What a game. It sure is good to have the most clutch player in the league on your team (unless you are Louis, then that title belongs to JJ Reddick). Let’s dive right in.
Kyrie Irving is a bad man.
Playoff Kyrie is one of the greatest scorers we have ever seen. Last night was yet another display. When his team could not figure out where the rim was, he dug into his bag of tricks and did what he does – score however he wants. Every move Kyrie makes to the basket includes three others he can finish with depending on what the defense does in the moment. There are maybe – MAYBE – 5 other players in the league that can do this. And none of them do it as well as the 6-time all-star.
Jayson Tatum is a rollercoaster
After he dunked on Lebron and averaged 18 points in last year’s ECF, the NBA media loves to cast Tatum as one of the top 5 young guys in the league. In flashes, this holds true. But his hero ball almost led to a 1-1 series tie last night.
After a 16-0 run on the back of Uncle Drew, Tatum took it upon himself to close it out – and almost failed. Two bad possessions by Tatum in a row and some from-downtown magic via Indiana’s Bojan Bogdonovic (elite flop artist), the Celtics were down one with under a minute left. Luckily that lead did not last, Tatum being a part of it with a huge three of his own and a late – extremely impressive – dunk to seal it.
Despite the hero ball moments, Tatum finished with a nice 26-piece and a W.
Can someone else step up?
Marcus Morris, Jaylen Brown, and Al Horford combined for 10 points on 5-20 shooting from the floor. Morris especially was dreadful, but luckily the East’s best coach quickly realized it wasn’t his night and sat him down. Horford and Brown did make up for it on the defensive end, mainly Playoff Al with some stiff defense late in the game. If Boston is going to beat anyone higher than a 5 seed, they’ll need more offense out of those three.
Overall, this was a great win for the Celtics, overcoming another large deficit. Starting off with a 2-0 lead is something other top seeds in the East weren’t able to do against lesser competition.