You can say a lot in 140 characters these days, and this week’s TLM Player of the Week Jordan Crawford did exactly that when he fired at notable Celtics fan Bill Simmons on Twitter following their rout of the Knicks on Sunday afternoon. “U Mad? Lol” was the message sent which was in no uncertain terms a direct response to Simmons’ criticisms of the Celtics franchise heading into the season and the several personal jibes he has found himself the subject of over recent weeks.
In his column for Grantland which was published on Friday, Simmons wrote in relation to Celtics coach Brad Stevens that “anyone who can turn Jordan Crawford into a competent Point Guard has to be a Coach of the Year candidate”. The Celtics, who were 1-0 for the week at this point having knocked off the Bucks 108-100, followed this victory up with another home win, beating the Nuggets 106-98 before making a mockery of the Knicks in the MSG in a game they eventually ran out 114-73 winners. Across these three games, Crawford averaged 23.3 points (fourth in the conference) on 61% percent shooting (sixth in the conference) coupled with 6.7 assists and 3 rebounds. On top of this, he went 12 for 23 from behind the three-point line, hitting a career-high six in Sunday’s game against the Knicks.
Whilst such efficient numbers this week came as a shock to many, Crawford has been going quietly about his business all season long. Numbers of 13.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists are more than solid for a guy learning to dictate the offense how new coach Brad Stevens wants it ran, and when you throw in one triple-double vs. the Cavs and two other 10 assist games vs. the Magic and Hawks, you realize that this is a guy enjoying a real hot streak of form and easily the best spell of his NBA career.
It seldom matters in sports from which source you garner your motivation; be it criticism from others, the pressure of missing personal goals or simply the disappointment of a loss. What does matter, however, is how you channel that energy and use it to your advantage, and Crawford seems to have learned that this year. He will have been disappointed with how things turned out for him in Washington but appears to have been spurred on by that disappointment and is taking advantage of his increased role with the Celtics whilst Rajon Rondo continues to recover from his torn ACL.
The Celtics are currently 10-14 on the season which places them atop the woeful Atlantic Division and fourth in the similarly woeful (Indiana and Miami aside) Eastern Conference. This week, they dropped back-to-back games against the Nets (Tuesday) and the Clippers (Wednesday) so far and are looking ahead to matching up with the Knicks again on Friday. Should Crawford continue his current form, there is no reason why the Celtics won’t reach the promised land of .500 before the Christmas period really gets going.
By Marc Harries
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