Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

 Yes! Why not Josh Minott as the fifth Boston Celtics starter. He was in the starting unit last night in Boston's win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, and his energy is infectious . In 33 minutes , the 6'8" forward came away with 11 points (4-of-9 FG, 2-of-6 on 3-pointers), 15 boards (5 offensive), two assists, three steals, one block. Minott played an important role in the 20-point margin over the Cavs. For the season, Josh leads his team with 1.8 steals per game - is second in field goal percentage at 58.3% - and is also second in rebounding at 6.5 RPG . He attacks the basket on offense and annoys the Hell out of opponents on defense . And he can't be left alone beyond the 3-point line, although his season average for the long ball is .333 and can be improved. So, why not Minott, Joe Mazzulla, in the starting unit for many of the upcoming games. He started the last two games for The Green - both wins for Boston . Is that a fluke? Joe Mazzulla needs to find out. T...

Watching the Celtics blow out the Cavaliers last night, I grew frustrated at the defensive rebounds that Boston players could not corral . Apparently, my eyes and mind-set betrayed me since the stats this morning showed Boston took down 39 defensive boards to only 22 by Cleveland. But The Green lost the offensive rebounding contest , pulling down only 12 to the Cavaliers 22.  Joe Mazzulla fully understands that his present crew is both undersized and underexperienced . Rebounding and defense are mostly intensity and hard work. And Joe is stressing that point to his troops . His message to his players is - "Work hard out there, be intense, don't give up offensive boards to the opposition, stay with your man on defense - or you will be taken out of the game." The first few months of this season will determine if the Celtics maintain a "win every game" mentality or go for a lottery pick. And Jayson Tatum's potential return towards the end of the ...

 The Boston Celtics are 43 games into the current regular season , and they are faltering. WHY? Well, first of all, this IS the regular season - and Boston is experiencing the lethargy often seen in a "post-Title NBA team" . In other words, the Celtics are bored with any pre-playoff contests - i tching for the post-season - and facing potential post-season competition from a very-improved Cavaliers team and a somewhat-improved Thunder squad. Celtics record 2023-24, 64-18 (780) Celtics record 2024-25, 30-13 (.698) And don't dismiss the Milwaukee Bucks or Denver Nuggets in this conversation. Any team with a Giannis Antetokounmpo or Nikola Jokic on it could give The Green problems in the post-season. And how about the Knicks, Grizzlies and (Heaven forbid) the Rockets. Surpassing the Cavs for first place in the Eastern Conference would be difficult for Boston, but the good news is that the Celtics thus far have won as many games on the road (15) as they have at home . A...

  Poise: definition Merriam/Webster: :  easy self-possessed assurance of manner  : gracious tact in coping or handling. also : the pleasantly tranquil interaction between persons of poise. no angry outbursts marred the poise of the meeting. b. : a particular way of carrying oneself : bearing, carriage "Easy self-possessed assurance of manner". "Gracious tact in coping or handling". "No angry outbursts". That describes the Jayson Tatum fans have seen and heard throughout the 2024 playoffs. I started noticing the change in the 26-year-old superstar when he took a hard foul by Miami's Caleb Martin . Tatum hit the deck hard, but bounced right back up with no verbal explosions or physical reaction, He simply walked away. #Celtics brothers and sisters all we heard for the last couple of weeks was how Tatum was underperforming. Check out the graphic below. ESPN showed this last night on Sportscenter, but you won't here achievement coming out of the mo...

 It's already out there. The vibes are resounding that the Boston Celtics , mostly due to key injuries to members of opposing teams, have had - and will have - an easy path - at least to the NBA Finals ( per nytimes.com ): "Boston faced a  Miami Heat  team without  Jimmy Butler . Now, it’s facing a  Cavaliers  team that misses  Jarrett Allen  and just had to sit Mitchell because of his knee. Also, this is a Cleveland team that gave away  the worst t-shirts ever  used as promo. Assuming the Celtics take care of business in the next game or two ( they beat Cleveland 109-102  last night to move to 3-1 in the series), they will face either a  young, inexperienced Pacers team  with one of the worst defenses we’ve ever seen, or an  extremely banged-up Knicks squad  missing at least two starters." No kidding! Since when has good luck not been a requirement for bringing the Championship Trophy back to your home city? G...

  Jrue Holiday doesn't have to prove anything to anybody. Despite his less-than-expected stats in the regular season, in last night's Game-3 in the East Semis, he showed his bosses and Celtics fans just how valuable he is. Holiday inked a 4-yeat/$134.4 million deal recently, which means he will be 37 years old in the final season of the contract if he picks up his player option . Brad Stevens knows what he has in the 2-time All Star, 1-time Champ, 5-time All-Defense and 3-time Teammate of the year. Boston truly needed last night's win in Game-3 against the Cavaliers, and Jrue expressed himself on the court from the start, defending, rebounding and scoring almost at will. He came away with 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists . He was dead-on in his shooting, hitting 7-of-10 from the field and 3-of-4 on 3-pointers. The focus will always be on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown , the two main stars for Boston, but Jrue Holiday's credentials are solid . I am most moved ...

 I can't believe I am resurrecting the much-despised Rick Pitino's rant skewering Boston fans, but I felt it necessary (Pitino) “Larry Bird is not walking through that door, fans. Kevin McHale is not walking through that door, and Robert Parish is not walking through that door. And if you expect them to walk through that door, they’re going to be gray and old. ....the only thing we can do is work hard, and all the negativity that’s in this town sucks." In his rant, Pitino was shielding himself from criticism coming from Boston sports fans, and it failed - as did Rick with his stint in Beantown. Now we have a mastermind at the helm in Brad Stevens and a young, somewhat-inexperienced, but focused, coach in Joe Mazzulla - trying desperately to nail Banner 18. This present Celtics team is good - very good . But they just can't seem to get the job done when that Banner 18 seems within their grasp. Right now, with one exception (Kristaps Porzingis) , they are healthy ....

  Don't blame Jayson Tatum for Boston's 118-104 debacle last night versus Cleveland. He is the only one that should not have fingers pointed at him in the Celtics loss in Game-2. Jayson constantly took it to the hoop, finishing with 25 points, seven boards, six assists and one steal . And he hit on 9-of-11 on his free throws. Isn't it ironic that LeVert translates to "The Green" from French to English . Two of Caris LeVert's scoring epics have occurred in Beantown . He must think his last name portends an explosion at The Garden ( per Steve Aschburner ): "Two of Caris LeVert’s most explosive games ever have come on Boston’s parquet floor. He scored a career high of 51 points against the Celtics while with Brooklyn in March 2020. Then in October 2022, by then with Cleveland, he went for 41. He has only two other 40-point performances against everybody else, in all other buildings." Now where were the rebounds from Boston last night? The Celtics were...

 The Cleveland Cavaliers never rally got anything going in Game-1 of the Eastern Semis versus the Boston Celtics, losing by a score of 122-95. T he Cavs simply don't have the horses to contend with Boston's potent offense, and their toughest barrier last night was the scoring blitz by Jaylen Brown and Derrick White. Brown came away with a team-high 32 points, hitting 12-of-18 from the field and 4-of-6 on 3-pointers . White followed with 25 points on 9-of-16 from the field and 7-of-12 from the hinterlands. Nothing that Cleveland could do to stop the barrage from the potent duo. Derrick does everything quietly, and this time he has picked up the scoring lost with the injury to Kristaps Porzingis . He is having a career season in Boston. Jaylen has taken some flack occasionally from Celtics fans this season, but he is playing like a champ. He certainly was on his game last night. One more point in the Celtics win. The Green pulled down 13 offensive rebounds to only seven by Cleve...

 In Game-7 of the Cavaliers-Magic series, I became a believer in what the Cavs' Donovan Mitchell can accomplish on the court. It looked like Orlando was going to run away with the win - that is, until Mitchell decided to take the game over. Cleveland took the game, and Donovan took the honors with 34 points, nine rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block. He repeatedly took the ball to the hoop, getting the score or picking up the foul. And he hit 15-of-17 of his free throws. He was terrific. His fellow backcourt mate, Darius Garland had an off night, hitting on only 3-of-13 from the field and 0-of-4 on 3-pointers . I doubt he will have many more of those games in the East Semis against Boston. The Celtics should be heavily favored in this matchup, particularly if Jarrett Allen remains out of action. Mitchell and Garland will be defended by Boston's Jrue Holiday and Derrick White , who seem more-than-capable of handling the Cavs backcourt duo.  Boston took the Celtic...

 It was  October, 2006 , and the Boston Celtics were in Manchester, NH for an exhibition game against the Cavaliers. As my wife and I entered the lobby of the arena, several younger members of the Celtics had been sent out to greet the fans.  Among the players was rookie Rajon Rondo , and he absolutely looked like a "deer in the headlights" . I will never forget that look.  The team at the time also included Paul Pierce (of course), Ryan Gomes, Tony Allen, Gerald Green, Leon Powe, Brian Scalabrine, Sebastian Telfair and Delonte West. Doc Rivers was at the helm. In the previous exhibition contest, the rookie R ondo had a great game in Boston's loss to the Toronto Raptors ( per Toronto City News ) "For the visitors (Celtics), rookie Rajon Rondo poured in an impressive 29 points, including a buzzer beating three pointer that forced the extra frame." I guess that told Doc Rivers (and us) that Danny Ainge made a solid move in acquiring this 6'1", 180-lb ...

 What's going on here? First the Golden State Warriors get destroyed by the Boston Celtics, 140-88 , on Sunday. Than on Tuesday, Boston loses a contest they should have won versus the Cavaliers - described by Jaylen Brown as a "mentality loss" . And on Wednesday, the Warriors decimated the surging Milwaukee Bucks, 125-90. Call it mental fatigue or physical fatigue (or both) , but the 82-game NBA regular-season schedule may just be too long . There is no logical reason for a team to get skunked badly and then a few days down the road dominate a League power. But that is what Golden State did. The NBA has become "Big Business", and that means money - lots of it. It is doubtful if the League will reduce the number of games anytime soon, but it is obvious that by the final-quarter of the regular season many players have had it. And it shows in the three games mentioned above. 

 There was no "bad day at work" talk by Jaylen Brown following the Celtics 105-104 loss to Cleveland last night. He called it right: Brown: "Today was a mentality loss. We had the game. Shouldn’t have happened." Boston was due for a mental lapse as their winning streak kept growing - ending last night a eleven (11) games. Jaylen realizes everything begins with the brain, and the Guys in Green lacked sufficient mental focus to close this one out after having a 2 2-point lead in the fourth quarter. Of course, Dean Wade's All-Star impersonation didn't help Boston's cause (23 points in 21 minutes) , nor did the overturned foul call against Cleveland. But it is on to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday , and fans can expect no mental lapses in that one.

1st Quarter Moments C's start things off well, Tikka Muscala drains the three. He will need a few more of these tonight. He didn't show very much last night. Tonight needs to make up for that. He's had flashes in a Cs uniform.  JB is purely the best player at driving to the basket. When he sets his mind to getting there, no on can stop him. He's incredibly quick and strong. The Masked Man has no fear!  Happy Birthday to Marcus Smart, let's hope it's a good one. Meaning get a win tonight and celebrate! I think last game Marcus played good defense. I do think he was iffy from beyond the arc. If you noticed the Knicks left him open to shoot.  Malcolm Brogdon is a sight for sore eyes tonight. He will need to have one of those signature games. He was truly missed last night. I'm sure he would made multiple plays that would have put us over the top.  2nd Quarter Moments MB drives inside and kicks it out to DWhite for three. The White and Brogdon combo is something...

  Grant Williams didn't take the floor at all last night in the Celtics win over the Cavaliers, picking up yet anothyer DNP-CD. He has participated in only nine-of-the-last-15 Celtics contests .  His floor time in those nine games has been significant (19.9 MPG) - but not his production. In that span, he has averaged: 4.6 points 3.8 rebounds 1.4 assists 29.3% FG 25.8 3s plus/minus of -4.3 This doesn't bode well for the post-season. Boston essentially went 7-deep with Derrick White and Malcolm Brogdon coming off the pine. That won't work in the playoffs. Sam Hauser and Mike Muscala also saw limited action, but Payton Pritchard, Luke Kornet and Blake Griffin rode the bench the entire game Hopefully, Grant's stats lately are simply a limited slump, but his effectiveness as a rotation guy appears to be in question.

  First Quarter Thoughts....... Rob has become quite the passer, love the way he found Al for a three. That's a smart and high basketball IQ play! T he way this Cavs team gets at it is very impressive.  Marcus Smart diving on the floor is something I'll always enjoy seeing. Off the break he finds JT for the monster jam! Love the way this team is running early on. The more this team runs the better they are. It all started on the defensive end, because defense wins championships!  JB with the off the glass beauty! Love the way he isn't afraid to attack the paint vs these Cavs bigs. The bigger they are the harder they fall! I don't believe there is anyone else in the league that plays with such aggression going into the paint! Thankful JB plays for the good guys! Derrick White is just sooooo underated! Flying in from the weak side and getting the offensive board. Finds JB for a one handed jack hammer DUNK! I think Derrick is a special player. He's a possession creator...

  Yes, I get it! Kevin Love is reportedly negotiating a buyout from the Cleveland Cavaliers ansd is possibly heading to Miami . After many seasons in Minnesota and Cleveland, he may want to spend his time in a warm part of the planet. Love is basically a California guy - the nephew of the Beach Boys Mike Love - but how about the East Coast. How about Boston . The 5-time All-Star is not done yet. He already has one Champiopnship ring when he paired with Lebron James in Cleveland. Kevin has always been a solid guy on the boards and possesses one of the most-effective outlet passes I have witnessed . And he can score from anywhere on the court ( per Wikipedia ): "His (Love's) middle name, Wesley, is in honor of  Wes Unseld , the former  Washington Bullets  center and the Loves' family friend." Love has seen limited floor time lately, but he was runner-up for Sixth-Man-of-the-Year last season, averaging 13.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. I have al...

 Woj reporting that Danny Green is is the process of finalizing a deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers when his pending buyout is formalized The Boston Celtics are one of the teams that have shown interest in the 6'6" wing. It would appear that Green may feel he will have a more-significant role with the Cavs, as opposed to the Celtics. Three-time champion Danny Green is nearing an agreement with the Cleveland Cavaliers, his agent/attorney Raymond Brothers of @RocNationSports tells ESPN. The Cavs can offer Green significant opportunity to make an impact on a playoff team. pic.twitter.com/hU3zkDhWYG — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 12, 2023

 The Celtics, Nets, Bucks, Cavaliers and 76'ers are clustered at the top of the Eastern Conference Standings. All five teams hold records of .615 or better, with Boston leading the entire League (28-12, .700). But The Celtics hold on that spot is tenuous. A significant injury to Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Donovan Mitchell or Joel Embiid can change everything. More news is pending on the seriousness of Durant's knee injury from last night. His potential prolonged absence and increased losses could rattle both Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons , both of whom are not regarded as the most-stable individuals in the NBA. The Bucks without Giannis would be in deep trouble. The Greek Freak does everything on the floor but sweep it. He is a phenomenon and in a class all by himself. The Celtics without Tatum leading them might fare somewhat better . His teammate, Jaylen Brown , currently accompanies Jayson in the top-10 MVP Ladder.  Aside from the possibility and co...

 Where do I start? The Celtics one-point loss (114-113) in OT to Cleveland most of all revealed a lack of "effective depth" against a strong opponent. A healthy Rob Williams would have made the difference, intimidating the Cavs attack in the paint and keep Al Horford's minutes below the 40-minute stint he endured. Both teams went 8-deep with Boston's bench trio of Grant Williams, Malcolm Brogdon and Sam Hauser supplying 26 points, 11 rebounds and three assists to the 16 points, nine boards and 0 assists garnered by Cleveland's Dean Wade, Kevin Love and Cedi Osman . The Celtics Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were forced to log 45 and 43 minutes , respectively, in the loss. The presence of Williams III would have cut those minutes at least somewhat. Overall, it was an exciting game by two talented Eastern rivals. The score was fairly close for most of the contest, and the addition of Boston's "SKYLORD " would have added more rebounds, blocks, put-...