BSJ Game Report: Celtics 92, Orlando 79 - A win is a win, but the drama isn't dead yet

Everything you need to know about the Celtics 92-79 win over the Orlando Magic with BSJ insight and analysis.

The Celtics and Magic went back and forth in the first half, with the Celtics opening up making many of the same mistakes they’d been making to spot Orlando a lead. The Celtics battled by attacking the basket, but they also allowed the Magic to do the same. 

The game changed when the Celtics shut down the paint in the second half. After allowing 20 of Orlando’s first 33 points in the paint, only 12 of their next 46 did. The Celtics, meanwhile, kept attacking, running some of their better overall offense of the season to build a 20 point lead. They let up a bit in the fourth quarter (shocker!) but ended up cruising to the win.

Box Score

HEADLINES

Much needed win: I don’t care that this was against Orlando, the Celtics needed a win, and they needed to see some of the things they’ve been trying to accomplish schematically to pan out. They didn’t switch nearly as much in this game, which shows it’s still very much early in the gameplan rollout for Ime Udoka. The level of competition can be tossed aside right now. That was a win Boston needed as they figure everything out.

... and no drama!: At least not within this game itself (more on this later). This was pretty straightforward. Yes, Orlando made it a tiny bit interesting in the fourth quarter, but this was, in general terms, a pretty generic ‘better team beating a lesser team’ kind of win. Getting the W was important, but doing it in this way was also somewhat necessary.

... AND low minutes!!: Also, yes, they could have been lower had the Celtics come out with a little better execution in the fourth. There were some minutes where it got pretty messy on both ends, but Jaylen Brown only played 32 minutes. Jayson Tatum’s 34 was most on the team. Al Horford’s 26 was perfect.

TURNING POINT

The Celtics came out of the half on a 16-0 run to take full command. They played with great purpose, which means they were low and active on defense, communicating well, and staying connected with their guys. Offensively, they were cutting, passing, and attacking. 

FOUR UP

Jaylen Brown: Easily Boston’s best offensive option in the early going this season. He had another beauty of a game with 28 points on 10-17 shooting (3-8 3pt), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal. 

Al Horford: He punished Orlando’s zone defense and led the team with 7 assists. He’s been at the heart of a lot of the good this season (however rare it has been). 

Marcus Smart: Smart was vocal, he distributed the ball, and was active defensively. After saying what he said the other day, it was interesting to see how he came out. This was a generally good Marcus Smart game. You can point to a couple of missed shots that could have been better, and there was one late shot clock 3 he had to take, so this is a game I’ll take. 

Robert Williams: He shot 6-8 from the field, getting himself into great spots to catch the ball at the rim and finish with a couple of spectacular plays and a couple of simply solid ones. He helped nicely on defense and moved the ball well, despite not having any assists. 

TWO DOWN

Jayson Tatum: This is just a major slump to start the season for Tatum. I don’t think he forced much aside from a quick 3 early in the game and maybe another one here or there. He was 4-16 from the field and just 1-6 from 3. He’s even struggling from the line, hitting 5-8 free throws. On the positive side, he got to the line 8 times and he didn’t seem to fall into the habits of letting the refs get to him.

Dennis Schröder: Another cold night. 4-11 from the field and 0-4 from deep. Some of the early shots that fell this season have given way to some cold shooting.

TOP PLAY

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

The vibes are not great.

The Celtics needed this one, if not to cleanse the palates a bit of the horrific taste of sour defeats. The Celtics handled their business, but it’s clear the start to the season has been tough on them. 

To wit, a player’s only meeting reported by Adrian Wojnarowski, reported during the Celtics game, had to be downplayed by the team afterward. 

“Yeah, it wasn’t really a players-only meeting. We had a team dinner scheduled way before anything happened,” Ime Udoka said. “We gave the players their time before the coaching staff and everybody else came down. So they had about 30 minutes on their own, but it wasn’t anything scheduled. It wasn’t anything scheduled by them.”

Horford added that it was “a gathering, team dinner, nice to break bread together, hang out. Most importantly talked about making sure we come out here and have a good outing tonight.”

Some will argue that’s semantics, some will say that’s different. Whatever it is, discussions were had. 

“Obviously in the midst of trying to win games, it's something that we probably didn’t need,” Jaylen Brown said of the Marcus Smart comments that started this whole thing. “But we all communicate and talk to each other. So we’re always trying to find ways to win and I’m open to any and everything when guys bring it to me, coaching staff.”

When Brown was asked if it was easier to have conversations with guys who have been with him his whole career, he said "yes and no. Yeah, we definitely have spent a lot of time with each other, which makes it good to be able to talk to somebody but also it's a lot of ups and downs that you go through that we're family and things like that. I think we have healthy conversations moving forward. Like I said, the energy is just focusing on winning, that's it."

So let’s recap what we have here: 

- Smart used his postgame time on Monday to publicly vent frustrations that clearly have been brewing for some time. 

- Brown was scheduled to talk after Monday’s game, but then was no longer available after Smart and Horford talked.

- The team had some sort of gathering during which grievances were aired, discussed or whatever for about 30 minutes, which Woj reported as probably not productive. 

- Today, Brown said “it's something that we probably didn’t need,” but he welcomes discussions and whatnot. 

So, yeah, it’s pretty clear that some things aren’t sitting well with some people. Things aren’t exactly puppy dogs and rainbows inside that locker room right now. Tonight’s win helped, because winning always does to some degree. But how much? 

As always, I love to pull back and, I hope, add proper perspective. Few teams are going to be buddy buddy from top to bottom for the whole season. There’s almost always something that kills the vibes. 

“Every team I've ever been on or coached has had moments where they butt heads,” Udoka said. “It's nothing that we haven't talked about, nothing, no area that they haven't shown improvement and growth in, and so we'll leave it at that. I mean, it's something that's addressed and continually preached with those guys and so not trying to blow it out of proportion.”

The key to getting past something like this is (a) communication, which is apparently happening, (b) reconciliation, which may or may not be happening, and (c) winning, which happened tonight but might not happen again for a little while if Boston isn’t careful. 

This probably doesn’t threaten to derail the season at this point. But this is certainly a thread that, if pulled for much longer, could unravel things down the line.