Dominant 3-0 Stretch Led by Jalen Brown and Payton Pritchard

Untitled project from SquadCast === Steve: [00:00:00] Welcome to another week of Celtic Chalk Talk. We're on every Monday throughout the season. My name's Steve Purciello. I'm a lifelong Celtic fan. I live and die with him. I've been rooting for him since Bill Russell was around. In fact, my first hero when I watched as a young boy Games in all sports. This week we're gonna talk about the Celtics and what a week it was. The Celtics went three and oh, but they were just so impressive in so many different ways. Let's begin by talking about the first game of the week against Utah. The Utah game was interesting. I thought the Celtics ball pressure defensively wa wasn't very good. They were breaking down kete. George was just eating them alive in the first couple court, first half and it looked like it was gonna be a rough night, and this was coming after the Portland loss. So you're a little worried that maybe they're losing grip on things and these are teams that Boston should beat. All of a sudden it changed [00:01:00] in the fourth quarter. Jalen Brown Tennis assist in the game and he had two big baskets down this stretch that bring it home. Of course, you had Pritchard playing well and he seems to be the player. That does what's needed. If white or brown are not doing well, he takes to the offensive if it's some other thing going on. If they're doing well, he's happy being the third guy. But he is such an instrumental guy and he played well. He's got that little shot in, in inside the paint. He goes to the basket, his footwork is excellent, pushes off, and he hits that little. 10, 12 footer all day. It's really an impressive impressive offensive array or an offensive ability. Of course, he can shoot the three, that's why I say array. And it's great to watch a couple other things in the game that were really positive. Luca Gar is a 15 and six, and I'm gonna talk a little bit about Luca later, him and Nimi, and how they work well together. They're excellent. [00:02:00] Anthony Simons, he threw in 20 and some big baskets when Boston was struggling. And you know what? He's slowly finding his role and becoming very good at getting into games and. Giving Boston what they need with the second unit that's offense and he can shoot. And he's just starting to become comfortable. I think he's just gonna get better. And now obviously I advocate that the Celtics don't even think about trading him. Let him play it out. And as I said last week, hopefully. They can sign him cheap. By that 15, 10, 12 15. It's well worth it for a couple years 'cause he gives you something off the bench and when things aren't going right, he can play and can carry you. Boston at that point after the U, during the Utah game, it just seemed like they were having trouble pressuring the ball, and they needed to begin to fix those things. Next we go against the kings. The kings come out hot. How many times have we seen this before? They came out hot and it was a [00:03:00] tough game until the fourth quarter. No ball pressure. Again, for the first three quarters, just the same story. But then in the fourth quarter, they just went off. JB just Jalen Brown just went off. Derek White had his se great second quarter, and he, they had energy as the game went on. Now, Derrick White, that second quarter. And part of the next game was great, but what I failed to mention was in the first game against Utah, seven, seven six blocks. Six blocks. Think about that. 29 points as well. But this is a guard doing these things. That's a record, by the way. And Derek White, I hope is an all star. He just, every game. Does something that just surprises you? I can't say enough about him, and again, I'll have more about him, but going back to the King's game in the second quarter, he kept Boston going and the kings were really pushing [00:04:00] Boston. But naturally the bench came in and they did a great job, high energy, all those good things that they bring. And they changed the momentum. In the fourth quarter, the defense picked up. To describe this game, this was a game that a lot of people who don't like the NBA complain about. You have the better team Boston playing terribly for three quarters, then in the fourth quarter, all of a sudden. Oh. Games on the line. We need to get serious. So what does Boston do? They defend, they only give up 18 in the fourth quarter and win going away. It wasn't as easy as it looked, but it was a good win. As beating the kings, they should do that, but they did. And they did it, but they did it through good defense, down the stretch. But the best game of the week was the Clippers game on Saturday night. Jalen Brown, 50 points. What's lost in this whole thing was Jalen Brown, [00:05:00] guarded Kawhi Leonard. Kawhi scored 22 in 34 minutes, I believe. Think about that. He's a plus 28 compared to the guy he guarded. He Kawhi is considered the best all around basketball player in the league. I think Jalen Brown had something to say about that, and I really think. You are mistaken or people are mistaken if he's not mentioned as an MVP candidate. And by that a top three. And if Yage is out too many games, who knows? 'Cause Oklahoma's with Shay is not doing as well as they did last year. Who knows? But if Jalen continues this kind of play, he's gotta be in the conversation and he's gotta be a first team all NBA. He went for 50, as I said. Just an offensive juggernaut in that game, hitting threes, hitting everything. And they left him in long enough to get the final basket that would get him to 50. He was great. Boston didn't, in the first half, was [00:06:00] struggling. They were winning by eight, but they were struggling. Why? Defensively they, again, ball pressure wasn't great. They were allowing Harden to go to the basket with his strong hand. By that I mean his left hand, and they weren't taking the left hand away from him. They also tried to double him and Leonard and. Boston Gamble, figuring that one of the shooters, and would in this case, was John Collins wouldn't shoot real well and done, and both of them hit their shots. So the gamble was to shut down hard and Leonard, and let them beat you. And they were beating him for a while and they got the game down to about six or four and then Boston just came to life in the fourth quarter and really just went wild. Kada Garcia. They all they all Garza rather. They were all great. And again. Amerie Simons played well as well. The fourth quarter, they just blew the clips [00:07:00] out. In fact, I think, what about four or five minutes left? Tyrone Lowe called timeout. Took 'em all out and threw the, threw in the towel. Now, this was a close game in the third quarter. That's how well Boston played. To put it away I didn't mention yet. Derek White again, I think he had over 20 in the first half. And he was, him and Jalen Brown were carrying it and really. We're outstanding. Jalen Brown put on a show that people can't forget if they saw it. And when he got taken out there, a lot of Celtic fans at the game, but a lot of the fans gave him a standing ovation and well deserved. Couple points I wanna make for the Celtics. I said a couple times that the three guys have to play well. What I'm realizing, meaning brown, white, and Pritchard. For them to win, they need two. They need two of them. And as I said in the beginning, Pritchard is very happy doing whatever's needed if the other two guys aren't [00:08:00] doing it. And he's pretty good. And you know what? He's a tough defender. He gets a lot of times picked on meaning. A bigger man gets matched onto him through their screening process, the other team screening process. But Pritchard fights it all the way and he really has become a winning player. And it's impressive. Garza and Nimi. I wanna spend a second and just talk about this. I've been the one who's railed for a big man who's wide, a thick, big man. 'cause Boston has a weakness against those kind of players, but. Garza and Nimi are holding it up and doing a pretty good job as the bigs for Boston. It's been impressive. Garza goes out and good offensive rebounder, real good offensive rebounder and gets his points. And one of the things that's underrated, he could shoot a three. So him and Nimi make a good pair and they've done a nice job. The only worry I have is when they play these physical big. [00:09:00] Big men. Fortunately they played Denver on Wednesday, and fortunately for Boston, Valentinos and Nico Nicola Yoic are out. So that's a positive for Boston because they won't get picked apart by these physical big men. And Garza, Nimi will be fine in that type of game. Derek White, I talked about him and how good he is and he should be an all star. What's really interesting? There's not many games I really have to think about. When he gets an open shot in the fourth tight, fourth quarter in a tight game, he bangs it every time. He always comes up big in the fourth quarter, making a big player or two blocking a shot. He, he, he does it all. And if you don't appreciate him as a basketball player, you don't know what you're talking about. He's great. And the other thing and I just wanna say this. A lot of people coming into the season thought Jalen Brown would struggle being the star. Not only has he not struggled, he's become a superstar. What a great player. 50 [00:10:00] points the other night. But every game he breaks people down, goes to the basket and makes it easier for other guys. And by the way, when the shot isn't there, he'll go out and kick it out. As evidenced by the tennis assist night he had against Utah. So between all of that, Boston's playing real well. Right now they're tied in the lost column with the Knicks. Amazing. 'cause the Knicks have so much more talent, but Boston is hanging on. I don't wanna keep saying it, but if Tatum comes back, they have a chance to get to the finals. I never thought that. That's all for today's, this week. Tune in again next week. We will go through the week and talk about things we see on the court. Thank you again, every Monday here we are, Celtic Chalk Talk. Take care.