The Boston Celtics dropped the bubble-opener against the Thunder Friday night, 98-84.
After 162 days without Boston Celtics basketball, the men in green returned to the floor Friday night in their first of three scrimmages, this one against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Despite the loss and expected rust, there were several bright spots to take away from the team’s 98-84 defeat to Chris Paul and OKC.
Rust isn’t in Jaylen Brown’s vocabulary
It didn’t take long for the young star Jaylen Brown to remind us of how talented he is. I mean, we expected him to come out in a polarizing role tonight, but he completely ran with his second-option opportunity.
Brown finished with nine points (he played just 16 minutes) on 50 percent shooting, and showcased a few pretty shots early on.
A few minutes later, Brown knocked down a triple to close the early deficit.
As the Boston Celtics gear up for the seeding games and the playoffs that await, Jaylen Brown will obviously be a big part of what will hopefully be another deep postseason run. It was a joy to watch number seven go to work again, and he didn’t disappoint.
Tatum shows he is more than just a scorer
Despite getting several open looks and a few strong drives to the rim, Jayson Tatum was unable to find his touch throughout the game. Finishing with just three points on one of six shooting from the floor, it was clear that it will take some time for most players to rub off the rust upon the league’s return.
Before I go any further, I want to make it clear that I am in no way harping on the rising superstar. There is more to basketball than making shots and he still found a way to be extremely effective on both ends.
Tatum’s growth on defense has been one of the many things to be excited about when talking about his skillset, and it was on display right away. His long length and quick hands are what have helped him become one the league’s most underrated defenders.
Additionally, Tatum’s emerging playmaking ability was one of the biggest takeaways of the night. Check out this nice cross-court feed to Gordon Hayward to close out the first half:
Here is another nice feed, this time to the cutting Marcus Smart, who then kicks it out to Jaylen Brown.
Despite it not directly leading to points, Tatum’s growth as a playmaker and his ability to see cutters as he drives and navigates the paint is a huge talent to have at your disposal — especially with the specific offensive skillset that Tatum possesses.
Time Lord can stretch the floor?
We all know the explosive Robert Williams is a threat around the rim:
Just throw it up and Timelord will throw it down pic.twitter.com/OMMm9XkC81
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) July 24, 2020
But what likely caught many watching off guard is his willingness to shoot a mid-range jumper — a shot that hasn’t been shown by the 22-year-old much up to this point. Unfortunately, I can’t find the clip specifically, but Williams shot two mid-range jumpers during tonight’s game and knocked down a free-throw line jumper.
With Williams’ already lethal talent as a pick and roll finisher, it would be extremely useful for Time Lord to develop that mid-range jumper for an already versatile toolbox.
A few bright spots from the second unit
The Thunder were able to break the game open when coach Stevens inserted the second and third-string in for the remainder of the game. But despite the score, there were a few bright spots from the bench unit.
Enes Kanter posted a double double (11 points, 10 rebounds). Alongside Kanter, Tremont Waters continues to prove he belongs at the NBA level by simply out-fundamentiling his opponent. The G-League Rookie of the Year is already one of the best playmakers on the Celtics roster, and he showed that again tonight with five assists to go along with seven points and three steals.
Sure, the rust was there; that was expected. And of course it would have been nice to get a win in the first game back, but this is what these scrimmages are for — to knock off the rust and get back into the flow of things.
The defense will get back to its dominance, the shots will fall, and the team will be ready for when the regular season officially resumes.
The Boston Celtics are back in action Sunday afternoon against the Phoenix Suns for their second exhibition game. You can catch the scrimmage at 1:30 pm ET pm NBC Sports Boston.