5 takeaways as Trae Young’s 40 points Hawks lift over Jayson Tatum, Celtics

After an encouraging victory against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, the Boston Celtics disappeared again Wednesday and fell to the Atlanta Hawks 122-114.

Here are five takeaways from another uninspiring loss to Celtics.

The Celtics’ perimeter defense was not impressive at best.

Boston’s defense falls off a cliff, mostly torn apart by Trae Young. Young finished with 40 points on 14-for-20 shooting and destroyed the Celtics in the fourth quarter. The rest of the Hawks, however, struck plenty, as the Celtics’ domestic defense was catastrophic. Atlanta finished with 72 points on 68 percent shooting in the arc.

“I thought our perimeter defense made it very difficult for our paint defense,” Brad Stevens said. ‘Our guys who protect us, either turn or roll in a pick-and-roll, there have been a few times that our greats have definitely turned down the bounce and stuff like that, but I’m not sure we have a big impact had on them on the ball, certainly not the way it affected us. ”

There could be a lot of blame on the rankings, but the Celtics’ defense has struggled to keep opponents from getting where they want to go, and talented guards like Young and Bradley Beal have recently enjoyed soiree. This is a disturbing trend, no matter how talented the opponent is.

Getting Marcus Smart back, whenever that happens, will definitely help, but as anyone who has watched the Celtics in recent weeks can ask, he should ask him to fix everything that is going wrong in the perimeter.

Aaron Nesmith is ready to throw himself into loose balls.

Nesmith, like most Celtics rookies over the past few years, has apparently discovered that the way to get on the floor is to defend. He does it enthusiastically – throws his body all over the court and stirs in transition. At some point in the fourth quarter, Nesmith had a narrow fall that followed a block in the transition, and he may have to learn to fall a little more gracefully to prevent injuries.

But Nesmith shows flashes of skills and athletics that were not clear at Vanderbilt. If his 3-point shot comes – and it will almost certainly be – he will be an intriguing player. Earlier would be better than later for Boston.

The Celtics will get something from Robert Williams.

Increasingly, Robert Williams looks like a rotation player. Reliable, the Celtics can expect him to give them something on both sides.

The only question is what that ‘something’ will be. Defensively, he’s still creepy, and at this point one has to wonder how much his tendency to jump for every pump falsehood over the years will improve. But he is an intimidating presence around the edge, and he keeps popping up with big hands and a big catch beam.

Offensively, he does such things.

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– Boston Celtics (@celtics) 18 February 2021

Tristan Thompson keeps defenders in front of him. Daniel Theis – if available – can switch. Grant Williams can play small ball. The Celtics are very big, and trying to get everyone in the game is a bit of a group. But Williams has a lot of promise, and if the big rotation is necessarily shortened, he gets the chance to show it.

With Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart out, the Celtics hit the points guard.

Brad Stevens’ decision to start Javonte Green in place of Kemba Walker was interesting – he has hinted in the past that he sometimes wants to defend the series. With two primary ball handlers available in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the group looked good, even as Atlanta repeatedly paraded to the edge.

The appearance was not much of a game changer, and the Celtics played a point guard for most of the game – Teague or Payton Pritchard – but it was a reminder of how desperate Boston’s point guard situation was right. now.

Should the Celtics trade for John Collins?

Collins finished Wednesday with 20 points on 6-for-9 shooting, and he continues a recent trend to give the Celtics a nice look at a player they have linked to in trade rumors.

Collins has a solid season – 18.1 points and 7.6 rebounds per game – while shooting 54.4 percent off the field and 41.1 percent off the field. He will certainly help one thing the Celtics have often struggled with: the lack of a true power forward, which has sometimes forced Daniel Theis into the four. Its floor spacing will also help.

As the Celtics broadcast noted, the money would be difficult after all. Collins clearly expects a big payday after rejecting a $ 90 million deal in the off-season, and he would be an expensive acquisition. The cost of acquiring him would in fact captivate the Celtics to pay him, and other teams would probably be willing to offer him money and increase the price.

Collins is a good player, and the idea of ​​trading for him without using the TPE is appealing. However, the bill – in both assets and real dollars – may be too high.