 And monster game from Chris Aspore's thing is Celtics get the win 133 to 129 win number 40 on the season It's Celtics postgame live top child is in for Amina Smith Eddie and we talked about it at halftime, you know trying to get some stops and transition there third quarter seemed like everything kind of Turned round. Would you see in the second half that gave the Celtics ability to show that they just are the better team It was just that I thought they they made a conscious effort Coming out of halftime to make sure that they weren't getting beat and transition whether it be if they turn it over They make sure they got back on defense if they made it took a long three and missed it They made sure they got back on defense. They matched up and their communication was on point I also thought that they took advantage of the lack of defense that the Washington Wizards present You know, there's really no rim protection back there I think if you move the ball side to side in that third quarter I thought it was highlighted exactly what Boston Celtic basketball is all about moving the basketball getting a good shot Passing up a good shot to get a great shot and then also pounding the pain. I thought we made a We were focused on actually taking advantage of the fact that there was no rim protectors that we did have a big out Down there that we could go to and poor zingas was a recipient of it getting 14 free throws That just shows you you don't get 14 free throws unless you're aggressive or unless you're going as somebody that that's around The basket and they may they continuously kept feeding force feeding poor zingas And and you know, we were able to get some separation there I don't know about that into that fourth quarter though Don't know about it. Not sure about how we wanted to finish that but at the end of the day walked away with the wind And that's all that matters. Yeah I mean that they think they're up by 13 late and Washington got it down to four in the end But you mentioned the paint there Celtic 62 points in the pain as you said Chris tops poor zingas had a big bulk Get that with the 34 points. He's standing by with Abby Chris stops tell me about the third quarter you guys gave up 71 points in the first half held them to just 16 what changed? To be honest I didn't think it was all that bad in the first half. They did have some non shooters make some open shots Which we gave them but second half we knew we have to take away their transition That's what they're trying to do run fast shoot crazy shots and make them and second half We turned up our intensity and and help them to 16 for you just your second 30 point Double-double of your career hit a career high 14 free throws. Did you feel like you had a mismatch? I mean every time down the floor. Yes. Yes, I did and I wanted to Make them pay right today just straight away. There are five men also and there's they don't really have a big man so those are the type of games that Joe Brad and the front office brought me here for right to to To punish those mismatches and create some advantage for us and and that's what I did tonight Speaking of how fun was this game for you playing against your former team inside TD garden? I saw you smiling. I mean from that jump ball with Denny laughing throughout of course Of course all the talk already pregame and kind of as soon as the game starting You know you talk a little bit back and forth with with your ex teammates and and they know your game You know their game so it's always fun to play against against former teammates And today was no different close out the home stand at five and two. You happy with that? Could have been better to be honest could have been better, but But we're getting wins we're getting wins and we won tough game against Atlanta We want a tough game against these guys that play very hard pretty to their new head coach that's making them play a little bit different and Those are those are tough games and most important that we come out with a win. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you very much. Thank you. I Love I love the honesty love the honesty of these answers here You know Abby asked me about the home stand five and two thought it should have been better and then ask it Hey, was there a mismatch there a scowl? Yes, yes, there was a mismatch very much so You know the big thing about this is there's teams out there that are gonna switch teams are gonna go small And you can punish teams different ways when they go small, but you know historically We did not have a weapon like that now any team in the playoffs that matches up with us Or they switch adjacent Tatum and we go inside the porzingis throughout the playoffs It's gonna be hard for people to switch us which opens up the floor for all kinds of different reasons So porzingis is a weapon. I like the fact that they are using that weapon at the rate that they did today Eddie, what did you like about Chris out for zingus in the way they really employed him? Well, I think that everybody when when we got him and when he came into this league Everybody just spoke basically about how he can stretch the floor and hit threes and nobody really gave him credit for it And and I was one of them that didn't really know how effective he can be down in the post because You get enamored with a guy that's his size is able to step behind a three point line and knock down Threes and be a threat in that way you kind of get comfortable like okay, we take a big away from the basket How about we create a switch and get him on a smaller guy and we put him in the basket and we'll draw fouls Oh, he being him being a willing passer. He'll make the right play We got guys that can knock down shots and make other plays. I like the way that we employ him all night tonight I thought it was very Calculated it was effective and it started at the beginning of the game You know getting 14 free throws like I said, you don't accidentally get 14 free throws You get 14 free throws by being around the basket and being super aggressive. Yeah, he had 14 points in the third quarter alone And that's scour I want to go next with with this is you know this game at halftime You saw the Wizards going that crazy run right before the break meanwhile the Celtics come out and just Really dominated that third quarter which which has been a bit of an issue at times from the season But what did you like about the way they came out of the locker room to win that third quarter 36 to 16? Yeah, so without being redundant about Pozingas, we've already discussed him It was their pickup points and pickup points mean not letting the Wizards come down and Ty's Jones is good Like he runs a team, but he's good when he's comfortable when we started picking guys up You know three quarter court pick up points at half court just made everything hard for them Like even like a guard to guard pass was tough for them So that's what stood out to me It was our defense and then obviously Tatum and and Pozingas were great offensively But our defense made a big difference just two fast break points after giving up 26 fast break points in the first half And I know Jason Tatum finished three of ten from three But it seemed like there was also a concerted effort just for him to get to the basket And if the Celtics just in general to get to the basket there in that third Well, I thought that was the focus Focal point of this team is is you got to get into the paint I mean everybody was trying to get into the paint there was no shot blocker You can't name a shot blocker that the Wizards had out there. That's why they played so fast They were able to get five guys out running the floor and put a lot of pressure on us in transition But I want to ask you something scowl because I mean you sitting right there watching the game, right? So and we and we always you know at this point We're talking about creating championship habits and things like that right in and we expect the best That's all we expect here in Boston, you know with the Celtic So I want to know let me ask you this did you feel like you know, I thought the third quarter the third quarter in the third quarter I thought Attention to detail was on point. I thought everything was on point But then right there with the in the fourth quarter Do you feel like they kind of left a foot off the gas? They kind of exhaled a little bit like once that yeah, okay so that's what I'm saying like I feel like that those are the things that we got to clean up because I Been a part of this game for a long time and and and I've seen the craziest things happen And the minute you exhale is the minute, you know that Python screen squeezes a little bit harder You know I mean it gets a little tighter But you know, let me know what you've seen out there as far as like and is that something that I believe that's something That needs to get checked Our defensive intensity wavered all day today in the third quarter It was there in the fourth quarter hit hit hit hit and miss Especially down the stretch a lot of misses a lot of like them doing whatever they want Now they're a talented offensive team, but and then in the first half we had some Pressure in the half-core but not in transition So I just thought our defensive intensity wavered understandable, but I'm with you like if once you a team goes up You know like early on and has a couple fast break points early on you're supposed to be able to adjust your emphasis I thought they did in the second half in the third quarter I thought they did at times in the fourth, but it wasn't there the entire night. You're right, Eddie