The Bucks, Heat and Sixers will have something to say about this, but this Boston team is on another level

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/celtics-vs-nets-jayson-tatum-all-world-defense-have-separated-boston-as-the-team-to-beat-in-the-east/



Celtics vs. Nets: Jayson Tatum, all-world defense have separated Boston as the team to beat in the East


The Bucks, Heat and Sixers will have something to say about this, but this Boston team is on another level
     
   
By Brad Botkin
Apr 24, 2022 at 9:43 am ET
•
4 min read








The Boston Celtics all but ended the Brooklyn Nets' season on Saturday with a 109-103 victory in Game 3 of their first-round series. No team in NBA history has ever recovered from a 3-0 deficit to win a series, and that's the predicament in which the Nets now find themselves. This one is over, and to this point, I'm not sure I've ever seen a more impressive first-round performance.

The Nets are a flawed team, no doubt. But this is still about as tough a first-round matchup as a 2-seed is ever going to see. We're talking about a fully healthy Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, and they can't get an inch of space against this Celtics defense.

Durant could only muster 11 shots on Saturday and is shooting 36 percent in the series with 17 turnovers. In isolation, Jayson Tatum is suffocating his space, and if Durant tries to put the ball on the floor there's a second defender, if not two of them, collapsing on him to deflect passes or force him to stop in his tracks, pivot all over, and look for a bailout. Frankly, it's all Durant can even do to receive a clean pass at the start of the possession in the first place.

The Nets are done now, but perhaps Steve Nash would've been smart to let Durant bring the ball up the court, or at least come for an early DHO, and initiate pick-and-roll when it was clear he couldn't get going in isolation Game 3; at least that would eliminate the fight to receive the pass and he would get some downhill momentum to get into his jumper instead of just catching on the wing or at the elbow with Tatum/Brown draped all over him, at which point he's having to attack from a standstill position with secondary defenders just waiting to pounce.


But listen, it's not that simple. There are no easy answers against this Boston defense. Durant has brought the ball up in this series and he's been harassed to death as soon as he crosses half court. I wouldn't be surprised if it's more Durant not wanting to dribble against this pressure than it is Nash not wanting to have him initiate. Rest assured, whatever the Nets do, Boston is going to adjust. Either way, it would not be an exaggeration to say this is as bottled up as Durant has ever been in a playoff series.

Irving, meanwhile, was 0-for-7 from 3 on Saturday and is 10-for-30 overall over the past two games of this series. The Celtics have decided not to let Durant beat them, but it's not as if everyone else, Irving or otherwise, is getting wide-open looks because of that attention.

Boston's defense hits the trifecta: It's littered with elite individual defenders in Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart who can, one on one, legitimately frustrate perhaps the best isolation scorer in history, it has the versatility and length to switch any and all actions, and it has the discipline and desire to rotate all over the place to cover the shooters that should theoretically be left open as a result of all the double teams.

The Celtics are everywhere.

This Boston defense has been one of the league's main talking points for a long time now, and yet it's still better than advertised. On top of that, Tatum is taking another leap. You can talk about the attention Durant is receiving, but it's not as if Tatum is being ignored yet he put up 39 points on Saturday and is averaging 29.6 for the series.

The Nets have forced Tatum to be a volume scorer (he needed 29 shots on Saturday), but the point is he's able to get those shots on his terms. It's what we've come to expect from Durant, who isn't supposed to be a guy who can be forced into being a passer over the course of an entire game, let alone most of a series.

Bottom line: Tatum and Brown outscored Durant and Irving 62-32 on Saturday. Of course, Boston's defense is a different animal than the Brooklyn defense that Tatum and Brown are facing; it's not apples to apples here.

But that's the point: The Celtics, both individually and collectively, are a two-way problem, and that's why I think we have to start calling them the favorite to come out of the East. I know the Bucks, Heat and Sixers are going to have something to say about that, but this Boston team is something else right now. With Robert Williams back, they are equipped to defend Giannis Antetokounmpo to whatever degree that is possible in a likely second-round matchup, and Khris Middleton very well might not play in that series.

There just isn't a weakness to be found on the Celtics right now. Dispatching of the Nets is now a formality, and Boston is clearly headed for bigger and brighter stages as these playoffs roll on.


Bob
MY NOTE:  Our defense in 2008 was elite but the stuff we're seeing now is as good.  #1 defense in 2008, top 10 offense, Championship.  #1 defense in 2022, #7 offense.  Anything is possible.


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Hi,
Thanks, Bobh. My only concern is the Celtics must keep grinding, no relaxation. It's not over until it's over.

AK

sinus007 wrote:Hi,
Thanks, Bobh. My only concern is the Celtics must keep grinding, no relaxation. It's not over until it's over.

AK

I have to admit that this team was tough to watch at times earlier in the season. But right now they are a MACHINE. I won't jinx them by prematurely predicting how this will turn out but they are an amazing team to watch.

you sound like me........I was alot cockier about the Nets series, I felt there was no way they could beat this team without a defense to go with those other two. I am worried about the bucks ...for one reason. Giannis. I have to say other than our guys, he is the one player I love to watch play. He is scary good. But, I am not saying they cannot be beat, especially with Middleton out.

Here are some additional reasons why we beat the Nets:
1. Our D held Kevin/Kyrie to 47 points per game. In the regular season those two averaged 57 points per game.

2. The Nets had a super team with KD, KI, Dinwiddie as a quality backup for KI, Caris Lavert to score, and Jared Allen to grab rebounds and defend. The Nets got greedy. They wanted to win on paper by trading valuable assets to get James Harden and make the Nets a Big three Super Team. What a failed experiment that was.

3. They wound up with Ben Simmons and lost to trades James Harden, Lavert, Dinwiddie, and Allen. Joe Harris was lost to injury. Seth was a good shooter but too small. Claxton had his moments but not at the free throw line. What did Simmons due for Brooklyn? Nothing on the floor. Nothing. Not one second of playing time. What did he do on the bench? He never cracked a smile on the bench when the Nets did anything good, He never shouted out any encouragement for his teammates. Then on Sunday he played a good practice session but complained afterwards that his back was getting a bit sore, so - his words - for mental reasons he did not want to suit up for Monday. He did not want to play at all. Ok. Mentally and physically perhaps he was not ready. Did he show up for the game? Did he offer support from the bench. No. He was not even in the arena for Game 4. He was the ultimate Debby Downer non-teammate.

4. Nets coach Nashing of teeth set up almost no plays for KD to get the ball running off the baseline or anywhere else. KD had to manufacture all his own shots. He got NO game planning help from Nash.

Steve sucks as a coach, whereas Ime is a real leader of men and a brilliant basketball mind.

worcester wrote:Here are some additional reasons why we beat the Nets:
1. Our D held Kevin/Kyrie to 47 points per game. In the regular season those two averaged 57 points per game.

2. The Nets had a super team with KD, KI, Dinwiddie as a quality backup for KI, Caris Lavert to score, and Jared Allen to grab rebounds and defend. The Nets got greedy. They wanted to win on paper by trading valuable assets to get James Harden and make the Nets a Big three Super Team. What a failed experiment that was.

3. They wound up with Ben Simmons and lost to trades James Harden, Lavert, Dinwiddie, and Allen. Joe Harris was lost to injury. Seth was a good shooter but too small. Claxton had his moments but not at the free throw line. What did Simmons due for Brooklyn? Nothing on the floor. Nothing. Not one second of playing time. What did he do on the bench? He never cracked a smile on the bench when the Nets did anything good, He never shouted out any encouragement for his teammates. Then on Sunday he played a good practice session but complained afterwards that his back was getting a bit sore, so  - his words - for mental reasons he did not want to suit up for Monday. He did not want to play at all. Ok. Mentally and physically perhaps he was not ready. Did he show up for the game? Did he offer support from the bench. No. He was not even in the arena for Game 4. He was the ultimate Debby Downer non-teammate.

4. Nets coach Nashing of teeth set up almost no plays for KD to get the ball running off the baseline or anywhere else. KD had to manufacture all his own shots. He got NO game planning help from Nash.

Steve sucks as a coach, whereas Ime is a real leader of men and a brilliant basketball mind.

Nash is a hair dyed Jason Garrett. Both think perpetual hand clapping and patting rumps wins chips.

Rosalie,

Remember who we just took out...the best player on the planet according to some and his useless sidekick (who BTW, will do the players a huge disservice in a couple of years with the ensuing new CBA.)

Now Giannis is probably pending. Insert Ric Flair.

"If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. WOOOOOOOOH!!"

Well, we took one giant leap toward that in Round 1. I'm dying to see Ime's plan for Giannis since his master plan of the first round blew us all away in a resounding sweep. MIL has a two-headed monster in Giannis and Middleton. A little more height with these two so it should be a pretty good matchup. Sweep? Probably not but only one team has a shot at that after G1. And since MIL dodged the BKN bullet by folding up like a cheap suit, they will pay for homecourt advantage. We will not be giving that up and if we do lose one game at home we will win it back in MIL as soon as it is humanly possible.

Remember what the players and Ime have stated publicly..."WE FEAR NO ONE." If I were MIL, I'd feel a little sheepish in what they pulled off by going for CHI instead of BKN and giving up homecourt in the 2nd round. It turned out to be the wrong move and they will pay for that by being bounced in the 2nd round.

db

Greek Easter was Sunday, and a traditional dish is Magiritsa -eaten in most Greek homes that day. It contains Lamb head, neck, and intestines and is not for the faint of stomach. If Giannis had any, he may be under the weather for a week or two.

https://www.mygreekdish.com/recipe/traditional-magiritsa-recipe-greek-easter-soup/

worcester wrote:Greek Easter was Sunday, and a traditional dish is Magiritsa -eaten in most Greek homes that day. It contains Lamb head, neck, and intestines and is not for the faint of stomach. If Giannis had any, he may be under the weather for a week or two.

https://www.mygreekdish.com/recipe/traditional-magiritsa-recipe-greek-easter-soup/

Couldn't we just go straight for the moussaka. follow that with some baklava, and chase it all down with some ouzo or raki?

Would that get us safely around the lamb head?

That's what I'd do NY Celt. Anything to avoid the lamb's head - which by the way contains the prions which lead to Jacob-Kreuzfeld disease!

Baron, My family is Greek too. 100%. My sister married an Anglo and brought him to our family's home outside of Athens for Easter, where in the back yard they had roasted a whole lamb on a spit. My brother-in-law protested when served the lamb (which still had some fur on it I might add) saying he was a vegetarian. He doesn't eat meat.

My cousin said, "It's not meat. It's lamb!"

The look on your mom's face must have been priceless.

Crete is my favorite place in the world. Been there 11 times. Bob H went in September, a trip I chickened out on because of Covid restrictions.