SR NBA – Most Improved Player Rankings 2021

SR NBA – Most Improved Player Rankings 2021

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by | Apr 28, 2021 | Featured

The 2021 NBA Season has been filled with some great storylines but few better than the select group of players making the case for most improved. The most improved player award in the NBA has generally been an award given to young players who show a tremendous jump in their play from one season to the next. Whether it’s just players getting more comfortable in a system or just finally getting a feel for the league most improved is usually an award given when a player starts to fulfill their potential. The most improved player award is pretty unforgiving, the prime candidates are usually players on their rookie contracts, and any player that doesn’t show an improvement within those first 3-4 years is looked at as an afterthought for this award. That’s what makes this year’s list so intriguing.

The top 2 candidates for this year’s most improved award (according to vegas odds) are both players on their second NBA contract and both have played for a minimum of 3 NBA teams. To find the last player in the NBA to win the Most improved player award that was not on their first NBA contract you have to go all the way back to Goran Dragic in 2014 with The Phoenix Suns in the 7th year of his career. To further emphasize, there have only been 3 players in the past 20 years of this award to win it after their 4th year in the NBA and that speaks volumes to the work ethic of the guys atop the 2021 MIP list.

Last year’s winner, Brandon Ingram of the New Orleans Pelicans showed why he was the #2 overall pick in 2016. He won the award after improving his stats dramatically from the year before and it earned him his first NBA All-star appearance. Ingram was the beneficiary of the trade that got Anthony Davis to the Lakers, and usually, there is nothing beneficial about moving from LA to NO other than the cost of the property but, Ingram earned his first all-star appearance and had the Pelicans in contention for the 8th seed before the shut down of last years season.

This year’s list of M.I.P candidates is one of the best in recent years to me because it actually shows more of how insane the talent level currently is in the NBA and why so many of these players have to work so hard just to fill their NBA Star Potential.

 

1. Julius Randle – New York Knicks

Year MPG PPG APG RPG FG% 3PT% Team Record
‘19-’20 32.5 19.5 3.1 9.7 46% 27% 21-45
‘20-’21 37.5 23.9 6.0 10.4 46% 42% 34-28

 

In his 7th season, the former 7th overall pick has found his way this season. With multiple 40 point performances, some game-winners, and most importantly leading the Knicks back into the playoff picture for the first time since 2013. The Knicks are currently sitting at the 4th seed in a top-heavy eastern conference. Although in the past team records have had very little to do with the result of this award this might be Randle’s most compelling case. Randle has never been a player that anyone particularly highlighted as a leader until this season. On his 3rd team and in his 7th season (I highlight again) Randle has found new life. He’s averaging career highs in all the major statistical categories and has the New York Knicks actually looking like a tough first-round matchup in the playoffs.

 

 

 

2. Jerami Grant – Detriot Pistons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year MPG PPG APG RPG FG% 3PT% Team Record
‘19-’20 26.6 12 1.2 3.5 47.8 38.9 46-27 (DEN)
‘20-’21 34.1 22.5 2.8 4.6 42.8 35.4 19-43

 

In his 8th season in the league, Jerami Grant much like Randle is also averaging career highs in most of the major statistical categories. Grant hasn’t found new life this year as much as he’s just embraced a new role. Much of last year with the Denver Nuggets, we saw Grant’s ability to knock down shots from the perimeter while also displaying his ridiculous athletic ability, finishing in the lane. This year after getting a bag from Detroit, Grant has had to step into a new role where instead of being one of many, he is THE guy for Detroit. Although his team has not complimented his play very well this season, it can be argued that Grant has been the best player that was given more playing time in the whole League.

 

 

3. Michael Porter Jr. – Denver Nuggets

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year MPG PPG APG RPG FG% 3PT% Team Record
‘19-’20 16.4 9.3 0.8 4.7 50 42.2 46-27
‘20-’21 31.2 18.5 1 7.6 54 44.4 40-21

 

The departure of Jerami Grant from Denver left room for the opportunity that Miachel Porter Jr. has had this season and man has he taken advantage of it. Porter Jr. didn’t come on last season until late, he actually had his best performances last year in the NBA bubble for the Nuggets. It wasn’t until this year however that the young athletic forward really started to showcase his game. He’s had strings of double-doubles, as well as posting a career-high in points with 39 just this past month.

 

 

 

 

4. Zion Williamson – New Orleans Pelicans

Year MPG PPG APG RPG FG% 3PT% Team Record
‘19-’20 27.8 22.5 2.1 6.3 68.3 42.9 30-42
‘20-’21 32.9 26.9 3.6 7.2 61.8 32.3 27-34

 

 

Williamson’s improvements this year earned him his first all-star appearance. He is leading his team in scoring and usage rate and has been fairly efficient in doing so. He has tremendous touch and explosion which has lead to so many highlight plays from him this year. He has established himself as one of the most fun players to watch in the league this year and should be one of the primer players in the league for years to come.

 

 

5. Christian Wood – Houston Rockets

 

 

 

 

Year MPG PPG APG RPG FG% 3PT% Team Record
‘19-’20 21.4 13.1 1 6.3 56.7 38.6 20-46 (DET)
‘20-’21 32.2 21.1 1.6 9.8 52.4 37.7 15-47

 

Although he only has only played a grand total of 38 games this year Christina Wood was on pace to make one of the more impressive 1-year come-ups that we have ever seen. Wood went down in early February with a gruesome ankle injury and hasn’t been back since, largely in part because the Rockets are one of the worst teams in the league, and bringing him back this season wouldn’t be worth it. In his 38 games however wood was putting up monster numbers. He was averaging a double-double and even was averaging close to 2 black a game.

 

 

 

ODDS TO WIN 2021 NBA MOST IMPROVED PLAYER (6/1/21)
Team American Fractional
Julius Randle (New York) -625 4/25
Jerami Grant (Detroit) +475 19/4
Michael Porter, Jr. (Denver) +2000 20/1
Zion Williamson (New Orleans) +2500 25/1
Christian Wood (Houston) +2500 25/1
Nikola Jokic (Denver) +6600 66/1
Zach LaVine (Chicago) +6600 66/1
Chris Boucher (Toronto) +8000 80/1
Jaylen Brown (Boston) +8000 80/1
Collin Sexton (Cleveland) +15000 150/1

Odds Provided by PointsBet – Subject to Change

 

Apr 28, 2021 No Comments
How the Boston Celtics have turned things around in April

How the Boston Celtics have turned things around in April

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by | Apr 22, 2021 | Featured, NBA

April has been a great month for the Boston Celtics. After getting off to a rough start to the season, the Celtics have finally found a rhythm. The Boston Celtics are 12-10 since the All-Star Break in March. They finished the month of March going only 1-4 but, losing starting Center Daniel Thies to the trade with the Chicago Bulls and acquiring G Eric Fournier from Orlando, the Celtics were bound to go through an adjustment period. Luckily that adjustment period was pretty quick, as the Celtics have one of the best records in the league in the month of April. The Celtics have gone 11-7 over the course of the month and have a winning streak as long as 7 games. The Celtics’ success can be attributed to many key factors but the most compelling piece has to be the play of their star Jayson Tatum. Tatum is averaging about 28 points per game in the month of April. On top of that, the 23-year-old star recorded his first triple-double on Tuesday night at home against the Chicago Bulls. Tatum finished with 14pts, 13rebs, and 10ast, and if his first triple-double even though his team ended up falling short of a victory.

 

 

 

The triple-double wasn’t even Tatums most impressive performance of the month either, as he also outdueled 2 time MVP Stephen Curry in overtime this past Saturday. Steph put on an absolutely ridiculous performance hitting 11 three-pointers and finishing the game with 47 points. However, the seemingly unfazed Tatum finished the game with 44points and 10 rebounds and scoring the go-ahead layup with .49 seconds left in OT that ultimately gave the Celtics the win.

 

 

 

 

Tatum has shown tremendous poise and ability to be a clutch player over the course of this season and it has only been amplified as of late. The emergence of first-year all-star Jaylen Brown, specifically on the offensive end, has really opened up even more for Tatum. He doesn’t have to force much anymore and it is evident, he’s been very decisive about when and how he attacks the basket and has come a long way with his playmaking ability once he gets into the paint. Tatum is really solidifying himself as one of the primer players in the league and a lot of it has to do with his play late in games. Jayson Tatum is the best player in the clutch in the whole NBA this season. He averages a league-best 2.8 points when the game is on the line while shooting 43%. To put this into context for those who are not familiar with advanced NBA stats this stat is highlighting the fact that when the game is on the line Jayson Tatum has about a 43% chance of scoring 3 points which is even more impressive considering he’s taken the second most amount of game-tying or go-ahead shots in the whole league. His ability to get to his spots is unmatched and it’s evident when watching him play as of late. He has done an excellent job this season of not settling as much and attacking the basket especially when teams don’t have an adequate rim protector. He’s done a great job of balancing when to attack in transition and when to get a post touch every so often. He looks a lot more comfortable getting to his elbow jump shots and using his body around the basket to finish plays, particularly around the basket.

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to the impressive play from Tatum, the Celtics have also gotten improved play from key players like Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart. Both Walker and Smart have been pretty inconsistent for the C’s this year mainly having to do with injuries that kept them out for periods of time. Neither player had really been able to find their groove until recently but that could just be due to the fact that neither was 100% until now.

 

 

Whatever the case may have been they picked a good time to get back to themselves because they need every bit of Kembas shot-making ability and Marcus Smart’s tenacity on both ends of the court if they hope to win AT LEAST their first playoff matchup. Smart and Walker who both hit HUGE shots in the Win against Golden State are going to really need to maintain their level of play for the end of the season for the Celtics to improve their standing to have a more favorable first-round matchup. With the play of Jayson Tatum only improving by the day it seems the supporting cast is going to have to be at their best as teams to relieve some of the offensive pressure off Tatum.

 

 

The late addition of Jabari Parker for the Celtics is also something worth keeping an eye on. The former #2 overall pick has had his shares of up and downs since entering the League in 2014 but Boston could end up being the perfect fit for Parker. He reached the point in his career that no one is expecting him to perform like a top pick anymore so whatever positive contributions he can make at his position will help. When you think about what Jabari Parker does best it’s obviously his scoring ability. Just some of the moves he can make at his size are impressive and it actually might end up being just what the Celtics needed. The Celtics’ biggest problem this year has been bench scoring, and whether that has been mainly to do with injuries doesn’t even matter at this point they just needed to fix that somehow. Jabari Parker does that and might just find his niche with the Celtics because of it. The pressure is off for Parker which sounds odd to say about a player that is only signing a two-year deal but it’s the expectation. Up until this point, the teams Parker had been with were expecting him to at least show flashes of why he was the #2 pick and show that he could be a piece to build around. The expectation with Boston is a lot different, the core group is solidified but the problem has always been what surrounds that. Jabari Parker seems to be exactly what the Celtics need in just a solid piece that can positively contribute offensively and in his first two games has even shown impressive rebounding and defensive ability which is an added bonus. It will be fun to see how he plays as he gets even more integrated into the lineup but just a great underrated pickup for the Celtics.

 

 

The Boston Celtics currently sit at 6th Place in the Eastern Conference. The team is 5 games above .500 with a 31-27 overall record. They actually only 4 games behind the 3rd seed Milwaukee Bucks and 1 game behind the 4th seed New York Knicks. The Celtics are 8-2 in their last 10 games and seem to be hitting their stride at the right time. With only 14 games left in the regular season, they are going to have to keep up their play as of late to keep from potentially matching up with the 76ers or Brooklyn Nets in the first round. If the season ended today the Celtics would be in a first-round matchup with the Bucks and that is not a fun first-round matchup for anybody. The Celtics’ focus has to be on trying to pass the Atlanta Hawks and NY Knicks in these last 14 games to have a much more favorable first-round matchup to at least give this team the confidence of getting past the first round for the playoffs. The best case for these Celtics is that this play they were able to display in the month of April propels them into the playoffs and they can enter the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in the NBA posied to make a run in the playoffs regardless of how the season went before the All-Star Break. Much like the Miami Heat of last year, the Celtics are just going to have to rely on getting hot at the right time, chemistry and connectivity.

 

Apr 22, 2021 No Comments
SR – Power Rankings Week 16

SR – Power Rankings Week 16

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by | Apr 16, 2021 | Featured, NBA

 

The 2020-21 NBA season is now about 2/3 of the way completed. With less than half the season left, teams are finally starting to make sense of where they could actually end up in this year’s expanded playoff picture. While some teams are fighting for the top seeds, we have others still just fighting to get in. It will be interesting to see how things start to play out here in this final stretch of the season. The play over these next couple of months is going to really ramp up. With the expanded playoff picture, it’s only right to assume we are just going to playoff-type basketball even earlier so teams can better position themselves for their respective playoff pictures.

 

1. Utah Jazz (41-14, Last Week Ranking 1)

 

As the Utah Jazz hit this last third of the season, they must be getting a little nervous to see their lead in the western conference is now only by a few games. With the Suns, only a game behind and the Clippers trailing 1st place in the west by only two games Utah is going to have to finish out the season very strong. All the signs are showing that they will, they are coming off a game this week in which 3 players recorded double-doubles: Gobert (13 points, 14 rebounds), Mike Conley (15 points and a season-high 14 assists), and Georges Niang (18 points and 10 rebounds). Even more importantly this occurred while the Jazz were battling injuries with three of their main guys in Royce O’Neale (rest), Jordan Clarkson (sprained right ankle), and Joe Ingles (sore left knee). The Jazz have proven this season not only how valuable their depth is but also how talented. Georges Niang Made his first start of the season earlier this week and the team had no drop-off in efficiency especially on the defensive end. Looking at the remaining schedule for the Jazz, it’s hard to see them really slipping out of first place. As long as their defense is still clicking on all levels and guys are flying around on a nightly basis as they have shown no matter who is out there they should be fine.

2. Philadelphia 76ers (38-17, Last Week Rank 4)

 

The Sixers beat the Nets on Wednesday, while the Nets were without two of their three superstars in James Harden and KD. Early on it seemed that the Sixers were really able to capitalize with the Nets missing their two studs leading by as much as 20 at one point, the game was narrowed to just three points with two minutes left in the game. Brooklyn showed a tremendous amount of fight and the Sixers showed an ability to withhold a late fight from a real opponent but to be real the ending of this game didn’t really tell us much as Steve Nash Opted to bench Kyrie Irving for the final 2 minutes of the game which is basically admitting your okay with losing the game. What stands out the most about this game was the Dominance of Joel Embiid. With or without KD and Harden the question for the Nets is still who is going to guard Embiid. He controls the pace of the game for the sixers and because he can score it so well in the low post it takes away from the up and down transition style that Brooklyn wants to play and Brooklyn simply still just has no one who can really guard him. The Sixers offense still looks more fluid than the Brooklyn offense. They just have a lot of very good complementary pieces and a real MVP caliber type of player in Embiid as long as they can keep it up and stay healthy they are the best TEAM in the East.

 

 

3. Pheonix Suns (40-15, Last Week Ranking 3)

 

The Suns have been one of the teams to capitalize the most with the injuries that have happened to the LA Lakers. Only 1 game behind the Jazz, I wouldn’t be surprised if they overtook them at some point in the next few weeks as the Jazz are still battling injury. The Phoenix Suns have won 5 of their last 6 and they have been some notable wins (Jazz, Heat, Kings). Devin Booker is Averaging 25pts and 4ast this season while shooting an insane 42% from the field. His game has just looked so much more effortless this year with CP3. You can see how he doesn’t have to work as hard on a nightly basis to get good shots for himself. Chris Paul has really helped this team get over that hump that they had been so determined to get over so a while. They have a shot with a third of the season left to go secure the one seed and it will be exciting to see if they can actually make it happen.

 

 

4. Brooklyn Nets ( 37-18, Last Week Rank 2)

 

Its no doubt that the Nets have the most talent in the NBA. Even now with the retirement of a 15-year veteran, 7-time all-star in LaMarcus Aldrige that still seems to be the case. The problem for the Nets that is defiantly a cause for concern is that their whole roster has just yet to play all together healthy and their 3 superstars still have e not all been active at the same time yet. The Nets have had some impressive games and good wins there is no doubting that but as much as I think they are the most talented team in the NBA they are not the best team and haven’t even really shown signs of it yet. Of the team in this top 5, the Brooklyn Nets are the biggest cause for concern because we have not seen any type of consistency or chemistry from this team and that is what the playoffs are all about.

 

 5. Milwaukee Bucks (35-20, Last Week Rank 5)

 

 

Milwaukee has been quietly atop of the eastern conference all year and currently are only sitting 3 games out of first place. It isn’t unattainable for the Bucks to make a run at winning the east but they are just going to have to get back to full strength to really make that push. Giannis only retired last after missing a couple of weeks with a knee injury. The Hawks secured a win 120-109 over the Hawks to extend their win streak to 3 games but are going to need to keep stinging them together if they really want the Finals to at least go through Milwaukee.

 

6. LA Clippers (39-18, Last Week Rank 6)

 

 

The Addition of Rajon Rondo is paying off tremendously for the LA Clippers. Not only has Rondo provided the veteran and more verbal leadership to this young and talented clippers team but he has basically done for Paul Geroge, What CP3 did for Devin Booker. Rondo Has unlocked some of Paul Georges’s game and what I mean by that is he’s simply just making it easier for him. when you watch how the two play together you can see how Rondo knows exactly when and where PG likes to get the ball to go into his scoring and creating moves. ROndo always delivers the ball to him where defenders are at his mercy and he’s been much more aggressive now knowing he’s going to consistently get the ball in his spots. The Clippers may not make many jumps in the standings because of their tendencies to rest guys so that they are ready for the playoffs but as of now the clippers will probably be the toughest out in the western conference playoffs.

 

7. LA Lakers (34-22, last Week Rank 8)

 

 

The Lakers season started to look very worrisome after Lebron when down with a high ankle sprain but after only losing their first few after he went team and blowing the depleted nets out last week the Lakers showed that even without Lebron they are a .500 team. Schroder, Herrell, and Talen Horton-Tucker all showed this past week that they are players worthy of a little bit more credit. They have kept the ship afloat while Lebron and AD have been out and have not slipped too far down the western conference standings. The Lakers just need to stay within the top 6 seeds in the west and make sure they just don’t fall into the play-in games so when Bron and AD come back they won’t have to play more games than necessary before competing in the playoffs to defend their title.

 

8. Portland Trailblazers (31-23, Last Week Rank 9)

 

 

Although the Blazers are 1-2 in their last 3 games they have shown some hopeful signs as they look to capitalize in a western conference riddled with injury. The Blazers got a highly impressive 30 rebound game from Enes Kanter against the Piston Last week to Secure a win. This is promising because the performance came shortly after other Blazer Big Jusef Nurkic came back from injury early last week. If portland can figure of how to get their bigs healthy to pair with the savvy guard play of Lilliard and Mccollum, it wouldn’t be surprising if they made a late surge this season to secure a better playoff spot.

 

  9. Dallas Mavericks (30-24, Last Week Rank 10)

 

 

The Mavericks are a team that it wouldn’t be springing to see a drop into the teams that have to compete in the play-in games but I would also be picking them to win those play-in games. Of all the teams at the bottom of the Western Conference playoff picture the one that is capable of getting catching the most momentum as this season ends, it has to be Dallas. They are the deepest team at the bottom of the Western Conference playoff picture and they seem like they are finding some type of rhythm offensively late. The Addition of JJ Reddick will really help this team especially as the games get more meaningful and they need consistent shooting. The Mavs are one of my picks to at least get past their first play in opponent in the west (if they end up there) because they have faired well against non-playoff and middle of the pack western conference teams all year long, they just can’t seem to beat a  real western conference contender yet.

 

 

10. Denver Nuggets (35-20 Last Week Rank 7)

 

To keep it real, the Denver Nuggets saw whatever chances at making the finals fly right out the window when all-star Gaurd Jamal Murray Tore his ACL earlier this week. I don’t mean to make fun of the situation by any means, but there is no doubt that what Jamal Murray brought to this team cannot just be easily replaced. Murray was averaging 21 points per contest while shooting 47 % from the field and 40% from 3. He and MVP candidate Nikola Jokic were in a great position to lead this team into the playoffs before this injury. Since the Addition of Aaron Gordon the Team had not lost a game, they were a perfect 8-0 when they had the new Trio of Murray, Gordon, and Jokic. Now that lineup will have to wait a year and were going to have to see just how much Jokic and the rest of the Nuggets squad will be able to get done on their own.

 

 

Apr 16, 2021 No Comments
The Brooklyn Nets Have Signed six-time NBA All Star Blake Griffin

The Brooklyn Nets Have Signed six-time NBA All Star Blake Griffin

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by | Mar 8, 2021 | Featured, NBA

In the midst of this weekend’s NBA All-Star Game in Atlanta, former all-star forward Blake Griffin reached an agreement with the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets acquired Blake Griffin from the Detroit Pistons after recently agreeing to a buyout and clearing waivers. Nets GM Sean Marks said in a statement yesterday that the team is “fortunate” to add the veteran Big Man. This deal really works out for both parties involved. The Nets give Griffin a chance to play for a championship and Griffin gives the Nets more depth at forward to compete with the best of the Eastern Conference. Griffin had spent the past two and a half seasons in Detroit with the Pistons after he was traded from the LA Clippers back in 2018. The buyout that Griffin agreed to on Friday with the Nets actually included the big man giving back over 13 million in order to secure his free agency. He didn’t spend much time waiting however choosing to sign with the Brooklyn Nets shortly after the buyout had gone through Griffin Signed with Brooklyn in the hopes to finally make a run at a championship.

 

Brooklyn defiantly was Griffin’s best chance to get to the NBA finals. After missing out on so many chances at a Championship back with the lob city Clippers, Giffin has to be thrilled. Whether it due to injury, conflict, or just simply coming up short back with the Clippers a real post-season run always alluded to Giffin even in some of his best all-star seasons. He now has a chance to play with 3 current all-stars and some of the best players in the game. The trio Of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and James Harden are already on the quest to bring Brooklyn their first-ever NBA Championship, and adding a refocused Blake Griffin to the mix will certainly help those chances.

 

 

 

Giffin has never been what he once was back with the Clippers, but Brooklyn doesn’t necessarily need him to be. Blake is only averaging 12.2 points on 36.5 percent shooting from the field and 31.5 percent from three. More than half of his shots this year have been 3-pointers as his declining athleticism has started to show. He has not gotten to the basket at his typical rates and has really struggled to find any type of offensive rhythm. He hasn’t put down any dunks this season which many are finding concerning however his nagging injuries and Detroit’s overall offensive struggles probably had a lot to do with that as well.

It’s crazy to think that Griffin was an All-NBA player as recently as the 2018-19 season. He had actually seemed like he was finally at the point where he was going to be able to combine his athleticism with his improving jumper to become one of the more dominant forwards in the game..but we just never saw that. However, if Blake has anything left in the tank we will see it on full display once he arrives in Brooklyn.

“We’re fortunate to be able to add a player of Blake’s caliber to our roster at this point in the season,” Nets General Manager Sean Marks said in a statement. “Blake is a versatile frontcourt player with a long track record of success in our league, and we’re excited about the impact he’ll make for us both on and off the court in Brooklyn.”

Brooklyn has been aggressive with all of their moves year, and rightfully so. The addition of Griffin is great for them in so many ways but most importantly it just proves the mentality around this organization this year…All in. They are set on trying to get to the finals and all of their moves have proven it. If the move gives them a better shot at the finals they have done it (see James Harden). Adding as much firepower as they can to get to the finals just shows that the organization is bought in and determined.  Blake is a low-risk, high reward signing, and for the team with the most offensive firepower in the NBA already why not, right? Blake just needs to be a little bit of what he once was and this team could find themselves with an even easier route to the finals than they even thought. Blake might not end up being a reliable or relatively consistent piece for them but it gives them experience and gives them depth at big which could really end up paying dividends for the Nets, especially in a playoff series. Playing with 3 All-stars is really going to free up his game again and once he gets around the winning environment again I’m sure hell find it within himself to do everything he can to help this team win a championship.

 

 

 

Mar 8, 2021 No Comments
Boston Celtics blow 24 point lead to the New Orleans Pelicans, lose 115-120 in OT

Boston Celtics blow 24 point lead to the New Orleans Pelicans, lose 115-120 in OT

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by | Feb 22, 2021 | Featured, NBA

Sunday Afternoon the Boston Celtics blew what was at one point a 24 point lead against the New Orleans Pelicans in an overtime thriller. The game went down to the wire and the Celtics got some huge buckets from Jayson Tatum down the stretch to keep them in it. Tatum hit the game timing floater at the end of regulation to give the Celtics a chance to try to reclaim the win in OT. Tatum’s performance although impressive down the stretch, was not enough to hold off the surging Pelicans. The Pelicans were fueled by the offensive eruptions from both Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson in the second half that put them back in position to win the game. Williamson got off to a slow start Sunday afternoon only scoring 4 points in the first half. He finished the game with 28 and it seemed like the Celtics didn’t have a single player that could guard him in the last two minutes and into overtime.

 

Brandon Ingrams 33 points were a huge reason the Celtics couldn’t recover in the second half even after being up so big. They just couldn’t string together stops at all. Ingram hit what would ultimately prove to be the dagger in overtime, cashing out on a catch and shoot 3 from the wing. As great as both Williamson and Ingram did play to get the Pelicans back into position to win the game this, was really a collapse of the Boston Celtics and one of their lowest points of this season.

 

 

The fact that the go-ahead play in this game was a catch and shoot 3, from one of this team’s best 3 point shooters, is a microcosm of this Celtics Season and this team’s true identity. In a primetime Sunday showcase match-up with one minute left in overtime rather than being hooked up and ready to go on the defensive end they didn’t even force the Pelicans to beat them, THEY beat themselves. They didn’t force Brandon Ingram to take an off-the-dribble three, contested shot around the basket or even a pull-up from two. The Celtics just broke down. They looked lost and not in sync. You can argue that it was all on the overhelp from Jaylen Brown and that’s why Ingram was even open but you have to consider the guy he was trying to help the driver on was Zion Williamson who the Celtics struggled to stop with one defender all game. Boston currently sits 25th in the NBA in fourth–quarter defensive rating, allowing an unsightly 113.4 points per 100 possessions. They also have one of the worst crunch-time defenses in the NBA allowing 125.4 points per 100 possession when the game is within five points in the last five minutes. These fourth quarter inconsistencies are what kill the Celtics and it’s not just with the actual effort the team displays on defense late in games, it’s an accumulation of many things.

Getting Marcus Smart back from his calf injury sometime in February should defiantly help this team a little defensively but if the Celtics are really determined to stop regressing in the fourth-quarter and in close games they are really going to have to look within. The Celtics haven’t had much consistency with their fourth-quarter lineups, that’s really where it all starts. The only constants we see from the Celtics late in games is that Tatum and Brown are both out there and rightfully so. But what about the rest of the lineup because that’s where the problem has been for the Celtics all year long and not just in the 4th. Celtics have some great pieces but they do not have many reliable pieces. In the fourth quarter, you need guys you can trust both offensively and defensively. Yesterday in Overtime, Tatum hit a huge 3 to bring the Celtics back from down three to start the overtime and Jaylen Brown had a big transition two to put the Celtics up 1 with about a minute and forty seconds left in OT. That’s reliable, the rest of the pieces on this team just haven’t worked out when the Celtics need them. Kemba hasn’t seemed like he’s been able to get in a groove with both Brown and Tatum all season long. Late in games, Kemba needs the ball to be effective and he just hasn’t been very good with it. Walker is shooting just 35.7 percent overall and a dismal 30.9 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. He gets killed driving to the basket shooting a terrible 18.2 percent on all shots between 3-10 feet, and attempting only 2.8 free throws per game while always pleading for whistles. He’s been inconsistent and doesn’t show much promise or value for this team as presently built. Where it once made sense to believe his game would help elevate that of Brown and Tatum, that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. Brown and Tatum need help and if Kemba can’t get it going then this team is really in trouble. Kemba is supposed to be the 3rd best scoring option for this team and especially in the 4th, do they trust that he can still be that?

Brown and Tatum Combine for 57 Points in the Celtics loss yesterday, the rest of the team managed only 58 points while shooting 4-for-20 from 3-point range. The Boston Celtics have a lot of good pieces to compliment Tatum and Brown but if they want to start trending back in the right direction they are going to need someone to stop being just a piece and really step up. The Celtics are going to need a third guy to be healthy and consistent especially if they really want to compete to win the Eastern Conference.

 

 

Feb 22, 2021 No Comments