Celtics Player Power Rankings, No. 2

Patrick Beverley was on one tonight. The talkative guard (I can't bring myself to describe him as a point guard because he rarely wants to pass) was having himself quite a game. Floaters, three pointers, you name it, he had it working. He pulled down eight rebounds and seven assists to boot, and was a pest on defense. But then, with the game in the balance, it was like he had reached his max level in a video game, and it decided he was done playing well.

With the Celtics up 113-110, Beverley hit a step-back three to tie it, then assisted Marcus Morris Sr. on a shot to re-tie it. He then pulled down the rebound on the other end, and got fouled, heading to the line with a chance to give his team the lead. He did by hitting the first free throw, and in so doing tied his career high for points in a single game.

And then it all fell apart. Right after he hit that first free throw, Beverley:

• Missed the second free throw
• Fouled Jaylen Brown, who hit both free throws
• Fouled Jrue Holiday, who hit both free throws
• Instead of driving to run a coherent play, frantically called for three separate screens specifically to get matched up on Al Horford, then took another step-back three that he missed

And that was the ballgame.

This was a fun one. But it showed the value of staying under control and playing all 48 minutes. Well, everyone except for Jayson Tatum. Tatum was beaten and baited all night, and Beverley, Robert Covington, and Bill Kennedy proved to be a lethal combination for him. Tatum is doing a much better job in terms of bitching at the refs this year, but I can still tell when he is beginning to boil over, and it started early tonight.

In the end, all that matters is the win. We're now three games up on the Sixers, and for the moment it's more like three and a half, because now the Sixers cannot win the season series head-to-head tiebreaker over us. The best they can hope for is a tie. Perhaps Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey won't duck that game.

One more quick thing on the Sixers: After starting the season 8-1, the Sixers have lost six of their last 10 games. It's definitely worth monitoring.

Now that we're nearly a quarter of the way through the Celtics' season (23.17% to be precise), it's time for our second edition of the 2023-2024 Celtics Player Power Rankings! Let's do it.

1. Jayson Tatum (last time: 1): He's an early front runner for MVP.
2. Jaylen Brown (2): He's really found his groove lately, scoring at least 20 points in four of his last five games, and 18 in the one other game. More impressively, he's now driving to the hole with his left hand effectively in nearly every game this season.
3. Derrick White (5): Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis may be better players, but at this juncture, I feel like the C's miss White more when he's not on the floor. He settles everything down in a way that no one else really does.
4. Jrue Holiday (3): He's been as advertised, and it's been so fun to watch him. His defense is so impactful, and he almost always makes the right play on the offensive end. He does miss a startling number of lay ups though.
5. Kristaps Porzingis (4): He's continued to be a revelation. Except, you know, for when he's not playing. I'm hopeful he really is back Monday.
6. Al Horford (6): He's played much better recently, including tonight. He's also been really bad in three of the four team's losses. He also didn't play in the fourth, and they could have used him in that game. He brings the effort and makes the correct play every time. I do still love him, even though I am often critical of him.
7. Sam Hauser (11): He's been great. The preseason and early-season shooting slump are distant memories. Most impressively, his footwork continues to improve on both ends of the floor. On offense, he's able to hit three's he couldn't last season. Last season, he pretty much could only hit catch-and-shoot threes. Now he's able to do a lot more, and it's all down to his footwork. On defense, he is continuing last season's improvements in terms of getting in front of driving players, cutting off their angle before they can get to where they want to go. It's been really wonderful to watch his improvement.
8. Payton Pritchard (7): He doesn't deserve to drop to eighth. He's been solid. Tonight, he put the ball in the hoop a couple of times when it looked like the C's had no one capable of scoring. He does that all the time, and his effort level never wavers.
9. Dalano Banton (9): He's now played solid minutes off the bench in each of the past three games, including tonight. In that span, he's been a +7 in ~43 minutes of game play, shot 7-for-12 for 17 points total, with 10 rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and just one turnover. That's a double-double over essentially a full game's worth of work, but I think it's harder to piece together that quality play when it's spread across three games. He's tall enough to guard any guard, and moves with lightning quickness. I have no idea why Toronto gave up on him, but I'm so glad they did.
10. Luke Kornet (12): Hanging on to this ranking by the skin of his teeth. Kornet is generally effective, but he's also very slow out there, and the C's now have a backup center option who's not quite as slow.
11. Neemias Queta (15): I really like him. He hustles, he knows his role, he hits his free throws, and he is quicker than Luke Kornet. He hasn't supplanted him in the rotation yet, but a couple more games where he is +3 and Kornet is -9 and that may change.
12. Oshae Brissett (10): He's fallen out of the rotation, but clearly still seems beloved. He sits near the coaches, and is always seems to have his pulse on the game. It's a long season, and I think he'll make an impact eventually, but the shot just isn't there.
13. Svi Mykhailiuk (13): If Hauser or Pritchard were to miss extended time, I think he'd see a portion of their minutes as a sharpshooter, but there just isn't much need for what he brings at this juncture.
14. Lamar Stevens (8): I was clearly overly exuberant about his role on this team, which seems to be non-existent. Having said that, I still like him a great deal as a defense-first energy guy, and remain happy to have a quality NBA player all the way down at the end of the bench.
15. Jordan Walsh (14): It's clear coach Joe Mazzulla is of the old "rookies don't play" school of thought, and that's honestly fine with me. Hopefully, he's learning and making progress in practice.
16. JD Davison (16): Banton beginning to carve out a real role could really be the end of Davison's hope for a real future with this club. If that's the case, I hope he catches on somewhere where he gets a chance to play and prove himself.
17. Nathan Knight (n/a): I had forgotten they signed him.