Celtics 113, Bulls 101

Without the burden of another slow start, this game tonight was a comfortable win. The Cs were good both offensively and defensively in the first quarter which they won, 28-14, and they carried that to a 55-37 halftime lead. After a brief letdown early in the third quarter, the Cs led 83-71 after 3 and coasted home with the reserves getting minutes at the end. They generally played solid defense for most of the game.

The double-figure scorers were led by Jayson Tatum with 21 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists; Jaylen Brown struggled again early but rallied to score 19 points with 3 rebounds and 3 assists; Enes Kanter, who got the start at center with Daniel Theis nursing an injury, had 15 points and 9 boards; Kemba Walker had a quiet 14 points, 4 boards and 2 assists; Marcus Smart had a solid 14 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals; and Grant Williams, who got backup center minutes, had his best game in awhile with 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, along with his usual solid defense. Gordon Hayward had an off night shooting the ball but he had 6 rebounds and 8 assists. While Kanter had a decent game, he did turn the ball over 5 times.

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

Celtics 140, Pelicans 105

Before you get too excited about the final score, you must understand that the Celtics pummeled the Pelican Jayvees who were on the second night of a back-to-back and had only one of their better players, Brandon Ingram, available for this game. And, while the Cs had a decent offensive performance, they left a lot to be desired on the defensive end of the floor, allowing those Pelican reserves to score 104 points.

On the positive side, Jayson Tatum had one of his best-ever games, shooting a high percentage and aggressively taking the ball to the basket and finishing, with 41 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals; Enes Kanter had 22 points and 19 reboundsin 23 minutes; Gordon Hayward had 19 points, 5 boards and 3 assists on 8 of 11 shooting; and Kemba Walker had 17 points, 5 boards and 7 assists. Javonte Green had a productive 12 minutes with 7 points and 5 boards.

On the negative side, Jaylen Brown had 13 points on just 4 of 15 shooting and appears to be on the verge of becoming a head case once again as he often was last year when he insisted on driving to the rim and getting the majority of his shots blocked. Also, Grant Williams had another poor performance, scoreless for 13 minutes and fouling out in the process. He also appears on the verge of a confidence crisis. It is difficult to understand why Semi Ojeleye and Green are being denied the minutes given to Williams as both have been solid defensively in the few minutes they have been allowed to play.

Kanter has a reputation for being a poor defender but he is an absolute beast on the boards, both offensively and defensively, and he bring a physical presence to the paint. The Cs do not have a problem at the center position but they do have an ongoing failure to defend like they once did and they will not beat contending teams until they commit to return to aggressive physical defense. Even Marcus Smart has taken a step backwards on defense.

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

Sixers 109, Celtics 98

Yet another clunker and they are not done yet. Kemba Walker had 26 points and Marcus Smart had 24 and they are the only players exempted from what was a very poor offensive and defensive effort from beginning to end for these slow-learning Celtics. The stat lines for the two supposed all stars was 2 for 12 from the floor with three turnovers for Jaylen Brown and 4 for 13 with 4 TOs for Jayson Tatum. Gordon Hayward was only slightly better at 4 for 11 with 2 TOs. Why such a difference? They have been scouted, their weaknesses have been identified, and they have had their strengths taken away. All three dribble the ball far too much with no real purpose, are very TO-prone, and they are being exploited. We must remember that the roster the Sixers played tonight was without by far their best player, Joel Embiid, who is sidelined with a gruesomely dislocated finger which will be surgically repaired tomorrow. By the way, Kemba dribbles the ball a lot too; however, he is nearly always dribbling to a spot where he can get his shot off.

Truth be told, the Cs are not good enough to win games against decent teams on the offensive end of the floor. Earlier in the year, when they played with a defensive mentality, they won. Either they will return to their commitment to defend or this season will be a lost cause.

The Cs actually led at all the stops before falling apart in the fourth quarter which they lost 32-18.

Tonight, they got little help from their bench as Grant Williams was ineffective, Semi Ojeleye just can’t seem to contribute offensively, and Enes Kanter had great difficulty getting his shots off in the paint against a rookie. For some reason, Javonte Green and Brad Wanamaker received DNP-CDs tonight.

The next game is Saturday night against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Spurs 129, Celtics 114

Insanity is when you keep doing the same thing over and over but expect a different result. By that standard, the Cs are the epitomy of insanity. The sad thing is that the coaching staff, which recognized the problem two weeks ago, have failed to implement any measures to correct it. Tonight they trailed 14-3 after 4 minutes enroute to trailing 34-22 at the quarter. For the same reasons that they always have: no intensity on defense, jacking up missed treys on offense, failing to pass the ball on offense and turning the ball over. Jaylen Brown has, over the past few games, become a virtual TO machine. Tonight, he was 0 for 3 from the floor with 3 TOs in the first quarter and he neglected to defend with energy as well. They only played well for the first 5:39 of the third quarter which they won 20-11. At that point, a rookie official missed an obvious foul on Kemba Walker who objected vociferously and was ejected from the game. After 4 free throws, the Cs rally was done and the embarrassment continued. This was another instance of Lamarcus Aldridge banging on a Celtic. Where was Loscy when we really needed him?

Tonight, they faced a legitimate middle of the road NBA team unlike last game when they were embarrassed by the Wizards Jayvee team. They sure are a group of slow learners. Worse, they are a waste of time to watch.

This was Marcus Smart night and, after making two early treys, he did nothing nothing to show that he has recovered from his bouts with injuries and illness.

The double-figure scorers were Gordon Hayward with 18 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists; Brown with 16 points and 3 boards; Daniel Theis with 15 points and 5 rebounds; Jayson Tatum had 14 points and 6 boards; and Smart had 12 points and 5 assists, but 3 TOs. Tatum was only 5 for 16 from the floor with 3 TOs. Not one player off the bench played well.

The Cs are in a severe defensive slump the only cure for which is to play defense with the intensity they displayed for the first 5:39 of the 3rd period. Unless that happens, there will be more ugly losses. Actually, if they simply studied the game tape and watched the Spurs move the ball, and actually learned from it,
they would improve dramatically.

The next game will be tomorrow night in Philadelphia against the Sixers.

Wizards 99, Celtics 94

This was truly an embarrassing defeat as they were completed dominated from beginning to end by the Wizards Jayvee team. They have been beset by injuries to several starters including Bradley Beal, one of the league’s best scorers, who was unable to play. The Cs were without Kemba Walker and his maturity was surely missed in this game. At no point did the Cs look like they might win the game as they were out of sync every step of the way on both ends of the floor.

Jaylen Brown was the team’s leading scorer with 21 points, and he had 11 rebounds, but he jacked up 21 shots, was 6 for 21, and 2 for 10 on treys; Jayson Tatum had 17 points, but only 1 rebound and 1 assist; Marcus Smart had 13 points, but he was 3 of 14 from the floor and 3 of 10 on treys, and worse, he was torched by Ish Smart, a journeyman reserve point guard, who led the Wizards with 27 points, and old friend Isaiah Thomas who had 17 points, despite being a shadow of his former self as a Celtic. Gordon Hayward rounded out the Cs double-figure scorers with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but he was only 1 for 5 on treys. They needed help from the bench but Brad Wanamaker had a bad game, 0 for 5 from the floor, with just 1 assist, and Enes Kanter, for some strange kept being given the ball on the perimeter and in the corner and almost never in the paint where he is most effective. Credit the coaching staff for not correcting that during Kanter’s 19 minutes of play. Also, the Cs shot 25% on treys for the night; it’s tough to win on the road with that kind of performance. Let’s hope Kemba can return soon.

Their effort on both ends of the floor was lacking throughout the entire game.

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

Celtics 111, Bulls 104

On the second night of a back-to-back, without Kemba Walker, out with the flu, and a subpar game turned in by Marcus Smart, who has yet to regain game shape after his bouts with injury and illness, this would have to be considered a good win. Actually, had the Cs not turned the ball over 19 times with excessive dribbling and terrible passes, this would have been a very comfortable win because they actually led by 16 points in the final period before giving away most of their lead with a flurry of TOs. Once again, the Cs got off to a poor start, the result of TOs and failure to guard the 3-point line, but climbed back to a lead of 2, at 30-28, at the quarter. They maintained their lead, 55-52 at the half and expanded it to 12 points, at 85-73, after three quarters.

Jayson Tatum had a solid comeback game with 28 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots; Gordon Hayward had 24 points, 5 boards and 3 assists, shooting 9 of 14 from the floor; Jaylen Brown had 19 points and 12 boards; and Enes Kanter had 17 points and 12 boards. Tatum’s dribbling was far more purposeful tonight on forays to the hoop and he shot 12 of 15 from the floor. They got 19 solid minutes from Brad Wanamaker, 17 solid minutes from Grant Williams and 10 from Javonte Green, which, along with Kanter’s contributions, made for a productive night for the bench. Hayward was impressive in this back-to-back game, having been recently been sidelined with nerve soreness in his foot.

After a night off, they face the Washington Wizards in another away game on Monday night.

Celtics 109, Hawks 106

What an ugly win, and just barely so. The Hawks are a young, weak team so of course the Cs played their usual brand of poor defense, but coupled it with even poorer offense, and allowed the Hawks to grab an 18-point lead in the first quarter. I counted 8 instances of weak defense in that quarter and with Jayson Tatum going 0 for 6 and neither Gordon Hayward or Jaylen Brown doing much better, the Cs trailed by 13 at the break. They finally played some defense, made some steals, and narrowed the gap to 2 at the half, at 55-53. The Cs forged a narrow lead, 82-80, after three quarters but led by only a point late in the fourth quarter before Marcus Smart hit a huge trey to put the game out of reach. However, Trey Young continued to terrorize the Cs almost to the final buzzer before Daniel Theis, who acquired Young on a switch, was able to block an attempted trey. Young finished with 28 points and 10 assists and he gave Smart fits all night long with his quickness.

The Cs were without Kemba Walker, who was out with the flu, and he was surely missed. Brown led the scorers with 24 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, but he was a giveaway machine with 6 bad turnovers; Hayward recovered from a subpar first half to finish with 18 points, 6 boards and an assist; Smart had 14 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots; Theis had 14 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, a steal and 2 blocks; Enes Kanter had 14 points, 11 boards and an assist; and Tatum had 13 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal, but he was a horrendous 2 for 16 from the floor. I think it’s well past time the media stop promoting him as an all star and give him time for his game to mature and for him to become more aware of his teammates.

The Cs were very fortunate to escape with a win. I am perplexed as to why they cannot commit to playing defense in the first quarter and stop creating these huge deficits.

The next game is tomorrow night in Chicago against the Bulls.

Celtics 109, Hornets 92

This game was relatively close for three quarters before the Cs increased their defensive intensity, made some shots, and blew the Hornets out early in the fourth quarter. The scores at the first three stops were 24-18, 50-43 and 80-73. This was a team that they should have beaten comfortably and in the final analysis, they did.

The Cs were led by Jayson Tatum with 24 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 steals; Kemba Walker had 22 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals; Gordon Hayward had a double-double with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists; and Enes Kanter, a double-double with 13 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists and 6 blocked shots, very impressive for a non-leaper. Jaylen Brown missed the game with a sinus infection but Marcus Smart was available, and while he missed a number of shots, his presence was very noticeable on the defensive end. One of the reasons for the Cs inability to put the game away earlier was the fact that both Daniel Theis and Smart were 2 for 9 from the floor, entering the fourth quarter.

Some observations: Kanter’s supposed defensive liabilities have been grossly exaggerated; he is tough as hell in the paint and has excellent hands. When Gordon Hayward dribbles the ball, his goal is to make the best play, whether that involves shooting the ball, passing it, or spacing the floor to set up one of his teammates. By contrast, when Tatum dribbles the ball, it is almost always to create a shot for himself. Unfortunately, sometimes that results in a careless TO or a disruption of offensive ball movement which, everybody agrees, is Celtic offense at its most efficient.

The next game is Friday night at home against the Atlanta Hawks followed by a back-to-back game on the road in Chicago.

Raptors 113, Celtics 97

That’s right, the Raptors, missing several of their best players, beat the Celtics like a drum, jumping out to an early lead, helped by an inept Celtic defense, along with 6 missed free throws, to lead by 11 at the quarter, 36-25. And the Cs truly were never in this game. Oh, they got close a couple of times, but the Raptor answered the Celtic runs, and put the game away early. This game was poorly played by the Cs from beginning to end. Perhaps they spent too much time reading their press clippings over the past few days, but they definitely never matched the Raptors’ intensity at any point in the game.

Kemba Walker led the scorers with 30 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, but he was only 3 for 11 on treys; Jaylen Brown had 17 points, 5 boards, 1 assist, 3 steals, but 3 turnovers; Gordon Hayward also had a difficult night, netting 13 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, while shooting 3 for 13 from the floor and only 1 for 7 on treys; Jayson Tatum had 12 points, 3 boards and 4 assists, but he dribbled excessively and turned the ball over a whopping 6 times; and Enes Kanter had 11 points and 6 rebounds. Marcus Smart returned from that serious eye infection and he was obviously not in game shape as he went 2 for 9 from the floor and just 1 for 5 on treys.

While the Cs may be able to get away with poor defense early against weaker teams, they were completely unable to do so against last year’s champs. They have fallen into a bad habit of not bringing intensity from the beginning of the game and tonight they had no answer for the Raptors intensity and were badly beaten. There is a lesson to be learned from this loss, let’s hope they will pay attention and correct their early flaws.

The next game is at 3 p.m. on New Year’s Eve in Charlotte, N.C. against the Hornets.

Celtics 129, Cavaliers 117

This game was never close after the first 6 minutes, when the Cs led by 2, at 17-15. However, if you’re a Patriots fan, this Celtic team could drive you a bit crazy. Coming into the game, the Cs knew that Kevin Love was shooting above 50% from the 3-point-line; yet he was allowed to shoot 6 for 11 on treys in this game. One thing about the Pats, whatever their opponent does best won’t be the factor that beats them. Love actually wound up with 30 points for the night.

The Cs led at all the stops and were never threatened. When they cleared the bench with 5 minutes left in the game, the group that finished the game defended poorly so they lost some of their winning margin. They also had a poor defensive performance in the third quarter when they allowed the Cavs to score 34 points.

Jaylen Brown led the Cs with a career-high 34 points along with 9 rebounds and 2 assists; Jayson Tatum, whose shot selection was much better in this game, had 30 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots; Enes Kanter had 13 points, 9 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks; and Kemba Walker had 13 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists which included a cold 1 for 8 on treys. Daniel Theis turned in yet another solid game with 9 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks and Gordon Hayward didn’t shoot well but he had 5 rebounds and 8 assists, while Grant Williams had 4 assists and was once again solid on defense while playing with a dislocated index finger on his shooting hand.

The Celtics play again tomorrow night at 7 against the visiting Toronto Raptors.