For The First Time In Over A Month (January 24 & 25), The Celtics Have Won Two Games In A Row

 

    Without All-Star swingman Jaylen Brown (left knee soreness) in the lineup tonight at TD Garden, the Celtics (17-17 overall, 10-5 home) did just enough to come away with a 111-110 victory over the Wizards (13-19 overall, 7-10 away). Boston withstood a standard 46-point eruption from Washington shooting guard Bradley Beal (7 rebounds, 2 assists) who fell to an incredible 0-11 when he scores 40+ for the Wizards. It was not pretty at times but it got the job done as Boston's other All-Star swingman Jayson Tatum (team-high 31 points, eight rebounds & three steals) scored the last six points for the Celts and he helped play defense on his guy Beal who missed a corner jump shot at the buzzer that would have won it. With no Brown, point guard Kemba Walker (21 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) and center Daniel Theis (20 points, 9 rebounds) ably picked up the slack while the next highest Celtic in scoring was shooting guard Javonte Green (8 points) who took Brown's place in the starting lineup.

You may laugh at Washington but the fact was that they entered this evening as one of the NBA's hottest clubs (they were 8-2 in their last 10 games). With that said, besides Beal-who is an All-Star as well-the Wizards don't have much in terms of quality players. Point guard Russell Westbrook had a double-double (24 points, 11 rebounds) while their other three starters combined for two points which seems impossible unless your dopey head coach is Scott Brooks. Washington's other sharp shooter-small forward Davis Bertans (20 points in 26 minutes off the bench)-is going to be a Celtic at some point in his career, you know that right? Sideshow Robin Lopez added 10 points off the bench for the Wizards. Celts center Tristan Thompson had a brutal shooting performance (1-for-9) but he still managed to grab 13 rebounds which included six offensive boards.

    Boston grabbed 13 more rebounds than Washington (49-36) featuring six more offensive boards (13-7) and seven more defensive boards (36-29). The Celts also handed out nine more assists (25-16) which is always a winning formula at any level of basketball. The C's led by five points (33-28) after the first quarter and both teams scored 27 points in the second quarter so Boston was up by five points (60-55) at halftime. The Wizards outscored the Celtics by two ugly points (21-19) in the third quarter which set up a very intense fourth quarter (won by Washington 34-32). This victory brought the home team back to the .500 mark (I can't believe that is a big deal this far into the season but here we are) while also moving them up to sixth-place in the Eastern Conference-tied with Miami and Toronto. 

    There are two games left in the first half of the regular season for the Celts and they are both big ones as they host the Clippers (24-12 overall, 12-6 road) on Tuesday (7:30, NBC Sports Boston) followed by the Raptors coming to town on Thursday (7, TNT) before everybody goes their separate ways during the All-Star break. Speaking of that, is there a way to make sure that Brown travels to his hometown of Atlanta for his first NBA All-Star Game but he stays safe health wise and sits out the actual game (thus learning from the mistakes that Kemba and Kyrie Irving have made that weekend in past years)?

Please Tell Me That Getting Blown Out By The Wizards Is Rock Bottom For The C's This Season

 

    Just when you think that things cannot get much worse for the reeling Celtics (13-13 overall, 7-9 away), they lay a complete egg on Valentine's Day against undoubtedly one of the worst teams in the NBA. Washington (7-17 overall, 3-9 home) was never even challenged this afternoon at Capital One Arena as they defeated Boston 104-91. Coming off of Friday's loss to another awful team-Detroit (8-19 overall)-you figured that the C's would be motivated and ready to show that they are not an utter mess. Welp, that didn't happen as they lost for the fourth time in the last five games and they fell to 3-7 in their last 10 games. Is that bad? I really don't know what Boston's excuse for playing so poorly will end up being. Other than guard Marcus Smart (left calf) remaining out, this was about as healthy as the Celts have been all season as forward Semi Ojeleye and center Robert Williams III both returned to the court. 

    Point guard Kemba Walker (25 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals) and shooting guard Jaylen Brown (25 points, 7 rebounds) were both good for Boston but their next highest scorer was Jayson Tatum (6 points, 8 rebounds) who had one of the worst performances in his NBA career, going 3-of-14 from the field which is stunning for him especially against what should be a very favorable opponent to do some damage against. I'm really struggling to figure out a quick-fix solution to whatever is ailing the Celtics at the moment. Head coach Brad Stevens and/or GM Danny Ainge don't deserve to be fired, let's not be ridiculous, but it shows you how rough things have been lately that those words don't seem completely far-fetched. Still, it's all about the players and while the roster is flawed, they should not be sitting at .500 this far into the campaign. 

    The Wizards had five guys score in double-figures led by shooting guard Bradley Beal (game-high 35 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals) who would be a lock for the All-Star Game if his team wasn't such a joke. Power forward Rui Hachimura added 15 points, the ghost of Russell Westbrook nearly had a triple-double (13 points, 11 assists, 9 rebounds), center Mo Wagner notched 11 points and two steals while Sideshow Robin Lopez posted 10 points off the bench. It's not even halfway through this season but coming into today, I would have called it basically a must-win for the C's. They apparently didn't get the memo though as they never even made it remotely competitive. Down 29-22 after the first quarter, they trailed by double-digits (55-43) at halftime and then they gave up in the third quarter-getting outscored by 10 points (34-24). 

    I'm at a loss for words, this is simply not acceptable for a club that went to the Eastern Conference Final last season and had similar expectations in 2020-21 with two young All-Stars just starting to reach their prime years and a decent supporting cast around them. They trailed by 25 points today to a team that will be one of the front-runners to get the No. 1 pick in this 2021 Draft. They were outworked by a group of misfits that are already playing out the string: Washington hit 13 more free throws (31-18) and handed out 10 more assists (24-14). Losing to the Pistons should have served as a wake-up call and now it's on the players to figure this out or else Ainge might be forced to make some drastic changes. 

    Boston returns to TD Garden for a pivotal three-game homestand this week starting with Denver (15-11 overall, 7-5 road) on Tuesday (7, NBC Sports Boston) then followed by two games with Atlanta (11-15 overall, 5-6 road) on Wednesday (7:30, NBC Sports Boston) and Friday (7:30, NBC Sports Boston). The Nuggets are better than their record indicates (like the Celtics, they reached their conference final in the bubble) and the Hawks are in a tailspin themselves but as these past few games for the C's have shown, they can't afford to overlook anybody at the moment-no matter if they are some of the NBA's worst teams.

Doc Rivers' Late Christmas Gift To His Son Austin: A Win At TD Garden For The Hornets

I thought the Celtics had gotten past the point of losing to shitbum teams with some regularity this season. Apparently not, their six-game win streak was ruined tonight as Boston (20-18, 13-7 home) laid down 90-78 to New Orleans (13-26, 7-13 away) at TD Garden.

Rookie Austin Rivers (No. 10 pick of 2012 Draft) won the first ever meeting with his dad-Celtics head coach Doc Rivers-as he tossed in eight points off the bench (4th father-son meeting in NBA history). The Hornets are truly awful and losing to a bad team always leaves a particularly bad taste in a fan's mouth. Granted, this was New Orleans sixth win in their last seven games.

The immortal Al-Farouq Aminu had a game-high 18 points, nine rebounds and two steals for New Orleans, Robin Lopez had 17 points and six rebounds, Greivis Vasquez added 15 points and 11 rebounds while No. 1 pick Anthony Davis notched 10 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. Ryan Anderson had 10 points and six rebounds off the bench for the Hornets in their disgusting teal road jerseys (maybe the worst look in the NBA).

For whatever reason (playing down to competition?), the Celts never seemed to be into it mentally or emotionally. Kevin Garnett led Boston with 15 points, Paul Pierce had 12 points and 10 rebounds, Rajon Rondo dished out 11 assists with three steals and Jason Terry (12 points) was the only bench guy to show up.

The C's led 25-20 after the first quarter but the Hornets outscored them in the final three frames. New Orleans was up 44-43 at halftime and they extended it to 68-63 after three quarters.

New Orleans was by far the more aggressive team, all you need to look at in that regard is three statistics: they made 20 more free throws (26-6) than Boston, grabbed 15 more rebounds (48-33) and pounded it inside for 16 more points in the paint (48-32). In their only other meeting of the season, Boston visits New Orleans on March 20. You have to believe the Celts will play much better then since tonight was basically a disaster.

The Celtics wrap up their five-game homestand on Friday (7 p.m., CSN) against the Bulls (22-15, 2nd in Central Division). The teams have split the first two matchups with Chicago most recently winning 100-89 at the United Center on December 18. These games are almost always close and entertaining.

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