CLUTCH: Celtics recover, RALLY to beat Toronto, win FIFTH STRAIGHT game

Summary

Locked On Celtics – “CLUTCH: Celtics recover, RALLY to beat Toronto, win FIFTH STRAIGHT game”

Host: John Karalis
Date: December 8, 2025
Episode Focus: Boston Celtics’ clutch win over the Toronto Raptors for their fifth straight victory, analysis on the team’s recent success, and a look at what’s sustainable moving forward.

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode centers on the Boston Celtics' resilient comeback to defeat the Toronto Raptors 121-113, extending their winning streak to five games. Host John Karalis offers an in-depth breakdown of the team’s performance, key contributors, and discusses whether the Celtics' current success is sustainable through a deeper look at trends, stats, and upcoming schedule.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Game Flow & Turning Points

• Hot Start & Sudden Collapse:

  • Celtics jumped to a 23-point lead in the first half, led by an explosive start from Jordan Walsh and Derrick White.
  • Raptors clawed back with a big third quarter, led by defensive intensity and rapid runs, eventually turning a 20-point halftime deficit into a lead.

• Celtics' Response in the Fourth:

  • John credits Derrick White and Peyton Pritchard for pivotal shot-making during the clutch, initiating a “crazy” 14-2 run that flipped the game back in Boston’s favor.
  • White hit a wild spinning three-pointer that he joked was inspired by his trick-shot routines in practice.

  “Derrick does like this little spinning turnaround, hits the three. He joked after the game, he said, ‘maybe those trick shots are working out for me.’”
  — John Karalis (06:34)

• Clutch Execution:

  • Early season issues closing games are fading; timely shooting and poise led to improved late-game performance.
  • Celtics’ supporting cast—White, Pritchard, and bench contributions—now delivers in decisive moments.

2. Individual Performances

• Derrick White:

  • 27 points (14 in the first quarter, 8 in the fourth), including clutch threes and a highlight-reel block.
  • “Derrick White is back, I think it’s fair to say, and it’s about time. He’s shooting 41% in December.” (09:44)
  • Notched six three-pointers; John notes a “bounce back” in his shooting form.

• Jordan Walsh:

  • Standout opening stretch: steals, transition plays, putback dunk, and surprisingly efficient shooting from deep (currently 45.7% from 3).
  • Still struggles with fouling (eventually fouled out), but showing a “ridiculous” level of improvement.

  “I’m shocked. I’m shocked. Even the people who are like, no, I always believed in Jordan Walsh… this little stretch of his is just ridiculous.”
  — John Karalis (02:50)

• Jalen Brown:

  • Another 30-point night: “It was one of those, like, okay, kind of cruise along here… How awesome is it that Jalen is, you know, putting up 30, and we’re like, yeah, okay. Yeah, nice game.” (18:02)
  • Moves onto the NBA MVP ladder, 5th per NBA.com.

• Peyton Pritchard:

  • Adds key threes and a crafty mid-paint shot; John highlights his league-best efficiency (64.2%) on non-restricted paint attempts for players with 50+ attempts, even higher than Nikola Jokic.

• Namias Queta:

  • Rough start, but “recovered very, very well,” finishing with a double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds), crucial rebounding in the fourth helped secure the win.

• Bench Notes:

  • Sam Hauser with three 3-pointers, two blocks (“foul money”).
  • Ugo Gonzalez: impactful short stint (dunk, three-pointer).
  • Josh Minott: quieter than usual game; shooting 46% from 3 this season—likely due for regression.

3. Team Trends & The Gauntlet Stretch

• Recent Schedule Review:

  • John reviews a daunting 8-game road: Orlando, Detroit, Minnesota, Cleveland, New York, Washington, Lakers, Toronto.
  • Expected 3 wins would be “fine”—instead, Boston goes 7-1, including a current five-game win streak, and have won 10 of 12 overall.

  “It’s incredible that they ... came out of this stretch with one loss. Seven and one. They’ve won 10 of 12 games. They won five in a row.”
  — John Karalis (26:35)

• Injury Luck:

  • Nearly full health; only minor games missed (Jalen one game for illness).

4. Sustainability & Realism

• Overperformance or New Reality?

  • John is honest that certain stats are probably inflated:
    • Walsh and Minott shooting ~46% from 3 not likely to hold.
    • “You should never expect any player in the NBA, any player in the NBA, you should never expect them to shoot 46% from three for a season.” (28:20)

• Padding for Regression:

  • Having a 15–9 record (third in the East) gives leeway for a possible “skid.”
  • John’s target expectation remains 44–45 wins, recognizes the current pace (51) is high but a playoff berth remains secure barring serious injuries or collapse.

• Upcoming Schedule & Opportunity:

  • Lighter calendar (more rest, fewer games in three weeks—“like a college schedule”) gives chance to recharge before tougher stretches resume.

• Joe Mazzulla’s Coaching:

  • A shoutout for the head coach—recent clutch performances and player buy-in silence critics.

  “Where are all the ‘Joe Mazzulla sucks’ people?... You got nothing to say because they’re winning and the guys love them.”
  — John Karalis (33:36)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jordan Walsh’s Breakout:

  “Best player on the floor [in the opening]. I joked on Twitter that he made a deal with the devil or something.” (02:05–02:15)

• Derrick White's Trick-Shot Three:

  “Maybe those trick shots are working out for me.” (White, via Karalis, 06:34)

• Pritchard's Paint Proficiency:

  “No one is shooting better than Peyton Pritchard... That’s like his new shot this season. And he hit one in that 14-2 run.” (09:01)

• Jalen Brown MVP Talk:

  “He’s being recognized a little bit… for them to be third for at any point… is just impressive, however long it lasts.” (15:00–16:30)

• Expect Shooting Regression:

  “You should never expect any player in the NBA… to shoot 46% from three for a season. So that’s going to level off.” (28:20)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:12] – Show open: Five in a row, instant reaction, Walsh’s breakout
• [04:50] – Raptors comeback, Celtics’ mid-game struggles, turnover analysis
• [05:58] – Fourth-quarter rally: Derrick White & Peyton Pritchard’s clutch sequence
• [09:01] – Statistical deep dive into Pritchard’s paint shots & White’s shooting resurgence
• [14:20] – Individual box scores: Jalen Brown, Queta, Hauser, Walsh
• [18:00] – Jalen Brown’s quiet 30, MVP ladder discussion
• [24:00] – Reviewing the “gauntlet” stretch, outperforming expectations (7-1 run)
• [26:45] – Sustainability discussion: Are numbers for real? Regression likely?
• [32:18] – Upcoming schedule, playoff outlook, and remaining cautious optimism
• [33:36] – Shout out to Coach Joe Mazzulla and team chemistry

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Tone & Style

John Karalis is candid, passionate, and appreciative—balancing realism with enthusiasm for the team’s effort and growth. There’s measured skepticism regarding outlier performances (“I always want to be honest”), mixed with well-earned praise (“I couldn’t be more impressed”).

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Summary Takeaways

• The Celtics’ fifth straight win over Toronto displayed both flaws (mid-game collapse) and real growth (clutch resilience, improved execution).
• Derrick White and Peyton Pritchard getting (“timely shots”) made the difference.
• Jalen Brown’s MVP-level production is gaining wider recognition.
• The team has outperformed gauntlet expectations, but John urges realism about hot shooting and injury luck.
• A playoff berth is virtually assured; the coming light schedule is an opportunity to get even better.
• Some things (“Jordan Walsh shooting 46% from three”) are probably not real, but the team’s competitive mettle is.
• Head coach Joe Mazzulla deserves credit—recent results quiet critics.
• The focus going forward: which elements of this remarkable run are truly sustainable.

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Bottom Line:
The Celtics have proven themselves through adversity, showcasing a newfound clutch gene and winning as a group. While some statistical highs are bound to regress, their work ethic, chemistry, and coaching are emerging as core strengths for the season ahead.

Transcript

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[C]

Five in a row for the Boston Celtics. A clutch win at that, but can they sustain this? I'll talk about it right now on the Lockdown Celtics podcast.

Uhhuh. Yup, yup.

[D]

Be ever ready. It's the seas. Who else could it be? What they going to say now? Screaming like JT Coralics we kept the madness every game, every practice prime time Depp and D White on the sideline Ren and J's how we started raising banners how we finish locked on Celtics pod Home of the winners, baby.

[C]

Lockdown Celtics podcast right here on the Lockdown Podcast Network where it's your team every day. Your team is the Boston Celtics and I talk about them every Monday through Friday. I'll do a bonus podcast like I did this past Friday when they play on the weekend, so make sure you're subscribed. The show's free and available Everywhere. It's on YouTube. Get into the comment section there. Share your thoughts with me. If you're new to the show, I'm John Corrales, beat writer for Boston Sports Journal. I've been doing this job, or a version of it, for 20 years now. I've been doing this podcast for 10 and I've written a couple of books about the Celtics. Today's show is brought to you by fanduel. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season with FanDuel.com place your NFL live bets all season long. The Celtics get the win 121113 it was looking easy and then it looked bad and then they got it back. That's the the way the game goes later on. In the third segment, we'll talk about sustainability and what kind of like a. What's real, what's not. A couple of things, if I'm being honest, that I'm like, how is this happening? We'll get to that later. We'll get to individual stuff. In the second segment, we'll talk about this gauntlet that they not only survived but thrived in. But let's just talk about five in a row. They get this win over the Toronto Raptors. They were up by 23 the first half. They were just Chef's kiss. Unbelievable. You had incredible start from Jordan Walsh, first five minutes of the game. Best player on the floor. I just completely, like, I joked on Twitter that he made a deal with the devil or something. I don't understand how you go from, like, out of the rotation to seriously, best player on the floor. Got into the passing lane right away, getting steals right away, getting out into transition, hitting a three euro, stepping all of this stuff. I'm like, who this is? This guy looks like a superstar in the first five minutes. How is this. How is this Jordan Walsh now? He still fouls too much, and he fouled out of this game, and he got himself into foul trouble. And that's. That's part of the problem, and that's why he remains, you know, Jordan Walsh, and. And he. He has to overcome that. But I'm just incredibly impressed with how he has continued to make himself better. I'm shocked. I'm shocked. It's just. Even the people who are like, no, I always believe in Jordan Walsh. You have to admit that this little stretch of his is just ridiculous. It's beyond your wildest dreams. And so, hey, great. Good for him. Good for him. Which I'll get to in that last bit when I talk about sustainable Derrick White, first quarter, 14 points, ends up with 27 on the night. He kind of bookended the game. 14 in the first quarter. Then he had a strong fourth quarter. What he finished with in the fourth quarter, I know I said 27. He had eight in the. In the fourth quarter, including the three that turned this game around. Celtics again up 23. Then they kind of screw up at the end of the first half. They let a bucket in.

[B]

They were.

[C]

They were up 20. It's that little bit we talk about confidence heading into halftime. Not that that one bucket completely changed how things went. But all of a sudden, the third quarter, the Raptors turn up the defense. You know, you got Jamal Shed playing out of his mind. You got tons of pressure. All of a sudden, the Raptors going a big run. 20, was it 24 to 2 or something like that? Just a huge monster run to get the lead down to six going into the fourth quarter. Then they quickly turn around, flip it and take a lead. Just. The Celtics went from playing amazing to just giving into this Raptors pressure.

And they, you know, they got sloppy. They turned the ball over a bunch. They, they had four turnovers in the first half for four points. They had four turnovers in the third quarter for seven Raptors points. The Raptors had a 12 nothing fast break points advantage in the, in the third quarter because of those turnovers. The Celtics turned the Raptors over in, in the first half forcing eight turnovers for eight points. In the third, in the third quarter when the Raptors made their run, just two turnovers for zero points. So everything kind of fell apart. The, the offense wasn't executing, the defense wasn't there. And they needed to find something somewhere, somehow. And that's where Derrick White came in. After the Raptors took their, their lead. It was 101-0299. Derek hits a three pointer. This crazy like spinning, the ball is going to go out of bounds on the left side right at the break. Derek does like this little spinning turnaround, hits the three. He joked after the game he said maybe those trick shots are working out for me. He does trick shots at the end of the every practice and shoot around. He, I think he's got to work that in somehow. The next trick shot's got to be that a little spin turn fire from three or something that, that triggered the 142 run that the Celtics, they get two three pointers from Derek, you get two three pointers from Peyton and they turn things around. That execution, this clutch win is something that wasn't there at the beginning of the season. And I think it might just be the shooting. It might just be as simple as the Celtics are getting timely shots, Derek's hitting shots, Peyton's hitting shots, Jalen's hitting shots. Guys are actually.

Making the plays, finishing the plays where at the beginning of the season they were like 2 and 5 in clutch games. They just weren't hitting shots. They couldn't. Derek was getting looks, Peyton was getting looks. And they, those were the two coldest shooters. And that I think led to some of the problems. The execution is better. They're getting better play from Derrick White, they're getting better play from Minot and Namish Kada and all of that. That is all true. But in this make or miss league.

That fourth quarter is not unlike fourth Quarters that we've seen this season, we've seen similar situations from the Celtics. And the difference is Derek makes that spinning three three pointer. Peyton gets himself a couple of shots, a couple of three pointers. He gets himself into the lane and hits that shot in the middle of the lane. Which by the way, Peyton Pritchard, I looked this up. He is shooting 64.2% on non restricted area paint touches so that mid paint to the free throw line. He's shooting 64.2%.

No one is shooting better than that. I, I set it at 50, 50 attempts in that spot. He's shooting better than Nicola Jokic in that area. Now Jokic has 73 makes.

Peyton has like 64 attempts. So he had. Jokic has more made field goals from that spot than.

Peyton has a 10. He has 67 attempts in that spot. But anybody taking 50 or more. So I'm just like trying somebody who takes that shot regularly. No one shoots better than Peyton Pritchard. And that's all those drives turn, fade. That's just a little practice shot. That's so easy the way he drives and gets to the basket. That's like his new shot this season. And he hit one in that 142 run to help hold Toronto off. Like he's just a master in that area. It's incredible. Derrick White, another six three pointers. Derrick White is back, I think it's fair to say and it's about time. He's shooting 41% in December. His last three games. 6 of 15, 5 of 10, 5 of 12. Go back to 4 of 12 which is 33% but multiple makes right and he's, he's going to shoot the high volume from 3 but 6, 5, 5. He hasn't, he hasn't done that in a long time. So December he's shooting over 41%. It's just a, it's just a few games but it's, it's a nice.

Bounce back. In fact, I think the number has been updated since I tweeted it out because he's played four games in December now and he's at 40.8. So 41. So it's still about the same.

Derrick White is, is back. He had an incredible block in this game too where he was going up with his right hand that came around with his left and just swat. I think it was, baby, it was a Brandon Ingram incredible block shot. Vicious block shot. Oh, shout out to Jordan Walsh for that put back dunk. That two hand put back. That was insane. That was incredible. Let's get back, we'll come back, we'll do some individual performances and we'll just look at this gauntlet. Because I've talked in this podcast, this stretch of like six or seven games where I'm like, listen, if you win two or three, I'll be happy they won more than two or three. So we'll talk about that when I come back. Today's show is brought to you by Robin Hood. No one knows your money goals better than you. Robinhood puts you in control of your money with tools that work as hard as you do, locking in on every opening, beating your pr, beating it again channel that drive into your money. Robinhood puts you in control of your money Trade stocks and ETFs, options, futures and crypto all on one platform. You can now build and execute your own trades from a desktop with Robinhood Legends advanced tools or take advantage of the new Robinhood strategies. With a tailored portfolio managed by a team of experts, you expect more from yourself and expect more from your money. Get started [e-mail] yourmoney again, that's robinhood.com yourmoney your money, your move.

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They let's, let's go through the box score real quick and get some some of the individuals. Jalen Brown Again a 30 point, another 30 point game. Like at some point. It's, it was good to see actually the NBA. You know, NBA.com had Jalen fifth in their MVP ladder. He's on the MVP ladder, which is nice. He's being recognized a little bit for that. That's, that's somebody now when you're on the MVP ladder and it's only December, so things change. I'm very curious to see what's going to happen when ESPN and Tim Bontems do their straw poll. The December straw polls are always iffy that those change a lot. But I'm very curious to see where Jalen Brown fits in all of this. And it depends on when they do the the poll. Right? Because right now The Celtics are 15 and nine. They're in third place by the way. They're the third seed, which I know means nothing on December 7th. So I'm not going to sit here and be like, oh my God, this looks the third seed. That's so meaningful. It's not because the third seed last year was the Orlando Magic at this point on this day and they dropped and, and obviously we saw that, you know, they had to go through the plan. So I know what this means. It means zero. Except that for the Celtics in this quote unquote gap year and all of that, for them to be third for at any point in the season to look at the Celtics at third in the standings is just impressive, however long it lasts. And I have no, you know, big delusions of grandeur with This. I, I still expect the Celtics to be a 44, 45 win team, even though they are currently on a 51 win pace. And I'll, I'll touch on this again when we get into sustainable, but I do not expect 51 wins. Okay, maybe they will. They're on a 51 win pace, but I still expect them to drop a little bit. And that's all going to be fine. But to be at any point of the season, at any point in the calendar, to look at the standings and be like, oh, look at the Celtics at 15 and 9 above, like the Toronto, Philly, Orlando, Miami, Cleveland, Atlanta. Milwaukee's down there. I mean, this is. All of these teams. People had high hopes for all these teams. Cleveland should have been the top seed. They're, they're struggling. Atlanta was supposed to be good there and whatever. People had high hopes for Milwaukee and obviously Giannis just got hurt. But there's, you know, the Celtics are right there, a game and a half behind the Knicks. They're four games out of first. And, you know, that's because the Pistons are 19 and 5 and they went on a crazy run. So just enjoy this part, enjoy this part of the, the, the schedule.

But because they're 15 and 9, I think Jalen's going to get a little bit of, you know, a little extra love when it comes to the, the MVP discussion. He's, he's not going to be in, you know, he's not going to be above Jokic. She's not going to be above Shay, Gildis, Alexander. The Thunder are 22 1. The Nuggets are right behind them, 17 and 6. So those guys are going to be higher. Luka Doncic is going to be higher. Especially when the Lakers were at, you know, higher. They were like the second seed for a little while, and then he leaves and, you know, they, they look bad. So he'll get, he'll get his love and, and all of that, but Jalen's going to get some, some attention and which is, which is great. Good for him. He, you know, another 30 spot for him in this game. It just, you know, it was one of those, like, okay, kind of cruise along here. He had, you know, seven in the first. He had, you know, 10 in the second.

Five in the third. You know, third quarter, everybody kind of sucked. And then eight in the fourth quarter where he got to the line six times. So it wasn't like a dominant game. He's had definitely much more dominant games. But how awesome is it that Jalen is, you know, putting up 30, and we're like, yeah, okay. Yeah, nice game. This is. It's. It's like the Jason Tatum treatment. Treatment. These guys, you know, he's. He's doing what Jason Tatum. He's doing exactly what Jason Tatum should be doing. Like, if he was in this spot. He's. He's for, you know, a lot of the discussion of, like, well, Jason's better than Jalen. Well, Jalen's doing it. Jalen's doing it right now. And we might still think that Jalen is. Jason is better than Jalen. But I don't know, man. Like, this is. Jalen has. Has had a lot to say about, like, you know, hey, listen, I'm right there with this dude, and he's. He's proving it. He's doing it. He's doing it. And like I said before, Jason did it with Jalen next to him. Jalen's doing it with, you know, Derek White struggling and Payton Pritchard struggling. So, like, Jalen is just doing it, man. This is great. So 30 points, eight rebounds, five assists, a steal, a block. This is great, a great night for him. I talked about Jordan Walsh, who, like, the three steals came right away. But he's, you know, whatever. I, I've said what I got to say about Jordan Walsh. Shout out to Namishkada. I don't want to forget Namish K. At the beginning of the game, like, the first quarter, I was like, okay, this is. This is bad. Like, it feel. It felt like maybe he was out of gas or whatever. He did not look good in the first quarter, but he came back and recovered very, very well in the. I want to say in the second quarter, he had a couple of nice catches and finishes. Just strong moves, decisive moves. That was good. And in the fourth quarter, he was rebounding everything. He finished with 11 rebounds, 11 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, a steal, two blocks.

You know, he. He recovered very, very well from a slow start. And we're going to focus on that fourth quarter run of three pointers and all the scoring and 14:2. But part of the reason why it was 14:2 and not 14:6 or 8 or 10 is because Cato was rebounding. And they were when. When the Raptors finally started missing is because Cato was there to grab the rebound. So nice game from. From him as well. Guys off the bench were okay, but nothing, nothing spectacular. Simons had a couple of moments, but still it hasn't shooting well. He's still not comfortable. Hauser was 3 of 7 from 3 doing what he's supposed to do. So. And he had a. Two block shots. Two blocks. I was with Sam Houser is. I mean, damn, that's foul money. But he, he had a couple of nice block shots. You know, one from behind, like a rear view content. Like that was just nice stuff. Ugo Gonzalez only played two and a half minutes, but they were like, very impactful. He had a dunk. He had a three. That was good. I kind of liked what he had. I don't know why he doesn't play more sometimes. Again, I'm going to reiterate and I even. I haven't even checked the. The main Celtics schedule. They have three days off a game. Three days off. He's got to go play. I hope they let him go to Maine and get him two, three games, whatever it is. Go play basketball. Let this kid go play basketball. Go play 35 minutes. And like, if for nothing else, if for nothing else, just so he gets the cardio. So he gets to go play 35 minutes of. Of basketball. So he gets his wind up. You know what I mean? Like, that's. Get him out there to play basketball. And then when the schedule picks up again, he stays with the Celtics. No one's talking about sending him to the G league. I just want him to go play basketball. And that just happens to be with the main Celtics. So we'll leave that and then, you know, Josh Minot was not the best Josh Minot game. Okay, so the Celtics thrived in this gauntlet. Is it. Is this sustainable? Is what the Celtics have done 15 and nine. And we're. This is definitely going to be a topic that we're gonna, you know, push forward as well when Tom Westerholm comes on later this week and all that. Let's just touch on this for a little bit when we come back. Today's show is brought to you by FanDuel. NFL Sundays move fast. Especially if you were watching that Buffalo Bill Cincinnati Bengals game. One big play and suddenly everything feels different. That's what makes live betting with FanDuel so exciting. You're not just watching the game, you're reacting to it in real time. With FanDuel, you can place the bets as the action unfolds. Every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. Live betting is best when the game starts to shift. Receiver gets hot, defense tightens up or the momentum flips. After a turnover, Fanduel lets you jump into the moment. You got live spreads of money lines that adjust instantly. Player props update as guys heat up. You could be you can bet next touchdown scores, drive results, totals and more. Keeps you locked into every snap, every drive, every possibility. So if you want to get into the middle of the action this season, go to FanDuel.com place your NFL Live bets all season long. Make sure you take advantage of the tools that are there. They'll ask you to set your limit, set your budget. Say yes to that. Whatever you can afford to lose, whatever that disposable income is, that's your limit. That's your budget. In case you go cold, they'll help you out. They'll stop you. You can gamble responsibly and pick it back up next time. So check it out. FanDuel game moves fast and so can you.

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[C]

Inspires.

Thanks for making Lockdown Celtics the number one Celtics podcast on the number one sports podcast network on the planet. Second listen could be what do you got? We got Locked on NBA locked on NBA game night. Those are both in the same feed. Locked in NBA has all the big stories in the afternoons. Game night covers all the games seven nights a week. Lockdown Fantasy basketball has you covered with all the fantasy basketball. Josh lights the like the absolute biggest.

Whoa, wrong button. Absolute biggest podcast for fantasy. And you know, check out Lockdown Raptors. See what the, you know, Sean Woodley has to say about this game. Oh, it's always good to get the other team's perspective on that because you know, I'm coming at it from a certain thing. I'm watching the game a certain way. Lockdown Raptors watching it a different way. So go check that out. So before this whole thing started, this whole Celtics stretch of games I was looking at, and this was before they lost to the Brooklyn Nets. I was expecting them to beat the Brooklyn Nets, but I was looking at Orlando, Detroit, Minnesota, Cleveland, New York, Washington, L.A. toronto. So what's that? Four, eight games?

I was thinking, look, you get a couple of wins, you beat one or two of the good teams, you Beat Washington. Like, can you get, can you get Washington, Toronto and one of these other teams, three and five? At that point, I would have been happy. Three wins out of that. I would have been like, you know what? Just survive. Don't fall too far underwater and you'll be, you'll be okay. Come out of this. Somewhere around 500 come out of it. You know, a game above 500, a game below that, then things cool off, you can reset and.

Figure it out. So what do they do? They beat Orlando, which was like one of those barely wins. Didn't feel great about that. They beat Detroit. Okay, great win, clutch win, tight loss against Minnesota. So you're like. At that point I was like, look, you beat Orlando, you got the win over Detroit. I think everything's gravy as long as you get that Washington game. Maybe one more. They beat Cleveland, okay, You beat Cleveland, then you beat New York, then you beat Washington, then you beat the Lakers, and then you beat Toronto. It's incredible that they beat. They came out of this stretch with one loss. Seven and one. They've won 10 of 12 games. They won five in a row.

So as far as I'm concerned, they've given themselves a lot of padding. Now when I ask the question, is this sustainable?

It's not that I'm thinking that it's just them playing over their heads, which by the way, let's be honest, because I always want to be honest, here they are playing a little bit above their heads. Like Jordan Walsh is currently shooting 45.7% from three. Now, I'm thrilled for Jordan. He is not a 46% three point shooter. I don't think that's going to be where this ends up this season. And if it does, then, oh my God. Amazing. But he's doing it on limited shot attempts. He's getting two, two attempts at home, one and a half on the road. Okay, so he's, he's getting a couple per game and some games there are fewer. Some games he's get four. Some games you get one.

I expect that to kind of level off. Josh Minot is shooting like 46% from 3. It's a little bit out of what the norm is. And the question really, honestly is.

Was the norm.

Just limited opportunity and you know, some, some kind of like obviously hitches in their shot. They both have to work on their shot. And Jordan's, Jordan's shot looks much better than it did a couple of seasons ago. It's. It looks more consistent. It looks smoother for sure. It looks good. So I mean, I'm not saying that he's a 32 three point shooter. 46 is like he's not Steph Curry. Steph Curry isn't even 46 three point shooter. That number is outrageous. Okay? And so I'm not speaking out of turn and I'm not being a hater or anything like that. You should never expect any player in the NBA, any player in the NBA, you should never expect them to shoot 46% from three for a season. So that's going to level off. Can he be a 43 point shooter? I kind of like the way his shot looks now. So I don't know. And any 38, 39, 40, I'm not going to rule that out. But 46 is a bit much. So that's going to mean he's going to miss a couple shots here and there or maybe it's going to be in a little bit of a cold streak. And what happens when he goes on a cold streak? Does Josh go on a cold streak at the same time? Do some of those shot like those shots help? The Celtics extend leads, pile up big leads. If those, those tail off a little bit, then the Celtics don't go 7 and 1 in this stretch, right? They, they maybe go, you know, five and three in that stretch, which would still be good. But all I'm saying is the 51 win pace is a little, it's a little bit much, which also is great. This is awesome. You want to have this little bit of a pad. They also have had incredible injury luck. Jalen's missed one game for an illness. He didn't miss any time for the hamstring. Who's missed time due to an injury? Nimish K missed one game. Think, did Sam Houser miss again? There's been almost no games missed due to injury this season. Considering how the rest of the league has been decimated, I would expect the Celtics to have something right. Some kind of like it's just part of the game. Somebody always sprains an ankle, tweaks a knee, you know, pulls a hammy, whatever. So something like that is, is probably coming. So going 15 and 9 is. It gives you that leeway that if you hit a little bit of a skid, you're still above.500 and then you can level off. And even if the Celtics regress a little bit and play one or two games above.500 the rest of the way, well, you're already winning 62 and a half percent of your games. So you've now put yourself in a great position like they are not gonna tank. It's. For them to tank at this point would be almost impossible. They would have to go on the, the most losingest losing streak and they would have to have multiple, multiple guys get hurt. It's not out of the question. But this is a playoff team. We're, we're 24 games into the season. We're more than a quarter way through the season and obviously there's a lot more room to go. But this is a playoff team. It's just where in the playoffs they are not going to fall to like Washington, Indy, Brooklyn, Charlotte, those are all teams that win less than 30% of the game. Some Washington is less than 20% of their games. So they're not going to dip to that. Even if they struggle, even if they hit a skid, they've now there's six games above.500. They give themselves some pad. So they have thrived through this gauntlet of, of games and now the upcoming schedule gives them a little bit of time to rest. Three days off before going to Milwaukee, then another three days off before facing Detroit, and then another three days off. Then you get a three and four stretch, but then another three days off before a road trip. There's a lot of time. And you got three weeks where you play six games. That's nothing. That's like a college schedule.

So they'll be okay in like Milwaukee, Detroit, Miami, Toronto again, Indy twice though. They should win like they should be Milwaukee, let's just like beat Milwaukee, beat Indy twice. That's three wins right there. Then Detroit, Miami, Toronto. Win one or two of those games, you're four and two and now you've, you've increased yourself. Then you go to Portland, who, you know, who knows. Utah, they've already lost Utah, but should be a win. There's, you're, you're getting ready to pile up some wins before you hit any kind of like real turbulence in this schedule. So is it sustainable?

Maybe not at this level, but they put themselves in a great position. I think the one thing now is we've gone through this gauntlet, this 24 game stretch of, you know, condensed schedule. The Celtics have come out of that. You look, you take a deep breath, you go, okay, where are we? Well, you're a playoff team. You're a playoff team. And that's like, unless something terrible happens, but it's going to take something terrible to happen. They're a playoff team.

So good for them. Man. I'm impressed. I am so Impressed with this group. You know, this week, I think we got to start talking about, like, Joe, like, his coaching, like, where we're all the Joe Missoula sucks people. Right? Don't hear from them much right now because all of a sudden, the Celtics have won five of their last seven clutch games, and they're 15 and nine in the third seed. And all of the Joe Missoula sucks folks. Got nothing to say. You got nothing to say because they're winning and the guys love them, so.

Just impressive. I. I couldn't be more impressed. All right, we'll wrap it up here this week.

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We'll.

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We'll have plenty of time to just kind of shake through some things. We'll try to get a couple of guests in here and really dig deep into what's. What's been happening. And. And really, this is a good week to truly try to process who these guys really are. You know, like, this is impressive. How much will they settle down, all of that stuff? We'll try to get. We'll. We'll try to get some good guests here to. To really distill who these Celtics are at this point of the season. So make sure you're subscribed. If you're not in every day or become one, be here every Monday through Friday. I have plenty of bonus podcasts. Like, this week, there's, you know, five. But next week, they play Miami at home on Friday. They play Toronto on the road on Saturday on the 19th and the 20th. So that'll be seven days a week of podcasting. Then they play Indiana that following Friday on the road. So that'll be like two straight weeks of podcasting. It's all free. It's available everywhere. If you want to get into the Everydayers club, you can pay $5 a month or $50 a year to go ad free. You get no interruptions, members only, Discord Access, and more. So if you do want to pay $5 a month, you can go to lockdownceltics.supercast.com and join the Everydayer Club. It's a new thing that we're just launching today, so go check that out. You get a free trial, too. So if you don't like it for some reason, you can back out if you'd like. But check it out for $5 a month or $50 for the whole year. Thank you for listening. Now, I would love it if you share the podcast. Tell everybody they should be listening to and watching the Lockdown Celtics podcast here on the Lockdown Podcast Network. It's your team every day.

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