CelticsWeek #6 and #7: Vegas denied

CelticsWeek is back from a mini-hiatus! With the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament causing some disruptions in the schedule as it drew towards its conclusion, we felt it would be best to combine the past two weeks of Celtics basketball into one article, summarizing the final stages of the tournament in the process. In all, we have four games to discuss. Let’s get into it.

Boston Celtics, Week 6: 2-0 record, +33 differential

W vs Chicago, 124-97 (IST Group Stage)

W vs Philadelphia, 125-119

Boston Celtics, Week 7: 1-1 record, 0 differential

L @ Indiana, 122-112 (IST Quarterfinals)

W vs New York, 133-123

What’s Trending: Tournament madness

Going in, nobody quite knew what to expect from the first In-Season Tournament in NBA history. Now that the tournament lies in our rear-view mirror — a begrudging congratulations to the Los Angeles Lakers on their win — we have an answer: pure chaos.

The IST ramped up the drama these past two weeks. The effect on the level of competition of regular season basketball was undeniable, for reasons both understandable and unusual. The $500,000 payout was a motivator across the board, especially for younger players and bench veterans who stood to enjoy substantial pay increases if their team claimed the title. Overall, IST games have generally been the most competitive games of the young regular season by far.

The structure of the tournament created stranger incentives, too. The Celtics entered their group stage finale against the Chicago Bulls needing to win by 23 points or more, and needing the Brooklyn Nets to beat the Toronto Raptors — but not by too much. Had the Nets fallen, the wild card spot would have required an even higher margin of victory than that 23-point mark. All of this incentivized the Celtics to beat Chicago by as many points as possible.

They did indeed beat the Bulls, but while the result of the contest was more or less decided in the third quarter, the point differential incentives led to some bizarre sights for a December regular season game. Despite being up nearly 30 points, the starters remained on the court until deep in the fourth quarter, and Joe Mazzulla even opted to intentionally foul Chicago center Andre Drummond to give the Celtics a better chance of improving their differential. Ultimately, the Celtics won by 27, and a Brooklyn win secured them a group victory.

David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Though the stars aligned to advance the Celtics to the single-elimination phase of the tournament, their stay was short-lived. An absolute masterclass of a performance from Pacers’ star Tyrese Haliburton put an end to Boston’s IST run in the quarterfinal round. In what was, incredibly, the first TNT game of his NBA career, Haliburton posted his first triple-double, recording 26 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists en route to KO-ing the Celtics. Haliburton’s coming-out party came at the expense of a discombobulated Celtics team lacking the services of Kristaps Porzingis, and Boston wasn’t able to make the trip to Las Vegas.

While it wasn’t an IST game, the win over Philadelphia deserves a mention here. After an early season loss to the Sixers on the road, the Celtics have won consecutive games against their conference rivals. The Friday victory was more consequential than your average (non-tournament) regular season game, giving the Celtics a leg up in what looks likely to remain a tightly contested race for seeding in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. It’s a win that feels even sweeter considering it came in spite of an odd ejection of Jayson Tatum. The new-look Sixers may have found an extra gear this season, but they haven’t conquered the boogeyman to the northeast just yet.

Player of the Week(s): Al Horford

4 GP, 30 MPG, 13 PPG (68% FG, 53% 3PT), 8 REB, 3.8 AST, 0.8 STL, 1.5 BLK, +37

Folks, the old man just won’t stop. Though I desperately wanted to go with Sam Hauser this week, as he’s continued to be the Celtics’ best full-time bench player, or Derrick White, who scored 30 (!) against the Knicks on Friday. The absence of Porzingis and the subsequent elevation of Horford’s play, however, makes him simply undeniable here. I’m sorry, Derrick. Your time will come.

Look at those stats! That’s pretty freaking close to what you might have expected from a 30-year-old Horford, let alone a 37-year-old one. We celebrated Horford in this space just a few short weeks ago, and this week, he managed to far exceed that performance. His 20 point outing against Philadelphia — punking the Sixers again, like clockwork — marked his first such game since a March game against the Knicks last season, and just the fifth time he’s cracked that threshold in the past two seasons.

The three-point shot plays a big part in this. After shooting 23% from deep across his first nine games, Horford has shot 44% in his last 10. He’s not tasked with too much responsibility offensively, and he brings value even if he’s not contributing offensively. Making these shots, though, will never be a bad thing in the context of this offense. The Celtics don’t clear the necessary point differential to advance in the tournament without his four threes against the Bulls.

If there’s a lesson from the past two weeks, it’s that this team needs Porzingis to be able to play at its highest level. That’s not altogether surprising; the franchise pushed their chips onto the table for him because he’s a borderline All-Star talent on both ends of the court.

What Horford did these two weeks, though, is show how he elevates the floor. Every team is worse when their best players don’t play, but few teams get to plug in a player as good as Al Horford in such a scenario.

The Parquet Play: I’m a twister, I’m a twister!

A good spin move is the easiest way into my heart. I can’t be alone there, right? Everybody loves a spin move. Why don’t we cheat a little bit and pick two of them this week? I won’t tell if you don’t.

Around the League: How about the Indiana Pacers?

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

We’re double-dipping on tournament talk here, because how do you not talk about the Indiana Pacers after the run they just went on? They’ve had an inconsistent season thus far, sitting at 12-8 even after a 6-1 record in tournament play. But they’ve lived for the spotlight when its shone on them. Haliburton dominated the Celtics in the quarterfinals, and followed that performance up with a late-game dagger against the Bucks, capping off a 27-point, 15-assist performance to put the Pacers in the final.

The NBA wound up with a uniquely compelling title game for their first tournament. On one hand, you have the name brand and the star power: the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. On the other, you have the darlings of the tournament, the team of youngsters you can’t get enough of. Though the Lakers ultimately stymied Indiana’s momentum, the Pacers were the story of the tournament, and this was an undeniably valuable experience for such a young roster.

Credit must be given — even if begrudgingly — to the Lakers. Debate the ultimate meaning of this tournament as much as you like, but the fact remains that the Lakers showed up to play, winning a thriller over the Suns and dominating the Pelicans to put themselves in position to win the title. James continues, somehow, to stave off Father Time, with a ludicrous 25-7.5-6.6 average at 38 years old. The roster may have its ups and downs, but they’re well-positioned in the Western Conference and have the requisite combination of talent and depth to cause some real trouble.

Next up: Seeing double

With the tournament in the rear-view, the schedule takes a bit of an odd turn for the Celtics this week. They have four games on the docket, all at TD Garden… but only against two teams. On Tuesday and Thursday, they’ll host the Cleveland Cavaliers for the teams’ first two meetings of the season. Then, on Friday and Sunday, they’ll host the Orlando Magic, who handed them their worst loss of the season during the group stage of the IST. I suppose we’ll be feeling some deja vu as the week goes on.

How will the Celtics respond to their early IST exit? How will entertain ourselves without IST-induced regular season drama? We’ll discuss this and more next week, as the regular season continues to roll onwards.