Banner Town Breakdown: Celtics vs. Nets (August 5, 2020)
The Celtics played the Brooklyn Nets tonight in the second game of a back to back. Following the loss to the Miami Heat on Tuesday, I have to say I was worried about this game. As much as I thought it would be a nice opportunity to bounce back against a less than stellar Nets team, you never know what can happen.
As my co-host @BannerTownSam loves to point out on our podcast (From the Rafters) - the Celtics always play at the level of their competition. Whether it’s playing as well as them or as poorly, it’s been a common trend this season. With that in mind, at the start of the game it looked like my worst fears could be coming true.
Jarrett Allen (11 points, 8 rebounds) looked like he was about to dominate the paint, and the energy level of Brooklyn felt much higher than Boston’s. Their shooters were even managing to get open just like Duncan Robinson and Kelly Olynyk were on Tuesday.
Then the Celtics finally hit their stride. They were slowly building a small lead by the time the first quarter ended, and by the time the second came around Boston was rolling. To be honest, I think the energy levels of Robert Williams (18 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks) and Romeo Langford (4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks) really helped out in this one. The team just seemed like they were hustling more after the first quarter, and the huge lead that Boston was slowly carving displayed that perfectly.
The ball movement of Boston was also pretty huge. Against Miami, it felt like every player thought that they should be getting the shot, which led to less passing and less assists. In this one, the ball was zipping around the perimeter and always managed to find the open man. The Celtics are a much better basketball team when they’re passing the ball well.
Jayson Tatum (19 points, 7-11 from the field, 5-8 from three) and Jaylen Brown (21 points, 7-13 from the field, 5-9 from three) played incredibly once again in this game, too. They’re proving time and time again that they’re one of, if not the best young duo in the entire league. Brown was nailing seemingly every three and constantly driving hard to the rim, and Tatum was doing the same. One moment I specifically remember was when Tatum went one-on-one with Allen on the perimeter and absolutely drained a step back three in his face.
I spoke about their energy earlier, but overall Williams and Langford just looked super solid. I tweeted about how I don’t think Williams should be getting regular minutes, but he may have gone out there and proved me wrong against Brooklyn.
Williams looked especially nice during the fourth quarter in the pick n’ roll. Whether he was catching lobs from Marcus Smart (12 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals) or getting easy dunks off of Gordon Hayward (18 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists) dimes, he was finishing everything. Literally. (7-7 from the field, 4-4 from the free throw line) The guy even made all his free throws. Plus his defense was solid. He rarely looked out of place, his main flaw, and his blocking ability was as strong as ever.
As for Langford, I suppose he just needed more of an opportunity to play. He may not have done too much on the offensive end, but defensively he was impressive. His ability to stay with his opponent on the perimeter seemed great for a rookie. Langford just has to work on consistently hitting his threes and I think he could be a regular rotation piece for Boston.
Other than that other standout performers included the usual suspects - Hayward, Daniel Theis (10 points, 4 rebounds), and Smart doing the little things to get the job done. However, that leaves me with one more thing to rant about really quick.
Brad Wanamaker (13 points, 5 assists) had a solid game and I know that Carsen Edwards (7 points) has lots of potential as a scorer, but why didn’t Tremont Waters play? Scratch that, why didn’t he even dress? He was stupendous in the scrimmages and we haven’t seen him sense. I think that’s just ridiculous. This was the perfect game for him to get some playing time, too. Anyways, back to the breakdown.
As much as I want to say that this game means the Celtics are back to their midseason form, I don’t necessarily think it does. While I think it will certainly help them get there, a blowout win against a team of (pretty much) benchwarmers isn’t the answer to all Boston’s problems. They have to play this well against a playoff team before I start getting super confident again.
At the end of the day, though, the Celtics take home this win 149-115 against the Brooklyn Nets. A good win to start getting things back on track.
The Celtics take on the Toronto Raptors on Friday, August 7th at 9:00PM. This has been your Banner Town Breakdown, come back Friday after the game for the next one!
