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

He attacked with the pass, let open shots fly and scored a career-high 21 points, three more than he totaled over the previous five games. The Boston Celtics fell 92-91 after missing two shots in the final seven seconds, but Olynyk, who added five assists and four rebounds, had the best game of his rookie season.

“He came alive. He was the Gonzaga Killer,” Courtney Lee said. “I think it was because somebody in the stands had a Gonzaga pullover and was calling for him. It got him back going. I’m happy for the young fella.”

MassLive – Kelly Oynyk resembles Gonzaga Killer

The Celtics might have lost, and they might have blown another huge lead (18 points), but this was a nice silver lining from yesterday’s game. Just yesterday, we discussed how Olynyk is struggling, but taking the ups and downs in stride. Kelly hadn’t looked too sharp since returning from a minor ankle injury, and it looked like Kris Humphries had been stealing some of his minutes, and cutting into his development. On Tuesday against the Hawks, we got a rare chance to see the duo working together — and it paid off. They combined for 39 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists. Combined, they produced a very Kevin Love-esque stat line.

It would be nice to see Olynyk string together a few of these Gonzaga Killer games in January, although the schedule becomes very difficult, particularly referring to the next eight games: Bulls, Pelicans, Thunder, Nuggets, Clippers, Warriors, Trailblazers, and Houston.  Happy New Year!

On Page 2, Brad Stevens never expects to win

 “As a coach, I’ve never expected to win because winning’s really hard,” Stevens said. “It’s much more easy to lose a game than win a game. I think the first time I heard that was from coach (Bobby) Knight. Coach Knight used to say no matter what, it is hard to win a basketball game. You should always realize that when you’ve come back into a locker room after you’ve won.

“So my expectation is to prepare well and to play well, and then let the chips fall where they may. Because when you talk about expecting to win or not expecting to win, there’s a lot of factors in that. There’s a lot of factors, some which you can control, and those are the ones you focus on. (And) some which you can’t, whether it be injury or guys flinging up shots. Sometimes the ball doesn’t go in. Sometimes the ball goes in for the other team.”

Kind of an odd way to looks at things. It’d be hard not to expect a win on some nights, especially considering how much though and preparation Stevens seems to put into each game. Yes, I guess winning can be really hard when your team can’t sustain a full effort for 48 minutes. Still, in the Eastern Conference, losing might be a more difficult task. Wonder if he expects his team to maintain 20-point leads, or if those are just a part of the adventure. Because every game is an adventure, in case you hadn’t heard.

Related links: MassLive – Why Brad Stevens will never expect the Celtics to win

The rest of the links

CSNNE – Olynyk records best game as pro | Crawford gets the call with game on the line |

ESPN Boston – Stevens sticks to his guns | Disagreement between Green, Bass?

Boston Herald – What a long, strange trip for Celtics | Sullinger can’t shake hand trouble