Your Morning Dump... Where Celtics twitter beat the Suns

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.

Marcus Morris joined the Boston Celtics’ increasingly unreal list of injured players. Terry Rozier suffered through a tough shooting performance one game removed from perhaps the best game of his career. Jaylen Brown was off target and loose with his handle. The Celtics, entrenched in a long road trip and on the second night of a back-to-back, blew a 20-point first-half lead and trailed early in the third quarter.

There were plenty of warning signs and several mediocre performances that could have turned the Celtics’ game against the Phoenix Suns on Monday into a trap loss. But the Celtics were playing the Suns, and against the Suns, they had a little extra wiggle room — after falling behind early in the third quarter, the Celtics pulled away for a second time, claiming a 102-94 victory.

MassLive

In a game where the Mook re-injured his ankle (this is why we can’t have nice things), Jaylen and Jayson combined for 8 turnovers against 3 assists, and the team looked in general like they were playing down to the level of their competition, I think we have a pretty clear idea where this game was won:

Twitter

It’s pretty much the only area where Boston thoroughly outplayed Phoenix, wire to wire.

Celtics twitter:

something like this? pic.twitter.com/zAIWts1n0y

— John Karalis 🇬🇷🇺🇦 (@John_Karalis) March 27, 2018

Virtual Reality view of Elfrid Payton trying to guard Terry Rozier pic.twitter.com/Q9ZpYrLKMR

— John Karalis 🇬🇷🇺🇦 (@John_Karalis) March 27, 2018

Suns twitter:

“I made a mistake, Josh.” https://t.co/CEo7GLoZa8

— Bright Side of the Sun (@BrightSideSun) March 27, 2018

Danny Ainge just came over to say hello to Josh Jackson during his pregame routine. First time they’ve talked since Ainge got stood up during pre-draft process. pic.twitter.com/sGvlFfzoNr

— Evan Sidery (@esidery) March 27, 2018

Seriously, though, I had a bad feeling about last night’s game right up until the Celtics opened a 20 point lead–I figured it was pretty much over at that point. Turns out I should’ve stuck to my guns–a week of grueling games and a pretty tight travel schedule (Boston > Portland > Sacramento > Phoenix, with four games in seven days, including two games that went down to the wire) kind of showed its effects during the middle of the game.

Then there’s Mook’s sprained ankle.

Maybe the Morris twins have really robust ankles–Markieff was probably better after he sprained his in last year’s playoffs.

But I’m more inclined to think that the C’s are going to sit Mook for a few games and basically let the final scores fall where they may. Yeah, they had an outside shot at catching the Raptors before Mook aggravated his sprain, but I think that pretty much goes by the wayside now.

Of course, I could be wrong. C’s might just keep on this thoroughly incomprehensible yet somehow characteristic tear.

Page 2: Where Smart’s happy to be on the road

“I love basketball. It’s hard not being able to play, but it would be even harder for me just sitting at home and really not get a sense of touch or feeling the beat of it,” said the Celtics guard. “Me coming out here keeps me from going crazy. I know what it’s like the other way, and it’s not a good feeling.”

So Smart’s presence on this trip pays a dual benefit. He’s here for the young guys — everyone from the surging Terry Rozier to Jabari Bird — acting as an additional coach and offering advice in game-time situations.

But there’s also the matter of his own mental well-being, and not going stir crazy in the solitude of the Celtics’ Waltham practice facility.

“It’s big. If (Daniel) Theis could, he would be here as well,” Smart said of the German forward, who is recovering from knee surgery.

“But it’s important because we have a lot of young guys, a lot of first-timers. Rookies are out there, so for me to be here in that aspect to help those guys out is big. Brad (Stevens) and his coaching staff hear what I have to give out in instruction and the things I see. I’ve been in this league for a long time, so that’s important.”

And while Smart works on his coaching techniques, he can stop staring at the cast on his right hand — the result of surgery to repair a torn ligament in his thumb.

Boston Herald

I can believe these guys do not like sitting around during the season–but at least this year, if they’ve got to be stuck back in Boston, or in Waltham, they’re likely to be in good company. I have this mental image of half the Celtics’ team–Hayward, Irving, Smart and Brown, at least–hanging around the practice facility doing whatever and waiting for Ainge to come down and invite them all out to Chipotle, where he’ll make them pick up their own tabs for lunch while he uses that card he’s got.