The Celtics doubled the scoring, a day before the Nets won the series opening, and a day later player Marcus Smart lifted the trophy of the best defensive player of the season. This team was not optimistic before the start of the season, and with the team showing good fighting power in the second half, the Celtics are gradually considered to be one of the contenders for the championship, and the good news that continues to come is a sign that the eastern part of the league is about to change?
Since Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum entered the league, the Celtics with the double probe as the team have attracted a lot of attention, and if you think about it, you can see how wonderful it is - holding a rookie contract is a temporary battle, and the team has a lot of room to operate. However, Danny Angie failed to help the Celtics seize the perfect opportunity, and the team's performance over the years is doubly regrettable.
What will be the outcome of this season?
While Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown are both improving, the Celtics' internal line has always lacked support, which has become a major pain for the team over the past few years. Al Horford's return to the Green Army after a spin has made up for the weakness of the team's lack of strength in the interior, and the improvement of the defensive end is also a key factor in the Celtics' progress.
Against the Nets, Kevin Durant felt how good the Celtics' defense was, and if it weren't for Kyrie Irving's full firepower on the offensive end, the Nets would have been crushed long ago. However, even though Kyrie Irving played amazingly against the old master, the Nets were still killed and lost the game, and the Celtics broke out of the East and took the first step.
Tatum's first whistle-blow kill in his career has also evoked the memories of Green Army fans — the last time the Celtics killed an opponent, it was back in 2010.
Just a day after the team won, the league officially announced the award for the best defensive player of the season — the player who won the award was Marcus Smart, and you might be impressed by his defense against the Nets. In fact, Smart has been doing well throughout the season to push Rudy Gobert and Mikael Bridges to be elected.
Although Smart has a certain shortcoming on the offensive end, his enthusiasm and toughness on the defensive end have never made people doubt that he can affect the game. In this competitive league, the importance of defense is self-evident, and Smart relies on the performance of the defensive end to gain respect, which is undoubtedly the luck of the Celtics.
In fact, it's even harder to earn the honor of defensive player of the best defensive player at the back position, and the defender who won this award before Marcus Smarte , gary Payton of the 1995-96 "glove". In that season, Gary Payton defeated Scotty Pippen and Dekkenberg Mutombo.
Surprisingly, the person who presented smarter was Gary Payton, who admired Smart and thought smart was the player in the league who played like him. Gary Payton also told Smart at the awards: "You do it your way, you defend with the heart to prove yourself. ”
Smart is an important player for the Celtics and the core of the team's defense, and his influence on the defensive end is huge, and the first game to beat the Nets has been excellent. There's no better way to get off to the playoffs than to lock in Kevin Durant and take the league's top superstar.
By the way, the last time the Celtics won the honor of best defensive player was Kevin Garnett, and the Celtics won the championship that season.