The Celtics have broken people’s brains
The talent, expectations, an recent history of the Celtics have made people go insane.
I am no green teamer. I have been criticizing Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown for their inability to come through in pressure situations for years. Years even before the hardest naysayers jumped on board. This however is not the time to do that. You are projecting your fears from past results you mindless fucks.
The Celtics just went up 3-1 on the Cleveland Cavaliers. They beat the heat 3-1 in dominating fashion. But, Because one game they fell back into some old habits and allowed the Heat to shoot a record-breaking percentage from three-point land they are proven losers? I understand Donavan Mitchell did not play in game four. These are still NBA players. It is not unprecedented, if even often, you get performances from role players in big games when the star is out, injured, or just off. These games allow these players to play stress free and pressure free. They see some shots go down and now you've got yourself a game. Oh, by the way Darius Garland is a high lottery pick and max player. Oh by the way we've seen Max Strus burry shots in the Celtics eyes before. Nobody talks about his atrocious performance in the three games prior to this. It just must be because the Celtics lack balls and are fucking losers that Strus had a good game in which his team lost! Did I forget to mention they lost? The Cavs lost. They are down three to one in the series. The Celtics won. The Celtics won on the back of back to back performances from Jason Tatum, which he willed his impact onto the game.
Yes, the Celtics offense has warts. This may be a Jayson Tatum thing, but it's more likely a franchise philosophy, thing driven by analytics to find favorable matchups and run the offense through that matchup creating a lot of isolation opportunities. It's not just Tatum and Brown. It's matchup dependent. We see Derrick White, Porzingus, and even Holiday get these opportunities too. Tatum and Brown just happen to be the best players on the floor at any given time so they get more opportunities. Sure, I'd love to see them continue to play more team friendly type of basketball, but that is not problem with Tatum.
Tatum is playing well. Period end of sentence. He is shooting poorly from behind the arc, but he is engaged, he is aggressive, he makes the right basketball play and he's trying to do what everybody criticizes him for which is fine the killer instinct and make the killer plays. The dude can't fucking win. The game clinching play in game four was him manipulating the defense then driving and kicking to a Jaylen Brown for the three-pointer. He was 9-9 from the free throw line. He’s averaging over a block of game. He leads the team rebounds, assists, and is now tied with Jaylen Brown for the leader in point per game. His team has lost twice in nine games with four 20 point victories. You say they needed to be battle tested, so they go win the only game that they have been in a clutch time situation. They won that game with the ball in Tatum’s hands.
Does anybody even watch the games? Have you seen this offense try to function without Jayson Tatum on the floor? How many times does Derrick need to run into Lurch out there to realize the entire offense is dictated by Jason Tatum. Every time he touches the ball 3 to 4 defenders are inching his way. He is the best passer they have on the team. He is the best play maker they have on the team. He is their best player and a top 5 player in the NBA for a reason. I’m not putting him in the Hall of Fame yet, but Jesus can we acknowledge the play in front of us? Oh by the way, he’s climbing nearly every list of Play off Statistics stacked with all time hall of fame players, so…
It makes me angry having to defend Tatum. I much more comfortable bashing him. But, right it right. He doesn’t deserve it right now. I am still here, saying the Celtics have yet to prove and pass their final test of executing in late game situations against good competition. Simply because the competition they've played has not been considered the highest level. But, it's the playoffs. They have been pushed they have been put into tough situations. And they continue to fight back and continue to win. When they blow a team out by 25 it's because the other team sucks. When the other team plays well and puts up a fight and the Celtics win close and late, they should've won by 25. They’re playing down to the competition and lack killer instinct. Give me the wins. Keep stacking wins. Keep stacking Jayson Tatum damn near averaging a triple double. You can save thr bitching and complaining for when they actually lose.