Picks 'n Pops: Rivalries, Hypocricy, and temporary teeth

Every week I gather some thoughts about the Celtics, the NBA, and beyond and dump them here. Because I need to ease my way back into all this new daylight we're getting.

- The Lakers are in town tomorrow night, which is always special. Jayson Tatum’s take on it, though, tells me he still has much to learn.

“I obviously understand the history between the Lakers and Celtics,” he said. “I would say from my time in the league, I wouldn't look at the Lakers as rivals. We only play them twice. The teams that we play over and over again in the playoffs -- Philly would be one of them, and the other teams as well. But you respect and understand the history and all the guys that wore the Lakers and Celtics uniform and what it means for the game of basketball and the NBA. It's an honor to be a part of that, for sure, so I'm certain everybody's looking forward to that matchup, as they do every single year."

I understand times change, and of course Tatum grew up a Lakers fan so that might temper his enthusiasm for the rivalry. But maybe the Luka Doncic trade, in conjunction with the release of Celtics City, will rekindle the rivalry a bit. A Celtics-Lakers Finals would be great theater. I think Tatum would get it after playing in that series. 

- I would like to have a word with whomever scheduled Celtics-Lakers in Boston at 8:30 p.m. on spring-forward night. 

- A lot of guys sat out the last couple of nights, and fans got maybe the most fun game of the season and a dominant Tatum game/Baylor Scheierman breakout. 

I get why people scream about fans not getting their money’s worth when stars sit, but how many of those games have turned out to be pretty fun anyway? I’m not excusing away the argument about load management, but I do think there's a big element missed when making it. Of all those games people preemptively complained about, how many times did fans still leave the arena happy? 

- Tatum turned 27 this week. He is fourth in NBA history in combined regular season and playoff points before the age of 27. 

It’s a very impressive but also a very modern stat. Consider that Larry Bird was nearly 23 when he joined the league. Tatum had scored nearly 5,000 combined points before he got to Bird’s age. 

It’s not to take anything away from Tatum’s very impressive career. I’m just saying the list would look a lot different if everyone started around the same age. 

- Kelly Oubre might have been the one to knock out Derrick White’s teeth, but I think Jaylen Brown loosened them (wait until the very end)

Who throws a shoe? Honestly. 

- I'm glad those front teeth were temporary, because all season long I thought someone had done a less-than-stellar job on White's grill. I'm happy to hear that it was a bridge and that the real teeth are still to come. 

- Miles Norris got a chance to meet the media this week.

"I'm very excited. I'm just excited to be here. Very grateful for the opportunity. Excited to be in this organization. Great winning culture, so I'm just excited to be a part of this."

He seems excited. 

- Sam Hauser’s reaction to the Norris signing was my favorite

“I don’t know anything about him to be honest with you. I met him today, so we’ll find out.”

Ever see him play? 

“Never. Never. So, got a lot to learn.”

- The first episode of Celtics City is good. I think a new documentary every 20 years or so is a great idea. I already know most of the stories, but it’s good to hear them again and it’s great to get a new generation to understand things better. 

- Congrats to Jaden Springer for getting a chance with the Jazz

- Kristaps Porzingis broke the news that he’s coming back tomorrow night in an Instagram comment. 

I guess that's where I should be asking my questions now.

- I asked Joe Mazzulla about the parade of randos who keep having career shooting nights against the Celtics. Jabari Walker went 6-6 for Portland, joining the Dillon Brooks All-Stars. Here’s Joe’s answer: 

“I think two of them were corner threes, which you should work to take away anyways. And the corner three is usually the byproduct of a missed communication on a coverage or a help opportunity. And so the corner ones, regardless of who you are, we have to defend those better.

“The above the break ones, yeah, I think the league has just gotten better. I think player development has gotten better. I think the players have gotten better. And I think people leaning into shot quality, but also shot margin has gotten better on that. And so I think it's jus something that's ever evolving, but you still have to do the things within your defensive scheme to take away the shots that you need to take away. And you know, corner threes are one of them.”

Even the bad shooters are bad under duress, but they can knock shots down if you leave them wide open. It’s not always going to happen, but a 6-6 night when a guy gets his confidence isn’t surprising anymore. 

The bottom line is Boston has to be aware of those guys no matter what. They can help further off them, but they can’t dare them to shoot. And as Mazzulla said, anything in the corner has to be challenged. 

- Congratulations Tyler Lashbrook and JD Davison for getting G League Coach and Player of the Month. 

- It sucks that Kyrie Irving tore his ACL this week. He’s going to be out for a long time. It’s also the single most devastating thing that could happen to the Mavs after the Doncic trade. 

They admitted that the trade gave them a window of about three years, this one being the first. Now this season is over and next season doesn't look great either. And after that, are going to rely on a small point guard coming off an ACL injury to carry the team at 34 years old? Anthony Davis will be 33. 

That's their best shot at a title? 

The Doncic trade might go down as the single dumbest trade ever made in the NBA. They were a Finals team with a 25-year-old perennial All-NBA centerpiece. Now they're going to miss the playoffs this season, struggle to be any good next season, and then … what? 

I tend to get upset when conspiracy theories are taken seriously, but this is the one time that something makes so little sense that a conspiracy theory is actually the most reasonable explanation. I still don’t believe it, but for once I can see why people do. 

- I get why Brad Marchand was traded, but I freakin’ hate it. 

- The New York Knicks aren’t getting out of the second round. 

- Draymond Green is a Grade A D-bag for saying Karl-Anthony Towns ducked the Warriors because he wanted to avoid Jimmy Butler when Towns was, in fact, at the funeral of a family friend. What really hammers the point home is he wasn’t apologetic at all when he found out the truth. 

There is zero chance he’d accept “this is what I heard” if I reported something incorrect about him to make him look bad. 

You want to be in the media, buddy? You gotta follow the same rules the rest of us do. I’d be fired for this crap. 

- I’m not a huge Russell Westbrook fan, but this was really cool: 

- Today’s AI-generated image: It’s time to take extreme measures to protect Derrick White’s face. 

- Payton Pritchard’s last three games: 60% shooting overall, 58.6% from 3, five rebounds, four assists, and a 43-point game where he nearly tied the team 3-point record. If he’s not having the Best Week Ever, who is?

- Here’s my latest podcast, if you're bored.