#1 Jaylen Brown’s triple-double
After a tough showing against the Denver Nuggets over the weekend, Jaylen Brown reminded everybody of the progress he’s made this season. He was arguably the Boston Celtics best player against the Houston Rockets, notching his third career triple-double in the process.
There was a poise to the way Brown approached things on the offense end. He showed great deceleration around the rim, read the defense, and made decisions based on how things were unfolding around him. The below clip is a solid example of his overall reading of the game.
Brown gets the ball on the post, aims to either spin off or face up and draws three defenders. Rather than panicking or looking to force his shot, Brown looks for the open man, which happens to be Jayson Tatum on the perimeter. A quick pass leads to a lightly contested jumper.
It was also fun to see the Celtics actively looking to get Brown his triple-double. It wasn’t until the final 13 seconds that he notched his 10th assist and completed the impressive feat. The fact Boston looked to put the ball in his hands and push the tempo despite holding a 10-point lead shows the comradery within the rotation.
Here’s a fun jump-stop floater in traffic. I really liked this move and wanted to share.
#2 Derrick White’s first half
Derrick White had himself an impressive night. However, his first-quarter performance was huge for the Celtics. With Jrue Holiday out of the rotation, it was White’s turn to assume a bigger offensive role.
The veteran guard had 16 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks in the first 24 minutes of play. His ability and willingness to pressure the rim consistently ensured the Celtics were creating collapses and rotations that they could exploit.
With so much spacing around the perimeter, White had the opportunity to drive the lane whenever he felt like it. When getting downhill, he is really talented at creating separation on contact or using his body to shield the ball away from defenders. He has a steadiness to his finishes inside the paint that oozes confidence.
In the above clip, you can see White seal his defender on his hip and keep the ball outstretched to limit the risk of being blocked or swiped. From there, the difficult part is getting the right amount of force on the release.
I think it’s widely accepted at this point that White is one of, if not the best shot blocking guard(s) in the league. The fact that he looked to get a block on a full-court heave with 2 seconds left on the game clock stood out to me as a shining example of his competitiveness.
It’s highly unlikely that a full-court heave is going to drop. Stranger things have happened, though. So, White pads his blocking numbers while erasing the minimal risk of a circus shot crushing Boston’s momentum.
#3 Sam Hauser doing things
In the absence of Holiday, Sam Hauser was inserted into the starting lineup. The sharpshooting forward has been impressive with his defense and willingness to drive closeouts.
Hauser struggled to get going on the perimeter. He did hit a couple of threes, including an impressive movement shot where he navigated over a stagger screen and sunk into the corner on a baseline out-of-bounds play, which you can see below.
However, with his shot out of sync, Hauser found other ways to leave his fingerprints on the game. He had 9 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. For a player many (including myself) had pigeon-holed as a single-skill player, that’s a very healthy statline.
Still, the playmaking stood out. We know Hauser can knock down shots. We’ve learned that he can defend. And we know he is a presence on the defensive glass. 6 assists, though? We’ve seen flashes but that feels new-ish.
None of…
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