When you are called Boston Celtics, excellence is essential every season. After a conference final abandoned in September to a surprising Heat, the Greens returned to the charge with an intact ambition and a duo of young cracks expected at the turn. There will have finally been good and … much less good, the opus 2020-21 validating the monstrous level of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown but bringing, above all, a huge upheaval a few weeks ago. The turn is over, send the rest.
WHAT TRASHTALK HAS REPORTED
An offseason that is both quiet and… not very ambitious. Aaron Nesmith and Payton Pritchard who land in the Draft with the promise of scorching nets, the departure of Gordon Hayward, the arrivals of the sparkling Jeff Teague and Tristan Thompson, the extension of Jayson Tatum for 5 years and almost 200 million, Tacko Fall who leaves on a two-way contract and Evan Turner who arrives as assistant coach, that’s for fun. Questions about the racket, the state of Kemba Walker’s knee, and overall little madness but the guarantee all the same to make, at least, a nice regular. So many guarantees that we saw the Celtics outright win 48 games and finish second in the East, like what, sometimes, the routine is not necessarily good.
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED
Good news, the season starts like a dream with a Jaylen Brown / Jayson Tatum duo of 63 pawns and a game winner of the second named during the opening night, in the gums of Giannis Antetokounmpo not to spoil anything. A satisfactory start to the exercise with, jumble, a big win on December 29 in Indiana, another on the 30 against Memphis thanks to 42 points from Jaylen Brown, at 15/21 on shooting eh, a big game of Jayson Tatum on January 3 in Detroit, 40 pawns from the same Tatum two days later in Tampa, a game winner of the new local hero Payton Pritchard and even a remarkable exit of Tacko Fall on the 8th, punctuated by a pancake with Senegalese sauce on Russell Westbrook. Everything is going well in Bostonia, five wins in a row so we have the banana, 8-3 is the result, but you can imagine that the problems will arise otherwise it’s not funny. These problems ? They are directly related to the return of Kemba Walker, do what you want, because the return of Cardiac Kemba … the C’s take 30 at home against the Knicks, the C’s are not good, and the Knicks lose five times in seven games, record saved by two happy victories against the terrible Cavs and the maddening Bulls.
January 24 Jaylen Brown explodes a speed record by slamming 33 points in 19 minutes against Cleveland, while Kemba still does not take off, while Marcus Smart hits the calf and takes leave for two weeks. And if the Warriors and the Clippers are beaten in February in the heart of a difficult roadtrip in the West, if Kemba Walker regains his skills for one night against the Pacers, a series of ten defeats in fifteen games leaves the C’s with a negative assessment on the morning of March, with a Jayson Tatum who still admits to feeling the effects of COVID, that must be for that then. Alleluia, in the spring the Clover turns green again, logical even if you don’t necessarily have a botanist diploma. Jay and Jay are both All-Stars and it’s deserved at least for the browner of the two, the Wizards are beaten thanks to the clutchitude of Jayson Tatum, the Clippers and the Raptors pass to the top of the soldiers of Brad Stevens ( we put one in place for the great little season of Robert Williams III), things are starting to get better with five wins in six games and the return of Marcus Smart but, rebelote, a new series of defeats which landed including a nice mess against the Kings.
Ding ding ding it’s time for the trade deadline.
Goodbye Daniel Theis, Brad Wanamaker and Jeff Teague, hello Evan Fournier and Luke Kornet, yay, and then we feel a breeze of freshness in Massachusetts, something tells us… it’s not going to last. Big win against the Bucks with a big Tatum, difficult start for Evan Fournier with a disturbing 0/10 but much less when he slams 23 points at 7/11 from the parking lot three days later, unfortunately the COVID protocol is back and Vavane finds himself locked up again. Jayson Tatum dances with the Wolves by planting his career high on the Wolves (53 points), the C’s explode Denver in a mythical last quarter (40-8), Jayson Tatum again wins his duel with Damian Lillard, his sidekick Jean-Lin Brown is going on April 11 with his 40 pawns at 17/20 against the Lakers’ team G, hey, there’s Jabari Parker who arrives, Jayson Tatum still wins the fight with Steph Curry on the 17th (47 points for the Chef, 44 and the win for Tat ‘), and that makes six victories in a row between April 8 and 18, we are worse off. Brad Stevens then refuses a big offer from NCAA, we now know why, on the 27th the Greens eat the most shameful defeat of the season against the Rambouillet Thunder, three days later Jayson Tatum slammed … SIXTY against the Spurs, repack your records and your mustaches from the 80s, there we do not breathe-at-all.
On May 2 the Jay Brothers bump into each other in the middle of a match in a defeat against the Heat, the 5 Vavane has been back for a while but this time comes to kiss his former audience and leaves with the victory and full of smiles , but a week later it’s a shock since we are caught in the face at the end of the official season of… Jaylen Brown, victim of a rupture of a ligament in the right wrist. It grimaces to death at TD Garden with five losses in six games to finish the regular, Kevin Love allows himself to type a 2012 revival with 30 points and 15 rebounds on the air defense of Boston and in the end it is the seventh place which welcomes Brad Stevens’ squad, a seventh place synonymous with play-in tournament against… Wizards. A play-in mastered in particular thanks to the immense heat stroke – one more – of Jayson Tatum (50 pawns), who will repeat his performance in Game 3 of the first round against the Nets too equipped to leave more than a match to the C’s on the series. 4-1 Brooklyn, logic respected, good vacation and for some, do not take a return ticket.
THE IMAGE OF THE SEASON
Evan Fournier was expected to leave at the March trade deadline, the Celtics were also expected to strengthen, but Evan was not necessarily expected to strengthen the Celtics. An arrival full of hype but delayed by the COVID protocol, two very complicated first matches then a first carnage … before a small fortnight to have to remain confined because of what you know, again. The month of May in Vavane will be much more solid with almost 20 pawns per game and a big defensive presence to ensure the C”s place in play-in and then in playoffs. It’s not easy to exist in a roster where few players know how to pass the ball (Marcus Smart being the “little”), but a few weeks before becoming free agent Evan has done the job to attract the barge.
HE CARTONED: JAYLEN BROWN
If Jayson Tatum has further raised his level of play to a superstar level after a start to the season marred by COVID, if Vavane’s debut was satisfactory and if the slaughter of a Robert Williams III pleased us, Jaylen Brown is clearly THE satisfaction of the season in Boston. Very quickly among the natural candidates emerging in the race for the MIP trophy, Jaylen then disappeared from this ranking, quite simply because it was at a level… of MVP that he was evolving, we hardly exaggerate. 28 points on average in December with 33 points in opener and a point to 42 to celebrate the end of the calendar year against Memphis, and another 27 in January after a simply exceptional month. 50/40/80 for the percentages, and in the felt it is a real all risk insurance that is released, and on both sides of the field please. 31 points in Detroit, 33 in Philly or 42 against Cleveland, the boy is in the shape of his life and will see his start of exercise rewarded with a deserved selection for the All-Star Game. Slight slack then in February and March (only 23 points per game, boo shame), but in April it starts again with a bang with, in disorder, 32 points against the Knicks, 38 against Charlotte, 39 at OKC or 40 more in Los Angeles on a record-breaking night. Jaylen looks set to do battle in the Playoffs but, unfortunately, a wrist injury will shatter him in early May in his tracks, forcing him to watch helplessly the defeat of his family in the Playoffs. In the end 24.7 points, 6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.4 steals for a young fullback who proved that no, the Celtics were not the team of one player but of two. And not three moreover, magnificent transition before the next paragraph because, what do you want, it is a job.
WE WERE WAITING FOR HIM AT THE TAQUET, BUT HE FINALLY LEAVED: KEMBA WALKER
How hard is it to tame this post of playmaker in Boston? After the glorious Rajon Rondo era, many had fun there, before finally breaking their teeth. Isaiah Thomas, hero one day and almost banished the next day because of a passing fashion and squeaky hips, his replacement Kyrie Irving, never really integrated and who will end up wiping his feet on the logo four years later, and therefore… Kemba Walker, who arrived in town two years ago and who therefore never succeeded in imposing his supersonic paw on the Greens. Not that he was a horrible basketball player far from it, but his season II in Boston will ultimately be in the same vein as the first, with some notable accelerations but overall disappointing, started with a swollen knee and ended with big saddlebags sent to the Playoffs against the Nets. It’s stupid, Kembaba started to heat up in May, but two months later it’s about a former leader of the house we are talking about since the first decision of the GM version of Brad Stevens will therefore be to send his former leader to Oklahoma, confirming the imagined thesis that Brady did not necessarily live well having as a starter in the lead a guy who turns less than five assists per game. A player with a pretty crazy career already, but who will not therefore have left such a crazy imprint on the East Coast. See you soon Cardiac Kemba, you seem to be a nice guy and it’s already not bad.
THE FOLLOWING
We did not necessarily expect it, not so quickly anyway, but the ax will not have dragged to fall. Earthquake on June 2, Danny Ainge puts an end to 18 years of management by leaving his place to… Brad Stevens, himself leaving a coaching position he had held for eight seasons. Kemba Walker pays the price for Brad’s arrival at the helm by suffering the fallout from two complicated seasons and leaves for OKC, Al Horford is back in town to play the darons, and a few days later it is the profile of Ime Udoka who is chosen to restore the green coat of arms. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are locked in, Marcus Smart will be free agent in a year and awaits a sign, the young people are interesting but not projected as future All-Stars either, in short, we will have to surround the Jay Brothers as well as possible this summer , while waiting to see the former two-way luxury player of Spurs and… Vichy at work. Because yes, we end this paragraph with this info.
A 36-36 which certainly pays tribute to Marcus Smart but well below local expectations, and an ultimately logical defeat in the first round of the Playoffs. The Celtics had accustomed us to better, and we will have to restart the machine very quickly to stay in the leading pack in the East. New coach and new GM for a new life, with a Jayson Tatum in… MVP mode?
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