For a team that is on the second night of a back-to-back, the Boston Celtics are putting quite the beatdown on the LA Clippers. They’re up 29 points and have me questioning how on earth the Philadelphia 76ers just got 30-pieced by these guys.
Now, get ready for some Halftime Hot Takes, buddy.
The Celtics did Kristaps Porzingis a disservice by making him wear this uniform in his season debut
The biggest story heading into Monday’s meeting with the Clippers was the return of Kristaps Porzingis. The Latvian big man hadn’t suited up for the Cs since Game 5 of the NBA Finals, as he worked his way back from offseason surgery.
Unfortunately, Boston decided to commit a fashion crime and wear their “City Edition” uniforms for the occasion.
Porzingis was involved quite a bit early, taking four threes in his first stretch against LA. He only made one, but it was still a welcome sight to see No. 8 back on the parquet.
KP’s second stint was far more exciting. He had a massive block on former Providence College star Kris Dunn, which forced a 24-second violation. Then, he threw down a loud alley-oop from his buddy Jaylen Brown.
He finished the half with eight points and three rebounds.
Jayson Tatum is playing for real
Much like he did in last Tuesday’s win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, Jayson Tatum looked locked in right from the opening tip. It’s usually pretty easy to tell when he’s going to have a big night because it’ll start on the glass.
In the first quarter alone, JT ripped down seven boards to help the Cs close out some good defensive possessions against the Clippers.
He looked hyper-focused on offense as well. He poured in nine first-quarter points by getting downhill and putting pressure on the visiting defense.
This is the undisputed version of Jayson Tatum. Anytime he’s using his size to get to the up, he’s borderline unstoppable. It was what made his closing performance in Game 5 of the NBA Finals so great. He had struggled shooting the three-ball all postseason and finally decided he had had enough of the misses.
More of this, please.
White hot
The Celtics finished the first quarter with a seven-point lead.
That quickly ballooned to 17 in the opening minutes of the second, thanks to the sharpshooting of Sam Hauser, Payton Pritchard, and Derrick White. The trio hit a combined six of the team’s seven straight three-pointers to kickstart the second-quarter offense.
It felt like they couldn’t miss from long range, which always seemingly makes Boston invincible. Pritchard, White, and Hauser shot a combined 10-14 from beyond the arc before the break, which was key in building their 29-point lead over LA.
This section was originally going to be a joke about the “white guys” making all the threes, but really, the Celtics as a team just made the decision not to miss. Brown clearly carried over his momentum from Sunday’s long-range outburst. He sank three of five from deep, helping to keep the team’s hot streak going.
At the break, JB had 15 points on an efficient 5-9 from the field.
