Post Game Thread - 2nd Round Playoffs, Game 4 vs Raptors

[bobheckler]

The worst game from Jaylen I've seen in a long, long, long time (if ever).  4-18, 2-11 from 3.  They weren't dropping, kid, try something else.  Siakam figured him out on defense too.  I hate to say this but Brown almost singlehandedly lost this game for us.  Jaylen took full responsibility for Anunoby's miracle 3 the game before, did that sink into his consciousness?  Flush it, and this game too, and start fresh on Monday.

Smart was 2-8, 1-6 from 3 and 3-5 from the line.  He went from being deadly to just plain dead.  5 turnovers including some really poor decisions.

Put together that means our starting back court was a combined 6-26, 23%.  Furthermore, 26 fgas represent almost 35% of our total, anemic, 75 fgas.  The fact that we lost by only 7 points when over 1/3 of our total fgas were at such a low % is amazing.

Semi outplayed Jaylen on offense and defense.

We shot 20% from 3, as a team.  Clearly not even close to our normal fg%.  Just curious but I can't help but think that Brad could have gone rogue last night and put Carsen in.  They have a short back court, so he wouldn't be physically overwhelmed and if Carsen sees one go through the twine that can turn it all around.

Kemba took 9 fgas, total.  That is half of what he should be taking.  We kept coming over half court and getting the ball to Tatum for his one-on-one stuff.  Sometimes it worked and sometimes he was pushing it too hard, but what about setting some picks for Kemba?  He was in "floor general" mode last night, with 8 assists.  Kemba needs more shots.  Period.

Well, it's a war again.  I thought the J's played their age yesterday, and they're only 22 and 23.  I think Lowry has been playing his age too the last 2 games and he's 34.  The J's have to start playing like they are older than they really are.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401240079


bob


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[dboss]

The Raptors went 17-44  38.6% from deep and we launched a lot of bricks, going 7-35  (20%).

This has been our season in a nutshell.  When we shoot the 3 ball poorly and the opponent makes theirs, we lose.

While our defense was not splendid we did hold them to 100 points which is a good thing but our closeouts were not close enough.
 
The one thing that I found aggravating was how the refs let them beat up on Tatum.  They were hammering him all night long.  Multiple fouls per possession.
 
The biggest issue with Boston is not just their 3 point shooting, it is their pace.  They only managed to put up 75 shots.  We are playing too damn slow.  We need to get up and down in transition.
 
Brad Stevens needs to play RW more.  In our first 2 wins he played 19 and 18 minutes and in our two losses he played 14 and 15 minutes.  We need a guy who can go up there and grab a rebound.  RW is shooting 81% from the field but the Celtics do not seem to know how to run plays to open up things for him.
 
The Celtics are a frustrated bunch right now but they need to settle down and have the discipline to execute their offense against the multiple defensive schemes that the Raptors are running.  And when your jumper is not working get to the rim.

[dboss]

I would like to see more help defense. We need to mix it up too.

[dbrown4]

I was hoping the Celtics would come out and take care of business in G4. They did not. Clearly the gut punch of G3 was still lingering.

Well, time to address the potential last three games and how this could play out.

Let's address the most grim first. If TOR wins G5, we can start packing. We're not stopping them and N-Squared has earned his COY. I've said this before in these playoffs. Things have not changed for TOR, their playoffs are going EXACTLY like they did last year. At some point, though, the Grim Reaper tapping them on their shoulder will get their attention and they will realize they have no KL. Someone is going to tell them that this season and they will come crashing down. It may or may not be us. You can thank the COY for carrying them this far.
Obviously we'd like it to be us that makes them realize this isn't their year.

BOS, after winning only one more game than last season in the playoffs is now teetering on the brink of looking EXACTLY like last year's team. WOW! Let that sink in for a moment. Two completely different teams. And the latter team being a significant improvement over last year's version.

If we don't get it together soon, and I mean by Monday, we really may have to take a long look at our beloved coach. It really does come down to Monday. If improving each successive playoff season with just one more win is in the cards, it might be time to cut bait. It iwll take us 8 years to win the Finals. I know to even type that is sickening, but we all know how the playoffs and NBA work. They expose all the weaknesses. Brad is a great coach. N-Squared has shown us his receiving the COY was no joke and if he turns around and wins the next two, Brad may have been justified in receiving his lone 2nd Place vote. Now Brad is in the dog fight of his life.

Next year in the East, will look a little different. MIL will probably be sans Giannis but have him possibly pop up in MIA or TOR or BKN. MIL will return to their familiar surroundings...NBA Door Mat. Things won't be any easier for BOS getting out of the East to the Finals next year.

Now for the great news. TOR has played out of their brains the last two games. One was lucky, the other they just beat us down the stretch. We're are still the superior team. And the "secret" coaching battle still is up in the air. At some point it will catch up with TOR. Next season, BOS is going to have to shed the "nice guy" image they portray on the court and like Kobe describes in Kobe Bryant's Muse on Showtime, the Celtics (in 2008) were just nastier and better at it than we were. (BTW, I HIGHLY recommend you taking an hour and half to watch that one. Well worth your time. But I digress.)

Now for the better news. Even though there is no home court, all the games have gone opposite to their "home court". If BOS and TOR keep that up, we win in 7.

Now for the good news. Our backs are up against the wall. We have let them back in the contest. This series should be over but it isn't. Winning this series will definitely toughen us up for what lies ahead in the now cocky MIA unless MIL can pull their head out of their asses and be the first team to pull off the never been done before. In Baseball, BOS came back from down 3-0 to the Yankees. Whoever beat #1 Seed Virginia in College Basketball NCAA Tournament in the first round did the impossible. MIL can do it. It will happen. Statistically it will happen. No better team deserves it than the Bucks. It will remove them from the mediocre list. Because once Giannis is gone with a sweep or gentlemen's sweep, MIL will be back in its familiar confines of mediocre to subpar NBA franchise.

But I'm afraid over the last few days it has gone from Holy Crap we're smokin' through the bubble to #18! to HOLY CRAP, we're about to be back-doored!! It is down to one game. TOR wins and our backs are broken. We win and we still stand a chance.

db

[kdp59]

Bucks 'aint winning nothing, Butler and the Heat have ripped out any heart they still had beating in their heartless teams chests.

Brad just signed an extension, we better get used to him being here a long time (not saying it good or bad, just is).

Nurse had out coached him this series to date for sure though.

Maybe Toronto is the better team this year after all.

[cowens/oldschool]

I still can’t believe he had the team in a zone with 0.5 seconds left, how idiotic.....it carried over, team was tight and the other team was scrambling, fighting for their life. Tatum better get stronger, this is playoff ball and now they are not letting him use off arm. Jaylen has to go back to attacking the rim first. Play RWill 25 minutes and see what happens.

[RosalieTCeltics]

How do you call it being "outcoached" when three of your starters are missing long range shots and the fourth was not getting the ball enough to even try to find a rhythm? This is on the players, who on the bench was going to bail them out of this mess??? This game was just a nightmare, and even then, if they had hit half of those shots they missed they could have won this game.

It amazes me how the ref''s allow the bitching and moaning they do from Toronto, night in and night out. Tatum and Walker were getting beaten up and it was just ignored for the most part until they were forced every now and then to call it. I am not saying this is what lost the game for them, The Celtics are responsible for losing this one. I know Bob feels that Jaylen was the one who should bear the brunt of this loss, but his teammates were not any help here.
Smart and Walker played hard the whole night, but they just were not able to carry this team. Let's face it, this team wins together and loses together. No one man lost that game for them.

This is a game where Hayward would have been an advantage driving to the basket and distributing the ball much better than it was last night. But that is a moot point. On to Monday and a much better game hopefully

[bobheckler]

Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
yesterday
Jaylen Brown took more shots in the fourth quarter (9) than the rest of the Celtics roster combined (eight) in the fourth quarter of Game 4


bob


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[Ktron]

Bucks 'aint winning nothing, Butler and the Heat have ripped out any heart they still had beating in their heartless teams chests.

Brad just signed an extension,  we better get used to him being here a long time (not saying it good or bad, just is).

Nurse had out coached him this series to date for sure though.

Maybe Toronto is the better team this year after all.

I don’t agree that Nurse has out coached Brad this entire series. IMHO, one game (Saturday) does not make a series..
When THIS series is over, we will be able to say who out coached who (trite as it may be).

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