Celtics Playoff thread

[dboss]

Round 1vs the Nets.

[gyso]

I already have a playoff thread going . . .

[dbrown4]

This looks like just one for the Celtics, maybe? The other one was for all the other playoff series.

db

[dboss]

I already have a playoff thread going . . .

Yeah I know it is an all inclusive thread but from my way of thinking we need one specific to The Boston Celtics.

[cowens/oldschool]

What’s going to win it for us is the match ups. Heard some pundits say the defense will be our calling card, that certainly could be true. Our defense is constant, could easily be the difference, wish the first game came sooner.

I like how we match up with them because of the J’s, who is going to cover them? Durant is mostly playing the 4, him chasing around the J’s will take a lot of energy and can take away from his offense. See where I’m going, and if he is on a J, they should take it right to him and make him work. So are they gonna put Brown or Curry on them, looks like it might have to be Durant? J’s will eat up Brown on Curry. On defense we can have either J on Durant all the time with major help from Al and Theis, making 4 very capable defenders we can throw at him. We can also make life difficult for Kyrie, he will have reigning DPoY Marcus Smart on him with tag team assistance from the heady defender White and either J will be glad help out and add more size in a switching defense. Kyrie will feel real pressure and defense on him non stop. So I like these key match ups, we have plenty of good bodies for their best players, I don’t see any good match ups for them on our best players.

Ben Simmons, bring him on, that will add discontinuity to their offense and their overall team. J’s have always had good games against him, even with Embid backing him up.

[dboss]

The first volley was fired by Bruce Brown who stated they they intend to attack the rim because Robert Williams will not be back there to defend  (I'm paraphrasing)  This immediately drew the ire of Kevin Durant.  Durant has been around long enough to know that bulletin board material is a great motivator.  

Durant said "Those two dudes [Horford and Theis] can do the same stuff. It ain't going to be that easy, I tell you that."

Durant was obviously being a bit generous.  

The Celtics can score with anybody provided they move the ball on offense and not settle.  Tatum will have the ball in his hands a lot.  I do not see the Nets playing him straight up.  The Celtics will get open looks but they need to make them.  I think PP will be a key off the ball scorer for us. We also need Grant Williams to make his open looks. The Nets like to get out and run on turnovers so that factors into the equation.

With both AH and to a lesser degree, Danial Theis being able to play away from the paint, it will force the Nets centers to go out and guard.  Drummond prefers to park himself deep in the paint where he is a beast on both the defensive and offensive boards..  The Nets lack size and perimeter defense in their backcourt.  They do not have anyone who can check Tatum and Brown one on one.  

All is not rose pedals.  With RW out, we lose possessions both on the offensive glass, the 50/50 balls he comes up with and the jump balls where he controls most of them.  Robert is an elite shot blocker and intimidator as well as an elite vertical threat.  He also sets excellent foul free screens and makes pinpoint passes.  

Can Boston win without Robert?  Yes than can but it will be a very heavy lift and the Celtics will need to be clicking on all cylinders.

[gyso]

I already have a playoff thread going . . .

Yeah I know it is an all inclusive thread but from my way of thinking we need one specific to The Boston Celtics.

My thread is (or was meant to be) a Celtics thread. We weren't playing yet, so it started out about the play-in, which affected our 1st round opponent.

So now we have two. Cool.

[dbrown4]

dboss,

Durant was being generous because he knows in the back of his mind BKN blew it by not tanking the game last night. The way to the 2nd round was through MIA, not Boston, but whatever. CLE was just a couple of shots away from knocking them down a peg.

Revenge is a dish best served cold. Kryrie, you only get one chance to stamp out Lucky. And as long as this team is constructed the way it is, you and BKN will never get passed us. You have been served notice.

This is the ultimate stage for the 2 J's. The good news is, they aren't going to take that the same way the other two on BKN will. That's all they've got. After that, they really have nothing. You can't win a series with just two guys that can score. Just ask LeBron who's watching from home about his first 8 seasons in the NBA. You really can't win it with just one guy. Ever.

Ol' Stephen A. is trying to make it about KD and Kryrie vs. the 2 J's. He's all-in BKN because KD is the best player on the planet. Now those two may actually be slightly better, but after that, the differences are startling. Two players does not a team make. Even the coaching gap given that both are new to head coaching is huge, one has zero prior coaching experience. This will become very clear the longer the series goes on. Steve Nash has no other plays beyond give it to Kryrie or KD and see what happens. He'll be done after this series and shown the door.

Our only Achilles Heel is reversion to the first half of the season. It just can't happen. The stakes are too high. Ime needs to be swift and firm in his discipline if the medusa raises its ugly head at any time. I don't think it will as the guys are really having fun playing and moving the ball. It looks way too easy.

Well, more time until Sunday and more time for RWIII to gear up. I think this is a game of chicken with RWIII and BS. We'll see BS if we go up 2-0. Probably not if it goes 1-1. Ime's not a very good poker player because he's all but said RWIII is actually ready and we'll bring him on whenever or if we need him. But we won't.

db

[dboss]

I already have a playoff thread going . . .

Yeah I know it is an all inclusive thread but from my way of thinking we need one specific to The Boston Celtics.

My thread is (or was meant to be) a Celtics thread.  We weren't playing yet, so it started out about the play-in, which affected our 1st round opponent.

So now we have two.  Cool.

I plan to post under both of them.

[dboss]

Db

Curry and Mills are not exactly chop liver and Bruce Brown always seems to play well against us. All 3 shoot 40% from deep.  

KD and KI are going to get their points.  I would venture to say that containing their ancillary players is the only way we can win.  Their bench is pretty deep.  Ours, not so much.  The only shooter off our bench is PP.  They have a lot more bench experience like Dragic for example. Without Rob we got White, Grant and Pritchard. Will we get the 40+% from deep by Grant or the 31% in March or 35% in April?  How dependable is White as a catch and shoot guy?

Still questions to be answered.

[worcester]

"Still questions to be answered."

That's why they play the game.

[RosalieTCeltics]

I just have this feeling that the Celtics are playing games with the Nets heads when it comes to Rob Williams. It is like a tease. I feel this kid will be back no later than the third or fourth game, if not sooner.

The Nets keep issuing statements about Simmons like he is going to win this series for them. The guy has not stepped foot on the court this year, has been out of shape and hurt, No fear here. Can he help them?
Who knows, but fear him, NO

[bygone]

Do we know anyone trying to smudge away negative energy with dried white sage smudge sticks??

"Poachers are wiping out SoCal’s wild white sage to make smudge sticks.

You’ve seen them on social media, television and film: actors, influencers and celebrities waving thick, smoldering bundles of dried white sage leaves to smudge away negative energy or evil spirits, or just purify the air. And over the last five years, the mania for white sage has become a global phenomenon...."

Here's a link to the article:

https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2022-04-12/wild-white-sage-poaching-smudge-sticks

Smudge sticks, silly pro vaxxers, flat earth truisms; sounds vaguely familiar...

But hey, If you're rich, famous, and only do what's right for yourself, the problems are with everyone else, the fans are disrespectful; but I deserve respect cuz I'm that wise sage burning hoops superstar.

*cough, cough*
A breath of fresh air can blow away the smoke. Let's hope the C's are fresh and focused. I think they are and will be.

But as Worcester said:

"Still questions to be answered."

That's why they play the game.

Welcome back.

[cowens/oldschool]

Db

Curry and Mills are not exactly chop liver and Bruce Brown always seems to play well against us. All 3 shoot 40% from deep.  

KD and KI are going to get their points.  I would venture to say that containing their ancillary players is the only way we can win.  Their bench is pretty deep.  Ours, not so much.  The only shooter off our bench is PP.  They have a lot more bench experience like Dragic for example. Without Rob we got White, Grant and Pritchard. Will we get the 40+% from deep by Grant or the 31% in March or 35% in April?  How dependable is White as a catch and shoot guy?

Still questions to be answered.

I agree those 3 are not chopped liver, but if that’s all they got to cover our J’s, they are in trouble. I welcome Durant to take the challenge and take on Tatum, Stephen A ripped him for not taking the challenge when Tatum was running roughshod thru them for 54. You’d think a real superstar would put a stop to that. I see our guys, the J’s itching to take the challenge and cover Durant, we can probably defend him better than any playoff team out there; I don’t care what the stats show, oh forgot, my bad we have the no 1 defense in the league. We can also cover and react in space, even Pritch can get after it. Those role guys might not be chopped liver, but I don’t see them shooting 40% from 3 on us this series.

[cowens/oldschool]

Tatum could avg 40 ppg this series, unless Durant takes up the challenge and lays it out defensively on Tatum, like you know Brown and Tatum will be doing to him.

[dbrown4]

Rosalie, I'm with you.  You're getting the same vibe from Ime that I am.  He's a lousy poker player.  RWIII is ready and waiting in the wings.  It's a game of chicken he's playing with the idiot coach with two plays in his play book.  

If Nash blinks because BKN gets down 0-2 and puts BS in at any time in the series, I can wife's paycheck that RWIII will be coming in the next dead ball or at the latest the next game.  

In four short games, we figured out how to play sans Williams for a short span.  He's missing but we're not losing than much with the interchangeable parts Ime has set up coming from the defensive mindset.  

I also can't get the idea out of my head that at some point, Kryrie is going to bail.  I don't know how or why or what cause, but something's coming.  It's in his blood to run away from doing work consistently, as Kobe used to say.

cowens/oldschool, great points.  We will still have to play like the steamrollers we have been, but we cannot give them ANY hope.  

I just want to see Kryrie get locked up with some real defense and having those two running around like chickens with their heads cut off having to play real defense because we've run up the score to 25-30 leads.  And have no solution because Steve Nash didn't bring his playbook beyond those two offensively.  

Stephen A. may know football and the Cowboys, but he's pushed all-in on the wrong team that's got wobbly wheels rolling down the highway @ 80mph only to see a wrecking ball coming straight at them with no way out.

Last but not least, I don't see the damage from B-squared after watching what he said post-game. He made a statement. It wasn't as big as everyone has made it. If Celtics want to use that as a poster on Theis and AL's lockers, so be it. We don't really need it. B-squared is going to get a whole dose of reality and then some regardless of his comment.

Bring on the noodle legs.  

db

[dboss]

db

I think these teams are pretty even offensively. The one thing that separates them is the defense. The Celtics are an elite defensive team but the Nets are not. That is the reason why I'm taking the Celtics to win the series.

[RosalieTCeltics]

Ok….my doctor called today to check on my husband and the first words out of his mouth were “how are YOUR Celtics doing”…..I told him not to worry about them, they were going to win…to which he replied that I was really going out on a limb there as he chuckled!! So..they have to win, that is all there is to it..

Just need to keep you up dated on how this crazy Celtic fan thinks!!!!

[Ktron]

https://twitter.com/nbcsceltics/status/1515710927093608448?s=21&t=SESKB2M1YIabxZEHxsOMIQ

[dboss]

The flat one fined 50K for flipping off fans.

Just a drop in the bucket.  Celtics fans are in his head...distract him..keep it up..he is easy to dislike.

[RosalieTCeltics]

Do you follow boston writers at all? I would be interested what your opinion of Chris Gasper is. I have found him quite cynical at times, but he is on tv with Folger so what can I expect. Actually Felger has been more supportive than I have ever heard him before of the Celtics. Beware, what is lurking behind that false support, wait until a loss comes along (if it ever will)

[dbrown4]

dboss,

You're ALL OVER IT! Kryrie blinked first. They he went out and had the playoff game of his CAREER...and still got an "L". We're eating away at him.

I do hope the straggler fans lay off him in G2. The general harassing is more than enough. Just ignore him. That will bring him to his knees. You think BS had mental problems? KI is going to make BS look like chopped liver. He's already on the 1-yard line. The Celtics are just going to push him over the edge.

Remember the constrictor. He's going to go out and try even harder to win...

db

[dboss]

db

KD and KI are skilled basketball players.  What the first two games has revealed, especially G2, is that they are also both finesse players.  At the end of the day the team that embraces physicality wins this series.  The constant thumping that the Celtics are putting on Durant and Irving is wearing them down.  

I expect the refs will try to call a tighter game 3 however coach Ime understands that they cannot call them all (fouls)  He wants the team to be mindful with their physicality. They turned Durant into a human pinball. We should anticipate more of the same plus a few new wrinkles.

Our defense travels well so I do not expect a letdown on the road.  Our team is still relatively young yet they have a lot of playoff experience with each other.  

Nash needs to find ways to get KD open but that will be difficult.  He is the ultimate ISO player that seems to shun screens.  However, right now he needs them because the Celtics are into his space and crowding his comfort zone.

The Celtics have yet to play a great game.  They have collected 2 great wins but they can play much better.  We are still turning the ball over too much and our offense still looks choppy at times.  We need to open the middle up more so that we can take them off the bounce.  A few early makes by the Jays should loosen things up a bit. The ball needs to pop.

[worcester]

Perceptive analysis dboss. Durant is concerned about the vulnerability of his abdomen when he extends to shoot and this has affected his accuracy. The persistent physicality of the Celts is also exhausting him.

These Celts can play much better offense as can KD. If they all rise to their offensive potential the Celts will still win, but I bet the Celts D wears down both Kyrie and KD even further.

[Ktron]

db

KD and KI are skilled basketball players.  What the first two games has revealed, especially G2, is that they are also both finesse players.  At the end of the day the team that embraces physicality wins this series.  The constant thumping that the Celtics are putting on Durant and Irving is wearing them down.  

I expect the refs will try to call a tighter game 3 however coach Ime understands that they cannot call them all (fouls)  He wants the team to be mindful with their physicality. They turned Durant into a human pinball.  We should anticipate more of the same plus a few new wrinkles.

Our defense travels well so I do not expect a letdown on the road.  Our team is still relatively young yet they have a lot of playoff experience with each other.  

Nash needs to find ways to get KD open but that will be difficult.  He is the ultimate ISO player that seems to shun screens.  However, right now he needs them because the Celtics are into his space and crowding his comfort zone.

The Celtics have yet to play a great game.  They have collected 2 great wins but they can play much better.  We are still turning the ball over too much and our offense still looks choppy at times.  We need to open the middle up more so that we can take them off the bounce.  A few early makes by the Jays should loosen things up a bit.  The ball needs to pop.

Hey Blind Mello Jelly avatar “I want my daddy’s records”!!

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