The Celtics Are Starting To Look Like The Team We Knew They Could Be

Brian Babineau. Getty Images.

Much like the win over the Houston Rockets, beating a depleted Charlotte Hornets team isn't all that big of deal. But just like the win over the Houston Rockets, how the Celts beat the Hornets certainly is. It was a game they most definitely needed to have as the Celts continue to try and rise up the Eastern Conference standings, and with the Hornets being one of the team above them at the moment, these head to head matchups are important. It was the start of a pretty big three game stretch of CHA/PHI/NYK, and remember, this homestand is all about forming better habits. Playing the right way. Taking steps forward, not backward. That's really all last night was for me. It's not something that puts them as a lock for the ECF, don't get silly. What it was however, was this team taking another step in the right direction. Progress if you will. Let's not pretend like we always see this from the Celts when they play a bad/injured team this season. In fact, more often than not they play down to their competition and lose a game like this. 

I've preached it all year, during the bad times and the good, and I will do it once again. Perspective is important. They are still 25-25, that's bad. We woke up today with the Celts in the 8 seed. That's also bad. The Hawks (won 3 straight) and then Heat (won 4 straight) own the 4/5 spots, and sit 1 game ahead of Boston as of the writing of this blog. Things can change in a blink of an eye, as long as this team continues to play the right way. We still need to see the Celts play this level/style of basketball for a longer stretch before we can talk about anything being "turned around", but the foundation is clearly there. We know they can do it. 

It hasn't been often that we've been able to have back to back positive day after blogs, so we may as well enjoy ourselves.

The Good

- I'm not starting with a player today. There's something that this team did that made me happier than any individual performance. Just a few days ago people told me I was an idiot for having some positive takeaways from the Rockets game. It's like they didn't watch. I was told nothing could translate moving forward. You know what did? This team's ball movement.

Passing the ball has nothing to do with who you are playing. It's a mindset. Should anyone be surprised that in back to back games of this team making the extra pass and moving the ball that the team as a result has looked so much better? Last night was more of the same, a total of 29 assists on 43 FGM. Four players with at least 4 assists. Kemba with 6 assists and 0 TOs making plays like this

Evan Fournier with 6 assists off the bench. The best part? They are taking care of the basketball too. Just 6 TOs on the night. When the ball moves, shooting improves. I don't have the science to back that up, I just have my eyes. We've known for years now that the Basketball Gods reward good ball movement. I do not think it's a coincidence that this team has a much better vibe during a stretch where they are really moving the ball.

A lot of that has to do with Rob too. He needs to touch the ball on every offensive possession. He moves the ball as well if not better than any big in the Brad Stevens era and I am including the early Horford years in that statement. 

- Speaking of Rob, the Celts are now 4-1 in games started by Robert Williams. That feels good. I'll put my hand up on this one, for a long time I said I did not care who started as long as Rob played 25+ minutes on a consistent basis. That is wrong. He needs to start. His energy and impact are too great to not have at the beginning of games.

I know it's getting repetitive with each blog, but it's always true. Rob is blossoming right before our eyes. He's blocking shots, he's diving on the floor, he's rebounding, he's moving the ball, he even has a little bit of a turnaround game in his bag. Most of all, he's infectious. For a team that has an energy and effort problem, it's a biggggg deal that Rob gives a shit and brings it every single time he's on the floor. I don't know when Tristan Thompson will be back in the lineup, but his days starting are now over. They have to be. The sample is too big and the results are too clear to mess with this shit right now. You finally have something that looks to be working and things are starting to swing in a positive direction, you can't demote Rob right now. You just can't. 

- Last night was a pretty perfect example of how valuable Evan Fournier is going to be to this roster. In a game where Tatum/Kemba struggled big time out of the gate in that first quarter, normally that's where we would see this team get down by like 8-10 points early against a bad team. Then they start pressing, things go to shit, and we are all frustrated. Now? Well not Brad can put in a proven NBA caliber scorer and look what happens

This used to be a situation where someone like Smart would try and shoot this team out of it. Now they have a guy that can make 10 straight 3PM. No, that won't always be the case. The same way Fournier going 0-10 was a little fluky. But the shooting ability and the playmaking are real. It's Hayward-Lite. Whatever you think about Fournier as a player, there is no denying that he is a massive upgrade at the wing position compared to what this roster used to have. He can be a primary scorer off the bench, he can be the perfect 4th option with the starters, and most importantly he's allowed Smart to slide back into the role he's best suited for. A defense first playmaker rather than an offensive minder shot chucker. That has immense value.

- We also finally got to to see Romeo Langford play a real life basketball game. He actually DOES exist. My expectations have been consistent with Romeo all season. Whatever I get from him on the offensive end is house money. I just wanted to see if those flashes he showed last year of being a legit NBA defender were real. Something tells me they might be

I thought his first showing of the year went better than expected. Him hitting his first three was great. But it was what he showed on the defensive end that's going to make an impact with that second unit. He has great size and is only going to get better as he plays more. He's only on short stints right now so keep your expectations on this planet, but there's a good chance he's a big time piece as a two way player for that second unit. 

- When Tatum snaps out of his early funks and wakes up, it's pretty terrifying what he can do as an offensive player. Especially against a team that does not have a single player on their roster that can guard him. 

He didn't score in the first, didn't play in the fourth, and still finished with 22/8/4 on 8-15 shooting. That feels good. 

- We should also acknowledge that ever since the heave, Marcus Smart has actually been pretty damn good. Not just offensively when it comes to an improved shot selection, but also defensively. That might be most important. Last night was another example of him playing within his role (12/4 on 4-8 shooting), and we'll see how he looks on Tuesday in a big game with PHI. It's one thing to look like this against HOU and CHA, but I do know if he continues to play like this it only raises the Celtics ceiling. This version of Marcus is the best version of Marcus so I'm hoping it's here to stay.

- A lot of people were mad when the Celts took 47 threes in their loss a few days ago. Well, they took 54 last night and I didn't hear as much complaining, probably because they made 21. This team is going to shoot a fuck ton of threes, that will never change. For me, it's about the quality of threes they take. 

The iso ones = bad

The ones off ball movement = good

The Bad

- As I mentioned, Kemba/Tatum did not start off all that great. A combined 5-13 (0-12) in the first half. The majority of Kemba's shots were wide open threes he just couldn't buy a bucket. It felt like Tatum was settling a little bit with iso stepbacks early, which is not how we want to see him start games. When he plays inside/out, he tends to get off to better starts.

Mix that with some shaky defense early, and that's why this was an actual ballgame in the first quarter. I'll tell you this, they are going to have to be much better tomorrow night or things could get ugly early. I think like 8 of their first 10 FGA were threes. Like I said I accept this team will launch from deep, but a lot of those were iso threes and that's when this team gets into trouble

- Sadly, it looks like the Murder Kornet has come crashing back down to earth from behind the arc. After starting his Celtics career 4-7 from deep, Kornet is now 0 for his last 5. Overall he's 3-11 from the field in his last 3 games. That's mostly insignificant but I have to find something in a game the Celts won by 30.

- We also didn't see Aaron Nesmith make a shot. I love what he brings in terms of his hustle and energy, he plays 100000000 MPH, but at some point I'm also going to need to see him ya know, make shots. He was drafted to be a shooter, not a hustle guy imo.

The Ugly

- I know they won so ultimately it doesn't matter, but it is getting so annoying how this team is not consistently wearing their home whites at home. I'm not sure who makes this call or if the Celts actually have any input, but we need to stop messing around. It's the best jersey in the entire league. They are 8-0 wearing that jersey and the last time I checked the Celts need all the wins they can get. I'm really hoping we see it tomorrow night. I don't know why it helps, but it just does.

Now winner of 4 of their last 6, the competition hasn't exactly been the greatest. Now let's see what they can do against a fully healthy Embiid and a tough as nails Knicks team. Win those and you'll really be making progress. Revert back to your bad habits and all this work will have been for nothing.