Your Morning Dump... Where guess what? Bradley is still a good defender.

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 you start preparing for [Bradle], you realize it was a lot more fun when you weren’t preparing for him. Good player. Deserves the applause he’ll get tonight." https://t.co/6WPLVzeP1Y

— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) November 27, 2017

Remember this clip from a few months back?

Well, last night, Kyrie Irving was a game worst -21 and shot only 6-16.

Also, the Celtics defense got roasted last night by a Detroit team that came out with something to prove.

Judging by their comments after the game, it looks like the Celtics will be looking to prove something when they play the return match in a couple weeks:

Horford also ended his Drummond answer by pointing out the Celtics meet the Pistons again soon.

“We’ll see them again in a couple of weeks,” Horford said.

Maybe that wasn’t a warning from the normally mild-mannered big man, but he and Irving both went out of their ways to reference their next game against Detroit.

“Can’t wait,” Irving said. “Can’t wait. Can’t wait. It’s always exciting when you have these regular-season matchups because you never what can happen down the line, but it’s always interesting because the way you respond. I know that most of my teammates and the coaching staff will be a little more prepared to play those guys.”

MassLive

Page 2: Where Bradley’s doing alright in Detroit

Not only are the Pistons off to a great start, but Bradley’s individual statistics are once again on the rise.

The 6-foot-2 guard is averaging a career-high 16.8 points per game. Prior to the trade, Bradley had talked about getting to the free-throw line more often. This season, he’s averaging a career-high 2.8 free throw attempts per game. Bradley’s 3-point shooting (42.5 percent) is also at an unmatched level.

Morris, the player Boston acquired in trading away Bradley to Detroit, isn’t surprised at all that Bradley has had such a seamless fit with the Pistons.

“He’s fit in Detroit because Stan [Van Gundy, Detroit’s coach] is a defensive type of guy,” Morris said. “So [Bradley] can go over there, defend his ass off and he’s going to play. He’s not going to say too much about shots; Avery’s a veteran. He knows how to play the game. Detroit’s probably helping him a little more because he has the ball in his hand more, can create for himself.”

NBC Sports

I like Bradley, I think just about everybody does. And one of the things that made him so likeable in Boston is that he was always working on his game. Yeah, there are some physical limitations that he’s always going to have–he’s undersized and he’s got a long injury history, but you know what? There’s not much he can do about either of those things. Those are the cards he was dealt. His story isn’t so much about those limitations as it is what he’s done to get better at the things that he has some control over.

I’m glad Jaylen Brown got to spend a year backing up Avery Bradley, a guy like Jaylen could learn a lot about how to approach the game from Avery.

Finally: Fizdale’s out.

And in the latest reminder that the NBA is a player’s league – scratch that, a star player’s league – we present fired Memphis Grizzlies coach David Fizdale.

While the Monday decision came as a major surprise to even those of us who monitor such situations closely, it probably shouldn’t have because, well, the dynamic between the coach and one of the team’s prized players was far from healthy. That’s all it takes these days to put a coach in the crosshairs.

USA Today

After snap firings of Lionel Hollins and David Joerger at the conclusion of “disappointing” seasons, I don’t understand how anyone could be overly surprised by the snap-firing of David Fizdale.

Nor am I surprised that we’re hearing stuff about how Fizdale was a big meanie who couldn’t get along with his players, because we heard the same stuff about Lionel Hollins when he was let go.

Turns out there might be a bit of thin skin in back of all that grit-and-grind bravura.