Celtics rise up, down Suns to close out '21
The Boston Celtics will head into 2022 feeling good about themselves after a 123-108 win over the Phoenix Suns, arguably the Celtics' best win of the season.
Beating the best team in the NBA on the last day of the year, is such a Boston Celtics in 2021 kind of thing to do, right?
Few outside of the Celtics locker room gave them much of a chance heading into Friday afternoon’s matinee matchup.
Instead of playing close only to fold in the game’s decisive fourth quarter, the Celtics came out the aggressor, led by as many as 30 points, and delivered all the plays to win, when it mattered most.
It was by far their most impressive win, a game in which Boston used just eight players with seven finishing with at least 10 points scored.
And the one guy who failed to hit double figures scoring was Al Horford, who had a strong game with four points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Indeed, there was a lot for Celtics fans to feel good about as 2021 comes to a close.
But the idea that the Celtics will play this well all the time going forward, is a dream that won’t come true.
However, there were a number of things Boston did well against the Suns that should be transferable to some extent going forward.
More than anything else, the Celtics played with an elite level of aggression regardless of who was on the floor.
It served them well against the Suns.
And going forward, it will continue to bode well for them in 2022 if they embrace that brand of basketball, and bring it night-in and night-out which as we all know, is a lot easier said than done.
Here are the Stars, Studs and Duds from Boston’s win over Phoenix.
STARS
Robert Williams III: Time Lord recorded his first career triple-double, tallying 10 points to go with 10 assists and 11 rebounds. The scoring and rebounding are both areas in which we’ve seen Williams put up good numbers before, but the passing might have been a bit unexpected. It’s not because it’s not one of his strengths. In fact, Williams’ court vision is arguably his greatest strength. But too often, Williams’ ability to keep the ball moving is stunted by the team’s 1-2 scoring punch of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown spending far too many possessions playing iso-ball. Creating more opportunities for Williams to run the offense in half-court sets will be huge in Boston’s quest to get back to being a top-tier team in the East.
Celtics moving without the ball: Part of what made Williams’ job as a ball-mover so easy, was the non-stop motion we saw from just about every one of Boston’s wings who saw action. Romeo Langford. Josh Richardson. Jaylen Brown. All were moving as well as we’ve seen them in a single game all season, on Friday. And the result was more than just a victory; a victory in which the Celtics made 45 field goals, 28 of which were assisted. The pursuit of taking great shots after great ball movement needs to be more of a priority for Boston going forward especially when the results more times than not, is a win.
STUDS
Grant Williams: You can chalk up Friday’s performance as yet another strong Grant Williams game, one in which he continued to show his growth and improvement in this league. He has been among the NBA’s best corner 3-ball shooters this season. But against Phoenix which is severely undermanned in the frontcourt, Williams played a bit more bully-ball than usual. And that’s a good thing because he is too often deferential to his All-Star teammates Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum which at times results in him passing up easy, makeable shots for himself. There was a steady level of aggression on his part, regardless of who was trying to defend him on Saturday. And the end result was 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field.
Marcus Smart: Returning to the lineup after missing a couple of games with a cut on his hand, Marcus Smart looked and played like a man refreshed and eager to put his imprint on the game. He would finish with a season-high 24 points, setting the move-without-the-ball movement by the Celtics from the outset. And his defense on Devin Booker and Chris Paul (they were a combined 13-for-41 shooting) was huge as well.
DUDS
Chris Paul: The future Hall of Famer had one of those nights when nothing he did worked. The floater; 3-point shot; step-back, fadeaway. It was one of the rare games when no matter what Paul tried to do, his struggles weren’t going to get any better. Certainly, you have to give some credit to Marcus Smart and the Celtics defense for doing their part to not allow Paul to ever get comfortable shooting the ball or making plays.
Devin Booker: Similar to Paul, except Booker’s play was worse. He led the Suns with 22 points, but did so on just 7-for-26 from the field. There were a couple of highlight moments for sure, but this was a game Booker would just as soon forget about as soon as possible.