The Boston Celtics are back after what felt like the longest offseason ever. The trade buzz surrounding Jaylen Brown over his entire career finally culminated in a deal that was secondary to the auction of an even larger star; Giannis Antetekounmpo. The first game vs the Detroit Pistons was a great display of the strengths of this team whereas the Knicks game on Friday opened fans eyes to what to expect. Not to say the Pistons game was an outlier; I just don’t see what transpired occurring frequently with this team.
Game 1 – Oct. 20, L, 113-121 vs Detroit
The season opener felt like a classic display of a playoff game in the Mazzulla era. The team gets hot; hits some 3s and gets a high lead heading into the fourth and then the wave comes. Lead is blown with 3-4 minutes left and then spirals out of control, which is what people online say. The C’s have a record of 136–5 when leading by 20 points under Joe. I just wanted to get that out there as people were claiming that this is a weekly occurrence under Mazzulla. This game could have clearly been coached better; for example, with the rotations.
But overall, I was paying attention on both sides to the newcomers. And while Mitchell Robinson of them has expressed disgust with his 4/3/1 and 2 blocks stat line, PG13 looked like his MVP-worthy self. It was refreshing to see George, who was traded for a franchise icon, prove himself as a formidable player even at his age. It was unfair for the media and fans to claim he was “washed” before the season starts despite him washing the floors with us in the playoffs. Oh well, the nature of trades.
While Paul George led the scoring with 38, Jayson Tatum struggled. He shot 6-23 and had multiple bad misses off the high glass. While his playmaking and rebounding still looked superb, fans would have felt better about his post Achilles tear play if he hit 3-4 more shots. And we would have won.
Another standout for me, and a potential point of dialogue for this season, was Neemias Queta coming off the bench. Watching with friends, the first thing I noticed from the starting 5 was bringing the BFU Dean in with the second unit (I was all for the Jordan Walsh start). While Mitchell Robinson and Tatum need to play together to continue to grow their pick and roll tendencies with each other, he doesn’t have the stamina to play for a majority of the 1st quarter. He also finds himself in foul trouble which can spiral out of control if that begins within the first two minutes. Plus, I’m scared of Queta’s development being stunted if he gets less minutes with White and Tatum which benefit from his physicality down low or in high screens. It’s certainly a point deserving of speculation going forward.
Game 2 – Oct 23, W, 107-103 vs New York
This box score feels more standard to a random game this season than the first. This was an exciting game where no team could get room to breathe for the entire first half. Tatum came out of halftime blazing and finally extended a sizeable lead over the defending champs. Then, like Deja vu, a blistering Knick run felt like it would outshine an incredible team effort from the guys in green. Then came a clutch end of game performance from Tatum, hitting multiple difficult shots smothered by defenders to close the game and make the Knicks 0-2.
My description does not do it justice how much of a statement game this was by Tatum. To silence the haters who sarcastically claimed that Paul George was better, or continuing to compare him to his sidekick of years past. 3-10 from 3 isn’t ideal, and the volume of 3s is still worrying due to their volatile nature, but it’s more acceptable when your center duo is as stout under the glass as Boston’s is. Defensively I feel concerned but not enough to panic. The Celtics were outrebounded and allowed too many threes, and Karl Anthony Towns played efficiently in the paint. Credit is deserved for forcing 18 turnovers and effectively shutting down Jalen Brunson until the fourth quarter, when he turns into Michael Jordan every game.
Credit is also warranted to the bench for all sporting good plus/minuses. Pritchard and Hauser both were +8. Props to Pritchard, who is not known for his defense, after having a team worst +/- vs Detroit. His extension was relieving and I’m excited to see what the Oregon sharpshooter has in store for what will be the rest of the decade. Queta had a negative plus/minus but was a playmaker on both sides. Flashes like these are the reasons why I feel he should be starting over Robinson, who has already reached his potential.
Off topic, but worth mentioning, is the Butterfly Effect of not trading Pritchard when he requested a trade what feels like forever ago. Sure, he could have went somewhere else and put up empty stats, but here he does it while being the core of a contending team.
This team is a blast to watch and I’m excited to see what it looks like when Mitchell Robinson plays up to full strength as well as a game where George and Tatum both shoot efficiently.
The C’s take the parquet on Monday, the 26th at 7:30 vs the ascending Chicago Bulls.
