OK, so maybe calls to blow up the Celtics were a little premature.
The C's appeared to be at their nadir following last Tuesday's loss to the 76ers, bereft of signature wins against good opponents, and more damningly, without any sort of identity. Kendrick Perkins called out Jayson Tatum; Jaylen Brown expressed frustration with the media. With a middling record, the Celtics seemed to be on the precipice of an implosion.
Instead, they've won three straight, and just wrapped up their most impressive victory of the season. Tatum and Brown are emphatically answering their critics. Maybe the two young All-Stars can lead after all.
Boston never relented in its 105-87 road win over the Nuggets Sunday, coming back from a 14-point deficit. The late-game run started when Kemba Walker swiped the ball from feisty 30-year-old rookie Facundo Campazzo for a breakaway layup, before ending the third quarter with a 3-point play. Walker's short jumper at the start of the fourth brought the Celtics within one.
A few minutes later, Tatum nailed a 15-foot jump shot from around the free-throw line to push the Celtics ahead, and they never looked back. Boston closed the game on an incredible 40-8 run. Nikola Jokic was so rattled, he was removed from the contest for the final 4:41.
Brown's remarks last week about the negative media environment impeding his ability to communicate with Tatum sparked a fair amount of caterwauling, including from this writer. But those words were a small part of his statement. Overall, Brown was talking about the need to put losses in perspective, and ignore the outside noise — hardly controversial messages.
Two nights later, Tatum, Brown and Walker combined to score 120 of the Celtics' 145 points in their comeback overtime win over the Timberwolves. While Minnesota is terrible, it was a strong answer from the Celtics' All-Star trio, and especially from Tatum, who notched a career-high 53 points. As Brad Stevens said, he was on a mission to ensure Boston wouldn't lose.
It was surely the kind of performance that Danny Ainge had in mind when he signed Tatum to a max extension last offseason. He's averaging 29.6 points over the last five games, while shooting 49.5 percent from the floor. That's what we call a max effort.
The Celtics spent more than $270 million to keep Tatum and Brown in Boston, an obvious vote of confidence in the two rising stars. We can talk all we want about the possibility of bringing in Bradley Beal and Karl-Anthony Towns, but acquiring one of those two would almost certainly require giving up Tatum or Brown. And who actually wants to do that?
Watching homegrown players blossom into franchise pillars is one of the joys of watching sports. With three Eastern Conference Finals appearances in four years, Tatum and Brown have shown they can be part of winning teams.
They just need a little help. Over the last two games, Walker has stepped up, reminding everyone he's a four-time All-Star himself.
A full makeover may not be necessary. The core is already here.
