Celtics 116, Sixers 95

No Kemba, no problem. No Kanter, no problem. The obvious question is why and the obvious answer is defensive intensity. Rather than falling behind, the Cs put forth 2 outstanding defensive quarters, the first, when they allowed 19 points, and the third, when they allowed 16 points. Let’s hope that they have realized that was the primary cause of yet another short-handed win and make it part of their ongoing portfolio. And to make things even more difficult, Gordon Hayward had maybe the worst shooting night of his career, going just 1 for 11 from the field, all good looks, according to the venerable Hubie Brown, and he contributed very little offensively. Walker is a great two-way player but Marcus Smart, who started in his place, is a superior defender.

The Cs led at all the stops, 32-19, 58-51, 86-67, en route to the solid win. It was basically accomplished with an 8-man rotation and the Cs got outstanding efforts from Semi Ojeleye, Grant Williams and Brad Wanamaker with the latter turning in his best performance of the season. The Cs were led by Jaylen Brown with 32 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals; Jayson Tatum had 25 points, 3 boards, 4 assists and a steal; Smart had 16 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals; Wanamaker had 15 points, a rebound, 3 assists and 2 steals in 26 minutes; Ojeleye had 11 points, 5 rebounds and a steal in 24 minutes; and Williams had 3 offensive rebounds, made several hustle plays, and defended solidly as the backup center for 19 minutes.

On the negative side, Brown was 1 for 10 on treys and had 4 turnovers, and Smart also had 4 TOs, largely while trying to complete spectacular passes rather than taking what the defense would give him. Brown can, at times, be spectacular, but his total game is still a work in progress. He loves the monster dunk, and the ensuing celebration and muscle flex, but in this game he made two defensive errors immediately following the flex.

It is abundantly clear that when this team commits to defending with energy and intensity, they can beat any team. Doing just that with consistency is their primary challenge for the remainder of the regular season.

In my opinion, the corner trey is the shortest, and thus easiest, shot to make, but it could turn out to be the Cs Achilles heel. As a team, they are not very proficient at both making and defending the corner 3 and that may ultimately be their undoing.

The next game is Monday night in Atlanta against the Hawks.

Celtics 119, Warriors 104

The Warriors came into this game with 10 wins and 35 losses, a mere shadow of the powerhouse team from last year who are without Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson; thus a Celtic win was a foregone conclusion. However, the Cs did nothing to distinguish themselves as they turned the ball over 22 times en route to a fairly easy win. After a slow start during which they played passive defense, they buckled down and held the Warriors to just 7 points in the final 6 minutes of the quarter with stellar defense. They led at all the stops and the bench played the final 4 minutes of the game.

Gordon Hayward led the Cs with 25 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block; Marcus Smart, after a cold first half, finished with 21 points, 3 boards, 6 assists, a steal and a block; Jayson Tatum returned from injury to log 20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a block; Jaylen Brown had 18 points, 7 boards and 2 assists; and Kemba Walker had 13 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. On the negative side, Brown had 5 TOs and he fouled out of the game and Smart had 4 TOs.

Two players tied for the top +/- award: Semi Ojeleye and Grant Williams each with a +14. Ojeleye played 29 minutes of solid defense and scored 9 points in the process and Williams had 4 points, 5 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals while playing the backup center position.

The next game is Saturday night at home against the Sixers.

Celtics 109, Heat 101

Another really solid win from beginning to end. The Cs got off to a solid start, 8-0 after 70 seconds, and never were really threatened, although the game was always within reach for the Heat. This win was even more impressive because the Heat are a good team, the Cs played without either Jayson Tatum and Enes Kanter, and both Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart had subpar shooting nights, but they got the job done with an 8-man rotation.

Gordon Hayward had a high percentage 29 points, 10 from 14 from the floor, with 9 rebounds and 2 assists; Jaylen Brown had 25 points, 2 boards and 5 assists; Walker had 16 points, 4 boards and 8 assists; and Daniel Theis had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Marcus Smart had a tough shooting night but he contributed in many ways with 11 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocked shots and he made several big plays down the stretch to the wire. Very important to this win was the play of Semi Ojeleye, Grant Williams and Brad Wanamaker who were all productive off the bench, Williams as the backup center. Ojeleye had 7 points on 3 for 4 shooting and he was a rock on defense no matter who he was assigned to guard and Williams made some important hustle plays. Games like tonight’s are important confidence builders for both Ojeleye and Williams which will be important later on in the season and in the playoffs.

On the negative side Brown had 5 relatively careless turnovers and Smart had 4.

The next game is Thursday night at home against the Golden State Warriors.

Pelicans 123, Celtics 108

This was a pathetic defensive effort by your Boston Celtics. And they stunk it up for the entire game, never once getting close to a chance to win. This was truly the polar opposite of the previous two games when they defended with intensity, even ferocity. Tonight, they were as meek as lambs and, as such, were led to the slaughter. The only period where they showed any life at all was the third, and that was largely due to the efforts of Vincent Poirier, Javonte Green and Carsen Edwards, along with the scoring of Kemba Walker. Their lack of effort on the defensive end in this game was beyond embarrassing.

The double-figure scorers were Kemba Walker with 35 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, after going 0 for 7 in the first quarter; Gordon Hayward with 23 points, 6 boards and 2 assists; Jaylen Brown with 20 points, but just 2 rebounds and 1 assist; and Daniel Theis with 15 points, 9 boards, an assist, and 2 blocked shots. Hayward’s ball handling was weak tonight as he committed 4 TOs, unusual for him. Brown is often described by the pundits as a solid defender but tonight he was more like a sieve, beaten regularly in one-on-one situations. He also slumbered in the box-out-on-the-boards department.

Marcus Smart had a poor game, shooting 3 for 13 from the floor and 1 for 7 on treys, committing 3 TOs, and failing to stop whoever he was assigned to guard. With the exception of the last two games, he has struggled defensively since his return from illness and injury, and he turned an ankle early in this game, went immediately to the dressing room, but returned after an apparent taping. He may be playing hurt.

Theis has improved by leaps and bounds throughout the course of this season and I see no reason for the Cs to shore up their center position. Even if Robert Williams cannot return from his hip injury, they could be fine with Theis, Kanter and Poirier. The Cs were without both Jayson Tatum and Enes Kanter, both injured, but Poirier looked good in limited minutes and might improve significantly if he got more playing time. He can run the floor and appears to have good hands and skilled offensive moves around the rim.

The next game is Tuesday night in Miami against the Heat. Let’s hope they rediscover their identity as a defense-first team over the next couple of days lest they get embarrassed by the Heat.

Celtics 109, Magic 98

How soon they forget! After playing two stellar defensive games at home, it appeared that the Cs had forgotten their defensive intensity and failed to take it on the plane after a first quarter where they were outshot by the Magic and trailed, 30-24. And then it got really bad in the second quarter when they trailed by 16 before they mounted a defensive charge and cut the deficit to 4, at 57-53, at the half. They maintained that intensity in the third quarter, went on a 18-8 run, and led by 82-77 after three quarters. Orlando never really threatened after that.

This was a very impressive win given that 3 for their top 7 players were unable to play due to injuries, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Enes Kanter. However, Kemba Walker, Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis all stepped up as did several reserve players. Walker led the way with 37 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals; Hayward logged a double-double with 22 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists; and Daniel Theis had 16 points, 6 boards, 4 assists and a blocked shot. However, Grant Williams had 9 points, Brad Wanamaker had 8, and both Marcus Smart and Javonte Green both had 7. Uncharacteristically, Hayward had 5 turnovers while the entire team only had 13.

After struggling early to make a trey, Williams had 3 tonight along with 2 blocked shots and several fine defensive plays. This game should really help his confidence. Green may be the best finisher at the rim at a tremendous rate of speed than anyone I have ever seen.

The next game is Sunday night at 6 against the New Orleans Pelicans and their top draft choice Zion Williamson.

Celtics 119, Grizzlies 95

Yep, these were the red-hot Grizzlies, winners of 7 of their last 8 games, and they looked like it for the entire first quarter, at which time they led 27-25. It was then that the Cs finally decided to flex their defensive muscle, holding the Grizz to just 17 points in the second quarter, and grabbing a 58-44 halftime lead. Unlike many games that we’ve watched this year, there was no coasting in the third quarter either when they hiked the lead to 99-63 and simply ran away, allowing the Grizz just 19 points in the period. The bench played the entire fourth period of a complete and total blowout. And this was without Jaylen Brown who is nursing a sprained ankle and sprained thumb and was unable to play. How important is defense? Well Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart and Gordon Hayward shot a combined 1/13 in the first half and they still led by 14.

The Cs were led by Jayson Tatum wih 23 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals; Daniel Theis had 14 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocked shots; Enes Kanter had 13 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists; Hayward had 12 points, 3 boards and 4 assists; Smart finished with 12 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists, a couple of them really spectacular; and Brad Wanamaker had 10 points, 3 assists and a steal. All this chatter about the Cs lacking at the center position is just wasted breath; Theis and Kanter have been very solid, Williams is still trying to overcome a serious hip injury, and Poirier has shown some skills in the limited minutes available for him to play.

After last game, I read all the writers on NBC Sports Boston and ESPN and no one gave any credit to Semi Ojeleye. Well, obviously Coach Stevens was paying attention as Semi was among the first players off the bench tonight, played 15 minutes of solid defense, scored 7 points on 3 of 4 shooting, and was always where was supposed to be, doing what he is supposed to do. The bench was great tonight; at one point before all the end-of-bench players entered the game, they had shot 8 for 11 in their earlier appearances. Tonight, both Javonte Green and Carsen Edwards were positive contributors too.

Unfortunately, Tatum sustained a groin injury in the third period and was unable to return to play although he did sit on the bench with a giant ice pack. However, he was not needed. Walker had an off night, 2 for 9 from the floor, and it didn’t even matter in the final analysis.

The team now takes to the road for three games beginning in Orlando, on Friday, New Orleans on Sunday and Miami on Tuesday. Hopefully, they will enjoy the warmth and continue to play with the intensity they demonstrated in the last two games.

Celtics 139, Lakers 107

So, how does it happen that after losing 6 out of the last 8 games, the Cs can deliver a beating to the best team in the NBA. The answer is that there were several reasons: they finally had all of their best 8 players healthy; Jayson Tatum had one of his best all-around games; Kemba Walker and Gordon Hayward were both solid on both ends of the floor; Enes Kanter delivered off the bench with 18 points and 8 boards in the first half; Jaylen Brown recovered from a poor start offensively to produce 20 points; and Semi Ojeleye delivered 19 exceptionally solid minutes of play, demonstrating his ability to defend any position on the floor while contributing 5 points and 5 rebounds. In previous games bench players often made errors on both ends of the floor which usually destroyed momentum. While Ojeleye doesn’t score, he makes few mistakes. The Cs used basically an 8-man rotation and there was never a letdown no matter what combination of players were on the floor.

Tatum led the scorers with 27 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal, and constantly made good shooting decisions; Walker had 20 points, 4 boards and 7 assists; Brown finished with 20 points, 4 boards, 5 assists, 3 steals and only 1 turnover, after starting the game shooting 1 for 7 from the floor; Kanter had 18 points and 11 rebounds; and Hayward had 16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal. Vincent Poirier was inserted in the 4th quarter for 6 minutes and he contributed 5 points, 3 boards, an assist and 2 blocked shots, and looked comfortable in the process. With Robert Williams hurt for an extended period of time, Poirier might have gotten multiple opportunities to play, but he broke a finger which required surgery and was thus unavailable.

By contrast, Marcus Smart, who set a new Celtic record for treys made in a a game on Sunday night, had a subpar night with 9 points and 3 careless TOs, along with 1 for 5 on treys. The bench was cleared for the final 4 minutes of the game.

The Cs got off to another bad start early in the first quarter but they quickly recovered and played consistently from that point forward until the end of the game.

The next game is Wednesday night at home against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Suns 123, Celtics 119

The Cs didn’t deserve to win this game but, had Gordon Hayward not missed a layup when he was under the basket by himself with a minute left to play, they might have actually snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat. First and foremost, the Cs were without two starters, Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown, both out with minor injuries. Secondly, they got off to their usual poor start, turning the ball over, missing open shots, and failing to defend against the 3-point-shot, and they trailed 26-13 at 2:42 of the first quarter. And they never had the lead at any time in the entire game.

However, Marcus Smart signaled that he is finally recovered from his eye infection and bumps and bruises as he turned in, by far, his best game as a Celtic. He had 37 points on 13 for 25 shooting which included 11 of 22 on treys, a new all-time Celtic record. Not only that but he had 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals while guarding Devin Booker, one of the league’s great scorers, who once torched the Cs for 70 points in a game a few years back. He was absolutely terrific, also committing just 1 turnover in the game. Jayson Tatum had 26 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals, but he had 5 costly TOs; Gordon Hayward had 22 points, 7 boards and 7 assists; and Daniel Theis had 12 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, a steal and 3 blocked shots.

The contributions from the bench were quite another story as Brad Wanamaker was 1 for 6, Javonte Green was 1 for 5, and Tremont Waters was 1 for 5, Enes Kanter had just 8 points and 5 boards in 19 minutes, and Semi Ojeleye was 0 for 2 in 9 minutes of play. It’s difficult to understand why Grant Williams was moved to the starting lineup, especially given his level of play for the past few games during which he had consistently made mistakes on both ends of the floor. He may well have great potential, but his game needs a great deal of off-season work before he can be a consistent factor. Ojeleye, by comparison, always contributes on the defensive end and is only asked to make treys when open on the offensive end. I would think he deserved the start tonight over Williams and, in fact, he was only inserted into the game with 2 minutes left in the first half and early in the third quarter.

Let’s hope that some of the confidence that Smart exuded tonight will carry over to many games in the future. At this juncture, playing without Walker was a serious problem as he has established himself as the most reliable scorer and a leader of the team. According to Tommy Heinsohn, the Cs have only played 5 games so far this season with all of their starting five healthy.

The next game is Monday night at home against the Lakers.

Bucks 128, Celtics 123

This game was never as close as the final score might suggest.

As bad as they were last night defensively, they were worse tonight. They trailed by 16 points at the quarter as the Bucks made one uncontested trey after another. It’s really pathetic to watch as they simply refuse to even try to defend. Whatever defensive scheme they are attempting to use is plain and simply not working. The only thing that kept the margin under 20 was Kemba Walker finally making some shots and Marcus Smart making some free throws. Fact is, though, they allowed the Bucks to score 76 points in the first half. Once again, Enes Kanter had 7 minutes of playing time in the first half and never once got the ball in the paint where he is most effective. This team is clearly not listening to this coaching staff. Once again, Grant Williams’ impact on the game was poor as he passed up open shots and forced contested shots.

The Cs finally made a run in the middle of the third quarter, trimming the lead to 7, before they lapsed back into poor defense and missing open shots. Gordon Hayward was 0 for 8 on treys before he finally made a buzzer-beater to end the third quarter, by which time, the Bucks had extended their lead back to 19, at 106-87.

The fourth quarter was just more of the same; every time the Cs made a run, they failed to defend the trey and fell behind again. For whatever reason, they just refuse to defend the 3-point line. At the same time, they shot under 30% on treys and they took 49 of them. Another defensive disaster, another unnecessary loss.

Walker led the Cs with 40 points and 11 rebounds; Marcus Smart had 24 points; Jayson Tatum had 17 points; and Daniel Theis had 12 points and 10 boards. Nobody else made any real positive contributions. Jaylen Brown sat out the game with a sprained thumb.

The Bucks made 16 of 31 treys and that was the difference in the game.

Pistons 116, Celtics 103

Well tomorrow morning the Cs excuse-makers will tell you they had to play without Jayson Tatum who had the night off with a minor tendonitis issue. However, the Pistons were without Blake Griffin, their all-star power forward, and Reggie Jackson, their starting center. The truth of the matter is that the coaching staff sent the team out for this game with poor defensive matchups and an ineffective defensive scheme and, to further complicate matters, failed to motivate their players to defend with intensity. The result was a game that, for all intents and purposes, was over at the 8:34 mark of the first quarter when the Pistons led 11-4 because the Cs failed to defend and missed open shots. Giving up 57 points to these Pistons in the first half was beyond embarrassing. They allowed two rookie unknowns, Doumbouya and Mykhailuk, score 23 and 21 points respectively. And they never came close to guarding Derrick Rose who was 11 of 13 from the floor and he virtually torched Marcus Smart.

So, what is really going on with these Celtics? A lot of things, none of them good. All of a sudden, since his return from illness and injury, Smart has lost a step defensively and struggled to 1 for 9 from the floor. Jaylen Brown tries to take over the game by putting his head down and dribbling the ball to the hoop where he is unable to finish and then goes to the free throw line and is 0 for 5, as well as turning the ball over 5 times. Kemba Walker kept jacking up shots and he finished 2 for 11 on treys and 7 for 19 overall. Only Gordon Hayward, who had 25 points on 11 for 15 from the floor, could get anything done offensively. Brad Wanamaker had a decent first half and got nothing done in the second half and the Cs backcourt players turned the ball over 11 times. Grant Williams, who has gotten a lot of press coverage because of his engaging personality, turned in yet another klunker, making a ton of defensive mistakes while being scoreless in 16 minutes. And Erik Kanter appeared to have sustained some kind of leg injury when a Pistons player rolled up on his leg while falling to the floor.

This game was a chore to watch from beginning to end. Offensively, I’m tired of seeing Kanter, a force in the paint, constantly getting touches on the perimeter where he can do very little. Aside from that, their offensive sets are contributing to their poor scoring starts. There are many things that are in disarray with this team at the moment.

And to make matters worse, they are embarking on a flight to Milwaukee where they will face the first-place Bucks tomorrow night. That game could get very ugly on the back-to-back.