It's Crazy What Can Happen When The Celtics Put Aside Their Adversity Fetish And Get Back To Being Normal

Nathaniel S. Butler. Getty Images.

Now that the dust has settled and the Celts were able to avoid the kiss of death that is a 0-3 series hole, I think collectively we all have exhaled to a certain degree. Make no mistake, it would be foolish to think this series is over or that the Celts have clawed all the way back just yet, because the reality is they're still trailing and do need to still win 3 of the next 4 to advance.

Given what we saw in Game 3, it's only natural to be a little annoyed that the Celts are even in this position to begin with given what took place in Games 1 & 2 and the reality that if this team had just been normal for 12 minutes, they're up 3-0 and things are over.

But you also have to remember it's now very clear that the Tatum/Brown Era Celtics obviously have an adversity fetish. Every iteration of their teams has all followed the same path outside of last year. The LOVE to make things hard on themselves for no particular reason. As a fan, I find that infuriating, but I also know to accept that this is who they are and when their backs are up against it, they respond. They are the NBA version of this tweet

It's a dangerous game to play in the playoffs, so I can't imagine anyone would prefer this route, but they are who they are. It's like the team always says

"Whatever it takes, for however long it takes"

Things are not always going to go as you expect or as you planned. One of the greatest shooting teams in history is going to miss 75 3s and 14 straight 4th quarter shots, for example.  

What matters is how you respond. Can you block out the noise and stay true to yourself? Can you show up in the big moments with the season on the line in a hostile environment? 

That's what makes the Celts challenge so interesting for the rest of this series. They don't have to do anything special. They just have to be themselves. Play smart, own the margins, and don't miss every shot you take. That's it, that's the formula.

As it turns out, the formula is pretty good! Let's dive in

The Good

- While most of the headlines might be about other players when talking about his massive Game 3 win, I cannot imagine awarding the coveted top spot in this blog to any player other than NBA Champion and 6MOY Payton Motherfucking Pritchard. After a performance like that, I think it makes sense to use his full legal name

DAWG.

I don't want to be a prisoner of the moment, but is there a case to be made we just witnessed the best game of Payton Pritchard's career? Yeah, he's had 40 bombs. Yeah, he's had multiple buzzer beaters in an NBA Finals including a half court bomb to basically solidify the title. Yeah, he's made 10 3PM in a game before.

But this? With the season and the title defense on the line on the road in MSG? He goes out and does THAT????

34 minutes off the bench, 8-16 (5-10) from the floor, 0 TOs, and a +8 in his minutes. I'm just not sure we can overstate how massive of a performance this was when the team desperately needed it, and it goes back to what I was saying about just being normal. It's not like Payton went for 40 or something out of the ordinary. All he did was make the same exact wide open looks he always does, which just so happened to be the same wide open looks he was missing in Games 1&2.

Game 2: Miss

Game 3: Make

Game 1: Miss

Game 3: Make

I know nobody likes to boil things down to just being make/miss…….but the story of this game, particularly with Pritchard, was in fact, make or miss.

I know screenshots can be deceiving, so just look at the live video with those two corner 3s. They were generated the exact same way! The process and the system were the same! It's why you should NEVER declare something is a good or bad 3PA based on the result. Guys miss shots, but how was the process? How was it generated? The only main difference last night was the shots went in….just like they have all year

If this playoff run has told us anything about Payton Pritchard, I'm ready to declare it's that he has solified himself as a 16 game player

Technically he shot 54.5% from he floor in the 2022-23 playoffs, but he was taking just 2.2 FGA a game in that run. This run? 7.8 FGA, so while you can't call it a career high FG%, given the volume difference I'm certainly treating it as such. 

So much of what makes the Celtics a wagon is the fact that they can bring this demon off the bench, and at any given moment,t he can play like the best player on the floor. What a final parting gift from Danny Ainge, man. There was no need to draft Payton given what the roster looked like at the time, but it as clearly destiny.

- Because most of the sports world suffers from Jayson Tatum Derangement Syndrome, after his disastrous Game 2 there was a lot of talk about how Game 3 was apparently "the biggest game in his NBA career". We don't need to dive into what a fucking idiotic statement that is, but you can understand why it was framed like that, because most people expected him to throw up another stinker.

Hey morons, pay closer attention to who you are talking about. 

22/9/7 and a +23 with 5 3PM, I could make the case that this was one of Tatum's most complete performances of the playoffs. Not too bad if we're to believe this was the biggest game of his NBA career! Unlike the first two games, I absolutely loved Tatum's approach right from the jump. There was no second guessing what he should do, he took his pull up 3s with confidence instead of settling for poor midrange or contested paint FGA, he rebounded well, and defensively?

Not only did he limit KAT to just 5 points on 24 possessions, no other Knick scored a single point while being defended by Jayson Tatum in Game 3. Hell, nobody else even got a shot off. I'm not counting Precious's FGA. I'm talking about the main rotation guys. Just look at this shit

I'm not sure why the rebounding and defense parts of Tatum's game always get overlooked, but whatever. Those of us who watch him every night know this is why he's a two-way demon who can guard 1-5. People throw around that 1-5 line a lot and don't actually guard 1-5. Tatum? He has big man responsibilities, guard responsibilities, and wing responsibilities, and he does them at an all-NBA level every single night.

To keep along with the "just be normal" theme, to me that's the Jayson Tatum we got last night. He was his normal self, which even includes smoking a billion layups. This, is a much more normal shot profile (and how it should always be tbh)

When the pull up 3s are there, take them. When you have an opportunity to attack, do it. Limit your midrange and long 2s. Move the ball like he always does. It's no surprise that in a game Tatum finally looked like himself, he got back to playing how he always does and now how weirdo boomers demand he play. Crazy right???

- I can understand why people want to overanalyze and try and come up with some overarching theory as to why the 3 games have gone the way they did, because for some reason they don't want to say "well, the Celts just missed all their great looks".

As it turns out……the Celts just missed all their great looks

As you can see above, the gameplan and the process was the same. The difference? They didn't miss every shot they took. At the end of the day basketball is simple. Make your open looks! 

- So much of why Game 3 felt different was because this time, the Celts were able to make their big momentum/punch back 3s. These were the shots that, while the Celts were experiencing a drought, they would blow a wide open look which sparked a Knicks run. It was the same exact formula in Game 2. Wide open, and I mean WIDE OPEN 3s didn't fall, it allowed the Knicks to get out and run, and that was that.

This time? Take this possession by DWhite. The Celts had gone 3 minutes without a bucket, the Knicks were on an 8-2 run, and things were somewhat in the balance. After an incredible look by Jrue, Derrick made this shot

I could make the case that this was actually one of the biggest shots of the game. I know that sounds insane given the score, but you have to factor in the context of what was happening in addition to what took place in the previous games. These were the shots that were not falling early in the series, which sparked the Knicks comeback.

Any idea why the Knicks weren't able to pull off another massive comeback? Because this time, those momentum/punch back shots went in. Whether it was DWhite, or Tatum, or Al, or Jaylen. 

How many times have we seen DWhite and the guys make shots in spots like this? A billion times. You could say, they got back to normal in this regard. Crazy what can happen when you don't miss all your momentum 3s isn't it?

- We should also take a second to mention the defense, which has been superb this entire series. Through 3 games, the Celts have held the Knicks to under 100 points in regulation in 2 of the 3. Jalen Brunson, is having one of the worst shooting series of his life

For such an incredible isolation scorer, I'll take this production every day of the week. You're never going to completely stop Brunson, he's too good. His footwork, his ability to change pace, guarding him is as tough as it gets. It's also why being down 1-2 is so fucking annoying, but whatever.

In a game like this with your season on the line, the shooting coming back to normal was huge, but games like this ALWAYS require an elite defensive showing. If you can't get stops, you don't give yourself a chance. I thought everyone, from Tatum to Jaylen to Al to Pritchard to the Stock Exchange to even KP if you can believe it or not held up their end of the bargain defensively. Much better energy, much better execution, and FINALLY some rim protection (8 blocks and 6 steals).

I'm not sure I've seen KP fly around like this defensively in weeks

If he can just rebound and defend like he did in the second half while he recovers from this mystery illness, I'll take it.

- It's not exactly ground breaking news that when the Celts get a good Jayson Tatum performance in addition to a good Jaylen Brown performance, there's a strong chance they are going to win that game by a billion. You'll never believe this, but that's exactly what they got in Game 3

19/6/5/1/1 and a +29 for Jaylen Brown in his 35 minutes, he also finished with just 2 TOs which was a big time improvement from his brutal 6 in Game 2. When the team needed him early to help set the tone, Jaylen responded with 7 points on 2-3 (1-1).

When it came time to carry the non-Tatum minutes in the 2nd, Jaylen responded with 10 points on 4-9 (1-2).

Watching him play, he looked….faster? More explosive? Dare I say….normal? Just compare that to how he looked against the Knicks in April. I first noticed it with his ball pressure, but what really confirmed it for me was how much better his 3s looked. Much like Pritchard, this was another great example of Jaylen maintaining the same process, just having a little better luck with the result when it came to his 3s. Mostly, I thought his approach was great. There was really only one "bad" 3PA to me, and that was the iso corner stepback against KAT. Everything else? Exactly how he should be playing.

Process in Game 1

Process in Game 3

Do you see why Celts fans push back about all this talk about their "process" and their "system" when in reality it was just guys smoking open looks that they made ALL SEASON LONG?

If Jaylen is starting to feel more like himself physically, it's going to go a long way to help this team climb out of their hole. He's so good at getting into the paint, the only thing that needed to come back was his 3pt shooting. I'll remind you, Jaylen did not make a single open 3PA in the first 2 games (0-8). He doesn't need to be perfect, he just can't miss every one he takes. When he doesn't, look what happens.

- I loved pretty much every single thing Jrue Holiday did in this game. He only had 8/4/3 on 3-4 (2-3), but in my eyes it was the perfect Jrue Holiday performance. Great awareness to find DWhite as a weakside shooter on multiple occasions, I love the wrinkle from Joe to putting Jrue back as the screener and allowing him to short roll in the middle of the paint as a way to run a 2 man game with either Jaylen/Tatum as the ball handler. Who doesn't love a little inverted Pick and Roll? Especially when the Knicks only have 1 big on the floor and Al is making him guard at the 3pt line?

Add in everything he gave as an on ball defender, and this was a big time performance from Jrue in a spot they absolutely needed it. In 17 possessions defending Brunson yesterday, Holiday did not give up a single point (0-2). That's big time stuff.

- How about the bounce back performance from Joe Mazzulla? A++++++ in pretty much all facets.

Any time the Knicks even strung 3 baskets together? Boom. Timeout. That's a perfect way to manage the crowd in a game like this. I'm a firm believer in you have to pick and choose when to let guys play through and when you have to do things like we saw yesterday, and part of that is on the road in a great environment with your season on the line. There was absolutely NO fucking around by Joe in this game, and that was clear right from the jump.

Did he change his system like the morons keep begging him to? No. Did he change the hack-a-Robinson approach? Slightly, this time he waited until they were in the bonus to do it rather than in the final 2:43 of the 4th with 3 fouls to give. That was much better!

While the players execution was better when it came to hitting open looks which was probably the biggest contributing factor to this win, Joe held up his end as well. Good rotations, pushed all the right buttons etc. Great job.

- Only 8 TOs on the road against a team that struggles to score in the halfcourt was so massive. Not allowing easy transition buckets and staying attached in the shot margin is crucial when on the road, so it was great to see the Celts finally take care of the ball and make the Knicks out-execute them, which they could not do.

The Bad

- If there's a few things to still be annoyed about despite this ass whooping, it's probably the fact that the Celts defensive rebounding still needs to be much, much better.

The Knicks finished with 17 OREB / 18 2nd chance points, which is way too high in both categories even if it didn't come back to bite. Mitchell Robinson had 6 by himself and completely outmuscled KP who stands zero chance keeping him off the glass whenever he's on the floor. At this point I might try and match Kornet's minutes with Mitchell, because that's a battle KP is just not winning in his current state. 

Once we got to the 4th quarter it was more of the same. In the same way these issues burned them in Game 2, the Celts again gave up 3 OREB/ 7 2nd chance points in the 4th quarter alone. Nearly all of them led to 3PM, which is exactly how things go when you can't rebound late in a game.

I did think they were better on Hart in this area (1 OREB), but it's still been a problem in all 3 games of this series. If the Celts want to win 3 of 4, they have to figure that out.

- For some reason, we're still seeing the Celts struggle to punish the Knicks for switching. When they play drop, that's no problem. The pull up 3s were deadly. But switches? The one thing we all expected the Knicks to struggle with and be a real advantage is actually the opposite. KAT and Robinson have been able to survive on the perimeter. When we saw Tatum get switched onto Brunson, he lost those battles.

KP hasn't beaten a single switch offensively all playoffs.

It's just very unusual that a team constructed to murder switches and a team that has been successful at that for about 200+ games for some reason, cannot beat switches anymore. What the hell is that about? We're seeing bricked bunnies, turnovers, and numerous missed opportunities to punish the Knicks for deciding to play that way. That has to improve.

The Ugly

- What could possibly fit in this section in a game the Celts led wire to wire, there were 0 lead changes or ties, and they were up by as much as 31? How about the fact that this team cannot make a fucking layup to save their lives

I mean I've never seen anything like this. Tatum missed 3 layups, 10 misses at the rim and 8 misses in the paint. I mean holy hell. 

For the series, the Celtics are shooting just 65% in the restricted area and 25.6% in the paint. Those numbers don't even feel possible, yet it's true. Just an impossible number of smoked bunnies all series long, which I find extremely frustrating.

- It didn't matter, but let's not pretend like the 4th quarter was all that good in this game either. In fact, it stunk

Here's a fun fact that is in no way fun. The Celtics have no scored 20 points in any 4th quarter of this series.

Game 1: 16 points

Game 2: 17 points

Game 3: 19 points

The worst 4th quarter team on the planet during the year has been living up to their billing in this series, and it's already cost them 2 games. Tatum can't make a 4th quarter bucket to save his life, and there are going to be days where you're not 20-40 from deep and you NEED to show up in the final 12 minutes. It's shit like this that gives every Celts fan PTSD whenever a game goes to the final frame. Impossibly bad so far this series. No other way to say it.

So here we go. It doesn't get much bigger than Monday's Game 4. The difference in returning home 2-2 compared to 1-3 is gigantic both from a mental standpoint and a basketball standpoint. Winning Game 3 was the important first step, but you have to finish the job.