My math was a little fuzzy in the opening post.
In games after losses, we are now 13-6. We've had three, three game losing streaks and that's it. Otherwise, we are winning the games after losses. That bodes well for the playoffs.
I thought Brad was still in a haze in the first half not knowing what to do about no Bradley and no Crowder.
The move to Gerald Green paid off. I don't know what he was thinking putting James Young in there. Good Rozier showed up. The good version of nearly every Celtic showed. Except also Jerebko. I wouldn't be surprised if he is suffering pain and headaches. He looked like a mess and should be in bed. Mickey is getting no love. Zeller hasn't really done anything to create playing time despite Jerebko banged up. Tyler played because Jonas was that bad.
Jaylen Brown played 33 minutes. He is still choking at the rim at times, but so is Horford.
Horford was solid. He wasn't a max player tonight, more like we'd expect from signing Amir. And Johnson only saw 15 minutes. I hope he didn't sprain something. Like I said, the last couple weeks he seems to be his old self with no plantar fasciitis or creaky ankles or whatever has been holding him back.
Horford is almost as cringworthy as Superman from two feet away, just not close enough to get a dunk or easy layup.
Bradley improved immensely at finishing at the rim. He needs to speak with Al about it. And with Jaylen. But Jaylen showed signs of greatness, and in a Smart like manner, he helped us win despite some ugly facets.
Isaiah had another mediocre game by his standards. It was still an all-star performance. It wasn't Kobe chucking an 11-33. He only had four assists to two turnovers. He shot 11-26, but compensated by nailing 10 of 11 free throws. Smart had a perfect point guard night, five assists to zero turnovers. The C's only had 8 turnovers as a team. We out-rebounded them 43-41. Smart actually played like an all-star. That is not hyperbole. He had a very good shooting night at 8-13. He had five steals and six rebounds. Marcus Smart was the clear cut player of the game.
Rozier was outstanding. This was a great win all things considered. Looking ahead for the next three it's at Utah (tough game), then at Dallas and then Philly at home. The schedule doesn't look too intimidating. Beating Utah would be huge. Portland is much better than their record indicates, but obviously Utah will be even more difficult to beat. But then we should have two cupcake games as long as Brown, Smart and others continue to get it done. Isaiah might be a little spent. Marcus Smart emerging as a solid point guard has been one of the big ifs we needed to happen. That was a humongous win. I've never been more prideful in the Boston Celtics.
I admit to having a dog in the hunt. I predicted 65 wins based on optimal conditions. I think our win rate might be close to that when everyone is healthy. Anyway, I was using hyperbole to counter the negative nellies claiming 45-50 wins.
I predicted we'd finish 27-7 to end up 57-25. There are only 29 games left. Tonight's game and the one coming up against Utah are huge barometer games. We now have to go 23-6 to win 57 games. That might get us the #1 seed. Cleveland lost today and looks stressed out. We are in a much stronger position than last year at this time. We need to close out the season like we did tonight's first half. 60 wins would be even better, but we'd have to go 26-3.
Topic: The Celtics could use a win tonight (Read 3841 times)