The Clover Report: Week Sixteen

With the Super Bowl coming up on Sunday, the Celtics have been put on the back burner for the past few weeks. But a couple of important things happened this week so let’s recap. Of course the standout game was a possible Finals preview when the Celtics traveled to Golden State to take on the Warriors. It was a prime time game and boy did it live up to the hype. It was a battle throughout the entire contest but it was the Warriors who made the plays down the stretch to win 109—105. Kyrie Irving probably had his best game as a Celtic as he could not miss in the first half. He shot 13-18 from the floor and finished with 37 points. But Stephen Curry was a bit better as he finished with a season high 49 points. Obviously the Celtics are at the point that there should be no quality losses but they once again stood toe to toe with the defending champ. If these two were to meet again in June, the Celtics may have a good shot against them.

Next up, the Celtics closed out their west coast trip with a trip to Denver. Similar to the Golden State game, this one went down to the wire. But thanks to Jaylen Brown, the Celtics won this game 111—110. Brown, who finished with 9 points, hit the game winning shot with under a minute to go. Kyrie led the way for Boston with 27 and Jayson Tatum added another 20 in the win. It was an especially good game for Tatum as he struggled mightily against the Warriors. The Celtics returned home to take on the New York Knicks in the final game of the week. Irving sat out due to soreness and Marcus Smart was still out (we’ll get to that later). That led to Terry Rozier starting at point guard for the 1st time of his career. As for the game itself, the Celtics cruised to the 103—73 victory. Rozier made the most of his 1st career start as he finished with a triple double. Talk about making an impression.

So overall, it was a positive week for the Celtics on the court. But the main story of the week came off the court in the form of Marcus Smart. As you guys know by now, after missing the game winning shot against the Lakers; Smart punched a mirror and sliced his hand open. He got stiches and will be out for 2 weeks. This is incredibly dumb move by Smart especially now in a contract season. Hopefully he’ll be able to bounce back from this but it’s a horrible look for him going into free agency.

Written By: Steven Santoro (SVS_1993)