January 10, 2026 • 17 mins
Victor Wembanyama is often referred to as ‘Alien,’ and he looked like one during crunch time Saturday night. He drained two shots, first over Neemias Queta and next over Baylor Scheierman, that were utterly unstoppable to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a win over the Boston Celtics. Let’s examine those moments, plus Boston’s narrow loss, which included strong moments from Scheierman, an inability to get to the free-throw line, and one of its lowest scoring nights of the season.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Sound off with the book on the Alien doing alien
like things on a Saturday night here at TD Garden.
This was a close game throughout between the Boston Celtics
and the San Antonio Spurs, the two number two seeds
in each conference in the NBA. This one was close
throughout and went down to the final seconds, the final minutes,
(00:28):
and during that time Boston struggled to put the ball
through the basket and meanwhile, on the other side of
the ball, Victor Wein Banyama did not. This is the
sound Off postgame podcast presented by Exfinity Mobile. I appreciate
you tuning in and giving us a listen. Let's talk
about Victor wm Banyama. This was an interesting game from him. Again,
(00:48):
he comes off the bench for the San Antonio Spurs,
and when he does, the Boston Celtics wind up having
his first primary defender be not Namish Kida, not Luca Garza.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
It was not a big man.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
It was Jordan Walsh, and Jorda Walsh actually did a
very good job when he was defending him. Really was
making life difficult. Yes, when Bayama scored a little bit,
but for the most part he was not making much
of an impact during the first half. Now you fast
forward to the second half, that's when he started to
get into a rhythm and during throughout this game, not
(01:26):
only did Walsh defend him as an undersize wing, but
the Celtics also used Baylor Shireman to defend him as
an undersized wing. And again, just like Jorda, Walsh had
some success defending him during the first half, so did
Baylor Shireman, and that carried a bit into the second half.
But once when Banyama got that rhythm, it was almost
(01:47):
impossible to turn him off. I thought the Celtics did
a really good job for the majority of this game.
But listen, greatness is greatness. Greatness separates itself from the
rest of the talent on the core in those biggest moments,
and that's exactly what Wenby did during this game. He
scored two baskets during that final minute, minute and a
(02:09):
half that were huge. Those wind up wound up deciding
this game for the San Antonio Spurs, especially that final
shot that came over Shireman just at about the free
throw line off a dribble or two. Unstoppable like that
is a shot that at seven foot four, seven foot five,
whatever you want to call him off the dribble, going
(02:31):
to his side and able to fade away and make
that shot.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
It's indefensible.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
There is no one in the league who can challenge
that shot and make him miss.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
It's just a matter of him making it or him
missing it.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
And not only did he make that one, but as
you just saw, he made the one just about a
minute before that as well, to give the San Antonio
Spurs a comfort zone and be able to finish this
game off.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
He was clutched.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
He was great, and again, greatness separates itself and that's
exactly what showed forth for Victor Wembanyama during the clutch
moments of this game. He was unbelievable and had I mean,
those are just two shots that cannot be stopped. On
one of them, you got a seven footter defending. On
another one, you've got a six foot five, six foot
(03:21):
six guy defending. Neither of them were gonna face force
the miss. It was just a patter of Wemby making
or missing, and he made them both a couple other
standout players for the Spurs tonight. Listen, we all know
Dearon Fox is a great guard. He's been an All
Star before He's electric with the ball in his hands,
had a nice balanced game around the table here for
(03:44):
the San Antonio Spurs during this game, twenty one points,
nine rebounds, six assists led.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
He led the team with those six assists. He was great.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
But the one who really stood out for me is
a guy that I've liked for a long time, and
that's Kelden Johnson. He was so impactful at both ends
of the court, and I've just got to say this
about him before we get over to the Celtics side
of the ball, is it's really nice to see a
player who was good for a long time for the
San Antonio Spurs, but now that this team is a
(04:16):
title contender in my opinion, i'm sure for a lot
of other people's opinion, now that Keldon Johnson is playing
on this team with so much talent around.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Him, he has fit into the perfect.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Role that fits his skill set, that fits what he
brings to the table every night. And we saw that
tonight against the Boston Celtics. Electric defense, like outstanding footwork
and defensive work against multiple Boston Celtics players making life
difficult for them, and that's why the Celtics only scored
ninety five points during this game one of the reasons
(04:50):
at least, and then at the other side of the ball,
he winds up scoring eighteen points on six of thirteen shooting,
made a couple of threes, grab ten rebounds. He just
fits so perfectly within this group for San Antonio, and
he was wildly impactful tonight off the bench. He was
the best bench player in this game and made certainly
a significant impact on San Antonio being able to win
(05:11):
this game. Now flipping it over to the other side
of the ball for some takeaways for the Boston Celtics,
I thought the Celtics played a pretty solid game. Remember
this was the third game and four nights for them.
They just played the number four team in the East
last night. That was a game that went down to
the final minutes. Then tonight they've got to take on
the number two seed and they loaded Western Conference. That's
(05:33):
a tough back to back. Granted there's no travel and
by the way, this is not an excuse, but I
thought the Celtics played pretty well all things considered, four
games in six nights against some good teams, like in
some games that really went down to the wire, some
really good games. I thought they played pretty well all
things considered. Now, they defended exceptionally well. They held San
(05:56):
Antonio to only forty percent shooting twenty two point seven
percent shooting from three point distance. That's great defense that
they brought to the table against the team, by the way,
that hadn't played since Wednesday. So that was strong from
the Boston Celtics. But they they just couldn't shoot the
ball well.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
They just didn't.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
It didn't seem like they had the legs to put
the ball through the basket. And by the way, they
didn't put enough pressure on the other team, the San
Antonio Spurs, to get to the line. Boston attempted only
six four free throws during this game. They were a
negative sixteen in the free throw attempt column. That's a
(06:35):
big deal in a game where both teams shot forty percent,
Like that's a separating factor in the game. The free
throw line. Again, San Antonio took sixteen more and they
made eleven more. That's the game right there, plus some.
So the Celtics just didn't have it in them tonight
to be able to put that pressure on the opponent
(06:55):
to get to the free throw line. Fans, I'm sure
are gonna be upset. There could have been a or
two that could have gone on Boston's way, but in general,
I didn't think that they applied the type of pressure
that the San Antonio Spurs did, so that was a
big part of this game. I did think that Baylor
Shyman played really well. There was a moment there during
the second half after he made a couple of threes.
He was playing some solid defense making life difficult on
(07:18):
Victor Wimbanyama, and I was actually I wrote down the
Baylor Shyerman game with a question mark, like I thought
that he was going to be the key reason why
the Boston Celtics won this game. Now, obviously they didn't,
but that doesn't take away from what he brought to
the table ten points off the bench, made a couple
of three pointers on a couple of attempts, two steals,
(07:39):
a couple of rebounds.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
I really thought that he played well.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
It was a nice night for him and it was
great to see him make an impact after not really
playing a ton of minutes here. Recently, Joe Mizoula set
up before the game, we have thirteen players on our
roster who can make an impact on any given night tonight,
you just knew, second night of a back to back,
third game in four nights, four games and six nights,
(08:03):
you just knew that someone else was gonna have to
step up. Baylor Sheierman, for a large portion of that
game was that guy for the Celtics to give them
a chance to win, and they did have a chance
to win, they just didn't finish it off. He played
twenty six plus minutes at the bench, four or five
from the field. Like I said, those ten points, two rebounds,
a couple of steals.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
He played really well.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
And he also had a pretty good contest on when
Ben Yama on that final shot at least for the
Spurs that you saw that shot that wound up capping
the game for them. The other thing that stands out
only ten turnovers for the Celtics during this game, but man,
it just felt like all of them were either very
important to the result of this game or just sloppy.
(08:47):
They weren't like passes that got tipped by the San
Antonio Spurs. It was like they dribbled off their leg
or didn't catch a ball that was passed to them,
or it was a turnover in a critical moment. So yes,
only ten turnovers, which is great and that's part of
the reason why they had a chance to win this game.
They limited their turnovers and therefore the points off turnovers.
(09:10):
But it just didn't seem like they were able to
take care of the ball in the most critical moments.
And then, like I said, just some of those turnovers
were just ugly one. So will you move on, You
move forward, and you got to see what's coming up
here next week, starting on this road trip. Before we
get to that, though, we got a couple of comments
from our fans. First up, we've got Sleeper Celtics on
(09:32):
Boston's defensive tactics down the stretch. We're going to talk
about that. And then next up we've got Alejandro Prosscouer
on a very important observation that they had from the
final minute of this game. So again, the first one
up here, Sleeper Celtics.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
I think here one, put your mobile bill in half
and save sixty five dollars month for your first year
with Expinity Mobile.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
All right, Sleeper Celtics is up first, and they say
there isn't a right answer for defending Wemby but relying
on Shireman to hold up against a seven foot five
post up in the biggest spot isn't ideal. Now, obviously
this is a comment about that final shot of the
night from Wemby that basically secured the game for San Antonio,
(10:29):
and we'll show it to you again here, but I
totally disagree. Who else are you gonna send ad him?
We already saw to me ash Cada challenged him. Actually,
I thought that Shireman challenged him at a much higher
level than Kida did just a minute before. So I
thought Shyerman played great defense on this play, made a
great contest. But again, the guy is seven foot four,
(10:50):
seven foot five. When he rises up and fades away,
it's just a matter of whether he makes it or
misses it. The only other player on Boston's roster who
you might say could impact him more might be Nimish Kida.
But Kada can't defend off the dribble as well as
someone like Shireman or earlier in the game, Jordan Walsh.
(11:11):
So this is nitpicking in my opinion. I don't think
there is any right answer against Wemby because that was
just a make or miss moment, and he made it.
There was no one on Boston's team that was going
to challenge that shot. Now rewind to last year. If
you've got Christas Porzingis on the court, that's a different story.
(11:31):
You've got another seven foot plus guy who's very long
and athletic and agile. That's someone who might have been
able to contest that shot a little bit better. But
this season, I don't think the Celtics had a ton
of great action. Sean Grandy and I spoke about this
on the pregame show tonight, which you could still watch
if you'd like, on our YouTube x and Facebook pages.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
We talked about it before.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
There's options for the Celtics to send at Wemby, but
they've only got one seven foot or and it's Kada,
so it's not like they are just flushed with people
to send at Victor Wembanyama. Especially during those critical moments.
Shireman played well against him, and during that moment he
actually played well and challenged that shot at a high level.
Wemby just made it so sleeper Celtics. I appreciate the comment.
(12:18):
I totally respect your point of view. I just disagree
a little bit on this one. I think it was
a fine decision. There was no one else on the
court who I would have said, Oh man, I really
wish they would have been defending Wemby in that moment.
And by the way, I don't think it would have mattered.
That's just a moment where he rose up, greatness, separated
(12:39):
itself and he made the biggest shot of the game.
All right, second and final comment of the night coming
in from a Lejandro Proskauer. But before we get to that,
a quick word from our partner, Exfinity Mobile. Celtics fans
want to keep your phone as fresh as your kicks.
With Exfinity Mobile, you can upgrade to a new device
(12:59):
every year, So send that old phone to the bench
and stay ahead of the game. Exfinity imagine that. All right,
let's get into this comment from Alejandro. In this comment
says inexcusable that no one ran back with d White
after Jalen got stripped. Okay, this play came with about
forty five seconds left in the game. The Celtics are
(13:22):
down by two. Jalen Brown gets stripped. It's a tough turnover.
Might have cost the Celtics the game, but after that
they've still got a shot. Derek White, on a two
on one, defensively goes back in the other direction. And
by the way, we all know Derek White is arguably
the best perimeter defender in terms of shot blocking and
stealing the ball in the NBA. He is the best
(13:45):
shot blocking guard in the NBA. He gets back, it's
de Aaron Fox. And who is the other, Julian CHAMPAGNEE,
you've got two guys there. Derek White somehow forces a
miss out of that fast break, that two on one
fast break. You just like, that's what he does. He
generates and makes moments like that. Defensively props to Derek White.
(14:10):
But to Alejandro's point here, the rest of the team
did not sprint its way back to grab the rebound.
So Champagne misses, Derek White forces the miss. It's only
him there to potentially grab the rebound. Now we're showing
the play right here, over and over again. We can't
(14:33):
see the whole shot of the whole court. I don't
know for a fact that no one was running back,
but based upon the amount of time that the play took,
which was about five six seconds between the steal initiating
the fast break and the rebound being put back in
(14:53):
by Champagne, you gotta think that someone on.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
The Celtics was fast enough to get back.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
No one got there and that allowed Champagnee to grab
his own rebound off the miss and put it back
and that was a huge moment. That also was one
of the ones that decided this game. So I tend
to agree with this take by Alejandro that like, you
gotta get back. Yeah, the turnover is a bummer, but
you got Derek White going back in the other direction.
(15:21):
If anyone in the NBA as a guard is going
to force a miss on a two on one against him,
it's Derek White. So you've got to get get going,
get sprinting, get back in the other direction, and be
there just in case he pulls off the improbable, which
(15:42):
he did. He was all by himself to try to
grab that defensive rebound. Obviously, he wasn't able to force
the miss and grab the defensive rebound, and that was
one of the things that cost the Celtics in this game.
But hey, the Celtics played pretty well all things considered.
Could they have won this game? Absolutely? Did they have
the offensive firepower down the stretch to do so?
Speaker 2 (16:04):
No, they did not.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
That On top of Victor wm Banyama just making two
critical plays on shots that I'm sorry you might not
like hearing it, but like, no one's gonna force him
to miss those shots. It's just a matter of him
making it or missing It's like almost like Kevin Durant
back in the day when he was in his prime.
You're not gonna block it, you're not gonna affect it.
(16:28):
It's just a matter of him making it or missing it.
On this night, Wemby made him and that wound up
giving the San Antonio Spurs a win. Between this game
between two the two number two seeds in the NBA.
So the Boston Celtics have lost two out of three
and now they head out on the road for a
long road trip, I believe four straight games on the road.
(16:49):
The first up is coming Monday night. That game is
gonna be against the Indiana Pacers out in Indiana, and
that game is tipping off at seven point thirty and
you can catch the game on NBC Sports Boston.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
It'll also be on Peacock if you want to watch
it there.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Thank you again for tuning in on YouTube and listening
to us on your favorite podcast platform. Make sure you
send in your comments after Monday's game. I'll take another
couple and see what we have to say. Have a
nice conversation about what goes down between the Boston.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Celtics and the Indiana Facers. That's it from the studio.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Have a great Saturday night, and we'll see you Monday
Sound off with the book on the Alien doing alien
like things on a Saturday night here at TD Garden.
This was a close game throughout between the Boston Celtics
and the San Antonio Spurs, the two number two seeds
in each conference in the NBA. This one was close
throughout and went down to the final seconds, the final minutes,
(00:28):
and during that time Boston struggled to put the ball
through the basket and meanwhile, on the other side of
the ball, Victor Wein Banyama did not. This is the
sound Off postgame podcast presented by Exfinity Mobile. I appreciate
you tuning in and giving us a listen. Let's talk
about Victor wm Banyama. This was an interesting game from him. Again,
(00:48):
he comes off the bench for the San Antonio Spurs,
and when he does, the Boston Celtics wind up having
his first primary defender be not Namish Kida, not Luca Garza.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
It was not a big man.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
It was Jordan Walsh, and Jorda Walsh actually did a
very good job when he was defending him. Really was
making life difficult. Yes, when Bayama scored a little bit,
but for the most part he was not making much
of an impact during the first half. Now you fast
forward to the second half, that's when he started to
get into a rhythm and during throughout this game, not
(01:26):
only did Walsh defend him as an undersize wing, but
the Celtics also used Baylor Shireman to defend him as
an undersized wing. And again, just like Jorda, Walsh had
some success defending him during the first half, so did
Baylor Shireman, and that carried a bit into the second half.
But once when Banyama got that rhythm, it was almost
(01:47):
impossible to turn him off. I thought the Celtics did
a really good job for the majority of this game.
But listen, greatness is greatness. Greatness separates itself from the
rest of the talent on the core in those biggest moments,
and that's exactly what Wenby did during this game. He
scored two baskets during that final minute, minute and a
(02:09):
half that were huge. Those wind up wound up deciding
this game for the San Antonio Spurs, especially that final
shot that came over Shireman just at about the free
throw line off a dribble or two. Unstoppable like that
is a shot that at seven foot four, seven foot five,
whatever you want to call him off the dribble, going
(02:31):
to his side and able to fade away and make
that shot.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
It's indefensible.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
There is no one in the league who can challenge
that shot and make him miss.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
It's just a matter of him making it or him
missing it.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
And not only did he make that one, but as
you just saw, he made the one just about a
minute before that as well, to give the San Antonio
Spurs a comfort zone and be able to finish this
game off.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
He was clutched.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
He was great, and again, greatness separates itself and that's
exactly what showed forth for Victor Wembanyama during the clutch
moments of this game. He was unbelievable and had I mean,
those are just two shots that cannot be stopped. On
one of them, you got a seven footter defending. On
another one, you've got a six foot five, six foot
(03:21):
six guy defending. Neither of them were gonna face force
the miss. It was just a patter of Wemby making
or missing, and he made them both a couple other
standout players for the Spurs tonight. Listen, we all know
Dearon Fox is a great guard. He's been an All
Star before He's electric with the ball in his hands,
had a nice balanced game around the table here for
(03:44):
the San Antonio Spurs during this game, twenty one points,
nine rebounds, six assists led.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
He led the team with those six assists. He was great.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
But the one who really stood out for me is
a guy that I've liked for a long time, and
that's Kelden Johnson. He was so impactful at both ends
of the court, and I've just got to say this
about him before we get over to the Celtics side
of the ball, is it's really nice to see a
player who was good for a long time for the
San Antonio Spurs, but now that this team is a
(04:16):
title contender in my opinion, i'm sure for a lot
of other people's opinion, now that Keldon Johnson is playing
on this team with so much talent around.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Him, he has fit into the perfect.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Role that fits his skill set, that fits what he
brings to the table every night. And we saw that
tonight against the Boston Celtics. Electric defense, like outstanding footwork
and defensive work against multiple Boston Celtics players making life
difficult for them, and that's why the Celtics only scored
ninety five points during this game one of the reasons
(04:50):
at least, and then at the other side of the ball,
he winds up scoring eighteen points on six of thirteen shooting,
made a couple of threes, grab ten rebounds. He just
fits so perfectly within this group for San Antonio, and
he was wildly impactful tonight off the bench. He was
the best bench player in this game and made certainly
a significant impact on San Antonio being able to win
(05:11):
this game. Now flipping it over to the other side
of the ball for some takeaways for the Boston Celtics,
I thought the Celtics played a pretty solid game. Remember
this was the third game and four nights for them.
They just played the number four team in the East
last night. That was a game that went down to
the final minutes. Then tonight they've got to take on
the number two seed and they loaded Western Conference. That's
(05:33):
a tough back to back. Granted there's no travel and
by the way, this is not an excuse, but I
thought the Celtics played pretty well all things considered, four
games in six nights against some good teams, like in
some games that really went down to the wire, some
really good games. I thought they played pretty well all
things considered. Now, they defended exceptionally well. They held San
(05:56):
Antonio to only forty percent shooting twenty two point seven
percent shooting from three point distance. That's great defense that
they brought to the table against the team, by the way,
that hadn't played since Wednesday. So that was strong from
the Boston Celtics. But they they just couldn't shoot the
ball well.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
They just didn't.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
It didn't seem like they had the legs to put
the ball through the basket. And by the way, they
didn't put enough pressure on the other team, the San
Antonio Spurs, to get to the line. Boston attempted only
six four free throws during this game. They were a
negative sixteen in the free throw attempt column. That's a
(06:35):
big deal in a game where both teams shot forty percent,
Like that's a separating factor in the game. The free
throw line. Again, San Antonio took sixteen more and they
made eleven more. That's the game right there, plus some.
So the Celtics just didn't have it in them tonight
to be able to put that pressure on the opponent
(06:55):
to get to the free throw line. Fans, I'm sure
are gonna be upset. There could have been a or
two that could have gone on Boston's way, but in general,
I didn't think that they applied the type of pressure
that the San Antonio Spurs did, so that was a
big part of this game. I did think that Baylor
Shyman played really well. There was a moment there during
the second half after he made a couple of threes.
He was playing some solid defense making life difficult on
(07:18):
Victor Wimbanyama, and I was actually I wrote down the
Baylor Shyerman game with a question mark, like I thought
that he was going to be the key reason why
the Boston Celtics won this game. Now, obviously they didn't,
but that doesn't take away from what he brought to
the table ten points off the bench, made a couple
of three pointers on a couple of attempts, two steals,
(07:39):
a couple of rebounds.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
I really thought that he played well.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
It was a nice night for him and it was
great to see him make an impact after not really
playing a ton of minutes here. Recently, Joe Mizoula set
up before the game, we have thirteen players on our
roster who can make an impact on any given night tonight,
you just knew, second night of a back to back,
third game in four nights, four games and six nights,
(08:03):
you just knew that someone else was gonna have to
step up. Baylor Sheierman, for a large portion of that
game was that guy for the Celtics to give them
a chance to win, and they did have a chance
to win, they just didn't finish it off. He played
twenty six plus minutes at the bench, four or five
from the field. Like I said, those ten points, two rebounds,
a couple of steals.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
He played really well.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
And he also had a pretty good contest on when
Ben Yama on that final shot at least for the
Spurs that you saw that shot that wound up capping
the game for them. The other thing that stands out
only ten turnovers for the Celtics during this game, but man,
it just felt like all of them were either very
important to the result of this game or just sloppy.
(08:47):
They weren't like passes that got tipped by the San
Antonio Spurs. It was like they dribbled off their leg
or didn't catch a ball that was passed to them,
or it was a turnover in a critical moment. So yes,
only ten turnovers, which is great and that's part of
the reason why they had a chance to win this game.
They limited their turnovers and therefore the points off turnovers.
(09:10):
But it just didn't seem like they were able to
take care of the ball in the most critical moments.
And then, like I said, just some of those turnovers
were just ugly one. So will you move on, You
move forward, and you got to see what's coming up
here next week, starting on this road trip. Before we
get to that, though, we got a couple of comments
from our fans. First up, we've got Sleeper Celtics on
(09:32):
Boston's defensive tactics down the stretch. We're going to talk
about that. And then next up we've got Alejandro Prosscouer
on a very important observation that they had from the
final minute of this game. So again, the first one
up here, Sleeper Celtics.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
I think here one, put your mobile bill in half
and save sixty five dollars month for your first year
with Expinity Mobile.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
All right, Sleeper Celtics is up first, and they say
there isn't a right answer for defending Wemby but relying
on Shireman to hold up against a seven foot five
post up in the biggest spot isn't ideal. Now, obviously
this is a comment about that final shot of the
night from Wemby that basically secured the game for San Antonio,
(10:29):
and we'll show it to you again here, but I
totally disagree. Who else are you gonna send ad him?
We already saw to me ash Cada challenged him. Actually,
I thought that Shireman challenged him at a much higher
level than Kida did just a minute before. So I
thought Shyerman played great defense on this play, made a
great contest. But again, the guy is seven foot four,
(10:50):
seven foot five. When he rises up and fades away,
it's just a matter of whether he makes it or
misses it. The only other player on Boston's roster who
you might say could impact him more might be Nimish Kida.
But Kada can't defend off the dribble as well as
someone like Shireman or earlier in the game, Jordan Walsh.
(11:11):
So this is nitpicking in my opinion. I don't think
there is any right answer against Wemby because that was
just a make or miss moment, and he made it.
There was no one on Boston's team that was going
to challenge that shot. Now rewind to last year. If
you've got Christas Porzingis on the court, that's a different story.
(11:31):
You've got another seven foot plus guy who's very long
and athletic and agile. That's someone who might have been
able to contest that shot a little bit better. But
this season, I don't think the Celtics had a ton
of great action. Sean Grandy and I spoke about this
on the pregame show tonight, which you could still watch
if you'd like, on our YouTube x and Facebook pages.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
We talked about it before.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
There's options for the Celtics to send at Wemby, but
they've only got one seven foot or and it's Kada,
so it's not like they are just flushed with people
to send at Victor Wembanyama. Especially during those critical moments.
Shireman played well against him, and during that moment he
actually played well and challenged that shot at a high level.
Wemby just made it so sleeper Celtics. I appreciate the comment.
(12:18):
I totally respect your point of view. I just disagree
a little bit on this one. I think it was
a fine decision. There was no one else on the
court who I would have said, Oh man, I really
wish they would have been defending Wemby in that moment.
And by the way, I don't think it would have mattered.
That's just a moment where he rose up, greatness, separated
(12:39):
itself and he made the biggest shot of the game.
All right, second and final comment of the night coming
in from a Lejandro Proskauer. But before we get to that,
a quick word from our partner, Exfinity Mobile. Celtics fans
want to keep your phone as fresh as your kicks.
With Exfinity Mobile, you can upgrade to a new device
(12:59):
every year, So send that old phone to the bench
and stay ahead of the game. Exfinity imagine that. All right,
let's get into this comment from Alejandro. In this comment
says inexcusable that no one ran back with d White
after Jalen got stripped. Okay, this play came with about
forty five seconds left in the game. The Celtics are
(13:22):
down by two. Jalen Brown gets stripped. It's a tough turnover.
Might have cost the Celtics the game, but after that
they've still got a shot. Derek White, on a two
on one, defensively goes back in the other direction. And
by the way, we all know Derek White is arguably
the best perimeter defender in terms of shot blocking and
stealing the ball in the NBA. He is the best
(13:45):
shot blocking guard in the NBA. He gets back, it's
de Aaron Fox. And who is the other, Julian CHAMPAGNEE,
you've got two guys there. Derek White somehow forces a
miss out of that fast break, that two on one
fast break. You just like, that's what he does. He
generates and makes moments like that. Defensively props to Derek White.
(14:10):
But to Alejandro's point here, the rest of the team
did not sprint its way back to grab the rebound.
So Champagne misses, Derek White forces the miss. It's only
him there to potentially grab the rebound. Now we're showing
the play right here, over and over again. We can't
(14:33):
see the whole shot of the whole court. I don't
know for a fact that no one was running back,
but based upon the amount of time that the play took,
which was about five six seconds between the steal initiating
the fast break and the rebound being put back in
(14:53):
by Champagne, you gotta think that someone on.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
The Celtics was fast enough to get back.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
No one got there and that allowed Champagnee to grab
his own rebound off the miss and put it back
and that was a huge moment. That also was one
of the ones that decided this game. So I tend
to agree with this take by Alejandro that like, you
gotta get back. Yeah, the turnover is a bummer, but
you got Derek White going back in the other direction.
(15:21):
If anyone in the NBA as a guard is going
to force a miss on a two on one against him,
it's Derek White. So you've got to get get going,
get sprinting, get back in the other direction, and be
there just in case he pulls off the improbable, which
(15:42):
he did. He was all by himself to try to
grab that defensive rebound. Obviously, he wasn't able to force
the miss and grab the defensive rebound, and that was
one of the things that cost the Celtics in this game.
But hey, the Celtics played pretty well all things considered.
Could they have won this game? Absolutely? Did they have
the offensive firepower down the stretch to do so?
Speaker 2 (16:04):
No, they did not.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
That On top of Victor wm Banyama just making two
critical plays on shots that I'm sorry you might not
like hearing it, but like, no one's gonna force him
to miss those shots. It's just a matter of him
making it or missing It's like almost like Kevin Durant
back in the day when he was in his prime.
You're not gonna block it, you're not gonna affect it.
(16:28):
It's just a matter of him making it or missing it.
On this night, Wemby made him and that wound up
giving the San Antonio Spurs a win. Between this game
between two the two number two seeds in the NBA.
So the Boston Celtics have lost two out of three
and now they head out on the road for a
long road trip, I believe four straight games on the road.
(16:49):
The first up is coming Monday night. That game is
gonna be against the Indiana Pacers out in Indiana, and
that game is tipping off at seven point thirty and
you can catch the game on NBC Sports Boston.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
It'll also be on Peacock if you want to watch
it there.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Thank you again for tuning in on YouTube and listening
to us on your favorite podcast platform. Make sure you
send in your comments after Monday's game. I'll take another
couple and see what we have to say. Have a
nice conversation about what goes down between the Boston.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Celtics and the Indiana Facers. That's it from the studio.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Have a great Saturday night, and we'll see you Monday
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