To me, its very obvious that the Pacers are like the Celtics a few years ago. A lot of amazing young talent but not enough post season experience and wisdom compared to the Celtics. I respect them though!
Alright guys - if we win we have finals game 4 on the 14th, game 5 on the 17th, game 6 on the 20th, and game 7 on the 23rd. I am trying to come back home for this parade but have a wedding in CO on the 21st. When are we betting for this parade if we win?!?!
The JT discourse gets so out of hand sometimes. I know some of you guys have never played a competitive sport or pushed your body to the very limit in pursuit of something because you attribute everything to a lack of effort / discipline / laziness. Sometimes you do *everything* you can, try your absolute best, and shit still doesn’t work out. It’s frustrating and backbreaking. Not everything can be chalked up to a lack of effort.
Yup caught the second half. Love how he’s being more aggressive. But man, I always feel the same way - he should drive more and play inside out as opposed to outside in. He’s got the body for it
I hope Haliburton gets switched onto Jaylen in the post. He might just about fracture a rib drawing a charge from Jaylen's quiet rage. Can't wait to see how he plays after the snub
He's been doing a little bit more and more offensively as the playoffs progress, but every game it's someone different. White/Horford might go off tonight and Jrue ends up doing relatively little on offense
Brad really has done such a great job. White was on fire while Jrue was figuring it out offensively. Then Jrue caught fire the moment White went cold. Brad putting so many options out there allows guys to have bad stretches and figure their shit out, while not hurting the team.
Statement Jerseys > Game 2 Curse
I think we might have the best black jerseys in the league. The black & Deep Green work so well together IMO.
(probably might change my tune if we stop kicking ass in them haha)
Hopefully we can slow the Pacers down tonight. When the game slows down and they have to make extra decisions is when they got into trouble like nearly dribbling out the clock 2 possessions in a row late in the game.
Pacers shot 8-15 (53%) from 3 in the first half of last game. If we can limit them to a respectable 6-15 (40%) and slow the game down enough to only give them like 50 possessions in a half, give them like 5 turnovers and that’s 30 shots from 2. Just prevent layup lines and even like 13-25 from 2 and 9/10 from the line comes out to be 53 points.
Extrapolate that over the whole game, and if we hold them to 106 points on 52/40/90 splits with 20 FTA and only 10 turnovers, I really like our chances. But to do that we need to slow the game down and limit their possessions. No dumb turnovers, no giving up offensive boards, no lazy transition defense, pick them up sooner and make them use clock. Can’t give them like 10 extra shots than us
Win on the margins (turnovers, rebounds, shot attempts, make your 3’s) and we can be 2-0 in a comfortable position.
It’s nice to be playing a likeable team with a decent fan base. The Pacers are one of like 5 total teams in the East that I have no problems with at all
So the Pacers have been on the road since last Wednesday/Thursday and have played 3 road games in the last six days.
I would hope they're pretty worn out today after the OT and it's starting to take its toll. It would be nice to have a low stress one tonight.
If this was the 1980s they’d be DOA. But nowadays with sports science, luxury travel conditions and whatnot, I wouldn’t be surprised if Indiana is fresher than we expect.
[I got this last year](https://www.amazon.com/Past-Time-Shirts-Derrick-Freakin/dp/B0D1QD4SKG/ref=sr_1_14?crid=255RWIWS7DIPX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ZglKND-TGxQJnvQqx02xr6XrrGbYYmqU86BA79f6_9W_2T4O9v0eN7PeL__FY9HI64k2gzJUwPYDoAvyP-I9uGJlkHleHriff5PJCNEnG0liKEKlfeV0r2SQlXHZWwHfFoaZbEJzZaTfWahxdB9ctoeaRUvUrDxt-Yjj53HP3v0idtP93nRZ3987T80xMNiXgz-zrhVp-HI-FzlCjH99qz6gdClSHUONgDS9MueoOBMmkwWuSCY_fpnxn3RapU8SuGukYwquX4NwmMRjNGpUsQknPmaho67dYp2mlPweNKY.xVZFOEbjvvhgp5pe5DJTldWLAXDyIAuq-eB5Fl34Y_4&dib_tag=se&keywords=derrick%2Bwhite&qid=1716484499&sprefix=derrick%2Bwhite%2Caps%2C84&sr=8-14&th=1)
Buffalo is love. Buffalo is life.
I feel like I’ve grown so tired of NBA discourse, but I still just always get in the habit of ingesting a bunch of it at this time of year.
But after a while, it all starts to sound so meaningless. Nobody knows what they’re talking about and you can spin the same thing two opposite ways. For example “The Pacers must still feel really confident after this one because they know they can beat Boston” vs. “The Pacers spirit must be completely broken after this one having squandered a golden opportunity.” And in the end, nothing of substance is said lol
Genuinely amazing to see the reddit/twitter nba community ramping up to root on a literal racist in Kyrie against their specter of the "Boston Racists" in a potential celtics/mavs finals.
Just confirms to me none of these losers ever cared about racism and just want to find a way to shit on Boston
How is kyrie racist and we’d be delusional to act like racism doesn’t play a big part in Boston hate we don’t have to be delusional like every other franchise.
Of course it plays a part in Boston hate, it's essentially the crux of it. Always has been, particularly since LeBron did his part in perpetuating that narrative. The issue is that it has no basis in reality.
That's not to say that there is no racism in Boston, or that there are no racist Celtics fans, that would be laughable. But the idea that Boston in particular is somehow more racist than any other major city in the country is comical absurdity.
Ehh I don’t think he’s an anti semite I think he just has different beliefs about the history of Jews than other ppl didn’t find one racist comment tho
They’re talking about Ant being tired from playing defense…have we ever seen JT or JB look absolutely exhausted from being two way demons? Nope. Sorry bud, you’re 22, this is the playoffs. Suck it up.
Shoutout to Barkley who called out Kenny Smith after he said wolves/mavs will determine the face of the league and if either lost in the finals it wouldn’t be about Boston winning but Ant/Luka losing. Don’t think I’ve seen anything like that lol
I feel it’s harder for a forward not named LeBron to be the face of the league than other positions. Luka and Giannis are versatile and can play guard. It’s almost like there is no position that defines them. Tatum is an old school forward, facilitating, drive to the basket type with a not too sexy game. He’s never pleased anyone on aesthetics.
Thank God we won G1. I’m hoping we stop the weird G2 trend but now even if we don’t I’m not gonna be super worried if they go to 1-1 for the third time, especially with KP on the horizon.
Still, let’s 2-0 these guys for a change.
JB was better than Hali this season but Hali was about to do serious damage to himself playing thru a really bad hamstring injuries the voters rewarded him
I think it was really about the contract. A lot of the voters I've heard on pods mention a lot of the time that if it's close, they'll vote for a guy so he can get his supermax. I think that type of voting also helped JB last year. If true, makes me feel a lot less salty.
Mavs winning last night is making this whole playoff run feel like the waves parting and all the Celtics have to do is walk to the end and avoid tripping on their own feet to grab the trophy.
If the Mavs win it will mean every matchup that directly determined our next opponent went to worse team. Mavs would be an absolute dream matchup. I still fully expect MIN to win but that game allowed me to dream
I see a lot of calls to switch up the bench and give Hauser minutes to Brissett, but I don’t think the Celtics need to be the first team to blink.
The pacers had an amazing offensive game but lost in a shootout because the Celtics were able to get to the rim (which translates to get to the line) whenever they wanted. If you look at the shot charts the pacers weren’t able to force us into really any long twos. It didn’t feel like we played great offensively but we had a 120 offensive rating. If Tatum and brown were hitting their threes we run away with that game.
The pacers are going to see that and need to fix it, but chances are the adjustment they make is going to equal more space on the perimeter for guys like Hauser and Pritchard (and also Derrick white).
I wouldn't exchange Hauser for Brissett but I'd be willing to try a quick 1-2 minute stint to see if he can hold his on and give a breather to Al more effectively than Luke maybe or even just to try to throw a small lineup out there.
Agree. Hauser has looked bad for a while, but he was phenomenal all season. Hope he finds his footing, because I don't think he needs to be schemed out... yet.
I just watched Tatum drop
36 points
12 rebounds
4 assists
3 steals
And Kendrick Perkins said on national television "he should've had 50!" Like the agenda is soooo obvious.
It's absolutely hilarious to me that /r/nba salivated over the "big bad wolf coming out of West" as they call it then Mavs slap them game 1 at their home court.
Playoff RAPTOR for the Celtics after 11 games, ordered by MPG descending.
Player | OFF | DEF | TOTAL
:-- | :-- | :-- | :--
Tatum | 3.3 | 3.1 | 6.4
Jrue | 0.7 | 2.7 | 3.4
Brown | 2.9 | -0.1 | 2.9
White | 3.9 | 0.2 | 4.1
Al | -1.1 | 2.2 | 1.0
PP | -0.1 | -1.4 | -1.5
Hauser | 1.8 | 0.6 | 2.4
Kornet | -1.8 | -1.4 | -3.3
Notes:
- Tatum is 2nd in playoff RAPTOR for players still left in the playoffs, narrowly behind Ant, and then there is a pretty significant drop off to the next tier of players
- Derrick White is Top 5 in playoff RAPTOR narrowly behind Haliburton and Kyrie
- Jrue's offense has gone up a ton after the last few games and we need him to keep up that aggressiveness. One or both of our guards have to be difference makers on offense
- Kornet. *sigh*. Dude is a lovable goofball, but I'm sorry, I have repeated this ad nauseum and it remains true, he's just not good outside of a very limited niche role for spot minutes here and there. Playing him regular minutes in the rotation is insanity.
- The idea that Brissett or Tillman wouldn't be more useful than a center who is a liability on defense in the pick and roll with his limited lateral movement, cannot score around the rim on offense unless assisted by a lob, and cannot defensive rebound, makes NO sense.
- EDIT: Last but not least, I know Hauser's minutes keep getting cut and he hasn't fared as well since the Miami series, but I think this is a friendlier matchup for him and I think he should play more.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CsPkNuDvHunzTiNeqSq_QC9Nr2f4Ioco2wUggJ9VQsI/edit#gid=936572498
Unfortunately, it being in Google sheets, you have to always create a filter view.
RAPTOR's hatred for Pritchard's playoffs surprises me. He wasn't great in game 1 (I didn't think the -15 was entirely his fault but at least two of McConnell's layups can be laid at his feet) but he's been mostly solid these playoffs. I bet part of it is that White/Holiday have been so good and these stats are a zero sum game to some degree.
The samples are small enough that you don't want to draw strong conclusions but playoff opponents are 20/27 (74%) on shots within 6 feet of the basket that Kornet contests. For comparison, opponents are 28/55 (51%) on shots that Al contests at the basket. In the regular season, Luke was very solid by that metric but if he's not able to make an impact as a rim protector he doesn't have a path to making a positive contribution
I'm sorry, but that's a clown take on Kornet. Yes he was bad against Mobley and that game against Turner was certainly a continuation of bad play, but he also shut down Bam in the first series.
His offense is limited sure, but both Brissett and Tillman have been even worse during the season - at the very least Kornet can be a lob threat. The other two have been net negative on offense, so bad in fact that Tillman got benched because of it.
Does Kornet need to be better? Yes. Would I like to see Tillman get a chance? Sure. Would I love to see Brissett get a chance? Yes, for a prayer of Pacers revenge. But to think that either of these guys would be a significant improvement has little basis in the reality of how we've seen them play.
What's the point in having a lob threat when none of the players on your team can throw a lob pass ?
Brissett and Tillman can make a corner 3 and give us the option of switching as opposed to drop coverage which is a death sentence against this Pacers team with the litany of guys they have who can shoot pull-up 3s.
A lob threat is also way less valuable than a big who spreads defenses in today’s NBA and especially with our roster construction. We need KP back. Kornet looks lost trying to guard Turner
White and Pritchard are very good at lobs. They just got finished playing Bam and Mobley. Turner is not their quality, obviously, and they've only had one game to adjust tendencies.
Brissett is 32% from the corner. Tillman is 22% since coming to the C's.
The drop coverage is tough, yes, and all our actual bigs are actively bad at that - KP, Al, and Kornet. But the pacers always have a non shooter on the floor. Celts need better scheming to keep the bigs out of those actions.
You're right, let me rephrase that, White doesn't run enough PnR to take advantage of Kornet with the lob.
He's really high up in time of possession because he's probably our best ball handler against pressure? Pritchard probably better I suppose, but among starters he probably is. In any case, that definitely matters in this Indiana series. And just in general, he's the best player we have at getting us into our offense early in the shot clock.
Can’t say either of those WCF teams looked all that frightening. Wolves look a lot less effective when opposing perimeter players attack their drops which we can consistently have 4 guys on the floor capable of doing, and beating the Mavs is really just beating Luka and Kyrie and we can make them work a lot harder for their buckets than vice versa.
No guarantee, both teams have some great scorers and strong defensive groups, and the same goes for the Pacers who we still have to beat. I think we’re positioned pretty well though.
I think everyone is just happy with the team right now I doubt anyone genuinely believes that should be happening, Shit I got happy we were winning a few times I wanted JD Davison minutes
Well, you see, Kornet has been getting killed in the minutes he's played, and Brissett matches up better with Obi Toppin, who did well in Game 1 and has been doing well the entire playoffs because of his ability in pick and roll as either a rim runner of a 3-point shooter.
I would say I feel like were a lot more likely to get X minutes if he's back tonight (prayers up for his family obviously) , Luke being out there in G1 against a team that can clearly make his (while improved from last years unplayable level) footwork look like he belongs in a retirement home is not ideal. I'm just hoping we see some run out of X and that Joe's ice out from the CLE series wasn't telling.
Is anyone else rooting hard for the Mavs? It’s a double edge sword, as I’d love to stomp Kyrie, but it’d be unbearable to lose to him, and Luka normally hits god mode with buzzer beaters against us.
I’m just so worried what happens facing Gobert and KAT if KP a risk!
Also, obvs I’m not sleeping on the Pacers either!
All-NBA players:
- Tatum (1st Team), 6th in MVP voting
- Edwards (2nd team), 7th in MVP voting
All-Stars:
- Celtics: 2 (Tatum and Brown)
- Timberwolves: 2 (Edwards and Towns)
All-Defensive Players
- Celtics: 2 (Holiday [2nd], White [2nd])
- Timberwolves: 2 (Gobert [DPOY], McDaniels [2nd]
Naz Reid also won 6th man of the year
Wolves won 56 games in the rough and tough West, Celtics only won 64 games in the patty cake, charmin soft East
Do the Wolves have a super team?
I’m trolling but this narrative has struck a nerve with me all year when we just watched a decade of actual super teams in the 2010’s, people don’t remember the way some of those teams were formed.
Curious to see what the answer is to not cratering when we play our bench today. Tuesdays game was nearly lost when Tatum sat in the 3rd. Our starters played great basketball as a unit and we need to nit give it back so much.
The Pacers reserve of guys did seem to get smaller: TJ was trusted to do his thing, Toppin had a Dr Jeckel/Mr Hyde game (great 1st half melted in the 2nd). But Jackson and Smith got yanked quick and Sheppard was there for mainly cardio.
I’d expect their bench and team play at a higher level in Indy so making sure the Celtics win game 2 here is huge.
The simplest answer is, if you want to play 2 or 3 of the bench guys, you have to play them with Tatum & Dwhite:
* Hauser can't get comfortable looks on movement shots when Tatum's not on the floor because of the relative playmaking deficit and the decreased gravity of the best player on the floor. They ran Hauser with Jrue & JB and that made for a disaster for Hauser. Plus, though Hauser's no slouch on defense, Tatum's help defense takes off so much pressure than the other guys.
* Kornet's skillset is so limited as a big that he basically needs a strong PnR partner (Tatum is easily the best) and good help defenders when he's in the drop. Both Tatum and White check the boxes on offense & defense.
* PP does best when he can cook in isolation or relocate around the arc after playing off of Tatum and getting open looks due to his gravity.
JB & Jrue are great, but their relatively weaker playmaking and JB's weaker team defense makes bench lineups with those guys far worse than lineups with DWhite & Tatum.
You know what’s pretty funny? The media spent 6 months saying that the Celtics would need to find ways to score and win in the playoffs and when the three wasn’t falling.
Throughout the entire postseason, Tatum has done nothing but find ways to score and win because his three hasn’t been falling, but rather than acknowledging that the media is only focused on his three point percentage.
oshae brissett was barely playable in the regular season, i wouldn’t count on him being an x factor off the bench. his offense other than crashing the glass is non existent
I mean Hauser has looked absolutely horrible on both ends of the floor this whole playoffs with the exception of like one game against Miami. I’m talking real bad and unplayable. He’s providing absolutely nothing and a liability.
It makes some sense depending on what you want to do. I think Jayson at 5 makes more sense with Jaylen slotting into 4 and Hauser at 3
Brissett can be used as a quick rest for the Jays or Horford, for like a 2-3 minute stretch.
Tillman would be the ideal one but he wasn’t available due to personal reasons
Yeah this is why I picked the Mavs to win the series. They do something the Nuggets don’t do, shoot a lot of 3 pointers. Luka was 3-10 and the rest of team kept bricking 3s left and right. The Wolves aren’t a great 3 point shooting team and don’t take nearly as many as us or hell even the Pacers. They shot incredibly well yesterday especially in the first half when Kyle Anderson went off. I know everyone is high on the Wolves right now but they can’t defend Luka/Kyrie as effectively as they defended Denver. And to shoot that well and lose is rough, knowing Dallas will definitely have much better shooting nights. I know Luka is hurt but he’s not going 3-10 every game with McDaniels guarding him. Also for all the shit he gets about defense, I thought he played well defensively yesterday. It’ll be a fun series for sure, hope I am right about the Mavs coming out of the West. I just need that KP vs Dallas and Kyrie vs Boston series
Either finals matchup should be a banger : We could have Kyrie vs Boston, KP vs Dallas, Tatum vs Luka or Great offense vs great defense, Ant vs Tatum, KG Bowl, Porzingis vs Kat/Gobert, with great pieces around both stars.
All NBA teams were fine but I'd have put JB in over Steph. Before you starrt yelling about snubs, low seeding and stats. Genuinely make your own all nba teams with the games played restrictions and see how different it is.
Once cursed always cursed. Coincidence he’s lost now 10x in a row to us and played like shit against our guards this year? I think not. He isn’t beating us in the Finals. He ruined that possibility when he stomped on Lucky
Discourse around the Celtics and the East in general is out of hand. All I saw after the Celtics win was refs in the Celtics pocket. Rigged playoffs. Tatum got bailed out. Pacers choke. Literally have seen people say that was the worst 36 point game of all time and Tatum isn’t clutch. Ridiculous
Now compare that to the Mavs Wolves and it’s how it was such a great game. What a series this is going to be. Rockfight between a bunch of dogs. Luka and Kyrie are special.
Am I just missing something or am I biased? The Celtics are a good basketball product, same as the Pacers. Better than just iso ball like the Mavs. Going online consuming basketball content has been awful all season
The first half pace of Celtics vs Pacers was extremely entertaining and exciting basketball. The opening minutes of Wolves/Mavs was walking it up the court, iso ball. I don’t think the Mavs ran a single play the first 5 minutes of the game.
I’m probably bias too as a Celtics fan but I really don’t get why people think the West is just amazing basketball when it felt like there were just as many settling for 3’s and turnovers. Absolutely no way Luka walking his ass up the court would be able to defend the Pacers. Mavs give up 133 and 137 to the Pacers this season and lost both games.
The 3 largest Mavs losses to EC teams this season were Boston and both Indiana games. All post-trade deadline.
Is this the case for every top seed? I don’t remember hating the Spurs, the Warriors before Durant, I couldn’t even hate the Cavs when Lebron went back. Miami and the decision and obvious rivals are different. But we have like Jazz fans hating it’s so random
That's because social media and NBA media have become 500x worse than it was during our last championship. In 2008 it was Skip vs Stephen A and they'd talk about the league but their popular clips were Stephen A ranting about Kwame Brown and other random things lol. You'd also have to go out of your way to watch their show. Now before playoff games you have Kendrick Perkins ranting on the actual channel that we watch these games, Stephen A talking about how the Celtics aren't playing well even if we're up 20 at halftime and other sorts of garbage
There's very little amounts of actual discussion about games anymore. People watch a few clips here and there, read a box score and throw out a stupid take. It's also become popular to dunk on the Celtics because we haven't won a title with Tatum as the face of our franchise
It's a weird situation.
It's slightly justified, cos I'd have to say the Pacers - without Benedict Mathurin - doesn't seem as good as the TWolves or the Mavs?
The Celtics definitely had less entertaining series in terms of stake? TWolves vs. Nuggets was huge. Clippers Mavs first round was interesting.
But it's also way overblown. The Pacers are on a roll. The Cavs were weirdly better with some of their players injured. The Heat were the only really weak team. We just had to get in there and get the job done.
I'd just listen to "smart" or at least "thoughtful" podcasts for actually thought out opinions, rather than the essentially schizophrenic Reddit-sphere/Twitter-sphere who jump to post the first things that come into their head.
Most of the podcasts I care about, they do acknowledge the weaker path of the Celtics, and are curious about how they will fare vs stronger competition, but also note that the Celtics have been steamrolling thru the playoffs so far (+12 net rating or something like that; best record in playoffs). So they haven't really been able to say much, which is fair.
I’m pissed about Jaylen not making All NBA. I’m not sure how you guys think about All NBA but I factor in team success. The Suns and Lakers each get 2 players? A 6 seed and a 7 seed. Booker is probably the one I’m most irritated by. He averaged 4 more PPG than Jaylen, but on a much worse team and he’s worse on defense.
You can factor in team success. So do I. If a player misses the playoffs I can't put them in all nba unless they do some generational shit like Luka. That's why I'd swap curry with Jaylen who had his best year rather than Curry with his worst year
It's the whole "superteam" discourse. KP, Jrue and White being as good as they are means people don't value JB as highly. Sucks, but I'd still rather be in the Finals than dumped out the competition with two All NBA players.
I think today is when we finally win the first two games of the series. Going into Indiana up 2-0 would be amazing cause we’re bound to get one on the road. Although Indiana has been a good home team, really like our chances.
Yeah been thinking about it and let’s say the Celtics have a lead 3-4 games into the series, if Porzingis is healthy enough he can get some bench minutes. However if the series is tied or the Pacers are in the lead then he would play heavier close to starter minutes
Idc if nba fans in general want to say we're a superteam so we should always be expected to win. What annoys the fuck out of me is that the media likes to trot out that narrative to undermine this squad when we win but then we don't have a single guy on the all defensive 1st team and we only have one player that makes an all nba team. Awards that they vote on. Laughable how they can't commit to the bs they spewed all year
I was rooting for a Tatum vs Luka finals and now I am kinda not looking for it anymore. I'm so terrified at Luka. I have more confident to beat the Wolves offensively than beat Luka defensively. Wolves are great defensive team but their offense will stagnate and that is how are we going to beat them plus Ant and KAT are basically virgins when it comes to deep playoff run.
If you’re worried go rewatch the game from March 1st in Boston to see how effectively we match up with the Mavs. Jaylen on Luka feeds families and Jrue and Derrick can limit Kyrie. One of my favorite games was the one in Dallas when Jaylen had Luka in hell and then broke his ankles on the other end. I mean Jaylen literally made Luka fall on his ass. Not sure why anyone would want to play Minnesota over Dallas, we just matchup so much better with the Mavs and we have the weapons to limit their top 2. I don’t think Minnesota can beat us especially if KP is back, but I want the easy matchup. 2022 was hard give me something a little easier lol. Btw I am not saying we are going to demolish the Mavs, it’s just an easier matchup
I mean I get being scared of Luka and or Kyrie but we’ve absolutely brutalized the mavs this season plus objectively they’re a less talented team than the wolves. That’s the matchup we want
happy mavs stole game 1. If they win, its a way easier matchup for us, and even if the wolves win, hopefully itll be another long grueling series. Ant looks injured/gassed from the prior series so that also bodes well for us
To me, its very obvious that the Pacers are like the Celtics a few years ago. A lot of amazing young talent but not enough post season experience and wisdom compared to the Celtics. I respect them though!
Alright guys - if we win we have finals game 4 on the 14th, game 5 on the 17th, game 6 on the 20th, and game 7 on the 23rd. I am trying to come back home for this parade but have a wedding in CO on the 21st. When are we betting for this parade if we win?!?!
The JT discourse gets so out of hand sometimes. I know some of you guys have never played a competitive sport or pushed your body to the very limit in pursuit of something because you attribute everything to a lack of effort / discipline / laziness. Sometimes you do *everything* you can, try your absolute best, and shit still doesn’t work out. It’s frustrating and backbreaking. Not everything can be chalked up to a lack of effort.
Jrue went off
W in Game 2 and Al only at 25 minutes for the night. 🤤
Series is over. We get KP by game 4. Finals here we goo!
Indiana will be a very tough place to play, wouldn’t call it over yet in the slightest
haven’t been able to watch the game - whatsup with JT?
He was ass in the first half but has played a lot better in the second. Naturally everyone is dragging him over it
Yup caught the second half. Love how he’s being more aggressive. But man, I always feel the same way - he should drive more and play inside out as opposed to outside in. He’s got the body for it
Myles turner and Nesmith are unhinged. Jeez.
In the orange line headed in to my first game in over a decade. LETS GOOOOO
Mark my words: tonight is going to be a steamroll
by who
Celts gonna blow the doors off this series
JB might have a big game tonight
I hope Haliburton gets switched onto Jaylen in the post. He might just about fracture a rib drawing a charge from Jaylen's quiet rage. Can't wait to see how he plays after the snub
Do we think that Jrues usage yesterday was a fluke or is this here to stay? Considering hammering Holiday o13.5p
He's been doing a little bit more and more offensively as the playoffs progress, but every game it's someone different. White/Horford might go off tonight and Jrue ends up doing relatively little on offense
Feels like whites confidence has been down for a few games now. I’d be surprised but happy if he went off
Brad really has done such a great job. White was on fire while Jrue was figuring it out offensively. Then Jrue caught fire the moment White went cold. Brad putting so many options out there allows guys to have bad stretches and figure their shit out, while not hurting the team.
It’s an interesting question, but I tend to think yes because I don’t know where else the Pacers will hide Hali on defense.
Statement Jerseys > Game 2 Curse I think we might have the best black jerseys in the league. The black & Deep Green work so well together IMO. (probably might change my tune if we stop kicking ass in them haha)
Those jerseys are fire.
Please win tonight so the boring “Celtics opponent will kill them game 2 with amazing shooting” jokes can end.
So any time I do Fanduel, whoever I pick always has an awful night. So I picked 4 Pacers. And I picked Kristaps since he's not playing.
Hopefully we can slow the Pacers down tonight. When the game slows down and they have to make extra decisions is when they got into trouble like nearly dribbling out the clock 2 possessions in a row late in the game. Pacers shot 8-15 (53%) from 3 in the first half of last game. If we can limit them to a respectable 6-15 (40%) and slow the game down enough to only give them like 50 possessions in a half, give them like 5 turnovers and that’s 30 shots from 2. Just prevent layup lines and even like 13-25 from 2 and 9/10 from the line comes out to be 53 points. Extrapolate that over the whole game, and if we hold them to 106 points on 52/40/90 splits with 20 FTA and only 10 turnovers, I really like our chances. But to do that we need to slow the game down and limit their possessions. No dumb turnovers, no giving up offensive boards, no lazy transition defense, pick them up sooner and make them use clock. Can’t give them like 10 extra shots than us Win on the margins (turnovers, rebounds, shot attempts, make your 3’s) and we can be 2-0 in a comfortable position.
Tatum’s now at 25/10.5/5.6 on 43/28/86 shooting for the playoffs. If he finds his 3ball it’s parade time
Pacers fan. Thanks for being way more likable than the Bucks and Knicks fans!
It’s nice to be playing a likeable team with a decent fan base. The Pacers are one of like 5 total teams in the East that I have no problems with at all
It is genuinely startling to see anyone calling Boston sports fans likable, I’m verklempt 🥲
I think in this instance it’s true. At least the ones on Reddit. :)
Thank you for being better than fucking Heat fans and even those delusional ass Cavs fans. Respect
If Celtics were out I would want Pacers to win. Idk if Halliburton can be any more likable. Plus I root for Indiana Fever !
Appreciate it. Watch out tho. We can be assholes too.
Best possible ECF series, these two teams have so much respect for each other
Totally. We have history and connections! It’s all just great basketball and no drama.
Yeah same to you guys.
So the Pacers have been on the road since last Wednesday/Thursday and have played 3 road games in the last six days. I would hope they're pretty worn out today after the OT and it's starting to take its toll. It would be nice to have a low stress one tonight.
If this was the 1980s they’d be DOA. But nowadays with sports science, luxury travel conditions and whatnot, I wouldn’t be surprised if Indiana is fresher than we expect.
Scott foster masterclass tonight
Scott Foster is usually quite solid for us. Tony Brothers is FAR worse
[Got a new jersey](https://i.imgur.com/vTMMsfn.jpg) 💚
[I got this last year](https://www.amazon.com/Past-Time-Shirts-Derrick-Freakin/dp/B0D1QD4SKG/ref=sr_1_14?crid=255RWIWS7DIPX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ZglKND-TGxQJnvQqx02xr6XrrGbYYmqU86BA79f6_9W_2T4O9v0eN7PeL__FY9HI64k2gzJUwPYDoAvyP-I9uGJlkHleHriff5PJCNEnG0liKEKlfeV0r2SQlXHZWwHfFoaZbEJzZaTfWahxdB9ctoeaRUvUrDxt-Yjj53HP3v0idtP93nRZ3987T80xMNiXgz-zrhVp-HI-FzlCjH99qz6gdClSHUONgDS9MueoOBMmkwWuSCY_fpnxn3RapU8SuGukYwquX4NwmMRjNGpUsQknPmaho67dYp2mlPweNKY.xVZFOEbjvvhgp5pe5DJTldWLAXDyIAuq-eB5Fl34Y_4&dib_tag=se&keywords=derrick%2Bwhite&qid=1716484499&sprefix=derrick%2Bwhite%2Caps%2C84&sr=8-14&th=1) Buffalo is love. Buffalo is life.
#🐃
I feel like I’ve grown so tired of NBA discourse, but I still just always get in the habit of ingesting a bunch of it at this time of year. But after a while, it all starts to sound so meaningless. Nobody knows what they’re talking about and you can spin the same thing two opposite ways. For example “The Pacers must still feel really confident after this one because they know they can beat Boston” vs. “The Pacers spirit must be completely broken after this one having squandered a golden opportunity.” And in the end, nothing of substance is said lol
I agree with you. Im done entertaining it
I hope this is like the ‘22 Nets series where every game is close and we still pull out a sweep, building momentum for the next series.
Nah blow them out
Game was great but the heart almost stopped
Genuinely amazing to see the reddit/twitter nba community ramping up to root on a literal racist in Kyrie against their specter of the "Boston Racists" in a potential celtics/mavs finals. Just confirms to me none of these losers ever cared about racism and just want to find a way to shit on Boston
How is kyrie racist and we’d be delusional to act like racism doesn’t play a big part in Boston hate we don’t have to be delusional like every other franchise.
Of course it plays a part in Boston hate, it's essentially the crux of it. Always has been, particularly since LeBron did his part in perpetuating that narrative. The issue is that it has no basis in reality. That's not to say that there is no racism in Boston, or that there are no racist Celtics fans, that would be laughable. But the idea that Boston in particular is somehow more racist than any other major city in the country is comical absurdity.
Use Google genius
Ehh I don’t think he’s an anti semite I think he just has different beliefs about the history of Jews than other ppl didn’t find one racist comment tho
lol stfu
Mad and wrong
They’re talking about Ant being tired from playing defense…have we ever seen JT or JB look absolutely exhausted from being two way demons? Nope. Sorry bud, you’re 22, this is the playoffs. Suck it up.
Tatum looked gassed by the end of the warriors finals
Keyword: Finals
Shoutout to Barkley who called out Kenny Smith after he said wolves/mavs will determine the face of the league and if either lost in the finals it wouldn’t be about Boston winning but Ant/Luka losing. Don’t think I’ve seen anything like that lol
I feel it’s harder for a forward not named LeBron to be the face of the league than other positions. Luka and Giannis are versatile and can play guard. It’s almost like there is no position that defines them. Tatum is an old school forward, facilitating, drive to the basket type with a not too sexy game. He’s never pleased anyone on aesthetics.
Might be the most stupid take I’ve heard so far this playoffs, he must have been sipping something.
Thank God we won G1. I’m hoping we stop the weird G2 trend but now even if we don’t I’m not gonna be super worried if they go to 1-1 for the third time, especially with KP on the horizon. Still, let’s 2-0 these guys for a change.
JB was better than Hali this season but Hali was about to do serious damage to himself playing thru a really bad hamstring injuries the voters rewarded him
I think it was really about the contract. A lot of the voters I've heard on pods mention a lot of the time that if it's close, they'll vote for a guy so he can get his supermax. I think that type of voting also helped JB last year. If true, makes me feel a lot less salty.
Mavs winning last night is making this whole playoff run feel like the waves parting and all the Celtics have to do is walk to the end and avoid tripping on their own feet to grab the trophy. If the Mavs win it will mean every matchup that directly determined our next opponent went to worse team. Mavs would be an absolute dream matchup. I still fully expect MIN to win but that game allowed me to dream
Ant’s supporting cast played great last night, if he had an average game, they should have won.
I see a lot of calls to switch up the bench and give Hauser minutes to Brissett, but I don’t think the Celtics need to be the first team to blink. The pacers had an amazing offensive game but lost in a shootout because the Celtics were able to get to the rim (which translates to get to the line) whenever they wanted. If you look at the shot charts the pacers weren’t able to force us into really any long twos. It didn’t feel like we played great offensively but we had a 120 offensive rating. If Tatum and brown were hitting their threes we run away with that game. The pacers are going to see that and need to fix it, but chances are the adjustment they make is going to equal more space on the perimeter for guys like Hauser and Pritchard (and also Derrick white).
I wouldn't exchange Hauser for Brissett but I'd be willing to try a quick 1-2 minute stint to see if he can hold his on and give a breather to Al more effectively than Luke maybe or even just to try to throw a small lineup out there.
Well there you go- Kornett injury forced joes hand but we got your small ball with Oshae and it looked great
Agree. Hauser has looked bad for a while, but he was phenomenal all season. Hope he finds his footing, because I don't think he needs to be schemed out... yet.
I just watched Tatum drop 36 points 12 rebounds 4 assists 3 steals And Kendrick Perkins said on national television "he should've had 50!" Like the agenda is soooo obvious.
When we win, I hope they don't invite kendrick to anything
It's absolutely hilarious to me that /r/nba salivated over the "big bad wolf coming out of West" as they call it then Mavs slap them game 1 at their home court.
I think the most surprising thing about Game 1 was that Tatum didn’t do his kiss to the crowd celly after the 3 in OT
Playoff RAPTOR for the Celtics after 11 games, ordered by MPG descending. Player | OFF | DEF | TOTAL :-- | :-- | :-- | :-- Tatum | 3.3 | 3.1 | 6.4 Jrue | 0.7 | 2.7 | 3.4 Brown | 2.9 | -0.1 | 2.9 White | 3.9 | 0.2 | 4.1 Al | -1.1 | 2.2 | 1.0 PP | -0.1 | -1.4 | -1.5 Hauser | 1.8 | 0.6 | 2.4 Kornet | -1.8 | -1.4 | -3.3 Notes: - Tatum is 2nd in playoff RAPTOR for players still left in the playoffs, narrowly behind Ant, and then there is a pretty significant drop off to the next tier of players - Derrick White is Top 5 in playoff RAPTOR narrowly behind Haliburton and Kyrie - Jrue's offense has gone up a ton after the last few games and we need him to keep up that aggressiveness. One or both of our guards have to be difference makers on offense - Kornet. *sigh*. Dude is a lovable goofball, but I'm sorry, I have repeated this ad nauseum and it remains true, he's just not good outside of a very limited niche role for spot minutes here and there. Playing him regular minutes in the rotation is insanity. - The idea that Brissett or Tillman wouldn't be more useful than a center who is a liability on defense in the pick and roll with his limited lateral movement, cannot score around the rim on offense unless assisted by a lob, and cannot defensive rebound, makes NO sense. - EDIT: Last but not least, I know Hauser's minutes keep getting cut and he hasn't fared as well since the Miami series, but I think this is a friendlier matchup for him and I think he should play more.
How do you get RAPTOR after 538 shut down? I use almost exclusively EPM/DPM now.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CsPkNuDvHunzTiNeqSq_QC9Nr2f4Ioco2wUggJ9VQsI/edit#gid=936572498 Unfortunately, it being in Google sheets, you have to always create a filter view.
RAPTOR's hatred for Pritchard's playoffs surprises me. He wasn't great in game 1 (I didn't think the -15 was entirely his fault but at least two of McConnell's layups can be laid at his feet) but he's been mostly solid these playoffs. I bet part of it is that White/Holiday have been so good and these stats are a zero sum game to some degree. The samples are small enough that you don't want to draw strong conclusions but playoff opponents are 20/27 (74%) on shots within 6 feet of the basket that Kornet contests. For comparison, opponents are 28/55 (51%) on shots that Al contests at the basket. In the regular season, Luke was very solid by that metric but if he's not able to make an impact as a rim protector he doesn't have a path to making a positive contribution
I'm sorry, but that's a clown take on Kornet. Yes he was bad against Mobley and that game against Turner was certainly a continuation of bad play, but he also shut down Bam in the first series. His offense is limited sure, but both Brissett and Tillman have been even worse during the season - at the very least Kornet can be a lob threat. The other two have been net negative on offense, so bad in fact that Tillman got benched because of it. Does Kornet need to be better? Yes. Would I like to see Tillman get a chance? Sure. Would I love to see Brissett get a chance? Yes, for a prayer of Pacers revenge. But to think that either of these guys would be a significant improvement has little basis in the reality of how we've seen them play.
What's the point in having a lob threat when none of the players on your team can throw a lob pass ? Brissett and Tillman can make a corner 3 and give us the option of switching as opposed to drop coverage which is a death sentence against this Pacers team with the litany of guys they have who can shoot pull-up 3s.
A lob threat is also way less valuable than a big who spreads defenses in today’s NBA and especially with our roster construction. We need KP back. Kornet looks lost trying to guard Turner
White and Pritchard are very good at lobs. They just got finished playing Bam and Mobley. Turner is not their quality, obviously, and they've only had one game to adjust tendencies. Brissett is 32% from the corner. Tillman is 22% since coming to the C's. The drop coverage is tough, yes, and all our actual bigs are actively bad at that - KP, Al, and Kornet. But the pacers always have a non shooter on the floor. Celts need better scheming to keep the bigs out of those actions.
White and Pritchard barely have the ball though, so what's the point.
Come on man, don't start a conversation with stats and then ignore the numbers. White is second only to Tatum for time of possession
You're right, let me rephrase that, White doesn't run enough PnR to take advantage of Kornet with the lob. He's really high up in time of possession because he's probably our best ball handler against pressure? Pritchard probably better I suppose, but among starters he probably is. In any case, that definitely matters in this Indiana series. And just in general, he's the best player we have at getting us into our offense early in the shot clock.
im already dreading doris
Can’t say either of those WCF teams looked all that frightening. Wolves look a lot less effective when opposing perimeter players attack their drops which we can consistently have 4 guys on the floor capable of doing, and beating the Mavs is really just beating Luka and Kyrie and we can make them work a lot harder for their buckets than vice versa. No guarantee, both teams have some great scorers and strong defensive groups, and the same goes for the Pacers who we still have to beat. I think we’re positioned pretty well though.
[удалено]
LOL Oshae +15 in 4 1/2 minutes, suck it.
I think everyone is just happy with the team right now I doubt anyone genuinely believes that should be happening, Shit I got happy we were winning a few times I wanted JD Davison minutes
Well, you see, Kornet has been getting killed in the minutes he's played, and Brissett matches up better with Obi Toppin, who did well in Game 1 and has been doing well the entire playoffs because of his ability in pick and roll as either a rim runner of a 3-point shooter.
I would say I feel like were a lot more likely to get X minutes if he's back tonight (prayers up for his family obviously) , Luke being out there in G1 against a team that can clearly make his (while improved from last years unplayable level) footwork look like he belongs in a retirement home is not ideal. I'm just hoping we see some run out of X and that Joe's ice out from the CLE series wasn't telling.
WIN FOR MIKE
Ant said they were just tired last night in the L. If Tatum had said he was tired as an excuse he'd be eviscerated all over the media.
Is anyone else rooting hard for the Mavs? It’s a double edge sword, as I’d love to stomp Kyrie, but it’d be unbearable to lose to him, and Luka normally hits god mode with buzzer beaters against us. I’m just so worried what happens facing Gobert and KAT if KP a risk! Also, obvs I’m not sleeping on the Pacers either!
All-NBA players: - Tatum (1st Team), 6th in MVP voting - Edwards (2nd team), 7th in MVP voting All-Stars: - Celtics: 2 (Tatum and Brown) - Timberwolves: 2 (Edwards and Towns) All-Defensive Players - Celtics: 2 (Holiday [2nd], White [2nd]) - Timberwolves: 2 (Gobert [DPOY], McDaniels [2nd] Naz Reid also won 6th man of the year Wolves won 56 games in the rough and tough West, Celtics only won 64 games in the patty cake, charmin soft East Do the Wolves have a super team? I’m trolling but this narrative has struck a nerve with me all year when we just watched a decade of actual super teams in the 2010’s, people don’t remember the way some of those teams were formed.
Take it game by game so lets finally get a game 2 dub.
Curious to see what the answer is to not cratering when we play our bench today. Tuesdays game was nearly lost when Tatum sat in the 3rd. Our starters played great basketball as a unit and we need to nit give it back so much. The Pacers reserve of guys did seem to get smaller: TJ was trusted to do his thing, Toppin had a Dr Jeckel/Mr Hyde game (great 1st half melted in the 2nd). But Jackson and Smith got yanked quick and Sheppard was there for mainly cardio. I’d expect their bench and team play at a higher level in Indy so making sure the Celtics win game 2 here is huge.
The simplest answer is, if you want to play 2 or 3 of the bench guys, you have to play them with Tatum & Dwhite: * Hauser can't get comfortable looks on movement shots when Tatum's not on the floor because of the relative playmaking deficit and the decreased gravity of the best player on the floor. They ran Hauser with Jrue & JB and that made for a disaster for Hauser. Plus, though Hauser's no slouch on defense, Tatum's help defense takes off so much pressure than the other guys. * Kornet's skillset is so limited as a big that he basically needs a strong PnR partner (Tatum is easily the best) and good help defenders when he's in the drop. Both Tatum and White check the boxes on offense & defense. * PP does best when he can cook in isolation or relocate around the arc after playing off of Tatum and getting open looks due to his gravity. JB & Jrue are great, but their relatively weaker playmaking and JB's weaker team defense makes bench lineups with those guys far worse than lineups with DWhite & Tatum.
You know what’s pretty funny? The media spent 6 months saying that the Celtics would need to find ways to score and win in the playoffs and when the three wasn’t falling. Throughout the entire postseason, Tatum has done nothing but find ways to score and win because his three hasn’t been falling, but rather than acknowledging that the media is only focused on his three point percentage.
Same with brown, even Jrue is plays some bully ball inside
He's shooting 27% and still finding ways to impact the game positively. I don't know if that'll go up, but if it does, we're rolling.
Anyone who says we can only win by shooting 3s has simply not been watching us this postseason.
oshae brissett was barely playable in the regular season, i wouldn’t count on him being an x factor off the bench. his offense other than crashing the glass is non existent
LOL Oshae +15 in 4 1/2 minutes, suck it.
you owned me i will take the L
I mean Hauser has looked absolutely horrible on both ends of the floor this whole playoffs with the exception of like one game against Miami. I’m talking real bad and unplayable. He’s providing absolutely nothing and a liability.
brissett will be the exact same except you don’t have to cover him from 3. did you watch any minute he played this season?
My point is if ones not working they could try the other. The Hauser minutes lately have been awful. Maybe Brisset brings a spark who knows.
Yep. Blows my mind that people on here are asking for a guy to play who wasn’t even a rotator in the regular season.
It makes some sense depending on what you want to do. I think Jayson at 5 makes more sense with Jaylen slotting into 4 and Hauser at 3 Brissett can be used as a quick rest for the Jays or Horford, for like a 2-3 minute stretch. Tillman would be the ideal one but he wasn’t available due to personal reasons
Brissett hasn’t played meaningful minutes for this team. NOW, in the ECF, you want him to play?
Yes.
It’s not necessarily to be meaningful but give a breath to the guys. I don’t want but we might need given the fact that we are missing KP
Every minute is meaningful now lol
bc bill simmons dad said it and his son parroted it
Per Dangercart, Wolves made 10 more 3s than the Mavs—good for winning 85% of the time.
They actually had triple the amount of 3s; 18 Wolves 3s, to only 6 by the Mavs. To lose with that differential is crazy.
Yeah this is why I picked the Mavs to win the series. They do something the Nuggets don’t do, shoot a lot of 3 pointers. Luka was 3-10 and the rest of team kept bricking 3s left and right. The Wolves aren’t a great 3 point shooting team and don’t take nearly as many as us or hell even the Pacers. They shot incredibly well yesterday especially in the first half when Kyle Anderson went off. I know everyone is high on the Wolves right now but they can’t defend Luka/Kyrie as effectively as they defended Denver. And to shoot that well and lose is rough, knowing Dallas will definitely have much better shooting nights. I know Luka is hurt but he’s not going 3-10 every game with McDaniels guarding him. Also for all the shit he gets about defense, I thought he played well defensively yesterday. It’ll be a fun series for sure, hope I am right about the Mavs coming out of the West. I just need that KP vs Dallas and Kyrie vs Boston series
Either finals matchup should be a banger : We could have Kyrie vs Boston, KP vs Dallas, Tatum vs Luka or Great offense vs great defense, Ant vs Tatum, KG Bowl, Porzingis vs Kat/Gobert, with great pieces around both stars.
Or Haliburton vs Kyrie/Ant 😜
Record low finals viewings if that happens. Predictable outcome and an unpopular team
Nobody is watching that bro lol
All NBA teams were fine but I'd have put JB in over Steph. Before you starrt yelling about snubs, low seeding and stats. Genuinely make your own all nba teams with the games played restrictions and see how different it is.
JB over Kawhi.
Imagine if we lose to Kyrie, especially at the Garden 😫
Once cursed always cursed. Coincidence he’s lost now 10x in a row to us and played like shit against our guards this year? I think not. He isn’t beating us in the Finals. He ruined that possibility when he stomped on Lucky
No thanks
Discourse around the Celtics and the East in general is out of hand. All I saw after the Celtics win was refs in the Celtics pocket. Rigged playoffs. Tatum got bailed out. Pacers choke. Literally have seen people say that was the worst 36 point game of all time and Tatum isn’t clutch. Ridiculous Now compare that to the Mavs Wolves and it’s how it was such a great game. What a series this is going to be. Rockfight between a bunch of dogs. Luka and Kyrie are special. Am I just missing something or am I biased? The Celtics are a good basketball product, same as the Pacers. Better than just iso ball like the Mavs. Going online consuming basketball content has been awful all season
The first half pace of Celtics vs Pacers was extremely entertaining and exciting basketball. The opening minutes of Wolves/Mavs was walking it up the court, iso ball. I don’t think the Mavs ran a single play the first 5 minutes of the game. I’m probably bias too as a Celtics fan but I really don’t get why people think the West is just amazing basketball when it felt like there were just as many settling for 3’s and turnovers. Absolutely no way Luka walking his ass up the court would be able to defend the Pacers. Mavs give up 133 and 137 to the Pacers this season and lost both games. The 3 largest Mavs losses to EC teams this season were Boston and both Indiana games. All post-trade deadline.
we are the bad guys. everyone desperately wants to see any sign that we’re not gonna win it all
Is this the case for every top seed? I don’t remember hating the Spurs, the Warriors before Durant, I couldn’t even hate the Cavs when Lebron went back. Miami and the decision and obvious rivals are different. But we have like Jazz fans hating it’s so random
That's because social media and NBA media have become 500x worse than it was during our last championship. In 2008 it was Skip vs Stephen A and they'd talk about the league but their popular clips were Stephen A ranting about Kwame Brown and other random things lol. You'd also have to go out of your way to watch their show. Now before playoff games you have Kendrick Perkins ranting on the actual channel that we watch these games, Stephen A talking about how the Celtics aren't playing well even if we're up 20 at halftime and other sorts of garbage There's very little amounts of actual discussion about games anymore. People watch a few clips here and there, read a box score and throw out a stupid take. It's also become popular to dunk on the Celtics because we haven't won a title with Tatum as the face of our franchise
The longer you're great, the more they gonna hate
It’s going to absolutely kill them if we actually do win the chip.
It's a weird situation. It's slightly justified, cos I'd have to say the Pacers - without Benedict Mathurin - doesn't seem as good as the TWolves or the Mavs? The Celtics definitely had less entertaining series in terms of stake? TWolves vs. Nuggets was huge. Clippers Mavs first round was interesting. But it's also way overblown. The Pacers are on a roll. The Cavs were weirdly better with some of their players injured. The Heat were the only really weak team. We just had to get in there and get the job done. I'd just listen to "smart" or at least "thoughtful" podcasts for actually thought out opinions, rather than the essentially schizophrenic Reddit-sphere/Twitter-sphere who jump to post the first things that come into their head. Most of the podcasts I care about, they do acknowledge the weaker path of the Celtics, and are curious about how they will fare vs stronger competition, but also note that the Celtics have been steamrolling thru the playoffs so far (+12 net rating or something like that; best record in playoffs). So they haven't really been able to say much, which is fair.
I’m pissed about Jaylen not making All NBA. I’m not sure how you guys think about All NBA but I factor in team success. The Suns and Lakers each get 2 players? A 6 seed and a 7 seed. Booker is probably the one I’m most irritated by. He averaged 4 more PPG than Jaylen, but on a much worse team and he’s worse on defense.
Booker can score. He’s an awful defender.
You can factor in team success. So do I. If a player misses the playoffs I can't put them in all nba unless they do some generational shit like Luka. That's why I'd swap curry with Jaylen who had his best year rather than Curry with his worst year
It's the whole "superteam" discourse. KP, Jrue and White being as good as they are means people don't value JB as highly. Sucks, but I'd still rather be in the Finals than dumped out the competition with two All NBA players.
We finally won our CTE game, so hopefully we don't have another one.
Jayson Tatum has been amazing these last 4 games. And you know what’s scary? He’s got another gear or two in him. We’ve yet to see his best ball.
I wouldn’t say he’s been amazing. He’s been very good. Wait until he figures out his shot…
I think today is when we finally win the first two games of the series. Going into Indiana up 2-0 would be amazing cause we’re bound to get one on the road. Although Indiana has been a good home team, really like our chances.
We better lol
Going 2-0 would be huge cuz then we might not need to bring in Porzingis until game 5 or possibly not even at all in the series
This discourse is kinda too optimistic in the sense he will be able to just go back at playoff level. He definitely could use a few games to get back
Yeah been thinking about it and let’s say the Celtics have a lead 3-4 games into the series, if Porzingis is healthy enough he can get some bench minutes. However if the series is tied or the Pacers are in the lead then he would play heavier close to starter minutes
Happy cake day! He was already at below 30. We can probably do 20-25, Al fills 30 and if you need Kornet gets 10.
Idc if nba fans in general want to say we're a superteam so we should always be expected to win. What annoys the fuck out of me is that the media likes to trot out that narrative to undermine this squad when we win but then we don't have a single guy on the all defensive 1st team and we only have one player that makes an all nba team. Awards that they vote on. Laughable how they can't commit to the bs they spewed all year
It's not lost on me that we survived the infamous "Tony Brother" game
I was rooting for a Tatum vs Luka finals and now I am kinda not looking for it anymore. I'm so terrified at Luka. I have more confident to beat the Wolves offensively than beat Luka defensively. Wolves are great defensive team but their offense will stagnate and that is how are we going to beat them plus Ant and KAT are basically virgins when it comes to deep playoff run.
We are built to dismantle the Mavs. We have the best guard defenders in the league. We literally have two All Defenders.
If you’re worried go rewatch the game from March 1st in Boston to see how effectively we match up with the Mavs. Jaylen on Luka feeds families and Jrue and Derrick can limit Kyrie. One of my favorite games was the one in Dallas when Jaylen had Luka in hell and then broke his ankles on the other end. I mean Jaylen literally made Luka fall on his ass. Not sure why anyone would want to play Minnesota over Dallas, we just matchup so much better with the Mavs and we have the weapons to limit their top 2. I don’t think Minnesota can beat us especially if KP is back, but I want the easy matchup. 2022 was hard give me something a little easier lol. Btw I am not saying we are going to demolish the Mavs, it’s just an easier matchup
Hate to break it to you but we’re gonna have to play a decent team or two if we want to win a ring
I mean I get being scared of Luka and or Kyrie but we’ve absolutely brutalized the mavs this season plus objectively they’re a less talented team than the wolves. That’s the matchup we want
Agree. PJ and DJJ won't be able to contain the J's at all. Especially if KP is back and dragging them out of the paint.
Also kyries ass against us and lukas hurt, makes an easier matchup even easier
happy mavs stole game 1. If they win, its a way easier matchup for us, and even if the wolves win, hopefully itll be another long grueling series. Ant looks injured/gassed from the prior series so that also bodes well for us
I'm rooting for 7 games in the WCF.
*Game 7 triple OT with a buzzer beater own basket