Finally, a buzzer to buzzer ass kicking, defending the Garden Floor.
Perhaps [PERHAPS] my earlier assessments were not merely wishful thinking.
Injuries.
COVID protocols.
Everyone getting in rhythm, with themselves, and each other.
My sense of things was to see where we were 2-3 months down the line, what we were doing in January.
Last night?
* A sustained defensive focus, individually and collectively, such as keeping Doncic from teeing off on us
* Mitchell rounding into shape and bringing energy
* A Nerlens sighting, and giving us effective minutes
* Ball Movement & Motion
* Less reliance on Iso-Ball
* Julius triggering the offense off of doubles, tallying 8 assists to go with his customary 5 TOs, and while his shot is still dicey, he posted 17-12-8, leading the team with a +29
* Burks with 6 assists
* Our prize puppy Grimes with defensive toghness, and 3-6 from trey
* Fournier starting to look like the cat we saw in the Olympics and thought we were signing
* RJ leading and dominating on both sides of the ball [32-7-2]
* RJ's D
* RJ's leadership
* RJ expanding his command beyond drives and treys, to include short stop and pop midrange jumpers right out of the DeMar DeRozan playbook
* TEAM COHERENCE, as if we actually were a team, and were making each other better, and that our 7-3 record in our last ten games betokens...COLLECTIVE CHEMISTRY & PROGRESS
Celtics did us a favor in Boston by kicking our ass
Thibs stuck to his guns, and the team is rounding into shape and establishing an identity
GIVEN, Dallas was missing Porzingis [and Cauley-Stein] but they had just won what, six in a row, and had a winning record coming in.
Last night was as good as we've played collectively all season.
Let's see if we can sustain it against Trae & The Hawks and Hayward & The Hornets.
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