Celtics
The Celtics struggled in the second half against a short-handed Rockets team that refused to go away, but they got enough to claim a 116-107 victory to get back in the win column.
The Celtics struggled in the second half against a short-handed Rockets team that refused to go away, but they got enough to claim a 116-107 victory to get back in the win column.
Here are the takeaways.
1. Kristaps Porzingis was excellent on both ends: 32 points on 11-for-21 shooting to go with six boards and five (!) blocked shots. Every team struggles to deal with what he brings to the floor, but the Rockets were particularly vulnerable — Alperen Sengun and Jock Landale were the only players who could reasonably match Porzingis’ size, and neither of them were mobile or versatile enough to deal with his floor spacing. Much of the first half was target practice in the pick-and-pop for Porzingis, and he was more than happy to abuse mismatches in the post. Even when he didn’t get the ball, he made a major impact: At one point, the Rockets simply let Derrick White run right past Jalen Green for a two-handed slam because Sengun didn’t want to leave Porzingis knowing White would just whirl and find him for an open triple from his favorite spot at the top of the key.
Defensively, meanwhile, Porzingis was just as effective. The Rockets challenged him repeatedly, and he won in both half-court and transition sets. His final block might have been his best — with the Celtics leading by 10 and on the verge of putting the game on ice, Sengun drove at Porzingis for a layup that the Celtics’ center sent back unceremoniously.
Don’t expect to see Porzingis on Monday in Dallas (Horford sat the front half of the back-to-back), but he did his part to make sure the Celtics started their odd three-game road trip on a good note.
2. Since the Celtics won, the order of takeaways goes “1. Porzingis, 2. Tatum.” If they had lost, that order would have been reversed. Tatum struggled immensely from the field, finishing 4-for-17 overall and 1-for-6 from 3-point range. Facing an aggressive Rockets team that had clearly been instructed by Ime Udoka to bother Tatum and Brown as much as possible, Tatum looked off from the jump. He also missed a number of 3-pointers that were very make-able but tend to be the kind of shots he misses when his layups aren’t falling.
Tatum still got to the line 12 times (9-for-12), and he made a big 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter that helped push the game out of reach. The spin zone: After struggling badly against both the Rockets and Nuggets, he’s due for a regression to the mean.
3. Jaylen Brown recorded the third triple-double of his career with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. He was inefficient as a shooter (6-for-14), but he also created three opportunities with three steals.
Brown’s last assist was aided and abetted by both a Rockets team that refused to concede a lost cause and by a Celtics team that was well aware of what he needed to reach the milestone.
Still, a triple-double (usually) can’t happen with 10 assists, and Brown had a number of nice ones, particularly a pair to Kornet – one drive-and-dish that found Kornet at the rim, and one patient pass as Kornet flew down the lane for a dunk in transition. Brown’s improvements as a facilitator continue to be stark this year.
4. Derrick White picked up some scoring slack with Tatum and Brown scuffling a bit, dropping 21 points along with 11 rebounds. He scored 16 of his points in the first half.
It’s a little obvious, but we probably can’t overstate how important it is for the Celtics that on a night when they got just 31 points from their two mainstay All-Star contenders, two fringe All-Star contenders combined to score 53. You can still try the strategy of making other Celtics besides Tatum and Brown beat you, but this year’s team is a lot better built to simply say, “Okay, no problem” and do it anyway.
5. This was an absurd shot by Payton Pritchard.
Pritchard played 30 rock-solid minutes on Sunday, scoring nine points on 3-for-6 shooting (3-for-5 from three) and dishing out four assists. Celtics lineups are +0.3 with Pritchard in the game this season instead of on the bench, which is really promising from a role player who just signed an affordable four-year deal this offseason.
6. Remember when “the Celtics still need a back-up big” was a talking point before the season? Luke Kornet has missed two shots in his last four games and has blocked seven shots over that same stretch, including three more on Sunday. He finished 4-for-4 with eight points, nine rebounds, an assist and a steal as well. The back-up big discourse feels like it happened a long time ago.
7. We probably should have seen Brown’s attempt at an off-the-backboard self alley-oop coming after Anthony Edwards successfully pulled it off two days ago, since Brown couldn’t just let his young Atlanta counterpart go unanswered.
Brown’s attempt, which came on the first possession of the game, wasn’t quite as successful.
“It looked great in my head,” Brown said postgame, chuckling. “… I just didn’t have the legs tonight. My legs was cooked.”
8. Next up for the Celtics: A trip to Dallas where they will face old friend Grant Williams (as well as Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, who are a little more prominent outside of Boston).
For what it’s worth: Williams recently described his start in Dallas as “not good.” He might be a little banged up. We’ll get a closer look at 8:30 p.m. on Monday before the Celtics finally get two days off ahead of Thursday’s showdown with the Heat.
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