Celtics at Nuggets Away

This game was over in the middle of the 2nd, we made Jokic look mortal. He couldn’t get away from our defense, couldn’t score at all with multiple defenders on him down low. Pack of wolves defense swarming, Jokic reminded me of an old Joe Louis quote “He can run, but he can’t hide” leading to unstoppable good easy looks on offense, all from the defense. That 2nd quarter might be the most dominant stretch of dominant stretches during this streak. Pritch 9-9 FG last 2 games, defense is so busy trying to keep up with J’s putting on dunking and soaring finishing clinics, they can’t find Pritch playing hide and seek and burying wide open looks. Some majestic highlight finishes by 2 J’s, 2nd game in a row of both going for 30. Ime has really figured out how to put them in best positions to get easy quick looks bam and great finishes or boom move the ball. So many great options and quick hits on wide open shots. This is by far the most potent team and stretch I’ve ever seen in the 2 J’s era. Amazing dominant performance, reminded of best of the Bird era, yeah I said it. Never seen the J’s score so easily and majestically.

More good news Sixers lost to Raptors, we are tied for 3rd place and suddenly Embid and Harden look rather pedestrian. Giannis is having knee issues, Heat don’t scare me, we are faster and more athletic at every position. We just wore out a team, actually ran roughshod over them in an altitude that is supposed to be so difficult for visitors. Ime has taken this team so far in such a short amount of time, amazing turnaround, are we on the cover of Sports Illustrated yet?

I don’t think the media is giving us enough credit. Where’s all those morons like even Perk, who were saying oh yeah it’s been proven 2 J’s can’t play together…???

Preaching to the choir on the media, cowens/oldschool.  Preaching to the choir.  We need Ktron's perspective on this.  

At least IMHBAO, it appears the sports media picks the two teams in the Finals before the season starts.  This year those two teams were obviously LAL and BKN for all the right reasons.  Then they pick a potential team or two, usually one from each conference that has a snowballs chance of knocking those two off their predetermined pedestal(s).  I say team or two because this year, it was also obvious one of those teams was PHI...again, for all the right reasons.  PHX could be the other but for some reason whether it be they play in the desert, or the games are on too late...whatever PHX gets some cursory attention but not to the degree PHI gets it.  

Now the next step is rather fascinating.  As the season progresses and it begins to look painfully obvious that either one or both the Chosen One teams ain't going to make those predestined Finals or maybe not even make the playoffs at all, instead of jumping ship and covering those teams making a move, the NBA sports media world doubles, triples and quadruples down on their original bets.  

It's rather ingenious the more I think about it because let's take the Lakers.  The media clearly hasn't stopped any ink on them despite the Lakers literally teetering on the edge of not even making the play-in.  The Lakers have created their own train wreck.  And we know how this season will end for them and the nuclear option that will follow just like it did for us last season.  We know how everyone loves a wreck in NASCAR.  NBA is the same way.

All the rest of the contenders, MIA, MIL, BOS, Grizzlies, GSW, etc. are all relegated to the kiddie table until all of those teams predestined teams are completely out of the playoffs. Then and only then, does the press begin it's painful transition to those teams that are left.  

I like watching First Take and will record it on various occasions.  I think I will record it this morning just to see how Stephen A. comes at the Celtics again.  He's not the problem.  It's how he parses his questions.  Nothing wrong with that either.  He runs a very tight show with his voice and his opinions, probably so he doesn't have to backtrack.  One of the more recent questions a week or so back was something like "Are the Celtics the best team in the league/most likely to with the East..RIGHT NOW?  He worded the question that way because he's still in the tank for LAL vs. BKN.  Well at least BKN until they are fully loaded.  

How am I doing, Ktron?  Am I in the ballpark?  I'll come back and talk more about the game later.  Just wanted to address cowens/oldschool and I know Ktron's has and will give us his take on all this. Thanks, guys and gal!  

db

I didn't watch the game, I was at an Irish wake for a dear friend of mine all day and way too far into the night.

Jaylen with 25 second half points, 23 in the 3rd quarter.  The Celtics scored 30 points in the 3rd quarter total.

The Js with 30 each.  That is the second time in a row they scored 30 each, only the 2nd time that has been done in Celtic history (Bird and McHale, January 6-8, 1988, 34 years ago) and the 6th time this season they did it and that is two more than any other Celtic duo in franchise history.  So much for "trade one of them, they can't play together".  This is why even-tempered people like Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens are NBA GMs and numbnut sportswriters aren't.







John Karalis @John_Karalis
about 7 hours ago
This win gives Boston the exact same record vs above .500 teams as they have vs. below .500 teams: 22-14

Imagine our record if we had our shite together earlier in the season and didn't lose those games to bottom feeders like Detroit etal.

Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
about 7 hours ago
With three straight 20-point road wins (something they only did twice all last year), the Celtics now have a better scoring differential than the 2020 team, 3rd best in the franchise's last 35 years. pic.twitter.com/3pT9UTh7cF





Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP
No shortage of insane numbers, but not only have do the Celtics have the 2nd best road scoring margin in franchise history (2008), it's now the best an Eastern Conference team has posted in the last decade.




Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
about 8 hours ago
Only six Celtics (Havlicek, Pierce, Bird, Thomas, McHale, Jones) have ever scored 2,000 points in a season. With his back-to-back 30-point games, and if he plays in the final 10 games, Jayson Tatum would only need to average 17.3 ppg to become the 7th.

Pretty flipping good company for a kid who is barely 24.


Grant Williams is saying he wants to be called 'Batman', because he helped slow down The Joker.  

Mark Murphy @Murf56
yesterday
Grant Williams told Jaylen Brown that after guarding Jokic tonight, he wants to be called Batman. Jayson Tatum, after a long pause when told the story, said, "Grant played great tonight. But I'm going to call him Grant, not no damned Batman."

Everybody's a comedian when you're winning.







Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
yesterday
Jaylen Brown: "I think I can still play a lot better."

How scary for the league is that?!


Mark Murphy @Murf56
yesterday
Payton Pritchard, 5-5 from three tonight, has shot 9-9 from that range over his last two games, and 11-15 on this road trip.

Pritchard is shooting 50% from 3 since the All-Star break.

This is the 9th road game we've won by 20+ points this season.  That is a Boston Celtic franchise record.


https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401360887




Bob


.

Bob H,

Sorry to hear about your friend.

Regards

Almost too much to believe this is the same team from November and December.

Handing out beat-downs is a new Celtic hobby.

I think a lot has to do with the shortened rotation and having the right players in the right spots. A healthy RWIII has been a major plus and a difference maker. Good candidate for DPOY if it's not Marcus Smart. T believe RWIII's inside scoring was also what was needed to open it up for the outside shooting game.

That makes it 11 out of last 12 in road wins.

The final piece of the puzzle is coming into view.  That piece is productivity from our bench.  That has really been my only concern even after it became evident that this team was legit.  

Ime is making all the right moves.  Slowly but surely, PP and Daniel Theis are being integrating into a rotation that is a solid 9 man deep.  We needed another shooter off the bench and it certainly appears that PP is that guy.  It changes everything because our starting unit is rock solid.

The level with which Boston is blowing teams off the court on the road is special.  

The sports media has not caught up yet.  

That's ok because us Celtics fans will go it alone.  We do not need the acknowledgement of the ESPN's of the world.  Don't woke em', let em' slept.

This team has another gear or two that has not been activated.  

This road trip has given us more than we could ever hope for.   It has served to confirm that this team is, without a doubt, an absolute contender.

NYCelt wrote:Almost too much to believe this is the same team from November and December.

Handing out beat-downs is a new Celtic hobby.

I think a lot has to do with the shortened rotation and having the right players in the right spots. A healthy RWIII has been a major plus and a difference maker. Good candidate for DPOY if it's not Marcus Smart. T believe RWIII's inside scoring was also what was needed to open it up for the outside shooting game.

So many options on offense, Timelord on lobs, 2 J’s going downhill or simply hitting midrange, now have Jaylen cutting down lane without the ball, receiving ball a step from rim and PP’s 3 point shooting while your trying to stop all the other stuff. There’s a lot more than those….we are picking apart the zone now.

The transition has been mind-blowing. Historic. From Hysterical to Historic. I'm beginning to get the feeling we will draw BKN. But the good news is, I'm starting to want it vs. any other 1st Round matchup. I know, I need help. But then, the reason I want that matchup is so we can sweep them, with or without BS. And thus send a message for next year as well. Bust it up like db said to do last year and save yourself the embarrassment in coming years because as BKN is currently constructed, you will never get past Boston.

db

db

Boston has no control over who they match up with.  They just need to keep winning.  They fear no team.    Brooklyn would be a tough matchup in the first round but there is really no way to jury rig our seeding to avoid playing them.  I certainly do not expect us to tank any games to bypass a matchup with any team.  

We are playing so well right now and as I have been predicting we have a legit shot at the #2, #3 seed.

The Nets could easily fall out of #8 before the end of the season and if that happens the best that they can do is finish as the 8th seed.  The Heat are rock solid and I do not see the Celtics catching them unless we run the table and they finish 7-4.  That would put the Celtics at #1

The odds of that playing out are long.  The odds of us catching the Sixers and or the Bucks are short.  Getting the 3rd or 4th seed just about guarantees no first round vs the Nets.

Everybody has tough games left on their schedule.  The Nets are only 1 game ahead of Charlotte in the loss column and 2 up on Atlanta.

I have full confidence that the Celtics can beat any and all competition. This team has good karma.

Yep. You can look at them and tell. It's an intangible that I saw with 2007-08 team and all of the 80's teams. They are having fun. Very few teams get to experience that. My mom loved teaching piano to K-12 kids when she was able.

The Celtics look like they have shed a ton of crap off their shoulders and are playing very tight defensively yet at the same time very loose. They don't get rattled when a team runs off 10 points against them like last night. They know it's all a game of runs.

You can see the effects of what our suffocating defense does to teams later in the game. Their legs are gone. Not just gone. Completely shot. And yet we're somehow fresh as daisies with an 8-man or less playoff style rotation. This is what will happen to KD and Kryrie no matter how good they shoot. It certainly will happen to PHI. They may actually implode with no depth.

db

NYCelt wrote:Bob H,

Sorry to hear about your friend.

Regards

Thanks. His nickname was "The Shepherd" because he was such a bright light he drew people to him.


Bob


.

NYCelt wrote:

I think a lot has to do with the shortened rotation and having the right players in the right spots. A healthy RWIII has been a major plus and a difference maker.

Yes, the rotation, we finally got healthy, and the Celtics and Ime learning each other.

cowens/oldschool wrote:I don’t think the media is giving us enough credit. Where’s all those morons like even Perk, who were saying oh yeah it’s been proven 2 J’s can’t play together…???

Most are peddling backwards on that claim. But if we are being honest, the 2 J’s did look horrendous at the beginning of the season and it did look like it may not work. Welp, looks like they can play together, at a very high level and WIN!

If I didn't know any better by Doc pulling Embiid and Harden tonight vs. Heat,it would appear PHI is trying to avoid BKN in the first round. I'm just sayin'. Barring anything unforetold, looks like we move up to 3rd tonight if we behave.

db

dbrown4 wrote:Preaching to the choir on the media, cowens/oldschool.  Preaching to the choir.  We need Ktron's perspective on this.  

At least IMHBAO, it appears the sports media picks the two teams in the Finals before the season starts.  This year those two teams were obviously LAL and BKN for all the right reasons.  Then they pick a potential team or two, usually one from each conference that has a snowballs chance of knocking those two off their predetermined pedestal(s).  I say team or two because this year, it was also obvious one of those teams was PHI...again, for all the right reasons.  PHX could be the other but for some reason whether it be they play in the desert, or the games are on too late...whatever PHX gets some cursory attention but not to the degree PHI gets it.  

Now the next step is rather fascinating.  As the season progresses and it begins to look painfully obvious that either one or both the Chosen One teams ain't going to make those predestined Finals or maybe not even make the playoffs at all, instead of jumping ship and covering those teams making a move, the NBA sports media world doubles, triples and quadruples down on their original bets.  

It's rather ingenious the more I think about it because let's take the Lakers.  The media clearly hasn't stopped any ink on them despite the Lakers literally teetering on the edge of not even making the play-in.  The Lakers have created their own train wreck.  And we know how this season will end for them and the nuclear option that will follow just like it did for us last season.  We know how everyone loves a wreck in NASCAR.  NBA is the same way.

All the rest of the contenders, MIA, MIL, BOS, Grizzlies, GSW, etc. are all relegated to the kiddie table until all of those teams predestined teams are completely out of the playoffs.  Then and only then, does the press begin it's painful transition to those teams that are left.    

I like watching First Take and will record it on various occasions.  I think I will record it this morning just to see how Stephen A. comes at the Celtics again.  He's not the problem.  It's how he parses his questions.  Nothing wrong with that either.  He runs a very tight show with his voice and his opinions, probably so he doesn't have to backtrack.  One of the more recent questions a week or so back was something like "Are the Celtics the best team in the league/most likely to with the East..RIGHT NOW?  He worded the question that way because he's still in the tank for LAL vs. BKN.  Well at least BKN until they are fully loaded.  

How am I doing, Ktron?  Am I in the ballpark?  I'll come back and talk more about the game later.  Just wanted to address cowens/oldschool and I know Ktron's has and will give us his take on all this.  Thanks, guys and gal!  

db

Most of the folks in sports media are front runners and don't really know a whole lot about the game. Their band wagon jumpers swaying back and forth and back again. Thats why I’m not mad at seeing and hearing more and more ex-players getting these gigs. They know the game. Unfortunately some of them too get caught up and and front run as well. They get to hear the Executives and producers in their ear encouraging them to dish out controversial and hot takes (Think Paul Peirce and Jay Williams) because clicks and ratings points = cash money.
The also have to find things to talk about which is why we are bombarded with meaningless stats. Not trying to diminish their importance but when’s the last time or better yet the first time you’ve heard plus minus, defensive ratings etc discusssed in barber shops or bars? Then there’s the constant who belongs on Mt. Rushmore, who’s the MVP. Who’s coach of the year? (You will get some of that at the barber shop) But that insane banter commences 10 games into the season. They’ve got to fill time. Ever watch the NBA channel or listen to NBA radio on Sirius XM? They’re both insanely dishing out D level content that the average fan could care less about. Talking NBA basketball 24/7 during the season is a tough task. There’s a lot to talk about but how much of it resonates with the listeners/viewers. During the off season its even worse. Bottom line is they have to find something to talk about and a great deal of it is either of very little interest to the fans or BS banter over trades and light weight rumors. I have a lot of respect for some of the athletes that make the transition to media and do well at it. Fans can relate to the ex-athlete because they know the game and discourse on a level that the fan will understand.
It may sound like double talk here but the attempt at “Players only” broadcasts has fallen flat on its face. Not because the players don't know what they’re talking about. Its because they’re not broadcast professionals and the end results are the 2-3 in the booth talking way too much and talking over each other. Gawd, its a mess and doesn't work. TNT’s show is the best on TV but what would it be if Ernie wasn’t playing QB? Ewwww
BTW, its Scal and Perk tonight by their lonesome. No Mike. No Grande. Perk can be entertaining but 3 hrs of Perk hitched to stoop Scalabrine spells disaster. Okay, I’ll shut up now.

dbrown4 wrote:If I didn't know any better by Doc pulling Embiid and Harden tonight vs. Heat,it would appear PHI is trying to avoid BKN in the first round.  I'm just sayin'.  Barring anything unforetold, looks like we move up to 3rd tonight if we behave.  

db

That could backfire on the good DR.

Thank you, Ktron, for the media response post.  Makes perfect sense.  Yeah, TNT has something special.  The only problem is Shaq's voice is so low or resonates in such a way that it is very difficult to hear him.  Or TNT audio delivery sucks.  Can they fix that?  I'm sure I'm not the first one to observe that.  Because what he says is priceless.  All the time.  I want to hear it without having to guess all the time.  Of course, my hearing could suck!  AT least that's what my wife keeps saying!!  

Most times I watch TNT, I'm ROTFLMAO!  Those guys know each other so well and how to push each other's buttons.  Great show and always very informative.  

Actually, I'm glad Doc did pull those two last night.  He got to see the writing on the wall! Now he's thinking, "Oh Crap!!  There's no way we're getting to the ECF much less the Finals!!!  Not with Harden!!!"  Go ahead and light that bag o' pooh on your front porch, Doc!!  And go get Harden's horse ready for his ride (more like gallop) out of town.  He'll appreciate the head start.  This is too easy.    

Dang it, I love this!!

db

So speaking of First Take, we got Stephen A’s endorsement to come out of the East, he has us as one of 3 favorites coming out of East us, Bucks and Heat. Loves our defense, called Udoka one of the top 2 candidates for the CoY. Also said he didn’t see this coming….but has to go by what he has seen!! JJ Reddick didn’t see us as a top team, said playoff ball is different, but Steven A pointed out when it slows down in the playoffs, that will make our defense better, make us a tougher match up, because of our defense.

dbrown4 wrote:Thank you, Ktron, for the media response post.  Makes perfect sense.  Yeah, TNT has something special.  The only problem is Shaq's voice is so low or resonates in such a way that it is very difficult to hear him.  Or TNT audio delivery sucks.  Can they fix that?  I'm sure I'm not the first one to observe that.  Because what he says is priceless.  All the time.  I want to hear it without having to guess all the time.  Of course, my hearing could suck!  AT least that's what my wife keeps saying!!  

Most times I watch TNT, I'm ROTFLMAO!  Those guys know each other so well and how to push each other's buttons.  Great show and always very informative.  

Actually, I'm glad Doc did pull those two last night.  He got to see the writing on the wall!  Now he's thinking, "Oh Crap!!  There's no way we're getting to the ECF much less the Finals!!!  Not with Harden!!!"  Go ahead and light that bag o' pooh on your front porch, Doc!!  And go get Harden's horse ready for his ride (more like gallop) out of town.  He'll appreciate the head start.  This is too easy.    

Dang it, I love this!!

db

DB, Agree. The TNT Pre, halftime and post game shows are by far the best thing on TV. I hear ya (pun intended) concerning Shaq. He’s always talked that way and sometime you have to listen hard. I really don't think he adds very much to the show. My own personal opinion. I thought they were fine with the 3 of them. I get it though, Shaq is very popular.
One of the things that makes that show so great is that Ernie is the only one that sits in the pre show production meetings. They keep the other 3 out because they want the spontaneity. The guys don't actually know what the show rundown is until right before air. Their Producer is the best and takes no crap from them when they get out of hand or don’t return his calls in a timely manner. Their entire team is so creative. I just love it. The so-called “World Wide Leader” ESPEE pales in comparison.

Interesting about pre-show prep with Ernie, Ktron. Didn't know that. When you look back, it makes total sense. And it really makes that show go with the spontaneity. Shaqtin' The Fool, Kenny's Big Screen and Ernie's Neato Stat o' the Night Presented By No One have become staples with no end in sight or need of replacement. I find myself watching their show just for those segments and the rude banter in the middle! Somebody's always busting somebody's chops or comparing championship rings to Charles'. They are just having fun!

db

dbrown4 wrote:Interesting about pre-show prep with Ernie, Ktron.  Didn't know that.  When you look back, it makes total sense.  And it really makes that show go with the spontaneity.  Shaqtin' The Fool, Kenny's Big Screen and Ernie's Neato Stat o' the Night Presented By No One have become staples with no end in sight or need of replacement.  I find myself watching their show just for those segments and the rude banter in the middle!  Somebody's always busting somebody's chops or comparing championship rings to Charles'.  They are just having fun!

db      

It really is one hell of a show. There are some true geniuses working for Turner. BTW, they’ve already signed Draymond Green which is another solid move.