The Boston offense has taken a dip recently, and there's one place no one has talked much about that could be the key to fixing it all. Plus, Jayson Tatum is playing a ton of minutes, and Brad Stevens and Joe Mazzulla say the minutes aren't that big of a problem if he's resting enough. John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal disagrees with that, in part, becasue there aren't many opportunities to rest. All that, plus, people asking about specific players like Saddiq Bey and Jarred Vanderbilt in a quick mailbag.

Joe Mazzulla is going to be the head coach of Team Giannis in the All Star game, which is a nice moment that he should celebrate. Plus, the officials union tweeted an apology about the LeBron James foul, which has John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal pissed off. John and Tom Westerholm discuss those things before getting into some of the names the Celtics could be pursuing at the deadline, like Jakob Poeltl, Alec Burks, PJ Washington, and more. Plus, one tricky little tool at Brad Stevens' disposal that could be a creative use of his traded player exceptions.

The Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers in overtime, but it probably doesn't get to that point if the refs call a foul on LeBron James' drive. But the Lakers reaction to the foul is hysterical high drama, and it makes the way the game ended almost worth it. John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal and Tom Westerholm discuss that, Jaylen Brown's immediate shot at redemption, Malcolm Brogdon being brilliant, and Joe Mazzulla smartly using his timeouts at the end of the game.

The Boston Celtics have now lost 3 straight games, partly because they didn't do the "small, boring things" necessary to win. Plus, Jalyen Brown struggled in this one, and admitted as much. John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal discusses those things, why the numbers show Jaylen should change his shot profile a little to maximize his strengths, and why Joe Mazzulla scored a couple of points in the debate over his timeouts.

The Celtics went through a tough weekend in Florida, and while Joe Mazzulla didn't have many options to limit his guys' minutes due to injuries, he had ways to try to get guys fresh for the stretch run, including using extra timeouts as getting guys an extra minute off their feet. But John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal thinks Mazzulla gets too absorbed in the final minutes of close games, and doesn't separate himself from the game enough. John and Tom Westerholm discuss that and the Jayson Tatum turnover, including why he makes different decisions when he's tired, and why it leads to him approaching the play with more of a scorer's mentality than a passer's one.

The Celtics looked like they were going to get out of Miami with a win, but Bam Adebayo and the Heat had other ideas. The Celtics gave up a 15-0 fourth quarter run and watched a 10 point lead turn into a 5 point deficit in a hurry. John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal is in Miami to discuss what should have been a celebration of big games by Jayson Tatum and Derrick White, but turned into an examination of what went wrong down the stretch. Plus, why it's okay Joe Mazzulla didn't call a timeout, what Tatum saw before his turnover, the overall minutes load being an issue, and an update on Marcus Smart's status.

The Celtics didn't have Marcus Smart, Robert Williams, or Malcolm Brogdon but they probably still should have beaten Orlando. They had their chances but Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown didn't get much help, and Brown had a tough second half... especially the stretch where Tatum had to leave the game. John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal discusses the game, gives Orlando credit where credit is due, and then explains how the team has alrady moved on from this loss... and why that's okay.

Payton Pritchard was really good in Toronto, and it raises the question once again of whether the Celtics should keep him or be open to moving him at the deadline. Plus, the win over the Toronto Raptors was impressive -- is it the mark of a championship team, or is it is just a nice win? John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal and Tom Westerholm discuss those topics and then get into whether the win over the Raptors was product of a pivotal turning point after the loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Not only did the Celtics not have Jayson Tatum, they lost Robert Williams, Marcus Smart, and Derrick White against the Toronto Raptors. Luckily, Malcolm Brogdon, Grant Williams, Payton Pritchard, and the bench stepped up to help Jaylen Brown and steal a win! John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal has all that, two key moments that helped seal this win, and some moments from Joe Mazzulla that almost cost them the win.

It wasn't easy, Jayson Tatum was cold for most of the game and Jaylen Brown was forcing things, but Al Horford, Robert Williams, and Marcus Smart helped the Celtics stay close until the Jays snapped out of their funk to beat the Warriors. John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal discusses the game, how the Celtics really struggled to put the game away in regulation, and why the chaos Golden State brings keeps teaching the Celtics valuable lessons.

Jaylen Brown showed up at Celtics practice on Wednesday and looked like he was close to returning. Plus, there rumors that the Golden State Warriors are poking around about Payton Pritchard. John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal gets into those stories and then dives into the mailbag for questions about the odds the Celtics make a move, the biggest challenges the Celtics will face in the NBA, looking for Rob more on lobs, and comparing Grant Williams and Glen Davis. Also, a word on Draymond Green's accusations that Celtics fans used racial slurs against him during the NBA Finals.

The Boston Celtics have been linked to San Antonio Spurs center Jakob Poeltl, supposedly expressing significant interest in a trade, but are they really, or are they just being used to pump up the price again? John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal and Tom Westerholm get into the trade rumor and why it probably doesn't make sense for the Celtics to pursue Poeltl. Then they get into the discussion of Robert Williams, and who might be the four around him if he's moved into the starting 5.

Jayson Tatum scored 51 in Boston's win over the Charlotte Hornets, even though the game wasn't really as easy as it could have been. A lot of guys, like Derrick White, Malcolm Brogdon, Marcus Smart, Robert Williams, and Luke Kornet played a nice role in the win. John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal and Tom Westerholm discuss the win, how Tatum was able to get the 51 without chasing it, and why it's funny that we sort of believed Joe Mazzulla a little bit when he said he might not start Rob.

For a quarter and a half, it looked like the Celtics were in trouble in Charlotte. But then Robert Williams made some incredible hustle plays and turne the game around. Jayson Tatum and Malcolm Brogdon made sure the effort wasn't wasted. John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal discusses how the effort turned things around, why this might be a signal that Boston has gotten past their spiral of bad performances against bad teams, and then gets into the growing problem of Sam Hauser's play.

With Jaylen Brown out with a groin injury and Al Horford sitting on the back-to-back, it seemed like Jayson Tatum's time to put on a show against Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets (without Kevin Durant). But Tatum had an off night, and it was up to everyone else to step up. John Karalis discusses how they all did, from Derrick White to Malcolm Brogdon, to Payton Pritchard, and Luke Kornet. Plus, Joe Mazzulla said the team would be judged on their reaction to a bad loss, so we'll do that!

Tatum and Brown combined for 72 points and 22 rebounds, but Jaylen Brown's 41 came about as perfectly as you can expect from him. Al Horford loved how Brown attacked, and so did John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal. John explains why Brown's mindset was right from the beginning and how his first 3 quarters combined with Tatum's 4th to close out a good game against a tough Pelicans team that got a big performance from CJ McCollum. But even though those guys had a great night (and got 20 from Malcolm Brogdon), John says this was actually a great team win.

The trade deadline is only a few weeks away, and the Celtics have tools to make deals between now and then. Where do they stand halfway through the NBA season? Can the Celtics find more help for Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown? Will it cost them Payton Pritchard? John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal and Keith Smith of Spotrac discuss the tools at Brad Stevens' disposal and what seems most likely.

The Celtics led for most of the game against the Bulls, and Jayson Tatum scored 32 points, but Chicago kept making runs. Their late run behind Zach Lavine and Nikola Vucevic nearly stole the game, but the Celtics never lost their composure and they found a way to grind out a win. John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal discusses the game, the big (and bad) performances, and why grinding out wins like this is good for the team.

Robert Williams is playing pretty well, and even though there's an adjustment period, he needs to start playing more. He seems to be on a minutes limit, even though he officially seems to be off any restrictions (but Joe Mazzulla loves semantics, so who knows). Either way, Jayson Tatum says he wants to play with Rob more, so John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal and Tom Westerholm believe Rob will end up starting soon enough. Plus, a real conversation about adjusting our expectations about the Celtics when it comes to them facing bad teams.

The Celtics looked good for a little while against San Antonio, thanks to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but then they started to get away from what worked. Luckily, Robert Williams and Malcolm Brogdon were awesome and bailed Boston out. They let the Spurs back into the game, and San Antonio felt like they were one shot away from winning, but they never could get that shot to fall. John Karalis gets into all of that, and why we should probably recalibrate our expectations in games like this.

The Celtics needed to bounce back after the OKC loss and they did it in a big way against Dallas and Doncic. Tatum dropped a triple double, the bench stepped up (thanks to a challenge from Joe Mazzulla), and while the coach enjoyed the win, he wants to see more. So does John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal who has all that and more from Dallas.

Time to cleanse the palate a bit after that loss to the OKC Thunder so John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal is opening up the mailbag (submit at JohnKaralis.com/mailbag) to answer questions about Payton Pritchard, a measuring stick game against the Mavs (it's not... it's another team that's more of a measuring stick), making a trade, walking the ball up the floor, and more.

The Boston Celtics actually started out the game against the Thunder well enough, but then they got crushed in the second and third quarters on their way to giving up 150 points and taking the worst L of the season. It was the third quarter that really got John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal, who gets into how the game devolved and why the loss showed a lack of humility, respect, and appreciation for the situation. Plus, what the hell is wrong with Malcolm Brogdon and the bench?

The more we look at the Denver Nuggets game, the more we can say that game was mostly Boston not playing well and making decisions that they don't normally make. Robert Williams was added to the injury report after the game, though, which John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal and Tom Westerholm address to start the podcast. Then, Kristaps Porzingis was named East POTW, but it should have been Jaylen Brown, who has been awesome lately. Also, a little about the Celtics recent shooting skid.

Nikola Jokic dropped a 30/12/12 triple double on the Celtics, and it started with the bad decision to start doubling him early. That led to some bad play from the Celtics (not Jaylen Brown, he was awesome) that got Denver's role players open shots. Then the bad luck kicked in when Denver got scorching hot while the Celtics couldn't buy a bucket. John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal discusses all that and the most hilarious thing he's seen in a basketball game, which came after a ridiculous 40 minute delay due to a bad rim.