Cleveland or Orlando?

Who would you rather face?


Please explain your choice.

Vote canceling is allowed, so you can change your mind.

Multiple choice is not allowed because, well, that'd be stupid with only two teams.


Bob


.

Cleveland is a tough team bigs give Celtics trouble and Mitchell always plays big against them Orlando could be sneaky but I still feel Cavs could make this a tough series especially with no KP

I voted Orlando. They’re young and scrappy but their youth and scrappiness will show itself in crunch time, especially in the Garden. Their inexperience will be their downfall. Cleveland is much more physical and Mitchell has the capability to take over a game. We’d be favored even without Porzingis but I don’t like the center matchup without Big Z. The Cavs physicality won’t be good for us even if we advance. The goal is to get to the finals healthy and rested as possible. Playing Orlando makes that a better chance than playing Cleveland.

Hi,
I selected ORL - same reason that the previous posters.
Unfortunately, I have a feeling that we'll play CLE.

AK

I wanted to pick Cleveland, just as a counterpoint to all that have picked Orlando, but after looking at both teams' makeup, I cannot.

Neither team has much at the center spot. Cleveland has Jarrett Allen and Tristan Thompson; Orlando has Wendell Carter Jr. and Moe Wagner. Allen plays the most minutes, but he isn't all that tall. He is also listed in the injury report as having a rib issue. Both teams may play a lot of small ball.

Cleveland has the best balance, with 4 players scoring over 14 PPG, Orlando only has 3 in that category. These numbers come from the playoffs, in the regular season, Cleveland also seems to have better balance, at least by looking at the stats.

For ex-Celtics players, Cleveland has Strus, Morris and Thompson, Orlando has Wagner. Nobody there stands out, for either team.

I went with Orlando.

Magic

I voted Orlando also, but only because of their inexperience. I actually think Banchero and F Wagner are tough covers for us because of their size. I also think Issac can give JT a tough time. Suggs is also a tough defender.

I think Jrue and D White can shut down Mitchell and Garland or at least contain them. After that Cleveland does have size, but neither Mobley or Allen have a great offensive game.

I think it's very close between the two. I rather see Orlando because I think our defense will rattle their young players and Mitchell is capable of getting red hot no matters who is defending him.

I voted for Cleveland, because if i remeber correctly  Orlando embarrassed us once this year. Franz Wagner just scored 26 along with Banchero's 27 to force a gane seven. Mo Wagner pulled down 6 rebounds (5 offensive) in 12 minutes. He didn't shoot well but he does against us. He's never gotten over being cut by Boston and often goes on a rampage against us.

Berlin-T

This is one tough series, Donovan Mitchell played his butt off and they still could not win. I guess, be careful what you wish for, Orlando could be the dark horse here and win it all. I could not believe Cleveland lost that game last night

On the bright side, Harden and his merry men got eliminated in the first round. I am beginning to believe that no matter how good Kwahi is, he is a broken toy who cannot be relied on to carry or help his team

With the Cavs/Magic series extended to a 7th game, it gives the Celtics another 2  days off while those teams will be knocking each other about.  

I choose the Magic as the preferred next team up for the Celtics because of their inexperience.  Neither team should present a real challenge to the Celtics.  The Celtics went 2-1 against both teams.  

I have not done a deep dive into those teams but I can tell you that they cannot beat the Celtics.  The only real chance that a team has on beating the Celtics would be for them to win the deep ball battle.  Sure you could get an outlier game but in a series the Celtics are going to win that battle.  None of the remaining teams in the East can play 5 out. (except for pacers with Myles Turner) None of them are heavy volume 3 point shooting teams.  None of them have quality 2 way players at every position.  None of them have years of playoffs experience and none of them have a homecourt advantage.

This edition of the Boston Celtics is clearly made of championship stock.  We will still need some luck on our side with KP returning to the fold.  This is not a situation like John Havlicek playing with one arm or Kendrick Perkins tearing an ACL.  Maybe the most important variable on this team is sustainability.

Orlando.

Either team could create a frontcourt matchup issue for us because after Horford, we have no significant bigs. Kornet is some help but after him it’s a goose egg.

If Banchero plays to his capabilities, this could still be a tough matchup.

In an ironic twist, going 6 or 7 games could help Boston in the longer term since Porzingis won’t play and could rest longer. If we can get to the East finals and Porzingis has had extended rest, that could help him to come back stronger by then.

NYCelt wrote:Orlando.

Either team could create a frontcourt matchup issue for us because after Horford, we have no significant bigs. Kornet is some help but after him it’s a goose egg.

If Banchero plays to his capabilities, this could still be a tough matchup.

In an ironic twist, going 6 or 7 games could help Boston in the longer term since Porzingis won’t play and could rest longer. If we can get to the East finals and Porzingis has had extended rest, that could help him to come back stronger by then.

True both of those teams are strong in the frontcourt. Celtics got surprised in the first regular season game vs the Magic. They beat us off the glass and we were hideous from deep. But then we played the 2 games in a row and smoked them (128-111 and 114-97) Interestingly, we played Cleveland 2 games in a row just before the 2 games vs the Magic and we won both of those games as well.

Not worried about Banchero. He dropped 36 with 10 boards in our 17 point win against them. As long as the Celtics win the 3 point shooting battle and do not get killed on the glass they will demolish either of those teams.

I certainly do not agree that after Kornet we have a goose egg. There is a reason why Brad made the trade for Tillman and converted Queta.

Dboss,

My rationale; Tillman has been a ghost and Queta has no real offense. Since being acquired there has been no sign the team is willing to use Tillman in extended minutes. He’s only shown a few brief flashes when he has played.

I find the potential need for extended time for either troubling.

It’s Porzingis or bust, I firmly believe. As an aside, we need the Jays to prove they have found playoff consistency and carry the load, minus bigs, for the next series, possibly two, to allow Porzingis to fully recover.

NYCelt I do not think Tillman and Queta are on this roster because of their offense or lack thereof

My guess is that their utility value would be in providing physicality.  They can provide a presence on the glass and it never hurts to have more fouls to give than the other teams frontline guys.

To me it is all about the defense.  Offense should be a by-product of playing great defense.  Both the Cavs and Magic are offensively challenged  (Magic 101 PPG and 30% from deep - Cavs 94.2 PPG and 28.9% from deep)  

Celtics fans should not be the least bit concerned about outscoring either team with or without KP.  

We get through this series and hope KP has recovered and can play in the next round but if he cannot, the center depth factor has to come into play.

I expect to see the depth used in the Cav/Magic matchup.

Queta has been described as "RobWilliams-lite".  No offensive game at all, but he provides switchability on defense with hops.  He fouls a lot and jumps at upfakes, but so did Rob.  They gave him a real contract, so maybe the coaches see something?  Defense, rebounding and an occasional alley-oop from him is what he needs to bring.  Time will tell.

Tillman has been described as "Al Horford-lite".  Good vision, not much hops but can be a physical presence off the bench.  He has been shooting threes at a greater pace now, per the coaches' direction.  I expect to see more of him over Q because X has proven chops in actual NBA games.

Both of these player's contributions to the cause should be looked at from within the system they play in.  I agree with dboss that we have enough firepower on offense to carry us through the next round (or so) to give KP time to recover.

I also agree with NYCelt that we will need Porzingis before this is all over.

Meanwhile, we still have Al and Luke getting the most minutes, so the X and Q question is only for third and fourth big.  We may also see more of Oshae Brissett in this next round, depending on matchups.

I think we will need a healthy KP vs the Knicks if they beat the Pacers.

His 5 game production vs the knicks was substantially effective (excellent)

31.4 MPG, 21.6 PPG on shooting splits of 54.6/53.3/96  see below for more details:

https://www.espn.com/nba/player/splits/_/id/3102531/kristaps-porzingis

Knicks have 2 centers with limited offense too, we can handle them without Zinger IMHO. We have plenty of guys to put on Brunson, our replacements for Zinger have to defend and rebound, again without Randle they don’t really have any shot creating bigs either. J’s have to and will dominate their match ups

Cavs it is.

If Boston can take this in 5 or 6 and move on without further injury that will be a big plus.

Porzingis reportedly needs up to 3 weeks and he’s the better part of a week into it now. If this goes 6 and takes a little longer that’s okay.

The thing is the games are every other night for this series I think, so he will definitely be out for this one. I was hoping for a tie and then they would have to have a playoff on Tuesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cowens/oldschool wrote:Knicks have 2 centers with limited offense too, we can handle them without Zinger IMHO. We have plenty of guys to put on Brunson, our replacements for Zinger have to defend and rebound, again without Randle they don’t really have any shot creating bigs either. J’s have to and will dominate their match ups

Yes

We can handle them however KP's numbers should not be overlooked.  If you looked at the numbers you could only come to a conclusion that KP was a significant factor in spreading the floor.  But next up is the Cavs so NY is actually a bit premature on my part.

Glad we're playing Cleveland. Something about Orlando made me nervous. If KP were healthy, I wouldn't care, but Orlando is just big.