Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

 After Miami's 116-99 loss to Boston in Game-4 of the East Finals, Jimmy Butler was asked how his team would respond in Game-5 in Boston. He mentioned "going back to our habits" . Well, what got the Celtics the win in Game-4 was getting away from some of their bad habits fans have witnessed of late. Boston was intense from the start and their defense forced Miami into 15 turnovers for the game - and kept their own total to 10 miscues . The Celtics also got into their passing game, "outassisting" their opponent 28-to-18. In this contest, Boston continued to throw up a lot of treys (45 of them) , but they were falling (40% on 3-pointers) . But The Green decided to play tough "D, resulting in eight (8) steals and eight (8) blocks, to Miami's 5-and-2, respectively. And it didn't hurt that Al Horford and Grant Williams stepped up, supplying a combined 26 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks.   And for those fans down on Jayson Tatum, he ...

 The Celtics Jay Team gets most of the attention - as they should. And relative new additions to the backcourt, Derrick White and Malcolm Brogdon certainly get recognized for what they supply, as does Rob Williams. But it occurs to me that I have written little about Al and Marcus recently. In Boston's 128-120 win over the Hawks last night to end the series, this guard/center duo was suberb. It was clear from the opening gun that Smart was taking no prisoners . He had "The Look" . And the production - to the tune of 22 points, four rebounds and four assists . The Wolverine handled his point guard duties perfectly. Often maligned for his shot selection, Marcus hit 49.3% from the field and 38.5% on 3-pointers in the 6-game Hawks series, averaging 16.9 points per game. Horford was equally valuable in the victory, He finished with a line of 1 0 points, 12 boards, four assists, two steals and three blocks . He was everywhere on the floor, playing like a guy in his mid-20...