Marcus Smart has been within the NBA lengthy sufficient to know how you can bounce again from irritating defeats, so after the Celtics misplaced for the primary time in additional than two weeks on Monday in Chicago, the veteran guard knew the mindset required the following time they took the ground.
“Gotta be pissed off,” Smart stated. “That loss left a bad taste in our mouth.”
The Celtics didn’t play with the correct depth in Monday’s loss to the Bulls – as Smart put it, they “lollygagged” – and it price them as their profitable streak ended at 9 video games. But they had been intent on not letting it occur once more. Two nights later, the C’s dominated from begin to end in a 125-112 victory over the Mavericks that exposed one other promising character trait about this group. As they improved to an NBA-best 14-4 file, the Celtics continued to indicate that their lapses early this season have been uncommon blips on the radar and aren’t snowballing to create inconsistent stretches.
“I think it’s just a long season and you go through small moments,” Celtics interim coach Joe Mazzulla stated. “But I thought our guys did a great job of just kind of bouncing back. We talk a lot about (how) great teams stay the best version of themselves for longer periods of time. When they don’t, they bounce back quickly.”
How did they do it? It truly began with the gang.
There was a uncommon November buzz within the air at TD Garden earlier than the sport even began. Luke Doncic was within the constructing. The recreation was on ESPN. Of course, it was the eve of Thanksgiving, which definitely didn’t harm. The gamers stated they fed off that vitality from the opening tip.
“I kind of looked around and it was like, ‘Ooh, it’s one of those,’” Al Horford stated. “You just felt it. Everybody was here ready to go before, and that just really got us going. I looked at JT (Jayson Tatum) and was like, ‘Yeah. It’s just one of those nights.’ That helped tremendously.”
“The energy was definitely different,” Smart added.
It translated shortly because the Celtics opened a double-digit lead within the first quarter that swelled to a 21-point benefit by halftime. They led by as many as 27 within the second half earlier than the Mavs shrunk it to 9 late within the fourth, however Tatum and Jaylen Brown had been in the end an excessive amount of for Luka Doncic, who scored 42 factors.
Monday was an off evening throughout the board, because the Celtics shot uncharacteristically poorly and easily didn’t have sufficient vitality towards a hungry Bulls crew. Chalk it as much as certainly one of 82. The Celtics confirmed who they are surely on Wednesday.
”You’re not going to play good each single evening nevertheless it’s a matter of the way you deal with it,” Mazzulla stated. “And I thought our guys did a great job bouncing back.”
Horford’s good rebound
On the Celtics’ first offensive possession on Wednesday, Smart acquired the ball within the publish. On the opposite aspect of the court docket, Brown and Tatum had been operating actions to free Horford past the arc. Smart discovered him with a cross-court move, and Horford didn’t hesitate as he sank the triple.
It was by design. Horford went 0-for-9, which included seven missed 3-pointers, in Monday’s loss to the Bulls and the Celtics wished the veteran to recover from it shortly. It labored. Horford didn’t miss a shot in Wednesday’s win, going 5-for-5 with 4 3-pointers.
“Shooters shoot, man,” Horford stated. “So I’m gonna maintain capturing the ball. Spent numerous time this summer season and this season understanding what my position is. Have to remain prepared and assured and maintain capturing it. …
“Coach told me I was gonna get that first play. Marcus gave me a perfect pass there and I just took the shot and knocked it down, and it was on from there.”
Lineup swap
After beginning the Celtics’ final eight video games, Grant Williams went again to the bench on Wednesday as Mazzulla introduced Derrick White again to the beginning lineup that they started the season with. White has made a number of spot begins since that change, however that’s due to accidents to the Celtics guards.
Mazzulla enjoys the plethora of choices at his disposal on any given evening. On Wednesday, the matchup known as for Williams to return off the bench to counter the scale of Christian Wood on Dallas’ bench.
“I just think with our depth and our ability to play different ways, you want to constantly mix it up a little bit,” Mazzulla stated. “If you look at the season from a five or 10-game block, that five-game block that we had Grant in there doing some different things on the defensive end and I thought tonight and a few games moving forward, it’s different matchups. Credit to those guys for their humility and their ability to bounce back and forth. I thought it balanced our rotations and gave us the best chance to win.”
Mazzulla saved his rotation small once more in Wednesday’s win, with Williams, Malcolm Brogdon and Sam Hauser seeing the bench minutes. Luke Kornet didn’t play for the primary time since Nov. 7 – when he was inactive because of the beginning of he and his spouse’s baby – because the Celtics performed smaller lineups.
Source: www.bostonherald.com