The Celtics will try and win their fourth straight tonight, when they host the Miami Heat. Hopefully playing at the Garden can swing things in the Celtics’ favor.
Miami is 7th in the Eastern Conference with a record 22-22. Over their last 10 games their 5-5, so it’s exactly what you’d imagine it to be. They beat the Celtics not long ago, but there really weren’t any other impressive wins over this stretch. Milwaukee and Denver both beat them, but Milwaukee blew them out pretty bad. They’re coming off a 14 point against the Bulls in Chicago. It’ll be interesting to see if that win gave them a bit of confidence on the road.
We all know what happened the last time these two teams played. The Celtics were looking really good after winning 4 straight at the Garden. They weren’t able to bring that winning mentality with them on the road. The Heat opened up a big lead on them early, and the C’s couldn’t get back into it. This win made it 3 of the last 4 for Miami against the Celtics. I don’t know what it is, but the Heat have had Boston’s number since the Kyrie trade.
As of now, every game is important because of the fight for home court. The Celtics are currently 1.5 games behind the Sixers, who play the Rockets today. That game could go either way, I’d love to see the Celtics make up some more ground tonight, or at least keep the pressure on.
Back In Front of the Home Fans
The Celtics were able to get a road win against the Hawks on Saturday, but it wasn’t pretty. They showed signs of weakness that you usually don’t see. Sure, it could’ve been the fact that it was a back to back, but it was also a road game.
We all know that the Celtics are better at home. It’s been obvious over the last month or so. Tonight, the C’s can actually win their ninth straight at home if they beat Miami. When I first wrote about this, I took the splits for the entire season and compared them. There wasn’t really much difference other than the team’s +/-. The shooting stats were nearly identical, which was surprising seeing how poor the road record was. I came to the conclusion that they just weren’t playing as hard. The defensive intensity wasn’t there, and that’s why they were losing games.
This time, I checked the splits from after the Celtics lost to the Pistons, snapping their win streak. There is a huge difference across the board. I’ll start with home and away records, 8-2 at home, 2-6 on the road. The shooting at home is 4% better than it is on the road, and it’s 5% better from deep. You could hypothesize that the better shooting comes from the increase in ball movement at home. The Celtics average 6 more assists at home then they do away. The consistency in the prior splits and the splits that I looked at today was the hustle. For example, the C’s average 5 more rebounds at home. Their rebound percent is also 2% higher. This means that the Celtics aren’t working harder on the glass so much, but rather on the defensive end. Their defensive rating is significantly better at home.
What’s Eating Marcus Morris?
This season, the Celtics have struggled immensely with inconsistency. There’s really only been one man that’s been an outlier, and it’s been Marcus Morris. Mook has been the rock on this team and has helped them through the struggles. This season he’s averaging a career high 14.8 ppg, shooting a career high 48% from the field, and yet another career high 43% from deep. We’ve been blessed with prime Mook ladies and gentlemen.
Well, Until now.
Marcus Morris has disappeared over the last 4 games for the Celtics. I mean, I’m not complaining too much because they’ve won 3 of them, but it’s still concerning to me. During this cold spell, Mook has failed to hit double digits, averaging a mere 7.5 ppg. His role hasn’t changed at all, he’s just gone cold. Morris is shooting a measly 28% from the field and 23% from deep. Since going cold, Marcus has been a -10 when on the floor. That’s a big drop off from his season total of a +3.5.
This is such a strange thing because Morris hasn’t change anything he’s doing. He’s still shooting the same shots with the same frequency. It’s not like he’s trying to play out of his element. I really hope that this is just a short slump, Morris has been a big part to the team’s success, I’d had to see him lose his touch. I think that the Celtics should try and get him going early tonight with a play to get him a layup. If he’s struggling, it’d be nice for him to see the ball go through the basket.
King Cobra?
If you missed the game on Saturday, Marcus Smart got himself into a bit of a scuffle. This was after he’d already been ejected from the game.
First of all, if he didn’t do this, I’m not sure that the Celtics would’ve won on Saturday. This “fight” sparked a strong finish from the C’s in Atlanta.
So, I’m not sure if the league has seen this yet, but they haven’t suspended Marcus. I for one am very surprised that they haven’t because of how anti-violence they are. Smart even swung at Bembry, I think Chris Paul got 4 games for swinging at Rondo. Well, it turns out they have, they’ve only fined Marcus.
This is very good news for the Celtics and us fans. Marcus has been at his absolute best lately. Over his last 10 games, he’s shooting 50% from both the field and three point range. He’s also been forming a nice partnership with Kyrie. The two had that combined 58 point night against Toronto last week. As bad of a look that his “fight” may have been, it shows leadership out of Marcus. This has been a team that’s been dealing with all kinds of issues with leadership lately, at least that’s the story going around the media. Like I said, Smart getting ejected was the spark that lit the fire for the Celtics. This is a team that has struggled so much on the road, mostly with effort. The ejection finally got them to show some kind of effort away from home.
As the longest tenured Celtic, Marcus has the responsibility of preserving the culture here. Before being traded, Isaiah Thomas was the best “Celtic” I’d seen since Paul Pierce. By that I mean, he just captured everything it means to be a Celtic, effort, heart, a love for the city and organization, and most importantly winning. We’re now starting to see Marcus Smart develop into that. I think the incident Saturday night kind of woke everyone up, and maybe we’ll see signs of it in them too.
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