After a roller coaster week, how are we feeling about the Boston Celtics?

After a roller coaster week, how are we feeling about the Boston Celtics?

[Applause] At the a mo [Applause] round take that the Celtics Talk podcast is presented by 24 autogroup.com 11 locations across New England what’s up everybody off day edition of the Celtic Talk podcast here on the NBC Sports Boston podcast Network coming to you after the Celtics lose consecutive games for the first time in

Four months all the good that was happening at the start of the week out the window it’s Doom and Gloom uh J I’m not here to to for you to to to to pile on or or whatever but I think you had some reasonable reasonable takes after this game and you expressed some

Consternation about this team just start big picture how you feeling after what you saw this week yeah so I mean big picture is like yes they are the quote unquote best team in the NBA and we can keep saying that and maybe at some point we will believe it the problem is we

Know what we’re looking for is what are they going to do April May and hopefully June and the last two games are really in a nutshell the kind of things that have cost them in postseasons you know really since the Jays got here you know the Cleveland game a winnable obviously

Winnable game you’re up 20 with n minutes left you blow that game how many times have we seen in the playoffs Celtics big lead I mean Miami in the bubble it was like pretty much every game blow it lose now you put yourself in a hole then last night’s game you’re

Looking at a team that obviously has just won a title is a true Contender knows how to win a close game and what happens their star delivers Celtics star does not and so here we are with all of the same doubts and I’ve heard you do

This on the postgame show and on early edition and it’s so true it’s like you want to believe that they’ve changed but there’s just enough that the doubt has to be there I mean you you’d have to be truly wearing the felger you know Green

Glasses and all of that stuff uh to not be at least a little bit concerned about what all this means for June and I think you put it nicely there’s probably nothing they can do over the next 20 game that’s going to change your mind right like there’s a couple games

Against the Bucks that will be good little barometers along the way but if they come out and take down the Blazers like okay you know like they went a close game against Utah so I think that’s going to be the frustrating part is we’re really not

Going to be able to sort of check back on this maybe not until the biggest stage of all like because you know we’ll see what happens with the the early rounds of the playoffs but I do agree it’s just sort of PTSD here where you thought they had turned a little bit of

A corner but then okay late game execution wasn’t great the other night blowing a big lead when they had been so good about playing with a lead and then in Denver where it’s just a little bit of everything the turnovers early the late buzzer beaters when they put such

An emphasis on being good at the close the close of quarters um and then just Tatum being kind of fading so I I guess let’s let’s let’s let’s dive into it like Tatum’s gonna be the big story I don’t want to spend too much time because it’s just he’s gonna get crushed

And you look at the numbers and it’s understandable now his playoff numbers are better how are you feeling about Jason Tatum as we look ahead to the playoffs like I I I do you say as long as he does it on the big stage I’m okay with it or

Is this like a growing legitimate maybe he’s just not clutching those moments yeah I mean it’s some good some bad it’s hard to say that a guy who drops 50 in a winner take all game doesn’t bring it I mean that like I have a problem with that and he had a monster

Game against Milwaukee the year they went to the finals he had the great game one of the finals against Golden State where he doesn’t score at all but he’s dishing out assists and the Celtics win because of the way he moved the ball so there are things I like about what Tatum

Has done this year he is a willing facilitator all of that said the late game stuff you can’t ignore you wrote it 19 dribbles 19 dribbles at the end of that Cleveland game to set up what the kobe fallway that we’ve seen him Miss against Detroit and Minnesota and go

Down the list he seriously missed that shot at the end of games like five times this year it feels like he’s one for seven in those situations so we know that’s bad the other problem is the Tatum we saw last night which is the sort of listless disengaged mopy and he gets

Like that every once in a while and and it’s like Jaylen Brown doesn’t really get like that Jaylen Brown he couldn’t make a free throw but otherwise he brought it last night right from the beginning you know and he was treating that game and joic both of them were

Treating that game like a finals preview and then you see Tatum he’s missing layups he only took 13 shots that’s really I mean he took 13 against Golden State but they won by 52 the last time he had that few was the blowout loss to

The bucks when I think he took like five or six but for Tatum to only take 13 shots in a game like that I’m sorry Joe Missoula I can’t simply say oh he was taking what the game gave him Jaylen Brown made the game come to you know he

Made the Nuggets React to what he did and Tatum there was just too much passivity and then at the end I know I’m rambling but at the end he has the one shot to make it all go away and if he makes that one what are we talking about

Today we’re saying you know what Tatum was struggling all night but when it mattered he knocked it down and it’s wide open it was right there for him clang it’s so many things about that last possession I mean Jaylen just going full bully ball to get that turnover was

Like just an amazing moment on a night that he was fantastic and you’re thinking here we go and Tatum like even the lob was a little bit off if he just put it on a different spot maybe jaylen’s able to go up and over yic and really cap the night at least you’re

Tied at that point you still end up with a great sh because Derek white appears out of nowhere and as he always does makes the right play I I’m with you like you can’t come away empty in that possession I mean I don’t know if you gotta chase the rebound whatever you got

To do but like I I I the basketball Gods I don’t understand like that felt like the moment that you usually get rewarded and and everything Finds Its water Finds Its level but yeah it’s just it’s uh it it’s baffling a little bit how Tatum has these nights where I thought last night

He would be super engaged okay he hears all the noise from the Cleveland game and comes in and just like channels what we know he can be I knew he wouldn’t push too hard in the in the notion of joic is over there I want to be MVP too even though that

Would have been part of the conversation he just didn’t handle the double teams good I mean sloppy turnovers five in the first half just oh the two onone with Drew holid late in the game where it’s like an Engaged Jason Tatum in normal Jason Tatum mode dunks that he’s not

Trying to gim a bounce pass by a Defender he’s like stop me you know and that was frustrating to watch I think the one thing I will say positively uh just to interject for a second you have holiday making a couple of huge threes like he’s become the master of the

Contested Corner three forget about the open ones so he answers the Bell late Brown answered the Bell late porzingis answered the Bell late so I do think they have op Dereck white didn’t have a great game but they have options at least and to bring this back to Tatum I

Wonder and I’m going to run this by you so the criticism at the end of the Cleveland game is you’re trying to do it all yourself 19 dribbles like you said you need you can involve teammates and Jaylen Brown sort of intimated yeah I I should be involved in these plays too

Which he should and I wonder if Tatum took that as sort of like they oh they don’t want me to have the ball not the players but everybody I need to give it up more so I’m going to go into this game with a mindset of giving it up up

And then he just lost that aggressiveness it it’s interesting he he just has those moments like it’s so weird like usually when he goes scoreless in the first quarter doesn’t take a lot of shots like I feel like that’s a normal Tatum night he’s letting Jaylen get going he’s trying to get

Everybody else involved and he’s gonna pick his spots last night he made a couple ear early threes and I said o this sort of has the feeling of a night where he’s really cooking like he’s got it going early and then to your point where you he should I think he took

Three shots in the middle quarters you know and that’s the point where the game was getting away that’s when you need to at least kind of like hang around and it got to 10 or 12 at that point and so yeah it was a little surprising that he

Was as differential now they were blitzing him and and trying to force the ball out of his hands and I think you know maybe the turnovers got him in his own head a little bit and now you’re overthinking everything so uh I didn’t love that part of it but yeah I I guess

I’m just I’m I’m I’m surprised overall that he wasn’t coming off that game and having to hear the noise that I just thought that was going to be like laser focus Tatum and I don’t know why necessarily now on the like the positive spin I would put would be like Jaylen he

Knew Jaylen had it going he was G to make sure Jaylen uh touch the ball the late game situation thing it’s so funny this is what my mind keeps racing back to remember Joe gets the job last year they run the same play probably 20 times

Where it was Tatum in the back court head of steam out of a timeout got good looks every time and he actually hit a few gamewinners down in Philly I think there was another one along the way and we started kind of like Ching Joe and

Being like is this the only play you’re going to run and what we’ve come to learn is that if something works it’s not going to go away from it maybe they gotta go back to that maybe like maybe I like maybe we over we we scared Joe off

Because we were so critical of like oh he doesn’t have any other plays I need Joe to be willing to call a timeout in that situation I need Tatum to get the ball with the head of steam and not be taking the air out of the ball and

Allowing a defense to get set um and he’s just got he’s just got to start making some of those shots and I I am more encouraged I think he’s shooting some like 50% on those crunch time shots uh in in the playoffs which is you know

Encouraging but down to like 27 26% in the regular season and I just can’t put my finger on besides the fact that it’s a low percentage shot for most guys you’re you’re typically dribbling into a like Paul Pierce you know was was an outlier in terms of he made it a little

Bit more frequently but most guys are in that 30% range and defenses are all over you I just I’m just I don’t know I don’t know how to put like the properly contextualize it it’s just weird that he wasn’t a little bit more locked in in

That game yeah I mean it seems to me the late game Tatum thing is maybe he is taking too much on himself he definitely is taking too much on himself the idea of I’m the alpha this is my team I’m the all-nba guy I have to go win this game

And that’s really not how the Celtics win when they’re at their best when they’re at their best it’s moving the ball it’s maybe D White’s open or holiday you have a lot of Al Horford there are a lot of guys you can trust to take that shot if they’re open and the

Problem is as soon as those last second plays start whether it’s 5 seconds or 20 seconds what is the Celtics offense it’s four guys just standing no one is moving they’re all just clearing out for Tatum and at this point we should kind of know how that’s going to end whereas I always

Go back to the Nets game you know in the playoffs game one of their finals run how does that game end no timeout every single guy touches the ball Jaylen Brown passes up a potential game-winning shot Marcus Smart of all people is open for a second passes it up splits a double team

Finds Tatum 360 layup game over and they are Off to the Races that’s what I would like to that’s an extreme example but I would like to see the Celtics actually run a play like run an offensive set rather than clear pound pound pound pound Pound fall away like the follow

Way he missed against the nuggets in Boston same kind of thing it’s just like you can get better shots than that because you have really good teammates on the floor so here’s the interest interesting conundrum to me so okay so Joe moula with his philosophies about the game he loves pressure situations

You have probably read some of the stories about his ta Wan doe training and likes getting put into like tap out holdes and trying to figure out a way out and not panicking and regulating your breathing in that moment and there is something to the notion that you’re

Not always going to have a timeout your team has to be able to play poised I think the frustrating thing when I come from a fan perspective is it keeps happening right like it’s just like why it even if you want to put your team in that situation how come they are not

Better equipped in that moment to know what to do then specifically the Cleveland game where you know 19 seconds shouldn’t you have something didn’t you run something in practice that you like you go to do you Tatum needs to be more aware of the clock obviously but just

Just getting into a set doing something that where where you’re coming from that is the maning part to me so okay if your players don’t know to do that or just for whatever reason freezing the moment that’s when I need Joe as much as it goes against his philosophy to then step

In and so I just think there’s a balance there where you want to be true to what you believe in and authentic and all that but you got to save your players from yourself your job is to you know put them in the best position to win and

The other part that’s crazy to me is I think Missoula was leading the NBA in points out of a timeout which should probably shouldn’t be a surprised cels have a ton of offensive Talent they usually do good things last night was not a banner night they had some

Turnovers out of atos and you know I I but I would rather he put them in a position to draw up a play than to just kind of Let them fight through it because at some point you got to win win one of these because I think that’s

Going to be more beneficial to you than necessarily going through the adversity of not having the time out oh totally and and think about it too I mean just anecdotally it certainly feels like Missoula leads the NBA in timeouts while your team has the ball in the middle of

An offensive possession and suddenly he doesn’t like something he sees and he’s calling timeout it’s like where is that instinct when the clock is ticking down and I know uh I didn’t notice it on the broadcast but people said after the game oh he was trying to call time out with

Like 4 seconds left well what good is that going to do now you’re just setting yourself up for a desperation it’s going to be the same shot uh just with 4 seconds left when you had plenty of time and the irony of all this is if Tatum

Just releases that shot a second sooner and doesn’t put himself in that gray area foul not foul there’s a tip in and they win the game you know and and You’ think they would take the lesson from Miami last year with Marcus Smart getting that shot up as fast as possible

Even though low percentage fallway three whatever he gave Derek white time to go lay it in they don’t that that’s such a basic thing late in game it’s you know they play the two for one game as well as anyone in the league at the end of

Quarters and then at the end of games they lose sight of hey possessions matter here if we miss this and there’s time and we foul we’re still going to get another possession and that’s the kind of thing that’s just so frustrating to watch because it’s game after game in

This situation and it’s always the same to go back to what you said about Missoula and if you’ve seen you know see it enough why not change it it’s like it would be one thing if they were trying different things and getting the same result they’re trying the same thing and

Getting the same result so it’s like you got to mix it up come on uh I’m such anert have you seen a week where the polarizing swing of how a nation views a team has shifted so dramatically from Sunday when like I think like the nation was getting ready for duckboats and

Planning the parade to Tuesday night like sort of everyone looks up and goes H not a great look losing a big lead maybe we got to maybe we’re jumping the gun on this too I mean got people thinking like oh there’s no way they’re beating the the Denver Nuggets I guess

Here’s where I land like while I’m frustrated that the team was not better in both situations and did not do what they’ve done most of the season and Avenge the losses and and play better like I still can’t get my mind off a Celtics nuggets finals you know I look

At the West now with how Anthony towns going down I look in the East and I say no one has shown themselves against the Celtics to be on their level and things will definitely be a little bit more difficult in the playoffs the Bucks will

Take it up a level the Knicks if they get healthy can be physical there’s going to be hindrances to it but am I crazy to think that it’s still steamrolling towards Celtics and Nuggets not at all and and the thing is you look at the Nuggets I don’t want to say

They’re a two-man team because that’s not quite true but really it’s Murray it’s joic and then all the other guys okay so you have Aaron Gordon who was kind of their bigger version of Drew holiday does a lot of little things he’ll clean up junk certainly a winning player but it’s like you

Know uh Christian Brown you you know Caldwell Pope you start going down the even Michael Porter you go through the list of these guys and you’re like they’re okay but there’s they don’t I don’t think they have the depth that the Celtics have even in their starting five

And for the as poorly as the Celtics played last night they did have a chance with a minute left to win that or at least take the lead in that game and so it’s like if both of these teams to the top of their ability I feel like the

Celtics are better the problem is the nuggets are just much more likely to do that because their best player the MVP is a guy who controls the pace and flow of the game from the opening tip to the final buzzer and the Celtics their Supporting Cast is better but they just

Don’t have a guy Tatum isn’t that guy yet I don’t know that he’s ever going to be and so that’s where you start to say how do these teams match up but I mean the last fin the Celtics had more Talent than the Warriors at that point and experience and calm and Transcendence

From Steph Curry were the difference joic is capable of that same kind of transcendence and it I how could you not be worried about what a finals matchup would look like yeah I think that’s the fear is that you’re just kind of watching the same movie where you know

The Celtics that second half of the Year where just Juggernauts and um obviously carried it into the playoffs but when those moments got a little tight they just weren’t quite ready for it I think we all thought maybe they had turned the corner a little bit there and just I

Don’t know I don’t want to overact to two games but you do you see some of the familiar things you even mentioned the bench you know like I I think Tillman has a a real chance to be like a nice little curveball defensive versatility I

Don’t know how much you want to run that Horford Tilman lineup it was not very good last night at least against that team but I love that he can come in and guard joic he can guard Murray he can move his feet um offensively very rough

Which is like going to be part of the issue the bench didn’t score a lot um but I need pton Pritchard to be a little bit better in those moments Sam Hower knocked down a couple threes but he was only out there for probably 10 minutes

Al like I think we know he’s goingon to go up in the postseason but last night was one of those games where usually in the regular season he turns it up a little bit and I don’t know no one had an answer for for that so just I need to

See some of those old habits that we thought were making progress just sort of shorted up a little bit before before I I dive into the really uh the optimistic stuff let’s get into Jaylen Brown just like he has been so good out of the All-Star break and I think it

Really goes back to before the allar like he he went and he did the dunk contest you know rare that anyone even wants to do that at this point was almost MVP of the game Tatum was out there you know hope trying to kind of

Get him help him get to that that uh potential award um and then you got just absolutely dominant both from the Warriors game to last night I you can sense his frustration afterward that he played that good in that game and they did not get to the finish line of a win

And and like you said you kind of get the sense that he wants to be more involved there but where you at with Jaylen is does this surprise you at all like I feel like he’s he’s re steamrolling towards an all NBA birth which I think at various points of the

Season people might have been like I don’t know um it’s offly aided by the Celtic success but is Jaylen showing you anything in this little stretch absolutely I mean not just this stretch really all season I think he’s having a better year this year than last year the

Numbers aren’t going to be the same because he’s given up a little like everybody else has but he’s much more secure with the ball uh free throws are obviously an issue last night he’s become a better passer you know somebody where he’s not Tatum made a bunch of

Forces last night and that was typically what you used to see from Brown a lot these passes into traffic you’re like what are you looking at and yes there’s still some of that but he’s much better there and the other thing I don’t think you can discount the fact that he got

The contract and so you’re not playing for that that anymore you don’t have to worry I need to be all NBA cuz that’s how I get paid no you earned it you got it you’re calm and content with that and it’s great to see because those contracts can go in one of two

Directions you get it and then you kind of let off the gas or you get it and you’re relaxed and you say I’m going to let my talent speak and that’s what he’s doing so I love everything I’ve seen from Jaylen Brown last this year and particularly last night against Denver

Just the way that when nothing was really going right for them offensively he was like well I’m working and so and he was not intimidated by the moment at all and we’ve seen that in the postseason from him a lot of times you know going back to the Warriors series

He was the one guy who consistently showed up in those finals so I am on board Jaylen Brown and I’ve been a a kind of a wishy-washy Jaylen Brown guy over the years I thought he was a little too onedimensional but you look at the way he stepped up defensively I mean

Demanding to take jic which I don’t know how that would have worked out but I like the you know the fact that he is now embracing that role of I’m going to guard Jimmy Butler I’m going to guard Yan whoever like give me that guy I like

That from him a lot yeah even this week Steph Luca like there’s been he’s wanted that challenge and like look his his numbers were really really good for the first say 40 games of the Season defensively um I think he was number one in defensive field goal percentage essentially like limiting opponents

As and now that’s come down a little bit but because he’s taking on the challenge of elite level players I’m with you I love that he comes out afterward and at first I I sort of did the whoa you want to guard joic but then you think about

It and you need someone who’s strong you need someone who has some like at least athletic ability to stay with him it’s not the worst idea like I I don’t know how many times you can get away with it um but I more so love the idea that one

Of your star players is like I want that I want to find out a way to win if that’s how we’re going to get to a title and he’s just been super refreshing we can nitpick the the free throws that has always been a problem area for him he

Needs to to to make those in a in a six-point game he can’t be missing all those free throws but I think he’d be the first to admit it and I do like where he’s at all right it’s time for fanatic sports book storylines and I got

Three of them for you that we are tracking tomasi let’s get this one out of the way the MVP I thought the odds would shift like dramatically after last night I know Tatum was a long shot coming into that Denver game but I just felt like if the Celtics had dominated

That game if Tatum had a big night the narrative starts to shift a little bit right like in terms of okay best player on the best team Celtics have taking care of business against all these opponents right now joic minus 170 Far and Away the leader in the clubhouse SGA

Is the closest at plus 220 Luca at plus 700 Giannis at plus 1500 and Jason Tatum really not a lot of progress the last couple weeks he’s still fifth at plus 1800 and yet it’s probably the right spot spot right uh well here’s the thing like I look at somebody like sgaa and

Even Luca and yeah they have incredible individual numbers especially Luca for the all-around thing but you watch games and you’re like I’d rather have Tatum than donic and for SGA all right so he’s had the big breakout with OKC and they’re legit but it’s like Tatum’s the

Best player on the best team and the team that’s going to win 60-some games I think that should count for something I would have him higher I would have him over Giannis I would have him over Luca I would have him over Guild Alexander I would but they’re all behind joic by a

Lot like that’s that’s Bas so whatever you’re second or your 10th who cares you’re not winning it jic showed why last night he’s the Far and Away the best player in the league so I can’t really get too worked up about arguing over whether Tatum should be second or

Fourth or sixth when there’s a clear number one above everybody yeah and that’s where I’m kind of coming down on it before I would I I would spend a lot of time arguing like oh he’s got to be in the top three just ship the trophy to

To Denver like yeah we knew yic was going to probably win it this year a lot of Voters were remorseful for not giving it to him last year but embiid was great and there was sort of there’s always this fatigue with with a guy winning it

I mean when you watch it live and in person when you watch that a Defender can’t even leave his body because they are so worried that he’s gonna burn them in another way or even if you separate for a little bit and then he still whips

A blind alleyoop to the basket he’s so good box out your guy because you got to be worried about the passing Lanes I mean it’s just insane yeah he’s so good and so just send that trophy out there everyone else I mean no one wants to battle for second place in the MVP

Voting I I am with you like I think if I had if I had a vote I don’t I would probably have JT slotted third right now based on the team success I still probably lean a little bit what when every time I turn on TV and watch SGA

I’m just blown away by how good he is and given how young that team is and the success they’ve had I want to I think that’s they should reward that I do think there’s going to be some conversation about exactly how that lands I’m with you on the Luca thing

Like I love Luca it’s mesmerized I always watch the games but I don’t know there’s a lot of possessions he’s eating up and there’s just not enough wins out there and Giannis too like he’s always going to be great I just the team isn’t successful enough for me to necessarily

Be putting him in uh ahead of Tatum at this point let’s kick it over to coach of the year I thought this was interesting Joe moula for the longest time was lingering way back in the pack he has climbed to essentially tied for second place in the odds so we got Mark

Digal pride of lemonster at number one best odds minus 200 with the Oklahoma City Thunder Chris Finch in Minnesota at plus 350 and Joe’s right there as well at plus 350 is there any road map to Missoula sneaking in and stealing that and stealing it sounds weird but he’s

Just he was like in the plus thousands a couple weeks ago and it felt like how is he lingering so far back when the Celtics are so far ahead of the pack yeah I think people just say Talent it’s like every sport if you have the most

Talent you’re not winning coach of the year that’s just how it goes whether it’s baseball Bas does not matter you look at OKC such a young team you weren’t sure how all the pieces were going to fit and they’re already playing like a legitimate title Contender or at

Least a threat in the west I have again it’s sort of like I have a hard time arguing second or third I just I can’t you can’t justify Missoula winning even if they win 65 games just cu the talent they’ve built you know it’s a credit to

Brad Stevens he cost his coach the coach of the year award by building such a good team and amassing so much talent you’re not going to win with this roster well it’s interesting because uh the the media does not vote on executive of the year that’s a peer voted award but that

Can also be sent directly to the hour back Center because we know who is uh almost certainly walking away with that last one for you Championship odds and this is the one that I was really intrigued by because I thought for sure coming off of last night they would

There would see maybe a little bit of a shift that if you you were heavy on Boston’s the team that maybe would come back to earth a little bit Celtics still favored and and pretty like I don’t know I don’t want to say decidedly but like plus 220 for the Celtics Denver’s down

At plus 400 Clippers are at plus 460 so essentially like there’s not a lot of separation between Denver and the Clippers when in my mind there’s a huge separation between those two teams you got Milwaukee at plus 700 and OKC at plus 1,800 so there’s a huge drop off

Essentially the top two are the veteran teams in each conference and then everyone else is kind of like on the periphery any surprise that the Celtics are still the favorite to win the title based on the two matchups with the Nuggets no just because as a season long

Thing the Celtics have had a better overall season than nuggets certainly Denver’s turned it on when they faced Boston but you just go back a couple nights earlier Denver was coming off a lousy loss of its own against Phoenix you know so I think if you take the

Totality of the of the play of both teams I get it the Celtics also have an easier path out of the East I would say Milwaukee I’m sorry doesn’t scare me uh and you know the Knicks are banged up the Cavs I mean okay Miami I guess is

Always lurking but then you name those teams out west and still in playing like area you still have Lakers Warriors Mavs like all of those teams at the bottom and obviously you mentioned the ones at the top you didn’t even mention Minnesota I don’t know where they are in

That list yeah so you’re gonna have just you’re gonna have a lot more competition just to make the finals out of the West whereas I think don’t hold me to this but it the Celtics seem to have a much easier path out of the East yeah I think the only

Fear you start looking at is like where does Miami end up where does uh you know who’s gon to slide down into that that playing potential area and you get draw a tougher first round match up but again like nothing about the way that the East has played out this year should scare

The Celtics um like I’ll just keep saying it um I I’m gon to start searching hotels people are G to get mad at me for saying this because like they’re gonna think I’m going to jinx it if I if I say that I’m going to start searching hotels in Denver in June I

Don’t know the dates yet people we don’t know for sure gonna happen yeah I’m just doing like an advanced Scout on hotels and breweries and stuff like that I will I will put in some diligence just to be ready in case that moment comes along I’m pretty sure’s coming let’s finish on

This what do you need to see these last 20 games is there anything that I like I said I don’t think there’s anything they can show Beyond showing well against Milwaukee I I just can’t get revved up for a double dip with Atlanta and Portland and Utah and like is there

Anything you need to see from this team that would make you feel even a little bit better going into the postseason yeah win a game at the end win a game on the last possession they’re do and win it in a way that’s not Tatum pounding

The ball just to bring it back to kind of the theme of this whole podcast bring it back to winning a game where it’s in the flow of your actual offense that’s what I want to see give Tatum the confidence that if he gives it up

Someone else is going to win the game I think that unlocks a lot for them so I would love to see I would love to see Drew holiday win a game with a corner three I would love to see porzingis roll to the basket and win a game Derek white

Whatever it is somebody other than Tatum take the last shot and make it and that I think is how you get to the next level with this Celtics team I think I take it one step further I’d say like a couple of those games with somebody each night

Is somebody different and I I think what you’re right like the first night they finally get one of these to drop and it’s Derek white coming off a porzingis screen and whipping it to Drew in the corner and like Jason and Jaylen are just sitting there watching now all of a

Sudden it’s like whoa you know that’s no slight on them because they draw attention away from those guys but I think it would make it easier for everybody to embrace the notion of this is how they play and have success for 47 minutes and 30 seconds of every game

Let’s do this on the final possession and find a way to get there other than that just I mean sounds so weird but stay healthy they’re going to rest a lot of guys down the stretch um you know build some confidence back up blow the doors on some teams you know finish with

The they they got a chance here to finish with the best offensive rating in NBA history probably one of the best net ratings which will slot you alongside some of the best teams like the 96 bulls and 2015 Warriors all these things um I don’t know how much that matters it’s

We’re so so focused on the having to end on the on the last prize um that uh it feels weird to to even monitor those things but I got to fill up pregame shows John MSI and so uh we will we will monitor that along the way thank you for

Being levelheaded in this in this discussion not that again not that I thought you would be going off the rails but you I mean if you go on Twitter now this team can’t lose a game without people losing their minds yeah you know what Chris I’m here

To save my bombs for the Red Sox and I can be more reasonable about all the other teams do we have a opening day starter yet do they like Brian B’s 55 m dollar richer so probably him I at least that’s something I can can get partially

Excited about um but uh I’ll say that topic when I come on the Red Sox when after we get done a duck boo parade I’ll come on the Red Sox podcast and show you how little I know about fost and baseball John deasi thank you so much for your time you got It

How concerned should Celtics fans be following back-to-back losses? Chris Forsberg and John Tomase discuss Jayson Tatum’s struggles in clutch situations and the impressive play of Jaylen Brown since All-Star break.

3:00-Concerns with Jayson Tatum in the clutch
9:00-Should Joe Mazzulla change the end of game plays?
16:00-All signs point to Celtics-Nuggets finals?
19:30-Jaylen Brown surging since All-Star break

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