Celtics Playoffs 2024

Now that the regular season is in the books, The Celtics are preparing to start what we all hope will be a drive to the Championship

I thought it would be a good idea to stat a new thread for our 2024 playoff run.

We probably should launch a second thread that covers all the other teams in the playoffs..

I want to be begin with a few unanswered questions along with the feelings I have about them

Who will be our first round opponent?
Will CJ deviate from past seasons in regards to using his depth or will he go with a top 8 guys?
Are the Celtics mentally up for the challenge?

Matchups:

I do not recall any year when so many games decided playoff standing on the last day of the regular season.  Both the Eastern and Western Conferences experienced an unprecedented level of competitive games all the way to the very end.

The best case scenario for the Celtics would be a first round matchup with the Chicago Bulls.  It could happen.  It seems there is a legit focus on us playing either the Sixers or Miami.  There is not guarantee that will happen.  The Sixers will be home vs the Heat and everything hinges on Joel being healthy enough to play.  In either case, the surprising NYK will definitely have to face one of them in the 2-7 matchup.  The Bulls will be home vs the Hawks so I would give them a slight edge to win the 9-10 game.   Then they will face the loser of the 7-8 matchup.  

The Bulls are 2-2 vs the Heat with each team winning one on the road and the Bulls beat the Sixers 2-1 including a road win.  They are more than capable of winning a game on the road against either team.

The Hawks are 1-3 vs the Heat and they split with the Sixers 2-2 with each team winning one game on the road.

The Bulls beat the Hawks 2-1 this season.

If all goes well the Celtics could avoid a matchup with both Philly and Miami in the first round.   NYK are the ones who cannot avoid a real difficult 1st round opponent.

Rotations

This team earned 64 wins because their depth served them well all season long.  I want to see the Celtics use that depth in the playoffs simply because of how grueling 4 series will be and there is no good reason not to use the depth that got us here.

Ready or Not

The Celtics will be ready.  They need to take it one game at a time.  Do not look back, do not look ahead, just stay in the moment.

Hi,
The main achievement - Celtics come into the playoffs with everybody healthy (AFAIK).
Now they have to switch into playoffs mode.

AK

Sinus007 

You are 100% correct.  Last year Brogdon Grant and RW were not healthy and JT turns his ankle first minute of game 7.

Previous years someone was always hurt.  Jaylen wrist, Hayward foot, Kyrie knne, kemba knee Rob knee again.  Remember the bubble va Heat.  Kemba lame and Hayward recovering from the ankle.

There are no injury excuses this time around.

I will continue to update the "Playoff Seeding and Magic Numbers" thread as things change through the Play-In tournament, since the playoff seedings will not be finalized until after we know who will be coming out of that tournament.  Our first game will be on Sunday against fill_in_the_blank, which means the play-ins will be going through Friday.  My last post on that thread, therefore, will be this coming Saturday and that final update will be conveyed to this playoff thread.

I agree with DBoss.  We should create an "NBA Playoff" thread that follows everybody else; or even two threads, one that is for non-Celtic EC Playoff series and one for WC playoffs, since they both matter but in different ways and in different immediacies.  That thread, or threads, should be created no later than this Saturday as well, for the same reasons.


Bob


.

Bob and dboss,

I created a Play-In Tournament 2024 thread. That can be the bridge to the East/West Conference Playoff thread(s) which, as you say, should be created by Saturday. I imagine the brackets will be available once the 8th Seed Games are in the books.

Steve Bulpett
@SteveBHoop
Celtics have a schedule. Just waiting on a dance partner.




Bob


.

So who we playing?

Bulls knock off the Hawks and will play the Heat who lost to the Sixers.

Can Bulls beat the Heat.  Yes they can.  Bultler will have a sore knee tomorrow morning.

The improbable can happen.  Celts/Bulls

Butler to get MRI tomorrow.  Possible MCLsprain.  If it is a tear he will be done for the season.

All I can say is we have to protect our home court. We earned home court advantage with a great regular season. We cannot give away games like we did with the Heat in the first two games of that series last year.

The other thing is, if we do play the Heat, we have to be prepared to attack their zone defense. I was shocked how bad Philly played against it in the second quarter last night. Nick Nurse is a good coach and yet they seemed to be caught completely off guard by the Miami zone. They did better in the second half, although I think Batum bailed them out on some possessions. The foul line area seems wide open in their zone. I would think KP will be in that area. Then its up to him to make the next play, either shoot or pass. However, we can't waste time and have to attack it fast.

There's a very good chance that can happen dboss, especially since these two split during the regular season and CHI took care of their game much better than "playoff" MIA did in theirs.

Everyone has been ignoring and overlooking the 9/10 teams as the one that will face the Celtics and front-writing the script to MIA vs. BOS. Now CHI winning in MIA still won't be a piece of cake because the problem for CHI is not who MIA has on the court but who MIA has on the sidelines. Spo played zone the WHOLE time and PHI looked like we did last year. And it's not even a zone, it's a blob as Doris called it.

CHI is looking pretty good.

db

db,

CHI has their own injury problems.



Ouch.

gyso,

Boston will take either of these teams in their current conditions!!  We've been on the other side of this coin many times.  Unfortunately, there will be no sympathy nor empathy on this end.  Play with what you got.  Caruso will be there tomorrow.

db

Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla points out the play as the Celtics take on the Knicks at the Garden on April 11. (Staff Photo/Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)


By STEVE HEWITT | stephen.hewitt@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald
PUBLISHED:  April 16, 2024 at 4:56 p.m.



It seemed like Jrue Holiday was joking when he said last week Joe Mazzulla would probably put the Celtics through some “crazy ass drills” to keep them sharp during the week off leading into the playoffs.


Maybe he wasn’t joking.


The Celtics returned to the Auerbach Center practice floor on Tuesday, and with a week off and their first-round opponent still unknown, the session was intense.


“Probably harder than any training camp practice we had,” Al Horford said. “Just a lot of pace. It was very productive.”


That was by design. The practice was closed to the media, but it lasted at least two hours and the session could be heard loudly through closed doors. There was pumped-in crowd noise and in-arena music blared through the speakers consistently to simulate a game atmosphere. Derrick White said the practice included toughness drills and moving without the ball.


With a playoff run that is expected to reach June, Mazzulla wanted to reset the standard.


“That’s what today is, a training camp for the playoffs,” Mazzulla said. “Everyone goes back to square one, you got to reestablish the habits and the things you build throughout the year. At the same time, don’t take them for granted. I thought the guys did a good job, with the physical and mental approach to a day like today.


“Today’s like the first day of a long journey, however long that may be.”


The first chapter will start on Sunday with Game 1 of the first round, but the Celtics will have to wait until Friday night to know who their opponent is. The 76ers face the Heat on Wednesday for the No. 7 seed. The loser will face the winner of Wednesday’s Bulls-Hawks game on Friday to determine the No. 8 seed, who will play the Celtics.


Until then, there’s not much the Celtics can do other than work on themselves.


“I think it’s as simple as, regardless of who you play in the playoffs, it’s no different than the regular season,” Mazzulla said. “It comes down to the margins, the style, and the system in which we play. That’s really what it is. So between now and Friday, we’ll hammer home us getting better as a team, and how we can continue to work the margins on both ends of the floor. And understand the playoffs, there’s obviously more attention on it, but winning a basketball game comes down to all the same things.”


White next?

From the day Holiday stepped foot in Boston after his sudden trade on the eve of training camp, Brad Stevens has seen a selfless player willing to do whatever it takes in pursuit of another championship. On a loaded team that includes multiple All-Stars, he’s proven to be a great fit and easy decision to retain as the Celtics locked him into a four-year extension last week.


“Jrue came here, joined our team, and all he tried to do was add to winning,” Stevens said. “And for a guy that is as accomplished as he is, that’s used to more usage, more reps, more touches, and all those other things, that never even came into play. All that came into play was, what kind of a teammate am I being and can I help us win? …


“I’ve been really impressed with Jrue and I think that, as you look at a person like him, and you think about the long term of a group, you think, obviously, you need really good players and guys that can play on both ends of the court. But you also want people that the young players can look up to and he is a person they should look up to, and certainly do look up to.”


With Holiday, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis already extended, and Jayson Tatum likely to receive the supermax this summer, four of the Celtics’ five starters are locked up long term. That means White – who has one year remaining on his contract – is next up for an extension. The C’s certainly want to keep as much of this championship-level core intact as possible, but it will come with an even steeper price if they extend White.


“I can’t talk about much with things that we’re not allowed to discuss until July 1,” Stevens said. “Derrick’s having an amazing year. Derrick’s a huge, huge part of our team and we want him around for as long as we can keep him around.”


Bob

.

It's too bad that:

Butler and Rozier are out vs Bulls
LaVine and Ball are out for the season and Caruso has a bum ankle
Giannis has the calf injury
Julius Randle is out for the season
Bennedict Mathurin is out for the season
Joel Embid has a bum knee
Zion is out with a groin injury
Malik Monk and Huerter are out

But no one cares. At the end of the day you either win or lose.

Celtics fans know all too well how injuries can and will impact your ability to win. And we know that no one gives a damn.

Counting down for our Sunday 1 PM game

We've had a nice week off.  Starting Sunday it will be time to let the jackals and hyenas who's the King of the Jungle.




Bob


.

dboss wrote:It's too bad that:

Butler and Rozier are out vs Bulls
LaVine and Ball are out for the season and Caruso has a bum ankle
Giannis has the calf injury
Julius Randle is out for the season
Bennedict Mathurin is out for the season
Joel Embid has a bum knee
Zion is out with a groin injury
Malik Monk and Huerter are out

But no one cares.  At the end of the day you either win or lose.

Celtics fans know all too well how injuries can and will impact your ability to win.  And we know that no one gives a damn.

Counting down for our Sunday 1 PM game

+1

Right on dboss. Tell it like it is

Here is a link to the Celtics-Heat playoff series:

https://www.nba.com/playoffs/2024/east-first-round-1

Also:

NBA Playoffs: What to expect in Celtics-Heat series

https://www.nba.com/news/2024-nba-playoffs-series-preview-celtics-heat

Familiar foes, Boston and Miami will meet in the playoffs for the 4th time in 5 seasons.

John Schuhmann
April 19, 2024 11:37 PM



A rematch of the last 2 Eastern Conference Finals awaits in the 1st round this year. Game 1 is Sunday in Boston.

After one of the best regular seasons in NBA history, the Boston Celtics are the clear favorite to reach the NBA Finals out of the Eastern Conference. Their biggest threats – Milwaukee, New York and Philadelphia – are on the other side of the bracket and either dealing with injuries or have a star trying to work their way back from a long absence.

The Celtics’ first-round opponent has also been shorthanded. The Miami Heat were without Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier on Friday, and while they managed to beat the Chicago Bulls by 21 points to earn the No. 8 seed, they aren’t expected to have Butler for this series.

Boston swept the three regular-season meetings, with its 143 points on just 96 possessions (149 per 100) on Jan. 25 being the most efficient offensive performance the Heat have allowed in the 28 seasons for which we have play-by-play data.

Series schedule

Here’s how to watch the Celtics vs. Heat series:

All times Eastern Standard Time

Game 1: Heat vs. Celtics, Sunday, April 21 (1 p.m., ABC)
Game 2: Heat vs. Celtics, Wednesday, April 24 (7 p.m., TNT)
Game 3: Celtics vs. Heat, Saturday, April 27 (6 p.m., TNT)
Game 4: Celtics vs. Heat, Monday, April 29 (TBD, TBD)
Game 5: Heat vs. Celtics, Wednesday, May 1 (TBD, TBD)*
Game 6: Celtics vs. Heat, Friday, May 3 (TBD, TBD)*
Game 7: Heat vs. Celtics, Sunday, May 5 (TBD, TBD)*
* = If necessary

Top storyline

TCB. These teams have a history, with this being their fourth playoff meeting in the last five years. And we’ve learned that we should never dismiss the Heat, who beat the top two seeds in the East (including Boston) last year on their way to the Finals. If any Eastern Conference opponent can put some doubt in the Celtics’ heads, it’s this one.

But primarily, this series is about the Celtics’ ability to take care of business. They ranked in the top two on both ends of the floor and had the fifth-best point differential in NBA history. They’re healthy, and if they play anything close to their best basketball, this should be a short series. They need to have their foot on the gas at the start of Game 1 and keep it there throughout until the job is done.

Keep your eyes on

Zone defense. For the second straight season, the Heat led the league in the percentage of defensive possessions (13.4%) on which they played zone, according to Synergy tracking. The Celtics’ offense ranked seventh with 1.12 points per possession against zone this season, though they didn’t see much of the Miami zone (16 total possessions) over the three regular-season meetings.

They saw a good amount of it in last year’s conference finals, scoring an anemic 85 points on 112 zone possessions (0.76 per) over the seven games. They can expect to see more in this series, and the zone can stifle the Celtics’ drive-and-kick game, keep them out of the paint, and put them into late-clock situations.

Of course, the Celtics didn’t have Kristaps Porzingis last year, and there’s nobody in the league with a better ability to shoot over the top of a zone than the 7-foot-2 big man looking to win a playoff series for the first time in his career.

1 more thing to watch for each team

For Boston: Bench play. We knew the Celtics had the best top six in the league. We didn’t know they would be at their best with Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard on the floor. Their aggregate bench NetRtg (point differential per 100 possessions) with reserves on the floor was plus-6.2, the best mark for any team in the 28 seasons for which we have play-by-play data.

Hauser and Pritchard will certainly be targeted by opponents in the playoffs. If they can hold up defensively, they Celtics can continue to dominate their minutes on the floor and extend leads when their best players are resting.

For Miami: Secondary creation. The Heat probably won’t have Butler, but they will have Tyler Herro, who missed (almost all of) last year’s playoffs and led the way with 24 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in Miami’s Play-In victory over Chicago on Friday.

But they’ll need somebody else to create offense off the dribble in order to make this series interesting. That could be Rozier, who’s missed the last six games with neck spasms. It could be Caleb Martin, who was almost the MVP of the conference finals last year, averaging 19.3 points on 60% shooting over the seven games. It could be rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr., who’s averaged 18.5 points (on 50% shooting) and 5.5 assists over the last four. And they’ll probably need great series from at least two of those three guys.

1 key number to know

-8.3% – Jrue Holiday had a usage rate of just 16.1% this season, the lowest mark of his career and down from 24.4% in 2022-23. That (-8.3%) was the biggest drop, by a wide margin, among 209 players that played at least 1,000 minutes in each of the last two seasons. The two-time All-Star has embraced a smaller role in a stacked starting lineup with a new team, and it’s worked for both him and the Celtics.

Holiday had his most efficient scoring season of his 15-year career, registering a true shooting percentage of 59.7%. The Celtics had the most efficient offense in NBA history, scoring 122.2 points per 100 possessions. And Holiday wasn’t the only guy sacrificing shots, with both Jaylen Brown (from 30.7% to 28.3%) and Jayson Tatum (from 31.9% to 29.6%) also seeing not-insignificant drops in usage rate.

The Celtics ranked second offensively last season and had the second most improved offense this season. They’re more dangerous in part because they’re more balanced.

The pick

Celtics in four. The Heat have proven to be a resilient group, and the Celtics struggled against the zone in last year’s conference finals. And Boston has some recent postseason demons beyond that.

But the Celtics are simply the much better team, especially with Butler unlikely to play. While Miami was able to stifle the Bulls’ 19th-ranked offense to get here, it now faces a much tougher challenge. The Celtics are a machine and they shouldn’t have much trouble reaching the conference semifinals for the seventh time in the last eight years.

Very optimistic article, Mr. Schuhmann. However, until I see the 180-degree evidence to the contrary, Doubting DB, here.

I'd kill for Boston 4-0 (with 160-point MOV). Hope he's right.

db

A first round vs the Heat will put the Celtics to the test immediately.  No chance to ease into the playoffs.  

The Heat are in playoff mode already but I was surprised that the Bulls played so poorly.

The Celtics are healthy, well rested and highly motivated to dispatch the demon.

It is always the little things that make a big difference in winning or losing.

The Celtics need to limit their turnovers and get into their offense with pace. Exploit the KP matchup and bust those zones wide open. Hit the defensive glass hard. Don't give up offensive rebounds. Stay away from ISO basketball. If there is one thing that we know for sure is that when the Celtics move the ball, their offense explodes!

Let's see it!  Prove will be in the pudding!

No surprises on Saturday.  For all the hype, DEN vs. LAL is 2nd verse same as the 1st.  

We're up first today.  Everyone sees the importance of this first game vs. MIA.  MIA needs to be run out of the gym for the first 4 games.  We should run so there is no time for the zone to even set up, but if it does, we have the artillery. Anything less like a G1 loss brings all the demons back and will crush us.  This series can in no way resemble last year's.  

CHI had the exact situation with MIA.  Back in MIA.  Revenge.  Got their ass handed to them.  MIA again has nothing to lose.  They don't care.  This is the match up they wanted all along.  We have EVERYTHING to lose in this series.  Huge pressure.  Let's see how we respond.  Blowouts mandatory.  Cut off the air hose. We can have no back looks.  Zero.  Losing G1 is a HUGE bad look.  All business.  All the time.

For the Love of God, get it done so I can quit being the Negative Nelly!!   

db

kEEP YOUR EYES OPEN...........JIMMY BUTLER WILL NOT MISS THIS WHOLE SERIES, I DO NOT TRUST THE HEAT AND THEIR HEALTH REPORTS

The 2024 NBA playoffs has officially arrived for Boston Celtics fans.

Joe Mazzulla is not a rookie anymore.  He has had enough time to prepare his team and match wits with rival Erik Spoelstra, the master of smoke and mirrors.  When you see a random zone with players in random positions, it will be a sign that they seek to confuse but they will quickly morph into a more definitive structure.  I wonder if we will see some 1-2-2 with a chaser up top and a help defender on either side looking to employ a trap?  

The easiest way to beat zone defense is to play with pace.  By pace I am referring to quick decision making.

The Heat are going to strive to keep Boston in a slow down halfcourt situations.    

There are 2 things the Heat do well on offense.  Their main attack develops out of their high screens and rolls.  To drop or not to drop , that is the question.  I think Boston will not try to play their 15 defense .  For those unfamiliar with the 15, CJ mentioned it as a defensive scheme with switching 1-5.   I would think that the Celtics want to keep KP close to the basket for rim protection and defensive rebounding.  

We know that Bam will be the primary screen setter up top and Herro will be he guy they will try to score.  The Celtics could just use quicker defenders against those high screens.  

The other thing that the Celtics must guard against is all the cutting that Miami likes to do.  NO ball watching!

Lastly the Celtics need to be mindful of turning the ball over especially up top because Miami will want easy transition opportunities.  In general, the Celtics must be superior in transition defense.  That task can be enhanced by not turning the ball over and by running an efficient offense characterized by great spacing, crisp passing and intelligent shot selection.

Lets go Celtics.   Lets get this first win under our belt.