Celtics Review - Game 6

Celtics Review - Game 6

Okay, I know I’ve been slacking. My phone broke over the weekend, so I was unable to post on Instagram and in turn, I slacked on keeping up with the articles. On top of that, I had to work the night of the Celtics vs. Knicks game, so I couldn’t watch it live. When I went to watch it back, the stream accidentally cut to the end of the game and I saw the final score. After that, I just had no interest in watching the game. Tatum’s shot was a beauty, though.

I had to work the night of this game, too, but I managed to watch the replay without knowing anything about the game. We started out pretty well. Gordon came out of the gates blazing, and didn’t slow down for the whole game. It sucks that Brown’s been out for so long, but Hayward is playing amazing so our team isn’t affected too much. Smart’s been a defensive beast, which is pretty much expected of him at this point. He guarded Love the whole game, and although there were times when Love was able to just shoot it over him, he played shockingly well. For a guy who’s original position is point guard, he locked down Love better than some big men could. Tatum and Kemba played great, too, but at this point it’s just what I expect from him.

With Enes Kanter being out for so long, the other big men on the team have had to step it up. That being said, Theis has been on fire. In the last two games, he’s totaled for 9 blocks, some of which have been crazy athletic. Even though I didn’t watch the game, I saw the crazy block he had against Mitchell Robinson in the Knicks game. Then against the Cavs, he came up and blocked a guy from behind after Wanamaker made an insanely athletic block from the front. That was one of the best defensive possessions I’ve watched in a while, and it was in transition.

Then there’s Edwards, who finally got a chance to show people what he’s made of. He had been struggling through the beginning of the regular season, but he stepped it up this game. Ironically, it was in the gym where he dropped 9 threes in one quarter. He checked in the game, and missed his first shot pretty bad, but after that he was all in He drained three after three and even took it to the paint with success. It reminded me of Isaiah Thomas’ time in a Celtics uniform, which was such a great time to be a Celtics fan. I’m excited to see what else he can do.

Ouch Award - Fourth Quarter Defense

There was barely anything to complain about in this game, but the one thing that stood out was a moment, rather than a player. We had a solid lead the whole game, but slacked off in the fourth and let the Cavs come back into it. There was one play that stands out in my mind where we switched onto a bunch of guys and it ended up giving Sexton a wide open three. I know he isn’t the best three-point shooter, but that doesn’t mean you can leave him wide open. It was just a poor showing, and even Hayward mentioned it in his post-game interview. To play that well throughout a game and let it slip like that is just upsetting to watch. We just need to be able to sustain the play we have during the rest of the game. Ironically enough, this team is usually bad in the first half, then bad in the second, but it looked like the opposite in this game.

Love of my Life Award - Gordon Hayward

I mean come on, how can you not give this award to him? He dropped 39 points, matching his career high two years after one of the worst injuries I’ve seen in sports. Yeah, he might not have shot that well from behind the arc, but when you’re as hot as he was, you don’t need to. Hayward’s game is driving at the rim. He was absolutely thriving in that play where he gets a screen and put up a nice little floater from just inside the free-throw line. That’s apparently his shot this year. On top of that, he even looks great just attacking the rim again. He was able to push past defenders and make his own shot. We even saw some boards and dimes from him, so it was just an amazing performance overall. Dare I say we have Utah Gordon back? I hope so.