Tacko Fall scores first career points at MSG

As the lead doubled from 10 to 20 in the closing minutes against the Knicks, the chants of “We want Tacko!” echoed through Madison Square Garden.

Fall had made the trip to New York after Enes Kanter and Daniel Theis were ruled out with a knee contusion and a sprained ankle respectively. As noted by CelticsBlog’s Keith Smith, Fall is on two-way contract with the Celtics and can only be with the big club for forty-five days, including games and practices, during the regular season. Fortunately for Boston, the clock doesn’t start until Monday when G-League training camp kicks off. So, for three minutes on a random late October night in The Mecca of Basketball, the team and fans got a glimpse of some Tacko Fall magic.

On the Celtics’ first offensive possession coming out of a timeout, they isolated Fall on the post against Bobby Portis. After two hard dribbles, Fall tried to swoop in with a right handed hook from outside the restricted area that fell short. The next time down, Fall ran pick-and-roll with Javonte Green. Green lobbed it up to the big man and Fall easily caught it and dunked for his first career NBA points.

To a man, the Celtics have talked about the camaraderie and chemistry that’s been built in training camp and we’ve seen it in losses and wins early in the regular season. The Celtics are fun again and the living embodiment of their good cheer might be Tacko Fall. After he made his first two points, the bench erupted. Marcus Smart lead the cheers.

Brad Stevens notes that much of the frenzy around Fall centers around his 7’5 frame:

“Everybody is yelling because of his size,” Stevens said. “I get it. Every time he walks in the room, I say, ‘Man, he’s tall’ under my breath. But at the same time, I hope people appreciate him for who he is and how hard he is working.”

Stevens went on to say that fans should “appreciate him for how good of a kid he is and how hard he is working to make the NBA.”

After his debut, Fall said, “you dream of this moment. For me, it happened here, The Garden, playing in front of all these people.” After dunking, he said that he “tried to keep my cool and finish out the game, run back on defense.” On his attempted block on Kevin Knox, Fall laughed and said he was just trying to do his job. As Stevens noted, the striking size of Fall is what you’ll notice, but it’s his humble character and modest work ethic is what you’ll remember.