There are two types of post-vacation people.
There's the chipper, refreshed person who shows up at work Monday with a smile. This person has pictures to show people and stories to tell about the buffet and how they finally did karaoke and now they understand why it’s so much fun (“I did ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’ and it was AWFUL but everyone was singing with me and I think it’d be fun if we all go together Thursday night!”).
And then there's the person who shows up at work at 9:10 with droopy eyes, an extra large Dunkin, and a spot of hair on his face that he missed shaving, saying he needs a vacation from his vacation (“The resort was all-inclusive and I made sure to make them regret it”).
It didn’t take long to figure out who was who on the Celtics Thursday night.
“It was either I left all my shooting in Utah (at the All-Star game), or still drunk from vacation,” Jayson Tatum said. “That's how I played tonight. I had a good stat line, but really not a really good game.”
Tatum joked that he had some Gatorade (he’s not too hungover for a sponsor plug) and sobered up in the fourth quarter. Maybe Marcus Smart dipped into his electrolyte supply for the overtime, because Smart played like his head was still swimming in Wyc Grousbeck’s tequila.
“The first game back can always be a little tough,” Tatum said. “Everybody's been on vacation … and everybody in the league is kind of in the same boat. First game back, been off for a week, so regardless of who you playing the first game it’s usually always tough, and a good one to win.”
Luckily for Boston, Malcolm Brogdon seemed to be just fine … which actually made it ironic that he was the one who ended the game smelling like booze, but life can be funny that way. While Tatum and Smart struggled early, Brogdon and Derrick White helped buoy the Celtics with a combined 41 points. Brogon was particularly motivated, it seemed, in his first game back in Indiana since the offseason trade to Boston.
“I've always said we need guys like that because of their humility and their competitive nature,” Joe Mazzulla said after the overtime win. “They understand and regardless of what the situation is, they're ready to play and they're ready to execute.”
So on one hand, the Celtics had guys who were ready to execute and who came to play. On the other, they had guys joking about their blood alcohol levels. Where does this leave these guys in their return to action?
Just like everything else, it’s complicated. We can scream about how they should have been more ready after the break, but Tatum has a point. The first day back from work after vacation isn’t always the most productive for everyone, so the goal for some people is to get through the day without screwing up too badly.
So in a sense, I guess they did that.
“We just got to find ways to win,” Jaylen Brown said. “First game back, it was a good one to come back to off the break. So I thought we played well. We let them come and get going, but we weathered the storm and got a win today.”
That's the optimist’s version of events. Each win counts for one, regardless of how good or bad it looks. In the end, the Celtics are 43-17, no matter whether they won the way they won, or the way we all wanted them to win.
But the pessimist’s view has valid arguments as well. The Pacers had been struggling quite a lot, losing 16 of 19 heading into this game, so a focused effort might have made this an easy win. The Celtics were up 16 and they constantly gave up big runs to turn a potential laugher into an overtime thriller. They also had vacations, but Myles Turner managed to do alright out there. Tyrese Haliburton played in the All-Star game and he was able to drop 22 points and 14 assists on 50% shooting.
The Celtics came in with the fourth-best defense in the NBA and gave up 138 points on a night where their starting lineup -- a lineup that is supposed to be the defensive juggernaut that makes other teams quiver -- made its second start together.
Whether this game is an indicator of Boston’s ability to win a championship will depend on whether Boston actually wins a championship. The winners get to write history, so if they win, this game was just a speed bump. If they don’t, then this game showed how un-serious they really were. The context comes later. Now’s the time to argue about it.
Mazzulla, though, isn’t too worried about it. He knows the game should have been easier, but that there are also valuable lessons in all of this.
“I like the fact that we have to go through it. It's important,” he said. “That had a playoff atmosphere. We had to withstand some runs. We had to adjust, and we had to execute, and we had to make plays. And I think that's what you have to do to win. And so I like the fact that we have to go through that. Now, there are possessions that we can clean up. We put ourselves in tough spots on both ends of the floor. But you have to win games like that. You have to be in games like that.”
