Who says I don’t know basketball? Idiots, obviously. As mentioned in previous blogs, I have Jaylen Brown as a candidate for the Most Improved Player Award this year, and I’ve also made it quite clear in another blog that I wouldn’t trade Jaylen for literally anyone. If you missed those two blogs, what are you doing with your life? Look through my archives, bookmark this page, and be sure to come back everyday because I’m posting a new blog each day the NBA has games. Might as well follow me on Twitter too at @_roundball.
Okay, now that all the plugs are out of the way, let’s talk some hoops. First things first. Yes, I am very aware that Memphis was playing without Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr, so they were facing an uphill battle no matter what, but it’s not like this team is playing with a bunch of JV middle schoolers. Dillon Brooks and Jonas Valanciunas have been remarkably consistent this year, as they have in past years, and Brandon Clarke and Gorgui Dieng have showcased why they have earned a spot in the Grizzlies rotation. This franchise has always had this “Grit and Grind” mentality about them, so it wouldn’t matter who is in the lineup and who isn’t; they are coming into every game ready to play. Unfortunately last night, Jaylen Brown was more ready than anyone on the Memphis sideline.
The game started off kind of slow, and equally bad for the Celtics. Sloppy turnovers, multiples possessions without a basket, you know. Normal Celtics things. Midway through the first quarter the Celtics started to pull away, but only ended the quarter with a 12 point lead, 31-19. It was right after this that Jaylen apparently decided that he wanted to have an easy night, and absolutely WENT OFF in the second quarter. After hitting two three pointers in the first quarter, Jaylen followed up that effort in the second with four more. At one point it seemed like every time down the floor Jaylen was shooting the ball, and not one Celtics fan cared at that point. The entire rim was the size of a pool and everything was going in. Jaylen Brown? Michael Jordon? Honestly couldn’t tell, I wasn’t close enough to be able to distinguish who was who. All I know is that Jaylen had a 20 point outing (keeping in mind he’s averaging 24 points per game) in the one quarter alone. In the third it was just about finishing off a career night. He hit one more three pointer, two mid-range pullups, and two layups, to finish the night with a career high 42 points, on 15-21 shooting, and hitting 7 three pointers. After he and the Celtics amassed a 30 point lead, Brad Stevens pulled the starters and let the rookies and young guns have a go.
With the game fully in control I was able to see what some of the Celtics players were able to do with extended minutes. Payton Pritchard continues to impress on the floor, and he is quickly becoming one of my favorite Celtics. Carsen Edwards hit the floor for the first time this season and had 9, although I’m positive that he’s putting on a show to not lose any more minutes in the backcourt than he already has with the tremendous play of Pritchard. Grant Williams only had one bucket, but continued to do things that won’t show up on the box score. Aaron Nesmith struggled, and that is putting it as nicely as I can. He got good looks; his teammates were setting him up well, he was finding himself in good positions to shoot the ball, but he only finished with 5 points, on 2-7 shooting. To top a good night of basketball, we got a Tacko Fall sighting. He came in with about 6 minutes left in the fourth, and finished with 2 points and 2 blocks. Hopefully Boston can have more games like this early in the season so Brad can have more flexibility in finding out what does and doesn’t work for the Celtics from a roster standpoint.
Again, I’m aware that this was just a random Wednesday against a Grizzlies team without their two best players, but a win is a win. I’ll take as many of those as I can, and most importantly, this is a Make or Miss League. Tonight, the Celtics made a lot of shots, the young guns got some playing time, and Jaylen Brown had a career night, adding to the list of reasons why he should be considered as the NBA’s Most Improved Player.
Round The Game 
Leave a comment