Celtics Overcome Adversity in Impressive Comeback Win
Tuesday, March 1st 7:30 pm EST
When Jaylen Brown went down only minutes into the game Tuesday night against the Hawks, you could feel the air come out of TD Garden. Brown was driving into the lane and fell awkwardly, screaming in pain and clutching at his right leg. Brown was eventually able to walk to the locker room under his own power, but was quickly ruled out for the night with a right ankle sprain. The air was not only sucked out of the Garden, but the team also appeared to be shell shocked, and the Hawks swiftly turned a slow start into a dominant half.
The Celtics continued their post all star break defensive lapse in the first half, especially the second quarter. The Hawks scored 37 in the period, connecting on 14-20 shots, and finished the quarter on a 17-5 run. They led by as many as 17, and ended the half up 65-51. The Hawks were getting pretty much anything they wanted, and Trae Young and Bogdan Bogdanovic were controlling the game. The Celtics appeared a step slow on rotations and were offering very little physical resistance.
To make matters worse, the offense appeared at a loss without Brown. They struggled badly to replace his scoring (especially when Tatum sat) and committed 10 sloppy first half turnovers. They looked out of sorts on both ends. At least partially to blame, was that losing Brown so quickly put the Celtics in a poor position to manage their rotation. Ime was forced to bring Derrick White into the game very quickly, and the team suffered through some rough stretches later in the half, playing more bench players together than Udoka had certainly planned on.
But everything shifted at the break as the Celtics came out and played perhaps their best half of the season. It started right out of the locker room with a 14-0 run to tie the game at 65 in the blink of an eye. The physicality and intensity on defense was on another level and Jayson Tatum came out on a mission offensively. Tatum’s scoring opened up everything else and he opened up the game for his teammates to get going and fill the scoring void left by Brown’s absence.
One key move by Ime Udoka was starting the second half with Aaron Nesmith in place of Brown. Nesmith looked great playing with the starting lineup, albeit looking like one of the worst shooters in the NBA, but his activity on both ends provided a huge spark. Call me crazy, but I think Nesmith should get regular rotation minutes, even when Brown isn’t out. This also allowed Udoka to rest Tatum late in the third quarter while maintaining a solid amount of offensive firepower. Tatum went to the bench for a key stretch with about 4 minutes to go in the third with the Celtics trying to maintain their run. We were all wondering where the offense would come from and that question was answered by Derrick White coming up with his best offensive stretch as a Celtic. White came off screens and got to the hoop three times in a row, making three hoops, including an and one. White finished with a Celtics career high 18 points, adding 5 assists, and the Celtics finished a masterful third quarter up 82-78, winning the quarter 31-13.
Boston continued its relentless defense into the fourth quarter, opening up a double digit lead, but the game was won with an incredible sequence with about 4 minutes remaining and the Hawks down by 8. Atlanta had just forced a stop, and the ball was passed ahead to DeAndre Hunter on a fast break. Hunter appeared to have an open dunk to cut the lead to 6, but Marcus Smart came sprinting back on defense and elevated to meet Hunter at the rim, pinning the ball off the backboard before gathering the rebound. Then on the offensive end Tatum drew a double team on the right wing, waited for the defense to shift towards him, and skipped the ball to an open Grant Williams in the far corner who drilled a three. On the other end the Hawks were swinging the ball out of the corner when Smart came flying into the passing lane and tipped the ball to a teammate while falling out of bounds. The Celtics pushed the ball up the court, Tatum ultimately drew another double team and hit Grant with a perfect pocket pass for another corner three, stretching the Celtics lead to 102-88. They would ultimately close out the Hawks and hold on to win 107-98.
That particular sequence was pure ecstasy, but it was a representative microcosm of the whole second half. Tatum played a great half and completely controlled the game, finishing with 33/8/7, and seemingly making every big play down the stretch. The role players stepped up and hit enough big shots, as Grant and White both dropped 18 points with Smart adding 16 of his own. The Celtics totally cleaned up their ball security as well, only turning it over twice in the second half after a disastrous first. They upped the physicality on both ends and took advantage of Atlanta playing without a rim protector, crushing the Hawks 20-3 on second chance points. But ultimately it was about the Celtics reestablishing their elite team defense. After perhaps their worst defensive quarter of the season, allowing 37 to the Hawks in the 2nd, they only gave up 33 in the entire second half (and only 23 until the final three minutes when things were all but decided), incredibly holding the Hawks under 100 points after giving up a 65 point first. It started by cutting off the head of the snake, as the Celtics were constantly in Trae’s airspace, and after a big half they held him under 10 points in the second half.
But it was a total team effort on the defensive end. The whole team looked to be moving on a string, and the rotations and switches were as crisp as they’ve looked in a while. They weren’t giving an inch and Atlanta was forced to settle for isolations and one contested jump shot after another. It was great to see the Celtics get back to their winning ways, and get back to dominating games on the defensive end; this is the recipe.
The bigger picture story is the long term health of Jaylen Brown. The good news is that Ime said he was able to test it out back in the locker room and he wanted to return to the game, but the team ultimately decided against it, opting to give him time to heal and focus on the bigger picture at this point in the season. He said hopefully it won’t be a long term issue, but did acknowledge that there was soreness and swelling. Obviously any missed time for Brown would be a major blow, but it appears he and the team may have dodged a potentially fatal bullet.
The win makes 3 out of 4 out of the all star break and 10 out of 12 overall. The Celts are back up to 10 games over .500 at 37-27. The Celtics are now tied for third in the East in the wins column, but remain in 6th overall, a half game back of the Cavs, a game back of the Bucks, two games back of the Sixers, three games back of the Bulls, and five games behind the first place Heat. The Celtics are firmly within striking distance, and have positioned themselves to rise well into the top 4 if they can keep up this run. However, that will be a tall task with their upcoming schedule. Things will ramp up, as the upstart, 43-20 Memphis Grizzlies come to town on Thursday night, led by the league’s most electrifying player at the moment, Ja Morant. If you haven’t been paying attention to what Morant has been doing this season, I implore you to go catch the highlights. His year 3 leap has been incredible and he has vaulted himself into a top 5 MVP candidate in the league. Then on Sunday the Celtics may well play host to the return of Kevin Durant for the Brooklyn Nets. The Celtics have been able to slaughter a decimated Nets squad multiple times over the past month, but they may be in for a much stiffer test this time around as KD is expected to be back and Kyrie Irving will be allowed to play. There is even a chance that the world gets there first look of the season at new Net, Ben Simmons - althoug that is FAR from a given. The good news is that these next two games are at home, and the Garden was absolutely on FIRE tonight in the second half, but these next two games should be a very tough test for the Boston Celtics.
Ben Handler