April 17, 2025 • 22 mins
Jayson Tatum has been coming through in the clutch a lot this season, and not just with his scoring. Meghan Ottolini and Drew Carter highlight some of JT’s clutch stats, recap a wild week of trades around the NBA, and rewind through a 4-0 week from the Celtics. Plus, Melisa Valdez stops by to shine a spotlight on some creative social media posts, Drew dives into Luke Kornet’s pick-and-roll success, and we preview an intriguing week ahead, starting with a Finals rematch against a new-look Mavericks team.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Coming up on this episode of Celtics Weekly, blocks Fuster, trades,
shake up the landscape of the league. Jason Tatum comes
up Clutch again, and we preview a finals rematch at
TD Garden against the new look Mass. All that and
more Now Welcome into Celtics Weekly, the only show on
(00:34):
the web where you get completely caught up with everything
World Champs Celtics. Here with Drew Carter of NBC Sports
Boston and Drew, we're going to shrinking. We're going shrinking.
Bring your green hat. Celtics four to oh since our
last show last Wednesday, so there's a lot to celebrate.
But before we get into the week that was, we
got to address the elephant in the room. There were
(00:55):
some massive trades ahead of the deadline. Yes, there were.
Let's get into hot topic. It's not just your favorite
store in the mall. It's not just where you're going
to buy Metallica.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
I can smell the cologne from here.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
The hot topic cell clone. I don't know. I want
to get into these little recap of these trades though,
because the first one, of course is Lakers Mavericks, the
trade that shook the league, changed the landscape. Luka Doncic
for Anthony Davis. The Jazz were in there too, Danny
and Danny trader. Danny always finds a way in this.
(01:29):
I can't remember a trade that was as consequential and
as surprising as this point.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
I think it's the most shocking trade in NBA history.
I remember where I was when I found out that
Jalen Hoodshafino was going to.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
Be a member of the Utah Jazz.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
No.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
I mean, obviously, Luke is the story here. You know,
Anthony Davis leaving the Lakers. We can reflect on that
and talk about how he fits in with Dallas. But
it just doesn't happen. That's why we all thought Sham's
got hack. It doesn't happen when a twenty five year
old superstar, face of the franchise type guy gets traded.
I really, I don't think you can name five of
those in NBA history, maybe not even one on this level.
(02:07):
Luka Dancich is twenty five. He's made the All NBA
First Team five times. This is like a generational type
start to his career. And if it's a win now move,
I would just say, hey, guys, you won a lot
last year. You were in the NBA Finals where they
lost for the Celtics, And honestly, Meg, I think what
happened in those finals against the Celtics, the way that
they targeted him defensively, might have played a role in this,
(02:28):
because maybe Nico Harrison, who's talked about how defense wins
championships the maps GM, thinks we might not be able
to build a championship level defense.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Around that guy.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
It's the kind of move that transcends basketball. I have
basketball fans. This is the biggest news in years when
it comes to trades. But I also had people in
my life who I know don't watch the games texting
me Sunday morning saying, what's going on with Luca? How
is this real? How could this happen? How could no
one know? And I'm like, how do you know who
Luca is? You'll watch the games. But it wasn't the
(02:59):
only So let's get to this other one, because there
was another consequential one that happened. It was between the
Spurs and the Kings. Of course, Darren Fox no more
Fox in the ox for the Kings that said that
that time is over. And Zach Levine you also had
Fed Sissoko in there. Nice what do you make of
this one? Of course, the Bulls involved a little bit
with Zach Collins Hill.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Major win for the Spurs here.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
First of all, the fact that Darren Fox made it
known that he wanted to go to San Antonio. I
think we could all see that coming with Victor Wembinyama,
who you know, whose development I would say is even
ahead of schedule. I mean the guy, he's an All Star.
He could have started in that game. You have a
chance to make an All NBA team, and he's still
twenty one years old. So the fact that Darren Fox
wanted to go there and pair with him, I think
(03:42):
is a sign of things to come. The Spurs have
to be fired up about that because they hit the
reset button very quickly. Not sure if it'll lead to
a playoff appearance this season, but they're looking ahead of
the future. And the fact that they kept all their
guys meg I mean, no Sohn in this trade, no
Stefan Castle, no Devin Vassell, even kept Harrison Larrens and
most of their picks. So I think it's a huge
(04:03):
win for San Antonio and a nice job by Darren Fox.
A not totally having the Kings like over a barrel,
you know, because he told them, hey, I'm probably not
going to resign. You want to get something for me here,
so they weren't blindsided by this. And then also for
dearon Fox killing the leverage of his own team so
the Spurs didn't have to give up a whole treasure
trove to get them. Really well done by Fox on
(04:24):
the Spurs, and they're going to be heard from, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Well. The Celtics are in an interesting position because they're
going to be seeing the new look MAVs later this week,
which we'll get to, and they're going to be seeing
Wemby and the Spurs as well in the very near future.
But let's get into weekly rewind. It's going to be
a fun one this week. As I said, Celtics won
all four games since our last show, starting with Chicago.
Where was the Porzingis show? All right, Porzingis, He tied
(04:51):
his career high eight three pointers. Eight the number on
his jersey. He saw it there watch the counter in
the corner, Drew, Because as you talk, it's going to
take a while until we get through all of these highlights.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Yeah, I mean eight trays is massive. The thing with
Porzingis is. He's been doing this in the first quarter
a lot of the time. He's the Celtics' top scorer
in the first quarter. But you'll notice if you take
a peek at that scoreboard bottom right, he is sustaining
this for the entire game, and I think that's the
difference as he continues to get acclimated. This is probably
the best we've seen him this week long stretch with
(05:24):
a four game win streak. This is the best we've
seen him all season. The starting five's numbers are great
lately after they weren't as solid at the beginning.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
And when you when you got a.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Seven to three guy that can stretch it to the logo,
how do you stop that.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
That's why he's the Unicorn. Let's go to the center
of the sports universe this week. That's New Orleans and
we got a case of the Cardiac Jays. Jalen Brown
gets the go ahead jumper here in the final seconds
of this game, but then CJ. McCollum he comes in
ties it up. It's actually very annoying. So Jason Tatum
has to put on his Superman cave and we're going
(05:58):
to get more clutch. Jason Tatum later in show.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
But this was just such a fun moment for the week,
and this has got to feel good for Duke fans
overseaj thank out for them, over CJ. McCollum, the guy
who single handedly beat them when he was at Lehigh
in a two point fifteen. This is what Jason Tatum does, man.
I mean, it's a couple of times this season. You know,
he's tied Paul Pierce for the Celtic record for shots
to tire take the lead in the last five seconds,
(06:21):
which dates back to the start of the play by
player since ninety six ninety seven. He is mister clutch
and I love that it's the Jays making the two
biggest shots in the last minute.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
It's just nice for those Duke kids to finally catch
a break. You know, it's tough for them. Let's go
to Philly. Another really exciting end to the game because
the Celtics were down by twenty six and they completed
the greatest comeback of the Missoula era. They did that
by hitting eight three pointers in the fourth quarter. They
had only made seven three pointers the entire first half,
(06:51):
so not the way that they usually win games. But
this was a gutsy Win.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
He had Yabu the dancing Bear on skates. There.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
That's his old.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Celtics teammate, Yaboo, former first round pick, had a great
game against his former team. Tatum doing it on both
ends here. I mean, this is one of the best
games he's played all season. I don't know what it
is about being down in Philly that just activates the
switch for Jason Tatum, but he's done this throughout his career.
He saw the Luke dunk and then jt continuing his takeover.
(07:21):
Here's your kill shot from Drew Holliday again over Yabusele.
First three and a half or first two and a
half quarters of this game, Meg, It's like, what's going
on here? How are the Celtics down by twenty six?
No mb no Paul George And then they flipped the
switch and looked like the champs again.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
As you said, it was fun to see Yabuselli on
the other side having a great game. And finally the
game of the week. We knew it was going to
be Boston at Cleveland. This was super fun. Celtics got
ahead early thanks to Jaylen Brown, who was Jaalen Brown
versus everybody. They held that league. That lead rather for
the rest of the game, but it got close at
(07:56):
the end. Cleveland was fighting, they were hanging around.
Speaker 4 (07:59):
It got real hairy.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
You knew this Cleveland team was not gonna go away.
I was a little nervous about the symmetry of leading
by twelve vents were in the fourth quarter, which is
exactly what happened last time we were in Cleveland, and Donovan
Mitchell won the game basically by himself.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
This time, the best.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Player on the floor and the fourth was Derek White.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
I love this. They just kept feeding Derek White. It's
what they needed to do, and they got through. He
got them through the end of this fourth quarter, came
out with a win. As I said, at the end,
got a little tight, got a little close for comfort,
but that's what makes the league fun. And finally we
got some really really happy news for our guy JD
Jalen Brown. For the fourth time, he's an All Star.
(08:40):
He's gonna be going to the Day and it's awesome.
He's gonna be joining Jason Tatum. There see some dunks
here what he's known for at All Star weekend because
he actually had the guts that participating.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Yeah, don contest this, I mean, does this even count
as news? Maggie makes it every year. Four time All
Star Jalen Brown, that's for us.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
We're gonna know, yeah, of course, but Jalen happy for him.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Man, let's go in the paint with Drew Carter. This week,
We're going to be looking at pick and roll action
from Luke Cornett because this is this is an aspect
of Luke's game that he's really developed. He's improved his
physicality around the rim, and we saw quite a few
examples of his success over the last week.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Yeah, Meg, Luke Cornett won't win Most Improved Player for
the NBA. He's going to win it in my own
heart because watching Luke Cornett improve has been really incredible.
People think about spacing as can you shoot the ball,
can you stretch it out to thirty feet like Christaps
Porzingis does. Luke Cornett's space is in a different way.
He doesn't shoot threes anymore. He used to in college
and at the start of his NBA career. Now he
(09:42):
does it in a different way. I'm going to show
you what we're talking about here. He's what we call
a vertical spacer. When he dives to the basket. He
commands a lot of attention, either for a kickout or
a score. If we roll this, I want you to
watch where Luke sets the screen out here, probably thirty
thirty five feet from the basket. This is in the
fourth quarter in a close game in New Orleans. When
he sets this screen, we know Tatum attracts a lot
(10:02):
of attention. Hit him on the pocket pass. Luke's got
a couple options there. He could kick it out to Horford,
who's a good three point shooter, or he could take
it himself. If there's one thing that scal and I
have been asking Luke to improve on, it's finishing at
the basket. He sees a smaller defender there, goes up strong,
draws the foul and scores. Anyway, let's go to the
next one, which is actually the Celtics' very next offensive
possession in this game. You're going to notice that Luke
(10:24):
sets the screen in a different spot here.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
He's maybe eighteen feet just above that elbow.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
And when you set the screen that low, you open
up this opportunity Tatum throwing the lob from the elbow.
He's very comfortable doing that, and Luke is very comfortable finishing,
of course, and as you watch it again, watch the spacing.
Alvarado is late to hit Luke because Pritchard is over there,
Howser's down here, and Horford's over here. That's what happens
when you've got great shooting and Luke Cornett can take
(10:52):
advantage of that. So those are two plays from the
same game, really back to back possessions where Luke does
different things. Let's go to another game where Luke Cornett,
you know, is kind of he's kind of running it
in this pick and roll. Actually, watch Patrick Williams. I
don't know what this coverage is here for Chicago. A
little bit of a kid, say, a little bit of
a dipsy do a rope adote, but Luke's gonna take
(11:13):
advantage of that. Williams was behind the plate and rather
than kicking it out to Jaden Springer, who is not
as good of a three point shooter as a Pritchard
or a Hoarford or a Howser, Cornett just takes it himself.
Lonzo is gonna help this time because he's not worrying
about the three point threat. Luke just takes his time,
very patient, beautiful footwork, is that a chem Elijah One. No,
it's Luke Cornett with a great post move like that.
(11:35):
And let's show you one more pick and role play
for Luke. This is against Houston, a really good defensive team,
and Luke I don't really care about the screen or
the coverage. You guys can roll it because he's gonna
posterize the best athlete in the NBA half signe a
Men Thompson who blocks a ton of shots, gets a
lot of steels, has dunks of his own where he
(11:55):
posterizes people. Luke says, let get a little of your
own medicine here, JV find him.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
Luke with a jam on the Men.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
The guy has improved so much Meg every aspect, every
aspect of his game. His feed are better, he's a
better jumper, he's an amazing vertical spacer. He still shoots
threes in warm ups, but he doesn't have to do
it during the game because he does all this stuff
so well.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
I want to add something because this is the second
time in the Pain in the last couple of weeks
that we have highlighted action inside the arc. So all
of you that complain that this Celtics team is just
about three point shooting. This is the second time that
we're highlighting the pick and roll game for this team.
So it's not just about the three pointers. Okay, not
(12:37):
that simple.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Yeah, it's well they jack so many threes whatever, it's
actually good offense that leads to a lot of open
looks and then those threes open up the inside where
you know, Luc Cornet's been dominating lately.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Absolutely. All right, let's bring in our buddy, Melissa Valdez
in arena host and special correspondent for Social Snapchat. Welcome
to the part of the show where we check in
with all you goof falls on the Internet to see
what kind of content you're feeding us. So, Melissa, Hello, Hello,
what do you have cued up for us this week?
Speaker 5 (13:08):
Lots of positive energy in the air. Has been a
great week for our team, lots of wins and our
fans are talking great things. Let's take a look at
this week social snapshots.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Our first post is.
Speaker 5 (13:18):
From at Celtics freak fifty Anna. She has this candle
that she says that she lights at every game win
and it's Celtics wins three oh road trip, four games
win streak.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Let's go.
Speaker 5 (13:29):
This is smells like a Celtics win. Anna's lucky game
day candle. If this is working, Anna, please continue to
light these candles.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
I like this, This is right good magic. I feel
like there has to be a spell that goes along
with this. Whatever it is, we love it.
Speaker 5 (13:43):
It says it smell like cinnamon vanilla, so maybe that's
the scent that we need to use.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
And you know, I love how Anna even though she's
like calm with the candle, relaxing after the game.
Speaker 4 (13:51):
She's still tweeting at all caps.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
That's right.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
I also love that there are.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Forty nine other Celtics freaks, so that's right, Celtics freak fifty.
Speaker 5 (13:58):
We have to make a big statement. Let's take a
look at the next post. This is from at Bostonian
NDC and we love his post. Here he has Derek
White's in the fourth is everything to me? Pockets fully loaded.
We know he had an incredible game last night and
we love to see even when the bench joins them
in the pocket full of three celebration.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
He did his thing.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
Everyone's got their own celebration. That's the kiss from JT.
You've got Drew kind of waving good night. Derek really
sells this so, I mean when he's looking at his pocket,
actually he's like a minute, what do what happen here?
Do I get some money?
Speaker 4 (14:31):
Oh? Do I have a three? Four of them in
the in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
See white clutch buckets like that. He's back from last
week a little bit of a slump.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
He's back, baby.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
We love to.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
See from Derek's commercial work that he's a committed actor,
much like yourself.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
Yeah, we're just gonna move on to look at the
last post. This is from at ben J Creates. We
know all the fuss this week, this big blockbuster trade
Luca to the Lakers. We had never thought this was
going to happen. This would feed families with the popcorn emoji.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
It would definitely be a movie.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
Graphics by me at Celtic hashtag different here at Lakers
hashtag Lake Show. Could you imagine seeing this finals Luca's
back now with Lebron and this would be an iconic matchup.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
This graphic looks legit and uh, Luca Luca in the
purple and goal.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
It's weird.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
We're gonna We're gonna have to get used to it, right,
But we saw this guy against the Celtics in the
finals last season, and I would not mind seeing it again.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
I think this rivalry is always great for the load. Yes,
so honestly, maybe it's a little painful sometimes when you
see your big rival bring in a lot of talent
like Luca and nobody was predicting it. Nobody seems to
know what's gonna happen.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
But it's an iconic match and hopefully we get back
in nineteen this year.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Let's keep the winds.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Going absolutely, thank you Melyssa, don't anywhere on the other side.
We are going to get into some brand new clutch
Jason Tatum's stats. Welcome back. Well, we are going to
(16:25):
shine the spotlight on this player for the second time
in our Celtics Weekly season. It's Jason Tatum. We're getting
a little more specific this time because we felt the
need to revisit Tatum purely about his clutch stats, and
this is something that he's really improved over, particularly this season.
What have you seen from him?
Speaker 4 (16:45):
Drift? I like the assist right there.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
You see second in the NBA Jason Tatum, especially down
the stretch of these games, make see so much attention
from opposing defense is pretty much every pick and roll
He's running, he's getting trapped, he's seeing to and he's
got either give it up for the short role, little
four on three action, try.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
To split the double team.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
He just has the answers now and at the start
of the season it was a different guy. Now he
is like really maestroing these games, especially down the stretch,
and the numbers bear it out. And if you see
at the bottom of your screen there three go ahead
or tying field goals in the last five seconds of
the game. It's typher first in the league with Trey Young.
Trey Young makes like fifty five footers to win the game,
(17:28):
and he's like rolling the dice at MSG and he's
a little more flashy with it. Jason Tatum is quietly
tied for first in the league in that category. Like
he deserves consideration for clutch poy absolutely.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Tatum has been a superstar for the Celtics for several
years now, but this feels like a different aspect of
the maturity of his game, where he's meeting the moment
in a way with leadership on the floor. He's top
ten in several clutch stats across the league as a player,
but you just have to love to see this from
him on it. That's defending the title. This is the
(18:01):
kind of thing that's going to make or break them
in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Poor Yabu here, poor Yava there, he's dancing your old
friend JT. Don't do them like that.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Yeah, I mean he There are times where and I
feel like he's doing this more this season than last year,
where Jason Tatum just says I've had enough, I'm taking
this game over. I remember Chicago get forty five fifteen
and ten or forty three fifteen and ten, and he was.
He barely missed a shot in that game against Philly.
He was filling up the stat sheet. During this win streak.
(18:31):
He had back to back games with double digit assists.
That was the first time in his career he did it.
Backed it up with seven more against Cleveland, taking a
Men Thompson to the hole. Like Jason Tatum, his game
is so fully formed now, like he he's actually playing
at an MVP level right now, and I'm not sure
if people realize that. So, even if he's not going
to win MVP, will settle for Clutch Player of the Year.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Okay, well, maybe he'll get like silver medal in the
MVP conversation. I think that would be a nice progression
for him, the Celtics says. We said at the start
of the show, they went four and over the last week,
but they have a couple more games before they get
to the All Star break. Let's look at the future focus.
This is the week ahead that we have and it
starts with the Celtics hosting the new look MAVs. They'll
(19:14):
get a look at Anthony Davis, the guy that Dallas
wanted to bring in at the expense of Luka Doncicch.
What do you want to see from what was a
finals rematch and now feels like a radically different team
from Dallas totally.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
It's almost like you can barely even call it a
finals rematch because the face of their franchise is gone.
Luka Dantic is a Laker. Now we'll see if Anthony
Davis plays. You know, he hasn't played yet for the Mavericks.
I think there's a chance he plays against the Celtics.
If he does, I'd be fascinated to see that because
Nico Harrison's clearly got a vision for how he wants
this team to look. Super big, super physical, great on defense,
(19:51):
and I'd like to see the Celtics tested against that
and who knows. I mean, the first time we see
this Mavericks team together, I think is going to tell
us a lot about how this is gonna work and
if they have enough creation without Lukadancis.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
So I can't wait for this game.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
It'll be fun too to have two of the best
rim protectors on the floor. Once you got christolphs Porzingis
for the Celtics and hopefully Anthony Davis if he's healthy
enough to play over for the MAVs. It just be
a fun matchup to get a look at. But then
the Celtics, well, somebody is red hot on their heels.
That's the New York Knicks, of course, those pisky Knicks,
and they see them. They're third in the East behind
(20:28):
the Celtics. Two all stars in Jalen Brentson and Carl
Anthony town so should be a good matchup.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
I look at the Eastern Conferences, a top three. I
think these three teams have separated themselves. If you look
at the standings, it's not like the Knicks have a
golf between them and fourth place. But I think if
you just watch them play and you know, you know,
the guys they have in their coach, obviously Tom Thibodeau.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
The Celtics know well.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
I feel like the Knicks are in that same category
as the Calves and the Celtics in terms of contenders
swing the Eastern Conference. So I can't I cannot wait
to watch the game because it's such a big rivalry.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
Meg.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
We don't even get to call it on NBC Sports Boston.
All four of those matchups are nationally televised, and that's
how you know that a game has a lot of juice,
and this one has a lot of juice.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
A game that used to have a lot of juice
was whenever the Celtics saw the Heat. These two teams
had a great history together. We don't really know what
Heat team the Celtics are going to get to see
after the trade deadline. There's so much up in the air.
Tyler hero, of course, is an All Star. Jimmy Butler
serving a suspension right now, I'm not really sure what
(21:33):
to expect from this game.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Throw neither am I the heater or total mystery, whether
Jimmy Butler will be a member of the team, whether
he will be still suspended. You know, we've seen with
Jimmy Butler in the past that when he is motivated,
he can be one of the most dangerous players in
the league. And if he's not traded, maybe that'll motivate him.
(21:55):
If he sees the Celtics on the other side, maybe
that will motivate him as well. But I'm just excited
to get to Miami.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
All right. Well, it was fun having you, Drew. I
don't know if we're gonna invite you back because you're
wearing those Virginia socks and I'm a Marilynd girl. I
don't love those.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
That's why I put these on.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
The Celtics haven't lost since we did the show together.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
We gotta go, we gotta hit up hot topic. After this,
We're gonna get some cool metal necklaces. We'll see you
next week on Celtics Weekly.
Coming up on this episode of Celtics Weekly, blocks Fuster, trades,
shake up the landscape of the league. Jason Tatum comes
up Clutch again, and we preview a finals rematch at
TD Garden against the new look Mass. All that and
more Now Welcome into Celtics Weekly, the only show on
(00:34):
the web where you get completely caught up with everything
World Champs Celtics. Here with Drew Carter of NBC Sports
Boston and Drew, we're going to shrinking. We're going shrinking.
Bring your green hat. Celtics four to oh since our
last show last Wednesday, so there's a lot to celebrate.
But before we get into the week that was, we
got to address the elephant in the room. There were
(00:55):
some massive trades ahead of the deadline. Yes, there were.
Let's get into hot topic. It's not just your favorite
store in the mall. It's not just where you're going
to buy Metallica.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
I can smell the cologne from here.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
The hot topic cell clone. I don't know. I want
to get into these little recap of these trades though,
because the first one, of course is Lakers Mavericks, the
trade that shook the league, changed the landscape. Luka Doncic
for Anthony Davis. The Jazz were in there too, Danny
and Danny trader. Danny always finds a way in this.
(01:29):
I can't remember a trade that was as consequential and
as surprising as this point.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
I think it's the most shocking trade in NBA history.
I remember where I was when I found out that
Jalen Hoodshafino was going to.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
Be a member of the Utah Jazz.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
No.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
I mean, obviously, Luke is the story here. You know,
Anthony Davis leaving the Lakers. We can reflect on that
and talk about how he fits in with Dallas. But
it just doesn't happen. That's why we all thought Sham's
got hack. It doesn't happen when a twenty five year
old superstar, face of the franchise type guy gets traded.
I really, I don't think you can name five of
those in NBA history, maybe not even one on this level.
(02:07):
Luka Dancich is twenty five. He's made the All NBA
First Team five times. This is like a generational type
start to his career. And if it's a win now move,
I would just say, hey, guys, you won a lot
last year. You were in the NBA Finals where they
lost for the Celtics, And honestly, Meg, I think what
happened in those finals against the Celtics, the way that
they targeted him defensively, might have played a role in this,
(02:28):
because maybe Nico Harrison, who's talked about how defense wins
championships the maps GM, thinks we might not be able
to build a championship level defense.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Around that guy.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
It's the kind of move that transcends basketball. I have
basketball fans. This is the biggest news in years when
it comes to trades. But I also had people in
my life who I know don't watch the games texting
me Sunday morning saying, what's going on with Luca? How
is this real? How could this happen? How could no
one know? And I'm like, how do you know who
Luca is? You'll watch the games. But it wasn't the
(02:59):
only So let's get to this other one, because there
was another consequential one that happened. It was between the
Spurs and the Kings. Of course, Darren Fox no more
Fox in the ox for the Kings that said that
that time is over. And Zach Levine you also had
Fed Sissoko in there. Nice what do you make of
this one? Of course, the Bulls involved a little bit
with Zach Collins Hill.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Major win for the Spurs here.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
First of all, the fact that Darren Fox made it
known that he wanted to go to San Antonio. I
think we could all see that coming with Victor Wembinyama,
who you know, whose development I would say is even
ahead of schedule. I mean the guy, he's an All Star.
He could have started in that game. You have a
chance to make an All NBA team, and he's still
twenty one years old. So the fact that Darren Fox
wanted to go there and pair with him, I think
(03:42):
is a sign of things to come. The Spurs have
to be fired up about that because they hit the
reset button very quickly. Not sure if it'll lead to
a playoff appearance this season, but they're looking ahead of
the future. And the fact that they kept all their
guys meg I mean, no Sohn in this trade, no
Stefan Castle, no Devin Vassell, even kept Harrison Larrens and
most of their picks. So I think it's a huge
(04:03):
win for San Antonio and a nice job by Darren Fox.
A not totally having the Kings like over a barrel,
you know, because he told them, hey, I'm probably not
going to resign. You want to get something for me here,
so they weren't blindsided by this. And then also for
dearon Fox killing the leverage of his own team so
the Spurs didn't have to give up a whole treasure
trove to get them. Really well done by Fox on
(04:24):
the Spurs, and they're going to be heard from, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Well. The Celtics are in an interesting position because they're
going to be seeing the new look MAVs later this week,
which we'll get to, and they're going to be seeing
Wemby and the Spurs as well in the very near future.
But let's get into weekly rewind. It's going to be
a fun one this week. As I said, Celtics won
all four games since our last show, starting with Chicago.
Where was the Porzingis show? All right, Porzingis, He tied
(04:51):
his career high eight three pointers. Eight the number on
his jersey. He saw it there watch the counter in
the corner, Drew, Because as you talk, it's going to
take a while until we get through all of these highlights.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Yeah, I mean eight trays is massive. The thing with
Porzingis is. He's been doing this in the first quarter
a lot of the time. He's the Celtics' top scorer
in the first quarter. But you'll notice if you take
a peek at that scoreboard bottom right, he is sustaining
this for the entire game, and I think that's the
difference as he continues to get acclimated. This is probably
the best we've seen him this week long stretch with
(05:24):
a four game win streak. This is the best we've
seen him all season. The starting five's numbers are great
lately after they weren't as solid at the beginning.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
And when you when you got a.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Seven to three guy that can stretch it to the logo,
how do you stop that.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
That's why he's the Unicorn. Let's go to the center
of the sports universe this week. That's New Orleans and
we got a case of the Cardiac Jays. Jalen Brown
gets the go ahead jumper here in the final seconds
of this game, but then CJ. McCollum he comes in
ties it up. It's actually very annoying. So Jason Tatum
has to put on his Superman cave and we're going
(05:58):
to get more clutch. Jason Tatum later in show.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
But this was just such a fun moment for the week,
and this has got to feel good for Duke fans
overseaj thank out for them, over CJ. McCollum, the guy
who single handedly beat them when he was at Lehigh
in a two point fifteen. This is what Jason Tatum does, man.
I mean, it's a couple of times this season. You know,
he's tied Paul Pierce for the Celtic record for shots
to tire take the lead in the last five seconds,
(06:21):
which dates back to the start of the play by
player since ninety six ninety seven. He is mister clutch
and I love that it's the Jays making the two
biggest shots in the last minute.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
It's just nice for those Duke kids to finally catch
a break. You know, it's tough for them. Let's go
to Philly. Another really exciting end to the game because
the Celtics were down by twenty six and they completed
the greatest comeback of the Missoula era. They did that
by hitting eight three pointers in the fourth quarter. They
had only made seven three pointers the entire first half,
(06:51):
so not the way that they usually win games. But
this was a gutsy Win.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
He had Yabu the dancing Bear on skates. There.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
That's his old.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Celtics teammate, Yaboo, former first round pick, had a great
game against his former team. Tatum doing it on both
ends here. I mean, this is one of the best
games he's played all season. I don't know what it
is about being down in Philly that just activates the
switch for Jason Tatum, but he's done this throughout his career.
He saw the Luke dunk and then jt continuing his takeover.
(07:21):
Here's your kill shot from Drew Holliday again over Yabusele.
First three and a half or first two and a
half quarters of this game, Meg, It's like, what's going
on here? How are the Celtics down by twenty six?
No mb no Paul George And then they flipped the
switch and looked like the champs again.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
As you said, it was fun to see Yabuselli on
the other side having a great game. And finally the
game of the week. We knew it was going to
be Boston at Cleveland. This was super fun. Celtics got
ahead early thanks to Jaylen Brown, who was Jaalen Brown
versus everybody. They held that league. That lead rather for
the rest of the game, but it got close at
(07:56):
the end. Cleveland was fighting, they were hanging around.
Speaker 4 (07:59):
It got real hairy.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
You knew this Cleveland team was not gonna go away.
I was a little nervous about the symmetry of leading
by twelve vents were in the fourth quarter, which is
exactly what happened last time we were in Cleveland, and Donovan
Mitchell won the game basically by himself.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
This time, the best.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Player on the floor and the fourth was Derek White.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
I love this. They just kept feeding Derek White. It's
what they needed to do, and they got through. He
got them through the end of this fourth quarter, came
out with a win. As I said, at the end,
got a little tight, got a little close for comfort,
but that's what makes the league fun. And finally we
got some really really happy news for our guy JD
Jalen Brown. For the fourth time, he's an All Star.
(08:40):
He's gonna be going to the Day and it's awesome.
He's gonna be joining Jason Tatum. There see some dunks
here what he's known for at All Star weekend because
he actually had the guts that participating.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Yeah, don contest this, I mean, does this even count
as news? Maggie makes it every year. Four time All
Star Jalen Brown, that's for us.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
We're gonna know, yeah, of course, but Jalen happy for him.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Man, let's go in the paint with Drew Carter. This week,
We're going to be looking at pick and roll action
from Luke Cornett because this is this is an aspect
of Luke's game that he's really developed. He's improved his
physicality around the rim, and we saw quite a few
examples of his success over the last week.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Yeah, Meg, Luke Cornett won't win Most Improved Player for
the NBA. He's going to win it in my own
heart because watching Luke Cornett improve has been really incredible.
People think about spacing as can you shoot the ball,
can you stretch it out to thirty feet like Christaps
Porzingis does. Luke Cornett's space is in a different way.
He doesn't shoot threes anymore. He used to in college
and at the start of his NBA career. Now he
(09:42):
does it in a different way. I'm going to show
you what we're talking about here. He's what we call
a vertical spacer. When he dives to the basket. He
commands a lot of attention, either for a kickout or
a score. If we roll this, I want you to
watch where Luke sets the screen out here, probably thirty
thirty five feet from the basket. This is in the
fourth quarter in a close game in New Orleans. When
he sets this screen, we know Tatum attracts a lot
(10:02):
of attention. Hit him on the pocket pass. Luke's got
a couple options there. He could kick it out to Horford,
who's a good three point shooter, or he could take
it himself. If there's one thing that scal and I
have been asking Luke to improve on, it's finishing at
the basket. He sees a smaller defender there, goes up strong,
draws the foul and scores. Anyway, let's go to the
next one, which is actually the Celtics' very next offensive
possession in this game. You're going to notice that Luke
(10:24):
sets the screen in a different spot here.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
He's maybe eighteen feet just above that elbow.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
And when you set the screen that low, you open
up this opportunity Tatum throwing the lob from the elbow.
He's very comfortable doing that, and Luke is very comfortable finishing,
of course, and as you watch it again, watch the spacing.
Alvarado is late to hit Luke because Pritchard is over there,
Howser's down here, and Horford's over here. That's what happens
when you've got great shooting and Luke Cornett can take
(10:52):
advantage of that. So those are two plays from the
same game, really back to back possessions where Luke does
different things. Let's go to another game where Luke Cornett,
you know, is kind of he's kind of running it
in this pick and roll. Actually, watch Patrick Williams. I
don't know what this coverage is here for Chicago. A
little bit of a kid, say, a little bit of
a dipsy do a rope adote, but Luke's gonna take
(11:13):
advantage of that. Williams was behind the plate and rather
than kicking it out to Jaden Springer, who is not
as good of a three point shooter as a Pritchard
or a Hoarford or a Howser, Cornett just takes it himself.
Lonzo is gonna help this time because he's not worrying
about the three point threat. Luke just takes his time,
very patient, beautiful footwork, is that a chem Elijah One. No,
it's Luke Cornett with a great post move like that.
(11:35):
And let's show you one more pick and role play
for Luke. This is against Houston, a really good defensive team,
and Luke I don't really care about the screen or
the coverage. You guys can roll it because he's gonna
posterize the best athlete in the NBA half signe a
Men Thompson who blocks a ton of shots, gets a
lot of steels, has dunks of his own where he
(11:55):
posterizes people. Luke says, let get a little of your
own medicine here, JV find him.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
Luke with a jam on the Men.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
The guy has improved so much Meg every aspect, every
aspect of his game. His feed are better, he's a
better jumper, he's an amazing vertical spacer. He still shoots
threes in warm ups, but he doesn't have to do
it during the game because he does all this stuff
so well.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
I want to add something because this is the second
time in the Pain in the last couple of weeks
that we have highlighted action inside the arc. So all
of you that complain that this Celtics team is just
about three point shooting. This is the second time that
we're highlighting the pick and roll game for this team.
So it's not just about the three pointers. Okay, not
(12:37):
that simple.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Yeah, it's well they jack so many threes whatever, it's
actually good offense that leads to a lot of open
looks and then those threes open up the inside where
you know, Luc Cornet's been dominating lately.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Absolutely. All right, let's bring in our buddy, Melissa Valdez
in arena host and special correspondent for Social Snapchat. Welcome
to the part of the show where we check in
with all you goof falls on the Internet to see
what kind of content you're feeding us. So, Melissa, Hello, Hello,
what do you have cued up for us this week?
Speaker 5 (13:08):
Lots of positive energy in the air. Has been a
great week for our team, lots of wins and our
fans are talking great things. Let's take a look at
this week social snapshots.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Our first post is.
Speaker 5 (13:18):
From at Celtics freak fifty Anna. She has this candle
that she says that she lights at every game win
and it's Celtics wins three oh road trip, four games
win streak.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Let's go.
Speaker 5 (13:29):
This is smells like a Celtics win. Anna's lucky game
day candle. If this is working, Anna, please continue to
light these candles.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
I like this, This is right good magic. I feel
like there has to be a spell that goes along
with this. Whatever it is, we love it.
Speaker 5 (13:43):
It says it smell like cinnamon vanilla, so maybe that's
the scent that we need to use.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
And you know, I love how Anna even though she's
like calm with the candle, relaxing after the game.
Speaker 4 (13:51):
She's still tweeting at all caps.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
That's right.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
I also love that there are.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Forty nine other Celtics freaks, so that's right, Celtics freak fifty.
Speaker 5 (13:58):
We have to make a big statement. Let's take a
look at the next post. This is from at Bostonian
NDC and we love his post. Here he has Derek
White's in the fourth is everything to me? Pockets fully loaded.
We know he had an incredible game last night and
we love to see even when the bench joins them
in the pocket full of three celebration.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
He did his thing.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
Everyone's got their own celebration. That's the kiss from JT.
You've got Drew kind of waving good night. Derek really
sells this so, I mean when he's looking at his pocket,
actually he's like a minute, what do what happen here?
Do I get some money?
Speaker 4 (14:31):
Oh? Do I have a three? Four of them in
the in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
See white clutch buckets like that. He's back from last
week a little bit of a slump.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
He's back, baby.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
We love to.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
See from Derek's commercial work that he's a committed actor,
much like yourself.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
Yeah, we're just gonna move on to look at the
last post. This is from at ben J Creates. We
know all the fuss this week, this big blockbuster trade
Luca to the Lakers. We had never thought this was
going to happen. This would feed families with the popcorn emoji.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
It would definitely be a movie.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
Graphics by me at Celtic hashtag different here at Lakers
hashtag Lake Show. Could you imagine seeing this finals Luca's
back now with Lebron and this would be an iconic matchup.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
This graphic looks legit and uh, Luca Luca in the
purple and goal.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
It's weird.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
We're gonna We're gonna have to get used to it, right,
But we saw this guy against the Celtics in the
finals last season, and I would not mind seeing it again.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
I think this rivalry is always great for the load. Yes,
so honestly, maybe it's a little painful sometimes when you
see your big rival bring in a lot of talent
like Luca and nobody was predicting it. Nobody seems to
know what's gonna happen.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
But it's an iconic match and hopefully we get back
in nineteen this year.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Let's keep the winds.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Going absolutely, thank you Melyssa, don't anywhere on the other side.
We are going to get into some brand new clutch
Jason Tatum's stats. Welcome back. Well, we are going to
(16:25):
shine the spotlight on this player for the second time
in our Celtics Weekly season. It's Jason Tatum. We're getting
a little more specific this time because we felt the
need to revisit Tatum purely about his clutch stats, and
this is something that he's really improved over, particularly this season.
What have you seen from him?
Speaker 4 (16:45):
Drift? I like the assist right there.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
You see second in the NBA Jason Tatum, especially down
the stretch of these games, make see so much attention
from opposing defense is pretty much every pick and roll
He's running, he's getting trapped, he's seeing to and he's
got either give it up for the short role, little
four on three action, try.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
To split the double team.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
He just has the answers now and at the start
of the season it was a different guy. Now he
is like really maestroing these games, especially down the stretch,
and the numbers bear it out. And if you see
at the bottom of your screen there three go ahead
or tying field goals in the last five seconds of
the game. It's typher first in the league with Trey Young.
Trey Young makes like fifty five footers to win the game,
(17:28):
and he's like rolling the dice at MSG and he's
a little more flashy with it. Jason Tatum is quietly
tied for first in the league in that category. Like
he deserves consideration for clutch poy absolutely.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Tatum has been a superstar for the Celtics for several
years now, but this feels like a different aspect of
the maturity of his game, where he's meeting the moment
in a way with leadership on the floor. He's top
ten in several clutch stats across the league as a player,
but you just have to love to see this from
him on it. That's defending the title. This is the
(18:01):
kind of thing that's going to make or break them
in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Poor Yabu here, poor Yava there, he's dancing your old
friend JT. Don't do them like that.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Yeah, I mean he There are times where and I
feel like he's doing this more this season than last year,
where Jason Tatum just says I've had enough, I'm taking
this game over. I remember Chicago get forty five fifteen
and ten or forty three fifteen and ten, and he was.
He barely missed a shot in that game against Philly.
He was filling up the stat sheet. During this win streak.
(18:31):
He had back to back games with double digit assists.
That was the first time in his career he did it.
Backed it up with seven more against Cleveland, taking a
Men Thompson to the hole. Like Jason Tatum, his game
is so fully formed now, like he he's actually playing
at an MVP level right now, and I'm not sure
if people realize that. So, even if he's not going
to win MVP, will settle for Clutch Player of the Year.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Okay, well, maybe he'll get like silver medal in the
MVP conversation. I think that would be a nice progression
for him, the Celtics says. We said at the start
of the show, they went four and over the last week,
but they have a couple more games before they get
to the All Star break. Let's look at the future focus.
This is the week ahead that we have and it
starts with the Celtics hosting the new look MAVs. They'll
(19:14):
get a look at Anthony Davis, the guy that Dallas
wanted to bring in at the expense of Luka Doncicch.
What do you want to see from what was a
finals rematch and now feels like a radically different team
from Dallas totally.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
It's almost like you can barely even call it a
finals rematch because the face of their franchise is gone.
Luka Dantic is a Laker. Now we'll see if Anthony
Davis plays. You know, he hasn't played yet for the Mavericks.
I think there's a chance he plays against the Celtics.
If he does, I'd be fascinated to see that because
Nico Harrison's clearly got a vision for how he wants
this team to look. Super big, super physical, great on defense,
(19:51):
and I'd like to see the Celtics tested against that
and who knows. I mean, the first time we see
this Mavericks team together, I think is going to tell
us a lot about how this is gonna work and
if they have enough creation without Lukadancis.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
So I can't wait for this game.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
It'll be fun too to have two of the best
rim protectors on the floor. Once you got christolphs Porzingis
for the Celtics and hopefully Anthony Davis if he's healthy
enough to play over for the MAVs. It just be
a fun matchup to get a look at. But then
the Celtics, well, somebody is red hot on their heels.
That's the New York Knicks, of course, those pisky Knicks,
and they see them. They're third in the East behind
(20:28):
the Celtics. Two all stars in Jalen Brentson and Carl
Anthony town so should be a good matchup.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
I look at the Eastern Conferences, a top three. I
think these three teams have separated themselves. If you look
at the standings, it's not like the Knicks have a
golf between them and fourth place. But I think if
you just watch them play and you know, you know,
the guys they have in their coach, obviously Tom Thibodeau.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
The Celtics know well.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
I feel like the Knicks are in that same category
as the Calves and the Celtics in terms of contenders
swing the Eastern Conference. So I can't I cannot wait
to watch the game because it's such a big rivalry.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
Meg.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
We don't even get to call it on NBC Sports Boston.
All four of those matchups are nationally televised, and that's
how you know that a game has a lot of juice,
and this one has a lot of juice.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
A game that used to have a lot of juice
was whenever the Celtics saw the Heat. These two teams
had a great history together. We don't really know what
Heat team the Celtics are going to get to see
after the trade deadline. There's so much up in the air.
Tyler hero, of course, is an All Star. Jimmy Butler
serving a suspension right now, I'm not really sure what
(21:33):
to expect from this game.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Throw neither am I the heater or total mystery, whether
Jimmy Butler will be a member of the team, whether
he will be still suspended. You know, we've seen with
Jimmy Butler in the past that when he is motivated,
he can be one of the most dangerous players in
the league. And if he's not traded, maybe that'll motivate him.
(21:55):
If he sees the Celtics on the other side, maybe
that will motivate him as well. But I'm just excited
to get to Miami.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
All right. Well, it was fun having you, Drew. I
don't know if we're gonna invite you back because you're
wearing those Virginia socks and I'm a Marilynd girl. I
don't love those.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
That's why I put these on.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
The Celtics haven't lost since we did the show together.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
We gotta go, we gotta hit up hot topic. After this,
We're gonna get some cool metal necklaces. We'll see you
next week on Celtics Weekly.
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