11th January - New Orleans Pelicans @ Boston Celtics - 14-25
It took a little longer than some of us might have liked, what with us failing to create real separation until the second half, but last night we managed to beat the New York Knicks in a victory that has been described ''real'' and ''happening last night''. We are now on pace for about 29 wins this year, which is an improvement from the 26 win pace we were on about a week ago. The Pelicans have now won 7 of their last 10.
Still on the road, tonight the Pelicans take on the Boston Celtics. The Celtics are better than the Knicks: they're 25-11 right now, and unfortunately for us we'll be going into this as the second night of a back to back, while the Celtics are rested. That said, the Celtics have now lost 3 straight games, including to relatively underwhelming teams like the Wizards and Spurs. That could either mean they're about to slide, or they're about to bounce back; therefore it tells us almost nothing.
What we can tell, though, is that the Celtics are the 9th ORtg in the NBA, and the 4th best DRtg. That is, they're good. They also play at the league's 19th rated pace, so they're fairly slow. At 16th in FG% and 19th in 3pt%, they're relatively mediocre in terms of scoring efficiency, but they're top 10 in steals, blocks, and offensive rebounds, as well as being in the top 15 in rebounds overall. They don't turn it over much, being one of the bottom third in the league in turnovers per game. They're pretty good.
Their leading scorer this year is Kemba Walker, who's averaging about 23ppg on about 58% TS. He's shooting 39.7% from 3, but only 43% from the field overall, which is why he's only a little above league average in efficiency.
Beyond that, they have the 2 Jays. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Both are averaging a little over 20ppg, about 7 rebounds per game, and about 2.5 assists per game. Brown shoots 40% from 3, Tatum shoots 86% from the FT line, so there's a difference (and the extra 3pt efficiency is what explains Brown's 60.1% TS), and they both have a PER about 18.
What's been really pretty impressive for Tatum is his development as a defender. He's got a real argument for All-Defensive considerations this year, and while he's only shooting about league average from 3, that defensive capacity has earned him something of a 3&D ballhandler reputation. In fact, his defensive PIPM is 2.0, which puts him as a top 30 defender in the NBA by that metric. So that's something to be aware of.
Otherwise, it's a case of just going out and trying for the win. No shame in losing this one, if that's what it comes down to, but we still want to see some pushback and some effort. #WBD
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Originally Posted by boot318
