Your Morning Dump... Where the Celtics Grind Through a Long December

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.

With a 102-93 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night, Boston upped its record to 10-2 against the West, including three victories against teams currently sitting in the top six in the conference.

While the Celtics have found a way to elevate their game when playing out of conference, no particular statistics stand out. In fact, their numbers vs. Eastern Conference opponents are largely similar, like their shooting percentage, which is just 0.2 percent better against the West. The same goes for 3-point shooting: They shoot one percent better against East opponents than West.

But like they did Saturday, they find ways to grind out those non-conference wins. Against the Golden State Warriors they mounted a big third quarter comeback, while Saturday it was a 16-0 fourth quarter run that made the difference.

The West has put out a better product of basketball than the East for a few seasons now. But that trend is beginning to change, both in the amount of competitive teams out West as well as the emerging teams in the East. And with each passing game out of conference, the Celtics are showing that they can compete with those heavy hitters.

NESN

Remember before the season when everyone said the West was sooooo much better than the East? The disparity has lasted for 15 seasons, and the league even changed the All-Star Game format to compensate for the talent gap.

The Western Conference is still better, but with the dominance of the Celtics, and the emergence of teams like the Sixers, Pacers, and Pistons, the East isn’t falling easily to their Western superiors. The conference lost Jimmy Butler, Paul George, and Paul Milsap, but guys like Victor Oladipo, Joel Embiid, and Kristaps Porzingis are filling the talent void.

The Celtics have played their best basketball against the West, posting a 10-2 record. They lost a close game versus San Antonio and fell to Utah on Friday, in a game Brad Stevens said he was “outcoached.” Until a much anticipated matchup against Houston on December 28th, Boston will have their hands tied with the East.

They play the Pacers tonight; the Heat, Knicks, and Bulls later this week; before hosting the Wizards on Christmas Day. None of those opponents should scare the Celtics. By the time they play Houston, they might reclaim the top record in the league.

In the midst of a brutal December schedule (17 games this month), the Celtics have gone 3-3 over their last six games. Through this stretch, their defense is allowing 111.7 points per 100 possessions, well below their 102.6 season average.

The dominant Boston defense was bound to regress. Quite simply, we’re witnessing the effects of fatigue and injuries. The rookies – Tatum, Semi, and Theis – haven’t quite hit the rookie wall, but we should expect them to come down to earth at some point (and you can make the case it’s already happened for Semi).

After Hayward’s injury, the team rallied through establishing a defensive identity, and subsequently reeled off 16 straight wins. Even if they don’t finish with the NBA’s top defense, their combination of long wings, tough guards, and smart bigs should equate to a top-5 finish.

Page 2: Where David Blatt Defends Kyrie

“I can still remember Kyrie telling me, ‘I want to come to the game and be happy, and I don’t feel that way,’ ” David Blatt said last week, relating that old conversation. “It tells you the importance of feeling this way to Ky. He wants to be happy, and I think that’s working for him now.”

Blatt is once again preparing to go deep into the EuroLeague season, with his Turkish team, Darussafaka Dogus, holding a healthy lead on the field in Group A of the EuroCup standings.

But nothing could have shaken Blatt’s attention like July’s news of Irving’s trade demand. Blatt was moved by Irving’s nerve.

“The first thing that hit me about it was that Kyrie made a very profound statement about himself when he requested a trade,” Blatt said. “It’s a situation that hasn’t been easily interpreted by everyone. It was brave, and it’s one of those things that makes him a special kid.”

Boston Herald

Despite David Blatt’s unceremonious ouster from Cleveland, he still has Kyrie’s back. With so many NBA figures attacking Kyrie for choosing to leave Lebron (looking at you, Charles Barkley), it’s refreshing to see someone defend his decision, and to cite different reasons than “he wanted his own team.”

Maybe Blatt is sympathetic. He has a firsthand account of the difficulties being in an organization where Lebron is the ultimate power broker. While it’s universally recognized that Blatt had trouble transitioning to an NBA coaching role, he really never got the chance to implement his system. Lebron essentially took over play-calling duties two months into the season.

Kyrie signed his extension with Cleveland immediately after they hired Blatt. Apparently he was “wowed” by Blatt’s vision for the team, and any reservations he had about re-signing with the Cavs were set aside (maybe the 5 year/$80 million deal had something to do with it, but still…).

Everyone around the league was shocked when Kyrie requested a trade, that he would dare have the audacity to leave a team with Lebron James. All those people have been silenced, as Kyrie is having an MVP caliber season, and he’s clearly “winning the breakup.”

And Finally…

Cavaliers All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas is targeting the first week of January for his season debut with Cleveland, league sources tell Yahoo.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 18, 2017

Thomas has made significant progress from his hip injury, has confidence he could play now, but plan has been set to ensure he returns for long run this season. Cavaliers face Portland, Boston and Orlando in first week of January. https://t.co/Nea7J7GJzl

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 18, 2017

Of course, we’ve heard this before. The team has said this season that Thomas would play in January. Then the line moved and the Cavaliers thought he would play in December. It’s now moved back to January, but reports are more firm as we’re closer to the expected date and Thomas is playing in 4-on-4 drills. The great news is this honed return date seems to directly target the second game of 2018 for the Cavaliers, which is conveniently against the Celtics.

No doubt Thomas will be jonesing to take on his former team, where he certainly would have preferred to stay after a stellar season in 2016-17. Still, Thomas has been in good spirits — he gets to play with LeBron James for goodness sake — and the Jan. 3 game will be one to watch.

Yahoo

Finally, we get a (somewhat) definitive timetable for Isaiah’s return. How he fits with Lebron and the Cavs offense will become a prevailing storyline through the second half of the season.

It’s unsure how much the hip injury will impact his game. Thomas made a statement after the trade to confirm he wasn’t “damaged goods.” The labral tear is considered an injury that guys can temporarily play on, but without proper rest, it may have damaging long-term effects. He played with this injury throughout the playoffs, but we don’t know if there were any setbacks over the summer.

Coming of an MVP caliber season and a trade that blindsided the league, Thomas has countless sources of motivation. Forget that he was picked last, not re-signed by the Kings, and traded three months after signing a long-term deal with Phoenix. Everything that happened this summer — combined with his impending free agency status — lit a new fire under the uber-competitive Isaiah.

Thomas is one of the more self-driven guys in basketball. He’s always searching for the smallest of slights, constantly seeking bulletin board material. As he said this summer, he’s only upset with one person associated with the Celtics: Danny Ainge. I wholeheartedly believe we’ll see the most elite version of Isaiah, and we’ll all be tapping our wrists asking what time it is.

I get it, my inner-IT fan is coming out. I can’t help it, I love the guy and want him to succeed in Cleveland, and I don’t care that they’re the Celtics biggest rivals.

Everyone, including Thomas, will have their eyes set on the January 3rd matchup, when Cleveland visits Boston. Whenever he does return, he should expect a warm ovation and an emotional tribute video, and if all goes well, he’ll be backing up the brinks truck in July.