Your Morning Dump... Where the Celtics answer the bell

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.

Doubts are starting to arise as to whether the Celtics are as far along in their progress as initially thought.

The question is whether the Celtics have enough faith in themselves to make it a series.

The Celtics should be more competitive in this series.

At least the Detroit Pistons, who are talent short in comparison to the Cavaliers, are giving their best.

Thomas needs to make an adjustment.

It was a devastating blow not only to lose top defender and 3-point shooter Avery Bradley for the playoffs, but now Crowder is far from himself.

That somehow needs to change in the next three days

Thomas has to figure something out.

The next two days are the most important of the Brad Stevens era.

They are Broadway stars who forget their lines when the curtain goes up.

Meet The Flintstones

Washburn, Washburn & Shank

After two games in which the Celtics looked brutal for stretches, but lost by a combined total of only 18 points, the people who only write about the Celtics when something happens were out in force, offering the kind of hackneyed punditry that comes with decades of experience pointing out other people’s problems without ever doing a thing to solve any of them.

Steve Bulpett had a different take:

The Celtics don’t have to prove their game to the viewing masses. They don’t have to play well to stuff a sock in the mouths of pundits who’ve spent the last few days questioning everything from their heart to their ability to locate the hoop with GPS.

The Celtics don’t have to prove their basketball character even to the people who’ve paid very good money to support them at the Garden this season and others.

No, theirs is a far more difficult task.

They have to prove it to themselves.

So yeah, the Celtics answered the bell last night. And I’m sure a few of the armchair experts out there are patting themselves on the back and saying, “boy, I sure was right saying that the Celtics should go out and win that game! Why, if I hadn’t (written that article/posted that rando comment on the internet/blared my opinion to my friends at the bar and/or office), the Celtics might not have won! Good job me!”

Sorry guys, but nope. The Celtics weren’t answering Washburn’s challenge, or Shaugnessy’s, much less snipy comments from fans or haters. Bulpett’s right. The Celtics answered their own challenge. And now it’s a brand new series.

Basketball is a physical game, sure, but just look at Dwight Howard, man, it’s more of a mental game than people think. And once a coach and a team figures out how to win, what it takes to win, things change.

Page 2: Where some old rivals are helping out

Allen Iverson and Isiah Thomas (the other one) texted him before Game 3 Friday, which ended with a 111-103 Celtics win over Atlanta.

“Allen Iverson just said, ‘Keep fighting; (the Hawks) did what they were supposed to do in Atlanta, now it’s time for you guys to take advantage of being at home,” Thomas relayed in the postgame press conference. “Isiah Thomas just gave me a few tips I can’t tell you guys about.”

MassLive

The takeaway here is that the small guy fraternity in the NBA is way tighter than whatever rivalries may exist between teams. Granted, AI didn’t have much of a rivalry with the Celtics, but Isiah Thomas had enough of a rivalry for both those dudes.

Page 3: Where IT’s career high came in a playoff game.

Isaiah Thomas hears the whispers and is constantly aware of the talk.

The Celtics guard has used doubts about his game to fuel his entire career from being the last pick in the second round to an NBA All-Star for the first time. He heard the knocks once again this week that – as great of a regular season as he had – he was not the type of player who could carry a team in the playoffs.

Providence Journal

Okay, last night was Isaiah Thomas’s seventh playoff game. That’s a ridiculously low number. Certainly far too low a number for any rational analysis (not that you’re going to get much of that in the media these days), especially when the previous six games were against teams that have outstanding interior defense and Boston has had zero three point shooting ability apart from IT in this series.

In short, the deck’s stacked against this guy. No spacing, looser officiating, and really good defenders.

And IT went out and notched a career high 42 points in a playoff game. That’s Big Time with capital letters, guys.

Only needed 24 shots to do it too.

Finally: Most Improved Player results are in

As the 10th overall pick for the Blazers in the 2013 draft, McCollum bided his time on the bench for his first two seasons while the Blazers had a starting lineup that featured LaMarcus Aldridge, Damian Lillard, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum and Robin Lopez.

But a mass exodus last summer left Lillard as the only returning starter, and McCollum got his chance in the Blazers’ backcourt.

Yahoo Sports

And of course, it’s McCollum because, like Crawford winning the 6th man, it’s a numbers game. Score more points and get more awards.

I mean, yeah, you can make a case that McCollum improved, but criminy, how much of that is just “got more minutes”? Kid was picked 10th overall and last I checked, nobody thought that was a reach.

Jae Crowder finished 6th and Isaiah Thomas was 8th.

Of course I’m biased (but no more, I would argue, than the two nuts who gave Tristan Thompson a first place vote for 6th man of the year, but I digress), anyway, Crowder’s defense and especially his offense were significantly better even adjusting for minutes played, year over year. Heck, he even finished behind Steph Curry for some reason. But whatever. They don’t retire your number in Boston for winning media popularity contests.