Grizzlies (43-20) at Celtics (37-27) Game #65 3/3/22

[Atzar]

Quality win against a very good opponent.  Keep going.

[SparzWizard]

Al Horford turned back the pendulum and put up 21/15 tonight. Wow 

[Sophomore]

From Sean Grande:

In Marcus Smart's last 19 games, the Celtics are 17-2, outscoring teams by 16.6 points per game

In that span...

12.3 points
3.7 rebounds
5.6 assists
45% FG%
38% 3FG%

#1 in the NBA in Defensive Rating
#1 in the NBA in Net Rating

[radiohead]

From Sean Grande:

In Marcus Smart's last 19 games, the Celtics are 17-2, outscoring teams by 16.6 points per game

In that span...

12.3 points
3.7 rebounds
5.6 assists
45% FG%
38% 3FG%

#1 in the NBA in Defensive Rating
#1 in the NBA in Net Rating

Wow. Those are outstanding numbers.

[Birdman]

Great win without Brown against a hot good team

[mobilija]

Couldn't catch game.

Noticed lots of minutes for our bigs. Including 13 for Theis and 40(!!!) For Horford. Whats the story there?

[jbpats]

Biggest statement game of the season in my opinion.

Brown out, Nesmeth Hurt. I think it answered a lot of questions if we will be feared or considered frauds across the league.

Tatum reminded everyone that there is another superstar under 24 not named Ja.

[ozgod]

Just watched the full game, man Morant is some kind of player. He made our top ranked defense look average at times. When he develops an outside shot he's going to be top shelf.

For us, I'm pleased to see that despite the loss of Nesmith they were able to adjust...they will probably play GWill less as a big and use Theis more as a bench big. I doubt Nesmith and Jaylen being out will make Ime reach deeper into his bench...he doesn't seem worried about fatiguing the team, he will just spread out existing minutes more amongst the players who are part of the active rotation - the starters plus White, GWill, Pritchard and Theis. When Jaylen gets back, Theis gets back on the bench, when Nesmith gets back he goes right back to the bench as well.

Ime doesn't seem to subscribe in the NBA2K theory of giving random end of bench players 2-4 mins a game, he would rather his main guys are all playing around 20-33 mins a game.

[liam]

Couldn't catch game.

Noticed lots of minutes for our bigs. Including 13 for Theis and 40(!!!) For Horford. Whats the story there?

Horford was playing great but that's way too many minutes for Al. We are really going to need Al for the playoffs.

[tonydelk]

Couldn't catch game.

Noticed lots of minutes for our bigs. Including 13 for Theis and 40(!!!) For Horford. Whats the story there?

Horford was playing great but that's way too many minutes for Al. We are really going to need Al for the playoffs.

They only play 5 games in the next 13 days and don't play again until Sunday.  I'm sure that's why they played so much.  2 days off and no travel with Brooklyn coming to town Sunday then another two days off and they just go to Charlotte. 

[nickagneta]

Couldn't catch game.

Noticed lots of minutes for our bigs. Including 13 for Theis and 40(!!!) For Horford. Whats the story there?

Horford was playing great but that's way too many minutes for Al. We are really going to need Al for the playoffs.

They only play 5 games in the next 13 days and don't play again until Sunday.  I'm sure that's why they played so much.  2 days off and no travel with Brooklyn coming to town Sunday then another two days off and they just go to Charlotte.

And also, he had a rest day a few games back and had a week off for the ASG the week before that.

Complaining about Horford playing 40 minutes in that context, with the added context that he played a great 40 minutes that were necessary to win a game, where the Celtics 2nd best player didn't play and his replacement in the starting lineup went down to injury, against a healthy top 3 team in the league makes no sense.

It's those types of games you play your best longer minutes. Horford can rest as he has one game in the next 5 days. No biggie.

[Rosco917]

Hey Mr. Celtic Ownership,

This team is finally finding itself. Jayson Tatum is learning to let the game come to him. Last evening was vintage like Paul Pierce, as Tatum patiently waited until he found his game for nearly 3 quarters to finally explode and put the dagger in the opponents heart. Very impressive because he recognized he was a bit off early. He trusted his mates to carry the load.   

It's time to reopen the purse strings, this team is capable of making a serious run in the playoffs. It's time to take on additional salary!

[nickagneta]

Hey Mr. Celtic Ownership,

This team is finally finding itself. Jayson Tatum is learning to let the game come to him. Last evening was vintage like Paul Pierce, as Tatum patiently waited until he found his game for nearly 3 quarters to finally explode and put the dagger in the opponents heart. Very impressive because he recognized he was a bit off early. He trusted his mates to carry the load.   

It's time to reopen the purse strings, this team is capable of making a serious run in the playoffs. It's time to take on additional salary!

I think they open the purse strings next year. Kinda impossible to do so now.

[Celtics2021]

Hey Mr. Celtic Ownership,

This team is finally finding itself. Jayson Tatum is learning to let the game come to him. Last evening was vintage like Paul Pierce, as Tatum patiently waited until he found his game for nearly 3 quarters to finally explode and put the dagger in the opponents heart. Very impressive because he recognized he was a bit off early. He trusted his mates to carry the load.   

It's time to reopen the purse strings, this team is capable of making a serious run in the playoffs. It's time to take on additional salary!

I think they open the purse strings next year. Kinda impossible to do so now.

Yeah, I think they will as well.  I’m hopeful we can get someone nice with that Fournier TPE.

But I do agree with the sentiment.  This team is of contender quality, and it would be a travesty if ownership doesn’t realize that and go for it next year.

[Vermont Green]

Couldn't catch game.

Noticed lots of minutes for our bigs. Including 13 for Theis and 40(!!!) For Horford. Whats the story there?

Horford was playing great but that's way too many minutes for Al. We are really going to need Al for the playoffs.

What actually happened is that after Nesmith went down, GWill played a lot as a wing with 2 of Horford, RWill, and Theis on the court as the bigs.  So Hordford had to play more as an indirect result of no Brown and no Nesmith.  Per the line up tallies, GWill played about 10 min as the second big, the rest as wing.