It is ironic to compare a Celtics player (any of them) with Kobe Bryant in a headline. Basically, because in that group of titans that have done real wonders on a basketball court, there is no possible comparison and the only thing you are going to do if you put him next to someone is provoke, it cannot be otherwise, that that other great player is defeated. It is also no coincidence, of course, that a server is approached by someone to say that “It’s been a while since I enjoyed the Celtics like today“. And we are talking, yes, from the same team that seemed like a disaster to us at the beginning of the coursewho has the same coach who was worthless and whose main stars did not have any kind of rapport.
In the end, the celtics are the celtics. Or put another way, perhaps it should be said that the Celtics son. That gargantuan crisis that they have lived since 1986with Larry Bird’s last ring that was the prelude to almost 40 years full of failures and with only one success, in 2008, and with a justification that has been worth to the fans for everything, contrasts with the optimism that this team radiates every time it is good. Because, and 17 rings precede them, the benefit of the doubt has always been inherent in a team that defied the laws of the human with a historical Isaiah Thomas, whom only LeBron (and all that this implies) could beat in 2018 and who lives from extremes: every time it’s wrong, the project is pure ignominy. And every time it’s good, they’re candidates for the ring.
In that second name they are finally at this point in the course. They have added their third consecutive victory, the 16th in the last 19 games. to speculate with play-inhave gone on to oppose home field advantage in the first round (they are fifth with a record of 36-27) in some playoffs that, in the Eastern Conference, are going to be enormous. Anyone can reach and anyone can beat. And in the Garden there is something that floats in the environment in an intangible way, that is there but that, without seeing it, is permanently noticeable. The breath that enters through the pores of a historical franchise that you know, in one way or another, you cannot ignore. And in the same way that Bill Russell, at 88, has his name attached to the Finals MVP awardwe know that any error in rejecting the Celtics in the bets can be condemned to infinity.
The power of Jayson Tatum
Against the Nets, in a deceptive ninth place in the Eastern Conference (32-33), Jayson Tatum was the hero: 54 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists with only 2 turnovers, in addition to a series of spectacular shots, which included 16 of 30 in field goals and 8 of 15 in triples. He beat Kevin Durant (37-6 + 8) in the individual duel, whom he doubled in the last quarter (18 points to 9 from the Nets forward). And he was once again the hero who vindicated his season (more than 26 points per game, in addition to almost 30 on average in the last 19 games) and shows that he has not returned, rather that he has never left. The management of the final minutes by Tatum and the Celtics’ bench, Udoka in the lead, has been absolutely accurate and, ultimately, totally perfect. And she has tipped the scales on the green side, of course.
The game has been spectacular: 28 changes in the lead on the scoreboard and 19 draws, leads that have never exceeded ten points, and a last quarter that, with 37-30 partial, it has been resolved with a greater difference. Kyrie Irving was not fine in his new return to the franchise that he left shivering in the past (19 points and poor shooting). And his performance contrasted with all the starters for the Celtics, who were part of a collaborative game that is difficult to see and analyze if we look at Tatum’s box score and numbers, but that is perfectly explainable if we look closely at the game: all for above the ten With 6:26 to go, the Celtics led by 6 (106-100). From there, Tatum scored all the points except a basket from Smart and 4 points from Brown and closed, like the greats, from the personl. A formidable performance for a team that aspires to be. The man who most resembles Kobe Bryant today, and who is part of the team that gave the most problems to the black mamba. Watch out for the Celtics. That, a priori, they are not better than the rest. But they have their own pride. And with that, finally. Everything is possible. We already know.
