Fade Fernando’s Picks from God 2-29-20

by Jeremy Fernando, posted in Action

Howdy everyone and welcome back to this week’s edition of Fade Fernando’s Picks from God. First off, I would like to apologize to everyone for last week’s mediocre picks. Sometimes you just have to let your bookie win. Secondly, this article will be short and to the point as I am writing this in the wee hours of the night. Who knew Baylor kids knew how to have a good time? Anywho, after checking the lines it is safe to say this isn’t exactly a friendly board. Nonetheless, as we begin this Lenten season here are 4 potential winners for Saturday February 29th.

Michigan State vs. Maryland -3: After coming into the season as national title contenders, Michigan State has fallen by the wayside. While they have plenty of talent led by Cassius Winston, they have yet to really find their groove this season. I don’t see them putting it altogether against a Maryland team that has been better than advertised. Anthony Cowan and Jalen Smith are studs who will pose matchup nightmares for the Spartans. Don’t over think this one. Take the home favorites.

St. Mary’s vs. Gonzaga -13: Last teams these two teams met at St. Mary’s it was a total bloodbath in favor of the Bulldogs. I don’t expect any different this time around. Gonzaga has played stellar basketball all season which has prompted many experts to believe they will earn a #1 seed come March. Yes, there was the recent slip-up against BYU. However, that game has me even more convinced coach Mark Few will have his team focused and ready to go against the Gaels. Bulldogs by 15.

Auburn +6.5 vs. Kentucky: This pick is gutsy solely due to the fact that we have no idea which Auburn Tigers team will take the floor. Will it be the team that beat these Wildcats at home by 9? Or will we see the team that got blown out by Florida while only scoring a measly 47 points? If it is the former then the Wildcats will be on upset watch. This Auburn is fantastic when they put it all together and I expect them to be sharp when its tip-off time at Rupp Arena. Coach Calipari has another strong squad again, but 6.5 is a lot of points in a battle of two top 15 teams. Take the road dogs to cover.

Texas A&M +11 vs. LSU: The Aggies were the only game I picked correctly last week and I’m taking them again on the road against the Tigers. While they ultimately lost (and didn’t cover) against Kentucky earlier this week, there were many bright spots in the game as they kept within striking distance. While the Ags don’t have enough firepower to win this game outright, I think they do enough to keep it close and cover the big spread.

* Grad School Sports reminds you to please gamble responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, please call 1-800-522-4700.

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.

Expanding the Game: Part One

by Jeremy Fernando, posted in MLB

On Monday night, SP Gerrit Cole made his highly anticipated Yankees debut at George M. Steinbrenner Field in front of a sold-out crowd along with thousands more watching from home. Who am I kidding? Its Major League Baseball (“MLB”). Naturally, the game was not televised, and one had to scavenge the internet to find highlights from Cole’s first start other than a side view of one of his two strikeouts. Yankees Twitter, a collection of media voices and bloggers that you do not want to upset, was up in arms. How could there not be some sort of way to watch one of the biggest free agent signings in recent memory debut for arguably the most famous sports franchise in the world? If you are the MLB, it’s a question that must be answered.

A week ago, my good friend Ethan Myers proposed this question to me: “You get named commissioner of MLB. You have 3 years to maximize growth. How do you do it?” In an era in which current commissioner Rob Manfred seems to be doing everything possible to ruin the beautiful game of baseball, it was a rather intriguing inquiry. From a business standpoint, how do you in fact grow a multi-billion-dollar entity?

This is the first of a 3-part series in which Mr. Myers and I will try to take on the task of expanding the game of baseball.  From the complaints of an overly long season to the objections to the length of the games, there are numerous items that must be addressed to ensure MLB’s success and future growth. With a growing number of parents concerned about the safety of their children playing football, MLB has a golden opportunity to attract thousands of new fans. It all starts with MLB’s presence on social media.

While I won’t go into too much detail in this article, MLB has a marketing problem that was highly evident in their ability to televise Gerrit Cole’s Yankee debut. Last summer, the National Basketball Association (“NBA”) highly marketed Zion Williamson’s Summer League debut with the New Orleans Pelicans. Williamson had yet to play a single minute of professional basketball, yet the way the NBA promoted him it appeared as if Jesus Christ himself was going to come down from the heavens and throw down a windmill slam. Gerrit Cole had just finished 2nd in Cy Young voting, put together a tremendous postseason in which he was practically unhittable, and was then rewarded with a $324 million contract from the New York Yankees, the most valuable team in professional baseball. Cole is as accomplished a pitcher there is in the league and generated a large amount of buzz in the offseason. Yet, one could not even find highlights from his two innings of work. MLB has to have hundreds of cameras out there capturing his every move. Every pitch, every strikeout, heck every step he takes as to be captured and uploaded onto social media. Yankees fans are captivated by his every move and for good reason as the man has as an electric of an arm as anyone in the game. Without even throwing a pitch, Mr. Cole is already New York royalty and is beloved by fans.

You want to grow the game? Start by showing kids on Twitter how baseball treats its stars. Illustrate how baseball players are beloved by their team’s fans and you may just catch the heart of young little leaguers who dream of making it to the pros. Furthermore, showcase the talent level that is found at the big-league level. Gerrit Cole averages a 96.5 MPH fastball and also possesses one of the nastiest sliders in baseball. Market those pitches. Make the videos accessible via Twitter and highlight the difference in pitches by signifying the high level of velocity or the exemplary spin rate. While the duration of the game may make it “boring,” there are still flashes of brilliance that must be emphasized to the novel baseball fan for the game to see consistent growth.

As a devoted Yankees fan, I was highly disappointed that Gerrit Cole’s first Yankees start was not broadcasted. However, it brought to light an important issue that MLB must address as its lack of marketability is concerning.

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.

Shut Down Everyone

by Jacksonrboland, posted in MLB

When the Yankees signed Gerrit Cole in December, it was basically a foregone conclusion the Yankees would represent the American League in the World Series. Now, Yankee fans are holding their breaths once again. Luis Severino needs TOMMY JOHN SURGERY. This is not the news I needed to hear to start my week.

It’s understood we won’t see Severino pitch in pinstripes this year, but at least there’s a bright side. The Yankees won 103 games last year without Severino, and were able to add the best pitcher in baseball in Cole. It’s still an awesome team with a revamped pitching staff, talented young arms and fantastic bullpen. Still, this news sucks.

Add in the fact we probably won’t see Paxton pitch for another 3 or 4 months, and I’m having flashbacks to last year when no one could stay healthy. He’s supposed to start throwing next week and I’m crossing all the fingers I have to make sure that goes well. They’ll also get German back in the summer, so the reinforcements will be there. But, a healthy Severino would have really put this team over the top.

I still see the Yankees as the favorites in the American League, but Sevy going down makes me want to cry. The Yankees need to do all they can to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else. Shut down all the starters for the rest of spring, let the bat boys play, I don’t care. The Yankees need to protect their players at all costs.

Out Indefinitely: A Sixers Story

by Andrew Edwards, posted in Basketball, NBA

On Sunday night Ben Simmons suffered a lower back injury in the first quarter of a game against the bucks. This was a re-aggravation of an injury that he previously suffered in a practice the week before. Today, he was ruled out Indefinitely.

Players get injured every year, it’s an unfortunate reality that we as fans, organizations and players have to face. I would never sit here and say that every time an organization demonstrated poor judgement when deciding to play someone through an injury that action needed to be taken. With that being said, I think it is time for the sixers to make some changes and reevaluate how they make these types of decisions.

If this were a stand-alone incident, I would probably brush this off. Hell, if this was the second or third incident i would probably brush it off, but I can only see this same thing happen season after season before I start to connect the dots. Dating back to 2016, the sixers have re-aggravated a Joel Embiid knee injury twice, played Joel Embiid the most minutes in the league for the first stretch of the season in 2018 season, let Markelle Fultz play through a shoulder injury during a SUMMER LEAGUE GAME that arguably lead to him physically forgetting how to shoot a basketball, allowed one of their best young players to average collectively 34 and a half minutes per game over the course of the last 3 seasons, and now this. They have an extremely bad habit of making short term decisions that lead to long term consequences.

Aside from these specific examples, they have a much deeper history of injuries since 2013. Nerlens Noel, joel Embiid, Jahlil okafor, markelle fultz, zhaire Smith, and Ben Simmons each missed significant portions of their rookie year. Embiid also hasn’t had a healthy playoffs since he’s been here and Markelle Fultz couldn’t see the floor the entire time he was there. We can’t blame all of these injuries on front office/medical staff negligence, but when it happens so often, I believe it’s fair to be skeptical.

And lastly, we can not pretend that players don’t recognize these trends too. Kawhi Leonard forced his way out of an organization with arguably the greatest coach of all time because he felt his injuries were mishandled. And after he left, the spurs have found it significantly harder to land free agents. I do not see a reason that the sixers organization should not be worried of a similar fate for themselves if this trend continues.

Al Horford: Sixth man

by Andrew Edwards, posted in NBA

The Philadelphia 76ers entered the 2019-2020 nba season as one of the frontrunners to come out of the East this season. Although they lost their 4th quarter closer in Jimmy Butler, and their best jump shooter in JJ redick, they seemingly had made up that value in former allstar al horford and last seasons leader for the Miami heat, Josh Richardson. The idea was though that while josh can’t shoot like JJ, and Al can’t score quite like Jimmy, they brought a new and different skill set to make up for it, specifically ones that the sixers lacked last season that would end up costing them a chance at a title. Richardson was/is a clearly superior defender to JJ, and is one of the better gaurd defenders in the league. and Al filled a need that jimmy, or anyone else on the 2018-2019 team couldn’t, a backup center that could (potentially) also play alongside joel Embiid, who also happened to be Joel’s worst matchup in the league in the 2018-2019 season. So now the sixers have the physicality and defensive versatility to defend any team in the league while, on paper, not having really anyone who is a negative offensively. Sadly, the optimism that was unlike any optimism sixers fans have had since the iverson era, was not met with the results everyone had hoped for. As it turns out, having 4 players in your starting lineup that heavily rely on posting up, getting inside and being surrounded by floor spacers leads to some unsatisfying results offensively. It also turns out that constantly going stagnant on offense leads to a drop in team morale and motivation on both sides of the ball. Who would’ve thought? Clearly not general manager elton brand. So, sitting at an underwhelming 33-21, and an even more underwhelming 6th seed in the eastern conference, something had to change. Somebody had to come out of this starting lineup. Josh Richardson was the only true gaurd, which the sixers were lacking, Ben simmons and Joel Embiid are the franchise players, and Tobias Harris is the only one of the forwards who even moderately resembles a floor spacer, so that leaves al horford. The same al horford making roughly $33million a year for the next 4 years. The same al horford who hasn’t come off the bench since he was a rookie. But the fact of the matter is Al horford was putting up career lows, and the net rating of him simmons and Embiid was hardly league average. It was a move that had to be made, and frankly, it wasn’t made soon enough. The Second they replaced him in the starting lineup, it immediately lead to arguably one of their most impressive wins of the year against the clippers, and the floor opened up for everybody, there was a new and improved energy level from the whole team, even Al improved in his new role. And now the sixers, rightfully, seem pretty committed to sticking with this experiment, but one question still remains, who starts over Al horford? Do you give up some defense with the teams most accurate shooter in furkan korkmaz, and leave the bench unit with less fire power on the perimiter? Do you start Glenn Robinson/Alec burks, who both are new to the team and have no chemistry with anyone? Do you stick with the defensive first mindset and bring rookie defensive standout Matisse Thybulle in to the starting role, even though he doesn’t bring much to the table from the scoring department?  I guess it’s good to have a lot of options, as opposed to their roster options last year, but the clock is ticking and the sixers have to figure it out come playoff time. Only time will tell how this rollercoaster of a season will end.

In a Game Full of Stars, Tatum Shines Brightest

by Jacksonrboland, posted in NBA

Back in January, the Celtics dismantled the Lakers by 30, which as fun as that was, it wasn’t what I expected. On Sunday, we got exactly what all basketball fans wanted when the Celtics and Lakers met again, this time in Los Angeles. This game was a dogfight for all four quarters, but the Lakers edged out the Celts 114-112. Whether you’re a Celtics fan, Lakers fan or just basketball fan in general, the only way to start this off is with one player: Jayson Tatum.

Tatum showed us exactly why it’s believed he’ll be a perennial All-Star and could become one of the best players in the league. The 21 year old put up 41 points along with 5 rebounds and 2 assists. He really showed us everything in his offensive arsenal. He was getting to the basket with ease, efficient from three and was able to go toe to toe with two of the best players in the league in LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

It was a playoff atmosphere in Staples Center even before the ball was tipped. I can feel my hair getting grayer as I write this, by the way. The notoriously slow-starting Celtics did just that unfortunately and it took them basically half a quarter to find their groove offensively. Luckily, the defense was awesome, especially Jaylen Brown. He had the tall (literally) task of the guarding LeBron and Anthony Davis. And let me tell you, it was some of, if not the best, one-on-one defense I’ve seen him play.

Despite the slow start and early 11 point Lakers lead, the Celtics headed into the locker room at halftime only down 56-54. For the most part, they were able to hold Davis at bay with only 8 points on 4-11 shooting. Unfortunately for the Celts, Davis came alive in the second half with 24 points. Not to mention LeBron did LeBron things throughout and ended with 29 points, 8 boards and 9 assists. You know, casually. As well as hitting that turn around jumper to give the Lakers a 111-110 lead with 30 seconds left. Trust me, I’ll be seeing that in my nightmares for weeks.

And I hate to be this guy, but I need to rant on the refs for just a second. They called a Jaylen Brown turnover with 15 seconds left and if you were watching on TV, the ball is CLEARLY off Anthony Davis. I don’t know if their camera was blurry down there or what, but man, what an awful call. They immediately follow it up with a technical foul on Celtics coach Brad Stevens. How in the world are you going to call a tech in THAT moment. But, as we all know, ball don’t lie. Davis missed the technical free throw and all was right in the world.

What wasn’t right was my guy Gordon Hayward. This was just a bad Hayward game shooting wise. 5-15, 0-5 from three and only 10 points…yikes. His play making ability was there cashing in on 9 assists, and he was active defensively disrupting passing lanes and grabbing 8 boards. I’m a Hayward apologist, I know. But, much as I love Hayward, he has a bad habit of not scoring in games like these. That’s going to need to change if they want to go anywhere in the postseason.

You can’t win them all, and the Lakers just flat out executed better when the game was on the line. It happens. Not what we wanted to start off this road trip as Celtics fans, but there are still good things to take away from it. If this is the kind of defensive energy they can take to Portland, it’s bad news for the Blazers.