough this season at his young age to become the player they need him to be. I would like him to pick his spots better and become more efficient, but he seems intent on chucking it and playing the part of an elite scorer when he doesn't have the ability yet. There's no reason he should be shooting 41% on a team with so much talent. It's not like he's the only scorer on a bad team.

So far this season he's 17th in the league in FGA/G at 17.2, but has the lowest FG% of those players until you get to Kristaps Porzingis at #36 with .398. Basically, he has one of the worst percentages in the league for a high volume player.

Interesting points about Tatum.  I still question his athleticism but until recently he has played pretty well this season I think.  It might be a good time for Brad to think about adjusting his rotation a bit and giving him more rest.  He's probably played some extra minutes with Hayward's injury.