Join the Garden Report crew to recap the second Celtics vs. Bucks matchup of the season! Tune in for in-depth postgame analysis, live press conferences, and more!
CLNS Media is Powered by:
💰 Prize Picks - https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CLNS
Download the app today and use Code CLNS when you sign up & Get $50 instantly when you play $5!
🎫 Gametime - https://gametime.co
Take the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply.
Nutrafol Men! Take the first step to visibly thicker, healthier hair. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to https://Nutrafol.com/MEN and enter the promo code GARDEN!
CLNS Media is Powered by:
💰 Prize Picks - https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CLNS
Download the app today and use Code CLNS when you sign up & Get $50 instantly when you play $5!
🎫 Gametime - https://gametime.co
Take the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply.
Nutrafol Men! Take the first step to visibly thicker, healthier hair. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to https://Nutrafol.com/MEN and enter the promo code GARDEN!
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00:00Can you say hard hats, folks?
00:00:07Hard hats, lunch pail, steel tool, boots.
00:00:09Anything short of a championship this year is a fail.
00:00:12Look at this boomer right here.
00:00:13You've just got so much talent here.
00:00:16Somebody's saying we need to apologize for Jamie.
00:00:18Can I pull the John?
00:00:19What are we apologizing for?
00:00:21What did we say?
00:00:21What did we do?
00:00:30Hey, buddy, Manning here.
00:00:32Welcome to a Sunday Celtics-Bucks edition
00:00:36of the Garden Report.
00:00:37Post game here, no Delzel.
00:00:39Myself, we're going to take over the reins here today.
00:00:44Jimmy, Sherrod, and John are out.
00:00:46And we're going to talk about a big comeback
00:00:49win for the Celtics, a ghastly loss for Milwaukee at home.
00:00:53This is only their fourth home game.
00:00:56So a chance for them to turn it around,
00:00:58a good opportunity with a big lead early in this game
00:01:01to knock the Celtics out and get their season back on track.
00:01:05But they fall to 2 and 8 in this one.
00:01:07So plenty of questions on that side.
00:01:10But we'll start with the Celtics, of course.
00:01:129 and 2, 16-point deficit that they
00:01:15raced very fast between the end of the second
00:01:19and this quick burst to start the second.
00:01:21I think it ended up being a 33 to 14 run,
00:01:2419-point turnaround there.
00:01:27After a brutal start to this game for Tatum, for shooting,
00:01:30and defense, certainly, Grandy had them
00:01:33at like 1-3 points per possession allowed,
00:01:37which by far their worst this year.
00:01:40Worst last year outside of two games last year.
00:01:42I know that they went up there, specifically the first one,
00:01:45and got blown out.
00:01:46So the line was weird with this game.
00:01:49Everyone was talking about that.
00:01:50It was like three points, Milwaukee.
00:01:52Brown was questionable to play.
00:01:53He ends up playing, and it moved to 5.
00:01:56So you looked at it, and you're like, all right,
00:01:58Celtics have been double-digit favorites
00:01:59in a lot of these games this year.
00:02:01It's Vegas, no here.
00:02:04Bucs got off to a great start for some reason or another,
00:02:07but ended up collapsing here.
00:02:08And credit to Tatum, who got to the free throw line a ton.
00:02:12Holliday had some big plays in this game.
00:02:14White, as well.
00:02:14The guards in the backcourt, excellent for Boston,
00:02:17whereas on the Milwaukee side, they're
00:02:20just praying for productivity on that side.
00:02:22So that's where this game swung.
00:02:23I thought Tatum got back in a groove.
00:02:25Decent game for Brown in his return from injury.
00:02:28And the Bucs, Sadiyanis, who poured pretty much everything
00:02:32he had into getting a third win for the Bucs here,
00:02:35just don't seem to have enough around them.
00:02:38Yeah, I mean, I think the story of this game
00:02:40was the defensive switch that happened at the half.
00:02:42I mean, they scored 38 points, Milwaukee, in the second half
00:02:44after scoring 69 in the first.
00:02:47And Drew Holliday and Derek White were both instrumental.
00:02:51I tweeted this out, but this was the perfect example of why
00:02:53you can't Bucs score watch, because Derek White's
00:02:56stat line was pretty normal.
00:02:5715 points, 6 of 12 shooting, 6 assists, 6 rebounds.
00:03:00I mean, it's a nice stat line, but he was just monumental.
00:03:03Some of the plays that he had on the stretch
00:03:05drew Holliday the same.
00:03:06And then this would have been out of reach
00:03:08if it wasn't for the fact that Peyton Pritchard went off
00:03:11in the first half, because they were getting nothing.
00:03:13They were still down by 15, and he was hot.
00:03:15So it would have been a 25-point deficit,
00:03:18a whole different situation that we're talking about.
00:03:20And rather than being down by, were they
00:03:22down by 12 at the half, something like that,
00:03:24would have been a whole much more insurmountable deficit.
00:03:27And so a lot of guys did a lot of good things.
00:03:30And I think this just goes to show you
00:03:31these are the kinds of games that the Celtics are just
00:03:33comfortable winning.
00:03:34I don't think they ever have a moment
00:03:36where they doubt themselves.
00:03:38I think that's part of the confidence of coming off
00:03:39the championship.
00:03:40And you saw that today, another 16-2 trail early on,
00:03:44kind of wild to see the exact same score.
00:03:47But I think they just were able to do the things
00:03:50that make them them.
00:03:51And down the trench of the defense,
00:03:52it's like, why can't we see this in the first quarter?
00:03:54Because just absolute lockdown.
00:03:55I mean, there was a couple of possessions
00:03:56that were like picture perfect,
00:03:58where the Bucs just had nothing going for them.
00:04:01Yeah, they went to some switching that I thought
00:04:03stopped the Bucs' three-point shooting,
00:04:05because that was what killed Boston early in the end.
00:04:07The Bucs shot 40% from three.
00:04:09So that's where they had some trouble,
00:04:11particularly in transition.
00:04:13I thought the Keita Horford did pretty well
00:04:16defensively in this game.
00:04:17And that started to crumble a little bit late
00:04:19when they went at Keita and they had to go back
00:04:21to the smaller starting line up there,
00:04:23which was solid in the second half
00:04:26after that awful start that you mentioned there.
00:04:28So they had to look for some defensive looks,
00:04:33that could work against Bucs
00:04:34and what they were throwing at them.
00:04:36I thought it was an interesting move,
00:04:38leaving Giannis on an island for a lot of this game.
00:04:40And that's something Joe will do, right?
00:04:42Try to get one guy to go off against them
00:04:44and shut off everything else.
00:04:46And that ended up working by the end of this game,
00:04:48because Giannis had 30 in about two quarters and change,
00:04:52but then he just ends up fading late.
00:04:55The other guys who were hitting threes,
00:04:57Lopez missed one later, Conaton went one and two.
00:05:01Green actually had a great game for them off the bench,
00:05:03but Andre Jackson just doesn't give them enough offensively.
00:05:06And so it felt like they were trying to let Giannis get his.
00:05:09He goes for 43, 13 and five in this one
00:05:11by a couple of blocks and they lose.
00:05:13Not only did they lose,
00:05:15but they lose his minutes by six in the end here.
00:05:17So that's what I'd imagined the game plan was here,
00:05:21is to just let him get his and steal off the other guys,
00:05:25especially after halftime.
00:05:26And, you know, offensively,
00:05:29I thought the Celtics figured it out a little bit too,
00:05:30but it's a good point with Pritchard,
00:05:32who five or six start from this one,
00:05:34hitting some ridiculous threes, keeping the Celtics in it.
00:05:39He saved them in this one.
00:05:41And I think it's back-to-back games, honestly,
00:05:43with that starting group coming out.
00:05:45Different starting group,
00:05:46Jalen Brown back today, looking a little rusty,
00:05:48but in either case, both times,
00:05:50the starting group went down 16 to two within two minutes.
00:05:53And having Pritchard coming off the bench,
00:05:55we've talked about like,
00:05:56is he ever going to be a potential starter for this team
00:05:58or a closing?
00:05:59But in this situation, it was like,
00:06:01this is why you want him to come off the bench, honestly,
00:06:02because he came in and it's like,
00:06:03you just see this release valve for the offense,
00:06:06because he did bail them out a number of times.
00:06:08And so, yeah, I think, you know,
00:06:11he was crucial to just giving them a chance.
00:06:13Second half, he was less of a factor,
00:06:15but at that point, it was kind of the regulars
00:06:17were able to kind of do the things
00:06:18that they've become comfortable doing.
00:06:20And Bobby, I think, you know,
00:06:22Giannis had ended up finishing with 42 points
00:06:24on 18 of 29 shooting.
00:06:26It's a good stat line.
00:06:27I mean, he was efficient,
00:06:27but I think you live with it.
00:06:28I think you live with 42 points from him on 29 shots,
00:06:33because we did the same thing with Embiid last year.
00:06:36We've seen it time in and time out,
00:06:37like they'd rather have one guy do it.
00:06:39And that's always my philosophy.
00:06:41I'm like, team should let Tatum do that,
00:06:43you know, take 30 shots.
00:06:46So, I mean, I think everybody has their own approach to it,
00:06:48but in this case, I mean,
00:06:49you look at this box score, it's so lopsided.
00:06:51He just doesn't have enough going on on his side.
00:06:54You know, I mean, Damian Lillard
00:06:55is gonna need to be better.
00:06:56They're gonna need a couple of guys
00:06:58to step up with the way the Celtics have,
00:06:59like five or six guys that they can count on
00:07:01to go for 20 if they need to.
00:07:02And so, yeah, this Bucs team, two and seven,
00:07:05who would, I mean, I guess there was,
00:07:08I guess there was some foreshadowing last season,
00:07:10but I did not expect,
00:07:11I did not expect the start for them.
00:07:14No, and I don't wanna do the Bucs post-game here,
00:07:18but it is a big deal, them sinking, Philly sinking.
00:07:21Those are two teams you thought
00:07:22might be the biggest threats in the East.
00:07:24After the last game, I thought the Bucs showed
00:07:26that they can play the Celtics specifically pretty well.
00:07:30And I think that's the case here in this one, too.
00:07:32The pace bothered the Celtics a little bit.
00:07:34The bigs, the way they played,
00:07:36Lopez standing out in the three-point line
00:07:38and Giannis being in different spots,
00:07:40I think that affected Keita.
00:07:41And the Celtics were a little reluctant
00:07:44to keep him out there for long stretches
00:07:46because of the defensive issues he had in this game.
00:07:49But, you know, you can't go to Tillman for very long.
00:07:53Cornett played like five minutes on his return from injury.
00:07:55So it's still a matchup that I feel like
00:07:58can bother the Celtics.
00:08:00But on the Milwaukee side, you know,
00:08:02you go to Andre Jackson and you get some good energy
00:08:05from him in these couple of games here,
00:08:07but he can't shoot.
00:08:08You go to Green and he's exclusively a three-point guy
00:08:11who's a bit of a target on defense.
00:08:13And, you know, back to your Tatum point
00:08:15about letting him go off,
00:08:16they're bringing all this help
00:08:18because they're targeting Lillard,
00:08:19they're targeting all these different guys.
00:08:21And you're just able to throw it out to White for a three.
00:08:24At one point, Giannis came right off White
00:08:26and left him wide open for a three.
00:08:28Holiday's getting good looks off that.
00:08:30And it's just another team that's selling out
00:08:33to stop Tatum, and they did.
00:08:35You know, this wasn't a great Tatum scoring game,
00:08:37but he's still spraying the ball around six assists,
00:08:40five turnovers, and this one's tough,
00:08:41but still producing good shots for other guys
00:08:44and keeping everybody involved.
00:08:46And there's just play after play in this game
00:08:48where he's spraying out to guys for huge threes.
00:08:51And then he got himself a big one late.
00:08:54I'm correcting the record, this comment.
00:08:57I'm not saying Tatum's gonna shoot the Celtics out of games,
00:08:59but I just think in general,
00:09:00the Celtics have so many weapons
00:09:02that the way that teams defend them,
00:09:05you're just, you're giving other guys a chance
00:09:07to, to my opinion,
00:09:08like I think it's just making their lives easier.
00:09:10Like he's just so comfortable
00:09:11passing out of the double team now
00:09:13that if he's a guy that struggles with that,
00:09:15then it's like, okay, put him in that position.
00:09:17But I think he like welcomes it.
00:09:19You can see it that he's like waiting
00:09:20for the double team to come
00:09:21and he just makes the right pass now.
00:09:23So it's not that I think that if they let him shoot more,
00:09:25it would go poorly for the Celtics.
00:09:27It's just like, this clearly hasn't worked well.
00:09:29And the Warriors, the Warriors did it a little bit better
00:09:32than most teams that we've seen.
00:09:33And so like, I guess that's the vision the teams have
00:09:35when they're going for that approach.
00:09:39But yeah, but I mean, he wasn't efficient in this game,
00:09:41but I thought that he did a lot of good things
00:09:43and he made a lot of big passes.
00:09:45Again, I feel like his assist numbers
00:09:46are not matching up with his passing.
00:09:49Like, I mean, and I know I've been seeing the stats
00:09:51around his potential assists being a lot higher
00:09:53and we can talk about potential assists,
00:09:55hockey assists, whatever we want to call them,
00:09:57but he had some really key passes down the stretch here
00:10:00and then he finished with six assists
00:10:01and I'm like, I feel like he didn't,
00:10:02he's not getting rewarded for it.
00:10:03I hope people are noticing that the playmaking leap
00:10:05like has continued this season.
00:10:09Yeah, in terms of potential assists,
00:10:11let's see where he is right now.
00:10:13He is averaging 13?
00:10:16No, 11 a game.
00:10:19And that's high for him, I feel like.
00:10:21I feel like if we go looking back at last season
00:10:24to compare it, he had not that many.
00:10:30Not that many.
00:10:32Let's see.
00:10:34Yeah, he's not even in the top however many last year.
00:10:37He had 8.9 last year, so he's up almost three
00:10:40in terms of potential assists.
00:10:41Yeah.
00:10:44Which, big difference, big difference.
00:10:46I want to get a little deeper into his game
00:10:48because it did start slow, finish strong.
00:10:51And he got hurt in this one as well.
00:10:53It looked like he played through an ankle injury
00:10:57that he suffered on a Giannis collision,
00:10:59which typical for these games.
00:11:02I'm sure the chat thrilled about that one.
00:11:04CLNS, your code over our prize picks tonight.
00:11:07Prize picks, the best place to play daily fantasy
00:11:10in football.
00:11:12It's mostly in the rear view today,
00:11:13but you still have your night game.
00:11:15So you can head over there,
00:11:16make a fantasy team for the night game.
00:11:18All you gotta do is pick two players in that game
00:11:21or any game.
00:11:21You can mix it with Monday night as well.
00:11:24You got the Lions and Texans tonight.
00:11:27The Dolphins and Rams tomorrow, Cooper Cup.
00:11:30Williams back for the Lions.
00:11:32There's all kinds of great options on both these teams.
00:11:34Gibbs, of course, Tank Dell.
00:11:37And you can go over there,
00:11:38pick more or less on their stat projections.
00:11:41And that's your team.
00:11:42There's injuries everywhere.
00:11:43More injuries this week across football.
00:11:45It's just part of the game.
00:11:46Part of basketball as well to start this year.
00:11:48So luckily you have injury insurance
00:11:50that keeps your team in play
00:11:52if a guy goes down in the first half.
00:11:53And you pick a new team every week.
00:11:56That's the beauty of Daily Fantasy
00:11:57and they're our official Daily Fantasy sports partner
00:12:00here at CLNS Media.
00:12:02Play a $5 lineup and get $50 instantly right now
00:12:06over on prize picks with that code CLNS.
00:12:08Let them know we sent you.
00:12:10And of course, check out the game time app
00:12:12as well right now.
00:12:13Celtics gonna be back in Boston for the NBA Cup this week.
00:12:18Yes, you got the court.
00:12:19You got the crazy looking jerseys.
00:12:21And if you wanna see them,
00:12:23you can head over the game time app.
00:12:25It's gonna be Celtics and Hawks over there at TD Garden.
00:12:29And midweek, usually a good time for some deals.
00:12:32And right up until game time
00:12:33and even a little after game time
00:12:34is usually when you're gonna get the best deals
00:12:36on the game time app.
00:12:38All in pricing lets you know exactly what you're gonna pay.
00:12:40You get panoramic views of your seat
00:12:42if you don't know where you're sitting
00:12:43or have never sat in that location before.
00:12:45That's great.
00:12:46And they're throwing in $20 off
00:12:47your first purchase right now.
00:12:49Terms apply.
00:12:50So go check out the game time app
00:12:52and let them know CLNS sent you
00:12:53by using that code CLNS on your first purchase.
00:12:58Game time, what time is it?
00:12:59It's game time.
00:13:01So let's dig a little deeper on Tatum's night.
00:13:03I wanna get to Brown as well here
00:13:04who played after missing four games there with the injury.
00:13:08But Tatum,
00:13:11I feel like,
00:13:13I guess last game too and even this game,
00:13:16the malaise is starting to hit a little bit.
00:13:18You go back and you watch the film of last game.
00:13:21The defense wasn't on his level.
00:13:24It just wasn't a great defensive game for him.
00:13:26And this one, at least offensively,
00:13:29feel like he was easing into it a little bit
00:13:31while the Bucs were flying up and down the floor.
00:13:33I mean, the pace of this game caught him off guard.
00:13:36I feel like caught the whole Celtics team off guard
00:13:39and they had to play to that Bucs pace
00:13:41for a lot of that first half.
00:13:42Now credit to the Celtics,
00:13:44who I feel like are much more comfortable
00:13:46playing that up and down kind of game now
00:13:48compared to maybe a few years ago.
00:13:50So they were able to hit shots.
00:13:51They were able to hit some transition runouts,
00:13:54things like that.
00:13:55His transition numbers to start this year, by the way,
00:13:56and I gave him a lot of credit last game
00:13:59before you came on Noah for the way he got the Celtics
00:14:02going in transition against the Nets team
00:14:04that was keeping them pretty stagged in the half court.
00:14:07And he has some ridiculous numbers in transition
00:14:09to start this year.
00:14:10So that was a key to them staying in it tonight.
00:14:13Now you have Brown back in the mix.
00:14:14I think that helps you all the more
00:14:16being able to play a fast paced style of game.
00:14:19But they had him sped up.
00:14:20They had the Celtics sped up early
00:14:22and that 16-2 hole you mentioned,
00:14:25I wasn't feeling great when they were falling into that,
00:14:27particularly with him tearing the ball over a little bit
00:14:29in this game and not shooting the three ball
00:14:32at a high level in this game.
00:14:33And he had some empty possessions midway through,
00:14:36but as you mentioned, the passing carries him through.
00:14:38A late three, critical in this game.
00:14:41I think they were leading by three or four at that point.
00:14:44He gets it up to seven.
00:14:47So managing the game, staying with it through struggles,
00:14:51and it feels like every night we're looking up
00:14:53no matter how he looks midway through and he has 30.
00:14:56And regardless of the personnel around him too,
00:14:59everybody's back in this game and he still has 30.
00:15:01So this, I know John predicted pre-season,
00:15:04it was gonna be a little bit more of a step back
00:15:06for him scoring wise this year,
00:15:07but whether due to the efficiency
00:15:08or the volume they needed from him in a game like this,
00:15:11he's scoring 30 every night.
00:15:14Yeah, and honestly, I had the same prediction as John.
00:15:17I thought that he was gonna take a little bit
00:15:18of a step back scoring and he obviously hasn't.
00:15:20Part of it was Jalen Brown's injury
00:15:22and we can talk more about Jalen,
00:15:24but I think he's still not completely himself here.
00:15:27But the free throws, I mean,
00:15:28that's what we wanna see from him, right?
00:15:29We wanna see him get to the line
00:15:31and we wanna see him get free throws.
00:15:34And so-
00:15:34And he's never shot free throws like this.
00:15:37He's shot free throws never before.
00:15:39That's kind of the big takeaway on him this season so far.
00:15:42I think that's the biggest,
00:15:44his biggest noticeable jump is just how much
00:15:46he's been getting to the line.
00:15:47And you always worry about that
00:15:49because I feel like officiating can change
00:15:50throughout the season.
00:15:51And I'm not saying,
00:15:52I don't think officiating has been stopped by any means,
00:15:54but I feel like anytime a player is just going
00:15:56to the line more for a stretch,
00:15:57it's like, you don't know if that's going to last.
00:15:59But yeah, also with a seven for 21,
00:16:01I don't wanna be like an apologist,
00:16:02but he makes three more shots.
00:16:04He had a couple that were just like in and out,
00:16:06good looks, good clean looks.
00:16:08And now we're talking about like a monster performance,
00:16:11right?
00:16:11We're talking about he scored 37 points
00:16:13on 10-21 shooting and the rest of it persists.
00:16:16So I thought he had a good game.
00:16:17I thought he has just been really consistent this season
00:16:20with just finding ways to score
00:16:21and they've needed it more than we expected
00:16:23because they've been down to all-star caliber scores
00:16:27in Jalen Brown and Porzingis.
00:16:28So yeah, I mean, I don't know that,
00:16:32I think the defensive thing is,
00:16:36the defensive moments for him, like the lapses,
00:16:39they've definitely been apparent
00:16:40in both of these last two games
00:16:41and actually felt like post-game previously.
00:16:44I don't know what they're saying right now
00:16:45as post-game is occurring,
00:16:47but after the, what was the last game?
00:16:50Nets.
00:16:51Nets, yeah, after the Nets game,
00:16:53Joe said, we challenged him at halftime
00:16:56to play the best defense that he can play.
00:16:59Drew Holliday said something similar
00:17:01and Joe will never like criticize players
00:17:05post-game to us like at all.
00:17:06But I thought that was as much as we'll ever get
00:17:08as far as like he wanted Tatum to play better defense
00:17:11and he felt like he turned it around midway.
00:17:14But there is something to be said
00:17:15that like sometimes he's in the beginning,
00:17:17like he starts slow on the defensive
00:17:18and then I do think it sets a little bit of a tone.
00:17:21And so like Jalen has made a point
00:17:23of being the guy to set the tone defensively,
00:17:24but I think that's like an area
00:17:25where why are they having these slow starts?
00:17:27Like that's an element there
00:17:29because you don't wanna get in that habit.
00:17:30And Al talked about it last game too,
00:17:31like we really can be easing into these games.
00:17:35Yeah, and there's a lot to talk about with their defense.
00:17:38It was awful early, absolutely dreadful.
00:17:41Yeah, transition's still an issue
00:17:43for some reason or another.
00:17:45I know Joe's always talking about them
00:17:47setting up their defense and transition with offense,
00:17:50but sometimes it's just as simple as getting back
00:17:52and being in right positions there, not losing guys.
00:17:55And they're doing that a lot to start this year.
00:17:57It's gotten a little bit better.
00:17:58I looked it up coming into tonight, they were 15th,
00:18:01but obviously they were number one a year ago.
00:18:03So it's a standard they still have to get back to.
00:18:05They were fifth overall in defense coming into tonight.
00:18:09What were they last year, like two?
00:18:10So they're not too far off,
00:18:11but they are a step behind where they were last year.
00:18:13And a lot of that, we've mentioned it,
00:18:16you don't have poor Zingas here for a long time.
00:18:18Last year, you'd have little stretches
00:18:19where you didn't have him,
00:18:20but there was never this massive stretch
00:18:23in the regular season
00:18:24where you didn't have him rim protecting.
00:18:26And someone put a stat out there,
00:18:28I'm trying to find it and go back to it,
00:18:30but the first five games of the year,
00:18:33Celtics were giving up, this is Drew Carter,
00:18:3772% at the rim, which was a big problem early on.
00:18:41And we were saying, all right,
00:18:41they're trying to take threes away.
00:18:43Are they giving up the rim so they don't give up the three?
00:18:45But it was awful at the rim to start the year.
00:18:47That was 28th in the league, giving up 72% inside.
00:18:50Then the next five games after that,
00:18:52which is obviously where Keita came into the mix,
00:18:5458% at the rim.
00:18:56And not all him, but him playing a lot more,
00:18:59a little bit more of him, a little bit more double big,
00:19:02which they went to in this game at times.
00:19:04And they're the number one team at protecting the rim
00:19:06in five games coming into this one.
00:19:08Now I don't have the numbers for tonight yet.
00:19:09I'll pull those up shortly here,
00:19:11but defensively, I think the biggest reason
00:19:14we're seeing them fall back this year,
00:19:17and it's not a panic moment
00:19:18because I think there's a valid excuse here
00:19:20and guys are coming in and out of the lineup.
00:19:22They're mixing and matching rotations, different centers,
00:19:25you know, Horford's at center a lot more,
00:19:27who's not quite the same rim protector he used to be.
00:19:30Cornett hasn't been the same rim protector this year
00:19:33either, I would say.
00:19:35So that's been a weakness for them early on
00:19:37alongside the transition.
00:19:38And it's not like they're struggling defensively,
00:19:41but they're a little below where they were last year.
00:19:45Yeah, definitely.
00:19:46And again, like I think Porzingis
00:19:49was such a revelation defensively last season
00:19:50when everybody was talking about
00:19:53how he was gonna be a release valve
00:19:54against the zone defense
00:19:55and what he was gonna add offensively to the Celtics
00:19:58when they traded for him.
00:19:59And then I think the part that continued
00:20:01to be underrated all season was the defensive side.
00:20:04And so they got through it in the playoffs.
00:20:07And I think Al Horford was a huge part of that.
00:20:09Jalen Brown individually, you know,
00:20:11a lot of guys individually
00:20:12had really masterful defensive performances.
00:20:14I would actually say like all five starters,
00:20:17really, that was maybe one of the biggest highlights
00:20:19of the championship run.
00:20:20But it's hard in a November game
00:20:23to play that way for 48 minutes.
00:20:25And I think we're seeing the ebbs and flows of that.
00:20:26But then we're also seeing that when it's crunch time
00:20:29and when they need to get a stop,
00:20:30like we have seen, with the exception of the Warriors game,
00:20:33which there were some defensive lapses down the stretch,
00:20:35we've really seen them buckle down
00:20:37in a lot of these games versus Indiana,
00:20:39which they lost, but down the stretch there,
00:20:40like that was a huge part
00:20:41of why they were able to even get to overtime.
00:20:43Tonight, I mean, it was just unrecognizable, the defense.
00:20:46So part of it is like, I'm not that concerned
00:20:48because I don't think it's an inability to defend.
00:20:50I think it's a little bit of a,
00:20:51it is just hard to lock in for the entire game in November
00:20:55when you've been playing,
00:20:56when you're gonna play a hundred games this season,
00:20:57you know, so I attribute a little bit of it to that.
00:21:00And there were some moments with Keita today
00:21:02that I thought that he was, you know,
00:21:03he made some mistakes, which I'm glad
00:21:05because I wanna see him play against Giannis.
00:21:07I mean, we've talked about this,
00:21:08but we wanna see him in these like premier matchups
00:21:11against the best post players in the league.
00:21:13And he got, I'm sure he got a ton
00:21:15of valuable experience today and everything that,
00:21:18anything that went wrong or right today,
00:21:19he's gonna rewatch and learn from.
00:21:21And so that was just something else
00:21:23that stood out on the defensive side.
00:21:25Like, I think there's gonna be,
00:21:26next time he plays against the Bucs,
00:21:27like I think he'll be a little bit better.
00:21:29Not that he was bad,
00:21:30but I think there were moments where I'm like, okay,
00:21:32I think this is just a kind of uncharted territory for him.
00:21:36Yeah, and it's tough right now.
00:21:38He can't use Cornette in this game.
00:21:40I don't know if he was limited by the injury or what,
00:21:42but they used him for that one stint,
00:21:43never really went back there.
00:21:44And Keita, you just didn't feel the trust
00:21:48coming from the sideline for him in this one.
00:21:50And as I look at the rim numbers here,
00:21:5118 to 24 for the Bucs inside.
00:21:54So a step back again for the Celtics defensively
00:21:58in this game and a tough matchup against a team
00:22:00that went at them full throttle at the rim,
00:22:02put them in actions.
00:22:03I actually liked some of the sets
00:22:05that the Bucs ran in this one
00:22:06that just kept the Celtics off balance.
00:22:08A lot of backline dunks for the Bucs here,
00:22:10and then a three-point shooting night for Milwaukee
00:22:12that stretched the Celtics out.
00:22:14And they went to some switching in the third quarter.
00:22:16There was a stretch for both teams
00:22:18were missing threes back and forth
00:22:19for like 10 possessions there at the end of the third,
00:22:22where I feel like the Celtics finally found their groove,
00:22:24at least stopping the three-pointer in that second half,
00:22:27but they never really figured it out defensively.
00:22:30And for Cato in this one too,
00:22:31and I can already feel it coming.
00:22:36The chat's gonna kill me here
00:22:38because I'm ripping Cato a little bit or criticizing him.
00:22:43Just like Joe says, and Joe said it too,
00:22:45you just want to see him figure it out.
00:22:48You want to see him have that trust with the coaching staff.
00:22:50You want to see him reach a point
00:22:52where you can say he's your third center
00:22:55when Porzingis comes back
00:22:56and put the other two guys in the rear view
00:22:59a little bit there, not to make it the battle again,
00:23:01but you want Cato to carve out his spot
00:23:04and make it indisputable there because of the ceiling.
00:23:07But whether it's the missed shots, which still finishing,
00:23:10like you want to be closer to 70% if you're him.
00:23:13There's still a few misses every game
00:23:14that keep him below that.
00:23:16And then defensively getting stuck
00:23:17in between the pick and roll a lot of the times.
00:23:20I don't know, did he foul in this game?
00:23:22I don't think there was much of a fouling issue
00:23:24in this game, but it was more of a positioning one for him.
00:23:27No, only one foul, which I don't want to brush off
00:23:30because that was the biggest concern
00:23:32with him early on last season
00:23:33was he just couldn't stay on the floor
00:23:35because he'd come in and just rack up like four quick fouls.
00:23:37And so he's figured that out too.
00:23:39I mean, that's a good point.
00:23:40One foul in 20 minutes versus Giannis, like that's good.
00:23:45Yeah, I know.
00:23:46And they still go with them 20 minutes there.
00:23:47So they want the size, they want the rim protection.
00:23:49And again, I'll say it, that double big combination,
00:23:53probably their best defensive stretch
00:23:55midway through the third quarter there.
00:23:56And a little bit into the fourth as well.
00:23:58You closed the game strong.
00:23:59I was wondering, like, do you play three guards
00:24:02with Pritchard to keep him involved
00:24:04in this game a little bit more,
00:24:05especially where he's amazing in that first half?
00:24:08Or are you going big here to try to shore up the defense?
00:24:10And they went a little bigger
00:24:12and shored up the defense in that second half.
00:24:14And I'll try to have the Bucs' second half numbers here
00:24:16in a minute when I can talk with them here.
00:24:18But it's kind of that highs and lows game for Keita.
00:24:24And fortunately, he was able to survive
00:24:26for 20 minutes there
00:24:28and keep the Celtics competitive in his minutes.
00:24:30But it was really the single big Horford
00:24:33and the starters with Brown back in there in this game.
00:24:35And Brown, as shaky as he was offensively,
00:24:38I thought had a pretty good defensive game.
00:24:40That's what rode you to victory here,
00:24:42rather than Pritchard, who only played nine minutes,
00:24:44minus five in the second half,
00:24:46only four minutes to Hauser in the second half,
00:24:49wasn't good again in this one.
00:24:50And then Keita, 10 minutes of double big
00:24:52where they were minus two.
00:24:53So pretty good lineup, flexibility across the board
00:24:56for the Celtics into the second half.
00:24:59Yeah, and again, like there's the two,
00:25:01there's the dual objectives here.
00:25:03There's the trying to get the win.
00:25:04And there's also the fact that I think a lot
00:25:06of what we're seeing early on here is experimenting
00:25:08and working on things in the longterm.
00:25:10And so I thought Keita, you know, again,
00:25:13I don't want to be a broken record,
00:25:14but I'm so glad that Keita got 20 minutes in this game
00:25:16because I feel like this was the exact opportunity
00:25:19that we've been looking for since last season.
00:25:21You know, that we, there were so many moments
00:25:23where I was like, I don't want to see Keita go against me.
00:25:24I just want to see Keita in these positions.
00:25:26And I think that he actually, like in a sense,
00:25:28he didn't do, he had less, he had a less good game
00:25:31than he's had the last few here,
00:25:33but he actually like held his own
00:25:35and holding her own against Giannis
00:25:36is more than most people can say.
00:25:38And I do think that they figured something out
00:25:40in the second half against him.
00:25:41He still, he still finished with a lot of points.
00:25:43Like I, what did he have, 29 at the half?
00:25:45So he had 14 in the second half.
00:25:47So it's not like they shut him down,
00:25:49but I felt like they were making life
00:25:50a lot more difficult for him.
00:25:52And besides for him,
00:25:54they really weren't getting much going.
00:25:55So I don't know.
00:25:56I don't know if I could, we could grade this,
00:25:58this Keita game.
00:25:59I would probably give him like a B.
00:26:00I don't think it was, you know,
00:26:02I don't think it was like a disaster performance at all,
00:26:06but I, you know, it wasn't perfect,
00:26:07but it's when you're going against Giannis,
00:26:09like you're not going to be able to put together
00:26:10something much better for that.
00:26:12But considering his limited NBA experience,
00:26:14that's kind of what I'm going back to.
00:26:16Yeah. And there's one great play
00:26:18where he switched out on Prince,
00:26:20blows up the play, runs in transition.
00:26:22And it was one of those moments,
00:26:25you're like, what's going to happen here?
00:26:26You don't see Keita running with the ball
00:26:28in transition much.
00:26:29And the Bucs did get back and knock it off of him.
00:26:32So that was a great play
00:26:34that would have been the highlight of his game
00:26:36if it didn't.
00:26:37I know, I was already pulling my phone out for the video.
00:26:40That's like when Al goes full court once in a while
00:26:42and you're like, it's not going to work.
00:26:44I like the ambition.
00:26:45Yeah, he had some good defensive plays.
00:26:46That was another one.
00:26:48Couple that didn't come out.
00:26:49I'm going to go C plus like the commenter here.
00:26:53Again, I'm just being fair with him.
00:26:55And I think I've reached a pretty great place with him
00:26:58where I'm holding him high esteem.
00:27:00I'm saying you got to try to play him as much as possible,
00:27:03even at the expense of Luke,
00:27:05which is where I think they are at this point,
00:27:07especially after Luke's injury.
00:27:09So, you know, I'm just pointing it out like I see it here.
00:27:12And I guess I'm just going to be a K to hater
00:27:15according to the chat.
00:27:17No, Bobby has been a big K to fan behind the scenes.
00:27:20I want you guys to know.
00:27:22Yeah, since day one.
00:27:24It's just funny when you say
00:27:25and you've reached a good place with him.
00:27:26It's like you guys are like your relationship
00:27:28has reached a good place.
00:27:30Well, that's the other thing too, covering him.
00:27:32I mean, I've been to his events.
00:27:34I was all over them signing him.
00:27:37I've really loved the growth from him.
00:27:39We were both there in Atlanta
00:27:41when he played the Geely game and we interviewed him.
00:27:43Yeah, he went all the way, yeah.
00:27:45So yeah, we've been tracking K to since day one here.
00:27:49And you know, the people just don't care.
00:27:52All right, let's go on to Jalen Brown,
00:27:55who he took a charge on Giannis at one point in this game,
00:27:59if I remember right, right?
00:28:02You know, three point shot's still not really there.
00:28:04So he's now two of his last 26 from three
00:28:08since before the injury.
00:28:09So that's something you're looking at here
00:28:11and you're like, oh, that's not a great place right now.
00:28:12But overall, considering the time he missed,
00:28:14considering that he's probably not 100%
00:28:16coming back from the hip yet, you know,
00:28:18he just missed four games.
00:28:19So can't imagine a heel completely over that time.
00:28:22Thought this was a solid game for him,
00:28:24just trying to find some rhythm.
00:28:25There's still some moments in this one
00:28:26where he's over dribbling a little bit
00:28:28and, you know, bogging down the offense,
00:28:30which he'll do at times sometimes.
00:28:32But having him back in transition,
00:28:34having him to crack open the defense,
00:28:35there were some great finishes inside,
00:28:38off passes that I feel like were important
00:28:40for the Celtics on their comeback push here.
00:28:41And then free throw shooting,
00:28:43I feel like what you've pointed out
00:28:45has been a little better for him this year.
00:28:47In this game, he ends five or six at the free throw line,
00:28:53which you'll take.
00:28:55So all in all, he didn't look physically limited either.
00:28:58So you'll take this for a return game.
00:29:00Yeah, I think the story with Dylan Brown
00:29:01is the fact that he played 37 minutes today.
00:29:04And a week ago, we weren't sure if this was maybe
00:29:07gonna be an actual serious injury.
00:29:09So I'm confident that it's probably not at this point.
00:29:12You're not gonna force him back
00:29:13with the Celtics winning games without him.
00:29:16And I mean, this was a decent, this was a good game.
00:29:19I mean, the Waukee Boston's always gonna be fun,
00:29:20but it's not like this was like a, you know,
00:29:22massive, massive matchup that he just couldn't miss.
00:29:25So I think, you know, the Dylan Brown thing
00:29:27is that you can worry less about the injury.
00:29:30And now it's more about, you know,
00:29:32I did think he was missing a little bit of explosiveness.
00:29:34Like there was a couple of plays where I'm like,
00:29:36okay, that doesn't look like Dylan Brown at his best.
00:29:39And that was before he was missing time too.
00:29:41We just didn't know why.
00:29:44So there's something still bothering him,
00:29:45but I don't think they would have cleared him to play
00:29:47if, you know, if it wasn't for the fact
00:29:50that he was getting better.
00:29:52And I also think that he's just a tone setter for them.
00:29:54Like there was a couple of moments
00:29:55where he's just guarding game and alert
00:29:57three quarters of the way, like 90 feet.
00:29:59And it just, you could just tell when he's not there
00:30:02that there's a certain level,
00:30:04there's an edge that the Celtics just lack a little bit.
00:30:07Not always, but there were moments
00:30:07throughout these four games where I'm like,
00:30:08you can really feel his absence.
00:30:10And tonight I think you could feel
00:30:12that he was involved and engaged.
00:30:13And even though offensively he was not himself,
00:30:16like there was other things that he did
00:30:17and just as, you know, his competitive spirit,
00:30:19the stuff with Giannis, like you said,
00:30:20like there's just nobody else really like him on this team
00:30:23from that standpoint.
00:30:25Yeah, some fun moments with Giannis in this one too,
00:30:28the fake handshake after one of their collisions early
00:30:32from Giannis and-
00:30:33People were so mad about that.
00:30:35It was just like corny, but it was, people were not happy.
00:30:38It was Giannis being Giannis,
00:30:40which he went at them here
00:30:43and Jaylen had to guard him quite a bit in this game
00:30:45and held up pretty well, I feel like,
00:30:47in spite of Giannis just going crazy.
00:30:49Giannis scores 43, Celtics go down by 16
00:30:53right before halftime, but come back
00:30:55just minutes into the third quarter
00:30:57and move to nine and two this season
00:31:01on a one game road trip here.
00:31:03So they'll be back at TD Garden for one game as well.
00:31:06Face the Hawks on Tuesday.
00:31:08It's the start of the NBA cup,
00:31:09which we'll talk about in a little bit.
00:31:11But first I want to tell you about HelloFresh,
00:31:13which is back on the Garden Report here
00:31:16with a great offer as always.
00:31:18You can't pass up any offer
00:31:20that HelloFresh is bringing to the table here.
00:31:22Why?
00:31:23Because America's number one meal kit.
00:31:25You know about them.
00:31:25We've told you many times in the past.
00:31:28Farm fresh, pre-portioned ingredients, seasonal recipes.
00:31:31It's fall going on winter here.
00:31:33So I'm sure they got some new stuff
00:31:34on the menu over there.
00:31:35They always do.
00:31:36And it bring it right to your doorstep.
00:31:38Skip trips to the grocery store,
00:31:39which is key this time of year.
00:31:41Groceries get extra wild pushing up against Thanksgiving.
00:31:44And count on HelloFresh to make your home cooking easy,
00:31:46fun and affordable.
00:31:48That's why it's America's number one meal kit.
00:31:50We all know home cooked meals are so much better for you,
00:31:54but you don't always have time to pull it off.
00:31:56I've been eating out a little too much lately.
00:31:57So I'm going to get back on my rhythm with HelloFresh here.
00:32:00Cooking, getting the fresh ingredients to do it.
00:32:03Pre-packaged and pre-portioned.
00:32:05They handle all the meal planning,
00:32:06shopping and most of the prep.
00:32:07It's easier than ever to get dinner on the table,
00:32:10quick and painless.
00:32:11No more endless recipe searching
00:32:13or spending money on a whole jar of spices
00:32:15only for a pinch.
00:32:16With HelloFresh, everything you need
00:32:17to make delicious meals comes right to your door.
00:32:19Pre-portioned and fresh.
00:32:21Eating out also costing way more money than ever before.
00:32:24It cost me over $30 to get takeout last night.
00:32:27With HelloFresh, it's a much better experience.
00:32:31And again, home cooked meals are much better for you.
00:32:34So step-by-step recipe cards make cooking simple.
00:32:37They even have quick and easy recipes.
00:32:38There's over 50 choices on an ever-changing menu.
00:32:43Just pick your meals and your delivery date.
00:32:44It's that simple.
00:32:45So for free breakfast for life, that offer's back.
00:32:49As long as you're using HelloFresh, go over there.
00:32:52HelloFresh.com slash free garden
00:32:54and you'll get one free breakfast item per box
00:32:56while your subscription's active.
00:32:58That's a free breakfast for life
00:33:00over at HelloFresh.com slash free garden.
00:33:04America's number one meal kit, HelloFresh.
00:33:07Also one of my favorite sponsors here
00:33:09that I've used constantly since we started working
00:33:12with them here at the Garden Report.
00:33:14So great offer and a great, great service
00:33:18over there at HelloFresh.
00:33:19Check it out, try it out
00:33:20and see how it'll change your meal prep here.
00:33:25All right, let's get back to it.
00:33:27Where do you wanna go next, Nala?
00:33:29Talked a little Pritchard, Peyton and Brown.
00:33:31Let's talk how the Celtics were exploiting
00:33:33Damian Lillard on defense
00:33:34because I think that there's an element
00:33:38to the Celtics team that's underrated
00:33:41in the sense that nobody can really be exploited
00:33:43on their end.
00:33:44And we talk about Pritchard sometimes
00:33:45like from a size standpoint he can,
00:33:46but he's a good defender comparatively.
00:33:49Damian Lillard, like their game plan
00:33:51really started becoming like whoever he's guarding,
00:33:54just go at him.
00:33:55And I don't always love that from a viewer standpoint
00:33:57because it starts to get a little clunky.
00:33:58And sometimes I think they can overhunt that mismatch,
00:34:00but it worked, it worked in this game.
00:34:03And it's just another reminder of like when you know
00:34:07that the Celtics don't have any stars
00:34:09that are able to be exploited like that.
00:34:11In fact, quite the opposite.
00:34:12And yeah, they put him in some tough situations
00:34:14and I don't even think they capitalize
00:34:15as much as they could have.
00:34:16Like there were some Jalen Brown misses
00:34:18over Damian Lillard that I think normally you can bank on,
00:34:21but it just, yeah, it created a difficult situation
00:34:24for Milwaukee to have to overcome the fact
00:34:26that he's always going to be on the floor.
00:34:27I mean, he's one of their best players,
00:34:29but defensively you're just giving up a lot.
00:34:31And especially like you have to,
00:34:32I don't want to always go there,
00:34:34but they had Drew Holliday in that spot.
00:34:36And certainly that was exact opposite
00:34:38of what Damian Lillard is giving them on the defensive end.
00:34:40And so, yeah, I think that's just the two way thing
00:34:44is just you can't stop thinking about it,
00:34:46watching the Celtics and the Bucs play
00:34:47because it's just, there's just an obvious,
00:34:50like this team has someone that they're all exploiting
00:34:51and this team doesn't.
00:34:54Yeah, and there was a good article over on SB Nation
00:34:56earlier this year about targeting guys
00:34:58and how the offense actually gets bogged down
00:35:02when teams try to do that.
00:35:04I think the defensive rating, you know,
00:35:06as I take a look at it here, went down.
00:35:08So it improved for teams when the 50 most targeted players
00:35:11and pick and rolls got hunted.
00:35:13And it went down as well by a similar rate
00:35:16when the 50 most targeted players in the league
00:35:18got targeted in isolation.
00:35:20So that defensive rating went down
00:35:22from 115 and on average last year
00:35:25to 112 in the situations where guys got hunted.
00:35:29So the Celtics, you know, I don't have their numbers
00:35:33when they're hunting guys,
00:35:34but their isolation's been great this year.
00:35:36It's been a big part of their offensive success.
00:35:39And they usually do it with a good amount of rhythm
00:35:43or movement and this certainly threats
00:35:45if it does get bogged down for them to go to as well,
00:35:48or if help comes a lot of times they're passing out of that,
00:35:51which they did in this game as well here.
00:35:53So it's a big part of their offense
00:35:55and they do it in a way that as you see around the league,
00:35:58it's not a great recipe for other teams.
00:36:00Like look at the finals.
00:36:01That's basically all the Mavs did the entire finals
00:36:04was go at Pritchard, go at Hauser, go at Tillman.
00:36:08And it didn't work.
00:36:09And it ended up being a pretty lackluster series
00:36:12for both Luca and Kyrie.
00:36:14Whereas the Celtics are getting guys
00:36:16in actions all the time.
00:36:18And I guess doing it in a variety of positions,
00:36:19I feel like tonight they were playing Tatum off ball
00:36:22at the start of the game.
00:36:23And when they do stuff like that,
00:36:25it's almost always to line up the match-ups
00:36:28the way they wanna attack them.
00:36:29So I don't know if they wanted to line up Brown
00:36:31against them more often,
00:36:32or use Tatum to get white in the action
00:36:35or whatever they were doing there.
00:36:36I think that was a part of Tatum's night too
00:36:38is that he was off ball a lot more early
00:36:42than you've seen from him in other situations.
00:36:44So, especially late, you saw possession
00:36:47after possession, after possession late,
00:36:48they were gonna have to load,
00:36:49they were putting them in tough spots
00:36:51and the Bucks had to help
00:36:52and that was laying the three-pointers.
00:36:55Yeah, and I think part of the key
00:36:57to exploiting the guys defensively
00:36:59is that Sam Hauser is somebody that has shown
00:37:02that you don't really wanna mismatch.
00:37:04You don't really wanna hunt him
00:37:05because he's actually able to hold his own.
00:37:06And so, you can hunt guys,
00:37:09but sometimes hunting guys doesn't pay off
00:37:12if they're not actually as bad of a defender
00:37:14as you expect them to be.
00:37:14And I think Hauser over the last year or two
00:37:17has shown that he is a better defender
00:37:18than teams anticipate.
00:37:20Pritchard, I think that was part of why
00:37:21he ended up kind of phasing out of,
00:37:24I always forget this,
00:37:25but like in the finals,
00:37:25he really kind of fell out of the rotation.
00:37:27I think that was a big part of why,
00:37:28but you can't do,
00:37:29Damian Lillard's never gonna not play
00:37:31because he's getting exploited.
00:37:32And so, to me, it's less even about
00:37:34whether he is so bad of a defender,
00:37:37it's also like, you're just, you're tiring him out.
00:37:40And he airballed a couple of shots here.
00:37:42I don't know, I can't say for certain
00:37:43that he airballed those shots.
00:37:45He was working hard on defense,
00:37:47but I remember like during the Eastern Conference semis
00:37:49last year where Drew Holiday was getting,
00:37:52being guarded by Donovan Mitchell
00:37:53and Drew Holiday started just going at him.
00:37:55And he just started saying,
00:37:56and Drew Holiday ended up putting up
00:37:57like 20 plus point performances.
00:38:00And he said it post game,
00:38:01he said like, I'm gonna make it hard for him
00:38:03because we don't want to get him tired,
00:38:05wear his legs out.
00:38:06There's an element of that,
00:38:07that this team is always going to find offensive guys
00:38:11and just make it a little bit more challenging for them.
00:38:14And so probably it contributed to Damian Lillard's
00:38:16lack of offensive contributions
00:38:18is just the fact that he did have to be kind of,
00:38:20he was in the action for almost every play.
00:38:23It felt like down the stretch there.
00:38:25Yeah, opponents shooting 50% against Lillard this year
00:38:28in, you know, individual matchups.
00:38:31Think notable to DeJuan Wright,
00:38:34who they picked up over the off season,
00:38:35giving up 59% did not play in this one.
00:38:38So they're trying to figure out
00:38:40how they can shore up those vulnerabilities that they have.
00:38:44And a big reason is Andre Jackson playing now
00:38:47that they're able to get another defender out there,
00:38:48another athletic guy.
00:38:49And again, it worked early.
00:38:51They were able to get out on the run,
00:38:52defend in some compelling ways.
00:38:55And Giannis is out there and Brooke's doing his thing.
00:38:57Brooke had that great chase down block in this game as well.
00:39:00And he was locked in for a lot of it,
00:39:01but they still lose.
00:39:03And Lillard's defense out there
00:39:05has completely changed the complexion of this team.
00:39:07And, you know, obviously things are,
00:39:10look like down the verge of completely collapsing
00:39:13out there in Milwaukee, which, you know,
00:39:15it's kind of a shame, you know,
00:39:16I think Giannis versus the Celtics has been a great rivalry.
00:39:19These teams have played some great games.
00:39:21It's been a tough matchup over the years.
00:39:22Everyone remembers 2022,
00:39:24which ended up being team's finest moment.
00:39:27So they go trade Drew.
00:39:30I'm sure they had some idea
00:39:31that he was going to end up in Boston.
00:39:33Lillard hasn't worked out the way
00:39:35they thought it was going to here.
00:39:36And I keep saying it, I think I said it last show
00:39:39or whenever they played the Bucs last.
00:39:41If you don't trade for Drew,
00:39:43on top of everything Drew brought to Boston,
00:39:47Brogdon's been hurt basically ever since.
00:39:50Rob's been hurt basically ever since
00:39:51right up until the other night.
00:39:53And I just don't think there's any conceivable way
00:39:57that the Celtics win the championship
00:39:58if all things are equal.
00:40:00You know, even poor Zingas coming over
00:40:01and being an impact guy,
00:40:03if they had Brogdon and Rob
00:40:05instead of Drew Holiday last year,
00:40:07it probably would have been a bad season
00:40:10if everything was equal.
00:40:12So the way that trade went for both teams
00:40:15is a real inflection point in NBA history now
00:40:18and a massive moment for both franchises
00:40:21if this is about to fall apart for Milwaukee.
00:40:24Yeah, certainly.
00:40:25And I think Derek White said this post game today,
00:40:29he said something about like Drew Holiday,
00:40:31we don't win without this guy, you know,
00:40:33and there've been so many games
00:40:34where he has made like three or four plays
00:40:37in the last few minutes
00:40:38that just totally changed the outcome of the game.
00:40:41And in the playoffs,
00:40:42like he really was one of the reasons
00:40:45why they were able to pull off so many games,
00:40:47so many wins, you know,
00:40:48we could do a whole episode just on that.
00:40:51But I don't know that Milwaukee knew
00:40:53he was gonna land in Boston.
00:40:54I've heard various things on that,
00:40:55but the reality is that
00:40:57that was the direct effect of that trade.
00:40:59And it's pretty interesting to remember
00:41:00that like Damon Lillard asking out of Portland
00:41:02is like maybe one of the top reasons
00:41:04why the Hells is going to the championship last year.
00:41:06Never would have thought that
00:41:08watching that whole sequence unfold
00:41:11thinking it really had nothing to do with Boston.
00:41:12And obviously we know just how pivotal he's been.
00:41:15And him and Derek just having two guys like that
00:41:17in the backcourt,
00:41:18I mean, we talk about it like every show, I feel like,
00:41:20so I don't wanna go too deep onto it,
00:41:22but like both of them just had massive defensive plays,
00:41:25offensive rebounds, big shots,
00:41:27and we just were so accustomed to it,
00:41:29but it's a big reason why the Celtics are able to overcome,
00:41:33Jalen and Jason both having inefficient scoring nights
00:41:36and slow starts and things
00:41:37is because you just have such a reliable, solid backcourt.
00:41:41And now you have Pritchard too,
00:41:42who's in the mix, who's doing his thing.
00:41:45So really like the star guard-wide committee
00:41:49has become like multiple star guards on this team.
00:41:52And I stand by my Derek White all-star take,
00:41:55but he's gonna need a couple of big scoring performances
00:41:56here just to keep the momentum going.
00:42:00Yeah, he went cold against Brooklyn and bounced back here,
00:42:02which was good to see.
00:42:03He had the key block in this game on Giannis,
00:42:06three to six three-point shooting as well as six assists.
00:42:08So he got back to himself tonight.
00:42:09I thought Holiday had the bigger impact though,
00:42:12you know, three and eight three-point shooting
00:42:14in his own right,
00:42:15a couple of offensive rebounds,
00:42:17which he always seems to have,
00:42:18a couple of steals, a late steal
00:42:20that pretty much ended the game,
00:42:22as well as the dish out on that pass possession
00:42:24where everybody touched the wall
00:42:26that got Tatum at three late as well.
00:42:28So key plays for both those guys.
00:42:30And then you had Pritchard into the mix.
00:42:31And again, I was like,
00:42:32are they gonna go three guards in this game?
00:42:35They didn't.
00:42:35They wanted to go defensive.
00:42:37They wanted to go with size in that second half,
00:42:39but you're still at that point with Pritchard.
00:42:42We should probably talk a little bit more about him
00:42:43before we get out of here.
00:42:45The five or six start, everything in that first half
00:42:48keeps them in the game.
00:42:49I don't see as much of them
00:42:51and certainly not as much of his scoring in the second half.
00:42:53He didn't make another three after that five or six start,
00:42:56but so crucial what he gives you early in this game.
00:42:59And I think he had a comment earlier this year
00:43:01to that effect of like,
00:43:02these starters, they aren't always gonna have the energy.
00:43:05There's gonna be some nights where we come out flat.
00:43:07And so we as a bench, me off the bench,
00:43:09we have to be able to bring energy every night,
00:43:12even if the starters don't have it.
00:43:13And that's exactly what happened in this game.
00:43:15I mean, it could have gotten out of hand
00:43:17as it did a couple of times last year up in Milwaukee
00:43:20if he didn't come in and hit all those threes.
00:43:23Yeah, I mean, he's playing with so much confidence right now.
00:43:27I almost wanna like go back and watch
00:43:28Peyton Pritchard film from like two years ago
00:43:30because there's no shot that he doesn't like.
00:43:33He's able to create kind of like broken possessions.
00:43:36I mean, he had that bucket in overtime
00:43:37where it was like, there really was nothing going for him.
00:43:39And then suddenly he's posting up, right?
00:43:42He's able to shoot-
00:43:42He had five points in overtime on Friday, right?
00:43:45Six, six points.
00:43:47He had a jumper and four free throws.
00:43:48It was the most of any player in overtime,
00:43:50which it wasn't like he went off,
00:43:52but it's just the fact that he's in the mix,
00:43:53he's on the floor and then he's making big plays.
00:43:56He's been their best free throw shooter
00:43:57in this team this season.
00:43:58And he took a technical tonight.
00:44:00He needs to be shooting the technicals
00:44:02because I think Tatum has two tonight
00:44:04or he's missed his last two.
00:44:05Maybe it was one today, one last game.
00:44:08He split a pair tonight.
00:44:10He split a pair, okay.
00:44:11I always wonder if it's like,
00:44:12this is another question that I wouldn't ask Joe,
00:44:14but I would love to, but like if it's predetermined
00:44:18or if it's like in the moment,
00:44:20someone just goes over there.
00:44:21Cause you know, you always see those clips-
00:44:22You know why it is.
00:44:23He's the star, the star always takes it.
00:44:25I don't know if you know,
00:44:26but he's shooting 78% from the free throw line
00:44:28and Pritchard's shooting 95.
00:44:29So I think at a certain point, 17% difference.
00:44:33And Derek too, Derek's probably like-
00:44:35Derek's like 90% constantly.
00:44:37So I don't want to die in this hill,
00:44:39but I always think this every time I see Tatum
00:44:41shooting a technical.
00:44:42I also feel like his rate on technicals is lower
00:44:45than his normal free throw rate.
00:44:47He missed that one to start overtime Friday.
00:44:49Yeah, it's almost like he knows
00:44:51that he shouldn't be shooting them.
00:44:52And so he's like, he misses.
00:44:54You know who I would ask?
00:44:56Ask Derek.
00:44:58Ask Derek why?
00:44:59Ask Derek why he's not taking them.
00:45:02No, he'd get so, he'd get so nervous.
00:45:04No.
00:45:05No, you'd give Tatum crap.
00:45:08You think?
00:45:09Yeah, he's wanting to go at Tatum.
00:45:11Okay, next time he's at the podium.
00:45:12I'm going to look right at you, Bobby.
00:45:13One of us needs to ask.
00:45:16Yeah, no, I'm sure he'll have a good answer on it.
00:45:18And it went the other way tonight.
00:45:19So I am interested to see how that's going to go here.
00:45:21It's a major question with this team.
00:45:24I guess, yeah, I know LeBron always takes the technicals,
00:45:26but that's also always, I've always thought.
00:45:28He always misses them.
00:45:29Yeah.
00:45:30He always misses them, yeah.
00:45:30And he's not a great free throw shooter.
00:45:31It's okay to not be a great free throw shooter.
00:45:32You have elite free throw shooters on your team.
00:45:35But yeah, Pritchard has been- Real quick.
00:45:37No, go ahead.
00:45:38Go ahead, finish the Pritchard point
00:45:39because I want to get some of the points here.
00:45:41Last thing I was going to say on Pritchard.
00:45:43I think he is the number one story
00:45:46for me out of the season so far.
00:45:48We're 11 and two, we're nine and two.
00:45:51We knew that they were going to be.
00:45:52Tatum's been Tatum.
00:45:54Jalen Brown has had a little bit of an injury,
00:45:55but he'll be fine.
00:45:56Everyone else has been kind of what I expected.
00:45:57Kada's been, you know, those two guys
00:45:59are the big stories to me.
00:46:01Pritchard is the fact that he's really establishing himself
00:46:03as like an elite player.
00:46:05And then Kada establishing himself as the backup big
00:46:09and a guy who you really see a high future for.
00:46:12Those are the two big things that are night in and night out
00:46:15feeling like that's the story of this game,
00:46:16even though it's not the story of every single game,
00:46:18but it's just what I didn't really expect.
00:46:21Yeah.
00:46:21And think about how we've talked with Kada,
00:46:24a guy who you might utilize
00:46:26or see his role grow beyond this year.
00:46:30Pritchard on this contract,
00:46:31which I think is three more years beyond this,
00:46:33one with 6 million.
00:46:35If something goes the other way with the salary
00:46:38and you have to move off guard or something here
00:46:41to just, you know, into the future,
00:46:43the fact that as you've talked about
00:46:45with the all-star potential
00:46:46and just how he seems to, with more usage,
00:46:49put out more and take steps each year,
00:46:53all that's so important because he's going to be here,
00:46:55I'd say, for the foreseeable future,
00:46:57despite all the times that the chat
00:46:59has tried to replace him
00:47:00with Lonnie Walker and others here.
00:47:04He's going to be a part of this team into the future.
00:47:06And so like, is there starting potential with him?
00:47:08Is there potential for him to step into an even bigger role
00:47:11beyond this year?
00:47:12I think that's important because he's still relatively young.
00:47:15You know, he's still a guy going into his prime here
00:47:16and he's still a guy who's just obsessive about improving.
00:47:20So everything you're seeing from him to start this year
00:47:23is obviously crucial for this year,
00:47:24but maybe even beyond this year as well,
00:47:26because they have just found gold with his improvement
00:47:30and his ability to get them through.
00:47:32Obviously, as Joe said on Friday,
00:47:34the games where guys are out,
00:47:36games that look like losses that turn into wins
00:47:38during the lows of the regular season,
00:47:40and here we are again.
00:47:41Friday should have been a loss.
00:47:43This game maybe should have been a loss
00:47:45and they steal wins from both of them.
00:47:47And that's why I had the Celtics winning more games
00:47:50than they did last year when I made my prediction this year
00:47:53is that we just saw this a year ago
00:47:55and now they even have more pieces and improve pieces
00:47:58to be able to win these kinds of games.
00:48:00I guess, you know, the one thing out of this game,
00:48:03Hauser's still not quite there.
00:48:05I don't know.
00:48:06We'll keep an eye on him.
00:48:07Played a little bit less tonight with Brown back.
00:48:10And obviously the back thing's been a topic
00:48:12of conversation with him.
00:48:13So something to watch there,
00:48:15but just a guy who struggled in this game again here
00:48:18who, you know, he's dealing with something, obviously,
00:48:21at the start of the season.
00:48:24Yeah, Hauser and Jalen Brown
00:48:25are in a similar position a little bit
00:48:27where they both clearly have something going on,
00:48:29but clearly it's not enough to keep them out
00:48:31and be able to plank through it.
00:48:32And it's hard to assess exactly how much
00:48:35is impacting both of them.
00:48:36But he hasn't found his stride yet this season,
00:48:39but I think that he will.
00:48:40There's enough of a sample size and he's proven enough.
00:48:43My favorite stat about Sam Hauser,
00:48:44which I'm sure people have heard,
00:48:45but he's never shot below 40% from three,
00:48:47one season in his entire career,
00:48:49college, professional, G League.
00:48:51And so he's a guy that as much as it might feel
00:48:54like he's hot and cold,
00:48:55like he's actually as consistent as they come
00:48:56from a shooting standpoint.
00:48:57And so I think water will find his level
00:49:00and he'll find a good opportunity here to break through
00:49:04and he'll end up finishing the season
00:49:05similar to how he has in the past.
00:49:07I'd be surprised if it doesn't end up that way
00:49:09just because he has such a proven track record here.
00:49:12So Celtics come back to the Garden on Tuesday.
00:49:15They are starting the formerly named in-season tournament,
00:49:19which is now the NBA Cup.
00:49:22They are gonna play, of course,
00:49:24in Atlanta's group here.
00:49:26Cleveland is in their group, which is interesting.
00:49:29So that's a team that's gonna be right there with them,
00:49:32at least for how they played early this year
00:49:35to win their group.
00:49:37Celtics gonna play the Cavs on the 19th at home.
00:49:42They're gonna play the Wizards on the 22nd on the road.
00:49:45And they have one more game I'd imagine here.
00:49:50Hawks, Cavs, Wizards, Bulls on November 29th
00:49:54to wrap up group play here.
00:49:55The quarterfinals, of course, in home cities
00:49:59are on the 10th and the 11th.
00:50:01The semifinals are on the 14th of December.
00:50:04And then the championship out there in Vegas
00:50:06is on December 7th.
00:50:08So it's a manageable group for the Celtics,
00:50:10Wizards, Bulls.
00:50:14The road games at Chicago are sometimes tricky,
00:50:16but that Cavs one's gonna be exciting.
00:50:18And the Hawks are obviously a team
00:50:20that the Celtics just dispatched
00:50:22less than a week ago here in Atlanta.
00:50:24So this one shouldn't be too difficult
00:50:27on that in-season track if you care about it at all here.
00:50:31Still dealing with some injuries, the Atlantis,
00:50:34and Trey Young's off to a brutal start to the year.
00:50:37And the matchups just didn't go Atlantis way
00:50:40in that last game.
00:50:41And now Jalen Brown's back in the mix here too.
00:50:43So you're gonna see the crazy new court.
00:50:46You're gonna see the ugly new jerseys.
00:50:48And I think even Joe isn't crazy about this tournament here.
00:50:52So I don't know how hard the Celtics
00:50:53are gonna go to win this thing this year.
00:50:56But the group's manageable.
00:50:57So I'd have to imagine they're gonna be in the mix again
00:51:00here, either win your group
00:51:02or you're the top finisher otherwise.
00:51:04So the wild card in your conference there.
00:51:07So I hope they're in the mix here.
00:51:09It's fun.
00:51:10It's a little way to get involved
00:51:12with some of the better teams in the league
00:51:13and pick up some extra games against them.
00:51:15Obviously that Indiana thing last year ended up
00:51:17being a preview of the East finals,
00:51:19which went a similar way in terms of competitiveness.
00:51:21So I don't mind this thing.
00:51:24I'm not crazy about it,
00:51:25but I think it's a good way for some of the better teams
00:51:28in the league early to get some extra matchups
00:51:30against each other.
00:51:31So that's why I like it.
00:51:32And the potential of a Vegas trip.
00:51:35Yeah, it could get fun.
00:51:36I think if it's, you know, right now it's hard
00:51:38because it has to establish legitimacy,
00:51:39something that actually matters.
00:51:41But you have this thing for 50 years,
00:51:42all of a sudden it's something
00:51:43that people actually care about.
00:51:45Cleveland's gonna go at them.
00:51:47Yeah, certainly.
00:51:48And I haven't caught enough Cleveland.
00:51:49Like I know that their start has been historic
00:51:51and the pieces have really come together,
00:51:53but I'm looking forward to watching them in full
00:51:56a little bit more because it really,
00:51:58I mean, what are they, 12 and 0 now?
00:51:59Like that's very unusual to be able to start that way.
00:52:02Yeah, nobody really saw the start coming.
00:52:04I don't think people anticipated it, you know,
00:52:06brand new coach and suddenly you're remembered
00:52:08that there's a whole lot of continuity here.
00:52:10That core has been together for a couple of years now.
00:52:12So it's fun.
00:52:13You know, we'll see how it goes.
00:52:15There was in the NBA documentary about the Celtics,
00:52:17you know, there was like a million documentaries last year,
00:52:19but in one of them,
00:52:20Al Fortford said that them losing the in-season tournament
00:52:23was actually a turning point for them
00:52:24because they kind of had to reflect on how over the years
00:52:28they've lost like all these big games that really matter.
00:52:31The conference finals, the finals,
00:52:32and this year they had the opportunity
00:52:34to win a meaningful game in Indiana and they lost
00:52:36and they had to look in the mirror
00:52:37and like think about how they needed to be better.
00:52:39And so I was a little surprised to hear that.
00:52:41It was granted, it was by the NBA.
00:52:43So maybe it was a little bit of a in-season tournament
00:52:45propaganda, but Al Fortford did say that.
00:52:47And so I was thinking to myself, like, you know,
00:52:48it didn't seem like they really cared all that much to us,
00:52:51but then I started thinking,
00:52:52you remember when they had to win,
00:52:53beat the Bulls by like 27 or something
00:52:55and Missoula was calling and they were cheering
00:52:58in the locker room,
00:52:59watching the results of some other game
00:53:00that had impact on whether they would move forward.
00:53:02So I think they're going to want to win
00:53:03and they're going to treat this as much as they can
00:53:05with intensity and competitiveness.
00:53:08And also just want to acknowledge,
00:53:09thank you to NoCap,
00:53:11question on the Hauser getting moved to the deadline.
00:53:14I would be very surprised if Hauser got moved
00:53:15because I think that he proved himself
00:53:17in the finals last year.
00:53:20If they trade somebody,
00:53:20it'll be somebody that's not playing at all,
00:53:22like a Springer, it won't be.
00:53:24Yeah, like Sam Hauser's not going to be playing.
00:53:25If Springer was out tonight, that was kind of weird.
00:53:28Yeah, left knee tendipathy, if I'm saying that right.
00:53:31It reminded me of when Pritchard was out
00:53:32for like 15 games a couple of years back,
00:53:34but he was already not playing.
00:53:35So it was like he was on the injury report,
00:53:36but it's like he's out.
00:53:37He must've got hurt in the stay ready game.
00:53:39Maybe, or he's just had a little bit of a knee thing.
00:53:43That's not the first time that's popped up.
00:53:44So I'd be surprised.
00:53:46I think Baylor is going to need some time
00:53:48before he's able to step into the Hauser role.
00:53:51And it looks like he had a good main debut.
00:53:53I'm going to be in Maine this weekend.
00:53:55So I'll check him out in person, see how he's doing.
00:53:58But I think ultimately, like Hauser's proven himself
00:54:00in the finals that he can hold up on both ends
00:54:02and you're not going to get rid of that
00:54:03unless you have something really, you know,
00:54:06a hundred percent foolproof.
00:54:07And I don't think a guy who was just drafted
00:54:09is going to have that.
00:54:11Yeah, for sure.
00:54:12And that's a good point on the Chicago game last year.
00:54:15That was a real moment, a unique experience,
00:54:18environment against a team that absolutely,
00:54:20especially in a blowout game like that,
00:54:23that would have been one of the most forgettable games
00:54:25we've ever covered.
00:54:27And it ended up being one of the most memorable games
00:54:30that I've covered.
00:54:31And I said that that night, I was like, this was awesome.
00:54:34You had Missoula and Donovan going at it.
00:54:39Joe was embracing running up the score
00:54:41to be able to clinch that thing.
00:54:43And that's a great point because he was not high
00:54:45on this thing, but he embraced it that night.
00:54:47It was like, those are the rules, so we got to play to them.
00:54:49And so there was a little heat there.
00:54:51Drummond was pissed because they were following him.
00:54:54And did Joe had to go find him after the game
00:54:57and say something?
00:54:58It was just a really interesting night.
00:54:59And obviously they hit the target score
00:55:01that they needed to there.
00:55:02So it kept everybody in their seats in a blowout.
00:55:05They were able to reach it.
00:55:06They were able to go into the tournament
00:55:07and ended up losing to Indiana.
00:55:10So it was awesome that whole night, that whole experience.
00:55:14That ended up being a big game for the Pacers too.
00:55:15And as you mentioned, Horford took a lot away from it,
00:55:18as did some of the players on the team from that game.
00:55:20So I hope we get a similar experience this time around.
00:55:23That game's in Boston against Cleveland.
00:55:25So I'm interested to see what the atmosphere
00:55:27is going to be like for that one.
00:55:28Obviously, if it was in Cleveland,
00:55:29it would be nuts with the way they've started
00:55:31and with the chance they would have
00:55:33to steal a win from Boston early on this year.
00:55:35I'm super high on Cleveland, by the way.
00:55:37I always have been.
00:55:39Love Mitchell.
00:55:40Garland's been so much better this year,
00:55:42who I'm not crazy about, but definitely played better
00:55:46or is playing better than he should have last year.
00:55:49He had some injuries and stuff,
00:55:50including that broken jaw that he had at Boston.
00:55:54Mobley, though, to me, it was always going to be about him.
00:55:57Can that guy finally find something?
00:55:59Can that guy finally play to his potential
00:56:02and unlock his offensive game?
00:56:04And Kenny Atkinson, who teams,
00:56:07I'm sure teams were interested in him,
00:56:09or he had different options.
00:56:11Charlotte certainly was one of them
00:56:13when he backed out of that job,
00:56:14but he was Golden State's assistant for such a long time
00:56:17after the Nets let him go,
00:56:18which was stupid in its own right.
00:56:20And now he's there just reinventing that Cavs team.
00:56:23And it's great that they didn't break apart either.
00:56:26They beat the Nets last night.
00:56:27Nets gave them a similar push to the Celtics on Friday
00:56:31and Cavs ended up coming back down
00:56:33by a decent amount in that game
00:56:34and ended up winning late.
00:56:35And Mobley was just awesome again.
00:56:37He had like 25 and 13 or something like that.
00:56:39So that game, I'm really looking forward to.
00:56:42That one's just nine days away,
00:56:44but the NBA Cup starts first
00:56:45with the Celtics and Hawks Tuesday night at TD Garden.
00:56:49And is it a seven o'clock tip, Noah?
00:56:50Is that true?
00:56:53I think so.
00:56:55All right.
00:56:56We don't get those often in Boston.
00:56:58Yeah, seven o'clock.
00:56:59I love a seven o'clock tip.
00:57:01It makes all the difference for us down there.
00:57:03It makes all the difference for us at the arena.
00:57:05And Baba, we got a quote here coming out of post game.
00:57:08Thanks to Ahmed,
00:57:09Jalen Brown on Giannis pulling back his handshake
00:57:11in the first half.
00:57:12Giannis is a child.
00:57:14That's the quote.
00:57:16I would love to see how he said it,
00:57:18but Jalen, you know, those four games that he was out,
00:57:20we were missing some fun quotes.
00:57:22He always has something fun to say post game.
00:57:24I don't know if he actually cared,
00:57:26but I saw Celtics fans weren't happy about that play.
00:57:30And Tatum also was talking about how
00:57:32Mazzullo called the no call on the flagrant foul.
00:57:35Ridiculous.
00:57:36You can't miss that.
00:57:37Tatum seemed to echo that.
00:57:38So those are the highs that I'm seeing on Twitter,
00:57:40at least from what was said after the game.
00:57:44Yeah, he said it with a straight face,
00:57:46but it might've just been a deadpan quote there
00:57:48from him about Giannis.
00:57:50But Brown's not above going at an opponent
00:57:54or starting some beef with somebody
00:57:57or just saying something.
00:58:00It's a little bit out of line there, but I love it.
00:58:03I love the fact that he's willing to give us
00:58:04some call there and actually say something interesting.
00:58:07And those teams are gonna play again.
00:58:10When are the Celtics and Bucs matching up again here?
00:58:12Because they stacked those games early.
00:58:14I think they have one more coming up soon here.
00:58:17Obviously the next one will be in Boston, December 6th.
00:58:20So we're less than a month away from these teams
00:58:22meeting for a third time early this year.
00:58:24And who knows where Milwaukee's gonna be by then.
00:58:26This could have been a season saving win for the Bucs,
00:58:29but instead the Celtics turn it around
00:58:31and score their most impressive comeback win
00:58:34of the season so far.
00:58:36Down 16 late in the second quarter
00:58:38and ended up getting a lead by the end of the third here
00:58:41and closing out a close game against the Bucs.
00:58:43Celtics have been pretty good in crunch time this year
00:58:45as well as they start nine and two.
00:58:47So that was impressive.
00:58:48Tatum scores 30 again.
00:58:50Jalen Brown comes back from the injury.
00:58:51Looks pretty solid.
00:58:53Not his best game, but good game for his first night back.
00:58:56And Pritchard saves them in the first half with five threes
00:59:00to keep them in play there.
00:59:01Keita gets the backup minutes again at center.
00:59:04So he's still in the mix here.
00:59:06And despite 43 from Giannis,
00:59:07the Celtics end up winning this one, 113 to 107.
00:59:11They're back on Tuesday at TE Garden.
00:59:14We'll have coverage of Celtics.
00:59:15Hawks, we'll see how Tatum did with the ankle there too.
00:59:19Seemed like he was fine,
00:59:20but he ended up tweaking his ankle a little bit
00:59:22in this game.
00:59:23So that's something to watch as well.
00:59:25Show our sponsors some love.
00:59:26Check out prize picks.
00:59:27The late game about to get going tonight here
00:59:29in the football world
00:59:31and a ton of basketball going on right now as well.
00:59:33Use the code CLNS.
00:59:34New users get $5 when they play $5 instantly
00:59:39or $50 when they play $5 instantly.
00:59:42So go check that out with code CLNS.
00:59:44Check out the game time app
00:59:45if you want to go to the NBA cup game
00:59:47or any game early this season.
00:59:49Go and use the code CLNS over on game time
00:59:52to get $20 off your first ticket purchase over there.
00:59:55Terms apply.
00:59:56And HelloFresh back on the Garden Report.
00:59:58Great time of year to try that.
00:59:59It's cold.
01:00:00You don't want to go out there
01:00:01and fight the crowds at the grocery store.
01:00:04You want to get fresh ingredients to your door,
01:00:06customizable and all the rest.
01:00:08Can't wait to get my next box here
01:00:10now that I'm home for a little bit.
01:00:12Go to hellofresh.com slash free garden
01:00:14and get one free breakfast item per box
01:00:17while your subscription's active
01:00:19over at hellofresh.com slash free garden.
01:00:22For Noah Dalzell, I'm Bobby Manning.
01:00:25Noah, probably going to have a new podcast coming tomorrow.
01:00:29And we will be back on Tuesday for Celtics Hawks.
01:00:33Once again, I'm Bobby Manning.
01:00:35This has been the Garden Report.
01:00:36We'll talk to you then.
01:00:39Wait, Ahmed's got an outro for us, I think.
01:00:41No, he doesn't.
01:00:42You said he was going to work on an outro.
01:00:45He had a phenomenal game.
01:00:47Phenomenal game.
01:00:50Porfrit's out.
01:00:50I think it's an option.
01:00:55That did not sound like a chair.
01:00:57It was a freaking chair.
01:00:58It does sound like a chair.