The Sign Of A True Champion Is Finding Ways To Win Even If It Means Winning Ugly

Winslow Townson. Getty Images.

The beauty of the 82 game journey back up the mountain is you never know what you're going to get. Every single night is its own battle, where once you step in between the lines and the clock starts, nothing else really matters outside of what happens in those 48 minutes. Everyone acknowledged that this season, the defending champs would be getting the best shot from whoever they were playing on any given night. That's not exclusive to them, that's what happens with every champ. You're the standard, you're the measuring stick, beating you means more to teams than anyone else in the league.

So now sitting 14 games into the season, the big picture view is not only is this idea of getting everyone's best shot real, the Celts have also started the season looking pretty damn familiar to a team that had a historic season, and they've been doing it while missing key rotation players

Of course there will be some that suggest the Celts even without Porzingis have no business being in a dogfight with one of the worst teams in the NBA who also happen to be missing their best players. That's not a crazy statement, it's one that I would mostly agree with. When the Celts play to their level, there is not a team in the NBA they should be in a dogfight with, I don't care who it is.

But there's also something to be said about these types of games. You need them. Every single rep matters, executing in a wide variety of situations over the course of a season matters, regardless of who it comes against. When it came time for the Celtics to get a game saving stop, that's what mattered. Not the fact that it was the 2-11 Raptors. When it came time to win the game, their execution in that spot mattered. 

Joe talks about it all the time. It takes what it takes. The second you allow yourself to assume a game should go a certain way, you're cooked. Then once it doesn't, your spirit is broken because you didn't meet expectations. Instead, embrace the chaos. Understand that anyone can be beaten on any given night and whatever it takes to win that specific game is all that matters.

Whatever it takes, for however long it takes.

That was the mantra that fueled the championship season, and it's exactly what we saw unfold in this win. It was ugly, it was tense, but the team never wavered. When it came time to figure shit out, they figured shit out. Best team in the league or worst team in the league, it's all the same. Can you execute on both ends of the floor when the game is on the line?

Last night, the answer was yes. Now let's dive in.

The Good

- I can't remember if this was already a blog rule or not, so I'm just going to go ahead and establish it from here on out. If you hit a game winner, you kick us off

Remember during the Olympics when the entire basketball world tried to gaslight you into Jayson Tatum not being a good shooter? All you can do is laugh. I'll remind you, Jayson Tatum is currently shooting over 38% from three on 11 3PA a night. Over his last 7 games, so basically half the season, he's shooting 42.1% from deep on 10.9 3PA a night. We all wondered what this version of Jayson Tatum would look like now that he could play free with the pressure of winning his first title now gone, and the results speak for themselves. 

We're watching a top 3 player in the NBA right now, and that might be low. 

Now, despite what NBA Twitter and many upset opposing fanbases want you to believe, Jayson Tatum's game winner is nothing new. He's been about that life pretty much since he entered the NBA, and since the Bubble season, few players have more fo these types of shots

It will always make me laugh how much the discourse around Tatum is mostly people trying to pretend like this entire career doesn't exist. Because if you take the name out and just look at the production and what he's actually done on the floor, it sure would sound a whole lot different. For example, this idea that Tatum isn't "clutch" might be true, but it would require you to ignore things that have actually happened

Sure he missed the game winner in regulation by about 10,000 feet, but whatever. Shooters shoot. They have the utmost confidence in their talent and never back away from the moment, regardless of what came before it. 

As always, you can tell when Tatum is truly locked in simply by looking at his rebounding numbers. Remember that pathetic 6 rebound effort in the loss to the Hawks where he had 1 in an entire second half? That was terrible. Since then? He had 9 against BKN (W) and 11 again last night (W). You combine that with his 9 assists which easily could have been more had his teammates buried their open looks

and no matter how you slice it, we're watching the best basketball of Jayson Tatum's career. He's been consistent, he's been efficient, he's done the little things, he's done the big things, all while refusing to take a game off. He plays every single night, something that is certainly not the norm for a player of his status. 

- Ever since coming back from his injury, Jaylen Brown has looked a whole lot more like Jaylen Brown. The outside shot is still coming around, but in terms of his overall play, this is definitely a level that we have grown accustomed to watching

27/6/7 on 8-16 (2-7) in his 42 minutes, it's not exactly rocket science. When the Jays combine for an efficient 50+, chances are the Celts are going to pull out a win.

Over these last 4 games back in the lineup after his hip issue, Jaylen is putting up 25/7/4 on 48/34% which is certainly in line with what we saw from him last season, but to me, the most noticeable jump for him this season is from the FT line. A beautiful 9-10 last night, Jaylen is now sitting at a career best 78% for the season. That's all I need him to be at in terms of percentage, something that's a pretty drastic improvement from his 70.3% last year. 

Given his added strength and the fact that he's been completely bullying everyone in the paint this year on his way to the most FTA a game he's ever had, I'd say capitalizing on those FTs is a pretty big deal. His overall FG% (43/29%) is still pretty gross, so working through that slump by living (and converting) at the line is nice to see.

While Tatum's game winning 3 will get all the headlines, do not sleep on Jaylen's three from the corner in OT. That was a HUGE shot at that moment in the game and yet another reason why having BOTH players on this team is the absolute best.

- Score one for Mazzulla Ball and all who observe. Last night was your classic 3 > 2 game. The Raptors destroyed the Celtics in the paint, scoring at will on their way to a +34 point differential in the paint. You drop 76 points in the paint on high efficiency, you should win that game right?

Maybe against non-Mazzulla Ball teams. But against this team, you have to understand the math. The Celts had a +36 point differential from behind the arc, and won the game by 3 points. Trading 2s for 3s against this team is pretty much never going to work, and this was a night where the Celts didn't even really shoot all that well from three!

They finished 21-61 (34%), but they were living at around 25% or worse for the majority of this game. But as we so often see, once water finds its level and the Celts don't miss every shot they take, the math does the rest. 

- After giving the team nothing in the first 24 minutes, Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard's second half is what helped change this game. A brutal 0-8 combined in the first, they each responded with a combined 5-7 (5-7) in the second half. Payton Pritchard's back to back 3s helped stop the bleeding and swing he momentum, Hauser finally seeing the ball go in (3 3PM) led all bench scorers in the second half, and honestly their inability to hit a wide open 3 was a big reason why this game was close at the break.

But there's a reason you should believe in lifetime 40% three point shooters. Eventually, they are going to see the ball drop and once they do, the floodgates open. 

- The Queta minutes are always going to be a rollercoaster. There are times like last night defensively where he gets completely eaten alive. Poeltl had that man in hell. But there are also times when he flashes just enough potential that the mistakes are worth it.

You have to remember, this is the Celtics 4th big. He's going to be raw, he's going to make mistakes, he's going to have unplayable stretches. But he also brings a unique skill set on both ends of the floor that the Celts need while KP rehabs. The rim running, the rim protection, the offensive rebounding, those are all valuable skills.

The hope of course is that with more run, the defensive mistakes will become fewer and fewer, because right now when he's bad on that end he's BAD. But when the team needed a play in a high leverage situation with the game on the line, Neemy was there to deliver. He deserves credit for that.

- I may or may not have shed a tear when Jordan Walsh hit that open corner 3 off a Tatum pass. That it. That's the future right there. Just sit in the corner and make that shot is all I ask.

- Al Horford on 2 days rest might be one of the greatest players in NBA history. I don't really have the evidence to back up that claim, but it's something I truly feel in my bones. He was terrific last night and you could have told me he was 27 years old and I'd believe you

The Bad

- We can tell the truth here, it's a safe space. The Celts defense continues to be mostly dogshit. Now 11th in the league through 14 games, it's still nowhere close to the level it needs to be. I know a lot of people will put this on the lack of KP, and while that does play a role and the Celts also didn't have Jrue Holiday last night, let's not pretend like this hasn't really been an issue all year.

Another team shot over 50%, another team feasted in the paint (76 points), and there's a reason the Celts rank among the worst teams in the league at rim protection. It's been awful.

Part of this to me is the perimeter defense. Stop letting your guy get into the paint with ease. Watching the Celts guard the perimeter has been Luka Doncic levels of pathetic. Where is the resistance? Where is not allowing your man to get all the way to the rim? We all know there's no KP, so when that happens it becomes even more important that you guard your yard. Giving up 123 points to THAT Raptors team is inexcusable.

- Add Jakob Poeltl to the list of random dudes who have legitimately the best game of their career against the Celts. That's happened about 4 or 5 times now to start the year and it remains very annoying. I guess this is what it looks like when teams give the Celts their best shot, but stop giving up career nights. That cannot be too much to ask.

- Another 15 OREB which led to 16 2nd chance points, and once again the 4th quarter was an issue. In that frame the Raptors had 5 OREB, and it's now every single game where for some reason, the Celts get to the 4th quarter and then refuse to clean the defensive glass.

Allowing multiple possessions late in games is how you lose. Playing a better team, this is almost always a loss given how lazy the Celts are at the end of these games at defensive rebounding. I truly do not understand it. We all see it! We all know it's an issue, yet game after game after game we continue to see them fall apart on the glass once the game gets to the 4th. Clean that shit up.

- Derrick White missed a late 4th quarter FT. I didn't even know he was capable of doing that.

The Ugly

- Really outside of the ugliness of being in a dogfight with a 2-11 basketball team, the only thing that truly fits this section nis Tatum's regulation game winner. Just not even in the same galaxy it was shocking how bad of a miss this was

But whatever! In the end, he redeemed himself and the Celts pulled out the win. I don't care how you get them, I just would like this team to continue to stack Ws. Win by blowout, win a close game, it's all the same to me.

Now things turn to Tuesday where you assume the Cavs will remain undefeated and we'll have a candidate for the early game of the year. All I know is if the Celts play like they did in this game, the Cavs will blow them out. Take these next 2 days and work out the kinks, because you know they'll be looking to make a statement.