December 25, 2024 • 17 mins
The Boston Celtics weren’t able to spread cheer on Christmas Day as they struggled to take care of the ball and play with impact defense against the Philadelphia 76ers. Jayson Tatum led the team with 32 points and 15 rebounds, and Jaylen Brown added in 23, but Boston continued its December struggles. We’re sounding off tonight on where those struggles may be coming from as we head toward 2025.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Down off with me.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Folks on the Boston Celtics not exactly spreading cheer on
Christmas Day at TD Garden as they fall one eighteen
to one fourteen to Joel mb Tyrese Maxi, Paul George
and the visiting Philadelphia seventy six ers. Listen, this game
and this day did not go as the Boston Celtics expected. Right,
(00:28):
they come into this game, they're thinking they're going to
be pretty close to fully healthy. Drew Holliday missed this game.
He's resting a little bit. He should be back soon.
But they go into this game thinking they've got everyone else.
And then shortly after the game starts, Christas Porzingis, who
was playing great during the first quarter during the first half,
winds up tweaking his ankle and winds up missing the
(00:49):
rest of the game. So he only played thirteen minutes
of this game and actually finished with nine points, three assists,
and two rebounds during that timeframe.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
So you'll lose him for the rest of the night.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
And at that point things drastically changed for Boston because
you're missing forty percent of your starting lineup at that moment,
Jew Holliday is out, and then now Christaps Porzingis joins him.
That's forty percent of your starting lineup that you are
missing for the far majority of this game, basically the
final two and a half, almost three quarters of this game.
(01:24):
So that was tough for the Celtics to overcome, and
it wound up proving to be something that the Celtics
could not overcome. The defense certainly was impacted by those
two players not being out there, and for two totally
different reasons. Jew Holliday obviously one of the premier perimeter defenders,
so missing him against a guy like Tyrese Maxi, who
(01:45):
was awesome during this game. We're talking awesome with the
capital A believe he led the game thirty three points.
I believe it was Yes, led the game with thirty
three points, and he was getting to the rim just
creating his creating open looks for himself throughout this contest
and also dished out a game high twelve assist so
creating shots for others as well. So not having Drew Holliday,
(02:05):
who is one of the top perimeter defenders in the NBA,
especially from a one on one perspective, certainly affected the
season that light and then losing Christaps Porzingis who is
Boston's rim protector. That's gonna change things as well. So
obviously he doesn't match up quite as well with Joel
Embiid in terms of strength and size, but not having
(02:28):
him as that rim protection against any of those drives
where maybe Maxi got past his man or Paul George
gets past his man, anything along those lines, you don't
have that backstop back in the back to be able
to protect the rim and possibly deter the Sixers from
getting there. And they wound up scoring forty two points
in the paint. That's not a crazy number. The Celtics
actually scored forty two points in the paint as well,
(02:51):
But you've got to think that if you had Drew
on the perimeter and Chris stops around the rim, that
just drastically improves defense. And not having them tonight open
things up a little bit for the Sixers and they
took advantage. You got to give credit where credit is due.
That team shot a perfect nineteen for nineteen from the
(03:11):
free throw line during this game, and that in large
part was the difference. The Celtics only made eight free throws,
they only got there for thirteen free throws, so they
missed five. They only shot that's basically about sixty percent
from the free throw line, while Philly shot a perfect
nineteen for nineteen. We're talking about an eleven point difference
(03:35):
just at the free throw line. When you look at
the box score, the Celtics made more field goals. They
made two more shots in this game than Philly. They
made three more three pointers than Philly. You look at
those two stats alone and you think there's no way
the Celtics could have lost. But it's that free throw margin.
It really came back to haunt the Celtics tonight. So
(03:56):
would love to see them get to the rim a
little bit more force the issue and get to the
free throw line because of it, just like the Sixers
did during this game. Now, the Celtics were down by
sixteen midway through the second quarter, but then they found
themselves a little bit. They stormed back into the game.
They wound up taking a four point lead during the
third quarter, and then they fell behind again by fourteen
(04:19):
late in the game in the fourth quarter and storing
back yet again. So they used an eleven zero run
during the fourth quarter to cut that fourteen point deficit
all the way down to three. And you're thinking they
got a shot it went in this game, but they
just weren't able to finish it off. And again, credit
where credit is due, Philly responded when it needed to.
Right after that eleven zero run by the Celtics, Philly
(04:42):
rattled off a six to zero run to bump the
lead right back up to nine, and that gave them
a pretty comfortable standing for the rest of the night.
Embiid and Maxi fully accounted entirely for that six to
zero run. So Embiid scored to the first two and
then Maxi scored the final four and that that is
what changed the game and wound up plugging this one
(05:03):
into the win column for the Sixers and into the
lost column for the Celtics. A few things that played
Boston plagued Boston during this game. I'm gonna name them
off right here. Turnovers. I mean this just some careless,
uncharacteristic turnovers, and this has been something we've seen from
the Celtics relatively recently.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
We're gonna dive.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Into this a little bit more later in the episode,
but thirteen turnovers for the Celtics only six for Philly.
So you're talking about possessions there that you're either giving
away or not getting back. So Boston wound up taking
seven more shots than Philly despite that, just imagine if
they took care of the ball, that shot margin would
(05:42):
be even more significant, which just makes it that much
more difficult for the seventy six ers to overcome. So
you gotta take care of the ball again. We're gonna
touch on that a little bit more later in the episode. Then,
the inability to get stops, like the Celtics just they
had it first stretch on that eleven zero run, they
got stops. Actually to a coworker next to me during
the game and I said, hey, they got to rattle
(06:03):
off four straight stops here to get back into this game.
That's when they were down by fourteen. Somehow they did it.
But outside of that brief stretch, they just weren't able
to get the stops when they needed them to be
able to get back into the game and try to
win this game. And in particularly during the fourth quarter
down the stretch, they were not able to get those
stops after they cut it to three again, credit where
(06:26):
creditors do. Philly wound up scoring and they were the
ones that figured a way out to be able to
pull away for the win. The last thing that stands
out from this game that I want to comment on
is just the lack of bench scoring. And when you're missing,
as I detailed, forty percent of your starting lineup, when
Drew Holliday is out for the entire game, and then
you lose Christas porzingis basically for all.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Of the game. He played only a little over a
quarter of this.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Game, You've got to get more scoring from other locations,
and the bench just simply did not deliver tonight. Only
twelve total points off the bench for the Celtics, two
of them from Nemias Cada, four of them from Peyton Pritchard,
who had himself a rough night zero for eight from
long distance. You don't see that from him very often,
but it happened tonight. And then the leader in the
(07:14):
clubhouse for bench scoring for the Celtics on this night
was actually Luke Cornett. He scored six points during this
game also grabbed ten rebounds, so he was solid out there.
But when when you're missing forty percent of your starting lineup,
you have got to get scoring from somewhere else. Peyton
Pritchard usually is usually Sam Houser is usually that guy,
(07:34):
but they just simply were not able to contribute contribute
much at the offensive end tonight. So those are the
things that stand out to me. But now we're gonna
get into some things that stood out to our fans.
So a few comments coming in tonight. The first is
from John Paul on the Celtics experiencing some December blues.
And then we've got Dori Salmon on Boston's turnovers, which
(07:56):
we already touched on just to tab, but we're gonna
go a little deeper.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
And then last we've got Michael A.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Gleb the second on what the Celtics can clean up
to get out of this rough patch here in December.
So let's dive in. First one coming up is from you,
John Paul. All Right, as I said, first comment of
the night coming in from John Paul, and he says,
is the December blues reel for the Seas question mark.
(08:23):
We haven't been shooting well and the energy and consistency
haven't been up there.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
And I couldn't agree with you more. John.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
I think there's a nice, you know, balanced approach to
looking at the way the Celtics have been playing throughout
this month. It just hasn't been consistent. You've seen maybe
a lack of energy at times, not sure exactly what
that is. Maybe it's the NBA Cup that time off,
maybe threw them out of their rhythm. Not quite sure
what it is and not trying to make excuses here,
(08:52):
just this isn't what we expect out of the Celtics.
It's not what we saw in November and October, certainly
not what we saw last season. So something has kind
of been in the water for them throughout this month
has just been slowing them down and they haven't really
looked like themselves consistently. There have been games, moments within
games where they've looked like themselves, but overall, from start
(09:14):
to finish, they're only six and five this month. You know,
the numbers aren't great. Six and five in December. Seven
of their last ten games, they've committed at least thirteen turnovers.
In four of the last five games. They've shot less
than forty six percent from the field. So getting back
to the point here, haven't been shooting well, energy and consistency,
(09:34):
consistency haven't been up there. Those are hallmarks of this
Celtics team, especially the last season and at the start
of the season, like, that's what makes the Celtics great.
You're always shooting the ball well. As a team, you're
always gonna have some guys who are struggling on offense,
but as a team, always shooting the ball well, taking
care of the ball, and then energy and consistency. Those
(09:57):
have always over the last year and half been at
a high level. Very rarely do they get a clunker
in those perspectives, but that's been kind of seeping in
to their schedule here in December, so we got to
look and see if the Celtics can turn that around.
This has been a little bit of some real December blues.
Six and five is not what you would expect from
the Boston Celtics throughout the course of a month. But
(10:20):
they've got a few more games here to try to
clean things up as they go into January and turn
the calendar over. A game on the twenty seventh at home,
a game on the twenty ninth at home, and another
one on.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
The thirty first at home.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
So you got three more here at ted Garden with
an opportunity to feel a lot better going into twenty
twenty five. All Right, next comment coming in from Dory
Salmon saying, rain these turnovers and sloppy passes in and
the score would reflect a win every time.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
It's hard to disagree with that.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
When the Celtics have so much talent that they bring
to the court every single night, even if they're missing
forty percent of their starting lineup, like, they've got other
talent on the roster who can pick it up. If
they just take care of the ball, it is so
hard to beat them, so hard to beat them because
you've as an opponent who in most cases doesn't have
(11:13):
as much talent, so you got a talent deficit going
in each game. You've got to almost play perfect basketball
when the Celtics are taking care of the ball and
as we've talked about, typically shooting the ball well and
scoring well on offense. So I actually agree with you here, Dorr.
If you just clean this ups of the turnovers and
the sloppiness. Again, not sure where that's coming from. Just
(11:36):
see some uncharacteristic attempts at passes, some bad decision making
throughout the course of this month and especially over this
last week or so when the Celtics have been struggling.
Clean those things up and the score will likely wind
up in your favor in the far majority, but you know,
far more often than not for the Celtics, if they
(11:57):
clean those up, they're gonna wind up with a way.
That's what we've seen over the last year and a half.
We've got a little blipping the radar here, but the
team is the same. It's the same guys, So I'm
not expecting that their mental approach inability is gonna change.
Like I expect them to get back heading in the
right direction with these categories in terms of sloppiness and
(12:19):
turning the ball over. I expect them to iron that out,
straighten it up, and get back into the win column
on a very consistent basis once they do do that,
Just exactly as you said here, Dori Salmon, we appreciate
you sending that in. All right, last one other night
coming in here from Michael A. Gleb the second and
he says, every great team is going to go through
(12:42):
rough patches.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Preach, we'll be fine.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
We need to care a little bit more about details.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
All right.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Let's start out with the first comment here. Every great
team is going to go through through rough patches unless
you are like the greatest of the Gretes like, even
look at the Celtics last season. They had four different
times when they lost consecutive games last season.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
This is the first time. We're almost into twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
At this point, You've played all November, you've almost played
all of December, you played a couple weeks in October.
This is the first time the Celtics have lost consecutive games.
So it's not as if they've just been losing left
and right here. So every great team is going to
have a rough patch. I agree, it seems like that's
happening with the Celtics this month, and especially over the
(13:30):
course of the last week or so. But to his
next point, he says, we'll be fine. I have total
trust in Joe Missoula and the players on this team
that they are going to right the ship and write
it quickly. Like I don't expect this thing to start
spiraling downhill. I got a feeling that they're going to
turn it around. They're going to turn it around in
a hurry. I think some of it has to do
(13:52):
with health. I think some of it has to do
with maybe a little bit of a lack of rhythm.
Excuse me, during this month as they've had to navigate
some strange schedule quirks.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Excuse me, got a frog in my throat.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
But yeah, and by the way, in terms of health perspective,
I tweeted this out before.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
The game tonight.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
El Horford tonight started for the twentieth time out of
twenty three games that he has played this season. Remember,
this is a guy who's supposed to be coming off
the bench, So him starting twenty out of twenty three
games is an indication right there of just how much
the Celtics have lacked health across the board this season.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
They've needed him to.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Start more often than not, twenty out of twenty three
games that he's been available, because they've been missing other guys.
So the Celtics have not been healthy. They got to
try to figure that out. They got to get Drew back,
They got to find out a way to get Christas
back and consistent in terms of being healthy consistently, so
he's not missing a game here and there, a week
(14:54):
here and there. They got to get him healthy consistently,
and I think they will be fine. As Michael A.
Glub the Second says here now caring about the details,
like I think the Celtics do care, but we've seen times,
as we talked about here with the turnovers and whatnot,
that they have lacked in those areas in terms of
taking care of the ball, taking good shots, the commitment
(15:16):
on defense. I don't think it's a mental thing, like
I don't think they're making a decision to not care
or care about something. I think it's just happening within
the flow of the game that they're not executing at
the high level that we all expect from them in
those categories.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
They care.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
This is a team that wants to win another championship
this season. I'm telling you, like you go in the
locker room, they care. They just got to make sure
that they are executing in those areas every single night.
And they're gonna have an opportunity to get back in
the win column and execute in those areas starting again
in two nights. They've got a home game Friday night,
(15:54):
They've got another one Sunday night, and then they've got
another one on.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Tuesday, on New Year's Eve.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
The next two games are two consecutive home games against
the Indiana Pacers. As we know, the Pacers and Celtics
always play each other tough. So this should be a
fun weekend of basketball, competitive weekend of basketball for the Celtics,
and then the Celtics will close out twenty twenty four
with the New Year's Eve showdown with the Toronto Raptors
who come to town.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
So a few games.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Here that the Celtics certainly can and should win on paper.
Now they just got to go out on the floor
and execute at a high level to be able to
come out on the win column and head into twenty
twenty five on a high note. I appreciate all of
you for watching and or listening to tonight's episode. Make
sure you send in your comments after the next game
(16:40):
on Friday night. I'll be looking for him. I'll take
a few in the next episode of sound Off with
the Boston Celtics, and until then, enjoy the time. Happy Holidays,
Merry Christmas if you celebrate.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
I'll see you Friday night.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
U
Down off with me.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Folks on the Boston Celtics not exactly spreading cheer on
Christmas Day at TD Garden as they fall one eighteen
to one fourteen to Joel mb Tyrese Maxi, Paul George
and the visiting Philadelphia seventy six ers. Listen, this game
and this day did not go as the Boston Celtics expected. Right,
(00:28):
they come into this game, they're thinking they're going to
be pretty close to fully healthy. Drew Holliday missed this game.
He's resting a little bit. He should be back soon.
But they go into this game thinking they've got everyone else.
And then shortly after the game starts, Christas Porzingis, who
was playing great during the first quarter during the first half,
winds up tweaking his ankle and winds up missing the
(00:49):
rest of the game. So he only played thirteen minutes
of this game and actually finished with nine points, three assists,
and two rebounds during that timeframe.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
So you'll lose him for the rest of the night.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
And at that point things drastically changed for Boston because
you're missing forty percent of your starting lineup at that moment,
Jew Holliday is out, and then now Christaps Porzingis joins him.
That's forty percent of your starting lineup that you are
missing for the far majority of this game, basically the
final two and a half, almost three quarters of this game.
(01:24):
So that was tough for the Celtics to overcome, and
it wound up proving to be something that the Celtics
could not overcome. The defense certainly was impacted by those
two players not being out there, and for two totally
different reasons. Jew Holliday obviously one of the premier perimeter defenders,
so missing him against a guy like Tyrese Maxi, who
(01:45):
was awesome during this game. We're talking awesome with the
capital A believe he led the game thirty three points.
I believe it was Yes, led the game with thirty
three points, and he was getting to the rim just
creating his creating open looks for himself throughout this contest
and also dished out a game high twelve assist so
creating shots for others as well. So not having Drew Holliday,
(02:05):
who is one of the top perimeter defenders in the NBA,
especially from a one on one perspective, certainly affected the
season that light and then losing Christaps Porzingis who is
Boston's rim protector. That's gonna change things as well. So
obviously he doesn't match up quite as well with Joel
Embiid in terms of strength and size, but not having
(02:28):
him as that rim protection against any of those drives
where maybe Maxi got past his man or Paul George
gets past his man, anything along those lines, you don't
have that backstop back in the back to be able
to protect the rim and possibly deter the Sixers from
getting there. And they wound up scoring forty two points
in the paint. That's not a crazy number. The Celtics
actually scored forty two points in the paint as well,
(02:51):
But you've got to think that if you had Drew
on the perimeter and Chris stops around the rim, that
just drastically improves defense. And not having them tonight open
things up a little bit for the Sixers and they
took advantage. You got to give credit where credit is due.
That team shot a perfect nineteen for nineteen from the
(03:11):
free throw line during this game, and that in large
part was the difference. The Celtics only made eight free throws,
they only got there for thirteen free throws, so they
missed five. They only shot that's basically about sixty percent
from the free throw line, while Philly shot a perfect
nineteen for nineteen. We're talking about an eleven point difference
(03:35):
just at the free throw line. When you look at
the box score, the Celtics made more field goals. They
made two more shots in this game than Philly. They
made three more three pointers than Philly. You look at
those two stats alone and you think there's no way
the Celtics could have lost. But it's that free throw margin.
It really came back to haunt the Celtics tonight. So
(03:56):
would love to see them get to the rim a
little bit more force the issue and get to the
free throw line because of it, just like the Sixers
did during this game. Now, the Celtics were down by
sixteen midway through the second quarter, but then they found
themselves a little bit. They stormed back into the game.
They wound up taking a four point lead during the
third quarter, and then they fell behind again by fourteen
(04:19):
late in the game in the fourth quarter and storing
back yet again. So they used an eleven zero run
during the fourth quarter to cut that fourteen point deficit
all the way down to three. And you're thinking they
got a shot it went in this game, but they
just weren't able to finish it off. And again, credit
where credit is due, Philly responded when it needed to.
Right after that eleven zero run by the Celtics, Philly
(04:42):
rattled off a six to zero run to bump the
lead right back up to nine, and that gave them
a pretty comfortable standing for the rest of the night.
Embiid and Maxi fully accounted entirely for that six to
zero run. So Embiid scored to the first two and
then Maxi scored the final four and that that is
what changed the game and wound up plugging this one
(05:03):
into the win column for the Sixers and into the
lost column for the Celtics. A few things that played
Boston plagued Boston during this game. I'm gonna name them
off right here. Turnovers. I mean this just some careless,
uncharacteristic turnovers, and this has been something we've seen from
the Celtics relatively recently.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
We're gonna dive.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Into this a little bit more later in the episode,
but thirteen turnovers for the Celtics only six for Philly.
So you're talking about possessions there that you're either giving
away or not getting back. So Boston wound up taking
seven more shots than Philly despite that, just imagine if
they took care of the ball, that shot margin would
(05:42):
be even more significant, which just makes it that much
more difficult for the seventy six ers to overcome. So
you gotta take care of the ball again. We're gonna
touch on that a little bit more later in the episode. Then,
the inability to get stops, like the Celtics just they
had it first stretch on that eleven zero run, they
got stops. Actually to a coworker next to me during
the game and I said, hey, they got to rattle
(06:03):
off four straight stops here to get back into this game.
That's when they were down by fourteen. Somehow they did it.
But outside of that brief stretch, they just weren't able
to get the stops when they needed them to be
able to get back into the game and try to
win this game. And in particularly during the fourth quarter
down the stretch, they were not able to get those
stops after they cut it to three again, credit where
(06:26):
creditors do. Philly wound up scoring and they were the
ones that figured a way out to be able to
pull away for the win. The last thing that stands
out from this game that I want to comment on
is just the lack of bench scoring. And when you're missing,
as I detailed, forty percent of your starting lineup, when
Drew Holliday is out for the entire game, and then
you lose Christas porzingis basically for all.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Of the game. He played only a little over a
quarter of this.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Game, You've got to get more scoring from other locations,
and the bench just simply did not deliver tonight. Only
twelve total points off the bench for the Celtics, two
of them from Nemias Cada, four of them from Peyton Pritchard,
who had himself a rough night zero for eight from
long distance. You don't see that from him very often,
but it happened tonight. And then the leader in the
(07:14):
clubhouse for bench scoring for the Celtics on this night
was actually Luke Cornett. He scored six points during this
game also grabbed ten rebounds, so he was solid out there.
But when when you're missing forty percent of your starting lineup,
you have got to get scoring from somewhere else. Peyton
Pritchard usually is usually Sam Houser is usually that guy,
(07:34):
but they just simply were not able to contribute contribute
much at the offensive end tonight. So those are the
things that stand out to me. But now we're gonna
get into some things that stood out to our fans.
So a few comments coming in tonight. The first is
from John Paul on the Celtics experiencing some December blues.
And then we've got Dori Salmon on Boston's turnovers, which
(07:56):
we already touched on just to tab, but we're gonna
go a little deeper.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
And then last we've got Michael A.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Gleb the second on what the Celtics can clean up
to get out of this rough patch here in December.
So let's dive in. First one coming up is from you,
John Paul. All Right, as I said, first comment of
the night coming in from John Paul, and he says,
is the December blues reel for the Seas question mark.
(08:23):
We haven't been shooting well and the energy and consistency
haven't been up there.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
And I couldn't agree with you more. John.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
I think there's a nice, you know, balanced approach to
looking at the way the Celtics have been playing throughout
this month. It just hasn't been consistent. You've seen maybe
a lack of energy at times, not sure exactly what
that is. Maybe it's the NBA Cup that time off,
maybe threw them out of their rhythm. Not quite sure
what it is and not trying to make excuses here,
(08:52):
just this isn't what we expect out of the Celtics.
It's not what we saw in November and October, certainly
not what we saw last season. So something has kind
of been in the water for them throughout this month
has just been slowing them down and they haven't really
looked like themselves consistently. There have been games, moments within
games where they've looked like themselves, but overall, from start
(09:14):
to finish, they're only six and five this month. You know,
the numbers aren't great. Six and five in December. Seven
of their last ten games, they've committed at least thirteen turnovers.
In four of the last five games. They've shot less
than forty six percent from the field. So getting back
to the point here, haven't been shooting well, energy and consistency,
(09:34):
consistency haven't been up there. Those are hallmarks of this
Celtics team, especially the last season and at the start
of the season, like, that's what makes the Celtics great.
You're always shooting the ball well. As a team, you're
always gonna have some guys who are struggling on offense,
but as a team, always shooting the ball well, taking
care of the ball, and then energy and consistency. Those
(09:57):
have always over the last year and half been at
a high level. Very rarely do they get a clunker
in those perspectives, but that's been kind of seeping in
to their schedule here in December, so we got to
look and see if the Celtics can turn that around.
This has been a little bit of some real December blues.
Six and five is not what you would expect from
the Boston Celtics throughout the course of a month. But
(10:20):
they've got a few more games here to try to
clean things up as they go into January and turn
the calendar over. A game on the twenty seventh at home,
a game on the twenty ninth at home, and another
one on.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
The thirty first at home.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
So you got three more here at ted Garden with
an opportunity to feel a lot better going into twenty
twenty five. All Right, next comment coming in from Dory
Salmon saying, rain these turnovers and sloppy passes in and
the score would reflect a win every time.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
It's hard to disagree with that.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
When the Celtics have so much talent that they bring
to the court every single night, even if they're missing
forty percent of their starting lineup, like, they've got other
talent on the roster who can pick it up. If
they just take care of the ball, it is so
hard to beat them, so hard to beat them because
you've as an opponent who in most cases doesn't have
(11:13):
as much talent, so you got a talent deficit going
in each game. You've got to almost play perfect basketball
when the Celtics are taking care of the ball and
as we've talked about, typically shooting the ball well and
scoring well on offense. So I actually agree with you here, Dorr.
If you just clean this ups of the turnovers and
the sloppiness. Again, not sure where that's coming from. Just
(11:36):
see some uncharacteristic attempts at passes, some bad decision making
throughout the course of this month and especially over this
last week or so when the Celtics have been struggling.
Clean those things up and the score will likely wind
up in your favor in the far majority, but you know,
far more often than not for the Celtics, if they
(11:57):
clean those up, they're gonna wind up with a way.
That's what we've seen over the last year and a half.
We've got a little blipping the radar here, but the
team is the same. It's the same guys, So I'm
not expecting that their mental approach inability is gonna change.
Like I expect them to get back heading in the
right direction with these categories in terms of sloppiness and
(12:19):
turning the ball over. I expect them to iron that out,
straighten it up, and get back into the win column
on a very consistent basis once they do do that,
Just exactly as you said here, Dori Salmon, we appreciate
you sending that in. All right, last one other night
coming in here from Michael A. Gleb the second and
he says, every great team is going to go through
(12:42):
rough patches.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Preach, we'll be fine.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
We need to care a little bit more about details.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
All right.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Let's start out with the first comment here. Every great
team is going to go through through rough patches unless
you are like the greatest of the Gretes like, even
look at the Celtics last season. They had four different
times when they lost consecutive games last season.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
This is the first time. We're almost into twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
At this point, You've played all November, you've almost played
all of December, you played a couple weeks in October.
This is the first time the Celtics have lost consecutive games.
So it's not as if they've just been losing left
and right here. So every great team is going to
have a rough patch. I agree, it seems like that's
happening with the Celtics this month, and especially over the
(13:30):
course of the last week or so. But to his
next point, he says, we'll be fine. I have total
trust in Joe Missoula and the players on this team
that they are going to right the ship and write
it quickly. Like I don't expect this thing to start
spiraling downhill. I got a feeling that they're going to
turn it around. They're going to turn it around in
a hurry. I think some of it has to do
(13:52):
with health. I think some of it has to do
with maybe a little bit of a lack of rhythm.
Excuse me, during this month as they've had to navigate
some strange schedule quirks.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Excuse me, got a frog in my throat.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
But yeah, and by the way, in terms of health perspective,
I tweeted this out before.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
The game tonight.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
El Horford tonight started for the twentieth time out of
twenty three games that he has played this season. Remember,
this is a guy who's supposed to be coming off
the bench, So him starting twenty out of twenty three
games is an indication right there of just how much
the Celtics have lacked health across the board this season.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
They've needed him to.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Start more often than not, twenty out of twenty three
games that he's been available, because they've been missing other guys.
So the Celtics have not been healthy. They got to
try to figure that out. They got to get Drew back,
They got to find out a way to get Christas
back and consistent in terms of being healthy consistently, so
he's not missing a game here and there, a week
(14:54):
here and there. They got to get him healthy consistently,
and I think they will be fine. As Michael A.
Glub the Second says here now caring about the details,
like I think the Celtics do care, but we've seen times,
as we talked about here with the turnovers and whatnot,
that they have lacked in those areas in terms of
taking care of the ball, taking good shots, the commitment
(15:16):
on defense. I don't think it's a mental thing, like
I don't think they're making a decision to not care
or care about something. I think it's just happening within
the flow of the game that they're not executing at
the high level that we all expect from them in
those categories.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
They care.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
This is a team that wants to win another championship
this season. I'm telling you, like you go in the
locker room, they care. They just got to make sure
that they are executing in those areas every single night.
And they're gonna have an opportunity to get back in
the win column and execute in those areas starting again
in two nights. They've got a home game Friday night,
(15:54):
They've got another one Sunday night, and then they've got
another one on.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Tuesday, on New Year's Eve.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
The next two games are two consecutive home games against
the Indiana Pacers. As we know, the Pacers and Celtics
always play each other tough. So this should be a
fun weekend of basketball, competitive weekend of basketball for the Celtics,
and then the Celtics will close out twenty twenty four
with the New Year's Eve showdown with the Toronto Raptors
who come to town.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
So a few games.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Here that the Celtics certainly can and should win on paper.
Now they just got to go out on the floor
and execute at a high level to be able to
come out on the win column and head into twenty
twenty five on a high note. I appreciate all of
you for watching and or listening to tonight's episode. Make
sure you send in your comments after the next game
(16:40):
on Friday night. I'll be looking for him. I'll take
a few in the next episode of sound Off with
the Boston Celtics, and until then, enjoy the time. Happy Holidays,
Merry Christmas if you celebrate.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
I'll see you Friday night.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
U
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