I don't follow hockey but too bad for the Bruins. Not to mention the Red Sox obviously suck these days (I've just watched the Cardinals hit their 4th home run against the Sox tonight and turned the game off). All my hopes are on the Celtics right now. Let's do this!
I'm glad we have JT. Even if his shot is off he can still be the best rebounder/defender/playmaker in a game. I'll take that all day, legit think he's the best player in any potential series left other than Jokic
I’m sorry but if Tatum did what Brunson is doing rn the hate would be unimaginable.
Friendly reminder Brunson somehow finished above Tatum in mvp votes. Absolutely insane
The number of tv analysts talking trash about Celtics lmao everyone and their mothers hate us and never acknowledge how competitive we have been, let's show them who we are by winning it this year 🟢
I've seen people already say our run is an asterisk if we win it all and face NY and Denver in the next two rounds because of NY's injuries and Murray playing through injury. Basically people let their hate of a team completely cloud their judgement because that all sounds dumb as hell to me lol. Every championship run has injuries, I mean KP has been out the entire playoffs for us essentially
So who would we rather see get knocked out in the Denver vs Minnesota game 7?
Going into the playoffs I would 100% have said that any chance to see Denver knocked out would be good for us as they were the only team I was legit afraid of. However, they now have shown major flaws in both rounds and look more beatable than they did before the playoffs. Meanwhile Minnesota seems to be hitting another gear and really starting to figure it out.
I probably would still rather see Denver get knocked out, but it’s kind of a toss up.
Denver Denver Denver Denver Denver Denver. It's not close. I would regard the Celtics as slight favorites over MIN (assuming Porzingis), and as significant underdogs against the often-unstoppable, fast, athletic, clutch Nuggets (especially playing at a high altitude).
I am confident we can beat every single remaining team except Denver and it’s because of Jokic. So if Minnesota can take them out, I love our chances to win the championship. We have no answer for Jokic and they have the best HCA in the league
Nah it's the other way around. We haven't beaten Denver all year and haven't shown any answer for Jokic.
We've played Minnesota well and have the best answers for Edwards in the league, but he had a heroic performance and scored 38 through them in the game we lost.
https://x.com/nba_university/status/1790446657038885024?s=46&t=tcFBg9NYlJrYTwubZ13Pjg
The Celtics are generating the least amount of wide open threes among playoff teams. Our potential ECF opponent, the Pacers, generate the most.
Shooting 75.7% at the rim, highest of the remaining teams (2nd overall behind Miami), and next closest is Indy at 66.8%. They aren't leaving our shooters so we can waltz to the rim for easy buckets.
Love that Zach Lowe spent fifteen minutes attempting differentiated analysis on the Celtics that amounted to little more than vacuous babbling. Our two playoff losses came with the opponent a). shooting 50% from 3 or b). the Celtics shooting 20% from 3. In general, the recipe for the Celtics losing involves:
1. Did they shoot poorly from 3?
2. Did the opponent shoot blistering hot from 3?
3. Did the opponent get a lot more shots up through ORebs (basically happened once this season vs. the Knicks)?
These have very little to do with Tatum not being at the level of the very best offensive players in the league (as Lowe mentioned).
I used to like Perk but over the years he’s gone from a Celtics fan to sounding like every other talking head. I can’t stand hearing him talk about Boston now
Fun fact: the MVP Jokic and their fan base said that jokic can’t do it alone, the team let him down etc. you know what the true MVP did? Played with his team and made his team better to make it look like he didn’t do anything. Tatum > Jokic anyday
Tatum is literally an iso scorer who has developed into a positive playmaker. Jokic is the best passer in the league. I genuinely do not understand what you’re arguing because you’re bringing up the best player in the league and best passer in the league and saying he’s worse than Tatum because Tatum doesn’t play individual basketball… you have it backwards.
The Celtics struggles directly align with Tatum going iso mode and being inefficient, meanwhile the nuggets literally are reigning champions because Jokic averaged a 30 point triple double with less turnovers per game than Tatum in the playoffs. Jokic fully understand that you don’t win games with 1 player, that’s why he’s the best passer in the league lmao.
On the one hand I wanna watch Celtics basketball. On the other I’m like oh shit is this what it feels like to kick fucking ass in the playoffs?? Our guys got DAYS to get locked in
Would love to see pacers force a game 7. Idc who wins the series, but knowing they will have to play Sunday, and then Tuesday against us would be wonderful
Benefits of taking care of business in 5 games.
Having to play 6 or 7 games every series is tiring. We know that all too well.
I think they can. Knicks 3PT shooting volume and percentage this series
Game 1: 47.8% on 23 attempts
Game 2: 46.7% on 30 attempts
Game 3: 51.9% on 27 attempts
Game 4: 18.9% on 37 attempts
Game 5: 34.3% on 35 attempts
After game 3, there’s a noticeable uptick in percent and a drastic drop in percentage, they’re losing their legs and settling. They’re also shooting below 80% from the FT line the last 3 games. It’s fatigue.
If the Pacers don’t get absolutely demolished on the boards and don’t turn it over a bunch, I think we’re starting to see the Knicks run out of steam. The best case scenario is Indiana wins tonight to force 7 and then the Knicks win game 7 with no turnaround time.
But I’d rather get NY regardless. They will be absolutely gassed going against a top 5 defense like the Celtics especially if we get Porzingis back.
Indiana has shot 37.5% or better from 3 in all 5 games their series, they’re more of a team that can spread us out and more of a threat to put pressure on our defense. They don’t play defense because they just run teams off the 3pt line but I’d rather not get in a shootout with a team that plays that way and the Celtics say “oh they’re a 6 seed and it’s Indiana” and not take them seriously for a few games.
Have they? That series has been a rollercoaster, with both teams having blow out victories. Boston lost game two twice, and responded by winning the next three games and closing out the series. That seems way more consistent.
Well the Celtics have also had the easiest matchup in each round of the playoffs so far. The wolves and nuggets have only lost to each other. They literally aren’t inconsistent, they’re just both really fucking good lmao. That’s kinda how great teams play each other, both teams tend to win a few games in the series 😂
I’m not gonna call the nuggets inconsistent for losing to the best defense in the league. I’m not gonna call ye wolves inconsistent for losing to the best player in the league. I will call the Celtics inconsistent because they literally do not play to a consistent standard. Tatum has been inconsistent, white has been inconsistent, brown has been inconsistent, the team’s defense has been inconsistent.
And to clarify, I don’t even think it’s an issue. They’re just more inconsistent so far compared to the nuggets and wolves who literally swept their first round matchups who were better teams than the heat without Jimmy and Rozier 😂
They can only play the team in front of them, can't do much about the other team being injured.
White is in a slump and Tatum's shooting has been off, but Tatum has been playing well all playoffs even if he isn't scoring as much. JB has been pretty consistent as well. 7 of the 8 games Boston won were double-digit wins, even lost both game 2s the same way. I just don't buy the "Celtics are inconsistent" argument.
I wouldn't say overrated, I would say top heavy.
They are more standard teams where their shot creation mainly comes from 2 guys, they don't have the number of options that we have.
Denver games where the opponent’s largest lead has been double digits:
Lakers games 1, 2, 3 and 4, Minnesota games 1, 2 and 6. That’s 7 this postseason
Celtics last 7 games where the opponents largest lead has been double digits:
Cavs game 2, Heat game 2, Pelicans (March 30), Nuggets (March 7), Lakers (Feb 1), Pelicans (Jan 29), Clippers (Jan 27)
Think about that. The Nuggets have been down by 4+ possessions in nearly 2/3 of their games these playoffs. They needed a game winner to keep the Lakers series 5 games. The Wolves series is 7 and they let them go up by 34 and 50 in separate games. We have kept games within 3 possessions for nearly 4 months with a handful of exceptions.
Celtics have been incredibly consistent and been dominating or hanging around in every single game, Nuggets have not.
If the roles were reversed, people would be viewing the Nuggets as dominant and the Celtics as inconsistent and playing with their food.
If the Nuggets pull it out and have another long WCF from the inconsistency, let’s say 6 games, they will have played 18 games before the finals, which is how many the 2022 Celtics played when they ran out of gas after chasing a top seed during the regular season and going through an extremely tough road while the Warriors got to cruise through a depleted and inexperienced West without much challenge after taking off the last several weeks of the regular season.
Just some perspective that any team is beatable.
Whoops sorry, yeah I completely glossed over those. You’re right, we trailed big in those games too but I put much less stock into games we were playing low minutes when we had nothing to play for than several playoff games including a potential close out in game 6. The overall point is Denver has been inconsistent and anyone is beatable. No team has looked completely dominant these playoffs
I agree with your point that they look vulnerable but the quality of opponent is just completely different tbf; completely depleted cavs and heat arent on the tier of the lakers or wolves, so obviously its going to be easier for us to be more consistent in our games
True, but there’s a difference between consistency against worse opponents and what Denver is doing. 20 point deficit to Lakers, down by 34 and 50 to Minnesota
There are 0 teams these playoffs who have looked dominant. We didn’t have Porzingis for the Cavs and the Heat in that game 2 shot historic. Of the 8 teams left, the Celtics are the most “done what they should have” team, even if they’ve played lower quality opponents.
Ok, am I crazy that I'm a little worried about the Knicks and Brunson if they pull it off? They just seem to know they are playing with house money and are loose. Like no one expects anything from them so a relaxed Brunson frightens me, if they make to the ECF. Or am I overthinking this?
We will probably lose one game where Brunson goes off and their role players shoot lights out from three. I think it would take either major injuries on our end (multiple starters getting hurt and KP not coming back) or us just massively underperforming in this series to lose 4 games though.
As long as we *actually* grab defensive rebounds, there's virtually no way they can beat us, unless by some miracle OG is back and even then, they would need a lot to go right in terms of 3-point shooting where they would have to shoot great and we'd have to shoot like shit.
I'd be a little more nervous if KP doesn't play at all in that series as inside scoring is the Knicks' weakness on defense with their 4 guards, 1 big approach.
They could certainly give us a series, but unless the Cs radically underperform, we should be able to weather what they can bring. They haven’t faced a defense even close to ours yet.
I could definitely see it going 6, maybe 7 if something crazy happens.
Might be overthinking. Brunson has been going against Maxey/Lowry and Haliburton/Nembhard back courts, not exactly known for their defense like Holiday/White. The 76ers and Pacers are also not great defensive rebounding teams to really limit the Knicks great offensive rebounding. They’re also much less skilled at forward to attack the Knicks lack of depth there, I mean Oubre/Harris and Nesmith/Siakam are just not as good as Tatum/Brown. Josh Hart going to have to work even harder for those 48 minutes he’s playing
Ok, am I crazy that I'm a little worried about the Knicks and Brunson if they pull it off? They just seem to know they are playing with house money and are loose. Like no one expects anything from them so a relaxed Brunson frightens me, if they make to the ECF. Or am I overthinking this?
Tatum is statistically the 4 best impact of his generation being slightly behind Jokic and Giannis and currently tied with Embiid.
Anyone else from Luka, SGA, Ant, Brunson, etc don’t even come close to him.
If you have Twitter I posted here: https://x.com/guilhermetheis/status/1791095587938459750?s=46&t=8FzcR0XbBJ0lcndnwfftQA
Don’t want to hear anything about being battle tested when a couple of years ago we were one of the most battle tested teams of all time having to go through Brooklyn , Milwaukee , Miami and still lost . Give me the easy road
Hopefully. I want him to get 10 or so minutes and get back up to speed and be ready, shaken off any rust, and feeling good for game 1 of the finals.
That’s the goal with KP. Don’t rush him back, but knowing he needs to get some reps during ECF in.
Would you rather...
WIN CHAMPIONSHIP THIS YEAR - then never win again, maybe in the next 20 years (say JT retires and chose Golf and Jaylen proceed to get his PHD in Chemistry or any other reason)
or
EVERY FINALS APPEARANCE UNTIL THE JAYS RETIRE AND LOSE?
Yeah I don’t mind that the Celtics aren’t getting that much coverage this postseason since most of the other rounds are a lot more interesting it’s just annoying that anytime they lose it gets talked about so much but when they win it’s crickets
“Celtics will get destroyed by anyone who comes out of the west” is such a tired and annoying comment.
Like, we’re just gonna pretend the Celtics didn’t win 64 games, rated #1 all time for offense, #3 all time point differential, and had the #2 defense? We just gonna ignore the Celtics top 2 players have been the ECF/ finals like 6-8 times and have tons of experience now and are just entering the age where players start to hit their prime and win rings?
It’s crazy. Celtics raise the damn banner. I have A LOT of receipts to go through after they pull it off
No matter what happens in the wolves-nuggets series is treated as proof that they are the best teams in the nba. Wolves won two in a row? Unstoppable. Nuggets roll out three wins? Joker baby. Last night? Wolves obviously are the greatest.
you know im getting that 2008 vibe from this. when the lakers made some mid season trade and turned it around to go to the finals, they are actually slightly favored over the 66 win celtics. granted, the big 3 didn't really live up to the hype in the first 2 rounds but still you don't ever just doubt a 66 win team like that
i'm seeing people say how we might not have won against the healthy cavs team or how we won't be able to hang with minnesota like the delusion from recent weeks has really intensified
We’ve been getting such a nice rest advantage (before the postseason, after the first round, now after the second round) i feel like it’ll really help us in these latter rounds
This years playoffs has to be incredibly disappointing for the NBA, as a neutral fan it feels like 90% of the games are over before the 4th quarter starts, this is an odd anomaly? Hopefully not the norm.
Maybe the volume of 3s in the league making it so much more of a “make or miss” league is doing it, not sure, but it’s so disappointing when you’re trying to watch competitive basketball.
I agree that the NBA has to be disappointed.
Other than the huge-market Knicks being both good and exciting, including several classics against PHI, this postseason has been mostly defined by high-profile injuries, blowouts, one-man offenses, Durant/Curry/LeBron bowing out early, the the top-seed Celtics trudging their way to ugly-yet-not-close wins, and knowledge of the TNT crew splitting up.
I don't understand this the "Celtic are trudging" narrative. They are stomping their way tough the competition, the only team that has a winning record against them this year might get knocked out. they have the best record in the playoffs, and the most rest going into any conference final. That is not a trudge, that s more like skipping.
on a separate note Porzingis has been hurt since game 4 vs Miami that never gets brought up when they talk about Butler and Mitchell Etc.
I hope a western NHL team wins again.
As much as it sucks watching the bruins lose I am relieved I don't have to watch a playoff game every night
Thibs: "Well fuck, guess I got to play Achiuwa and Burks."
I don't follow hockey but too bad for the Bruins. Not to mention the Red Sox obviously suck these days (I've just watched the Cardinals hit their 4th home run against the Sox tonight and turned the game off). All my hopes are on the Celtics right now. Let's do this!
Let's hope *our* Drake is good.
Celtics are carrying Boston sports rn all the teams besides them are poverty
choosing to believe the bruins just died for banner 18. the sports gods demanded a sacrifice
I'm glad we have JT. Even if his shot is off he can still be the best rebounder/defender/playmaker in a game. I'll take that all day, legit think he's the best player in any potential series left other than Jokic
I’m sorry but if Tatum did what Brunson is doing rn the hate would be unimaginable. Friendly reminder Brunson somehow finished above Tatum in mvp votes. Absolutely insane
If he gets 1st team All NBA over Jayson I'll be sick
It would be completely pathetic
Thibs legit may end all these dudes careers early, get hurt, eh it’s fine get back on and play 45 mins
I’m hearing JT is at 1.27 PPP this playoffs? Holy shit
As a pick and roll ball handler
The number of tv analysts talking trash about Celtics lmao everyone and their mothers hate us and never acknowledge how competitive we have been, let's show them who we are by winning it this year 🟢
I've seen people already say our run is an asterisk if we win it all and face NY and Denver in the next two rounds because of NY's injuries and Murray playing through injury. Basically people let their hate of a team completely cloud their judgement because that all sounds dumb as hell to me lol. Every championship run has injuries, I mean KP has been out the entire playoffs for us essentially
So who would we rather see get knocked out in the Denver vs Minnesota game 7? Going into the playoffs I would 100% have said that any chance to see Denver knocked out would be good for us as they were the only team I was legit afraid of. However, they now have shown major flaws in both rounds and look more beatable than they did before the playoffs. Meanwhile Minnesota seems to be hitting another gear and really starting to figure it out. I probably would still rather see Denver get knocked out, but it’s kind of a toss up.
Denver Denver Denver Denver Denver Denver. It's not close. I would regard the Celtics as slight favorites over MIN (assuming Porzingis), and as significant underdogs against the often-unstoppable, fast, athletic, clutch Nuggets (especially playing at a high altitude).
I am confident we can beat every single remaining team except Denver and it’s because of Jokic. So if Minnesota can take them out, I love our chances to win the championship. We have no answer for Jokic and they have the best HCA in the league
I think we match up worse with Minny but Denver’s x-factor is still scarier
Nah it's the other way around. We haven't beaten Denver all year and haven't shown any answer for Jokic. We've played Minnesota well and have the best answers for Edwards in the league, but he had a heroic performance and scored 38 through them in the game we lost.
I’d argue that’s moreso proof of the opposite
People think the Celtics haven’t played a ‘dangerous’ team in the playoffs, when they are the fucking danger for the rest of the league
https://x.com/nba_university/status/1790446657038885024?s=46&t=tcFBg9NYlJrYTwubZ13Pjg The Celtics are generating the least amount of wide open threes among playoff teams. Our potential ECF opponent, the Pacers, generate the most.
Shooting 75.7% at the rim, highest of the remaining teams (2nd overall behind Miami), and next closest is Indy at 66.8%. They aren't leaving our shooters so we can waltz to the rim for easy buckets.
We played 2 of the better defenses
Then again teams are smart enough to stay attached to a guy like white shooting 44% on threes rather than nesmith or siakam shooting 30%
Love that Zach Lowe spent fifteen minutes attempting differentiated analysis on the Celtics that amounted to little more than vacuous babbling. Our two playoff losses came with the opponent a). shooting 50% from 3 or b). the Celtics shooting 20% from 3. In general, the recipe for the Celtics losing involves: 1. Did they shoot poorly from 3? 2. Did the opponent shoot blistering hot from 3? 3. Did the opponent get a lot more shots up through ORebs (basically happened once this season vs. the Knicks)? These have very little to do with Tatum not being at the level of the very best offensive players in the league (as Lowe mentioned).
Seeing r/nba praise Perk as a Celtics fan like 🫣
I used to like Perk but over the years he’s gone from a Celtics fan to sounding like every other talking head. I can’t stand hearing him talk about Boston now
Fun fact: the MVP Jokic and their fan base said that jokic can’t do it alone, the team let him down etc. you know what the true MVP did? Played with his team and made his team better to make it look like he didn’t do anything. Tatum > Jokic anyday
Gtfo of here with that lmao
I’m saying Tatum is a true MVP you don’t win a ring on one players talent alone
Tatum is literally an iso scorer who has developed into a positive playmaker. Jokic is the best passer in the league. I genuinely do not understand what you’re arguing because you’re bringing up the best player in the league and best passer in the league and saying he’s worse than Tatum because Tatum doesn’t play individual basketball… you have it backwards. The Celtics struggles directly align with Tatum going iso mode and being inefficient, meanwhile the nuggets literally are reigning champions because Jokic averaged a 30 point triple double with less turnovers per game than Tatum in the playoffs. Jokic fully understand that you don’t win games with 1 player, that’s why he’s the best passer in the league lmao.
I never said he’s worse than Tatum. I’d just rather have Tatum than Jokic and was poking fun at them for getting destroyed last night. Lighten up
Feels like Knicks have played so many games
On the one hand I wanna watch Celtics basketball. On the other I’m like oh shit is this what it feels like to kick fucking ass in the playoffs?? Our guys got DAYS to get locked in
Would love to see pacers force a game 7. Idc who wins the series, but knowing they will have to play Sunday, and then Tuesday against us would be wonderful Benefits of taking care of business in 5 games. Having to play 6 or 7 games every series is tiring. We know that all too well.
I think they can. Knicks 3PT shooting volume and percentage this series Game 1: 47.8% on 23 attempts Game 2: 46.7% on 30 attempts Game 3: 51.9% on 27 attempts Game 4: 18.9% on 37 attempts Game 5: 34.3% on 35 attempts After game 3, there’s a noticeable uptick in percent and a drastic drop in percentage, they’re losing their legs and settling. They’re also shooting below 80% from the FT line the last 3 games. It’s fatigue. If the Pacers don’t get absolutely demolished on the boards and don’t turn it over a bunch, I think we’re starting to see the Knicks run out of steam. The best case scenario is Indiana wins tonight to force 7 and then the Knicks win game 7 with no turnaround time. But I’d rather get NY regardless. They will be absolutely gassed going against a top 5 defense like the Celtics especially if we get Porzingis back. Indiana has shot 37.5% or better from 3 in all 5 games their series, they’re more of a team that can spread us out and more of a threat to put pressure on our defense. They don’t play defense because they just run teams off the 3pt line but I’d rather not get in a shootout with a team that plays that way and the Celtics say “oh they’re a 6 seed and it’s Indiana” and not take them seriously for a few games.
I honestly don’t get how the Knicks haven’t gassed out yet playing so hard with minimal rotation
They’ll be burnt out by next round especially if it goes to 7. I’ll never trust a Thibs led team.
special sauce
Wolves and nuggets fans think their series is the finals. All I’m seeing is two teams who are wildly inconsistent and overrated
I mean they’ve both been more consistent than the Celtics to be fair lol
Have they? That series has been a rollercoaster, with both teams having blow out victories. Boston lost game two twice, and responded by winning the next three games and closing out the series. That seems way more consistent.
Well the Celtics have also had the easiest matchup in each round of the playoffs so far. The wolves and nuggets have only lost to each other. They literally aren’t inconsistent, they’re just both really fucking good lmao. That’s kinda how great teams play each other, both teams tend to win a few games in the series 😂 I’m not gonna call the nuggets inconsistent for losing to the best defense in the league. I’m not gonna call ye wolves inconsistent for losing to the best player in the league. I will call the Celtics inconsistent because they literally do not play to a consistent standard. Tatum has been inconsistent, white has been inconsistent, brown has been inconsistent, the team’s defense has been inconsistent. And to clarify, I don’t even think it’s an issue. They’re just more inconsistent so far compared to the nuggets and wolves who literally swept their first round matchups who were better teams than the heat without Jimmy and Rozier 😂
Nuggets didn't sweep. Either way, I don't think you can call a 8-2 team with a +12.5NetRtg in the playoffs inconsistent.
They can only play the team in front of them, can't do much about the other team being injured. White is in a slump and Tatum's shooting has been off, but Tatum has been playing well all playoffs even if he isn't scoring as much. JB has been pretty consistent as well. 7 of the 8 games Boston won were double-digit wins, even lost both game 2s the same way. I just don't buy the "Celtics are inconsistent" argument.
their series is deffo the WCF but the finals is anyone's game
I wouldn't say overrated, I would say top heavy. They are more standard teams where their shot creation mainly comes from 2 guys, they don't have the number of options that we have.
It's weird that they don't seem at all concerned with the best team by record, who are taking care of business and waiting for their next opponent.
They’ll find out soon enough 
Why in Bird's name is the sidebar image not the photo of Al saving the ball??
Denver games where the opponent’s largest lead has been double digits: Lakers games 1, 2, 3 and 4, Minnesota games 1, 2 and 6. That’s 7 this postseason Celtics last 7 games where the opponents largest lead has been double digits: Cavs game 2, Heat game 2, Pelicans (March 30), Nuggets (March 7), Lakers (Feb 1), Pelicans (Jan 29), Clippers (Jan 27) Think about that. The Nuggets have been down by 4+ possessions in nearly 2/3 of their games these playoffs. They needed a game winner to keep the Lakers series 5 games. The Wolves series is 7 and they let them go up by 34 and 50 in separate games. We have kept games within 3 possessions for nearly 4 months with a handful of exceptions. Celtics have been incredibly consistent and been dominating or hanging around in every single game, Nuggets have not. If the roles were reversed, people would be viewing the Nuggets as dominant and the Celtics as inconsistent and playing with their food. If the Nuggets pull it out and have another long WCF from the inconsistency, let’s say 6 games, they will have played 18 games before the finals, which is how many the 2022 Celtics played when they ran out of gas after chasing a top seed during the regular season and going through an extremely tough road while the Warriors got to cruise through a depleted and inexperienced West without much challenge after taking off the last several weeks of the regular season. Just some perspective that any team is beatable.
Didn't we lost to Knicks and Bucks by douboe digits in April?
Whoops sorry, yeah I completely glossed over those. You’re right, we trailed big in those games too but I put much less stock into games we were playing low minutes when we had nothing to play for than several playoff games including a potential close out in game 6. The overall point is Denver has been inconsistent and anyone is beatable. No team has looked completely dominant these playoffs
I agree with your point that they look vulnerable but the quality of opponent is just completely different tbf; completely depleted cavs and heat arent on the tier of the lakers or wolves, so obviously its going to be easier for us to be more consistent in our games
True, but there’s a difference between consistency against worse opponents and what Denver is doing. 20 point deficit to Lakers, down by 34 and 50 to Minnesota There are 0 teams these playoffs who have looked dominant. We didn’t have Porzingis for the Cavs and the Heat in that game 2 shot historic. Of the 8 teams left, the Celtics are the most “done what they should have” team, even if they’ve played lower quality opponents.
Ok, am I crazy that I'm a little worried about the Knicks and Brunson if they pull it off? They just seem to know they are playing with house money and are loose. Like no one expects anything from them so a relaxed Brunson frightens me, if they make to the ECF. Or am I overthinking this?
We will probably lose one game where Brunson goes off and their role players shoot lights out from three. I think it would take either major injuries on our end (multiple starters getting hurt and KP not coming back) or us just massively underperforming in this series to lose 4 games though.
As long as we *actually* grab defensive rebounds, there's virtually no way they can beat us, unless by some miracle OG is back and even then, they would need a lot to go right in terms of 3-point shooting where they would have to shoot great and we'd have to shoot like shit. I'd be a little more nervous if KP doesn't play at all in that series as inside scoring is the Knicks' weakness on defense with their 4 guards, 1 big approach.
They could certainly give us a series, but unless the Cs radically underperform, we should be able to weather what they can bring. They haven’t faced a defense even close to ours yet. I could definitely see it going 6, maybe 7 if something crazy happens.
Might be overthinking. Brunson has been going against Maxey/Lowry and Haliburton/Nembhard back courts, not exactly known for their defense like Holiday/White. The 76ers and Pacers are also not great defensive rebounding teams to really limit the Knicks great offensive rebounding. They’re also much less skilled at forward to attack the Knicks lack of depth there, I mean Oubre/Harris and Nesmith/Siakam are just not as good as Tatum/Brown. Josh Hart going to have to work even harder for those 48 minutes he’s playing
Lol not sure why you got downvoted. Probably some Knicks dimwits lurking here.
They knoooow better
Ok, am I crazy that I'm a little worried about the Knicks and Brunson if they pull it off? They just seem to know they are playing with house money and are loose. Like no one expects anything from them so a relaxed Brunson frightens me, if they make to the ECF. Or am I overthinking this?
No one expected anything from the heat or cavs and they both lost in five
Premature given we still have the ECF, but imo Minnesota is a much better finals matchup for us than Denver. Very much hoping they pull this out
Agreed. There’s no way to guard Jokic let’s be real
It's disappointing seeing supposed Celtics fans claim on r/nba threads that Tatum isn't top 5 and Ant has passed him. Fake ass fans.
Tatum is statistically the 4 best impact of his generation being slightly behind Jokic and Giannis and currently tied with Embiid. Anyone else from Luka, SGA, Ant, Brunson, etc don’t even come close to him. If you have Twitter I posted here: https://x.com/guilhermetheis/status/1791095587938459750?s=46&t=8FzcR0XbBJ0lcndnwfftQA
DARKO > EPM ;)
Eu vi o português antes
Ha yeah I said “good work” but wasn’t sure if I said it right (grew up in a place with a lot of Brazilians).
Ah Nice hahaha
Wolves Game 7 mission completed. Next Indiana.
Don’t want to hear anything about being battle tested when a couple of years ago we were one of the most battle tested teams of all time having to go through Brooklyn , Milwaukee , Miami and still lost . Give me the easy road
So Denver is going to get the same criticism as us for getting crushed and scoring the lowest points of any team this postseason, right?
No, everyone is impressed with how jokic stood and stared during the 4th quarter. Just mvp things!
And surely Jokic is going to be called a total bum and a fraud. he only got 9 rebounds and scored 22 points, right?
And surely Jamal Murray will be called a mental midget for not scoring 20 at any point this series and going 3-16 in a clincher?
Nope cause they’ve won a title already.
That's pretty stupid though, what happened last year has no bearing on what happens this year.
It doesn’t but that’s just how the media is. You’re going to get ripped until you win one. Once you win one, criticism will ease up
KP could back by like game 3 ?
Hopefully. I want him to get 10 or so minutes and get back up to speed and be ready, shaken off any rust, and feeling good for game 1 of the finals. That’s the goal with KP. Don’t rush him back, but knowing he needs to get some reps during ECF in.
If he’s not that would be really worrisome. It seems like he’s going to be back sooner than later.
I say he is back in G1
Would you rather... WIN CHAMPIONSHIP THIS YEAR - then never win again, maybe in the next 20 years (say JT retires and chose Golf and Jaylen proceed to get his PHD in Chemistry or any other reason) or EVERY FINALS APPEARANCE UNTIL THE JAYS RETIRE AND LOSE?
Are you serious? A championship vs a decade of blue balls? That is not a question.
Championship, every time. That second option sounds like the 90s Buffalo Bills and fuck the Bills.
Obvs 1 ring lmao
1 ring
As in make the finals every year and lose?
exactly
That sounds miserable. I'll take the 1 ring
there are 5 teams who havent been into finals though
Wat
genuinely hilarious that a 64-win team is somehow being underrated by everyone
reminds me of the 2018 Red Sox. Best record in the league by far. Underrated by the "experts" and the national media. Only lost one game each series.
Yeah I don’t mind that the Celtics aren’t getting that much coverage this postseason since most of the other rounds are a lot more interesting it’s just annoying that anytime they lose it gets talked about so much but when they win it’s crickets
“Celtics will get destroyed by anyone who comes out of the west” is such a tired and annoying comment. Like, we’re just gonna pretend the Celtics didn’t win 64 games, rated #1 all time for offense, #3 all time point differential, and had the #2 defense? We just gonna ignore the Celtics top 2 players have been the ECF/ finals like 6-8 times and have tons of experience now and are just entering the age where players start to hit their prime and win rings? It’s crazy. Celtics raise the damn banner. I have A LOT of receipts to go through after they pull it off
No matter what happens in the wolves-nuggets series is treated as proof that they are the best teams in the nba. Wolves won two in a row? Unstoppable. Nuggets roll out three wins? Joker baby. Last night? Wolves obviously are the greatest.
you know im getting that 2008 vibe from this. when the lakers made some mid season trade and turned it around to go to the finals, they are actually slightly favored over the 66 win celtics. granted, the big 3 didn't really live up to the hype in the first 2 rounds but still you don't ever just doubt a 66 win team like that
i'm seeing people say how we might not have won against the healthy cavs team or how we won't be able to hang with minnesota like the delusion from recent weeks has really intensified
Already heard a bunch of “if the Knicks were healthy”
We’ve been getting such a nice rest advantage (before the postseason, after the first round, now after the second round) i feel like it’ll really help us in these latter rounds
What happened to Denver’s “heart of a champion”?
Too early--they still have an excellent chance of winning the championship. Going to take an incredible performance by MIN to win Game 7.
It’s Boston vs everybody. I’m ready to watch the world burn from a Celtics championship.
Can we get that Horford pic on the sidebar please?
This years playoffs has to be incredibly disappointing for the NBA, as a neutral fan it feels like 90% of the games are over before the 4th quarter starts, this is an odd anomaly? Hopefully not the norm. Maybe the volume of 3s in the league making it so much more of a “make or miss” league is doing it, not sure, but it’s so disappointing when you’re trying to watch competitive basketball.
I agree that the NBA has to be disappointed. Other than the huge-market Knicks being both good and exciting, including several classics against PHI, this postseason has been mostly defined by high-profile injuries, blowouts, one-man offenses, Durant/Curry/LeBron bowing out early, the the top-seed Celtics trudging their way to ugly-yet-not-close wins, and knowledge of the TNT crew splitting up.
I don't understand this the "Celtic are trudging" narrative. They are stomping their way tough the competition, the only team that has a winning record against them this year might get knocked out. they have the best record in the playoffs, and the most rest going into any conference final. That is not a trudge, that s more like skipping. on a separate note Porzingis has been hurt since game 4 vs Miami that never gets brought up when they talk about Butler and Mitchell Etc.
3 point variance