Your Morning Dump... Where it's Close but No Donut

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

“We’re not on that level yet,” he said. “We’re not on Cleveland’s level, so we got work to do. And we gotta figure it out.

“The real good teams, you make a mistake and they capitalize on it, whether it be the Cavs, the Warriors, the Spurs — those type of teams don’t let you live when you make a mistake. We’re not on that level yet.”

ESPN Boston

It would’ve taken 11/10ths out of everyone on the Celtics to win last night, more or less, and the C’s didn’t bring that kind of game to Cleveland, so the result was, well, predictable. The team that doesn’t have Lebron, Kyrie and Kevin Love lost a squeaker.

Sure, if you’re coaching that team, or playing for that team, or working in the front office of that team, you’ve got to be frustrated by how that all played out. You know that the Celtics players–especially the front court guys–are going back over the dozens of possessions they’d like to have over. Stevens and the coaching staff looking at any number of missed assignments saying, ‘could we have prepped better? Did we know that was coming?’

And that’s more or less why they get the big dollar.

For the rest of us, the fans, sure, we can fume about it. We can summon the hot-takes and foam and froth at the mouth, but why make ourselves miserable like that? Frustration can be a useful tool if you have a role to play in the success of the team. As fans, what influence do we have on what happens during these games–road games, especially? Oh man, if only I’d brought my ‘A’ twitter game, surely the results would’ve been different!

What I’m saying is it’s fine to be a bit miffed because the Celtics lost to Cleveland in a December regular season game, but take a look at the big picture! The season is pretty much a downhill run from here to April, chemistry is good, the team’s winning the games they should. Enjoy the ride.

Page 2: Road trippin’

NBD, the Celtics traveled halfway around the Earth in December: pic.twitter.com/2Uk4cDTveL

— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) December 30, 2016

Finally: Oh, Kemba….

He shimmied that one right out of the basket: pic.twitter.com/VVUDd9ARYV

— SB Nation (@SBNation) December 30, 2016

There’s so much to love about this clip!

First–and it shows up better on embedded videos vs. this GIF–the video is so well framed. We get to watch the chaos unfold just over Kemba’s shoulder and just ever so slightly out of focus.

And such chaos! Look at Cody Zeller trying bravely to clean up Kemba’s mess. Look at the fans! Look at the guy who stands up just to Whiteside’s left. Watch his excitement turn to dismay. Look at the arm above and right of the “DEFENSE” sign that stops short and then stiffens. And then there’s that goofy look on Kemba’s face.

Note to Kemba: You ain’t this guy–you don’t get to do that.

https://youtu.be/JM_OLIAi6Go