Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
The Celtics used a game against the Wizards to get themselves right with the world on November 6th, and it’s possible that last night’s game will serve a similar purpose. After that early November win, the Celtics went on to win four of their next five, before blowing an 18 point lead against the Mavericks, starting their recent slump.
It would be easy to glance at the box score from Boston’s 111-78 blowout win over Washington on Friday and think, ‘man that Celtics offense is humming right now!’
Truth be told, Friday’s victory wasn’t about Boston delivering a scorching, red-hot shooting display or anything like that.
This beat down was about the Celtics getting back to playing the kind of defense from top to bottom that we saw earlier this season when they were the league’s top-ranked defense.
Boston forced 22 turnovers that led to 17 points, a means of generating offense that seems to be working quite well for the Celtics.
As that graphic above shows, the Celtics haven’t shot particularly well during their two games against Washington (last night they shot 43.3%). But they’ve done a phenomenal job on defense, outscoring Washington by 53 points while shooting, essentially, their season average.
If the Celtics are going to continue to develop into contenders they need to be able to dominate opponents without shooting lights-out. You can’t expect to shoot above your season average every game. Averages don’t work that way.
Page 2: Remember when Sully was the Fifth Big Man?
Sully had himself a good game last night. Stevens’ generosity with the bench minutes and a game that was over early probably kept Sully from notching a 20/20 night.
Friday night was yet another highly efficient performance by Sullinger as he led the way in Boston’s 111-78 beating of the Washington Wizards.
Sullinger finished with his team-leading fifth double-double of the season, scoring 18 points while grabbing a season high-tying 15 rebounds.
Just as impressive is that Sullinger did it in less than 24 minutes of court time.
But with newfound energy and improved defense, Sullinger fought his way back to the starting lineup, and on Friday threatened his own career-best effort as he scored 18 points with 15 rebounds in less than 24 minutes of play in Boston’s blowout victory.
“It’s being able to feel the same way day in and day out,” Sullinger said of his improvements this year. “There were a lot of times when I would go through a drought when I was extremely tired, didn’t feel like myself. Now, with all the hard work I did during the summertime, every night I am feeling the same way. I am moving the same way. I am able to do the same things.”
“People are always going to have a comment, are always going to have complaints,” Sullinger said. “I really don’t care. When we have wins like this, I know my mom is at home sleeping peacefully, because she doesn’t like close games. She wants every win to be above 20. I tell her that’s not realistic basketball unless I’m playing 2K.”
Sullinger’s performance on Friday would have easily earned him an A+ teammate grade on 2K16. He gobbled up rebounds like a vacuum cleaner picking up dirt clods, using his still-considerable bulk to clear space and his still-soft hands to secure the ball. In many ways, he looked like the old Jared Sullinger.
But there’s a new twist on the old Sullinger this season — a new quickness to his step, a new energy to his movement. He doesn’t necessarily look different until he steps on the court.
On the court, though, the change is palpable.
Finally:
@celtics routing @WashWizards so badly by 25. They’ve started the wave and @IamAmirJohnson has joined in pic.twitter.com/OkYmpyGhsF
— Mike Dowling (@mdowling5) November 28, 2015
Yep, that’s Amir Johnson keeping the wave going at Boston Garden. Because they can’t run Gino all 4th quarter long.
The rest of the links:
CSNNE: Blowout in Boston | Celtics make Wall a non-factor for second game in a row
NESN: Jared Sullinger’s ‘Selfish’ Rebounding Efforts Paying Off For Celtics
Boston Globe: Jared Sullinger, Celtics feast on Wizards
Boston Herald: Celtics answer call, pound Wizards
MassLive: Jared Sullinger, Boston Celtics use strong start, roll over Washington Wizards | Marcus Smart injury: Boston Celtics guard hopes to return in a couple weeks from ‘rare’ knee injury
ESPN Boston: Marcus Smart uncertain on return date | Celtics catch the perfect wave in blowout of Wizards
