The good, bad and ugly from Celtics 118-112 win over Pacers

 

The Good

Kemba Walker was on target. He was high-scorer for Boston with 32 points on 53% shooting from the field. And he did more than just hit his shots, coming away with six boards and three assists. He, and the team, needed this game from him.

The bench came through. Payton Pritchard (30 minutes, nine points, four rebounds, team-high plus/minus of + 13), Jeff Teague (14 points) and Rob Williams (see next paragraph) all contributed to the victory.

Adjusting Rob Williams minutes to the 37 played by Myles Turner, TIMELORD's numbers project to 27 points, 19 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and five blocks. Turner had 17 points, 10 boards, one steal and three blocks. Make what you wish from that. 

The Bad

Marcus Smart remains out of action with a calf tear/sprain. It is uplifting for fans that the Celtics took the win from an Eastern Conference rival without The Wolverine on the court, but this injury worries me. His grade 1 sprain tore some micro muscle fibers. If there is another one, will it be a grade 2 or 3 with much more severe tearing of soft tissue. Let's hope not.

The Ugly

You knew it was coming. It must have appeared to Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum that someone had reduced the diameter of the hoop. Brown and Tatum combined for a mere 24 points on 9-of-30 (30%) on field goals and 1-of-6 (17%) on 3-pointers. The upside here is that Pritchard, Rob and Teague did their job of plugging the holes - and Kemba couldn't miss. 

The Conclusion

There is none. This was only one game, and we can assume that inconsistency still reigns until we see differently. But with the Jay Team on target - the bench continuing to contribute - Kemba adding a consistent scoring punch - and Marcus Smart back in the fold - the Celtics will be a Hell of a lot better than what we have witnessed lately.