Boston Celtics: 2 reasons for fans to be encouraged at the end of the day

We all knew going into this series that the Boston Celtics pulling a shocker against the loaded Brooklyn Nets would be a long shot at best, and it has proven to be impossible.

Frankly, the Brooklyn Nets are by far the more talented team.

Yes, we all love Jayson Tatum and he has proven to be an absolute force on the offensive end in this series. However, the Nets have three absolute forces on the offensive end and a sharpshooter in Joe Harris, a perimeter defensive specialist in Bruce Brown, and an interior presence in Blake Griffin and Deandre Jordan.

Simply put, the Brooklyn Nets are flat-out loaded.

They not only have no business losing this series, but they also have no business losing any series until maybe the NBA Finals. For the Boston Celtics to have won Game 3 was a borderline miracle.

We all should be disappointed in the C’s season. They underachieved, failed to make adjustments, and were exposed all season long.

That doesn’t mean that they underachieved in this series. The Nets are healthy and just flat out better. There is nothing more the Boston Celtics can do.

In fact, I believe there are actually two reasons for shamrock fans to be encouraged by the outcome of this series:

Reason for positivity No. 1) Jayson Tatum is shining against the very best

Going into this series, we all knew if Jayson Tatum didn’t play like a superstar the Boston Celtics had no chance to even be competitive in a game, let alone a series.

Jayson Tatum has been flat-out unbelievable these past two games.

The Brooklyn Nets have a top 3 player in Kevin Durant and one of the best offensive backcourts the game has ever seen, and yet, in these past two games, Tatum has played equal to or arguably better than Brooklyn’s Big 3.

I can’t think of a time we have seen a Celtics play better in back-to-back playoff games since Larry Bird.

Jayson Tatum has proven that he can be the centerpiece of a championship team for years to come. We all talk about the greatness of a Lebron James and KD, but I would make a case that our Cs have the best player under 25 in the league. You could argue Luka Doncic of the Mavericks or maybe Donavan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz, but I would take Jayson Tatum.

On top of this, Bleacher Report recently ranked the All-Star wing as the third-best player 23-and-under currently in this year’s postseason.

He is a better defender than Luka and a better shooter than Mitchell. The Boston Celtics are a long way from being a championship team, but Jayson Tatum gives them a shot to get there.

Reason for positivity No. 2) The Boston Celtics made good decisions to shutdown Kemba & Time Lord

Judging by the latest decisions regarding Kemba Walker and Robert Williams, the Boston Celtics have conceded that getting Game 3 is likely as good as it can get for this series.

Walker and Williams both have had nagging injuries for the better part of the entire season and it seems that the C’s front office, or possibly the players, have decided it’s best if they sit the remainder of the year out.

This is a decision that I fully support.

Even if Jaylen Brown was healthy, our beloved Boston Celtics would be undermanned. Now, with the All-Star recovering from surgery our Cs go beyond being undermanned, and with Kemba Walker’s knee clearly ailing the thought of them being competitive in this series has become laughable.

There is simply no point in playing a banged-up Kemba Walker for the remainder of this series.

The Celtics are better off giving playoff minutes to Romeo Langford, Aaron Nesmith, and Payton Pritchard. Those are guys that seem to be a part of the team’s future and they will only benefit from playoff minutes against the superior Nets.

Better yet, it gives Brad Stevens and Danny Ainge a chance to see the three young players against the best backcourt in the NBA.

Kemba gains nothing from playing on a bad knee in a series his team has little to no shot in, and as much as we all hate to say it, we all know what Boston has in Kemba Walker.

Shutting down the point guard in favor of the younger players is a good move for the Cs. Shutting down Robert Williams doesn’t give any younger big more valuable experience, but it does keep a valuable player for Boston healthy in the long term.

Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens have made questionable decisions all year, but the choice to shut down Kemba Walker and Robert Williams are both savvy, sound decisions that only help the Celtics.

As painful as it is to admit, all things considered, this series has probably gone about as well as any Boston Celtics fan could have reasonably hoped.

Now it’s on Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens to make sure we’re not finding the bright side of a first-round playoff beatdown next year.