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

The last two games against Brooklyn serve as examples of what can happen when you play at the top of your game and follow it up on a night when your guard was down for long stretches.

“As a young team, you think somebody is going to roll over and (let you do) exactly what you did on Friday night,” Sullinger said. “But obviously they came back, they made adjustments to our defense and we didn’t make the proper adjustments until the second half. You live and learn.”

CSNNE: Thomas: Nets played harder & deserved to win

Stevens said: “Open shots for Joe Johnson’s a problem. Letting (Shane) Larkin and (Jarrett) Jack play with the ball play like that and make those seam passes to (Brook) Lopez and (Andrea) Bargnani just got those guys going. Again, they have to make those plays, so the credit should solely go to them for how they played today. Clearly they were the better team.”

Jared Sullinger said: “We just weren’t as connected. We weren’t as physical as normal. I thought we were kind of lazy and we didn’t share the ball offensively like we normally do. We weren’t popping around. In the second half we got it going but we dug a big enough hole to the point where it was kind of hard to climb out of.”

MassLive: Loss to Nets a disappointment

I was trying to bring some perspective to all celebrating in our last Rainin’ J’s podcast when I brought up how the lack of effort in the Dallas game showed how this Celtics team can’t just coast by on talent alone. It turned out to be a bit prophetic as the Celtics laid an egg in Brooklyn for most of last night largely due to a lack of effort and execution.

The loss of Marcus Smart hurts a bit, mainly because that’s one tenacious defender that isn’t on the floor. But it also hurts when the Celtics start Thomas because Thomas struggles a bit when being the primary ballhandler as a starter. The Celtics had success Friday night with Thomas off the ball spreading the floor when Smart was running the point. They couldn’t do that with Avery Bradley in the game because Avery Bradley is a terrible point guard.

The Celtics response when an important player goes down should have been to rally and play harder. But instead they put forth a crap effort that simply highlighted how little high-level talent there is on this team.

The 2015-16 Boston Celtics roster is comprised of a bunch of good players. They are mostly all worthy of NBA minutes and they mostly all could carve out roles on most NBA rosters. Individually, they’re mostly OK. They’re good. A couple of guys have skills that rise above that, but individually, they’re not going to beat anyone.

Together though, they’re Voltron.

When they all come together, Smart or no Smart, they’re a formidable opponent who can face most teams and, at the very least, provide a hell of a challenge. Together, they’ll beat Brooklyn by 25, take advantage of undermanned or underwhelming teams, and play what became the best defense in the league (well, now 4th, at 96.6, after last night).

Teams with superstars can play shitty games against shitty teams at get bailed out at the end. Teams like the Celtics will lose 99% of the time when they take a night off.

Of course, we know the NBA and teams will have bad games. The Celtics had one of those last night and it bit them in the ass.. and it’s especially upsetting because it was the Nets. We’ll see this crap effort from the Celtics at least a few more times this season because every team has a few of them during the season. The Celtics will almost certainly lose those games, though, because they just don’t have anyone to step in when they’ve cut the lead to 6 in the waning minutes and finish the job.

Page 2: Marcus Smart could be out much longer than 2 weeks

“The proximal tibfib joint is where the top of the fibula, the little bone on the outside of the leg, is attached to the tibia, the large shin bone,” explained Dr. Mark Adickes, co-medical director of the Ironman Sports Medicine Institute at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston. Adickes is a former NFL lineman and previously worked with the Houston Rockets‘ medical staff.

“If you have a subluxation, the contact tore ligaments as the fibulae head actually moved out of place and then returned to an anatomical position. I liken this injury to an MCL in that it is a soft-tissue injury that has great blood supply and generally heals on its own, provided the fibula is in the correct position.”

[…] “Like an MCL, you need the soft tissue to heal in the joint such that it is relatively pain free allowing for return to play,” said Dr. Adickes. “A two-week return is possible, but 4-6 weeks is a more conservative and likely timetable.”

ESPN Boston: Loss of Smart hurts more than loss to Nets

This would definitely hurt… it’s the one spot where the Celtics really don’t have many options.

Personally, I’d start Evan Turner with Avery Bradley along with Crowder, Johnson, and Sullinger. That’s going to be the best defensive lineup. Scoring might be a struggle, but Turner is a better distributor and his size helps more against some of these starting guards. Thomas should come off the bench with Kelly Olynyk, Jonas Jerebko, and RJ Hunter to spread the floor.. and then mix in some David Lee maybe. But Olynyk/Jerebko/Hunter are your shooters that will open things up for Thomas.

I’m personally getting a little tired of Thomas struggling early and catching fire late. I’d rather he just came in with the floor-spacers and do his thing. Against Brooklyn last night there were plenty of times he got past his first defender and then was met with a big front line and forced to give it up. He got a few assists out of it, but Thomas is our main scorer, and he needs to get going quickly.

I was really hoping this conversation would go away but it hasn’t.

Related links: Globe: Smart out at least 2 weeks with leg injury  |  Blakely: Celtics “not the same” without Smart  |  Herald: Stevens being Smart about injury

And Finally…

… the Celtics need to send tape to the NBA (if they haven’t already) and let the referees know that this is how Jae Crowder shoots the ball

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If Crowder shot like most people, Young might have run by without contact. But based on Crowder’s history of leg swings, he was not seeking out contact either.

“If you go back and look at all the shots, he always lands like that,” Turner said. “I understand both sides of it. But I think there has to be a note that that’s how he really shoots whether there’s somebody around him or nobody around him.”

MassLive

Marcus Smart does the “leg kick to draw the foul” thing. Jae Crowder jumps forward on his jumpers. This is the second time he’s been called for that in critical times. I know you don’t want defenders to get hurt landing on feet… but that’s how he shoots the ball.

Something’s gonna have to give here because Crowder’s on the floor at critical times and he’ll be taking shots like that often. The Celtics can’t keep getting 3’s wiped out because of this.

Related links: MassLive: How damaging was the Crowder foul call?

The rest of the links:

Globe: Nets refuse to roll over to Celtics |  CSNNE: Celtics unable to come back vs. Nets  |  ESPN Boston: Bradley thrives in reserve role, but for how long?  |  WEEI: Studs & Duds: C’s suffer worst lost of the season |  MassLive: Turner: Nagging injury “nothing crazy”  |  Herald: Flat start ruins rematch with Nets