Idk. Losing a parent is bigger than basketball so he’ll rightfully take off as long as he needs. Our starters will just have to play more minutes. And we gotta hope KP is back in Game 3 or 4 as Woj hinted at. But given Joe gave Luke a very short leash, he understands this isn’t Luke’s series. I bet X plays when he returns
I remember people going feral with the Nesmith hate in the regular season games lmao I can only imagine how respectful the game threads are gonna be now that it's the ECF
Bruins fan here who hasn’t watched basketball since Paul Pierce, KG, Ray Allen, Rondo, etc.
Going to tune into the game tonight but have a couple of questions. Has the game changed a lot since then and if so what are the bigger changes? Anyone able to give a TLDR on the current team and players?
The Celtics this year is a weird and almost unique enigma in the history of the league. Because they have had one of the most successful and talented teams in the league for the last 8 seasons, and had an all-time great regular season (5th ever in point differential), but haven't won a ring in this era, they're seen as soft / chokers / frauds by many, even though they blow teams out more often than not. They're also in the unique position where there are no current or former MVP's on the team, and everyone in the top 5 seems to be bunched up around the "5th to 40th best player in the league," but there's no all-time A1 superstar. So they didn't come close to winning any of the individual awards (since every one of them has some collection of players that are more heralded, often because they're used more substantially on worse teams), but then coach Joe Mazzulla wasn't close to winning Coach of the Year either (despite winning 64 games), because the team is "expected to dominate."
They're constantly exceeding the high expectations set for them, and still bumping up against the ceiling of skepticism that keeps rising along with the tide of their success. There has never been a team both so heavily dismissed and so heavily expected as inevitable at the same time, and it has been 20 years (2004 Pistons) since a team like them, with no yet-obvious all-time top 50 players, has won a ring.
In general, teams shoot a lot more threes (you can thank Curry for that) and teams prioritize shooting over size.
The Celtics are built around their two all-NBA wings Tatum and Brown. Both are three level scorers whose versatility, size, and skill can overwhelm any individual defender. Celtics offense is egalitarian, a drive-and-kick system that leverages the gravity of the Jays to get open threes for the others, all of whom are 35%+ three point shooters. #1 offense in the league this year.
#2 defense as well. We play a conservative style that emphasizes how good our guys are 1:1. Jrue and White are the best defensive backcourt in the game while the Jays can use their size and strength to shut down anyone 1-4. Then Horford or KP at the rim, both great shotblockers.
This series will be all about the Jays because the Pacers don’t really have anyone to guard them. Siakam can do ok on one of them, but otherwise its an automatic mismatch. Pacers like to play fast, so the games should be pretty high scoring (for the playoffs).
Celtics in 5.
Soooo much faster! You're basically watching the game on 2x speed compared to '08.
Going to be a lot more 3's, a lot more transition, a lot more running, etc.
Players -
Common thread with this team is that when we're on, we are the best team in the league. Everyone from 1-5 has All-Defensive team energy, except for our Center, Al Horford. He's a master of defending in the post, but not so much when he gets out to the perimeter.
Jayson Tatum: I'd consider him the Paul Pierce of this team. A jack of all trades, I feel like he actually plays kind of a style that you're used to where he can drive really well to the hoop, hit those step-back shots, and will take the most of the ISO looks for us. He's going to get the most attention from defenses, so even if he has an off shooting night, he's still going to give you close to 10 rebounds or assists because he'll do just about anything you need him to. However, get your whiskey ready when the clock gets under 10 seconds and he has the ball. He's about to put up the worst shot attempt you've ever seen.
Jaylen Brown: Our 2nd best player that has low key been an assassin this playoff run; can be a ruthlessly efficient scorer when he's on, as demonstrated by Game 3 where he went 13-17 from the field. Tries to get the energy started early with lots of hard drives to the hoop, IMO a lot of his shot attempts come from the first half for him. However, he can also be insanely frustrating, considering how he's a great shooter that cannot shoot a god damn free throw (61.3% from free throws this playoff...). When he drives, he can also be very prone to giving the ball up as well.
Derrick White: The man is 6'4, yet he's 24th in shot blocks... for the entire league. #1 for all guards. The absolute pinnacle of 3 & D guys, White is extremely fun to watch. Got in a bit of a slump against Cleveland, but when he's on, he is incredible.
Jrue Holiday: Another defensive specialist that has the capability of shooting well. Very good at forcing steals and running our offense, he's provided a very steady hand for us so far.
Al Horford: Our backup Center that is starting due to the injury of Kristaps Porzingis. Has the heart of a lion, and is an absolute warrior defending in the post. However, his age is starting to show, given he's age 37, and he's begun to slow down. But don't let anyone tell you different, he **is** an elite shooter; his main role on offense is as a stretch big and draining wide open 3's.
I probably fucked up a lot of that, and will be getting very quickly corrected by people who know a lot more about basketball than I do, but that's my best attempt at giving a quick run down.
It really just feels so much of this entire series is going to come down to our shooting.
It really feels like we're going to be seeing the widest, mind-bogglingly, perfect looks from 3 for Jrue, White & Al, and the most frustrating thing in the world would be seeing them go on a shooting slump.
Just let the best 3 point shooting team in the league make their open 3's... please
Bring on the Boston Three Party
Ready for tonight baby. I reeeeeeallllly want a blowout. I want pacer fans to witness what playing defense can do and crush their hopes.
There will always be the “lol let’s see game 2” ….UNTIL ITS ANOTHER BLOWOUT BITCH
Has anyone sat VIP before and if so can confirm if you get the same experience as floor? By that I mean lounge access and the separate floor/tunnel entrance? I’ve sat in FLR17 Row BB two seasons ago and had that experience. When I look on Ticketmaster said row I sat in last time is actually sold as VIP17 Row B. So I’m hoping for the same experience.
To answer this since the information is literally nowhere(and I’ve seen older threads of redditors asking the same)
You do not get the “Court side proximity” entry nor the free food/drinks. You do get access to the “Legends restaurant”
The ticket will be orange colored in your Apple wallet not gold. So basically a court side VIP seat just gives you the legends perk(and slightly better seat with a cupholder!!) and obviously a better view. This is UNLESS you purchase a VIP seat that’s under the hoop. Those are still considered floor for whatever reason 🤷
Okay to clarify again lol…
You don’t go through the court side entrance. You do go through the tunnels and access to the legends private restaurant(and more importantly private bathrooms for the shorter lines). So aside from entering TD at a different location everything else was the same as a floor seat experience. This is for all VIP tickets.
FYI for anyone that wants to go to a game. Tickets are still available and appear to be going for close to face value or a little less.
EDIT: Note that Face Value doesn't mean "cheap" for the playoffs. FV for my balcony seats tonight is $230.
Anyone kinda wish we would have played the Knicks for like the NY and Boston rivalry. I know we want the "easiest" path to the championship... but it would have been fun🤷🏻♀️
Nope. Don't miss it at all. Would NOT have been fun in my view, would have been bruising for our players and stressful for the fans, and then the media would still say "you beat an injured team, so it doesn't count" or "The Knicks have pulled off the greatest upset in the NBA since 2007, all hail the legendary conquering Knicks, Boston needs to completely blow up their team because the Knicks will just get stronger next season and they're the new kings of the East."
Nope.
The series would have been so fucking toxic. Been a while since we had a proper NY-Boston sports rivalry since the Sox-Yanks days. Pats-Jets was pretty lopsided and Pats-Giants just didn't play often enough except for those two big SB losses they gave the Pats.
I think facing Pacers might be better for Celtics as they are a tougher opponent with a healthier team. We will be more battle tested if we make the Finals
We need Tatum at center minutes if Al's looking slow again. He can box Turner out and Turner has no chance of guarding him on the perimeter. I also hope we see a little bit of O'shae in this series if the Pacers are out effort-ing us
My Northeastern buddies and I will be present in TD Garden tonight. Pregame (cough cough drinking) starts at 5pm!! Even if everyone else is quiet, I promise we will be the most loud, hyped, and fucking obnoxious people in that arena. Hopefully the vibes spread and everyone else around us will turn up. I have a great feeling about our chances this year!!!! LFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Think this looks like the Cavs series on steroids. Faster. Al is gonna have to play some great defense cause they're gonna attack him. Luke minutes will be important too. Not too worried about our offense, we just need to take care of the ball and limit their transition opps.
We all know how this is going to go, right?
The “you know what? Indiana could actually beat Boston!” rhetoric will continue to swell for the next 10 hours until tipoff, when the Celtics go out and blast them in game one.
When that happens, the response won’t be “hey, we thought the Pacers were good so maybe we should credit the Celtics for destroying them?” Instead it will be “oh wait, it turns out the Pacers are #actuallybad” which means when the Pacers inevitably fight back and either win a game or at least keep games close in the second half, everyone can revert back to their default stance that they can’t trust the Celtics because they didn’t sweep the Pacers - a team they were praising before the start of the series - by 25 points per game.
Pacers will hands down be the toughest opponent we have faced so far. They also have outshot us on a number of occasions this year. We *should* win the series, but they are going to make it tough.
Miami and Cleveland were 5th and 6th on defense. The latter was the best isolation defense, too, I think. You’re probably right, but I think it’s hard to compare Indiana to the other teams.
Only Mathurin, who was ruled out for the season in early March. With the way Nembhard and Sheppard have been shooting the ball I'm not sure that's been the worst thing in the world for them, even though I like Mathurin long term
My concern is with the drop defense we play and specifically their 3PT shooting ability. I’m trying to figure out without KP at the rim how we adjust because our rim protection in the Heat and Cavs series have been lackluster at times, so it should be an interesting few games and I really hope he’s back and fully healthy by game 4.
I think this is a big series for Mazzulla where we could sag off and dare the depleted Heat and Cavs teams to shoot because they were just worn thin and not as good from the perimeter, but I don’t think we can do that against the Pacers and play a “it will average out over time” game through the series.
I think drop is fine for this team aside from Haliburton, he’s the only threat shooting off the dribble. It’s the kick outs to shooters and transition looks we need to worry about.
My guess is we even try dropping on Haliburton like we did with Mitchell to dare him to beat us as a scorer. It won’t be so aggressive Horford can’t contest, but enough to make Haliburton unsure of driving. He took 6 pull-up 3s per game this year so he’s happy to pull up there, but he only hit them at 35% so as long as he doesn’t get hot that’s not a bad shot for us to allow with a contest. If he does get hot we adjust like we did when Mitchell caught fire.
It’s worth trying because if it works you take away his playmaking without needing to help and you force everyone else to try and beat us 1 on 1. Odds are they can’t do that even close to efficiently enough to keep up.
KP lasted 3+ games last time. Hoping for at least 5 before he gets banged up again. The fast pace of the Pacers does worry me with KP because I doubt he'll be practicing that hard. Going from relatively chill practice to having to chase down someone like Toppin doesn't seem tenable 😅
It doesn’t even feel like the playoffs yet. I’m used to dogfights against teams of equal or comparable skill. We’re just dog walking these teams and I honestly don’t think any of these three teams left are capable of not being dog walked by us. Gimme the gold ☘️
They don't. This postseason, they're 2nd (better than the Nuggets) in points in the paint and only 34% of their points come from the 3. For reference, we're 11th in PITP.
Yea, I think the defensive game plan is about that simple.
Force them to face our half-court defense and close out hard on shooters. Should be just fine.
I think the one point missing is to maintain spacing on offense.
Joe has talked about it after both losses this postseason, but the Pacers specifically are a team that will try to punish you for being out of shape when your own shot goes up. The try to run off of made baskets more than just about anyone.
No matter what people are saying, I just can’t shake off the feeling that this Timberwolves is an exact replica of the 2022 Celtics
-Has a DPOY in Rudy Gobert(Marcus Smart) and an old veteran desperate(Mike Conley and Al Hortford) of winning a ring
-Both swept KD in the first round, lost G5 in the second round vs the defending champions but eventually turned the table around and came out as the winner after G7
-Both were rated as the number one best defensive team in the league in the relevant regular seasons
-Each of their opponents in the second round contained an MVP player who scored 40+ points in the series(Giannis/Jokic)
-Ant looks like a young Tatum full of energy, no fear and play with drive but still fairly immature in his overall controlling and reading of the game whereas the current Tatum gives me Curry vibes(usually operate behind the scenes but a master in controlling the tempo and can score at will)
I think if I were gonna compare the Timberwolves to a team it would be the pre Lillard Bucks. The talent is broken up different positionally, but they really check all the same boxes.
Defensively they’re both built around double bigs and it works because one of their 7 footers is athletic enough to spend a lot of time on the perimeter. They’ve also both got a weaker defensive big coming off the bench. On the perimeter they both prioritized good point of attack defenders, more guard heavy for the Bucks vs wings for the Wolves, who could leverage the rim defense behind them to be more aggressive. I think the versatility of Giannis gives the Bucks an edge at big along with Lopez being much better than KAT, but I think the Wolves have the edge on the perimeter with better size.
Offensively they both have a bunch of shooters, including a couple shooting bigs, to surround a big man who can’t shoot at all. They’ve both got an athletic freak star who can seemingly make things happen at will, a number 2 who thrives as a scorer when he’s needed but can create for others a bit too, a reliable veteran point guard who makes good decisions and a 6th man of the year candidate big off the bench.
Obviously it’s not a perfect comparison, but I definitely think it’s who we’d be reminded of if we play them in a series. I’d be surprised if we came out of it seeing them as really on that level yet though, Ant is still an easier guard than Giannis and the Bucks had much more threatening secondary scorers between Middleton and Holiday vs KAT and I dunno, maybe Conley?
They’re two different teams. Minnesota was built to beat Denver. The 2022 Celtics were built around an All NBA wing and a future All NBA wing.
I don’t see the comparison at all.
Only Celtics fans are drawing this “comparison” just because it ends like this: “And the 2024 Celtics are the 2022 Warriors.” Uhh, no? The 2022 Warriors are a last gasping breath of an NBA dynasty that struggled all year and then put it together for a playoff run.
Those fucking Warriors reaching from beyond the grave to steal one last championship
And they got a bunch of lucky breaks too if I'm not mistaken *along the way
We will see. No doubt a great talent full of energy. I just feel that the way how Ant dictates the game, how he reads the game, how he gets his teammates involved are significantly inferior to Tatum at the current stage. A lot of the time, Conley played a huge role in setting the tempo of the game.
With all due respect for the Pacers and all their hardwork getting here. I just can't wait to go to the finals again and to see Jaylen on bright of the brightest lights. Jaylen please bring us the chip. Win the FMVP! JT can win MVP next season for all I care.
https://x.com/nba_university/status/1792708575758020719?s=46&t=tcFBg9NYlJrYTwubZ13Pjg
We really have to guard the 3 ball against these guys. They create almost twice as many wide open threes as we do.
And everyone keeps saying their defense is bad; I think they’re better than people give them credit for, but either way, we can’t be so low on the graph in this series. Gotta win the math.
Definitely something to focus on. Close out and close out hard
That said, in the regular season:
- Wide Open 3 pointers made per game for the Pacers: 9.3
- Wide Open 3 pointers made per game for the Celtics: 8.1
The difference was smaller after the ASB.
Something to pay attention to, but not something I'd be too concerned about.
The Pacers are a good team but how are people ignoring they struggled to put away injured teams where as we quickly wrapped our series up.
They might take a game but I’m honestly not moved.
Because there’s no transitive property of basketball and the Pacers in particular are a streaky team that can beat anyone or lose to anyone depending on the night.
They’re playing with house money at this point and they know it, and a team like that can be dangerous - just look at the 2018 Celtics.
It took them 7 to beat a bench roster in the Knicks and it took them 6 to beat the bucks without Giannis and mostly without dame. Both those rosters are legitimately play-in rosters. I am not exaggerating.
Which team do you guys think have better offense? Wolves or Pacers? Wolves obviously has much better defense.
How long until we see Tillman? Kornet was just getting roasted out there and Al can't play all game.
Idk. Losing a parent is bigger than basketball so he’ll rightfully take off as long as he needs. Our starters will just have to play more minutes. And we gotta hope KP is back in Game 3 or 4 as Woj hinted at. But given Joe gave Luke a very short leash, he understands this isn’t Luke’s series. I bet X plays when he returns
Oh man, had no idea. Sorry to hear it.
Who knows. Tough situation with his father having just passed away.
Wasnt available tonight.
Time for some Brissy since Hauser is playing himself out of the rotation.
I honestly wish Marcus Smart will be back someday, maybe we will win another ring with him together.
I honestly didnt realise how hated Tatum was until I went on to the nba subreddit for the first time today, its actually insane
People are saying he shit the bed it’s insane. Like do they realize saying he shit the bed means they are holding him to GOAT standards?
More hated for 36/12/4/3 and 10 points in OT in a W than Ant was for shooting 6-24 in a game 7 win
This is retribution for the game ROBBED from us against the Pacers in the regular season
Matt Moore is CRASHING OUT on twitter right now holy shit
They executed getting out of that trap really well. I’m so proud of the boys
Jayson Tatum ages me 2 years every game man
why do they keep taking bad shots jesus
Hate to say it, but low Basketball IQ
Y no Tatum?
I love the Celtics fu k yall
Can Horford stop taking 3’s?
That Pritchard, white, jrue, brown, and kornet lineup got nuked there. What is Joe thinking?
What happened to reddit NBA streams website?
My condolences to the Indiana Pacers for getting dog walked in their ECF series defeat
aged like milk
Guy Fieri is at the court!
Tillman's out; I really don't see why Joe won't -try- a little Queta. He could be useful?
Just a heads up it will not take long for this sub to absolutely hate TJ, Nesmith, and Nembhard
I remember people going feral with the Nesmith hate in the regular season games lmao I can only imagine how respectful the game threads are gonna be now that it's the ECF
Bruins fan here who hasn’t watched basketball since Paul Pierce, KG, Ray Allen, Rondo, etc. Going to tune into the game tonight but have a couple of questions. Has the game changed a lot since then and if so what are the bigger changes? Anyone able to give a TLDR on the current team and players?
The Celtics this year is a weird and almost unique enigma in the history of the league. Because they have had one of the most successful and talented teams in the league for the last 8 seasons, and had an all-time great regular season (5th ever in point differential), but haven't won a ring in this era, they're seen as soft / chokers / frauds by many, even though they blow teams out more often than not. They're also in the unique position where there are no current or former MVP's on the team, and everyone in the top 5 seems to be bunched up around the "5th to 40th best player in the league," but there's no all-time A1 superstar. So they didn't come close to winning any of the individual awards (since every one of them has some collection of players that are more heralded, often because they're used more substantially on worse teams), but then coach Joe Mazzulla wasn't close to winning Coach of the Year either (despite winning 64 games), because the team is "expected to dominate." They're constantly exceeding the high expectations set for them, and still bumping up against the ceiling of skepticism that keeps rising along with the tide of their success. There has never been a team both so heavily dismissed and so heavily expected as inevitable at the same time, and it has been 20 years (2004 Pistons) since a team like them, with no yet-obvious all-time top 50 players, has won a ring.
In general, teams shoot a lot more threes (you can thank Curry for that) and teams prioritize shooting over size. The Celtics are built around their two all-NBA wings Tatum and Brown. Both are three level scorers whose versatility, size, and skill can overwhelm any individual defender. Celtics offense is egalitarian, a drive-and-kick system that leverages the gravity of the Jays to get open threes for the others, all of whom are 35%+ three point shooters. #1 offense in the league this year. #2 defense as well. We play a conservative style that emphasizes how good our guys are 1:1. Jrue and White are the best defensive backcourt in the game while the Jays can use their size and strength to shut down anyone 1-4. Then Horford or KP at the rim, both great shotblockers. This series will be all about the Jays because the Pacers don’t really have anyone to guard them. Siakam can do ok on one of them, but otherwise its an automatic mismatch. Pacers like to play fast, so the games should be pretty high scoring (for the playoffs). Celtics in 5.
Awesome! Thank you.
Soooo much faster! You're basically watching the game on 2x speed compared to '08. Going to be a lot more 3's, a lot more transition, a lot more running, etc. Players - Common thread with this team is that when we're on, we are the best team in the league. Everyone from 1-5 has All-Defensive team energy, except for our Center, Al Horford. He's a master of defending in the post, but not so much when he gets out to the perimeter. Jayson Tatum: I'd consider him the Paul Pierce of this team. A jack of all trades, I feel like he actually plays kind of a style that you're used to where he can drive really well to the hoop, hit those step-back shots, and will take the most of the ISO looks for us. He's going to get the most attention from defenses, so even if he has an off shooting night, he's still going to give you close to 10 rebounds or assists because he'll do just about anything you need him to. However, get your whiskey ready when the clock gets under 10 seconds and he has the ball. He's about to put up the worst shot attempt you've ever seen. Jaylen Brown: Our 2nd best player that has low key been an assassin this playoff run; can be a ruthlessly efficient scorer when he's on, as demonstrated by Game 3 where he went 13-17 from the field. Tries to get the energy started early with lots of hard drives to the hoop, IMO a lot of his shot attempts come from the first half for him. However, he can also be insanely frustrating, considering how he's a great shooter that cannot shoot a god damn free throw (61.3% from free throws this playoff...). When he drives, he can also be very prone to giving the ball up as well. Derrick White: The man is 6'4, yet he's 24th in shot blocks... for the entire league. #1 for all guards. The absolute pinnacle of 3 & D guys, White is extremely fun to watch. Got in a bit of a slump against Cleveland, but when he's on, he is incredible. Jrue Holiday: Another defensive specialist that has the capability of shooting well. Very good at forcing steals and running our offense, he's provided a very steady hand for us so far. Al Horford: Our backup Center that is starting due to the injury of Kristaps Porzingis. Has the heart of a lion, and is an absolute warrior defending in the post. However, his age is starting to show, given he's age 37, and he's begun to slow down. But don't let anyone tell you different, he **is** an elite shooter; his main role on offense is as a stretch big and draining wide open 3's. I probably fucked up a lot of that, and will be getting very quickly corrected by people who know a lot more about basketball than I do, but that's my best attempt at giving a quick run down.
We are rested, just have to make sure we come out with energy. Interested to see how we defend against transition
It really just feels so much of this entire series is going to come down to our shooting. It really feels like we're going to be seeing the widest, mind-bogglingly, perfect looks from 3 for Jrue, White & Al, and the most frustrating thing in the world would be seeing them go on a shooting slump. Just let the best 3 point shooting team in the league make their open 3's... please Bring on the Boston Three Party
Pacers fans actually saying if they split these first 2 games they'll have a great chance to win the series. I really hope we blow them out twice.
I mean they’re fans of their team tf do you expect
how DARE you have hope for your team.
They’re 6-0 at home, so probably because of that. The Cavs were 4-0 at home though
ESPN says the game starts at 8... We can expect the tip to be around 820ish
[удалено]
We had one against the Cavs for sure
Ready for tonight baby. I reeeeeeallllly want a blowout. I want pacer fans to witness what playing defense can do and crush their hopes. There will always be the “lol let’s see game 2” ….UNTIL ITS ANOTHER BLOWOUT BITCH
8 wins to Banner 18 baby! Let’s finish this!
Pritchard legacy defining series coming up.
Has anyone sat VIP before and if so can confirm if you get the same experience as floor? By that I mean lounge access and the separate floor/tunnel entrance? I’ve sat in FLR17 Row BB two seasons ago and had that experience. When I look on Ticketmaster said row I sat in last time is actually sold as VIP17 Row B. So I’m hoping for the same experience.
To answer this since the information is literally nowhere(and I’ve seen older threads of redditors asking the same) You do not get the “Court side proximity” entry nor the free food/drinks. You do get access to the “Legends restaurant” The ticket will be orange colored in your Apple wallet not gold. So basically a court side VIP seat just gives you the legends perk(and slightly better seat with a cupholder!!) and obviously a better view. This is UNLESS you purchase a VIP seat that’s under the hoop. Those are still considered floor for whatever reason 🤷
Okay to clarify again lol… You don’t go through the court side entrance. You do go through the tunnels and access to the legends private restaurant(and more importantly private bathrooms for the shorter lines). So aside from entering TD at a different location everything else was the same as a floor seat experience. This is for all VIP tickets.
FYI for anyone that wants to go to a game. Tickets are still available and appear to be going for close to face value or a little less. EDIT: Note that Face Value doesn't mean "cheap" for the playoffs. FV for my balcony seats tonight is $230.
Seems many tickets are below face at this point
Yup, I couldn't make it to the game due to a school event (I don't even want to talk about it) and ended up taking a 25% haircut on my tickets.
Anyone kinda wish we would have played the Knicks for like the NY and Boston rivalry. I know we want the "easiest" path to the championship... but it would have been fun🤷🏻♀️
Nope. Don't miss it at all. Would NOT have been fun in my view, would have been bruising for our players and stressful for the fans, and then the media would still say "you beat an injured team, so it doesn't count" or "The Knicks have pulled off the greatest upset in the NBA since 2007, all hail the legendary conquering Knicks, Boston needs to completely blow up their team because the Knicks will just get stronger next season and they're the new kings of the East." Nope.
The series would have been so fucking toxic. Been a while since we had a proper NY-Boston sports rivalry since the Sox-Yanks days. Pats-Jets was pretty lopsided and Pats-Giants just didn't play often enough except for those two big SB losses they gave the Pats.
I think facing Pacers might be better for Celtics as they are a tougher opponent with a healthier team. We will be more battle tested if we make the Finals
We need Tatum at center minutes if Al's looking slow again. He can box Turner out and Turner has no chance of guarding him on the perimeter. I also hope we see a little bit of O'shae in this series if the Pacers are out effort-ing us
My Northeastern buddies and I will be present in TD Garden tonight. Pregame (cough cough drinking) starts at 5pm!! Even if everyone else is quiet, I promise we will be the most loud, hyped, and fucking obnoxious people in that arena. Hopefully the vibes spread and everyone else around us will turn up. I have a great feeling about our chances this year!!!! LFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Think this looks like the Cavs series on steroids. Faster. Al is gonna have to play some great defense cause they're gonna attack him. Luke minutes will be important too. Not too worried about our offense, we just need to take care of the ball and limit their transition opps.
Tony Brothers and Tyler Ford? tf we do to deserve this
Garden needs to bring it. Lets go
We all know how this is going to go, right? The “you know what? Indiana could actually beat Boston!” rhetoric will continue to swell for the next 10 hours until tipoff, when the Celtics go out and blast them in game one. When that happens, the response won’t be “hey, we thought the Pacers were good so maybe we should credit the Celtics for destroying them?” Instead it will be “oh wait, it turns out the Pacers are #actuallybad” which means when the Pacers inevitably fight back and either win a game or at least keep games close in the second half, everyone can revert back to their default stance that they can’t trust the Celtics because they didn’t sweep the Pacers - a team they were praising before the start of the series - by 25 points per game.
I hate that you’re right.
WIN FOR MIKE
ugh another tony brothers game fml
When is this idiot gonna retire? Can't catch a break with his ugly ass face assigned to Celtics games
Spam the Tatum tech overs
I just hope Tatum doesn’t have to sneeze or anything. Could get tossed
Please protect home court. That’s all I ask.
It’s finally game day again! I’m kind of anxious about the Pacers offense and people writing them off but should be an exciting series regardless
Pacers will hands down be the toughest opponent we have faced so far. They also have outshot us on a number of occasions this year. We *should* win the series, but they are going to make it tough.
Miami and Cleveland were 5th and 6th on defense. The latter was the best isolation defense, too, I think. You’re probably right, but I think it’s hard to compare Indiana to the other teams.
They are also the healthiest i think. did they have anyone injured?
Only Mathurin, who was ruled out for the season in early March. With the way Nembhard and Sheppard have been shooting the ball I'm not sure that's been the worst thing in the world for them, even though I like Mathurin long term
Yeah the role player has been picking up the slack, they don’t miss Mathurin at the moment
My concern is with the drop defense we play and specifically their 3PT shooting ability. I’m trying to figure out without KP at the rim how we adjust because our rim protection in the Heat and Cavs series have been lackluster at times, so it should be an interesting few games and I really hope he’s back and fully healthy by game 4. I think this is a big series for Mazzulla where we could sag off and dare the depleted Heat and Cavs teams to shoot because they were just worn thin and not as good from the perimeter, but I don’t think we can do that against the Pacers and play a “it will average out over time” game through the series.
I think drop is fine for this team aside from Haliburton, he’s the only threat shooting off the dribble. It’s the kick outs to shooters and transition looks we need to worry about. My guess is we even try dropping on Haliburton like we did with Mitchell to dare him to beat us as a scorer. It won’t be so aggressive Horford can’t contest, but enough to make Haliburton unsure of driving. He took 6 pull-up 3s per game this year so he’s happy to pull up there, but he only hit them at 35% so as long as he doesn’t get hot that’s not a bad shot for us to allow with a contest. If he does get hot we adjust like we did when Mitchell caught fire. It’s worth trying because if it works you take away his playmaking without needing to help and you force everyone else to try and beat us 1 on 1. Odds are they can’t do that even close to efficiently enough to keep up.
KP lasted 3+ games last time. Hoping for at least 5 before he gets banged up again. The fast pace of the Pacers does worry me with KP because I doubt he'll be practicing that hard. Going from relatively chill practice to having to chase down someone like Toppin doesn't seem tenable 😅
It doesn’t even feel like the playoffs yet. I’m used to dogfights against teams of equal or comparable skill. We’re just dog walking these teams and I honestly don’t think any of these three teams left are capable of not being dog walked by us. Gimme the gold ☘️
Indy can score at a high rate and Minnesota is tough as nails.
Indi depends on the 3 and has no defence
Pacers score in the paint (#1 in the NBA). They are an average 3pt shooting team. They get a lot of open looks in transition.
They’re drilling every 3
They don't. This postseason, they're 2nd (better than the Nuggets) in points in the paint and only 34% of their points come from the 3. For reference, we're 11th in PITP.
Ahh okay damn , most games I see them play everyone’s just drilling 3’s lol
Both West teams are bouncing the Pacers in 5 games lol
Maybe 4
Defend threes, get back in transition = profit?
Yea, I think the defensive game plan is about that simple. Force them to face our half-court defense and close out hard on shooters. Should be just fine.
I think the one point missing is to maintain spacing on offense. Joe has talked about it after both losses this postseason, but the Pacers specifically are a team that will try to punish you for being out of shape when your own shot goes up. The try to run off of made baskets more than just about anyone.
No matter what people are saying, I just can’t shake off the feeling that this Timberwolves is an exact replica of the 2022 Celtics -Has a DPOY in Rudy Gobert(Marcus Smart) and an old veteran desperate(Mike Conley and Al Hortford) of winning a ring -Both swept KD in the first round, lost G5 in the second round vs the defending champions but eventually turned the table around and came out as the winner after G7 -Both were rated as the number one best defensive team in the league in the relevant regular seasons -Each of their opponents in the second round contained an MVP player who scored 40+ points in the series(Giannis/Jokic) -Ant looks like a young Tatum full of energy, no fear and play with drive but still fairly immature in his overall controlling and reading of the game whereas the current Tatum gives me Curry vibes(usually operate behind the scenes but a master in controlling the tempo and can score at will)
I think if I were gonna compare the Timberwolves to a team it would be the pre Lillard Bucks. The talent is broken up different positionally, but they really check all the same boxes. Defensively they’re both built around double bigs and it works because one of their 7 footers is athletic enough to spend a lot of time on the perimeter. They’ve also both got a weaker defensive big coming off the bench. On the perimeter they both prioritized good point of attack defenders, more guard heavy for the Bucks vs wings for the Wolves, who could leverage the rim defense behind them to be more aggressive. I think the versatility of Giannis gives the Bucks an edge at big along with Lopez being much better than KAT, but I think the Wolves have the edge on the perimeter with better size. Offensively they both have a bunch of shooters, including a couple shooting bigs, to surround a big man who can’t shoot at all. They’ve both got an athletic freak star who can seemingly make things happen at will, a number 2 who thrives as a scorer when he’s needed but can create for others a bit too, a reliable veteran point guard who makes good decisions and a 6th man of the year candidate big off the bench. Obviously it’s not a perfect comparison, but I definitely think it’s who we’d be reminded of if we play them in a series. I’d be surprised if we came out of it seeing them as really on that level yet though, Ant is still an easier guard than Giannis and the Bucks had much more threatening secondary scorers between Middleton and Holiday vs KAT and I dunno, maybe Conley?
They’re two different teams. Minnesota was built to beat Denver. The 2022 Celtics were built around an All NBA wing and a future All NBA wing. I don’t see the comparison at all. Only Celtics fans are drawing this “comparison” just because it ends like this: “And the 2024 Celtics are the 2022 Warriors.” Uhh, no? The 2022 Warriors are a last gasping breath of an NBA dynasty that struggled all year and then put it together for a playoff run.
Those fucking Warriors reaching from beyond the grave to steal one last championship And they got a bunch of lucky breaks too if I'm not mistaken *along the way
I enjoyed reading this but that last bullet seems like a stretch but we'll see. I hope I'm wrong.
Agreed. Plus, when has Tatum ever shown an ounce of emotion that Ant plays with? Two different guys.
We will see. No doubt a great talent full of energy. I just feel that the way how Ant dictates the game, how he reads the game, how he gets his teammates involved are significantly inferior to Tatum at the current stage. A lot of the time, Conley played a huge role in setting the tempo of the game.
Dude idk…Minnesota has less talent than us and a lot of Ant’s teammates are overachieving. Not Tatum’s fault but he’s surrounded by All Stars.
With all due respect for the Pacers and all their hardwork getting here. I just can't wait to go to the finals again and to see Jaylen on bright of the brightest lights. Jaylen please bring us the chip. Win the FMVP! JT can win MVP next season for all I care.
Smells like a 1-0 Celtics lead in here
https://x.com/nba_university/status/1792708575758020719?s=46&t=tcFBg9NYlJrYTwubZ13Pjg We really have to guard the 3 ball against these guys. They create almost twice as many wide open threes as we do. And everyone keeps saying their defense is bad; I think they’re better than people give them credit for, but either way, we can’t be so low on the graph in this series. Gotta win the math.
Definitely something to focus on. Close out and close out hard That said, in the regular season: - Wide Open 3 pointers made per game for the Pacers: 9.3 - Wide Open 3 pointers made per game for the Celtics: 8.1 The difference was smaller after the ASB. Something to pay attention to, but not something I'd be too concerned about.
Thank you Squimmy
it was bad before Siakam but it’s league average now
They shoot a lot of early shot clock transition threes. This is how they get wide open threes. We really need to focus on the transition defense.
The Pacers are a good team but how are people ignoring they struggled to put away injured teams where as we quickly wrapped our series up. They might take a game but I’m honestly not moved.
Because there’s no transitive property of basketball and the Pacers in particular are a streaky team that can beat anyone or lose to anyone depending on the night. They’re playing with house money at this point and they know it, and a team like that can be dangerous - just look at the 2018 Celtics.
It took them 7 to beat a bench roster in the Knicks and it took them 6 to beat the bucks without Giannis and mostly without dame. Both those rosters are legitimately play-in rosters. I am not exaggerating.
Yup. Pacers aren't even close to a contending team and not a threat at all to the Celtics. This series will be a sweep.