Between the roughly 520 miles of driving, and the 2 hours sitting on the higher deck press row of Xfinity Cellular Area, round 95% of my Friday night time was spent sitting down whereas the Celtics battled in a down-to-the-wire thriller towards the 76ers.
The choice to drive from my condominium in Richmond, Virginia to South Philadelphia, and instantly head proper again inside a 24-hour interval was ill-advised, and I form of knew it.
However that is the postseason — it’s the right time to make rash choices. If I’m shedding sleep over playoff basketball, I would as effectively do it as a result of I’m there. From a 11:30 a.m. departure and an arrival again dwelling at 3:30 a.m. Saturday, all the day was spent in a form of dream-like haze. You stroll by means of the tunnel, and there Derrick White stands, signing autographs.
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum breeze by the media for his or her postgame pressers, an hour after combining for 11 of the group’s 16 clutch factors in entrance of a raucous Philadelphia crowd. There you’re, witnessing a brand new chapter to one of many NBA’s best rivalries. That’s the reason I made the drive.
The nighttime drive from Philadelphia to Richmond was somewhat over 4 hours on the street. Not horrible, particularly with the Path Blazers/Spurs radio broadcast to maintain you firm, however the drive from Richmond to Philadelphia was a barely worse six and a half hours, that includes hours of stop-and-go visitors and a quick tour into the center of Baltimore that Google Maps deemed a “time-saving” maneuver.
Throughout that drive, half of the time was spent on series-adjacent ideas: how do the Celtics defend the Maxey pick-and-roll? How do the rotations change from Sport 2? Can Jayson Tatum discover his contact from past the arc?
The opposite half of the drive, spent on issues like music and podcasts, in the end developed/devolved into basketball, not directly or one other. I had spent a very good chunk listening to Icelandic artist Björk for the primary time (Her album Debut is unbelievable), which later changed into a bit the place I attempted my finest to do an impression of Björk on the decision with Mike Breen and Doris Burke (whether or not or not it was a very good impression, I’ll depart to the creativeness).
I additionally acquired to excited about playoff hype movies. All of us love them, all of us want them. It’s the right option to usher in a playoff run, and fortuitously we’ve acquired tons of gifted content material creators on the market which have perfected the craft. However what’s the finest one from this yr for the Celtics?
For my cash, it comes from @derekwkim (who I see on this weblog fairly continuously!). This video, if you happen to haven’t seen it, is completely Dy-no-mite. If this doesn’t get you completely locked in, examine your pulse. It’s too good.
Once I lastly parked at Xfinity Cellular, I used to be in a busy state. On one hand, the visitors was so unhealthy, I solely had about an hour to get acclimated with my environment. That meant no alternative to look at shootarounds, take extra notes, or hearken to Nick Nurse and Joe Mazzulla’s pre-game pressers.
Alternatively, for each 10 steps you stroll, you’re listening to Celtics and Sixers followers simply jaw at one another. An excellent rivalry, a tied up sequence, everyone seems to be assured. That is what it’s all about. The environment of a playoff recreation is not like something I’ve ever witnessed.
This was my first reside Celtics playoff recreation in any capability, although it’s really the second playoff recreation I’ve ever been to.
In 2024, a buddy and I drove over 1,200 miles to Dallas, Texas for a spur of the second street journey to see Sport 4 of the Western Convention Finals between the Mavericks and the Timberwolves. It was an amazing recreation, and an excellent higher environment, only for the truth that Dallas was a recreation away from their first Finals look since 2011.
It was throughout that journey that I watched the Celtics clinch their second Finals look of the Jays period in probably the seediest motel I’ve ever been in, so that provides me an attention-grabbing “the place have been you when the Celtics swept the Pacers?” expertise for that championship season.
If anybody else solutions “fearing for bedbugs in Dallas, Texas” that’s a fairly loopy coincidence.
In Philly, I used to be taking notes on a spread of matters: pick-and-roll coverages, Maxey defenders, Jaylen Brown paint touches, to call a couple of.
I actually didn’t work together an excessive amount of with anybody close to me in the course of the recreation, though I used to be given a uncommon, naturally-occurring jumpscare from the older Philadelphia author that sat beside me, who had a second display screen on with the Phillies recreation and slammed his fist exhausting on the desk after what I assume to be a pricey error or game-losing play. Right here I’m locked in on a Tatum pick-and-roll solely to be completely shaken by absolutely the rage of this man. He, too, was locked in, simply on one thing utterly totally different from the opposite 19,016 individuals in attendance.
After watching an electrical clutch efficiency from the Jays and listening to them converse in entrance of the media, I used to be off on the street again to Richmond. Now with a shorter, smoother journey, I spent the time pondering over what I simply watched.
In case you’re studying this, that most likely means you’ve additionally learn the various wonderfully-written articles from the weblog’s employees in regards to the finer particulars of this win. I don’t wish to harp on too many extra particulars with one other recreation on Sunday, however think about this a ten Takeaways microdose. We’ll name it 3 Takeaways.
1) Baylor Scheierman has made probably the most of his alternatives
There’s a transparent want for Jordan Walsh to even have a longtime function on this sequence, and I perceive playoff minutes are exhausting to return by with Jaylen and Jayson each averaging over 36 minutes, however Scheierman has been so good in his time on the ground this sequence. If there’s room to develop his minutes, I’d wish to see it.
His 12 minutes on the ground felt like a pattern of all of the issues he’s supplied within the rotation this season. He hit a pair of threes, grabbed three boards, and hounded the ball on protection, coming away with two steals.
The flexibility Scheierman presents, it simply feels prefer it’s going to avoid wasting the day in some unspecified time in the future. He’s merely constructed for the second.
2) This was the clutch execution we would have liked to see
There was simply one thing not fairly proper with how the Celtics offense ran in Sport 2, whilst they drew as shut as two factors from the Sixers within the fourth quarter. Too many stalled possessions all the way down to the ultimate seconds, an excessive amount of overdribbling to make one thing occur, and naturally, not sufficient taking pictures execution after they did get a very good look.
To not say it was all excellent, in spite of everything Pritchard’s late three barely beat the shot clock on a well-defended possession, and the Sixers caught round by attacking the basket, however by means of the strain and the chaos, the Celtics have been composed when it mattered.
Whereas it’s not an important shot of the fourth quarter, Tatum’s 3-pointer with two minutes left exhibits that composure utterly. The Sixers promote out on taking away his drive, a lot in order that they dare Vooch to tug it from deep. He doesn’t power it, he doesn’t push the ball to the primary possibility he sees, he takes a dribble contained in the arc, forces a response to break down onto him, then makes one of the best learn potential by getting it again to Tatum.
And when Tatum took that further dribble, you simply knew that shot was taking place. A sensible play rewarded.
Clutch execution is an comprehensible concern with this group, however we noticed that the group can shine when it will get all the way down to these closing, intense moments of a recreation. We completely wanted to see a closeout like this.
3) We noticed this core’s playoff expertise at work
Joe Mazzulla had a quote that resonated with me when he was requested if the way in which the group closed out the win was a testomony to Tatum and Brown’s playoff expertise and management. To him, it exhibits up in different areas even earlier than you attain the clutch levels of this recreation.
“I believe it exhibits up in the way you deal with playoff losses, the way you deal with a nasty recreation, the way you deal with profitable,” he stated. “I believe the expertise simply form of exhibits up of their poise on a day-to-day foundation. Not getting too excessive, not getting too low, having a transparent understanding of what’s at stake and what’s wanted on a constant foundation. I believed you noticed that tonight.”
It’s a realization that, to those that have adopted this group for the reason that very starting of this period, earlier than we even thought of it an period of this duo, we now have seen so many battles, so many postseason journeys, so many classes discovered. They’ve reached the highest of the mountain, they suffered devastating defeat, and every little thing in between.
They’ve actually seen all of it.
Sport 3 was a nailbiter, but it surely’s not new to this duo. That have issues.
It’s 3:30 a.m., and I’m lastly again dwelling. Face meets pillow, finish of journey. Possibly subsequent time I’ll guide a flight.
