Pre-Game MIL

This one deserves it's own thread.  Needless to say, at this point of the season, this one's a whopper.  If we come up short, we'll hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in its full regalia that fulfills all the writing on the wall that we're not quite there yet and its DEN all the way.  If you can't beat MIL, you sure as Hell can't beat DEN will be the talking heads/media mantra.  We told you so.  

While it was nice having Doc here to win it all in 2008, having him on the other side is just annoying.  No wonder he got the ax.  Let's face it.  Other things equal tomorrow night, it comes down to neutralizing and/or shutting down one of those two.  Cut off the head of the snake.  Probably Dame.  And since this is vs. MIL, this comes down to the Jrue vs. Dame Show.  Whoever wins that battle is well on their way to winning this game.

Yet we have far more fire power as we are seeing every night more and more.  Our defense is far superior.  Our bench is getting some incredibly valuable PT from here to the end of the regular season.  All hands should be on deck tomorrow.  I just don't see those two beating us either in either a one-game setting or a 7-game playoff format.  I must be missing something because my gut is still riding the fence!  What's wrong with this thinking/reasoning?!

Fire at Will!! (Hi, Will!!)

db

Looking forward to the game tomorrow. Go Celtics!

I see BOS(-8.5) this am. Vegas must be high. Maybe not. They're in business, we're not. They know what they're doing. We think we know better. That's what makes a horse race. All hands should be on deck tonight for both teams even though there's a few D2D's on the injury list. Everyone will be there and suited up. don't believe the hype. Would love to see Vegas be on the low side as I'm asking for a rout by Boston. But I ask for a lot of crazy crapola. So I'm proceeding with caution.

Clearly, it has to be a rout as we have a horrendous record against top teams that we stand to see later on in the playoffs, as the talking heads will point out incessantly today and tonight. We have something to prove yet again. This will be a shut up the critics game more than anything. Even if we won by 60, the critics will still be there, like the Knight in Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail trying to bite our kneecaps off with no arms or legs as we walk through on the way to the championship.

Let's see what we've got and what we've learned. It's SHOWTIME!!

db

Word from ESPN is Giannis is out for tonight.  Did not travel with team to Boston.  Good news/Bad News.  It will accentuate the Jrue vs. Dame Sweepstakes even more.  Prepare to witness the awesome power of a Fully Operational Defensive (and Offensive) Death Star, Dame.  MIL is 3-1 sans Giannis.  Line is now BOS(-10.5).  Holiday, Doogie and JB still questionable. Not a good time for us to pull an "LA" and underestimate MIL. Let's see how much we've learned since that debacle.  

db

Winning tonight would be wonderful. It would take the Magic Numbers down by 1 across the board and down 2 vs Milwaukee. It would eliminate NY and guarantee us no less the 3rd seed in the East.

Bobby Portis will be going nuts tonight, count on it.


Bob


.

I read that without Giannis, they space things out and shoot threes. Hopefully, Coach Mazzulla will plan for that.

The Bucks do shoot more 3 pointers without Giannis playing.  The sample size is small so I am not sure there is a predictable conclusion.  In the 4 games played without Giannis, The bucks shot 160 3 pointers or 40 per game at 40%.   On the season, the Bucks launch 38.1 3 pointers and make 37.8%.   Overall the no Giannis 4 games produced 119 PPG.  The Bucks average 120 PPG.

The Bucks in general are a very solid 3 point shooting team with or without Giannis but his rebounding and defense cannot be overlooked.  

Jrue is questionable tonight with a shoulder injury.  I saw when he hurt it in the Pistons game.  Also JB is listed as questionable due to a sprained ankle.  Hauser is also questionable with his sprained ankle.

Expectation for the game.

There is no good reason to lose at home against the Bucks.   The Celtics should own the glass (By the way the Bucks incurred a rebounding deficit without the Freak)  Look for Tatum, who is chomping at the bit, to carry the load offensively and look for our center depth to play a significant role.

Our PG rotation may change, if Jrue sits this one out and PP will play more minutes.  If our defense looks shady then maybe Springer will spring into action.

This is not a must game for either team because we are 10 games up on them and there is nothing they can do to meaningfully change that situation.  

I want the Celtics to run the 14 game table so my expectation is for us to beat the Bucks no matter who is playing.

John Karalis @John_Karalis
56 minutes ago
Jaylen Brown is IN tonight. Jrue Holiday, Sam Hauser are OUT

JB playing is good news.

I would like to ses CJ give Jayden some minutes.  Let's see how he defends Dame.