The NBA Playoffs are the SATs, the only real test that matters. (ACT-truthers, beware.) For the Boston Celtics -- a title contender -- that makes games against teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs the PSATs.
Perhaps squaring off against the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks is the prep booklet handed out by high-school guidance counselors.
All of that to say: Boston’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night was a kindergarten spelling test.
As Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown proudly spelled the words cat, dog, and, for extra credit, ball, Cormac Ryan and Pete Nance were on the receiving end of the damage.
But a test is a test. And the Celtics passed with flying colors.
That’s C-O-L-O-R-S, colors.
Though a virtually meaningless game against Milwaukee at the beginning of April may not seem important, it did provide the Celtics another chance to get Tatum comfortable. And they certainly made the most of the practice time.
Tatum was one assist shy of his second straight triple-double, and he didn’t even play in the fourth quarter. He tried passing to Payton Pritchard for a third-quarter buzzer-beater, but the Celtics guard missed the long ball.
Brown, on the other hand, picked up where he left off in Miami. It wasn’t his most efficient start, but as the night went on, he picked up the pace. He shot 6-of-13 in the second and third quarters after shooting just 1-of-4 in the first.
These last two games -- wins in Miami and Milwaukee -- have provided the best basketball Tatum and Brown have played together since Tatum’s return.
The keyword in that sentence? Together.
Tatum and Brown have seemingly found their perfect roles.
Brown is still the scorer. The leading force behind the Celtics’ goal to fill up the scoring column. He scored 43 points against the Heat and, on Friday, led the Celtics in shot attempts with 17. Not only that, but Brown also got to the line 11 times and, like Tatum, didn’t even have to play the fourth quarter.
As for Tatum, he still gets his chances to score. The first quarter was all his on Friday. He shot 3-of-5, scoring nine points to go along with three rebounds and five assists.
But that’s the key. He does everything.
Brown dips his toes into other walks of life, too. He’s far more than just a scorer. But since returning to the lineup, Tatum has been Boston’s offensive hub, and Brown has been the go-to bucket-getter.
Tatum, often pass-first. Brown, constantly looking to put the ball in the basket.
Imagine if, instead of Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic had an MVP candidate playing next to him. But instead of playing out of the post, Jokic primarily acted as a pick-and-roll ball-handling threat. That’s the sort of dynamic Tatum and Brown have cultivated.
Brown’s offense hasn’t changed much. He’s getting the ball, running the pick-and-roll, hunting for post-up mismatches, and finding all of his spots to score.
Though Tatum is doing a lot of those same things, he’s running more pick-and-rolls. He’s coming off screens away from the ball to get into the action. He’s acting as the screener for Derrick White, Brown, and Pritchard. He’s taking on one-on-one matchups and kicking out to shooters.
And the mere threat of Tatum or Brown getting into an advantageous position is, ironically, often enough for the other to get one, because opponents can rarely take away both players’ ability to score.
Just look at Ousmane Dieng and Kyle Kuzma here. Tatum screens for Brown, but since the Bucks don’t want to give Brown a driving lane, Dieng and Kuzma both stick with him.
As soon as Tatum runs away from the ball, Neemias Queta sets him a screen, and Kuzma is late to get back into the play, so he gets caught.
And since Milwaukee also doesn’t want to give Tatum space to drive, Myles Turner helps up, Queta slips the screen, and Boston gets an easy bucket.
Tatum and Brown have never played better basketball together than they have in the last few games.
But that’s not where it ends for Boston.
Most teams around the NBA are lucky to have one player who can do it all with the ball in his hands. Jalen Johnson in Atlanta. Cade Cunningham in Detroit. Jalen Brunson in New York.
The Celtics have three.
Tatum and Brown are the obvious front-runners in that regard. But Pritchard has been one of the most dominant isolation players in the NBA all season. He was an elite one-on-one player with Brown alongside him, and now that Tatum is back, teams have one less defender to throw Pritchard’s way.
The result? Plenty of room to cook.
Boston’s three-pronged offense, with White as a supplementary ball-handler, was enough to wipe the Heat and Bucks off the face of the map. In the past week alone, they’ve taken down the Thunder, Hawks, and Charlotte Hornets as well.
It’s all starting to click.
White will provide his DPOY-caliber defense and hit some shots when needed. Queta will continue screening opposing players into the shadow realm. And the rest of the depth will, as it has, fall into place.
Milwaukee got a few too many threes in transition than Boston may have liked on Friday night. However, the Celtics did prevent the Bucks from scoring inside (11-of-26 in the paint).
Friday was about offense. More importantly, it was about how dominant the Celtics’ offense is when Tatum and Brown (and Pritchard) are humming.
Milwaukee may not be the SATs. They aren’t even a freshman year math test. But the Celtics outperformed whatever test was put in front of them. In fact, it wasn’t about the test at all.
It was about the work.
And the Celtics absolutely showed their work, and if they continue to play their cards right, they may have a chance to use that work when the SATs do come around in a couple of weeks.