11 things I’m thankful for

Thanksgiving is a time to pause, look again, and watch soccer be thankful for every little thing that’s occurred within the final yr. It’s notably straightforward to give you a fats gratitude record for Boston Celtics followers who’ve had a heck of a basketball time of late. Listed here are some Celtics issues I’m giving thanks for earlier than the tryptophan hits.

1. The demise of basketball

Is Mazzulla-ball ruining the NBA? After all not, though it’d really feel that strategy to the beleaguered competitors.

Joe heard preliminary criticisms that his groups had been taking pictures too many threes, and as an alternative of acquiescing to public stress, he cranked that **** to 11. The Celtics, as you’ve heard by now, are taking pictures greater than half their photographs from past the arc. Oh no, my eyes!

Amazingly, Boston solely has the third-best offense within the league proper now, mere fractions of some extent behind the Knicks and the Cavaliers. These groups rank sixteenth and fifteenth, respectively, in three-point frequency. It’s nearly like there are a number of paths to creating good offense, and that basketball is as alive and properly because it’s ever been!

Mazzulla has created a system that maximizes his personnel. No one and no course of is ever excellent, however we simply watched the Celtics raze the league to the bottom final season, and occasional sleepwalking apart, they give the impression of being poised to take action once more this yr.

2. Derrick White

We should always all be eternally grateful for Derrick White. It’s exhausting to reconcile the man benched within the 2022 NBA Finals for being an offensive legal responsibility with the dude who seems like a long-lost Splash Brother (greater than 9 triples per sport this season!). He’s now in his third straight yr of setting a career-high for three-point proportion (41.5%), and it’s inarguable that he’s been at the least Boston’s third-best participant this yr — and analytically-minded of us might need him even larger than that.

He even has a brand new Sam Adams beer, which gave us this Oscar-worthy efficiency. Could be a pleasant pairing with some turkey.

3. The early return of Kristaps Porzingis

Porzingis had a powerful debut Monday night time, notching 16 factors and notably enhancing the Celtics’ protection. The Celtics went 14-3 with out him this season, they usually cruised to an NBA championship largely with out him, too. However that’s not the purpose. Porzingis isn’t crucial, precisely, as a result of the Celtics are so good that nearly nobody is critical. However he’s insurance coverage and overkill, a security assure. He brings a swaggy factor to this Celtics’ staff growing their range and effectiveness in equal measure.

I’m additional grateful as a result of we weren’t speculated to see him till the subsequent main vacation, give or take a couple of weeks. Seeing him seem weeks early as a Black Friday sale merchandise as an alternative of a gift beneath the Christmas tree was an sudden delight.

4. Steve Kerr and Workforce USA

Whereas Celtics followers had been aggravated with Jayson Tatum’s lack of taking part in time and Jaylen Brown’s snub, it saved them each motivated and (extra importantly) wholesome to proceed dominating this season. Not far more must be stated right here. Thanks, Steve!

5. The Jays, abiding

I’m grateful Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have continued to buck compelled nationwide storylines that they will’t maximize one another, that they every want their very own staff to achieve full potential. They’ve by no means wavered in phrase or deed, and to see them destroy the league final season (and once more up to now this yr, give or take some shaky taking pictures to start out) regardless of so many defective narratives considerably restores my religion in basketball humanity.

6. The brand new NBA Cup courtroom

Possibly the NBA Cup courts aren’t to your style, however have you ever appeared across the league? In case you assume the brand new courtroom needed to be one thing obnoxiously garish at baseline, the Celtics completely knocked it out of the park.

(I’m not grateful in anyway for this yr’s Metropolis Version jerseys although.)

7. Payton Pritchard’s explosion

I predicted earlier than the season that Payton Pritchard would make a Sixth Man of the Yr run, and up to now, that’s panned out properly. Vegas at present has him because the consensus favourite to win the award.

Between his end-of-quarter heroics and his absurd three-point gunnery, Pritchard is a hooper’s hooper. The basketball gods didn’t give him an alpha scorer’s physique, however he’s normal himself into one anyway. Nothing makes me fairly as gleeful as Payton sprinting round looking triples like his subsequent meal will depend on it.

Whether or not he wins the award or not, Quick PP has made himself right into a drive to be reckoned with.

8. The previous guys

Al Horford and Jrue Vacation proceed to be the Celtics’ Flex-Seals. Each time holes seem within the good ship Celtic, Mazzulla slaps an previous man on it, and the issue is solved!

Horford’s capacity to repeatedly faucet the fountain of youth at any time when the Celtics want him is nothing wanting miraculous. He’s been practically computerized from three, an enormous improvement with Porzingis lacking a lot time to start out the season, and whereas he picks his spots somewhat extra defensively, he at all times rises to the event. Al Dependable, certainly.

Vacation has a little bit of a sluggish begin shooting-wise this season, and the protection may’ve slipped a tiny notch. However he stays each wildly overqualified to be a task participant and humble sufficient to cede occasional closing minutes to Payton Pritchard, if want be. That’s a uncommon mixture.

Any fanbase can be fortunate to have certainly one of these guys to root for. For Celtics followers to have each appears downright unfair, so let’s toast the previous heads within the room. *Clink*

9. Brad Stevens

Let’s not overlook the architect of this masterpiece. Whilst he’s pale considerably from the general public eye, his work speaks for itself, and we might be remiss in not acknowledging his efforts (and the departed Danny Ainge) in maybe the best team-building train the league has seen in a long time.

10. Banner 18 and continuity

Look, it’s a brand new season. I don’t wish to spend a lot time speaking about how friggin’ nice it’s that the Celtics are reigning NBA champs (though it’s fairly nice!). Nevertheless it’s tremendous cool (and tremendous uncommon) for a champion to convey again the very same core for an opportunity to run it again. Banners are eternally, however back-to-back rings create mythologies. You recognize they need it.

I’m unsure what the longer term holds after this yr, when luxurious taxes, aprons, and typical NBA weirdness may lead to a Celtics staff with at the least {a partially} new look. However I’m grateful we’ve had this enjoyable, improbable Boston squad to cheer on for therefore lengthy, and nonetheless somewhat bit longer.

11) You all

To not get too Hallmark-movie on you, however the readers make CelticsBlog tick. It goes with out saying that with out you, this website wouldn’t exist. Thanks for being right here with us.

Blissful Thanksgiving, everybody, and tell us what else you’re grateful for within the feedback!