Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

 The final score was: Celtics 114, Hornets 93 - in last night's preseason contest. Exhibition or not, Boston looks like they have been playing together for years. What stands out from last night's game were "The Green's" assists and steal numbers. The Celtics racked up 31 assists to only 19 for Charlotte . In the theft department, Boston also led in with 16 to the Hornet's seven. Payton Pritchard was high man for his team in assists with 11 to his credit. His shot wasn't falling (3-of-11 FG, 1-of-4 3s) so he turned his teammates loose. Jayson Tatum came away with six assists, and it would be great to see him average 6-8 assists per game this season. In the larceny department, Derrick White took team honors with four steals. Luke Garza was credited with three thefts.  The Boston Celtics are now 3-0 in exhibition play, and the team just looks smooth . NBA fans expect preseason play to be ragged and sloppy. That has not been the case with "The Gre...

 Celtics sophomore, Jordan Walsh , is off to a bad start in Summer League competition. His averages in the two games thus far are as follows: 25.5 MPG - 6.5 PPG - 5.5 RPG - 1.5 APG - 2.0 SPG - 1.0 BPG - 25% FG - 0% (0-of-11) on 3s But at least in Game #2, a win for Boston versus the Lakers, Walsh fared somewhat better than in the Game-1 loss to the Heat. So he may be settling in and not forcing his offense. His Game-2 points, rebounds, assists, steals, field goal percentage and plus/minus all improved over Game-1.  Tonight's contest against Charlotte will have some importance for Jordan. Despite his 4-year contract with the Celtics (year #4 is a team option) , he will have competition as backup wing for Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Sam Hauser. And he knows it. But that is what Summer League is all about . Walsh seemingly is desperately trying to participate in more Celtics games this season. He appeared in only nine Celtics games in his rookie season, spending most of his...

 We knew it was coming. The Charlotte Hornets have started their rebuild, and former-Celtic, Terry Rozier, is reportedly heading to the Miami Heat for Kyle Lowry and a 2027 first-round pick . The Hornets rank 13th in the Eastern Conference standings - with a 10-31 record - and are going nowhere. Terry should strengthen the 24-19 Heat (6th in East) as Charlotte transitions into tanking mode. The Charlotte Hornets are trading Terry Rozier to the Miami Heat for a 2027 first-round pick and Kyle Lowry, sources tell ESPN. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 23, 2024 Rozier, who will be 30 years old in March, can play both guard positions, and we can expect him to play his best against the first team that traded him, the Boston Celtics - especially if the two teams meet in the post-season. 

 The social media daggers thrust at the Celtics Jrue Holiday are well out of line . First of all, here is where he stands in the Celtics stats this season: Minutes: 34.6 MPG - 2nd on team Total rebounds: 7.4 RPG - 2nd Offensive rebounds: 2.1 ORPG -  1st Assists: 5.1 APG -  1st Blocks: 1.0 BPG -  2nd Not bad! Right? This 2021 NBA Champ was: 3-Time All-Defense, first team 2-Time All Defense, 2nd team Recipient of NBA Sportsmanship Award 3-Time Teammate-of-the-Year If minutes count, Holiday may be the 2nd-most-important guy on his team. He has always been a valued assist man , and his rebounding is terrific for a guard , and he leads the team in offensive boards - always a good indicator of a high work ethic. Why am I seeing so much Jrue Holiday hate today? Please make it make sense — Adam Taylor (@AdamTaylorNBA) November 21, 2023 His defensive work has also always been there, and voted three times as Teammate-of-the-Year . Come on! I just don't get the sudden hate o...

 Boston Celtics fans keep seeing it! Their team may be the best in the League, but t hey lose their poise at the end of close games. It happened once again in Boston's  OT loss (121-118) to the Charlotte Hornets . The Green were ahead by 11 points (100-89) at the 6:07 mark of the fourth quarter - and then the misses and miscues followed. Over the next six minutes, Kristaps Porzingis racked up three points, one rebound, one steal and one block - and was quickly yanked in favor of Oshae Brissett . Three seconds later, LaMelo Ball evened the score at 108-108 on a driving layup - assisted by former Celtic, Gordon Hayward . We can only speculate what may have happened if the "Lengthy Latvian" had remained in the game. As good at this Beantown group is, they still get ratted in the clutch , and that won't work in the post-season. The cure? A stabilizing influence (Horford?) and/or a last-second hero (White?) may have helped, but both were out of action. On to the next ga...

  NBA analyst, Sam Mitchell , has a bit of an accent and can be difficult to understand at times. But he was crystal clear on his praise of the Boston crew following their 127-99 drubbing of the Charlotte Hornets. Per Sam Mitchell: "Just trying to figure out how the rest of the League allowed them (Celtics) to put this team together." -- Sam Mitchell There is no misconstruing those words. This current Celtics roster has to be scary for the rest of the NBA . Boston had 10 players pick up significant floor time , and Al Horford and Luke Kornet were not among them. Seven Celtics put up double-digit points. And how does a team 55 boards, 34 assists, 22 steals and six blocks sound? There are solid reasons for Boston fans to be excited about the 2023-24 season. Going back to Sam's quote about the strength of the Celtics roster, it sounds somewhat like what was said about past Lakers and Heat teams - when Bostonians asked, "How the Hell was this roster (Lakers, Heat, e...

 The Celtics' trade for OKC's Mike Muscala may not have been earth-shaking, but the 6'11" sniper checks a number of boxes for Boston. He logged 16 minutes in the Celtics win over Charlotte last might, hitting 4-of-8 shots from beyond the 3-point line. He l ooked like he had been with The Green for years. So what boxes does he check? Start with the "shooter with size" that Brad Stevens (and Danny Ainge before him) are always looking for. The second box has to do with Grant Williams . If Stevens chooses not to go with Grant long-term, Muscala may be able to fill his role - at least partially. The third box is somewhat in question and will be answered in the second half of the season. Specifically, can "M&M" contribute in the post-season? Last night's sample-of-one is not sufficient to answer the query, but I would be surprised if the answer was "No". Mike may not have been Stevens' first choice prior to the Trade Deadline...

 Jayson Tatum's incendiary performance in last night's victory over the Charlotte Hornets erased any remaining doubt about just how good this youmg man really is. After raining down 51 points on the Hornets, he now has seven games of 50-or-more points. So what are the possibilities. I have broached this question before. Time to revisit. So Jayson Tatum, 45 days shy of 25th birthsday, have same amount of 50pts games (7) as three best scorers in Celtics history (John Havlicek 1, Paul Pierce 1, Larry Bird 5) combined. If he stays heathty (please God) he would join Russell and Bird in all-time Celtics frontcourt pic.twitter.com/Dww3rgYAGs — Davor Vitković (@DavorVitkovic) January 16, 2023 Titles come into serious play here, and Jayson has zero of them. Bill Russell has 11 and Larry Bird has three . Jayson has yet to prove that he can surpass these two superstars. For years, I have projected Tatum as having a ceiling between Paul P:ierce and Larry Bird.   He has already surpassed...

 I recently wrote about the importance of the Celtics holding their ground in the top-heavy Eastern Standings. Well, as of this writing, they are doing better than that - t hey are separating themselves from the pack. They still hold the top record in the League (32-12, .727) and are on a 6-game winning streak. They are trailed by Brooklyn (27-14) and Milwaukee (27-16). For the Nets and Bucks, injuries to Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo/Kris Middleton , respectively, come into play here. But the Celtics have been without Jaylen Brown for the last two games, both wins for The Green. Certain players have stepped up to fill the void created by Brown's absence. In last night's 122-106 victory over Charlotte , it was Malcolm Brogdon (30 points, 65% FG),  Al Horford (16/7/6) and Marcus Smart (13 points, 12 assists). Can the Celtics keep up their winning ways? It seems quite probable. Thus far they have weathered the blow of being without their second-best (some may think ...

  Marcus Smart is not a "true" anything - except one Hell of a pro basketball player that does what is required to win games.  Boston has had its share of "traditional" point guards - Bob Cousy, K C Jones, JoJo White and Rajon Rondo , to name a few. But The Green fared quite well in the 80's with a non-traditional back court pairing of Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge . The Celtics even tried Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker in that role, both of which, for varioous reasons, didn't work out. Now comes Smart at the point - with a lot of fans, analysts and sports writers naysaying the trial as a future failed venture. Why? Because supposedly, the Celtics needed a true point guard to guide them - not some defensive specialist whose offensive game often sputtered. All that has changed. Marcus Smart is orchestrating a team that has the best record (17-4) in the NBA and often produces vibes of being able to waltz into possession of the 2023 Championship trophy. Marc...

  Turnovers (4 last night vs. Charlotte) and a few defensive lapses aside, if Noah Vonleh can supply more games like this one, he deserves a roster spot in Boston. Born in Salem, Massachusetts, Vonleh was taken with the 9th-overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft , but has yet to supply the promise he displayed at Indiana as a collegian. Brad Stevens is hoping that changes in Beantown. If we can see repeats of this game, Noah Vonleh is in with Boston. Noah Vonleh Highlights vs Charlotte Hornets (14 pts, 13 reb, 2 ast) | 20... https://t.co/1MbthU3ym1 via @YouTube — Tom Lane (@CelticsSentinel) October 8, 2022 Noah supplied a double-double in 31 minutes as the starter at center versus the Charlotte Hornets, to the tune of 14 points (6-of-8 from the field) and 13 boards. His footwork is decent inside, and he seemed to have little trouble scoring down low . At 6'10" and 257 pounds, it is unlikely he will get bullied close to the hoop. He is an excellent rebounder. In short, the N...