The Boston Celtics are back at home against the Toronto Raptors after a short break following their heartbreaking loss to the Mavericks in Dallas last Saturday.
Although they didn’t walk out of American Airlines Center with a win, they did display some important qualities that they can carry into their game against their divisional rival.
For one, Jayson Tatum appears to be back.
He ended his duel against Luka Doncic with 32 points and 11 rebounds on 12-19 shooting from the field and 6-8 shooting from deep.
His jumper finally fell, which played a large part in the C’s heroic comeback after falling on their face in the first half. I’d like to see Tatum attack the rim more, as he only took five shots in the paint and two free throws, however considering the cold streak he was on, it’s understandable why he stuck to his strengths.
Against a longer, stronger, and more active Toronto defense, it’s unlikely the budding superstar will get the same clean looks from the perimeter as he did against the Mavericks.
Nick Nurse will press up on Tatum and force him towards the paint, where he’s been highly underwhelming through the first few weeks of the season after spending all offseason focusing on it.
Toronto is an excellent place for Jayson Tatum to rediscover his confidence around the rim.
Secondly, Marcus Smart needs to have a bounce-back game against a team he’s historically good against after essentially selling the game against the Mavericks by fouling Luka with six seconds left on the shot clock.
He played a great match up until then, providing excellent resistance on the Mavs’ drives, tallying six assists, as well as hitting a clutch trey late in the game to keep the Boston Celtics alive.
I’ve talked about it multiple times in the past, and I will talk about it again here: get Marcus Smart in pick and roll!
He’s not a good enough spot-up shooter, advantage scorer, or general shot-creator to be left out on the perimeter, and he’s too good of a passer to be a simple connector. Smart’s creativity, vision, and delivery talent can be leveraged at the rim with Robert Williams or Al Horford at his side instead of leaving him out on an island with OG Anunoby or Scottie Barnes.
Thirdly, Aaron Nesmith is in a similar boat as Marcus Smart.
With Jaylen Brown out, Nesmith has been called up after receiving a couple of DNP’s to start the season, but he failed to live up to expectations over the weekend against Dallas.
He played 20 minutes and didn’t hit a single shot, specifically going 0-4 from deep. Nesmith was drafted for his shooting, but that same shooting will be the difference between the dog house and fourth quarter minutes.
I haven’t seen any glaring issues with how Nesmith has been used on the court or how he’s playing in particular.
My best assumption is that getting benched after a solid end to his rookie season has negatively impacted his confidence, which is significant for a youngster, let alone a shooting youngster.
Sure, I think Ime Udoka is somewhat at fault for icing Nesmith out with these DNP’s, however, he’s preached no-nonsense since he took the job with the Boston Celtics, and if Nesmith can’t contribute to the level Udoka wants, he shouldn’t play.
Assuming Nesmith isn’t in the dog house and plays tonight, I’d like to see him get to the rim instead of chucking long-range shots up that he doesn’t believe have a high chance of going in.
Toronto’s defense excels at scrambling, but they’ll do so to contain Boston’s higher-caliber creators like Tatum and Schroder, which leads to gaps that Nesmith can fill.
Some of those gaps will be behind the 3-point line, but chances are they’ll be plenty more in the middle of the floor and the paint.
I like the Boston Celtics’ chances against the 6-5 Raptors despite going into tonight’s match-up without Jaylen Brown.
Their loss to the Mavericks was good, and a lot of the breakthroughs they made throughout the game can easily be carried over into tonight and play a significant role in bringing the Raptors down to .500.