The Boston Celtics finally didn’t play down to a lesser opponent and beat the Houston Rockets 118-102. It was truly a great all-around showing from the team, great ball movement, great rotational defense, and efficient play from the stars.
Starting with the obvious, Robert Williams. He posted 20 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, two steals, and a block on a perfect 9-9 from the field. He dominated all night long and is just adding to the legend of Timelord. In games where Williams logs at least 25 minutes, he is now posting 12/10/5 averages along with over three blocks a night.
Even in limited minutes, he has been putting up Al Horford-type numbers for the Cs–minus the 3-point shooting. His development for Boston has been key, a big was always a proposed issue but Timelord is filling that role, and quickly.
Newly-Acquired Boston Celtics guard Evan Fournier shows out for the Cs
Trade Deadline acquisition Evan Fournier also had his first good game in green. The 28-year-old G/F, in 62 minutes played with Boston, had scored just 6 points. However, tonight he put up 23 points and seven 3-pointers on just 11 attempts, in just 29 minutes.
In his first two games, he had played solid defense, but couldn’t get any shots to go, open or otherwise. He showed tonight why Boston acquired him in the first place, to be that spark, to fire up the team when they need production outside of the starters.
With 10:22 left in the fourth, Boston was up 86-73, and Fournier had just 3 points. He then proceeded to hit three-straight shots from beyond the arc, and by the 9:11 mark, the Cs were up 95-73. The 8-year-pro single-handedly put the game away for the Cs.
The Boston Celtics are a different team when the ball is moving
The Cs tied their season-high in assists tonight with 35. The ball was moving from side-to-side all night long, probably making one too many passes here and there. But compared to how things have been in games prior, more passing is much, much better than none at all.
On the season as a whole, when Boston has 20 assists or less, they are 2-11, losing by an average of eight points per game. On the flip side to that, when they have at least 25 assists, they are now 15-3 on the season, winning by an average of 12 points-per-contest.
The contrast of that stat is quite disappointing, but not surprising in the least. This team has had a very hard time moving the ball all year, tied for fifth in isolation frequency, yet 19th in efficiency. However, when the team decides to move the ball, they are one of the best teams in the entire NBA.
Out of those 15 wins, 4 have come against the Bucks, Nuggets, Hawks, and Clippers. The Celtics can hang with, and beat pretty much any team when ball movement is stressed.
The Celtics need to find their offensive identity, and the best way to do it is to get everyone involved. It is no coincidence everyone’s most efficient games come in such high-assist games. Moving the rock gets everyone easier looks, and can be the key to this team being what it is supposed to be.
We are currently sitting at 8th-place in the east, yet just one game back of the fourth seed. Let us all hope that this team can turn things around and fast.