Well, that’s more like it.
Fresh off losing my entire mind about the Celtics’ amateurish last ten days, Boston laid a whole new brand of smack down on the lowly Toronto Raptors to the tune of a 125-71 victory. That’s 54 entire points, the type of margin that forces even the most cynical of fans to look in the mirror and ask, “why did I ever worry?”
Such emotionally-potent oversimplifications aren’t exactly the highest form of conversation, but Boston certainly took my bullet points of issues and checked almost everything off with extreme prejudice. Save for Al Horford’s continued struggles from downtown, the Celtics got Jrue Holiday back (literally), Sam Hauser back (statistically) and Derrick White back (emotionally). Good stuff from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown as well, and they played hilariously good defense from the starters through the end of the bench, allowing an unserious 71 points. So, it’s all good in the neighborhood for now.
But with how mad I was about Sunday’s loss — and I’m not… on the team — we all knew a pissed-off destruction of the ghost-of-the-Toronto Raptors was coming, though, even I didn’t think it would happen with this much gunpowder. The Celtics were cruising on all levels, and this is a great confidence boost heading into January. But man… January is going to be tough.
Boston’s next four games are a road trip through the American south and west like we’re a troupe of beat poets from the 1950s, staring down the Timberwolves, Rockets, Thunder and Nuggets, also known as four really good teams. The Celtics have now looked utterly-dominant in two of their last three games, but how about they look that good on the road against potential NBA Finals opponents. And particularly, how about they look good against the Thunder?
Motivation isn’t something you can quantify, but the six-games-in-10-days-around-Christmas schedule is a hard one to get totally jazzed for. But a road trip to put the Western Conference on notice about whose league this is? The Celtics should have no trouble getting up for that if they are 1/3rd the competitive sickos I think they are.
So… let’s see them do it. The buzzword from practices, press conferences and concerned citizens like myself has been “inconsistency,” and to avoid a return to the Celtics team that needed its back plastered against the wall to play their best, they should use this trip as an opportunity to exorcise those demons. And they should do it big time.
If Boston can look half as good as they did against the Thunder, everyone in the NBA world will be reminded who’s boss. And that’s the prize they need their eyes lasered in on. The long-term concern for this team was losing the fear factor, and dropping the hammer on this road trip will bring it all the way back and then some. If Boston still wants to be the alpha, lay this type of smack down on the national stage. Then, we’ll really be in business.
