The Celtics will finally be back home at the Garden tonight after that absolutely dreadful road trip. Getting the win is very important, but it isn’t going to be a cake walk against the Trail Blazers.
Portland has been solid this season. They’re currently sitting at 4th in the Western Conference with a record of 37-24. They’re playing pretty good basketball as of late, winning they’re last 4 games coming into tonight. They’ve beaten the Warriors, Nets, 76ers, and Cavs over that stretch. The only team of those 4 that isn’t all that impressive is the Cavs. Beating the Warriors is always special, they’re the best team in the league and it’s always tough to win against them. Their other two wins on their current road trip are impressive as well. Beating the Nets in Brooklyn is something that the Celtics failed to do this season, and beating the 76ers is tough for everyone not wearing Celtic green. It’s safe to say that the Celtics are going to be faced with yet another test tonight when they host Portland.
The C’s swept the Blazers last season, but dropped the first meeting this year back in November. That game was pretty close, but the Blazers made some tough shots down the stretch to ice it. I’d assume that tonight’s game is going to be close as well, but I though the Celtics would give the Raptors a run for their money last night, and we all saw how that one finished.
As far as the other teams in the East go, the Pacers are in Dallas to play the Mavericks, and the Bucks are in Sacramento to play the Kings. The Celtics are currently 3 games behind Indiana for the third spot in the East. None of these games mean anything unless the Celtics start winning again.
This game tonight is extremely important. It’s the first time that the Celtics have been back home in two weeks, and they’ve desperately needed the home fans lately. This three game skid that they’re on is beginning to worry a lot of people. I wrote quite a bit about how upset I was last night, so I’m not going to get into it too much. But, this game has the feel of a game 7 to me. If the Celtics drop this one, all hell is going to break lose.
It’s time that we see what this team is really made of. Their backs are against the wall after that humiliating loss against the Raptors last night, and they have to start showing some fight. The response that the Celtics give tonight will show the fans what the they’re really made of, whether they’re just going through a rough patch, or there’s really something seriously wrong.
In order to right the ship tonight, they’re going to have to come out early and set the tone. Last night they did an okay job of this, but it didn’t prove to be enough to get them anywhere. I want to see a 10 point lead early on to get the crowd into it. Once they build a lead, it’d be great if they could actually hold on to it instead of just letting Portland right back into it. That’s been such an issue with this team all season and it still hasn’t been fixed. Just take a look back to the game in Milwaukee. The Celtics went up 11 in the first quarter, and immediately let the Bucks right back into the game. That game could’ve been a huge win for the C’s and potentially prevented this whole slump entirely.
The Celtics never seem to play hard for the entire game. Scal mentions it all the time in the broadcast that they struggle to play for the full 48. He’s right, the C’s just seem to take quarters off and it always screws them over. It’s almost like they’re getting down on themselves when they let up a few baskets.
One thing that’s really important for them tonight is not letting the Blazers go on a big run. In each of the last two losses, the Celtics have allowed the Bulls and Raptors to put together massive runs. The first in each game came in the second quarter and served as a turning point in the game. It’s almost like the C’s start to panic when they feel a run coming on. They just start to chuck up threes in an effort to squash the run. If the Blazers start stringing a few baskets together, Brad needs to either call time out right away, or have a set play meant to slow down the run. The play would be something like an Al Horford post up that should result in an easy layup. Once again, the shots that the Celtics are taking when the other team gets hot are not good ones. Enough with the hero ball, start playing as a team.
The effort hasn’t been there on the defensive end either. The game in Milwaukee wasn’t awful, but the Celtics couldn’t get a stop when they needed one in the fourth quarter. In Chicago, they let two average guys have career nights against them because of the lack of effort. Last night there was hardly any effort on the defensive end. The Raptors managed to get whatever they wanted on the offensive end and it really did the C’s in.
Usually, the Celtics do play harder when they’re in front of the home fans. They play with extra energy and usually play a more complete game, two things they’ve struggled to do over these last 3.
One final thing I want to talk about is Gordon Hayward. Hayward had been great before the all star break, he was finally looking like himself again and was taking the initiative with Kyrie sidelined with his injury. Since returning from the break he seems passive again. Hayward did sprain his ankle in a workout during the all star break, but I didn’t think it’d have this much of an impact. Watching the game last night, I could see the difference in his mindset. He wasn’t aggressive at all and looked rather timid and unsure when he had the ball. Gordon needs to get aggressive and confident again tonight. He’s going to be a key part of this team’s success if they have any.
Thanks for reading!
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