PLAYOFF 2023 - POST GAME PHILLY 76'ERS GAME #7 - HOME

Celtics Wrap: Jayson Tatum Torches 76ers, Leads Boston To Game 7 Win
Tatum took over the must-win game

NESN by Greg Dudek

BOSTON — The Boston Celtics didn’t have to sweat things out Sunday, cruising to an 112-88 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in the winner-take-all Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at TD Garden.

With the win, the Celtics take the series 4-3 and eliminate the rival 76ers from the postseason.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
This is what Celtics fans were waiting for from Jayson Tatum.

Tatum hadn’t been at his best through the first six games in the series against the 76ers. But with the lights at their brightest, Tatum erased plenty of those memories and turned in a star-studded effort for the Celtics.

Despite his struggles, Tatum showed no apprehension on the big stage with the pressure magnified. He took eight shots in the first quarter alone — he attempted 10 total in the first half in Game 6 — and that aggressiveness fueled him to the point that he and the Celtics completely took over in the third quarter. Tatum scored 13 of Boston’s 18 points in the quarter as the Celtics outscored the 76ers, 33-10, in the stanza to turn a 3-point halftime advantage into an 88-62 lead entering the final frame.

Tatum now owns the Celtics franchise record for most points in a Game 7. It was a memorable performance for Tatum and it really couldn’t have come at a better time.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Tatum torched the 76ers for a game-high 51 points on 17-for-28 shooting, including knocking down 6-of-10 3-pointers. He also accumulated 13 rebounds and five assists in the dominant performance.

— Jaylen Brown turned in a strong running-mate showing alongside Tatum. Brown netted 25 points on 9-for-19 shooting while also tallying six rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

— Al Horford had a very modest offensive output with just six points but his defense on 76ers star and NBA MVP Joel Embiid was paramount to the the win. Embiid shot just 5-for-18 from the floor for 15 points to go along with four turnovers as Horford finished with three blocks.

WAGER WATCH
Horford missed all of his 3-point attempts the previous two games, but found his long-range shot at the right time. FanDuel Sportsbook set Horford’s over/under on made 3-pointers at 1.5 with -142 odds on the Over. Horford knocked down two triples in the first half, as a $100 wager on the prop bet would have netted a total of $170.42.

UP NEXT
The Celtics will appear in the Eastern Conference finals for the fifth time in the last seven seasons, where the Miami Heat await them. The first game of the series, which is a rematch of last year’s conference finals, is scheduled for Wednesday with tipoff from TD Garden scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET.

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TATUM DOES NOT DISAPPOINT!

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Good that we have two days to prepare for Miami. A one day prep does not seem enough to recalibrate the system. I don’t think that we will be underprepared for Game 1 as we were in this series.

James Wood, as attorney Eddy Dodd, in "True Believer".



This was a great fight by the Celtics, not so much for the Sixers.

I was underwhelmed by our 1st quarter.  They ran on us and scored fairly easily.  We shot 36% and 33% from 3.  Philly was 50% and 44% from 3.  Jaylen was 2-7 and PJ Tucker was tied with Tatum for high scorer after 1 @ 11 points.  I was thinking to myself "Oh Lord, wait until Harden and Embiid start their 2-man game".

A 33-10 3rd quarter.  Wow.  It was tied 55-55 with 11:37 in the 3rd, it was only a 4 point lead at 59-55 with 9:28 left in the 3rd, and then it started to go downhill fast for Philly.  They went 3-21 in the 3rd, 2-13 from 3 in that quarter.  

3rd quarter comparison:

Team.........FG%.....3pt FG%.....Turnovers.....Steals
Boston-----56.0-----66.0---------0-------------0
Philly-------14.3-----15.4---------5-------------0

Can you imagine the frustration of the Sixer fans watching their team shoot 1-for-7 from the floor in the 3rd quarter?  They're not particularly calm and forgiving in the first place.

I really like that we only lost the irrelevant garbage time 4th quarter by only 2 points, and that didn't happen until after Joe sat down the starters.

Al with magnificent man-to-man defense on the MVP.  Really, really good stuff.  Not a lot of scoring from Al but 10 rebounds and 3 blocks and just smothered Joel Embiid in that backbreaking 3rd.  A lot of non-boxscore contributions from the OG.  Embiid went 0-4 in the 3rd.  Al had 2 of his 3 blocks in the 3rd, at least one on Embiid from inside the paint.  

Jay King @ByJayKing
1 hour ago
Al Horford said Joe Mazzulla put together a good plan to put the Celtics in position to switch up coverages against Embiid and slow the 76ers down.


Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
about 1 hour ago
Joe Mazzulla was being asked about an angry timeout and he interjected when @ByJayKing said it looked like he wasn't telling his team that he loved them. "Love can look a lot of different ways."

Joe, effectively, only played 7 players today.  5 bench players played a combined 13 minutes of garbage time.  13 minutes out of a total game of 240.  The other 227 were divided between those 7.  Now that is a short bench.

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
about 1 hour ago
Joe Mazzulla's celebration plans for tonight: "Go home and have a glass of wine and start watching tape on Miami."

OK, I'm ready to give Joe some credit here.  Let's see some more of that kind of love, because they responded well.  Enjoy your wine, Joe, you earned it.


Jaylen with 25, but also some really good defense on Harden with help from Smart.  Harden was 1-2 and 2 turnovers in the 3rd while only delivering ZERO assists.  Both of Philly's superstars were shut down in the 3rd.  Jaylen had 6 points in the 3rd.  He, singlehandedly, outscored Embiid and Harden combined, 6-3.  He was 2-7 after one, but ended up 9-19.  That's 7-12 in the last 3 quarters.  It seems like Jaylen usually starts off hot, and Tatum not, but even when Jaylen starts out cold he straightens himself out by the end of the game.

Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
about 31 minutes ago
Jaylen Brown praises Garden Game 7 crowd: “We felt you guys tonight.”

Boston Celtics @celtics
about 37 minutes ago
Jaylen Brown: "I called the Garden out last game, and way to respond. The energy was through the roof. It was amazing … It was a great basketball environment.”


Tatum with 25 at the half, 42 after 3, a 17 point quarter.  In addition to his 51 points he had 13 rebounds, 5 assists and zero turnovers.  That is perfection.  We've all wondered if Tatum shrinks in the playoffs, he sure did last year, but this game has to give us pause.  This was one of the biggest, most pressure-packed games of his career and he completely dominated.

Gary Washburn @GwashburnGlobe
about 19 minutes ago
Jayson Tatum on Boston: "I love being here. I love putting on this uniform. I love playing in front of this crowd."

And, of course, he said made sure everybody remembers he's a Momma's boy.







Everybody knows I love Marcus Smart, but watching him boxing out 7', 280# Joel Embiid under the boards just made my Celtic heart glow.

Souichi Terada @SouichiTerada
about 1 hour ago
Marcus Smart gave Daniel Theis a big hug coming off the court.

It's great that Theis came here for this game and to support his old teammates.  


Game 1 vs Miami is on Wednesday, so we have 3 days off (a little bit more than 3, actually, since this game was a matinee and the next game starts at a more normal time).

8 down, 8 to go.  We're still only halfway home, boys and girls.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401545117





Bob


.

Post Game Prosperity:

Russell once said of game 7 “You’ll run your guts out for 48 minutes or you shouldn’t be in it.”

Red Auerbach's one-time game 7 appraisal also comes to mind:

"Russell introduced a new sound to the game -- the sound of his footsteps."

Russell also said of game 7

"In a game like that, they would have to carry me out to get me off the floor."

Jayson Tatum  said “Humbly I’m one of the best players in the world”. He left out the, ‘And I’m fixing to show y’all before sunsets on Mothers Day’.  

He did. 51-10-5 and 60% from the floor!  No split quarters. No half dollars. Just one big fat funky dollar bill.
Mother’s Day belonged to Papa Jayson as well because he was One.Bad.Mother (shut yo mouth) this Sunday afternoon.

Fitty burgers for all the mom’s in the House!!

Other notables:

-JB did work subtly pitched in 25


-Al pulled 10 off the glass

-Even Champagne got to drink and eat from the TD Garden this afternoon with a deuce (No. not the 2 legged one)
-The TD now stands for ‘Total Domination’

-Coach Joey coached his bee hind off in these last 2 games.
Folks talked about him being out-coached by Glenn and there were games in this series where that held true but Coach Joey and the guys won the series and thats all that really matters.

-Coach Spo with all of his experience obviously has a huge edge in the coaching department but we have superior talent and should win this series and that too is all that matters.


Now, as for the Liberty Bell losers…

-Harden did score 9 more than me but they’ll be No Max for the Jelly back. Not here. He was horrendous out there.
I suspect that the moving truck already is packed and will be leaving Pennsylvania before day in the morning.

What James Harden was rehearsing late Saturday night:





-Rumor has it that the U-Haul pulled up to the River’s mansion at exactly 5:25pm EDT.
The game wasn’t over at that time. The game was really over before that. Glenn later said, “We almost pulled it off”.
(Yeah, but only if the game was 24 minutes instead of 48. Nice try though)

-Security has already confiscated all intellectual 76er property and packed the rest of Glenn’s belongings in empty boxes.
-This makes 10 straight games where Glenn’s teams have failed to make it to the conference finals.

-A reporter asked Glenn about his big 3, “Joel. James and you”.
Glenn’s reply: “Oh I’m part of a big 3 now”? Mmmmmayby not.

-There is a god chance that Glenn coached his last game in the state of Pennsylvania.

-I don’t think he deserves to be whacked but the Philly fans do and they will more than likely get their wish.

-The MVB showed a lot of class during and after the game. I think he’s grown up a lot. He was playing hurt and other than Jelly Back James, Embiid really has no one left to stab in the back except himself so I’ll consider removing that tag and go back to just referring to him as JOJO.
He’s earned it.

Celts 112-88. We’re on to Yo-Ami!


Post Game Pettiness:

-George Niang is officially on War Criminal watch.
He has the entire summer to get his act together. If he fails, he’ll be escorted to the Ktron Correction Center to join fellow criminals Draymond Green and NBA ‘Official’, Lauren Holtkamp.

-There’s thousands of very good basketball players in this world. Thousands that are very good but never make it to the NBA
Jayson Tatum’s “I’m one of the best players in the world” comment is not so profound as everyone is making it out to be.
He is, and so aren’t the other 449 players the NBA.

-Back in 2013 Wyc Groesbeck said of Doc Rivers, “He’d left us. Period. Doc left us”

Today on Pre-game live Wyc responded to Doc’s ref baiting.
“I’ve heard all the bitching about the refs now and i’m like OK really Doc, You’re better than that. Groesbeck then said “I love Doc but lets send him home sad today” (Like
I’ll bet Wyc is having a good time with this because this time Doc didn’t leave”Us” “We’ sent him home.

A bit petty for an owner to dwell on but even billionaires have the right to act like pre-schoolers every now and then.

Hi,
One more recipe for a blowout win - world class defense plus JT in berserk mode. I'll take it. Against any team.
The next chapter is "How to neutralize Jimmy"

AK

Nothing for nothing, but James Harden is either ice cold or red hot when it comes to scoring which in my is opinion makes him a very inconsistant player and removes him form the label superstar!

He had 5 turnovers and played like a rookie, tenative, not sure of himself and when to take a shot for the past 3-4 games of this series, and it cost Philly. And his ISO moves plain suck!

Today he scores 9 points 1-5 from the arc, really in a game #7?

If Doc put the ball in the hands of Masse instead of Harden as the play maker, the score would have been close, using Harris to probe the paint. He had a nice game today.

Watch out for Miami the are sneeky good with a bunch of great shooters from the outside and a top 3 coach in the NBA.

We better not have off nights again, we have to be sharp as tacks!


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Maxey doesn’t really have enough decision making skills either to be a point. Harden played bad, but I loved our defense on him, mostly by Brown and Smart sure did a great job. I was away going to my son’s college graduation, found a decent sports bar to see 2nd half.

Tatum Tatum Tatum

Wow what a performance, he backed up his bold words that had alot of people ripping him on social media. Alot of great players have consistency issues. Have to give Tatum credit for getting that record, was wondering all playoffs for one of his break out games, obviously finally came thru at the perfect time.

Now will need Joe to pick up his coaching, can’t afford to blow any games next round. Heat never beat themselves, Jimmy B vs 2 J’s will be dynamic. Expecting Jaylen to get the majority of the defensive assignment. Jaylen makes Tatum’s life easier, would like to see more out of Jaylen offensively. Smart has been so great last few games, giving team exactly what it needs. Al and Rob with great defense, they can take away any teams scoring in the paint and Heat are not great 3 point shooting team. If every thing plays out according we should win this series.

It tickles me that folks who've been ripping Mazzulla nonstop for 6 months are giving him a begrudging nod of approval like a monarch accepting tribute from a serf who grew a good crop. It seems like only yesterday when the word around here was that Doc was eating his lunch.On the subject of Mr. Tatum , I imagine most of us know that his mother , a lawyer, had, at times , to bring him to class with her when he was a child.Law School especially the first year, requires a great deal of focus. She must be a remarkable woman. We had a toddler when I was in Law School and I had to leave the house and study at the library that first year to et some peace and quiet./ To me, the most impressive part of his performance was handling the ball as much as he did with ZERO turnovers. None of those lazy , errant passes. No dribbling blindly into taffic. That was a performance for the ages.Now lets take cowboy Jimmy out of his rythym and contain our former G leaguer Max Struss. I'm curious as to whether you guys think that the two big lineup is still the way to go with the undersized Heat. I'm leaning that way , and I have a hunch that Grant will get some floor time.It's a small sample size, but D White seems to shoot the ball with more confidence as a starter.That's probably the only valid argument for going back to the five out. It would be nice if Al , who did a superb job of defending JE, got his shot back. Oh, I forgot , he has no legs, because Mazzulla pklayed him too much. Never mind the fact that Al never leaves his feet when he shoots threes.

I have mentioned this before but I kind of miss swish.He has a unique perspective on a lot of things. I remember him arguing that Tiny Archibald was the Cs best point guard, and somebody else being indignant that he valued Nate more than Cousy.It was a fun discussion to monitor. I suppose it is rather indelicate to ask, but I'm wondering whether he is still with us, Has anybody heard from him?

Ktron wrote:Post Game Prosperity:

Russell once said of game 7 “You’ll run your guts out for 48 minutes or you shouldn’t be in it.”

Red Auerbach's one-time game 7 appraisal also comes to mind:

"Russell introduced a new sound to the game -- the sound of his footsteps."

Russell also said of game 7

"In a game like that, they would have to carry me out to get me off the floor."

Jayson Tatum  said “Humbly I’m one of the best players in the world”. He left out the, ‘And I’m fixing to show y’all before sunsets on Mothers Day’.                                                                                                                                                                                            

He did. 51-10-5 and 60% from the floor!  No split quarters. No half dollars. Just one big fat funky dollar bill.
Mother’s Day belonged to Papa Jayson as well because he was One.Bad.Mother (shut yo mouth) this Sunday afternoon.

Fitty burgers for all the mom’s in the House!!

Other notables:

-JB did work subtly pitched in 25


-Al pulled 10 off the glass

-Even Champagne got to drink and eat from the TD Garden this afternoon with a deuce (No. not the 2 legged one)
-The TD now stands for ‘Total Domination’

-Coach Joey coached his bee hind off in these last 2 games.
Folks talked about him being out-coached by Glenn and there were games in this series where that held true but Coach Joey and the guys won the series and thats all that really matters.

-Coach Spo with all of his experience obviously has a huge edge in the coaching department but we have superior talent and should win this series and that too is all that matters.


Now, as for the Liberty Bell losers…

-Harden did score 9 more than me but they’ll be No Max for the Jelly back. Not here. He was horrendous out there.
I suspect that the moving truck already is packed and will be leaving Pennsylvania before day in the morning.

What James Harden was rehearsing late Saturday night:





-Rumor has it that the U-Haul pulled up to the River’s mansion at exactly 5:25pm EDT.
The game wasn’t over at that time. The game was really over before that. Glenn later said, “We almost pulled it off”.
(Yeah, but only if the game was 24 minutes instead of 48. Nice try though)

-Security has already confiscated all intellectual 76er property and packed the rest of Glenn’s belongings in empty boxes.
-This makes 10 straight games where Glenn’s teams have failed to make it to the conference finals.

-A reporter asked Glenn about his big 3, “Joel. James and you”.
Glenn’s reply: “Oh I’m part of a big 3 now”? Mmmmmayby not.

-There is a god chance that Glenn coached his last game in the state of Pennsylvania.

-I don’t think he deserves to be whacked but the Philly fans do and they will more than likely get their wish.

-The MVB showed a lot of class during and after the game. I think he’s grown up a lot. He was playing hurt and other than Jelly Back James, Embiid really has no one left to stab in the back except himself so I’ll consider removing that tag and go back to just referring to him as JOJO.
He’s earned it.

Celts 112-88. We’re on to Yo-Ami!


Post Game Pettiness:

-George Niang is officially on War Criminal watch.
He has the entire summer to get his act together. If he fails, he’ll be escorted to the Ktron Correction Center to join fellow criminals Draymond Green and NBA ‘Official’, Lauren Holtkamp.

-There’s thousands of very good basketball players in this world. Thousands that are very good but never make it to the NBA
Jayson Tatum’s “I’m one of the best players in the world” comment is not so profound as everyone is making it out to be.
He is, and so aren’t the other 449 players the NBA.

-Back in 2013 Wyc Groesbeck said of Doc Rivers, “He’d left us. Period. Doc left us”

Today on Pre-game live Wyc responded to Doc’s ref baiting.
“I’ve heard all the bitching about the refs now and i’m like OK really Doc, You’re better than that. Groesbeck then said “I love Doc but lets send him home sad today” (Like
I’ll bet Wyc is having a good time with this because this time Doc didn’t leave”Us” “We’ sent him home.

A bit petty for an owner to dwell on but even billionaires have the right to act like pre-schoolers every now and then.

                              Harden was indeed terrible and Joel was not much better.

I don't agree that the Heat don't beat themselves. Butler did exactly that tossing up that three in the 7th game last year.If we can't beat them with Herro out we deserve to lose

Very wacky series.  First game was sans Embiid and we lose to Flashback Houston Harden.  We came storming back in G2 and blew the crapola out of them.  Then we doubled down in G3 to regain home court in PHI.  Gave them G4 by accident and by a split second form us being up 3-1.  Mysteriously lost focus in pivotal G5 at home to go down 3-2, then came storming back again for G6 and follow that up with an heroic, masterful all coming together, icing on the cake G7.  

That corner I've been talking about for this team officially has been turned and the light is on and green literally and figuratively.  The two teams that should be in the Conference Finals are there.  Time to dispatch of the wannabees and Fakers.  Despite all the crazy series across the board, the two that are going to meet in the Finals are now poised to get there against inferior competition.  Not to be taken lightly, by God, but clearly inferior and for the most part playing far, far out of their brains are the Lakers and the Heat.  This will end, hopefully mercilessly in both conference series Finals.  MIA is a force and has a genius mastermind, almost Phil Jackson-type coach. But Jimmy Butler is about to join Kevin Durant and James Harden in the 'For Some Reason In This Series I'm Playing Like 5th Grader against This Celtic Defense' Club.  Mark my words there for now.  The Lakers are the Lakers and all the tinsel and glitz that goes with that franchise.  AD is about to meet his Maker in Jokic.  'Bout time for that mysterious injury bug to pop up when things are getting tight here.  Not wishing that on Davis but he's been knocked around the ring quite a lot so far here in the prelims and here comes prime of his career Mike Tyson for the main event.  That series may be over in the first game just like Tyson used to do in the first 15-20 seconds of his matches.  

Ktron, I was surprised like you that Doc actually made it to the post-game presser and avoided the ax.  Three successive 2nd round strikes and you're out.  It should have happened last year at this time but no one was listening to db.  Self-centered Larden will almost be a non-event as he will bail or do whatever.  He didn't listen to me either when I told him it's his beard that is the curse.  "Shave it off", I said, "and your luck will change." Like my wife says of me, "He didn't listen."

When he goes to his mailbox this morning, there will be an invitation to The Charles Barkley Club.  Charles is running a special this week with free membership for the first year.  It will officially sink in to James that he had a great career, had/has the yips bigtime in these playoffs and in all his playoffs series, and will retire at some point (probably in HOU would make the most sense) on his terms championship-less like most of the players in the NBA.  (BTW, I'm taking Monty Williams off Ax Watch now as a formality.  Sad.  Great coach.  He'll be back.  The two (and too) bizarre back-to-back playoff exits were simply impossible to ignore.) Darrell Morey will be next on Ax Alert as far as PHI management goes.  The Process is officially over.  This is his mess.  He Gone.
Elton Brand...I'm not sure.  He may be shielded enough but I'll put him on Ax Alert just as backup and a safety precaution.

Since there is nothing more dramatic than a Celtic G7, you might ask what's left?  What more can this team possibly pull out of its...well, you know, to put its fanbase on coronary alert for the next potential 7 games?  I've thought about that.  How about this.  If you've just gotten a couple extra hundred dollars from selling all your lawn mowing equipment piling up in the garage, go to your bookie and place the following bet.  This next series will go 7 again and the Celtics will be the first (and probably last) playoff team to win the series after being down 0-3.  That's your bet.  The odds will be astronomical around the 10,000-to-1+ neighborhood.  Doing the math, you're an instant millionaire if you aren't one already.  

Possible yes.  Probably no.  With this team?....Just MAAAAAAAYBE.  Just a thought experiment.  Don't go do that.  I hope we start acting like and playing like champions for this whole series and wipe that smug expression I loves so much off of Coach Spoelstra's face early, often and once and for all.  I'm actually hoping this series is quite the opposite and looks an awful lot like BKN vs. BOS in last year's playoffs with Butler finally losing his mind like superstars Durant and Harden have against our defense.  But Playoff Jimmy Buckets is coming to a merciless end.  He can be as crazy and Kevin Garnett-like as he wants, but it comes to a crashing halt in this series.  We will neutralize him into a fine powder.      

Well, I've gone on here.  Just some early thoughts.  

db

jrleftfoot wrote:I have mentioned  this before but I kind of miss swish.He has a unique perspective on a lot of things. I remember him arguing that Tiny Archibald was the Cs best point guard, and somebody else being indignant that he valued Nate more than Cousy.It was a fun discussion to monitor.  I suppose it is rather indelicate to ask, but I'm wondering whether he is still with us, Has anybody heard from him?

Good question. I wish we knew.

Gyso, Pete and I have talked about this and we’ve tried to get in touch with Swish with no success. We know he was older and in declining health. Unfortunately, we only know his approximate location and our only contact was his email account.

If anyone ever had more details, please let us know.

Bob


.

What a performance by JT, certainly will go down in Celtics history as one the best single game performances of all time. He was just amazing, and he did it on both ends. He rebounded the ball well and played solid D.

As great as JT was (and he was great) the defense was just tremendous. Credit to everyone for playing so well as a unit against a talented team. Kudos especially to big Al. I don't think anyone could have guarded Embiid better. Credit Joe and the coaching staff, their defensive game plan was spot on.

Jaylen just has so much heart. His effort yesterday was off the charts. He also hit two big threes during the third quarter rally. Speaking of heart, Marcus was great again. He really is the point guard of this team on both ends of floor. He got us into our sets both offensively and defensively. He also made some timely buckets.

Now onto the Heat. We can't get complacent and rest on our laurels or we will find ourselves back in the position we were in the Philly series. We have five guys that can cover Butler (JB, Marcus, D White, Tatum and Brogdon) and should rotate these guys to try and wear Butler down. The Heat have a problem as to who guards the two J's. Butler will have to be on one. Does Bam take JT? If so Al and Rob have to punish the Heat inside. I'm sure Caleb Martin will check the J's as well. We are again the more talented team and can't screw around. We need to come and get game 1 and put the pressure on them. I think we need to make short work of the Heat. The longer they hang around, the more dangerous they become.

It's fun, for me at least, to listen to this guy absolutely rip the Sixers' defense.




Bob

.

jrleftfoot wrote:

Ktron wrote:Post Game Prosperity:

Russell once said of game 7 “You’ll run your guts out for 48 minutes or you shouldn’t be in it.”

Red Auerbach's one-time game 7 appraisal also comes to mind:

"Russell introduced a new sound to the game -- the sound of his footsteps."

Russell also said of game 7

"In a game like that, they would have to carry me out to get me off the floor."

Jayson Tatum  said “Humbly I’m one of the best players in the world”. He left out the, ‘And I’m fixing to show y’all before sunsets on Mothers Day’.                                                                                                                                                                                            

He did. 51-10-5 and 60% from the floor!  No split quarters. No half dollars. Just one big fat funky dollar bill.
Mother’s Day belonged to Papa Jayson as well because he was One.Bad.Mother (shut yo mouth) this Sunday afternoon.

Fitty burgers for all the mom’s in the House!!

Other notables:

-JB did work subtly pitched in 25


-Al pulled 10 off the glass

-Even Champagne got to drink and eat from the TD Garden this afternoon with a deuce (No. not the 2 legged one)
-The TD now stands for ‘Total Domination’

-Coach Joey coached his bee hind off in these last 2 games.
Folks talked about him being out-coached by Glenn and there were games in this series where that held true but Coach Joey and the guys won the series and thats all that really matters.

-Coach Spo with all of his experience obviously has a huge edge in the coaching department but we have superior talent and should win this series and that too is all that matters.


Now, as for the Liberty Bell losers…

-Harden did score 9 more than me but they’ll be No Max for the Jelly back. Not here. He was horrendous out there.
I suspect that the moving truck already is packed and will be leaving Pennsylvania before day in the morning.

What James Harden was rehearsing late Saturday night:





-Rumor has it that the U-Haul pulled up to the River’s mansion at exactly 5:25pm EDT.
The game wasn’t over at that time. The game was really over before that. Glenn later said, “We almost pulled it off”.
(Yeah, but only if the game was 24 minutes instead of 48. Nice try though)

-Security has already confiscated all intellectual 76er property and packed the rest of Glenn’s belongings in empty boxes.
-This makes 10 straight games where Glenn’s teams have failed to make it to the conference finals.

-A reporter asked Glenn about his big 3, “Joel. James and you”.
Glenn’s reply: “Oh I’m part of a big 3 now”? Mmmmmayby not.

-There is a god chance that Glenn coached his last game in the state of Pennsylvania.

-I don’t think he deserves to be whacked but the Philly fans do and they will more than likely get their wish.

-The MVB showed a lot of class during and after the game. I think he’s grown up a lot. He was playing hurt and other than Jelly Back James, Embiid really has no one left to stab in the back except himself so I’ll consider removing that tag and go back to just referring to him as JOJO.
He’s earned it.

Celts 112-88. We’re on to Yo-Ami!


Post Game Pettiness:

-George Niang is officially on War Criminal watch.
He has the entire summer to get his act together. If he fails, he’ll be escorted to the Ktron Correction Center to join fellow criminals Draymond Green and NBA ‘Official’, Lauren Holtkamp.

-There’s thousands of very good basketball players in this world. Thousands that are very good but never make it to the NBA
Jayson Tatum’s “I’m one of the best players in the world” comment is not so profound as everyone is making it out to be.
He is, and so aren’t the other 449 players the NBA.

-Back in 2013 Wyc Groesbeck said of Doc Rivers, “He’d left us. Period. Doc left us”

Today on Pre-game live Wyc responded to Doc’s ref baiting.
“I’ve heard all the bitching about the refs now and i’m like OK really Doc, You’re better than that. Groesbeck then said “I love Doc but lets send him home sad today” (Like
I’ll bet Wyc is having a good time with this because this time Doc didn’t leave”Us” “We’ sent him home.

A bit petty for an owner to dwell on but even billionaires have the right to act like pre-schoolers every now and then.

                              Harden was indeed terrible and Joel was not much better.

You’re right but I will give JoJo a slight pass because he was somewhat hobbled. It appeared that the entire team collectively gave up at the same time which doesn’t bode well for a few employees future there in Pennsylvania.

Celtics fans were once again treated to an exhilarating 7th game do or die battle.  The Celtics did not disappoint their fans and their fans certainly did not disappoint their team.  Fan support was sky high and the noise level was deafening.

The playoffs are a different animal. Quality teams make it really difficult to win.  Extended series, between two quality teams, lends itself to a wave of ups and downs.

Growing up during the Russell years helped to define my perception of winning or losing basketball games.

Scoring is an aesthetically enjoyable experience while blood and guts defense seems to treated like a step child.  

I believe that the Celtics  won this series because they played defense at a championship level.

The offense was up and down because if you have a short rotation and a couple of guys struggle to score, it tends to impact the bottom line offensive output.  

Defense however remains front and center when the other team is more than capable of blowing you off the court.

Consider the numbers.  The Celtics 4-3 series victory was built on holding the Sixers to only 101.8 PPG.  The more prominent results included 3 of out 4 wins where the Celtics held the Sixers to a measly 86, 87 and 88 points.  In their other victory, the Sixers only scored 102 points.

After the smoke settled, Boston posted a differential of 8.9 points in this series and it was not because their offense was stellar.  (seven games, 110.7 to 101.

Rounds 1 and 2 should  prepare the Celtics to face the ultimate 'grind them out team'

The Celtics enter the Eastern Conference Finals round for the 5th time in 7 years.  The experience factor cannot be overlooked.  

Great win by the Celtics yesterday.

BTW, Jayson Tatum set an NBA record for most points in a Game 7.

I believe Hondo holds the record for most Celtic points in a playoff game @ 54, but it wasn't Game 7.


Bob


.

gyso wrote:I found this and thought it was funny, so I'm gonna share.



(I rate it about 3/4's.  The "Reasons" could have been better and the final check box text could have had more thought put into it, but it was good for a first draft.)

Very funny and I’m one of the guilty ones that his play has at times made me rip him….

Chris Forsberg

@ChrisForsberg_
Al Horford served as primary defender on nearly half of Joel Embiid's total possessions in East semis, per NBA tracking.

The 37-year-old saved some of his finest work for the final 6 quarters of series.

How Embiid fared vs. Horford/everyone else in series:

...........................Horford............Everybody Else
FG------------------31-80------------30-63
FG%----------------38.8%-----------47.6%
3 PT-----------------2-13-------------2-7
3PT %--------------15.4%-----------28.6%
FT-------------------18-19-----------31-35
SHOOT FOULS-----10----------------17
TURNOVERS-------10----------------16
BLOCKS------------8------------------1
POINTS------------82----------------93
TIME--------------48:28-------------49:48


Bob
MY NOTE:  What a defensive series by The OG!!  Next up, I'm guessing he'll be tasked to go out to the arc to defend Kevin Love, and leave Bam to RWill.

.

I, for one, will sit here and say, while some were throwing JT down the road, I sat here just waiting. Same with Joe. Mistakes, sure he made some, are you all trying to tell me Ime did not make mistakes last year??? We still have a long way to go, I believe Joe is leaning on the fly. He is trusting his players to help him and they are. I got upset at times, but, I was never sorry JT or JB were on our team. Unfortunately with a performance like Jayson had yesterday, the game Al Horford had yesterday and even in game 6 got lost in the shuffle. Al played awesome, he may be getting old, but he is loving every minute of this ride