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Welcome back to Court Sense ☘️ A newsletter that can't guard Anfernee Simons, either
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What's that old saying? "Hell hath no fury like an Anfernee Simons heat check," or something like that?
The Celtics needed an Anferno on Thursday night in Miami and they got one, as a season-high 39-point night from Simons dragged Boston out of a double-digit hole to snap a two-game losing streak.
The Celtics looked a little lifeless, spending a good chunk of the night trailing by double digits and looking destined for a third straight loss.
Very little was working, particularly offensively, where Derrick White and Payton Pritchard couldn't hit a single field goal between them in the first half. Miami's lead reached 19 after just six minutes, a lead which Boston managed to cut to 10 by halftime.
The Heat stretched that advantage back to 15 late in the third (two of those points coming on, and I really mean this, one of the dumbest foul calls I have seen in my life), enough for ESPN's win probability chart to give the Celtics a 4.5 percent chance of pulling out a victory on the road.
That's when Simons — who had kept Boston afloat with 13 points in the first half — simply decided to take over the game.
This Simons heater started at the end of the third when he knocked down a tough floater followed by a step-back 3-pointer (not the first, certainly not the last) to trim the deficit to 10 heading to the fourth.
The Anferno burned bright in that final period, as the mercurial guard poured in 18 points to drag the Celtics through a huge comeback to win on the road.
Give some credit to Boston's defense, by the way — the Celtics absolutely swarmed the Heat in the fourth, combining for three blocks and a steal as Boston held Miami to just 21 points over the last 12 minutes.
On the other end, the Celtics were content to give Simons the ball and get out of the way. He got it done at all three levels, too — deep 3-pointers, weaving drives for layups, mid-range jumpers, you name it.
At one point, the geniuses in the control room at Miami's Kaseya Center started playing the "Jaws" theme as Simons sized up a defender, apparently not understanding just who the apex predator in this situation was.
(Simons promptly buried a mid-range fadeaway, prompting Heat play-by-play man to suggest Miami should "bring out the fire hose." At that point, I think the fire hose would've been overmatched.)
That fadeaway was the last of 11 straight Simons points that cut Boston's deficit to 2. Miami adjusted by sending double teams at Simons, who was happy to instead facilitate open 3-pointers for Sam Hauser and Jaylen Brown that gave the Celtics their first lead since the opening minutes.
When it was all said and done, Simons had a season-high 39 points — a Celtics record for points off the bench on the road — in one of his most impressive performances since he was traded to Boston.
"That boy, he can play," Brown said. "He's probably more talented than the role that he's placed in — I think that's kind of obvious — but I have hella respect for him, to come out and play winning basketball and do what the team needs."
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Anfernee Simons had 39 points to help beat the Heat on Thursday. (AP)
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The question of what to do with Simons has been floating in the ether since he arrived from Portland in the summer as the primary return in the salary-shedding departure of Jrue Holiday. His expiring $27 million deal was a prime candidate to be moved as the Celtics looked to either retool or get further underneath those dreaded aprons.
But Simons has had real value. His 14.1 points per game rank third among regular bench players. His 40.5 percent 3-point shooting is the best mark among Boston's high-volume shooters (himself, Hauser, Brown, Pritchard, and White — sorry, Luka Garza).
And he's playing defense! Simons is never going to be Holiday, but he hasn't been the active liability that he was perceived as upon his arrival in Boston. He just needs to be serviceable enough on defense for his scoring to shine, and he's done that.
With Pritchard moving into a starting role, the Celtics need a little bench scoring to keep that unit afloat when Brown and White (and, eventually, Jayson Tatum) sit, and Simons has held up his end of the bargain
Simons has scored at least 18 points on 10 occasions this season. Boston is 9-1 in those games, the only defeat coming in that weird loss to Brooklyn in November where everyone else kind of forgot how to play basketball for a couple hours.
As next month's trade deadline approaches, the conversation around Simons seems to be shifting from the potential return he could fetch in a trade to whether the Celtics could retain him on a more team-friendly deal.
Without wishing to overreact to one good night, I think that's absolutely right. It seems worth Boston's while to find out what Simons can do alongside Tatum, too.
And if nothing else, these Anferno nights are a lot of fun. Who else is going to send Drew Carter and Brian Scalabrine into mildly nonsensical tangents quoting the movie "Dodgeball" during broadcasts? You can't put a price on that.
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Luka Garza is shooting 50 percent from deep this season. (Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff)
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‘I knew’: Caitlin Clark was well aware of Celtics backup center Luka Garza’s long-range shooting potential
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On Saturday, Celtics director of digital content Marc D’Amico shared a social media post on X praising the long-range shooting of the team’s backup center.
“Luka Garza is the stretch big no one knew existed before this season,” D’Amico wrote. “He’s now shooting exactly 50 percent from 3-point range this season.”
Even within a small sample size, Garza’s shooting efficiency has surprised many observers. But one of the most daring, fearless shooters in basketball is not in that group.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, perhaps the most popular player in women’s basketball history and Garza’s former University of Iowa schoolmate, shared D’Amico’s post with an addendum.
“I knew,” Clark wrote.
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Other top stories we're watching ...
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The Joe Mazzulla Quote of the Week
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Congratulations to ex-Celtic Luke Kornet, a sorely missed winner of the Joe Mazzulla Quote of the Week.
Kornet returned to TD Garden as a member of the Spurs on Saturday, earning a warm welcome (in the form of, of course, barking fans) as he was introduced. He also got a tribute video on the big screen, which was quite the honor for a guy who averaged 4.9 points and 3.9 rebounds over parts of five seasons in Boston.
The fondness for Kornet around here was as much about his off-court presence as his on-court play. He was asked by reporters ahead of Saturday's game about a potential tribute video, and here's what he said:
"Shoutout to whoever's editing the video, if there is one," Kornet said. "Frankly, I'll be honest, I imagine there's going to be one. ... For those potential Hall of Famers like myself, you kind of expect it."
One thing's for sure: When I secure the funding to open the Court Sense Hall of Fame, Kornet is going in on the first ballot with a unanimous selection (yes, I am the only voter).
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