Victory Cigar!!! BOS 116, POR 115 (29-26)

[Fencer reregistered]

Celts now #5 seed again.

Keep it up!

1 game behind 4th.

And the modest 4-game winning streak is 2nd-longest in the league.

[playa-hater]

Is Tatum going to play his way into MVP this season (if we somehow get the 4th seed)?

FIFY...

[Mr_Mojo_Risin]

On a side note props to the 4D chess by Smart missing the first free throw deliberately to throw Portland off from thinking he'd intentionally also miss the second.

[Feed Your Head]

Is Tatum going to play his way into all nba this season (if we somehow get the 4th seed)?

I’d be shocked if he didn’t make it, even if partially because of AD/Durant missing so much time.

[zoyathedestroya]

We deserved that win. Played the right way for most of the game. Defended after the 1st Q. Portland were making stupid shots. Basketball Gods wouldn't let us die via Blazers midrange game. 50-28 edge in points in the paint. 30 assists. Got to the line. Just 10 turnovers. Not too many BS possessions. Superstar performance from Tatum. We deserved to win. And we did.

[Bad-Thoma]

I voted for Smart but yeah, Tatum is ridiculous. Great game from Kemba too, I think he's slowly starting to round into form. I think resting him on back to backs is paying off, get him to the playoffs healthy and in rhythm.

[tlee324]

We also need this version of Kemba for the playoffs. Played with very good energy, found open players and was aggressive and decisive.

[Patsfan1081]

Havlicek, I mean Smart

[Ill News]

Read on Twitter

This shouldn't get overlooked. Smart battled Dame on defense for the whole second half. It was a sight to see.

[Jammer]

Celtics need another closer in addition to Tatum. That's what they are missing. But Jayson Tatum has arrived. And Kemba played like he was supposed to. Robert Williams III was Big again. Solid game from Marcus Smart. Tristan helped as well. I keep wanting more from Jaylen Brown.

An alternative view:

Pts. + Rebounds + (0.5 x Assists) + Steals + (0.5 x Blocks) - Missed FGs - (0.5 x Missed Free Throws) - Turnovers - (0.5 x Fouls)

+33 Jayson Tatum (38 minutes)

+21.5 Kemba Walker (36 minutes)

+18.5 Robert Williams III (26 minutes)

+14.5 Marcus Smart (37 minutes)
+14.5 Jaylen Brown (40 minutes)
+9.5 Tristan Thompson (22 minutes)

+5 Grant Williams (17 minutes)

0.5 Semi Ojeleye (4 minutes)
0 Romeo Langford (9 Minutes)

-3 Payton Pritchard

FOURNIER??

Can he got his own shot? The two key elements of being a closer are being able to get your own shot, and being able to make it when you only have one chance and the TEAM"S life depends on it. Don't think Fournier fits that description.

[Kalela]

Voted for Tatum but Smart was awesome too. I don't know what to say about Kemba anymore. Same with Brown's defense.

[Fierce1]

Kemba missed a contested 3-pointer in crunch time.

It was a forced shot.

But after that, Kemba let Tatum win it for the Celts.

Marcus Smart also passed up an open 3 for a better shot from Tatum.
Tatum just missed.

Celts are starting to play the right way.

Hopefully the trend continues.

Jaylen Brown was also very good in this game.
But Jaylen still needs to be more disciplined.
He forced a shot in the 4th when there were 3 Blazers surrounding him.
It's just part of the growing pains.

[Ill News]

Oh, and nice to see the Heat lose by 20 to the Suns lol.

I hope the guys don't screw up whatever good vibes they have right now by laying a stinker against the Lakers. Losing to them might probably ruin all the good will they've accumulated during this winning streak

[playa-hater]

Tatum with the Hater Goggles on!

want to hear want K Perkins has to say now!!

Perk's heart is in the right place, he just wants to see this team improve. If his criticism is what motivated Tatum to go on this hot streak, I'm a happy camper

I totally agree. You never heard me disagree what Pek said.. whatever , Tatum has been as good as ever since those comments.. Hopefully Perk says something like Tatum can't keep doing it..

[Fierce1]

The Celtics are definitely not lacking in talent.

They just weren't playing the right way for most of the season.

Now we're seeing less forced shots and better defense.

Celts will be a dangerous #4 seed or #5.

[playa-hater]

Celtics need another closer in addition to Tatum. That's what they are missing. But Jason Tatum has arrived. And Kemba played like he was supposed to. Robert Williams III was Big again. Solid game from Marcus Smart. Tristan helped as well. I keep wanting more from Jaylen Brown.

An alternative view:

Pts. + Rebounds + (0.5 x Assists) + Steals + (0.5 x Blocks) - Missed FGs - (0.5 x Missed Free Throws) - Turnovers - (0.5 x Fouls)

+33 Jayson Tatum (38 minutes)

+21.5 Kemba Walker (36 minutes)

+18.5 Robert Williams III (26 minutes)

+14.5 Marcus Smart (37 minutes)
+14.5 Jaylen Brown (40 minutes)
+9.5 Tristan Thompson (22 minutes)

+5 Grant Williams (17 minutes)

0.5 Semi Ojeleye (4 minutes)
0 Romeo Langford (9 Minutes)

-3 Payton Prtichard

FOURNIER??

Can he got his own shot? The two key elements of being a closer are being able to get your own shot, and being able to make it when you only have one chance and the TEAM"S life depends on it. Don't think Fournier fits that description.

create no.. I do think he can make a big shot.... But Tatum should have the ball go through his hands first and always.. either way..

[JimmyFromNz]

It's hard to argue against Tatum, but I thought Smart was great all game, got guys good looks, was immense on defense, did a great job of staying on Lillard's hip keeping him out of plays when asked, and was disruptive in the paint on help defense against the rolling big, and obviously won multiple tommy points with the other stuff. These two have been carrying the team on this streak.

That was a funny game, I found it really hard to get a read on the performance, as the good and bad just came in short spurts. One thing that stood out at the begining was our perimeter defense in the first quarter which we thankfully tightened up after - that was the angriest Brad had been in a while, and I loved it.

A random observation, you can tell Enes misses this team. Listened to his podcast with Forsberg earlier, and had a heap of good things to say about the guys. He spent most of tonight just trying to joke around and show people up, and a small part of me wouldn't have minded if he was successful in murdering Grant on that poster attempt.

There were imperfections, but we can't have it all...yet. A really solid win!

[Shak_Celts]

want to hear want K Perkins has to say now!!

Perk's heart is in the right place, he just wants to see this team improve. If his criticism is what motivated Tatum to go on this hot streak, I'm a happy camper

I totally agree. You never heard me disagree what Pek said.. whatever , Tatum has been as good as ever since those comments.. Hopefully Perk says something like Tatum can't keep doing it..

tatum has been fire for a while though, started before the all star game, he's just rounded it into a supernova. just because your team doesn't always win doesn't mean the better players aren't playing well.

[Ill News]

want to hear want K Perkins has to say now!!

Perk's heart is in the right place, he just wants to see this team improve. If his criticism is what motivated Tatum to go on this hot streak, I'm a happy camper

I totally agree. You never heard me disagree what Pek said.. whatever , Tatum has been as good as ever since those comments.. Hopefully Perk says something like Tatum can't keep doing it..

And it's great to see Tatum respond with outstanding play on the court instead of going the KD route. If that was KD, he'd have been feuding with Perk on social media like a goddamn cupcake

[Shak_Celts]

The Celtics are definitely not lacking in talent.

They just weren't playing the right way for most of the season.

Now we're seeing less forced shots and better defense.

Celts will be a dangerous #4 seed or #5.

also HEALTH AND LESS COVID!!!!