October 31, 2025 • 18 mins
Jaylen Brown had another 30-point game, and the Celtics got a clutch stop on the final possession to seal a win and deliver Philly its first loss of the season. We discuss how it all went down, our takeaways, and what the fans were saying after the win in tonight’s episode of SOUND OFF.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Sound off with me folks on a three game winning
streak for the Boston Celtics, and this is not just
any three game winning streak. The Celtics just dealt one
of the NBA's four unbeaten teams their very first loss
of the season on the road in an NBA Cup game,
when that team was basically fully healthy, fully loaded for
(00:27):
this game with a former MVP and now one of
the top MVP candidates of this season. The Celtics just
took them down in that environment. And this comes just
two nights after the Boston Celtics also beat the previously
three to one Cleveland Cavaliers by twenty points and just
tore them apart on the TD Garden court. The Celtics
(00:49):
are rolling right now, okay, and they're coming back home
for another game tomorrow night on the second night of
a back to back against the Houston Rockets. Tomorrow night,
Just to give you guys a little bit of an FYI,
Drew Carter and myself will be live from TD Garden
from our TD Garden Boston Celtics Studios at six point
fifty pm, coming at you on the Celtics YouTube channel
(01:13):
on the Celtics X channel and on the Celtics Facebook channel,
So make sure you tune in. We'll have a little
pregame show leading up to this big, big matchup against
Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets. Make sure you tune in,
and we've got a lot to talk about because the
Celtics are rolling. Let's touch on what happened tonight down
in Philadelphia that allowed the Celtics to grab their third
(01:34):
straight win. This was an up and down game for
the Boston Celtics. They had an unbelievable first half. It
felt like they could do nothing wrong. Just an incredible
offensive performance across the board, sixty eight points on fifty
six percent shooting as a team that doesn't happen very often, okay,
(01:56):
And the man who was in the middle of it
all yet again was Jalen Jalen Brown had fifteen excuse me,
nineteen points during the first half on a scorching eight
for ten shooting performance from the field, two of three
from distance, made his only free throw. Also had four assists,
so total it all up nineteen points. Plus those four assists,
(02:18):
he probably accounted for about thirty points during that first half.
I haven't added it all up in terms of the
assists and the buckets that he assisted on, but right
around thirty points during that first half just from Jalen
Brown making plays both for himself and for others. He
was great. Peyton Pritchard fifteen points, really had the midi
going during the first half. Derek White as well eleven
(02:40):
points and he was scoring with the MIDI. And then
last Banalle's Anthony Simons comes off the bench provides the
Celtics with fourteen points as a reserve during the first
half alone. He had a cook in three of six
from distance, also scored a couple going to the basket,
had a really strong downhill drive that really he just
turned on the Jets on his defender, actually a help
(03:03):
defender in a pick and roll situation, really just turned
on the jets and left the defense in his dust.
So really impressive offensive performance from the Celtics, and they
played pretty well at the defensive end. Two Joel Embiid
only two for seven, shooting for eight points. Tyrese Maxi
only was able to take seven shots during that first half,
which that's always a win for the Celtics and for
(03:24):
any team really, when you're playing against the Sixers, you
hold Maxi to only seven shots, that means you're containing
him pretty much. He did score thirteen points to lead
Philadelphia during the first half, but he wasn't able to
get shots up in quantity. So really strong defense from
the Celtics to couple with unbelievable offense at the other end,
that's what got them a twenty four point lead during
(03:46):
the first half. Now things changed a little bit during
the second half. The script kind of flipped. The Sixers
found their rhythm in the second half. Boston's offense kind
of fell apart. Philadelphia shot fifty percent from the field
during the second half alone, and Beiid found his way.
Maxi found his way. These two guys combined, what was
it during the second half, They combined for twenty five
(04:07):
points and bead scored twelve Maxi scored another thirteen. So
things started to turn a little bit, and that twenty
four point lead it went away. It all came down
to the final minutes and the Celtics did not score
a field goal during the final three to ten of
this game. But you know what they did do They
(04:29):
got a stop when they needed it. They got the
stop to win the game. On the final possession of
the game, Philly down by one, about four seconds left,
and they don't even get a shot off. And let's
take a moment to recognize how big of a moment
this is for a developing defense for the Boston Celtics. Again,
(04:49):
we've talked about it at nauseum here early in the season,
but these guys are getting to know each other at
both ends of the court. They're learning I wouldn't say
completely new systems, but like they're play playing different basketball
this season. The returnees then they played the last couple
of seasons, and you couple that in with new players
around them, like, this is developing on defense. So to
(05:12):
play against a Sixers team that has a former MVP
on the floor for the final possession perennial All NBA,
another player in Tyrese Maxi who might be top two
or three in the MVP candidacy so far this season,
and then the leader in the clubhouse for Rookie of
(05:33):
the Year VJ. Edgecombe to stop that team and by
the way, Quentin Grimes, who can shoot the lights out,
Kelly Eubray can score the ball like, it's a really
good offensive team. And the Celtics found a way to
stop them from even getting a shot off to win
the game down by one, a chance to win. Philly
(05:53):
doesn't even get a shot off. That's a big moment
for Boston's defense, and we've got to take a second
to appreciate what they were able to pull off. And
Bid did take a shot from I mean it must
have been like thirty five feet. I don't know the
exact distance, but it was deep and it was after
the buzzer sounded. He did not get the ball off
of his fingertips before the buzzer sounded. And that is
(06:15):
a statement for Boston's defense to be able to get
that stop when they needed it to preserve the win.
Great job by the defense. A couple other takeaways. Jalen
Brown's heater continues. This guy has now scored thirty plus
in consecutive games. He had thirty two tonight on thirteen
of nineteen shooting. This guy can do no wrong right
(06:36):
now when he's shooting the ball. Also four of seven
from distance. And by the way, he only took nineteen shots.
He barely got to the free throw line in this game,
so nineteen shots, only three free throw attempts. Yet he
scores thirty two. That is bona fide efficiency right there
shooting the basketball. So he's on a heater. He's now
scored thirty plus in three of his six games this season,
(06:59):
and hopefully that continue. He's on Hopefully he's out on
the court tomorrow night when the Celtics play host to
the Houston Rockets. Another guy we got to single out
as Luca Garza, just another nice all around game for him.
Comes off the bench in totals nine points and five rebounds,
had a couple of offensive rebounds during this game. Had
a really nice driving kind of catch and shoot floater
(07:19):
in the paint, and during the broadcast, stan Van Gunny
and ianigl I can't remember which one of them called
it out, but they were like, that's very similar to
what Isaiah Hartenstein has kind of mastered the last few
years as a big men, starting out with the New
York Knicks and then moving over to the Oklahoma City
Thunder and winning that championship a season ago. He has
mastered that kind of floater push shot in the lane
(07:41):
as a big man. And to see Luca Garza swish
one home in a pretty important moment of this game
off the catch kind of a cut down the middle
of the lane to be able to float that up
and put that in some really impressive touch for him.
He is a good offensive player, not a guy who's
going to score twenty points or anything like that anytime soon.
(08:03):
I don't know if he has that repertoire, if he's
going to get that amount of shots every night, But
when the ball is in his hands like that guy
can put it in. So another nice all around game
from him. Had to give him a call out. Continues
to play at a really high level for the Celtics
in his first year as a real true rotational player
in the NBA. Another guy we've got to single out,
(08:26):
Ugo Gonzalez. We talk about this guy basically every night
at this point, but his effort continues to make my
jaw hit the floor every night, and tonight in particular,
he had a stretch at the end of the third quarter.
I posted the video on my exo. Feel free to
go and take a look. But he had this stretch
two plays in a span of twenty six seconds where
(08:47):
he gave absolute, all out, empty the tank effort for
a couple of plays and sacrificed his body on those
couple of plays to try to make a play for
his team. The first play, sprinted the length of the
court to try to save a ball from going out
of bounds, dives to try to save it. What was
the percentage of him actually making that play and being
(09:10):
able to save the ball. I would probably put it
it ten percent, but ten percent is good enough for
Ugo Gonzalez to try. And then the next play, twenty
six seconds later, sprints the length of the court in
the other direction on a play to try to contest
a shot at the rim, and he did contest that shot.
(09:34):
He saved the dunk, did commit a foul, flew onto
the ground, banged his head in the stanchion. It was
a scary moment. Glad he's okay, but he saved the dunk.
Sent a player to the free throw line, but he
saved the dunk out of all out effort. And by
the way, the primary player in defender on that play,
(09:54):
who probably should have been able to get in there
for a potential chase down block was the best shot
block guard in the NBA, Derek White. He had a
lead on Ugo Gonzalez, but Ugo Gonzalez was running so
hard and so fast that he eliminated that lead, and
he wound up being the primary defender at the rim.
(10:14):
It was really just a jaw dropping stretch of two
plays twenty six seconds apart. And I've said this, and
I said this tonight on Acts as well in that
post with the video that you can go back and
look at. I'm not sure there's another player in the
NBA who makes those two plays. Now, I know that
(10:35):
sounds like a strong statement, but I honestly don't know
if there's another player in the entire league who gives
that level of effort on two separate plays in that
short amount of time twenty six seconds apart, sacrificing his
body sprinting the length of the court just to try
(10:57):
to make a play for his team. Ugo Gonzalez continues
to make my jaw drop with his effort, and I'm
sure he's doing the same around the league. And he
sure has made a fan out of former coach stan
Van Gundy. He's called two of the Celtics six games
so far, and he loves himself some Ugo Gonzalez. All right,
(11:17):
let's get into a couple of fan comments here. We've
got two tonight. The first up is from Pete Macy
on this team being a little bit of a work
in progress. And then secondly, we've got Frank Flynn on
with a comment on Boston's free throw shooting. So let's
dive in. Pete Macy, you're on the clock, all right.
(11:42):
Pete Macy's reaction to this game. He says, work in progress.
Ugo is a great fine and a keeper. Why not?
Why not too despite the blown free throws shades of
the twenty fifteen to sixteen ish team. All right, Pete Macy,
work in progress, there's no question about that. Talked about it,
We're gonna continue to talk about it. This is a
(12:03):
new team with new players with a different style of
play at both ends of the court. It's a work
in progress and they're not going to reach their peak,
maybe until the spring, but they're certainly not gonna catch
a full rhythm until probably well into the winter here,
late November, maybe December. It's gonna take a while for
these guys to really learn each other and really master
(12:25):
the system that the coaches have installed this season. It's
a work in progress, but it is fun to watch
this work in progress simply because of the effort that
this team gives every night. This team plays so hard
they want to win. And as Joe Mizula said after
this game, as Taylor Snow tweeted out, and I got
(12:47):
to pull up the comment here, but give me just
one moment, But Joe Mizoula said, I think every game
we've shown more minutes of who we need to be
on a consistent basis. I credit the guys. They have
a great mentality, a high care factor in a wanting
to win, wanting to do what it takes. That's usually
(13:08):
a recipe for long term success. So we're talking about
a work in progress, but the Celtics are showing all
the right things in that work in progress. Ugo Gonzales
great finding the keeper, as Pete Macy says, Yes he is,
and he's a key part of that care factor on
one hundred effort level. On one hundred, same thing with
Josh may not so much fun to watch these guys
(13:29):
come together. There are shades of the twenty fifteen to
sixteen Ish Celtics, but maybe even the twenty seventeen eighteen
team that really overperformed what a lot of people expected,
got to the Eastern Conference finals. Who knows the Celtics
might be able to make that happen this year. I
don't know, you don't know, We don't know, but I
expect the Eastern Conference this season to have a lot
(13:50):
of teams finished with between about forty two wins and
maybe fifty three wins. I don't think there's gonna be
a lot of teams that win upper fifties and into
the sixties in the Eastern Conference season. I think there's
gonna be a lot of teams bunched together and as
a result of that, and I expect the Celtics to
be in that bunch. Every team's gonna have a shot
to be pretty high in the standing. So we'll have
(14:12):
to wait and see the verdict. Verdict is out. We
still don't know what this team is gonna be. It's
a work in progress, but it's been fun to watch.
Josh Maynott did miss miss a couple of free throws,
as Pete Macy points out, We're going to talk about
that in our next comment coming up right now, all right, folks,
(14:34):
Second and final comment of the night. This is from
Frank Flynn, and he says, point blank, it's brief and
it's straight to the point. Practice free throws. All right,
this is probably directed in Josh Maynott's direction. That's okay, Josh,
you played a great game. You've played well all season
long for the Celtics. He missed a couple of big
(14:57):
free throws there down the stretch. Okay, about four seconds left,
the Celtics are up by one. Josh may not gets fouled,
goes to the line, has a chance to make it
a three point game, and at that point that probably
seals it. Celtics are probably gonna foul, The Sixers are
gonna call their final time out. The Celtics are then
gonna foul, draw some time off the clock, and then
(15:18):
they probably they're gonna send the Sixers to the free
throw line, and then the game is probably over. Well,
might not miss them both so put the win in peril.
But the Celtics and him he was out on the court,
wound up getting that stop on the final possession. Now,
free throws in general, let's talk about that with this team.
The Celtics only shot seven to twelve from the free
(15:38):
throw line during this game, and a couple of trends
that I want to talk about, not so much on
free throw percentage, Okay, the Celtics are middle of the
pack this season, number thirteen. Overall, they're shooting about eighty
percent from the free throw line as a team that
ain't bad Like that's okay, that's not much to complain about.
But something to note and possibly to complain about, is
(15:59):
the Celtics entered tonight ranked twenty eighth in the league
in free throw attempts per game, and that's probably going
to drop now that they only took twelve free throws
during this game. Bottom three, probably now bottom two in
free throw attempts per game this season. That is not
a recipe for success. So if you're getting to the
(16:19):
if you're not getting to the line very much, and
you're not making it in a super high rate, you
gotta change something there. So first and foremost, it would
be nice for the Celtics to get up you know,
they're around eighty percent now, they can get up into
the mid eighties in terms of percentage. I think that's
a good thing for them. Regardless of how much they're
getting to the line. If they're not shooting the ball
(16:41):
at a higher clip from the free throw line, then
they need to get there more often. So it would
be nice. I would love to see the Celtics by
the end of this season wind up being right in
the middle of the pack in terms of free throw
attempts per game and then try to get into the
top ten in terms of free throw percentage. I think
that would be a really nice combination for them for
(17:02):
a team that we're not really sure how consistent they're
gonna get their scorers every night. So on a night
when you might not have all of your scorers and
shooters scoring and shooting the ball at a high rate,
the free throw line can really keep the game together
and give you a chance to win games when you
don't bring your best offensive performance when it comes to
shooting and scoring just pure field goals out there on
(17:26):
the court. So again, I think getting into the middle
of the pack and free throw attempts and then trying
to get into the top ten in terms of free
throw percentage would be great. And hopefully that kind of
jives with what you're thinking here, Franklin. But tonight certainly
not good enough. Seven of twelve from the free throw
line for this team is not good enough. Let's hope
the Celtics can change that heading into tomorrow night. Again,
(17:48):
they're playing on the second night of a back to back.
They're flying back to Boston right now, and they're gonna
host Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets tomorrow night at
TD Garden. Tip Off is at eight o'clock. As I
said during the open, Drew Carr and myself will be
live with a pregame show at six point fifty pm.
Make sure you tune in, come and hang out with
us on YouTube Live, on x Live, and on Facebook Live.
(18:10):
I'll see you after the game. Make sure you send
in your comments to me on x after the final buzzer,
and I'll take a couple of comments for our next
episode of sound Off. Thanks for listening. Have a great night, everyone,
Sound off with me folks on a three game winning
streak for the Boston Celtics, and this is not just
any three game winning streak. The Celtics just dealt one
of the NBA's four unbeaten teams their very first loss
of the season on the road in an NBA Cup game,
when that team was basically fully healthy, fully loaded for
(00:27):
this game with a former MVP and now one of
the top MVP candidates of this season. The Celtics just
took them down in that environment. And this comes just
two nights after the Boston Celtics also beat the previously
three to one Cleveland Cavaliers by twenty points and just
tore them apart on the TD Garden court. The Celtics
(00:49):
are rolling right now, okay, and they're coming back home
for another game tomorrow night on the second night of
a back to back against the Houston Rockets. Tomorrow night,
Just to give you guys a little bit of an FYI,
Drew Carter and myself will be live from TD Garden
from our TD Garden Boston Celtics Studios at six point
fifty pm, coming at you on the Celtics YouTube channel
(01:13):
on the Celtics X channel and on the Celtics Facebook channel,
So make sure you tune in. We'll have a little
pregame show leading up to this big, big matchup against
Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets. Make sure you tune in,
and we've got a lot to talk about because the
Celtics are rolling. Let's touch on what happened tonight down
in Philadelphia that allowed the Celtics to grab their third
(01:34):
straight win. This was an up and down game for
the Boston Celtics. They had an unbelievable first half. It
felt like they could do nothing wrong. Just an incredible
offensive performance across the board, sixty eight points on fifty
six percent shooting as a team that doesn't happen very often, okay,
(01:56):
And the man who was in the middle of it
all yet again was Jalen Jalen Brown had fifteen excuse me,
nineteen points during the first half on a scorching eight
for ten shooting performance from the field, two of three
from distance, made his only free throw. Also had four assists,
so total it all up nineteen points. Plus those four assists,
(02:18):
he probably accounted for about thirty points during that first half.
I haven't added it all up in terms of the
assists and the buckets that he assisted on, but right
around thirty points during that first half just from Jalen
Brown making plays both for himself and for others. He
was great. Peyton Pritchard fifteen points, really had the midi
going during the first half. Derek White as well eleven
(02:40):
points and he was scoring with the MIDI. And then
last Banalle's Anthony Simons comes off the bench provides the
Celtics with fourteen points as a reserve during the first
half alone. He had a cook in three of six
from distance, also scored a couple going to the basket,
had a really strong downhill drive that really he just
turned on the Jets on his defender, actually a help
(03:03):
defender in a pick and roll situation, really just turned
on the jets and left the defense in his dust.
So really impressive offensive performance from the Celtics, and they
played pretty well at the defensive end. Two Joel Embiid
only two for seven, shooting for eight points. Tyrese Maxi
only was able to take seven shots during that first half,
which that's always a win for the Celtics and for
(03:24):
any team really, when you're playing against the Sixers, you
hold Maxi to only seven shots, that means you're containing
him pretty much. He did score thirteen points to lead
Philadelphia during the first half, but he wasn't able to
get shots up in quantity. So really strong defense from
the Celtics to couple with unbelievable offense at the other end,
that's what got them a twenty four point lead during
(03:46):
the first half. Now things changed a little bit during
the second half. The script kind of flipped. The Sixers
found their rhythm in the second half. Boston's offense kind
of fell apart. Philadelphia shot fifty percent from the field
during the second half alone, and Beiid found his way.
Maxi found his way. These two guys combined, what was
it during the second half, They combined for twenty five
(04:07):
points and bead scored twelve Maxi scored another thirteen. So
things started to turn a little bit, and that twenty
four point lead it went away. It all came down
to the final minutes and the Celtics did not score
a field goal during the final three to ten of
this game. But you know what they did do They
(04:29):
got a stop when they needed it. They got the
stop to win the game. On the final possession of
the game, Philly down by one, about four seconds left,
and they don't even get a shot off. And let's
take a moment to recognize how big of a moment
this is for a developing defense for the Boston Celtics. Again,
(04:49):
we've talked about it at nauseum here early in the season,
but these guys are getting to know each other at
both ends of the court. They're learning I wouldn't say
completely new systems, but like they're play playing different basketball
this season. The returnees then they played the last couple
of seasons, and you couple that in with new players
around them, like, this is developing on defense. So to
(05:12):
play against a Sixers team that has a former MVP
on the floor for the final possession perennial All NBA,
another player in Tyrese Maxi who might be top two
or three in the MVP candidacy so far this season,
and then the leader in the clubhouse for Rookie of
(05:33):
the Year VJ. Edgecombe to stop that team and by
the way, Quentin Grimes, who can shoot the lights out,
Kelly Eubray can score the ball like, it's a really
good offensive team. And the Celtics found a way to
stop them from even getting a shot off to win
the game down by one, a chance to win. Philly
(05:53):
doesn't even get a shot off. That's a big moment
for Boston's defense, and we've got to take a second
to appreciate what they were able to pull off. And
Bid did take a shot from I mean it must
have been like thirty five feet. I don't know the
exact distance, but it was deep and it was after
the buzzer sounded. He did not get the ball off
of his fingertips before the buzzer sounded. And that is
(06:15):
a statement for Boston's defense to be able to get
that stop when they needed it to preserve the win.
Great job by the defense. A couple other takeaways. Jalen
Brown's heater continues. This guy has now scored thirty plus
in consecutive games. He had thirty two tonight on thirteen
of nineteen shooting. This guy can do no wrong right
(06:36):
now when he's shooting the ball. Also four of seven
from distance. And by the way, he only took nineteen shots.
He barely got to the free throw line in this game,
so nineteen shots, only three free throw attempts. Yet he
scores thirty two. That is bona fide efficiency right there
shooting the basketball. So he's on a heater. He's now
scored thirty plus in three of his six games this season,
(06:59):
and hopefully that continue. He's on Hopefully he's out on
the court tomorrow night when the Celtics play host to
the Houston Rockets. Another guy we got to single out
as Luca Garza, just another nice all around game for him.
Comes off the bench in totals nine points and five rebounds,
had a couple of offensive rebounds during this game. Had
a really nice driving kind of catch and shoot floater
(07:19):
in the paint, and during the broadcast, stan Van Gunny
and ianigl I can't remember which one of them called
it out, but they were like, that's very similar to
what Isaiah Hartenstein has kind of mastered the last few
years as a big men, starting out with the New
York Knicks and then moving over to the Oklahoma City
Thunder and winning that championship a season ago. He has
mastered that kind of floater push shot in the lane
(07:41):
as a big man. And to see Luca Garza swish
one home in a pretty important moment of this game
off the catch kind of a cut down the middle
of the lane to be able to float that up
and put that in some really impressive touch for him.
He is a good offensive player, not a guy who's
going to score twenty points or anything like that anytime soon.
(08:03):
I don't know if he has that repertoire, if he's
going to get that amount of shots every night, But
when the ball is in his hands like that guy
can put it in. So another nice all around game
from him. Had to give him a call out. Continues
to play at a really high level for the Celtics
in his first year as a real true rotational player
in the NBA. Another guy we've got to single out,
(08:26):
Ugo Gonzalez. We talk about this guy basically every night
at this point, but his effort continues to make my
jaw hit the floor every night, and tonight in particular,
he had a stretch at the end of the third quarter.
I posted the video on my exo. Feel free to
go and take a look. But he had this stretch
two plays in a span of twenty six seconds where
(08:47):
he gave absolute, all out, empty the tank effort for
a couple of plays and sacrificed his body on those
couple of plays to try to make a play for
his team. The first play, sprinted the length of the
court to try to save a ball from going out
of bounds, dives to try to save it. What was
the percentage of him actually making that play and being
(09:10):
able to save the ball. I would probably put it
it ten percent, but ten percent is good enough for
Ugo Gonzalez to try. And then the next play, twenty
six seconds later, sprints the length of the court in
the other direction on a play to try to contest
a shot at the rim, and he did contest that shot.
(09:34):
He saved the dunk, did commit a foul, flew onto
the ground, banged his head in the stanchion. It was
a scary moment. Glad he's okay, but he saved the dunk.
Sent a player to the free throw line, but he
saved the dunk out of all out effort. And by
the way, the primary player in defender on that play,
(09:54):
who probably should have been able to get in there
for a potential chase down block was the best shot
block guard in the NBA, Derek White. He had a
lead on Ugo Gonzalez, but Ugo Gonzalez was running so
hard and so fast that he eliminated that lead, and
he wound up being the primary defender at the rim.
(10:14):
It was really just a jaw dropping stretch of two
plays twenty six seconds apart. And I've said this, and
I said this tonight on Acts as well in that
post with the video that you can go back and
look at. I'm not sure there's another player in the
NBA who makes those two plays. Now, I know that
(10:35):
sounds like a strong statement, but I honestly don't know
if there's another player in the entire league who gives
that level of effort on two separate plays in that
short amount of time twenty six seconds apart, sacrificing his
body sprinting the length of the court just to try
(10:57):
to make a play for his team. Ugo Gonzalez continues
to make my jaw drop with his effort, and I'm
sure he's doing the same around the league. And he
sure has made a fan out of former coach stan
Van Gundy. He's called two of the Celtics six games
so far, and he loves himself some Ugo Gonzalez. All right,
(11:17):
let's get into a couple of fan comments here. We've
got two tonight. The first up is from Pete Macy
on this team being a little bit of a work
in progress. And then secondly, we've got Frank Flynn on
with a comment on Boston's free throw shooting. So let's
dive in. Pete Macy, you're on the clock, all right.
(11:42):
Pete Macy's reaction to this game. He says, work in progress.
Ugo is a great fine and a keeper. Why not?
Why not too despite the blown free throws shades of
the twenty fifteen to sixteen ish team. All right, Pete Macy,
work in progress, there's no question about that. Talked about it,
We're gonna continue to talk about it. This is a
(12:03):
new team with new players with a different style of
play at both ends of the court. It's a work
in progress and they're not going to reach their peak,
maybe until the spring, but they're certainly not gonna catch
a full rhythm until probably well into the winter here,
late November, maybe December. It's gonna take a while for
these guys to really learn each other and really master
(12:25):
the system that the coaches have installed this season. It's
a work in progress, but it is fun to watch
this work in progress simply because of the effort that
this team gives every night. This team plays so hard
they want to win. And as Joe Mizula said after
this game, as Taylor Snow tweeted out, and I got
(12:47):
to pull up the comment here, but give me just
one moment, But Joe Mizoula said, I think every game
we've shown more minutes of who we need to be
on a consistent basis. I credit the guys. They have
a great mentality, a high care factor in a wanting
to win, wanting to do what it takes. That's usually
(13:08):
a recipe for long term success. So we're talking about
a work in progress, but the Celtics are showing all
the right things in that work in progress. Ugo Gonzales
great finding the keeper, as Pete Macy says, Yes he is,
and he's a key part of that care factor on
one hundred effort level. On one hundred, same thing with
Josh may not so much fun to watch these guys
(13:29):
come together. There are shades of the twenty fifteen to
sixteen Ish Celtics, but maybe even the twenty seventeen eighteen
team that really overperformed what a lot of people expected,
got to the Eastern Conference finals. Who knows the Celtics
might be able to make that happen this year. I
don't know, you don't know, We don't know, but I
expect the Eastern Conference this season to have a lot
(13:50):
of teams finished with between about forty two wins and
maybe fifty three wins. I don't think there's gonna be
a lot of teams that win upper fifties and into
the sixties in the Eastern Conference season. I think there's
gonna be a lot of teams bunched together and as
a result of that, and I expect the Celtics to
be in that bunch. Every team's gonna have a shot
to be pretty high in the standing. So we'll have
(14:12):
to wait and see the verdict. Verdict is out. We
still don't know what this team is gonna be. It's
a work in progress, but it's been fun to watch.
Josh Maynott did miss miss a couple of free throws,
as Pete Macy points out, We're going to talk about
that in our next comment coming up right now, all right, folks,
(14:34):
Second and final comment of the night. This is from
Frank Flynn, and he says, point blank, it's brief and
it's straight to the point. Practice free throws. All right,
this is probably directed in Josh Maynott's direction. That's okay, Josh,
you played a great game. You've played well all season
long for the Celtics. He missed a couple of big
(14:57):
free throws there down the stretch. Okay, about four seconds left,
the Celtics are up by one. Josh may not gets fouled,
goes to the line, has a chance to make it
a three point game, and at that point that probably
seals it. Celtics are probably gonna foul, The Sixers are
gonna call their final time out. The Celtics are then
gonna foul, draw some time off the clock, and then
(15:18):
they probably they're gonna send the Sixers to the free
throw line, and then the game is probably over. Well,
might not miss them both so put the win in peril.
But the Celtics and him he was out on the court,
wound up getting that stop on the final possession. Now,
free throws in general, let's talk about that with this team.
The Celtics only shot seven to twelve from the free
(15:38):
throw line during this game, and a couple of trends
that I want to talk about, not so much on
free throw percentage, Okay, the Celtics are middle of the
pack this season, number thirteen. Overall, they're shooting about eighty
percent from the free throw line as a team that
ain't bad Like that's okay, that's not much to complain about.
But something to note and possibly to complain about, is
(15:59):
the Celtics entered tonight ranked twenty eighth in the league
in free throw attempts per game, and that's probably going
to drop now that they only took twelve free throws
during this game. Bottom three, probably now bottom two in
free throw attempts per game this season. That is not
a recipe for success. So if you're getting to the
(16:19):
if you're not getting to the line very much, and
you're not making it in a super high rate, you
gotta change something there. So first and foremost, it would
be nice for the Celtics to get up you know,
they're around eighty percent now, they can get up into
the mid eighties in terms of percentage. I think that's
a good thing for them. Regardless of how much they're
getting to the line. If they're not shooting the ball
(16:41):
at a higher clip from the free throw line, then
they need to get there more often. So it would
be nice. I would love to see the Celtics by
the end of this season wind up being right in
the middle of the pack in terms of free throw
attempts per game and then try to get into the
top ten in terms of free throw percentage. I think
that would be a really nice combination for them for
(17:02):
a team that we're not really sure how consistent they're
gonna get their scorers every night. So on a night
when you might not have all of your scorers and
shooters scoring and shooting the ball at a high rate,
the free throw line can really keep the game together
and give you a chance to win games when you
don't bring your best offensive performance when it comes to
shooting and scoring just pure field goals out there on
(17:26):
the court. So again, I think getting into the middle
of the pack and free throw attempts and then trying
to get into the top ten in terms of free
throw percentage would be great. And hopefully that kind of
jives with what you're thinking here, Franklin. But tonight certainly
not good enough. Seven of twelve from the free throw
line for this team is not good enough. Let's hope
the Celtics can change that heading into tomorrow night. Again,
(17:48):
they're playing on the second night of a back to back.
They're flying back to Boston right now, and they're gonna
host Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets tomorrow night at
TD Garden. Tip Off is at eight o'clock. As I
said during the open, Drew Carr and myself will be
live with a pregame show at six point fifty pm.
Make sure you tune in, come and hang out with
us on YouTube Live, on x Live, and on Facebook Live.
(18:10):
I'll see you after the game. Make sure you send
in your comments to me on x after the final buzzer,
and I'll take a couple of comments for our next
episode of sound Off. Thanks for listening. Have a great night, everyone,
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