{"id":88047,"date":"2024-02-06T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.celticsblog.com\/2024\/2\/6\/24062644\/celticsweek-15-homecoming-boston-celtics-marcus-smart-jayson-tatum-lebron-james-los-angeles-lakers"},"modified":"2024-02-06T19:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T19:00:00","slug":"celticsweek-15-homecoming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/06\/celticsweek-15-homecoming\/","title":{"rendered":"CelticsWeek #15: Homecoming"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \"Memphis
Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran\/The Boston Globe via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Though they hardly made it look convincing, the Celtics continued to win this past week<\/p>\n

It took a Memphis Grizzlies team absent 13 players to make the Boston Celtics<\/a> look dominant again, but the Celtics nevertheless recorded another winning week as the All-Star Break approaches. Let\u2019s discuss.<\/p>\n

\n \"NBA:
\n Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports<\/cite>
\n <\/figure>\n

Boston Celtics, Week 15: 3-1 record, +42 differential<\/h2>\n

W vs New Orleans, 118-112<\/h3>\n

W vs Indiana, 129-124<\/h3>\n

L vs LA Lakers, 114-105<\/h3>\n

W vs Memphis Grizzlies, 131-91<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s strange to say about a team that leads their conference by five games as of this writing and hasn\u2019t lost consecutive games since November, but right now, these Boston Celtics might be in as much of a slump as we\u2019ve seen from them so far this year. They were going to lose their undefeated home streak eventually, but after a 20-0 start, going 3-2 at TD Garden over their next five home games is a bit of a sharp decline. That, taken alongside some red flags in wins over New Orleans and Indiana, qualifies as a bump in the road.<\/p>\n

The wins over the Pelicans and Pacers were both odd. It was as if they were mirror images of each other. Against New Orleans, the Celtics came out cold, falling behind early before crawling their way back behind a strong second half. Against Indiana, they looked unstoppable for the first quarter-and-a-half of the game, compiling a ridiculous 81 points at the half but allowing the Pacers back into the mix in the third quarter. These were both tough wins that featured quality crunch time efforts, but to say the Celtics looked particularly great in either would be a stretch.<\/p>\n

Losing to a Lakers<\/a> team absent LeBron James and Anthony Davis is a disappointment, even if not an altogether meaningful one. These two-game, cross-conference season series obviously say very little in the grand scheme of things, having fairly negligible effect on playoff seeding. And it\u2019s not like there\u2019s a terribly high likelihood of seeing the Lakers in the postseason. Still, it feels like a gift falling into your lap when you\u2019re handed a game without two players of that stature, and fumbling that away in such a fashion stings.<\/p>\n

There wasn\u2019t nearly much intrigue on the court against Memphis, though. The Celtics bounced back from the Lakers loss by putting in a workmanlike effort and burying a Grizzlies team that was absent an astounding 13 players from its active roster. GG Jackson led the Grizzlies in shots, and while we have to extend kudos to the rookie for stepping up in an absurdly difficult situation, his 24 shot attempts tell you just about everything you need to know about that game.<\/p>\n

Instead, the story of the Memphis game was about who was on the sideline. Marcus Smart returned to the TD Garden for the first time since his offseason trade as part of the Kristaps Porzingis deal, and the Boston crowd was more than ready to show him some love. The Celtics played a video tribute<\/a> for the nine-season Boston vet, and shortly thereafter named him the night\u2019s Hero Among Us<\/a> for his work as a community figure in the city. It was overwhelmingly apparent that the city of Boston still very much loves and trusts their Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

One throughline this week: the Celtics\u2019 rebounding looks very bad. With a frontcourt rotation that isn\u2019t necessarily dominant on the glass, they\u2019ve typically relied on collective effort to survive on the defensive boards. Last year, it worked \u2014 they were the league\u2019s best defensive rebounding team. That effort is slipping, though, as they rank seventh in defensive rebound percentage (72.5%) on the year and a brutal 19th (71.2%) over their past 10 games. Opposing teams are getting far too many second chances against this roster right now.<\/p>\n

\n \"Memphis
\n Photo by Paul Rutherford\/Getty Images<\/cite>
\n <\/figure>\n

Player of the Week: Jayson Tatum<\/h3>\n

4 GP, 35.9 MPG, 28.8 PPG (53% FG, 43% 3PT), 8 REB, 6.3 AST, 1.5 STL, 1 BLK, +20<\/h3>\n

Resisting the urge to name Smart as this week\u2019s recipient out of sheer sentimentality, this is actually something of a difficult week to pick from. Tatum almost wins by default. Jaylen Brown missed the Memphis game and played poorly against the Lakers. Porzingis had a relatively strong week, including a nice outing against the Grizzlies in Brown\u2019s absence, but struggled against Indiana. Jrue Holiday was largely anonymous, as was Derrick White (apart from a great effort to seal the win against the Pacers).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not an undeserving win, however. Tatum was lights out against both Indiana and Memphis, scoring at least 30 in each game, and similar to last week\u2019s game against the other Los Angeles team, he at least had a pulse against the Lakers. Trust me, it\u2019s never particularly exciting to pick the best player on the team in this spot. All the same, they\u2019re often just going to deserve it.<\/p>\n

One trend that feels worth noting: his three-point shooting appears to be capital-B Back. Since the start of the new year, he\u2019s been shooting better than 40% from behind the arc on his customarily large volume (42%, 7.7 3PA), which has helped pull his season average back to 37%. This week, he was a blistering 17-of-39 from deep.<\/p>\n

Tatum\u2019s relationship to the three-point shot has always been interesting. He started his career as a sniper \u2014 a high-percentage, high-volume shooter playing on rosters that didn\u2019t expect him to create quite so many shots. The sidestep threes that he built his reputation on looked good, of course, but playing alongside ball-dominant scoring guards like Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker afforded him a more manageable shot diet than he\u2019s asked to shoulder now.<\/p>\n

Absent those All-Star guards, his shot creation responsibility has increased dramatically, which has seen his efficiency understandably drop. He\u2019s sat around 35% shooting from behind the arc in each of the past two seasons, fueled in part by a decline as a pull-up jump shooter. That\u2019s not as bad as it looks; the gravity created by the threat of Tatum as a scorer provides huge value by itself, and he\u2019s been dominant inside the arc. But seeing the long-range percentages tick back up to what we know is closer to water level for Tatum\u2019s skill level has been satisfying, and as loaded as this offense is, it\u2019s very much sustainable.<\/p>\n

The Parquet Play: A game ball for the rook<\/h3>\n

As a big fan of his game, it is my absolute pleasure to put Jordan Walsh\u2019s first career bucket in this space this week. It\u2019s no flukey jumper or anything like that either; this is an exclamation point.<\/p>\n

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JORDAN WALSH FIRST CAREER BUCKET pic.twitter.com\/IuHOELFdqz<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 5, 2024<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n