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.

when the hook shots weren’t hurting the Knicks, Sullinger hit them with the fade-away jumper.

“It’s his counter move so it’s really important,” Stevens said. “He’s got a great touch with the right hand hook. You gotta have a move and a counter-move if you want to be a great player so it helps.”

Said Sullinger: “I realize I need to get on the block more. I took a couple jump shots, some of them were forced. Being on the block, I was back at home.”

CSNNE: Sullinger back at home around basket

There was a moment on Twitter for a lot of us regular Celtics followers where we realized something different about Jared Sullinger’s game.

For me, it was a sequence where Marcus Smart got the ball on the left wing behind the arc. He had time to shoot it, but he didn’t, which I found curious since he loves shooting the 3 as much as Chuck likes looking in the mirror. Instead, he swung it to Jared Sullinger at the top of the arc, which I thought for sure was going up because he had even more time to shoot and HE loves shooting the 3 as much as I like looking in the mirror (we’re totally, like, the boy band of bloggers). But instead, he swung the ball to an even more wide open Avery Bradley for an even better look at a corner 3.

That’s when it started to hit me.

Jared Sullinger has become self-aware.

I understand that today’s NBA requires bigs to step further away from the basket. The lure is so powerful, even Brandon Bass has ventured into the corner from time to time. This is a 3’s and layups league, which is a very enticing situation for big guys. Most guys who’ve spent their whole lives on the post dream of getting out in the open floor. The 3 is like a home run in baseball. It’s exciting, in part, because we have to wait a little bit longer to see the result. There’s that anticipation, and like many home runs, it gets you more numbers on the board than usual.

And frankly, beating yourself up by banging against other large human beings on a nightly basis gets old. Sometimes you just want to stop playing sumo wrestler for a night and shoot jumpers.

But Sullinger, last night, decided against that. He went back to his bread-and-butter inside-out game… establishing himself on the post and then occasionally stepping out to shoot jumpers. Like I said in last night’s recap, of Sullinger’s 3 long-range attempts, only 1 was in the flow of the offense and a conscious decision by him to hoist one up. The other two were end-of-clock situations, which means Sullinger came into this game with the plan to get down and dirty.

And not surprisingly, it paid off. The Knicks don’t have any shot blockers, and they don’t have anyone that’s really strong enough to handling his bull rush to the basket. There will be nights where he can’t do what he did last night and he’ll have to step outside.

That we can handle. Sullinger isn’t Hakeem Olajuwon out there, so he’s going to have to improvise. But it’s nice to see Sullinger go home to the block and find success. It’s nice that the Celtics could find a unit that allowed him more touches down there. And it’s nice to see it all lead to a win.

Related links: Globe: Sullinger best as power player

Page 2: The Patriots are an inspiration and teaching tool

“The three guys that you talk about for the Patriots, one was like maybe the greatest quarterback in the discussion of all-time, and he is a sixth-round draft pick,” Stevens said of Tom Brady. “(Julian) Edelman is a transfer wide receiver from a quarterback in the MAC, and the kid who got the interception, (Malcolm) Butler, was an undrafted rookie out of West Alabama, a Division 2 school. It’s all about how you keep pursuing things. It’s all about how you’re going to make yourself better today and continue to embrace that process of growth and improvement. I think that’s the best part of the story, right? And the (Chris) Matthews kid for Seattle, too.

“I mean, you go through all those guys and you just say that’s what’s great about sports. We’ve talked about this, and I’ve quoted (assistant coach) Micah(Shrewsberry)’s college coach. ‘You’re good if you play good.’ It’s not what you are going into the game. And it’s amazing that sports in every game offers that opportunity, and I think that’s a cool thing. Certainly we talk about it, too, because we’ve got a lot of guys in here that need to prove themselves and want to prove themselves.”

Herald: Patriot set Super example

Oh did you year? The Patriots won the Super Bowl.

I love coaches because they can find motivation and teaching moments out of everything. But this is right on the money.

If your draft position was all that mattered, then Kwame Brown would be getting his Hall of Fame speech ready while second-round picks like Manu Ginobili would be toiling at the end of benches.

It’s like I’ve always said… there’s something different in the heads of guys who succeed in sports. There are guys out there working at Lowe’s who have just as much athletic ability as some NBA players. What they don’t have is that thing in their head that makes turns that ability to run and jump into something special. Every great player has it. Every single one.

Some people can be good for a little while because they’re so talented they have no choice but to have brief runs of being good (guys like Andray Blatche come to mind). But the guys who become great simply never let up. They take losses personally. They agonize over defeat, and they get so hyped over wins, they practically want to drink the blood of their vanquished foes.

Give that mentality to a kid like James Young, and who knows how good he can get.

Related links: Globe: It’s Super time for a teachable moment

And Finally…

OH MY GOD SOMEONE SHOT LANCE THOMAS!!!!

https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js

Oh, no. Sorry. That was just a ridiculous flop.

The rest of the links:

Globe: Smart approach helps Celtics run over Knicks  |  Herald: Celtics pull no punches  |  Celtics change up, beat Knicks  |  Evan Turner goes with flow  |  CSNNE:  Stevens “encouraged” by Young’s progress  |  wire to wire win  |  ESPN Boston: Four’s a Crowder in tweaked C’s lineup  |  Thumbs up for Bradley  |  Call him Marcus Start  |  Boston.com: Smart makes smooth transition into starting lineup  | WEEI: Knicks help C’s snap losing streak  |  MassLive: How did Smart starting for Crowder help against Knicks?  |  Bradley’s hot shooting pushes Celtics past New York