The Boston Celtics were unable to take home a victory in their Black Friday afternoon affair with the Kyrie Irving-less Brooklyn Nets.
It would have been nice–although less fulfilling than if Brooklyn Nets superstar Kyrie Irving was playing–if the Boston Celtics could have taken this home-and-home series with the franchise that took the C’s All-NBA point guard. Of course, Danny Ainge ended up taking the picks that turned out to be Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in the Billy King disaster of 2013.
Either way, Brooklyn was able to get revenge for Wednesday night’s match-up at the TD Garden by defending home-court at the Barclays Center. Though the Nets weren’t “Live from Bedford-Stuyvesant” they were representing BK to the fullest. They were able to hold off the comeback attempts from your Boston Celtics, taking a 112-107 victory on the Friday afternoon affair, their first donning their City Edition “Bed-Stuy” jerseys.
This could well be a playoff preview, if things break right for Boston and plateau for the Nets. Since Irving went down, the Nets are 6-2 and Spencer Dinwiddie and Jarrett Allen are resembling a prime Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan, who gave Brooklyn a fit. Dinwiddie was a force all over the floor, with his 32 points and 11 assists leading the way for a team that kept the Celtics at bay for much of the season. It’s intriguing to think what effect Irving (and eventually Kevin Durant) will have on his ceiling.
Either way, he is the hero of the day. The Boston Celtics didn’t get heroic performances. Unfortunately with a loss, that’s what the Houdini is hear to point out. With that, here are 3 knee-jerk reactions to today’s loss:
1. Daniel Theis cannot be the starter if Celtics have ECF ambitions
Look, Daniel Theis is a fine player who gives the Boston Celtics good value on his yearly $5 million investment. He is undoubtedly deserving of a role in Brad Stevens’ rotation, even with his 3-point shooting woes this season.
That said, he isn’t the caliber of center the team needs if it has higher ambitions than another second round exit. He left the game early but wasn’t brought back, despite being eligible to.
FYI Daniel Theis is available. Bumped knees early in the game, but injury isn’t holding him out. #Celtics
— Abby Chin (@tvabby) November 29, 2019
Brad Stevens didn’t send him back out there despite being healthy. That is a problem. Losing him was of little consequence to the Boston Celtics. To compete in an Eastern Conference that features elite front-courts, this problem needs to be addressed internally (Vincent Poirier ever going to play?) or via a roster move.
2. Jayson Tatum has fully ascended to an All-Star level
In dropping another 26 points, Jayson Tatum continued his All-Star campaign. Nets announcer Ian Eagle even recognized him as an All-Star candidate. At this point, Tatum is somewhat of a sure thing when it comes to scoring output.
Overall, the 21-year-old has improved across the board–though his efficiency is far from where it needs to be ideally. That is part of the superstar fast-track of a former #3 pick that is barely legal to drink.
26 points and nine rebounds is a star slash-line, though seeing a goose egg in the assist column isn’t ideal. Tatum could resemble a volume-shooter on some nights–his 1/17 performance is still somewhat fresh. Overall, he is playing like a potential Boston Celtics representative on the Eastern Conference All-Star team.
3. The Brooklyn Nets need to make Spencer Dinwiddie a starter
If it made any sort of sense, I’d try and compose a Spencer Dinwiddie-Boston Celtics trade. As it stands, sacrificing Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum would appear to be the only way to acquire the breakout point guard. That makes it a non-starter.
But with that said, Dinwiddie is going to give the Nets a headache when it Irving returns, and when Kevin Durant joins the team for the 2020-21 season. His play is undeniable, but the backstage politics that the Irving-Durant-DeAndre Jordan click brings will ultimately deny him his chance to shine.
Seeing Dinwiddie piece apart an impressive Boston Celtics defense proves a lot about his ability to lead. He is undoubtedly a core component of what the Nets do on offense and should have the ball in his hands more–especially after bringing Jarrett Allen to life in what has been an impressive four-game double-double streak for the 2017 #18 pick.