Clik here to view.
BOSTON -- After a week of lopsided results and lackluster matchups, lo and behold a genuine playoff series broke out amid the frenzied din of a game that went completely off the rails in the first few minutes and only got stranger from there. You can go around the league in a day and not find a better playoff atmosphere than the one that took over the Garden on Friday night.
That’s not hometown parochialism either. For two days the Hawks talked about what they were about to walk into in Game 3, and they were still caught back on their heels by the energy reverberating through the building. It was a mix of wide-eyed delirium and hostile intentions. It was the kind of scene that produces three flagrant fouls, a handful of eye-to-eye standoffs and one errant swinging arm.
That swing, from Boston’s Isaiah Thomas, which connected with the head of Atlanta’s Dennis Schroder, appeared out of nowhere. It was so sudden, and so random, that no one caught it until moments later when Thomas was being wheeled out of a scrum by his teammate Jared Sullinger in front of a gaggle of New England Patriots while lord and master of the realm, Bill Belichick, cheered on from above.
After an anxious morning during which various Vines of the swing were replayed over and over, Thomas was ultimately saved. There would be no suspension.
In the moments following the game, the swing threatened to overshadow everything else that happened on Friday. No small feat considering the evening began with emergency starter Jonas Jerebko throwing down a volleyball spike of a dunk off a rebound and ended with Thomas scoring a career-high 42 points, putting him in such esteemed Celtic postseason company as Larry Bird, Sam Jones and John Havlicek. In between there were any number of comebacks and answers, egregious flops, dubious flagrants and a whole lot of insane shotmaking by both sides.
Clik here to view.
It was quite the turnaround from the first two games of this series that had been dominated by Atlanta’s ruthless and exacting gameplan. The Hawks quite rightly packed the paint and shadowed Thomas everywhere he went leaving the guard two imperfect options: force the action or kick it out to shooters who haven’t made shots. When he did force, he was met with resistance at the rim. When he kicked, he found shooters who couldn’t shoot.
This is nothing new. Making shots has been a team-wide issue for the Celtics all season and it became even more pronounced when their two of their best outside shooters -- Avery Bradley and Kelly Olynyk -- suffered injuries in the opener. Add to that a banged up Jae Crowder and it’s a wonder the Celtics had been able to generate any offense at all against what has been the best defensive team in the league over the last few months.
Thomas had taken a bunch of criticism from his local antagonists who contend that the first two games of the series were proof that he isn’t a true star, whatever that means. Everyone’s definition of a star player is subjective, if not entirely nebulous. Is a true star an All-Star or is that designation reserved for top-10 players? Top-20? Wherever you choose to draw the line and whatever criteria you assign, it’s worth noting that throughout the league IT’s opponents have no doubt about his status among the game’s best players.
"If you look at the playoffs in the East and if the playoffs are about having a guy to get the ball to in the fourth quarter of a close game, you start with LeBron," Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said recently. "Then you probably go to (Dwyane) Wade. The next two guys you want on your team would be Isaiah Thomas and (DeMar) DeRozan. He’s that good. And he’s not guardable with any one player."
Or as Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer put it Friday morning, "He’s a great player. He deserves and gets a lot of attention and that won’t change as long as he’s playing basketball."
All that goes to the heart of where this Celtics team stands at the moment. Once you get past Thomas, they have a number of capable players but no real secondary option. Together they have have created an identity as a team in the best sense of the word. That’s a terrific foundation that works well in the regular season. It’s also one that Danny Ainge and company have been reluctant to trifle with too much at this point, but it doesn’t get you where you ultimately want to go and they know that.
Clik here to view.
We all knew that going into the playoffs, but the starkness of Atlanta’s Game 2 beatdown laid all those issues out in the open. No one has been spared, not even the sainted Brad Stevens, whose insistence on sticking with an ineffective starting lineup placed them in a hole the size of the old Filene’s department store in Downtown Crossing. That’s life in the postseason, where every player and each in-game move gets dissected and scrutinized in real time.
Adjustments! We must have adjustments! So, Brad got weird.
He started Evan Turner in place of Marcus Smart and Jerebko for Sullinger. The new starting lineup had played a whopping 33 possessions together during the regular season, but Stevens added with a grin, "They’re plus-20."
The lineup change may have borne from short-handed desperation, but it worked marvelously. Jerebko’s presence afforded a bit of spacing, a lot of switching and jolt of athleticism. Turner provided another ballhandler and Stevens effectively moved Thomas to shooting guard, running him off screens instead of initiating every action. It was a bit like the way Larry Brown used to deploy Allen Iverson, which was fitting because A.I. texted I.T. before the game and told him to keep fighting. Game recognizes game.
The Hawks don’t do weird. Asked about the lineup change, which Stevens announced before the game along with an intention to move Thomas off the ball, Coach Bud demurred. The Hawks do what they do and figure out the rest later. It’s all very Spursian and it may have contributed to the Celtics opening up a 37-20 lead after one quarter.
What made this game evolve from an interesting academic exercise in tactics and strategy and turn into THIS GAME territory was that the Hawks absorbed the opening salvos and responded with their own. Forced to play in a frenzy, they unleashed Schroder, who is as close to a chaos conductor as you’ll find on this team. They tightened up defensively and started making shots, which has also been a problem for them. The Hawks trailed by as many as 20 and led by only a single point, but the outcome was in doubt right up until the moment Thomas hurled a shot-clock beating three from way beyond the arc.
Clik here to view.
"For any of you that have ever run the mile, you run the first lap, breakneck speed, and then about the third lap, it just feels like you’re never going to make the last two laps," Stevens said. "And I thought that we were starting to wear down, obviously, after we took that 19-point lead. But then Isaiah made huge play after huge play."
Asked about the leeway afforded Thomas, the coach responded, "He can shoot it whenever he’s open or thinks he’s open."
Emerging from the madness resplendent in a podium-worthy suit, Thomas entered his name into the long book of Celtic legend. He couldn’t help but smile when he heard the names of the other franchise immortals who had eclipsed the 40-point postseason mark. Some players who come through here will pay lip service to the past. Others embrace it. Thomas is the latter. "The best players figure it out," he said and no one could dispute his place on that list on this night.
I.T.’s performance did more than ensure his standing, it provided a crucial step toward validating the Celtics and their rebuilding approach thus far. Lose Game 3 and their inability to win even a single postseason game would have become a thing, a stigma that would have stayed with them until whatever comes next in Ainge’s process. Around the Garden there was relief mixed with trepidation. This game had everything and the series was now joined, but Thomas’ fate left the celebration subdued.
He was ultimately given a reprieve and the exhale was heard clear across the Charles. Game 4 is tonight at the Garden and playoff basketball is back in Boston. For real.
The ListConsumable NBA thoughts
The coaching carousel finally picked up steam this week with Tom Thibodeau agreeing to take over the Minnesota Timberwolves, while the Suns promoted Earl Watson to the top job by removing the interim tag. Scott Brooks surfaced in Washington and with Atlanta assistant Kenny Atkinson taking the Nets job, the openings are growing scarce. Here’s a look at the where we stand.
Tom Thibodeau, Minnesota: Thibs was not only the best coach on the market he may be the best coach, period. His defenses have become ubiquitous and in league full of grinders no one grinds harder than Tom Thibodeau. As was well-documented during his run in Chicago with the Bulls, his greatest strength may also be his greatest weakness. We’ll see how he adjusts to coaching up a young team rather than getting the most out of veteran squads. His new gig also carries the fancy title of President of Basketball Operations and this is where we’ll find out how much Thibs learned during his one-year sabbatical. The arrangement can work. Gregg Popovich has been doing it for almost two decades and Stan Van Gundy seems to have a clear vision of where he wants to take the Pistons. It can also lead to cap-space disasters and short-sighted fixes. Thibs has everything he could ever want and the guess is he will succeed because of everything he brings to the table, rather than have it destroy him.
Scott Brooks, Washington: How good a coach is Scott Brooks, really? That’s both an unfair question for a coach who won 62 percent of his games, and a completely reasonable one to ask. It should be noted that Brooks also won a number of key playoff series, including a 2-0 comeback against San Antonio in 2012 when the Spurs looked like the best team in the world. Even with that distinguished resume, his heavy reliance on veteran role players and lack of offensive ingenuity may have doomed those teams in the long run. Brooks takes over a Wizards squad with John Wall entering his prime and a need to win now. More than that, they need a firm direction after years of trying to latch onto trends without regard for personnel. This will be a fascinating experiment for both coach and franchise.
Earl Watson, Phoenix: The Suns were 9-24 for Watson after he replaced Jeff Hornacek, but that’s an unfair measure. Phoenix was a disaster from start to finish and by the time Watson took over, the Suns were without several key players. What is notable about Watson’s brief tenure is the development of Devin Booker and Alex Len, both of whom showed flashes in the final months. Booker in particular looks like a cornerstone piece for GM Ryan McDonough. The Suns have drafted well and may finally begin rebuilding the way McDonough envisioned back when he took the job in 2013. Watson deserves time to grow into the job with these players.
Kenny Atkinson, Brooklyn: Renowned as one of the league’s top assistants for years, Atkinson takes over a Nets team without much talent or draft picks. Brooklyn’s picks in 2016 and 2018 are owed to the Celtics who also have the right to swap places in the 2017 draft. It’s a smart play to focus on development and that appears to be the way new GM Sean Marks will take this club. It will be interesting to see how much pressure is applied from ownership, who have not displayed an ounce of patience up to this point.
TBD, Sacramento: The Kings seems intent on interviewing everyone, which is generally a sound strategy for a franchise that has made too many rash decisions for the wrong reasons. But they also have a window to make a move while the Lakers, Rockets and Knicks are still assessing their options. The big names have moved on and expressed little interest in dealing with the dysfunction that surrounds Sacramento. But this is another chance to get it right and finally find someone who can get the best out of DeMarcus Cousins. Maybe the sixth time will be the charm. Maybe?
ICYMIor In Case You Missed It
Say WhatRamblings of NBA players, coaches and GMs
"Not to be disrespectful, but you guys watch these games and you just come up like something’s got to change. Where sometimes you have to do the basic things better. Which is what basketball is. It kills me. Jeff Van Gundy always used to say, ‘Writers always love to say, They made an adjustment.’ Usually the adjustment is some guy that went 1-for-8 (and then) 6-for-8. I'm not joking. But if you're not watching the film, no disrespect, you have no idea what should happen."-- Steve Clifford, patron saint of F+Z.
Reaction: Couple of three things here. Clifford’s response applies to a very large swath of media who don’t watch Synergy cutups and is absolutely fair. Too many times the media asks a nebulous question about ‘adjustments’ and even if a coach like Clifford went into great detail about a pick-and-roll coverage it would fly right over people’s heads. Further, it is absolutely his right and every other coach’s right to not give away gameplans. Finally, the man has a point. Sometimes you just have to play better and hope the other guy plays a little worse. Of course, Clifford went with a huge lineup in the next game anyway.
"He jabbers. He moves his mouth sometimes. Their whole team does, kind of like their little cheerleaders on the bench. Every time you walk in the right corner. They’re always saying something like they're playing basketball, like they’re actually in the game. There's only seven or eight players who play, I don’t see why the other players are talking. They might as well just be in the stands, in my opinion."-- Stanley Johnson, talking about LeBron James.
Reaction: This is an odd tactic for a rookie like Johnson who just got torched by LeBron, but there’s been a tradition of random LeBron antagonists throughout the years.
"I (won’t) even lie to y’all! I don't even know what a flagrant foul is anymore. @NBA has to do a better job explaining. I have no clue!"-- Jared Dudley, via Twitter.
Reaction: Dudley made his comment during the Celtics-Hawks game on Friday when there were three flagrant fouls issued and a number of reviews. Dudley has a point. Even with a list of objective criteria, it’s still a subjective call with words like "unnecessary" and "excessive" in the definition.
"I tell you what, Kawhi Leonard has got to be a top two, top three player in the league. That kid, the silent assassin."-- Memphis forward Zach Randolph.
Reaction: Lost amid the one-sided Spurs’ series with the shorthanded Grizz has been Leonard’s continued evolvement into a terrifying force. All he did in Game was score 32 points to go with seven rebounds, five blocks and four steals. The only other players to hit those marks in a postseason game since 1984 are Hakeem Olajuwon and Kevin Garnett. Not bad.
"Pearl was one of the great phenoms of my era. The things he could do with a ball, they amazed me. They amazed everyone. He could embarrass you. We put our best defender against him and he did whatever he wanted. He dribbled through our press and got the ball to the basket. He was so great."-- Patrick Ewing on Dwayne Washington.
Reaction: This has nothing to do with the playoffs or even the NBA, but if you indulge me anything in this space, indulge me the Pearl. He was my first basketball hero and a larger-than-life figure. I first heard about the Pearl when he announced his decision to go to Syracuse during halftime of a college basketball game. His recruitment was that important and before he had even played a game at the Carrier Dome my upstate New York grandmother sent me a Pearl t-shirt. You have to understand that for me, college basketball -- specifically the Big East -- was everything and the Pearl was everything to me. Nobody, and I mean nobody, dribbled through Georgetown’s press. The Pearl did. Every kid wanted to handle like the Pearl, every kid in mid-80s Northern New Jersey wanted to be the Pearl. RIP, Dwayne Washington.
Vine Of The Weekfurther explanation unnecessary
This right here was performance art from Marcus Smart.