Celtics 114, Jazz 103

This might have been the Cs most impressive win this season. They were without Kemba Walker again, Gordon Hayward turned in another subpar performance, this was the second night of a back-to-back, and they had a letdown, caused by weak defense and turnovers, to close the first half. In the third quarter, after struggling to contain Donovan Mitchell, who finished with 37 points, they had another brief letdown and the game was tied with 25 seconds left in the period. However, early in the fourth quarter, Marcus Smart stepped up with 3 treys, Daniel Theis made several hustle plays, they went to a zone defense and cruised to a comfortable margin of victory at the end. This was one of the best team efforts of the season, for certain.

The Cs were led by Jayson Tatum with 33 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists; Jaylen Brown had 20 points, 6 boards and 2 assists; Smart had 17 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals; Theis, getting better with each passing game, had 16 points, 7 boards, an assist and a steal; Hayward had 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists; Enes Kanter had 8 points and 7 rebounds; and Brad Wanamaker had 8 points, 3 assists and a steal. Grant Williams did not score but played 22 minutes, contributing with hustling defense and rebounds. The contributions of Kanter, Wanamaker and Williams was an important part of this team effort.

Just at the point where the Cs appeared to be faltering in the fourth period, every player on the floor stepped up and made an important play. It is unusual to see Hayward put forth two subpar efforts in a row; let’s hope that he is not experiencing a recurrence of the foot problem that plagued him a short while ago. It would not be surprising to see him receive reduced minutes in the next few games.

The next game is Saturday night back at home against the Houston Rockets.

Celtics 118, Trailblazers 106

A star has been born on this trip, no doubt about it. Jayson Tatum’s game has risen to a different level and he just exudes confidence when the ball is in his hands. He has become a threat from anywhere on the floor and in this one, he led the scorers once again with 36 points which included 8 for 12 on treys. Portland is a team which has been devastated by injuries this year, after making the Western Conference finals last year. They are not a good team as presently constituted and this game was never in doubt as to the final outcome.

The Cs were led by Tatum, who also had 5 rebounds, a steal and two blocked shots; Jaylen Brown had 24 points, 7 boards and 2 assists; Brad Wanamaker had a very strong game off the bench with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal with 0 turnovers Marcus Smart had 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals; Gordon Hayward had 12 points on 5 for 7 shooting, with 5 boards and 2 assists; and Daniel Theis had 10 points, 9 boards and 3 assists. On the negative side, Hayward had 5 TOs and Enes Kanter had 3 TOs and the defense of Grant Williams and Romeo Langford was not up to par either.

This was the first night of a back-to-back as they fly to Utah for a match-up with the Jazz tonight. Kemba Walker continues to sit out with knee soreness and is doubtful for tonight’s game.

Lakers 114, Celtics 112

It was a shame they had to lose this nip and tuck affair which went down to the wire, but they made a lot of mistakes, got extremely poor play from the veterans on the bench, and were without Kemba Walker who is nursing a knee injury into which he has had shots of sinuvial fluid. Enes Kanter could only give 6 minutes and he looked out of sync and Brad Wanamaker had 3 crucial turnovers during his 18-minute stint and was 0 for 4 from the floor. The bench created a hole in the first period which the Cs were never able to overcome, despite 41 points from Jayson Tatum who is rapidly turning into a star. Except for the first quarter when they trailed, 28-19, but were tied after three quarters at 87. They also didn’t get a lot of help from the officials who made some very questionable calls down the stretch.

Besides Tatum, who also had 5 rebounds and 2 assists; Jaylen Brown had 20 points, 6 boards and 2 assists, but he also had 2 airball treys in the fourth quarter and 4 turnovers from excessive dribbling; Daniel Theis was again solid with 16 points and 9 rebounds; Marcus Smart had 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 TOs; and Gordon Hayward had a poor shooting night with 10 points, on 5 for 15 from the floor, along with 8 rebounds and 9 assists, but 3 TOs. While the two youngsters, Grant williams and Romeo Langford, didn’t contribute much offensively, they both played solid defense, Williams still getting the rookie treatment from the officials. Given the absence of Walker, the team needed a strong performance from Wanamaker and he was unable to deliver.

The next game is Tuesday night in Portland followed by a back-to-back in Salt Lake City on Wednesday night.

Celtics 127, Timberwolves 117

The Wolves are 16-37 on the season and just 7 for 21 at home. To make matters worse, they were without their best player, Karl Anthony Townes. So what did the Cs do? Played horrible defense all game long, especially on treys, and allowed the Wolves to trail by just a single point with 6 minutes to go in the game. Not a good look tonight for these Celtics who played without Kemba Walker, out nursing a sore knee.

The Cs were led by Gordon Hayward with 29 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals; Jayson Tatum had 28 points, 11 boards and 3 assists; Daniel Theis had his best game of the season with 25 points, 16 boards and a blocked shot; Jaylen Brown had 25 points and 8 rebounds; and Marcus Smart had 10 points and 10 assists. Of interest in this game was the fact that Romeo Langford was allotted 19 minutes off the bench, including 5 minutes of crunch time, and acquitted himself quite well, especially on defense. He was generally not asked to score. Other than that, the Cs got little help from the bench players in this game.

The next game on the trip is on Sunday afternoon against the Lakers.

Celtics 141, Clippers 133

This was a nice win to get, especially since the Cs virtually gave the game away in the fourth quarter with 5 careless turnovers and crucial bad box-outs in the quarter. Unfortunately for me, I only watched 3 quarters live before retiring for the evening and when I watched the recording this morning, it quit with 8 seconds left in regulation. In this game, the Cs were without Jaylen Brown, ankle sprains, and the Clippers were without Paul George for the second half with an injury. This was a very competitive game from beginning to end as the Cs had no answer for Lou Williams who continuously torched them, finishing with 35 points. Marcus Smart really struggled to defend him, as did anyone else assigned to the job.

Jayson Tatum led the Cs with 39 points, 9 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a blocked shot; Smart had 31 points, 9 boards, 4 assists and 4 steals; Gordon Hayward had a poor shooting night for him, only 6 of 21 from the floor, but grabbed 13 rebounds, with 4 assists and a steal; Kemba Walker, although only 5 for 17 from the floor, finished with 19 points, 9 boards and 7 assists; and Daniel Theis had 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Theis becomes more impressive with each passing game as he continues to improve with solid minutes. Tatum was an impressive 14 for 23 from the floor. Both Brad Wanamker and Enes Kanter struggled off the bench in this one.

This was the final game before the all-star break. The Cs resume with a road trip beginning in Minnesota against the Timberwolves on next Friday night.

Rockets 116, Celtics 105

Am I glad I didn’t stay up to witness this calamity. This was the Celtics on the road trying to win a game without putting forth a decent effort on the defensive end while playing hero ball on the offensive end. We might have hoped that by this point in the season, they would have matured beyond this point, but clearly they have not. And, to make matters worse, they turned the ball over 18 times and committed way too many stupid fouls on defense, In the end, they got what they deserved. Six minutes into the game which featured Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker jacking up treys and, for the most part, missing badly. Gordon Hayward, the team’s highest percentage shooter, had not taken a shot. He finished the game with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, but few followed his lead. The Cs actually led at the half, 49-47, but came out of the break with inferior effort and energy, scoring just 22 points in the third quarter while giving up 31, and following that up with gifting the Rockets with 38 points in the fourth quarter.

Hayward led the scorers with 20; Jaylen Brown had 19 points, 3 boards and an assist, but really struggled to defend on two sprained ankles which he reinjured in the process; Tatum had 15 points, 9 boards and 4 assists, but 5 for 15 from the floor, and 0 for 7 on treys; Walker had 14 points on 5 for 17 from the floor, 1 for 6 on treys; Daniel Theis had 11 points, 9 boards and an assist; and Brad Wanamaker had 11 points, 1 rebound and 3 assists.

On the negative side, Marcus Smart was 3 for 9 from the floor and defended poorly; Enes Kanter was a total non-factor, with 0 points and 2 TOs in 8 minutes; and neither Semi Ojeleye nor Grant Williams were given enough minutes to even evaluate their performances. Some of the match-ups by the coaching staff made no sense at all, as well.

If this team is seriously going to contend in the second half of this season, they must defend with intensity and have their best shooters lead them in number of shots taken. If that doesn’t happen, they will win when they are shooting well and lose against good teams on nights when they are not.

The next game is at home tomorrow night against the Clippers. Jaylen Brown needs to stop being stupid, along with the team’s medical staff, and rest until plays resumes after the all-star break, else his sprained ankles never heal until summer.

Celtics 112, Thunder 111

This was a strange finish to a game that should have been an easy win for the Cs since they led by 8 points with less than 2 minutes left. However, instead of running clock, in succession, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward got layup attempts blocked, all of which were converted at the other end by the Thunder. Thus, what should have been comfortable win, thanks to a couple of huge treys by Kemba walker to build their lead, went down to the final shot, a long trey which Chris Paul sank at the buzzer.

The Cs starters filled their prescription for how to lose on the road by playing passive defense for the first quarter and allowing the Thunder to score 32 points. Things were even worse in the second quarter as Romeo Langford struggled on defense, as did Grant Williams, and Marcus Smart committed 2 careless turnovers and defended poorly as well, and they trailed at the half, 61-52. However, they tended to defense in the third quarter, actually grabbing the lead, before allowing the Thunder to knot the score at 84 all.

Kemba’s combination of made free throws and treys gave them a solid lead, before they gave back nearly all of it.

Walker led the scorers with 27 points, 4 rebounds and an assist; Tatum had 26 points, 4 boards and 1 assist; Jaylen Brown had 17 points, 3 boards and 2 assists; Daniel Theis had 13 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists; and Hayward had 13 points, 10 boards and 4 assists. Eric Kanter had 8 rebounds but was otherwise quiet offensively and Brad Wanamaker turned in another solid 17 minutes of point guard play off the bench, contributing 4 assists and 4 rebounds. Tatum, once again, danced his excessive dribbling to 4 more TOs in this game.

The Cs move on to Houston where they face the Rockets on Tuesday night before returning home to face the Clippers on Thursday night.

Celtics 112, Hawks 107

Given that the Cs played without three starters, Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis, this result was acceptable, although the Hawks had a chance to tie the game and send it into overtime, and they were playing without their best player, all star Trae Young. Brown and Theis are sidelined with ankle sprains and Hayward with a sore foot which needed a night of rest. The Cs jumped out to a 14-point lead in the first quarter before handing it back to the Hawks with poor defense on treys and turnovers to lead 28-26 at the quarter. The Hawks lead at halftime, 55-54. The Cs mounted a charge in the third quarter to lead 87-73 before they allowed the Hawks to score 35 points in the fourth period.

The Cs were led by Jayson Tatum with 32 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocked shots; Enes Kanter, who has become a tremendous rebounder and scorer in the paint, had 16 points and 15 boards; Romeo Langford, once again was accorded substantial minutes and he had 16 points, 5 rebounds, a steal, 3 blocks and 0 turnovers; and Kemba Walker, returning from knee soreness, had 15 points, 6 boards and 6 assists. There is a silky smoothness to Langford’s game that is something special and his defensive knowledge is impressive for a rookie who has played few minutes. Tatum has become an impressive scorer but there is an aspect of his game that interferes with the progress of the team. He needs to tone down the Kyrie/Kemba dance routine with the crossover dribble for two reasons, it interferes with offensive ball movement and he turns the ball over frequently, 5 times in this game. Kanter is a scoring and rebounding machine in the paint and his use of the backboard is most impressive. Also, while he’s not a great defender, he still blocks a lot of shots for the relatively few minutes he plays and he has been hurt twice and missed quite a few games so I don’t think we’ve yet seen his best performances. With Theis, Kanter, Rob Williams, Vincent Poirier and Grant Williams, the Cs have multiple options and should be just fine going forward.

On the negative side, Javonte Green is freakishly athletic and has great finishes at the rim but he is not a good defender, turns the ball over too much, and is not impressive with his shooting stroke. Semi Ojeleye had a tough shooting night, going just 1 of 6 on treys and Grant Williams was not as solid last night as he has been in recent games.

The next game is Sunday afternoon at home against the Oklahoma Thunder.

Celtics 116, Magic 100

The game was actually much closer than the final score as the Cs pulled away at the end with 2 rookies on the floor. The Cs started slowly but finished the quarter strongly to lead at 32-23. Then they proceeded to defend poorly in the second quarter to lose the lead and finally finished in front, at 57-56. They bumped the lead up to 87-80 after three quarters and gave the lead back early in the fourth before spurting to the final margin.

The Cs were led by Jayson Tatum with 33 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots; Gordon Hayward had 23 points, 7 boards, 7 assists, 2 steals and 0 turnovers while doing the lion’s share of the ball-handling; Jaylen Brown had 18 points and 5 boards but no assists; and Grant Williams had 13 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, a steal and 2 blocked shots.

On the positive side, with Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart and Daniel Theis, all out, Romeo Langford was in the starting lineup and played 28 minutes, by far his best opportunity, and he took advantage of it by acquitting himself well on both ends of the floor for a 19-year-old rookie. Williams struggled mightily with treys earlier in the season but he was 3 for 4 tonight and he is becoming a very solid defensive presence in the paint, guarding players much taller than himself. He is maturing right before out eyes. Vincent Poirier also made postive contributions with 5 points, 2 rebounds and solid defense in just 7 minutes. Once again, he was ready to play and contribute.

On the negative side, Javonte Green was a mistake machine for the better part of his 11 minutes, failing to guard well on defense and committing 2 careless turnovers. Brad Wanamaker’s effectiveness was diminished by his 3 TOs as well. While Brown scored 18 points, the player he was assigned to guard, Evan Fournier, had 26 to pace the Magic scorers. Worse, he re-sprained his ankle with just seconds left in the game and hobbled off to the dressing room. The next game is Friday night but it is against the Atlanta Hawks who are one of the weaker teams. The injury bug seems to have found a home on Causeway Street.

Celtics 123, Hawks 115

The Cs were without both Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart, both nursing minor injuries, but that’s no excuse for the poor defensive effort they put forth in this game. And they nearly gave it away with turnovers and shoddy defense in the final minutes. The Hawks are a weak team, but Trae Young, their point guard, is the 5th leading scorer in the league. So, of course, the Cs allowed him to score 23 points in the first half with only passive resistance. Both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown had good offensive games but neither made much of an effort on the defensive end.

Tatum had 28 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists; Gordon Hayward had 24 points, 7 boards and 6 assists; Brown had 21 points and 5 boards, but he was in foul trouble from early in the first period to the end; Brad Wanamaker played 27 minutes and had 16 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals; and Grant Williams had 13 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and 2 blocked shots. In addition, he made several plays, despite still being given the rookie treatment by the officials. Although Enes Kanter was able to return for 16 minutes, Williams’ play was vital to the win as Daniel Theis sustained a nasty ankle sprain in the third quarter and he never returned to play.

On the negative side, Javonte Green was given the starting nod tonight and he did nothing to help the team, going scoreless in 18 minutes, struggling to defend Trae Young, and turning the ball over twice. And Tremont Waters also was a disappointment in this game as he struggled on defense and committed 4 TOs to boot.

The next game is Wednesday night at home against the Magic.