Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

 ☘️       How great is it having Jrue Holiday back?! He makes defensive plays that no one else can make in the NBA. He's as smooth as a nice cognac! The way he sees the defensive floor is master class. He knows where his body should be and always positions himself to give the offensive player issues. On offense he's able to Pop off for forty if need be. What I really love is how he passes the rock. Jrue Holiday is one of my favorite players.       Today's game has been a slog fest. These three o'clock starts are awful. NBA players are generally creatures of habit. This would be the time they are taking naps or getting work done. What we need to see today is the C's own the paint. Last game vs the Pacers they were awful. The defense was off and the Pacers took it right to us. Heck the last time we played the Raptors they took it to us.        Personally I'm not worried about the regular season anymore. With this thought process....

 🏀       C's are short handed again, no KP or Jrue tonight. I hope the C's can match what they did on Friday night to these Pacers. I expect the C's to give their absolute best tonight. Slow start for the C's as both Jays miss their first shots. Sam starts us off with a three, that's a huge start for him. He's been off lately and maybe tonight's the night he goes off.        Great job by JB getting into the paint and scoring. The C's need to live in there tonight. Indiana wants no part of the C's in the paint. Joe with the early timeout as the C's aren't looking good. Way too many missed threes and the defense isn't where it should be. Indiana is getting what they want out there. That's unacceptable! Get on em Joe and let's play Celtics basketball.       Time for a nice Celtics run in this first quarter. DWhite hits the three off his quick release. Going to need plenty of those tonight. A very disappointing start overall. C's...

 It was obvious from the start that the Boston Celtics were not going to lose 3-straight games . The 142-105 victory over Indiana was decisive. Jaylen Brown was the undisputed star of the show - producing a team-high 44 points , along with five boards, three assists, four steals and a team-high plus/minus of +30. Payton Pritchard came off the bench, but played 32 minutes while flirting with a triple double (18 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists) . Pritchard has gone from a little-used sub to a vital part as potential Sixth-Man-of-the-Year. How does he sneak in for those offensive boards? Speaking of "little-used", fans had a lengthy sighting of Jordan Walsh (21 minutes) . The 6'6" G/F came away with nine points, five rebounds, two assists and one block. Joe Mazzulla put Walsh early in the game and Jordan showed a little bit of why Boston signed him to a 4-year deal.   The Celtics take on the Pacers onc4e again at, TD Garden on Sunday.

 ☘️       C's will be without KP and Jrue Holiday. C's must play freaking defense tonight. Move the ball and punch these Pacers in the face. Sam is in the starting line up and Al is ready to steady the ship. C's post up Al early on, he doesn't score but I like the idea. JT gets us in the board and is looking at an And One. We get an excellent offensive possession that ends in a Derrick White three!       C's three point shooting sucks lately... With that said JB for three! Sam's shot is way off tonight. He's put up enough bricks to build me a new house. We have a timeout on the floor. Overall the defense has been decent. I still want to see the elite D we played last season. I will say the effort is there and that's what I wanted to see tonight. I don't about anyone else who played basketball growing up, but defense was always something I put the effort towards. When you could take someone's cookies on D is was a great feeling.       JB ...

 It wasn't simply strong performances by Philly's Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey that resulted in Boston's loss to the rival 76'ers . The duo combined for 60 points, but the Boston bench just did not put enough points on the board to make a difference in the outcome. With Jrue Holiday out for this game, Al Horford started in his place and had a solid game (17 points, 6-of-13 FG, 5-of-10 3s). The subs consisted of Luke Kornet, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, Jordan Walsh and Neemias Queta. The reserves managed a mere combined 12 points (5-of-16 FG) . Luke supplied half of the total points, but Pritchard finally had an off game - hitting 1-of-9 from the field and missing all eight shots from beyond the arc. Hauser and Walsh went scoreless. This was only one game, but it was Boston's second loss in as many games . Jrue Holiday's defense was sorely missed, and Pritchard and Hauser both had weak games off the bench. Hopefully, Jrue is back soon, and the White Pin...

  ☘️       C's have their line up of studs minus JT tonight. No one is better than this starting five even without JT. Give me them in any seven game series and they are bringing it home. No team in the NBA has enough to beat us. Only we can beat ourselves. I'm fully confident the C's are winning the title this season barring any injuries. I still need more fire power added to the bench but our Super Six are incredible. Then you add PP and Sam I Am and it's watch out!       I'm hoping to see some good ball movement and tight defense. JB needs to take over this game in every aspect and lead by example. JB gets the first basket and first assist of the game. I'm looking at Jrue and Derrick to have very solid games. Their skill sets will compliment what JB will bring tonight. So far everyone is contributing on the offensive end.       C's are breaking down on defense early on. That can't and shouldn't be happening. Joe may need a timeou...

  If you don't like the forthcoming gun analogy, jump to the next paragraph . As a former cop, I realize why many police officers carry a second (backup) gun on duty . It is there in the event the primary weapon misfires, jams or runs out of ammo. That is the Celtics' Al Horford. First of all, I don't consider the "Dominican Gentleman" as a backup - in the sense of a Celtics substitute - despite the media's habit of keeping him out of so many team photos. Al is vital to Boston's quest of Banner 19. Horford is seventh on the team in minutes (27.6 MPG), and Kristaps Porzingis is barely ahead (6th place at 27.7 MPG) . It's apparent that Joe Mazzulla is keeping "The Unicorn" (injury-prone) and "The Dominican" (38 years old) somewhat under wraps during the regular season . But Al's per-36-minute-stats are solid: 11.5 PPG - 7.0 RPG - 2.9 APG - .9 SPG - 1.2 BPG - .459 FG - .396 3s - .875 FT My point is that I love having Horford...