Category: NBA

Zion Williamson Legal Battle: A Breakdown

by Jeremy Fernando, posted in NBA, NCAA Basketball

Here’s a breakdown of the lawsuit between Zion Williamson and his former marketing representative, Gina Ford.

Who: Zion Williamson v. Gina Ford

Where: Williamson filed suit against Ford in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. Meanwhile, Ford filed her suit against Williamson in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court.

What: At or around April 15, 2019, Williamson made a deal with Gina Ford, president of Prime Sports Marketing, a sports agency. On May 30, 2019, Williamson signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which broke the contract he had with Ford. Ford threatened CAA with a lawsuit, however Williamson threw a punch of his own and sued Prime Sports (Prime) on June 13, 2019 arguing that the contract he signed with Prime was invalid because they didn’t follow the guidelines of the North Carolina Uniform Athlete Agent Act (UAAA). On June 19, 2019, Ford counter-sued Williamson alleging that he breached his contract with Prime when he signed with CAA. She is seeking more than $100 million in damages. Both parties requested each other’s lawsuits to be dismissed but both were denied. On May 10, 2020, Ford served Williamson with Requests for Admission (RFA’s).

Why: RFA’s are part of the discovery process in a lawsuit and allow one party to request that another party admit or deny the truth of a statement under oath. The RFA’s Zion have been served with could be particularly damning to him, his family, and anyone involved with Duke University Basketball. One RFA asks Zion to “fully state all facts that show how Sharonda Sampson and Lee Anderson (his mother and stepfather) found and paid for the house in which they lived during the time that you attended Duke.” Another asks Zion to “admit that you knew Lee Anderson demanded and received gifts, money and/or benefits from persons on behalf of Duke University to influence you to attend Duke University to play basketball.” Everyone knows the NCAA is incredibly stringent on what benefits an athlete and their family may receive and if Zion admits to any of these RFA’s Duke University could be facing severe sanctions from the NCAA. Likewise, companies such as Adidas and Nike who are mentioned in the RFA’s could be facing reputational damages.

What’s Next: Ford’s attorneys said they would be vigilant in discovery and would “leave no stone unturned.” This means legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski will likely be deposed. A deposition is where a person appears at a specified time and place and gives sworn testimony. This obviously isn’t great news to hear if you are a Duke fan but Coach K will have the best attorneys armed and ready for battle. Meanwhile, look for Zion and Co. to do everything possible to get these RFA’s thrown out of court, mainly by using their right to object. A party may respond to an RFA by objecting to all or part of it. Zion could claim the RFA’s are irrelevant to the case and that the interrogatories are purely used as harassment. Additionally, his legal team will likely pursue a settlement as the reputations of their client, Coach K, Duke University and two of the biggest companies in the world (Adidas and Nike) are on the line.

Celtics Avoid Collapse in Indiana

by Jacksonrboland, posted in Basketball, NBA

Despite the win on Tuesday night, I could start this thing off being negative, I really could. But, I told myself I wouldn’t do that. At the end of the day, the Celtics came away with a 114-111 win on the road against a tough Indiana Pacers team. Jayson Tatum lead the way with 30 points on 11-22 (3-9) shooting with 6 boards. He looked in control all night and was able to get exactly what he wanted on the offensive end. He was no slouch on the defensive end either coming away with four steals and finding ways to disrupt passing lanes throughout all four quarters. Indiana native Gordon Hayward felt right at home on Tuesday night. Hayward had 27 shooting 10-19 (3-7) along with 10 boards and 5 assists. He’s just looked so much more comfortable these past two games. This is the Gordon Hayward the Celtics paid for, we just need to see him on a more consistent basis.

The Celts have been nothing short of inconsistent since coming back from the All-Star break, but one thing has remained constant: Daniel Theis. With Tatum and Hayward being in the zone, Theis quietly put up 20 points shooting 8-12 (2-2) adding 6 boards and 3 assists. The guy just knows his role so well, and knows how to produce in it. For a team that had questions about the center position most of the year, Theis has been the answer. He’s climbing up the list of my favorite Celtics and quickly becoming one of the more underrated centers in the league. We got some early Romeo Langford minutes in this one, folks! Now, he only played 10 minutes and went 0-4 from the field, but it was still nice to see him in the rotation. It looks like Brad is starting to trust him more and I think with more consistent minutes, he’ll find his groove offensively.

It’s time for the bad stuff now people. It was another double digit lead heading into the 4th quarter, and the Celtics fell apart….again. For whatever reason they started exclusively playing isolation ball and all the ball movement that helped create the nice lead went away. These guys had 17 assists as a team at the start of the 4th and ended with 19. Two assists in the 4th…..TWO!?!?!?!? I don’t know if it’s coaching or if the players are just getting out of attack mode, but whatever it is needs to stop for the sake of my well being. I need Kemba to start knocking the cobwebs off, too. He had another tough shooting night going 3-12 from the field, including 2-8 from three point land. I have full confidence he’ll get back to where he was before the injury, but my patience is running thin.

I wish Brad went with Robert Williams instead of Enes Kanter in this one. Kanter has never been very stout defensively, and tonight he got exposed. Whenever he was in, Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner got whatever they wanted. Not to say Williams would’ve totally shut them down, but with his defensive ability he surely would have made their lives a little bit tougher in the paint. Honestly, I don’t think anyone had plans to stop Sabonis in this one, he went crazy. Sabonis torched the C’s all night putting up 28 points on 13-23 shooting along with 9 boards and 8 assists. The Pacer starters were just awesome in general. Victor Oladipo added 27 points and 7 boards, TJ Warren had 22 points, 5 boards and Turner had 16 points, 8 boards and 4 blocks. Again, this is a solid Pacers team who will give whoever they play in the playoffs a run for their money. But, when you’re up 14 and playing the way the Celtics were for the first three quarters, you shouldn’t only win by 3.

Still, a win is a win and I’ll take it, but it only gets tougher from here. The Celts head to Milwaukee on Thursday for a battle with the No. 1 seed in the East. However, the Bucks could be without the reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. If this is the case, I expect the Celts to take full advantage. Jaylen Brown could be making his return Thursday night, but that remains to be seen. If Brown plays Thursday, expect him to sit the second leg of the back-to-back on Friday against the Wizards, and if he doesn’t play I would bet they hold him until Sunday’s game in Chicago.

It felt good to be back in the win column, but please……stop blowing 4th quarter leads.

Celtics Give it Away, Literally, in Loss to Thunder

by Jacksonrboland, posted in Basketball, NBA, Uncategorized

With about 13 seconds left in the game, the Celtics had a 104-103 lead and the ball. All they had to do was get it in bounds, make their free throws and they probably come away with a win on Sunday. Sounds easy right? Well, when the pass went in to Kemba, he looked like a deer in the headlights dribbling away from the rest of the team, and when he made his turn, the Thunder’s Dennis Schroder was right there for the steal and took it in for the easy lay up. This 105-104 loss was probably one of the most painful losses in recent memory.

They had their chance to win on Sunday, but it really shouldn’t have been that close. With about a minute left in the first half, the Celtics had just completed a stretch where they hit 5 straight three pointers and increased their lead to 18. For an offense that had been struggling, this was a pleasant site to see. But, in a minute of game time the Thunder went on a 7-0 run to bring the deficit down to 11 heading into halftime. The Celtics have had double digit leads in the last four home games….and are 0-4 in those games. It just looks like they take their foot off the gas when they get up big. For a team that prides itself on defense, it was an ugly effort against the Thunder. The Celts could not stop fouling, which allowed the Thunder to get to the line 35 times and in turn, really kept them in the game. Not to mention, the Thunder shooting 44 percent from the field and 40 percent from three isn’t so good for the brand either.

Defense wasn’t the only problem, though. The offensive struggles continued for the Celtics, especially for two of their starters. Kemba, who has looked incredibly rusty since returning from his injury went 4-14 for 14 points and Tatum, who has cooled off since his 5 straight games of 32+ points went 8-22 for 19 points. Kemba and Tatum gong a combined 12-36 for 33 points is not a recipe for success. Shooting 37 three pointers as a team is pretty wild, too, even in today’s NBA. I LOVE the three pointer but these guys were just chucking them up at times leading to a lot of bad offensive possessions.

This game was frustrating, disgusting and just all around disappointing. But, as always, there’s still some good to take out of it! Hayward looked like he is starting to find his stroke again going 9-19 (4-7) for 24 points. He also added 5 boards and 4 assists, a nice all-around game from him. Of course, the last time I praised him in one of these, he went on a BRUTAL stretch, so fingers crossed I don’t jinx him again. Two of the young guys had some nice minutes as well. Robert Williams looks like he’s going to be the No. 2 center behind Theis. Williams had 6 points 5 boards, including four offensive rebounds and a key block late in the game. No matter how bad the defense was on Sunday, Williams was always active. I need more Romeo Langford minutes, all this kid does is produce. He had 6 points on 2-3 shooting and 5 boards, including two offensive rebounds. Plus, his on ball defense is awesome, so is he defensive energy as a whole. Especially with Jaylen out, this could be a nice test to see what the lottery pick has to offer. Hopefully Brad lets the kid play more and more.

I need to give my quick respects to the Thunder. Chris Paul was awesome on Sunday going for 28 points on 9-19 shooting, including 10-10 from the line and adding 7 assists and 6 boards. Dennis Schroder was equally as awesome going 10-21 for 27 points off the bench. The Celtics didn’t have an answer for either of these two all game. And credit to the Thunder defense for putting the clamps on the Celtics in the second half. They forced 13 turnovers and never letting Boston get comfortable. This Thunder team could really be a problm for whoever they face in the playoffs.

For one of the more important stretches of the season, this isn’t what we wanted to see. A Friday night 99-94 loss to Utah and this heartbreaker on Sunday. Unfortunately, it doesn’t get any easier with Indiana and Milwaukee on the schedule this week. Right now the Celtics are 1-3 to start March, with blown double digit leads in all four games….not great! For the sake of my well being, they need to get back to the type of basketball they were playing in February and find a way to beat the Pacers and Bucks, or else I’ll start pulling hair out of my head.

Al Horford: Disaster

by Andrew Edwards, posted in Basketball, NBA

It seems like just yesterday when the Sixers had a fully healthy roster, and had the option to move Al Horford to the bench. Up until that point, Horford’s struggles had been written off as a fit issue, and it seemed as though staggering his minutes with Embiid’s, as opposed to playing them at the same time, would solve the issue. As it turns out, that is far from the case.

With three of the starters out for an extended period of time during a tough west coast road trip, many expected the Sixers to struggle. It would almost be blind faith to predict anything else. But the one bright side we had to look forward to was seeing Al Horford in a role that would best fit his skill set. His response to this opportunity was to play his worst basketball of the season. After a decent enough showing against the Cavaliers, Horford has been nothing short of a disappointment in games against relevant teams.

All of the things that made Horford an appealing option in free agency have been non existent this entire season, specifically during this stretch. His low post offense has been sub par. His shooting, both from midrange and from deep, have been bad. His accurate passing, quick decision making, good shot selection and finishing have been non existent. His defense, which may have been the most eye popping part of his game, has been TERRIBLE.

He’s good for a block and a steal every now and then, but all season Horford has looked like it’s his first time playing basketball on the defensive end. He has gotten absolutely cooked by every matchup, and undrafted free agent Norvelle Pelle, Kyle O’Quinn and Mike Scott have frankly all held their ground defensively better than he has.
Not only has Horford not stepped up for the Sixers as they’ve become short-handed, he’s been one of the players keeping them out of games. It’s becoming more and more clear that if the sixers are going to make a playoff run, it will be in spite of Horford, not because of him.

What Just Happened: Celtics Blow 17 Point 4th Quarter Lead

by Jacksonrboland, posted in Basketball, NBA

If I told you the Celtics had a 84-67 lead heading into the 4th quarter of Tuesday night’s game, would you think they’d lose that game? Neither would I. Unfortunately, that was the reality when they took on the Nets in Boston. They just collapsed in the fourth, there really isn’t another way to put it. For a team that prides itself on defense and was rock solid through three quarters, they allowed an inexcusable 51 points in the 4th quarter. As much of a collapse as this was, I need to give the Nets their proper credit. They just never quit and willed their way to a 129-120 win in overtime. About three or four minutes into the first it looked like the Celtics were ready to blow the Nets out of the building. Kemba was back, the offense was cooking and life was good.

The Nets made the switch to a 3-2 zone early in the first and really got the Celtics out of their offensive rhythm for the rest of the first half. Despite some offensive struggles, they still took a 56-43 lead into halftime. The Celts expanded that lead to 21 halfway through the third…that just pains me to write. Then the 4th quarter happened. Caris Levert was a PROBLEM. He ended the night with 51 points and 37 of them, yes 37, came in the 4th and overtime. As I watched the lead shrink by the second, I kept thinking, “there is NO WAY this is happening,” but when Marcus Smart fouled Levert on a three point attempt with less than a second left, I knew it was over. This is a depressing blog I know, but man, how can in not be? This is one of the bigger Celtics’ collapses in recent memory.

Plus, it looks like the Celtics lost more than just the game. Yes, Kemba was back, but if you blinked, you might have missed him. He was on a strict minutes restriction after being out 5 games with a bad knee. Thanks again, Nick Nurse. The game against Brooklyn was the first of a back-to-back, so it’s reasonable to think he’ll sit out against The Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. Gordon Hayward didn’t play at all in the second half after leaving the game with a knee contusion, and Jaylen Brown looked to have some hamstring issues toward the end of the game. So, it looks like the Celtics will be without three of their top four in Cleveland. Tatum was out with an “illness” against Brooklyn, but I think he might have just partied too hard before turning 22 on Tuesday. If he’s active on Wednesday, it just opens the door for Tatum to drop 50.

There were some good things to take away from this one, I guess. I really couldn’t help but smile just seeing Kemba back on the court. He didn’t shoot it too well, but he looked to be quick on his feet and the patented Kemba step back looked good. He looks like he’s healthy, so if he’s out on Wednesday, I would guess it’s just precautionary. Robert Williams made his long-awaited return after not playing since December, and he did some good things, too. He had 10 points in as many minutes, grabbed three boards and was active defensively. Can’t ask for much more from the Timelord. Aside form the fourth quarter, the defensive effort was there. The Celtics forced the Nets into 20 turnovers. And here are some cool things Marcus Smart did to help you forget about that foul on Levert:

Courtesy: Boston Celtics
Courtesy: Dan Greenberg

Combine this loss with Saturday’s heartbreaker to Houston, and this may be saddest I’ve been all year in terms of losses. This one just hurts, man. BUT, the Celts are 41-19, currently 3rd in the East and could easily be the 2 seed by the time the playoffs come. Hopefully this one lights a fire under them, and if it does, that could be bad news for Cleveland. #InTatumWeTrust

Sixers Home Dominance Continues

by Andrew Edwards, posted in Basketball, NBA

On Thursday night the Sixers took care of business yet again at home in a 115-106 victory against the New York Knicks. Here are my takeaways from the game:

The Good
Tobias Harris: Tobias was the leading candidate to take over the offensive load when Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid went down. He was the go to option offensively for the magic and the clippers when he played there, so he is no stranger to being the top option on an undermanned team. He certainly did not disappoint in his first look at his new temporary role. Tobias finished with an efficient 32 points on 14-21 shooting and 3-6 from deep, while adding 7 boards and 7 assists. If the sixers want to stay afloat in the playoff race in their stars’ absences, they’ll need similar production from him throughout the rest of the year.

Shake Milton: The second year guard drafted in the second round out of SMU continues to look like a draft steal for the Sixers. After watching from the bench for much of the season, Shake has made the most of his opportunities and surprisingly has been one of the sixers most consistent players, and tonight he made another strong case to be in the sixers rotation, playing solid defense throughout, scoring 19 points on 5-5(!) shooting from deep, with only 1 turnover. It would be huge for this team if he can keep playing like this.

Al Horford: We have to give credit where credit is due. Despite being boo’d by the crowd for yet another missed wide open layup, Al Horford played pretty well overall. Like him or not, this is still one of the reasons Horford is on the team, to play when Embiid is unavailable. Whether it comes in normal backup center minutes when Embiid is resting to help the bench unit, or play as the starting center when Embiid is inactive, that is where Al helps this team the most.

The win column: it may not have been a very convincing win, but any win we can get without Embiid or Simmons we will take. A loss here would have sent the fan base over the edge, and they took care of business when they needed to.

The Bad
Glenn Robinson: Both Glenn Robinson and Alec Burks were putting up seemingly empty stats on a bad team before they got traded to the Sixers. When the Sixers traded for them, we always knew there was the possibility that when the stakes were raised and the roles were lessened that either of these guys could be worse than advertised. For Glenn Robinson, that certainly has been the case thus far. There is obviously plenty of time for Robinson to prove his worth, but outside of being able to run in transition and occasionally catching his defender sleeping with a backdoor cut, Robinson has been mostly useless offensively. He had another dud tonight, keeping this 0% from three streak alive and scoring only 4 points on 6 shots in his 21 minutes in the starting role. I’m not entirely sure why he’s starting either, especially right after publicly complaining about his role with the team after being here for only a couple of weeks.

Alec Burks: Unlike Robinson, I think Burks overall has been a solid role player for the Sixers. I’ve actually wanted him to start since he got here, although I’m not opposed to riding the hot hand with Shake instead. Tonight, however, he was pretty bad. I didn’t hate the looks he was getting, but he really had an off night, shooting only 2-10 on the night.

Josh richardson- Josh finally started hitting late in the 3rd quarter, but for most of the night couldn’t hit a jumper to save his life. He didn’t kill the team considering he only had 13 attempts, but he really has to step up and score more in the absence of Ben and Joel.

The margin of victory: I know they are playing without their two franchise players, but this supporting cast should still be able to beat this Knicks team at home with ease. If the Sixers want to consider themselves contenders, they can’t look like one of the worst teams in the league when they’re down a couple players. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that they just have to get used to playing without Ben and Joel, but that trend cannot continue or else they will get handled by other playoff teams.

Tatum and Mitchell Duel in Utah

by Jacksonrboland, posted in NBA

Jayson Tatum has been the best player in basketball since he returned from the All-Star break. I don’t want to hear an argument against that because I really don’t see one. Tatum closed out this four game road trip averaging 34.5 points a game on 57 percent shooting. Yes, FIFTY-SEVEN PERCENT from the field…insane. Tatum did it again Wednesday night with 33 points and 11 rebounds in a 114-103 win in Utah. He’s playing like a man possessed right now and I could go on and on about him, but I’ll hold back. I wouldn’t be doing anyone justice without paying my respect to Donovan Mitchell. He was unreal Wednesday night. Mitchell had 37 points 5 rebounds and 5 assists, and the Celtics didn’t have answer for him. Fortunately for the C’s, no one else on Utah could make shots. Really, it was pretty sloppy offensively to start for both teams, but with two top ten defenses going at it, you kind of expect good looks to be at a premium.

Here’s just a glimpse of Tatum’s night:

Courtesy: Boston Celtics

It looked like Tatum was going to need to do it himself after the first half ended. Tatum had 25 of his 33 points in the first two quarters and was shooting 10-13 from the field. The rest of the starters? A BRUTAL 28 points on 8-26 shooting combined….that’s TOUGH, man. Especially considering the Celtics pretty much rely solely on their starters for scoring production. Luckily, the reinforcements were there in the second half. Jaylen Brown took over the third quarter. When Tatum went to the bench, Brown reminded us once again he’s really good, too, and scored seven straight points. It helped ignite a Celtic’s offense that was looking pretty lackluster. Then, it was Marcus Smart’s turn in the fourth. After starting 0-5 from three, he rattled off three straight threes to put the Celts up 13, which seemingly took the Jazz out of it. It wasn’t sexy, but Daniel Theis’ game cannot be ignored. He was consistent and helped keep the Celtics afloat despite some offensive struggles in the first half. His stat line won’t blow you away, 16 points and 7 boards, but they don’t leave Utah with a win without him. Theis was a big reason Rudy Gobert could never get going, and let me tell you, I never thought that would be something I write down.

Courtesy: The Boston Herald

This was a road trip to remember for Jayson Tatum, but no one wants to get back to Boston more quickly than Gordon Hayward. He was bad tonight. It was easy to see from his body language coming back to Utah was hard for him. It’s even tougher considering the Jazz faithful boo’ed him every time he touched the ball. Literally, every time. I mean, I respect it from Jazz fans, but it looked like it got to Hayward and took him out of the game. He still mustered up 12 points, but on a poor 4-12 shooting. He had some really good looks, too, the stroke just wasn’t there.

Don’t get it twisted, this is an impressive win for the Celtics. Game two of a back-to-back closing out a West Coast trip, the Celts easily could’ve phoned it in and said just get us back to Boston. But, they came out with some fire Wednesday night, especially defensively, must’ve read my blog following the Blazers game. They were putting pressure on the Jazz all night and were contesting almost every shot. That’s the Celtics defense I know and love. They head back to Boston finishing 3-1 on the road trip and are now only a game back of Toronto for the 2 seed in the East. The C’s have more than earned this nice two day break before facing the Rockets back at the Garden on Saturday.

Hopefully, they use that time to get healthy. Yes, I’m talking to you, Kemba.

Mayhem in Philly

by Andrew Edwards, posted in NBA

It may be time to hit the panic button in Philadelphia. The 76ers season has been hanging by a thread all year. Entering Wednesday night, although they were without Ben Simmons for the foreseeable future, there was still some reason for optimism. The Sixers going into this game had the third easiest strength of schedule, what seemed to be a more motivated Joel Embiid coming off a career high 49 point game against the Hawks, and a record of 36-22. Things took a turn, however, when early in the first quarter of a double digit loss to the Cavs (yes, you read that right) Joel Embiid went to the locker room after being wrapped up by Ante Zizic.

At halftime, Embiid was ruled out of the game with a shoulder sprain. I’m no doctor, but from what I have gathered, a shoulder sprain can range anywhere from 1 to 8 weeks, so Embiid should be back come playoff time unless he suffers a setback. Simmons, on the other hand, has nerve impingement In his back, which could be a 2-3 week long injury if it can heal with rest and physical therapy, but could end his season if it develops into a herniated disk, which would require surgery. Needless to say, this team is officially backed into a corner.

There are a lot of takeaways from Wednesday night but aside from the injury, the biggest story is, yet again, the Sixers abysmal struggles on the road. I would be lying if I said I had done any actual research on it but I can not imagine that there has ever been a team to have the best home record in the league with a road record worse than 9-21. There just can’t be.

Their struggles on the road, in my opinion, are mostly effort based. I hate to sound like the mainstream media talking heads that pretend the only reason teams ever lose games is because the other team “wanted it more” or “had more heart” but in the Sixers case, it’s mostly true. Statistically, while every starter on the team does have a dip in statistics on the road, it isn’t by much. The only starter that has much of a change at all is Embiid, with a 7% dip in field goal percentage. But the problem really lies on the defensive end of the floor.

When the Sixers are at home, no team in the league has a better defensive net rating. On the road, 11 teams have a better defensive net rating. Statistics don’t always tell the whole story, but in this case statistics are very reflective of their play. If you watch the games they give up way more wide open looks on the road than they do at home. They give up easy offensive rebounds. They make lazy passes. They become stagnant on offense because they cannot string together enough stops defensively to gain any momentum. That is the main problem with how this team was built. When you hang your hat on the defensive end, you have to bring it on that end every single night, constantly create offense with defense, string together enough stops when you’re in a shooting slump so that other teams can’t go on runs, and take pride in the fact that nobody can score on you, and a lot of these guys just don’t seem to have that mindset. The plan, according to Brett Brown, was to play bully ball offense and smash mouth defense. So far, we are only seeming to get those things at the Wells Fargo Center. Hopefully Joel and Ben have a speedy recovery, because if this Cavs game tells us anything, things will go south very quickly if they don’t.

Tatum Does It Again, but We Can’t Forget Jaylen Brown

by Jacksonrboland, posted in Basketball, NBA

Before I get to all the good things the Celtics did in the 118-106 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night, I need to address the problems. Unlike Sunday, the defense was less than impressive. I know what you’re thinking, the Celtics won by 12 and held the Blazers to only 106 points, which in today’s NBA is pretty impressive. But, I thought the Celtics were more fortunate than good defensively. The Blazers had A LOT of good looks throughout the night, especially from three, the shots just didn’t fall. Hayward had a turnover problem, committing 5 and Marcus Smart couldn’t find his stroke going 4-16 from the field. Plus, no Damian Lillard for an already injury-riddled Blazers team really played in the Celtics’ favor. Negativity aside, The C’s took care of business against the shorthanded Blazers and gained some ground on the Toronto Raptors in the standings. Now to the good stuff.

I really wanted to start with Jaylen Brown, I really did, but Tatum stole the show once again. He followed up his 41 point performance in L.A. with 36 points on 14-22 shooting, including 8-12 from three. It was getting to the point I thought every shot he took was going in. Did you know he’s only 21? For the past two games, in which he’s averaging 38.5 points, he’s been wearing a purple arm band to pay homage to his idol, Kobe Bryant. He may never take it off. If he plays like this Wednesday against the Utah Jazz, he may ask for year-round West Coast trips.

Jaylen Brown wanted to remind us all Tatum isn’t the only young Celtic making strides this year. Brown put up 24 points along with 7 boards and was again pretty stout defensively. If he’s able to get to the basket with ease, like he was tonight, you can basically pencil in a solid performance from him. I know I bashed on them to start, but Hayward and Smart did a lot of good things, too. Hayward didn’t put up a lot of shots, but was efficient adding 12 points on 5-7 shooting. Marcus Smart took four of the first five shots of this game and missed them all, but then followed it up with three straight three pointers. That’s what he does. He’ll make you want to pull your hair out and then knock down big shot after big shot. My fellow Oklahoma State Cowboy also continued his case for an All-Defensive team. He came away with 2 steals, a block and forced CJ McCollum to take some tough shots, never letting him get comfortable. Like Brad Stevens once said, I love him and I trust him.

Speaking of Brad, he got his second technical in as many games. Go ahead and fact check me on this, there’s no way that’s ever happened to him before. Do we have a new bad boy in the NBA? I think so. They came away with the win Tuesday, but I’m interested to see how they come out and play Wednesday. They’ll be playing their second game of a back to back to end the West Coast trip, and then will have two days off before playing the Rockets on Saturday. This isn’t to say they don’t want to win, but if they get down, how much energy and fight are they going to show? This team is still trying to get healthy, so I wouldn’t blame them if they coast so they can get home. Of course I hope that doesn’t happen, but this team has aspirations far beyond a February win against the Jazz. The Jazz have been one of the more inconsistent teams this year, but will no doubt be a handful for the Celtics.

Oh, and Kemba missed his third straight game and by the time you’re reading this he’ll probably be ruled out for the game in Utah. I’m not worried, you’re worried.