It Took Way Too Long But The C's & Jaylen Brown Finally Agreed To A Supermax Deal (5 Yrs, $304M)

 

    After nearly a month of waiting, the Celtics and their star swingman Jaylen Brown mercifully agreed to a supermax contract extension (5 years, $304 million) through the 2028-2029 season that temporarily makes him the highest paid player in NBA history. Putting aside that absurd amount of money-and keep in mind it's not my money or your money-do not get too hung up on him being the richest guy since it will not last for long. When you are in a market like Boston, free agents in basketball are not exactly falling over themselves to come here anymore so when there is a very talented younger guy on your current roster (warts and all), you have to do your best to retain him. Granted, superstar swingman Jayson Tatum is better than Brown-any argument about that ended in the 2023 playoffs-but they are still one of the best duos in the league, last postseason not withstanding. 

    Brown is a two-time All-Star and he is coming off the best regular season in his career when he averaged 26.6 points per game which led to him being named to the All-NBA second team for the first time (which enabled him to be eligible for the supermax). Jaylen's awful performance in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals vs. Miami two months ago left a poor taste in all of our mouths but he is still only 26 years old even though he has played seven seasons with the C's (drafted No. 3 overall in 2016 after one season at Cal). Boston will never be Miami or Los Angeles which for many reasons are the preferred type of destinations for most NBA stars these days. It sucks but that is the reality that we are left to deal with. 

    Tatum and Brown have an interesting relationship since they are not best friends by any means but they do not seem to hate each other either. More importantly, they play pretty similar positions and styles of games so can Boston win a championship with them as their top two players? That is what we have to bank on since what is the better (and more realistic) option? The Celts have made the playoffs in every year of Brown's career including the NBA Finals in 2022 and three Eastern Conference Finals so an optimist would say that they are knocking on the door of a title while a pessimist worries that they could be basketball's version of the Buffalo Bills in the 90s. 

    I have always been a major Brown fan for what he stood for off the court and the important work that he does there (minus the wacko Covid beliefs and following Kyrie Irving's madness) so I am happy that at least he will be here for the next few seasons. It would be silly to trade him after one poor postseason since Boston would never get the proper return. If he can just improve his terrible handle a little bit, Brown can be an even better player. There is no doubt that Tatum's ceiling is higher but every great NBA player needs a sidekick (just ask Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray on the Nuggets) and in a perfect world, Brown will smartly accept that role and realize that he and Tatum need each other if a title(s) is what they care about most at the end of the day.

Celtics Close On A 40-8 Run To Shock The Nuggets In Denver To Start A Pivotal West Coast Road Trip

 

    How about those Celtics (28-26 overall, 11-16 away)? They started their difficult three-game West Coast road trip with a bang this afternoon as they won 105-87 against the Nuggets (34-19 overall, 18-10 home) at the Ball Arena (seriously, that's what their building is now called). It looked like it would be a routine loss for Boston as they trailed by double-digits in the third quarter but then they locked it down with a 40-8 run that included outscoring the home team 31-8 in the fourth quarter. Yes, Nuggets star point guard Jamal Murray was out with a knee injury but the C's-who are not a good defensive team by any measure-holding Denver to eight points in the fourth not to mention their lowest scoring output of the season and worst shooting percentage (36.4%) are all major reasons to celebrate for a few days. 

    With the victory, Boston has won three games in a row and five out of their last six. Coming off his career-high 53 point performance on Friday vs. Minnesota (14-40), swingman Jayson Tatum's (game-high 28 points, 10 rebounds) encore was pretty solid. He had plenty of help too as shooting guard Jaylen Brown (20 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks), point guard Kemba Walker (14 points, 6 assists), guard Marcus Smart (14 points, 5 assists) and center Robert Williams (10 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks) all scored in double-figures as well. Last seen bitching about his touches in the bubble playoffs, Denver was led by small forward Michael Porter Jr. (22 points, 11 rebounds) as center/MVP candidate Nikola Jokic (17 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds) was (sort of) held in check without his running mate Murray to work with. In his place, point guard Facundo Campazzo scored 14 points and Brewster Academy product Will Barton added 13 points and six rebounds.

    The Nuggets entered as the hottest team in the league since they had won their last eight games in a row to reach fourth-place in the Western Conference. For that reason, I feel like this was near the top of the (very short) best wins list in 2020-21 for the Celts. If you claim that you saw this coming, you are a liar my friend. Denver was up 27-16 after the first quarter and 51-45 at halftime. Boston cut it to 79-74 heading into the fourth quarter before they morphed into the '98 Bulls. The C's shot 44.8% from the field, made five more free throws (20-15), grabbed six more rebounds (52-46) including nine more defensive boards (42-33), blocked three more shots (7-4), scored 10 more points in the paint (56-46), had eight more second chance points (21-13), five more fast break points (13-8) and seven more points off turnovers (11-4) than the Nuggets. 

   That huge rally out of nowhere today makes Tuesday (10, NBC Sports Boston) at Portland (31-22) and Thursday (10, NBC Sports Boston) at the Lakers seem more winnable. The Celtics just swept the season series with Denver who is currently ahead of both the Blazers and Lakers. It won't be easy by any means but Boston is finally playing some good basketball when it really matters-down the stretch of the regular season with the playoffs just around the corner. Tatum has started to resemble a superstar again and everyone else is playing their role which is all that head coach Brad Stevens can ask for after the non-stop turbulence of this campaign. 

For One Night, Winning Cures Everything For The Celts As They Beat Undermanned Denver 112-99

 

    It has been a rough week for the Celtics (14-13 overall, 7-4 home) and it felt like for once, nobody associated with the franchise (head coach, players, GM, etc.) was immune to some legitimate criticism after a pair of soul-crushing defeats to the Pistons (8-19) and Wizards (8-17). It would be silly to overreact and say that things are different now but at least in Boston's first chance at redemption, they responded in a big way by taking down Denver (15-12 overall, 7-6 away) 112-99 tonight at TD Garden. The fact that the Nuggets were playing without four guys from their rotation certainly helped the Celtics but honestly, any club with center/MVP candidate Nikola Jokic (game-high 43 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals) and point guard Jamal Murray (25 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals) in the starting lineup still presents a formidable challenge. 

As always, the C's were led by shooting guard Jaylen Brown (team-high 27 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) and swingman Jayson Tatum (21 points, 8 assists) who were both instrumental in the victory. The plot twist for the home team was that they had many other guys pull their weight as well: with Daniel Theis out with a sprained finger, center Tristan Thompson had nine points and 12 rebounds; point guard Kemba Walker added 17 points while Boston's bench outscored Denver's 30-14. Rookie small forward Aaron Nesmith hit three 3-pointers, center Robert Williams notched eight points, eight rebounds and five steals (!) while rookie guard Payton Pritchard (8 points, 7 assists) continues to shine as veteran guard Jeff Teague racks up the DNP-CDs (did not play-coach's decision). 

    Jokic has become a freak of nature and I mean that in the highest form of praise that is possible. He is a matchup nightmare for anybody in the NBA because he has the size and post moves of an old school center yet he also can hit threes and pass like a point guard. The Joker basically single-handedly kept his team in it in the first half as he dropped 29 points while Boston led 30-26 after the first quarter and 59-54 at halftime. Murray's numbers look fine except I didn't mention his key stat: nine turnovers. Woof. The Celts outscored the Nuggets 27-21 in the third quarter and 26-24 in the fourth quarter to pick up their most important win of the season. Argentine point guard Facundo Campazzo (15 points, 8 assists, 2 steals) was the only other Nugget to score in double-figures which shows you just how much they missed their top role players.  

    The Celtics shot almost three percent better than Denver from the field (48.1%-45.2%), they hit six more 3-pointers (15-9), made five more free throws (19-14) and grabbed five more rebounds (43-38) including six more defensive boards (33-27). After such depressing back-to-back losses, this evening showed that when the C's are working together, they are capable of beating pretty much any other team in the NBA. Conversely, when things start to go off the rails, they proved that they can lose to the true dregs of the league just as easily. 

    I'll keep saying this until they start consistently winning again but the good feelings from tonight will be quickly erased unless they carry it over to tomorrow night's (7:30, NBC Sports Boston) contest with the Hawks (11-16 overall, 5-7 road). Boston seems to be catching Atlanta at the right time for a two-game set at the Garden (they also play on Friday at 7:30 as well) since the Hawks are free-falling out of playoff contention by losing four straight games coming in and going 2-8 in their last 10. Also, their head coach Lloyd Pierce will miss both games to be at the birth of his second child. Assistant coach Nate McMillan (former Pacers head coach) will be in charge for these matchups. Regardless, if point guard Trae Young (who is on the cusp of making his second All-Star Game in a row) and power forward John Collins are playing along with center Clint Capela, Atlanta is very dangerous and the Celts simply cannot afford to relax for a second thinking that they'll just roll over.