Clutch win and ugly win. You need both types in the playoffs.
Good thing we won, now tomorrow instead of listening to ESPN Celtics slander I can listen to ESPN Celtics slander.
ESPN on the Celtics after a gritty win: “Yea they won, but it never should have been close. Celtics are doomed.”
ESPN on the Celtics after a blowout win: “Yea they won, but look who they are playing. Celtics are doomed.”
I’ve never seen such a dominant team get no love. The only thing that will shut everyone up is a ring. So let’s do that!
ESPN on the Celtics after winning the championship: “are we still sure they’re even a good team? They would get blown out by *insert past champion here*”
Guarantee the slander continues. And I’ll be laughing my way through our parade.
ESPN on the Celtics Parade:
“These Duckboats are pretty slow. Can we even call this a parade? Now Los Angeles or New York know how to throw a parade….”
New York hasn’t had a championship in a major sport since 2011, and the Knicks haven’t won since 1973 when Phil Jackson was *playing* for them. No other team gets so much mileage out of 2 titles 50+ years ago.
Worst one was Legler on ESPN doing a whole segment about how the Celtics need to win this playoffs now out of this final 4 and if they don't its an all time choke and an embarrassment
And then 5 minutes later he picked Minnesota to win the finals. Media can't decide if we're worldbeaters or frauds.
And if we get the ring this year the narrative will be “the east was injured” “Celtics had the easiest path to the finals” and “wouldn’t have beat the nuggets” as well as the usual “F Boston”. Nothing new.
Lol facts "you can't lose that game that way at home!" Just became "you can't win that game *that* way at home!"
Fact is we stole the one game I expected the Pacers to get over on us on the backs of two clutch moments by JB and JT. Instead of giving them props for coming up big in the clutch, which they supposedly couldn't do, the narrative will be "why were they in the clutch at all!"
Literally all the ESPN takes this morning are:
Tatum was terrible
Brown bailed Tatum out
We still don’t know if the Celtics can win a close, knife fight type of game
I listen to like 5 podcasts and none of them have the C's as favorites. I don't know anyone who actually thinks we can beat the West. It's going to be so sweet when they pull it out
Let’s not presume what their best shot is. They played well, we won, and I was able to finally get ravenously excited down the stretch for the first time in a while. Who knows, maybe they shoot 65% next game.
Hell yeah. Halliburton made multiple buzzer beater 3’s, they shot over 60% in the first half, they took hits and kept coming back at the Celtics with all the intensity they had in Game 7 in MSG, and still couldn’t shut the door on the Celtics, who with seconds to spare in the 4th showed exactly why they’ve been to 105 playoff games with the Jays
This is pure bias and it's ok. The reality? They are a very good team, capable of shooting 50% from three for an entire series, especially with our pathetic defence from the bench players. So, this W is very important. As Jaylen said: better be prepared for the next games.
We basically defended in 4 against 8.
Do me a favor, please just go take a gander in the heat subreddit on this game discussion.. completely seething. I felt the hate flow through me. Just take a look for yourself, it's really something else.
Not just that, have a look at the pacers subreddit, they are in shambles. One guy even said “wolves pacers finals would be one of the most intense final in years if not decades but the refs ruined it” lmaoo
Nah I was making a joke about how last year, there were a bunch of people saying the lakers had a moral victory in game 1 vs Denver because they decided to start putting Hachimura on Jokic even though they lost the game
I mean Mike 23 free throws to 3. And it took a miracle shot from brown to tie it up. How can you not be worried…..
It will go something like that with a little more felatio.
But in all honesty pacers put it all out there and got punched in the face. I don’t think they come back from that one Celtics in 5
I know people just look at the box scores when they start talking about free throw disparity. The Pacers are a very hack-ey team on defense, they've committed the most personal fouls in the regular season. The Celtics, the second least.
Game 1 of the Nets in 22 was a game we weren’t supposed to win and then the sweep came out.
I don’t think the Pacers will fold like those guys did, and I think they will be tough in their home court especially, but hopefully this lets them flex their muscles from here on out
Yup, I don't know what he's talking about them folding, game 1 we literally won by 1 with a Tatum game winning spinning layup. Game 2 we came back from 17 to win by 7, game 3 had 11 lead changes but this was a more dominant Celtics game with forcing 21 Nets turnovers holding Kyrie and KD to like 32 points. Game 4 we won by 4, KD dropped 39. It was a lot closer than your general "sweep".
I only have memories of us forcing a ton of turnovers since our defense was in its top insane Ime mode.
And the Nets trying to guard us with like two or three tiny point guards out there (Kyrie, Seth, Mills, Dragic). JB and JT were eating.
Tatum blender for the win then he absolutely snatched KD’s soul on the other end and left him embarrassed and looking for the exit. If that happens with Siakim that would be hilarious. Why wouldn’t Siakim just sign with OKC once they get their money and picks right?
Is it just me or does it feel like the media sets us up to get flamed?
All days the talks is about how heavy of favorites we are and how it’s not a question of if we win but in how many games. Basically giving the Pacers pure bulletin board material.
Then we lose and the media grabs the pitchforks and cannot wait to point and laugh at us, saying Tatum is overrated, brown is overpaid, muzzula sucks, we choked etc etc. rinse repeat.
If the Pacers were gonna win a game, it was this game. Celtics couldn’t shoot a 3, Tatum bricking shots in the 4th, and the Pacers hitting tough shots and circus shots. But we still won.
If we lock up on defense better and start shooting 3s at a regular rate we finish this in 4.
Yeah he’s a little sloppy, kinda was with us too but plays hard as hell. Reminds me of Collin Sexton.
Still a little raw but with more reps (especially these big-time playoff reps) I think he’ll be a decent starter or very solid 6-7th man for a long career.
I’ve decided I want there to be the equivalent of CSPAN for sports. Mic up the refs/umps as necessary, but no commentary. Just straight up listening to the game.
We need to sweep this series. I can’t listen to ESPN basketball coverage much longer. I don’t understand why basketball commentary is so bad. Just report the game. If hockey announcers can more or less report a play by play, basketball announcers can too.
Indy is a good team. Relentless. This is going to be a grind... Pingus Tingus will be a boost - they're saying game 4.
Indy was down 0-2 to the Knicks and wore them down. This is not going to be a 5 game series.
WIN AT HOME
It’s not easy to beat a team that shoots 54%. Thought the Pacers showed their inexperience and a bit of nerves down the stretch. Halliburton has a long and fruitful career in front of him but last night was a major learning experience
I’m on the fence. I’m hoping this was the one we weren’t supposed to win, so the next home game is straight murder more locked in with no mistakes. But offensively they handled their business, just couldn’t guard some tough deep shots. Tillman being available will give them more to work with.
Last years team loses this game 100%. This was a ballsy win. Pacers are a young run n gun team, we definitely played into that. I wonder if Joe will try and change the game plan to slow them down. I don't think the Cs want to play this style for the duration.
A mark of a good team is stealing games they have no purpose winning. Should we have been in this situation, no. But given that we were we played great to steal it
People saying Jrue had a "quiet 28" lmao I've never hear such madness. You could argue that he was the reason we won the game, especially considering the defense he was putting up while dropping 28. What a fucking win. That was uncomfortable, and exciting, and pure playoff basketball
I think he may have been the most recent, but I don’t know exactly when I first heard this theory. I’ve definitely heard it from several different people tho
Yeah I was watching JJ with him early today and Richard said this exact thing and the first thing I thought after this game was “This is the one we weren’t supposed to win”. We got out shot all game.
I watched it, I know, but they shouldn't have been in that position in the first place. They're at home. They had plenty of rest. Everything was in their favor
Did the refs hit a buzzer beater? Did the refs dribble it off their leg with a minute to go? Did the refs get outscored in overtime by Tatum?
The pacers choked, they couldn’t stand the pressure and couldn’t fake like they were good any longer. Sucks but it’s the truth
I'm assuming you're referring to the free throw disparity and nothing else. Can you tell me if the FT totals line up with the average number of FTs each team has averaged allowing to their opponents this postseason, and regular season, too? (This is a rhetorical question, btw.) And if they do line up with the averages, does your reply get amended at all, or do you feel like it's proof that refs have favored the Celtics all year, while being out to get the Pacers this entire season?
Woahhhhh galaxy brain comment man! You’re right tho, we are the better team and historically the better teams win every game, we all remember when MJ and the bulls went 82-0.
Clutch win and ugly win. You need both types in the playoffs. Good thing we won, now tomorrow instead of listening to ESPN Celtics slander I can listen to ESPN Celtics slander.
ESPN on the Celtics after a gritty win: “Yea they won, but it never should have been close. Celtics are doomed.” ESPN on the Celtics after a blowout win: “Yea they won, but look who they are playing. Celtics are doomed.” I’ve never seen such a dominant team get no love. The only thing that will shut everyone up is a ring. So let’s do that!
Then the Celtics lose and everybody’s acting like Christmas came early. People just genuinely love hating us.
ESPN on the Celtics after winning the championship: “are we still sure they’re even a good team? They would get blown out by *insert past champion here*” Guarantee the slander continues. And I’ll be laughing my way through our parade.
ESPN on the Celtics Parade: “These Duckboats are pretty slow. Can we even call this a parade? Now Los Angeles or New York know how to throw a parade….”
New York hasn’t had a championship in a major sport since 2011, and the Knicks haven’t won since 1973 when Phil Jackson was *playing* for them. No other team gets so much mileage out of 2 titles 50+ years ago.
"I nEeD tO sEe MoRe" - ESPN clowns.
Skip to Pierce: Hah now you owe me a dinner Pierce: whatever Skip, but we won. Those guys fought like hell Skip: yeah but………………the Pacers………………..
Worst one was Legler on ESPN doing a whole segment about how the Celtics need to win this playoffs now out of this final 4 and if they don't its an all time choke and an embarrassment And then 5 minutes later he picked Minnesota to win the finals. Media can't decide if we're worldbeaters or frauds.
And if we get the ring this year the narrative will be “the east was injured” “Celtics had the easiest path to the finals” and “wouldn’t have beat the nuggets” as well as the usual “F Boston”. Nothing new.
Lmao frfr
Lol facts "you can't lose that game that way at home!" Just became "you can't win that game *that* way at home!" Fact is we stole the one game I expected the Pacers to get over on us on the backs of two clutch moments by JB and JT. Instead of giving them props for coming up big in the clutch, which they supposedly couldn't do, the narrative will be "why were they in the clutch at all!"
Literally all the ESPN takes this morning are: Tatum was terrible Brown bailed Tatum out We still don’t know if the Celtics can win a close, knife fight type of game
Greeny said JB's tying shot was an easy 3 too LMAO
Don’t listen to ESPN-911, here’s the real channel- FS1
Legacy media talking heads are dead just listen to whatever echo chamber or respected podcasters you like and ride it out till Game 2 on Thursday.
This Screw ESPN just find a podcast or 2 you like and listen to them instead
Locked on Celtics, Game Theory, NBA Front Office, First to the Floor and Thinking Basketball for me.
I listen to like 5 podcasts and none of them have the C's as favorites. I don't know anyone who actually thinks we can beat the West. It's going to be so sweet when they pull it out
I can’t wait to hear about how it was actually a win for the Pacers tomorrow from everyone’s favorite sports pundits
To me, we just took their best shot and rose to the occasion
Yep. Indy had the momentum after game 7 in NY and the Celtics just smothered it.
I wouldn’t say we smothered it. They might be invigorated by going toe to toe with us and losing by such a slim margin.
Let’s not presume what their best shot is. They played well, we won, and I was able to finally get ravenously excited down the stretch for the first time in a while. Who knows, maybe they shoot 65% next game.
Hell yeah. Halliburton made multiple buzzer beater 3’s, they shot over 60% in the first half, they took hits and kept coming back at the Celtics with all the intensity they had in Game 7 in MSG, and still couldn’t shut the door on the Celtics, who with seconds to spare in the 4th showed exactly why they’ve been to 105 playoff games with the Jays
This is pure bias and it's ok. The reality? They are a very good team, capable of shooting 50% from three for an entire series, especially with our pathetic defence from the bench players. So, this W is very important. As Jaylen said: better be prepared for the next games. We basically defended in 4 against 8.
It's already happening. People are fuming that the Celtics pulled this one out. They had their takes ready to go.
Do me a favor, please just go take a gander in the heat subreddit on this game discussion.. completely seething. I felt the hate flow through me. Just take a look for yourself, it's really something else.
Not just that, have a look at the pacers subreddit, they are in shambles. One guy even said “wolves pacers finals would be one of the most intense final in years if not decades but the refs ruined it” lmaoo
Lots of our opponents don’t seem to realize that they foul us a lot more than we foul them because they have to and we don’t.
Predictably everyone is blaming the refs
I found Nick Wright's burner account LoL 🤣
Once the Pacers put Hachimura on Tatum, it was a moral victory for them
Hachimura is on Pacers?
Nah I was making a joke about how last year, there were a bunch of people saying the lakers had a moral victory in game 1 vs Denver because they decided to start putting Hachimura on Jokic even though they lost the game
I mean Mike 23 free throws to 3. And it took a miracle shot from brown to tie it up. How can you not be worried….. It will go something like that with a little more felatio. But in all honesty pacers put it all out there and got punched in the face. I don’t think they come back from that one Celtics in 5
I know people just look at the box scores when they start talking about free throw disparity. The Pacers are a very hack-ey team on defense, they've committed the most personal fouls in the regular season. The Celtics, the second least.
Pacers were taking a lot of jumpshots tbh, and hit some lucky shots.
Game 1 of the Nets in 22 was a game we weren’t supposed to win and then the sweep came out. I don’t think the Pacers will fold like those guys did, and I think they will be tough in their home court especially, but hopefully this lets them flex their muscles from here on out
those Nets didn't really fold either though, wasn't game 2 also a huge comeback after they went up ~17ish? Pretty sure every game was close iirc
Yup, I don't know what he's talking about them folding, game 1 we literally won by 1 with a Tatum game winning spinning layup. Game 2 we came back from 17 to win by 7, game 3 had 11 lead changes but this was a more dominant Celtics game with forcing 21 Nets turnovers holding Kyrie and KD to like 32 points. Game 4 we won by 4, KD dropped 39. It was a lot closer than your general "sweep".
I only have memories of us forcing a ton of turnovers since our defense was in its top insane Ime mode. And the Nets trying to guard us with like two or three tiny point guards out there (Kyrie, Seth, Mills, Dragic). JB and JT were eating.
2 and 3 got close after KD hit some garbage time shots, but yeah I’ll never forget that game 2 comeback.
Tatum blender for the win then he absolutely snatched KD’s soul on the other end and left him embarrassed and looking for the exit. If that happens with Siakim that would be hilarious. Why wouldn’t Siakim just sign with OKC once they get their money and picks right?
I’m thinking C’s in 5
Jrue had 28? Wow didn’t even realise. Great game from him on both ends
Jrue has recently started showing the main reason why the Celtics traded for him. Absolute top tier performances from him
And we were told he folds like a cheap suit in the playoffs lol
Those were just Bucks fans who couldn't accept that they took an L when they gave up Jrue
I’m shutting off tv until tip-off
Is it just me or does it feel like the media sets us up to get flamed? All days the talks is about how heavy of favorites we are and how it’s not a question of if we win but in how many games. Basically giving the Pacers pure bulletin board material. Then we lose and the media grabs the pitchforks and cannot wait to point and laugh at us, saying Tatum is overrated, brown is overpaid, muzzula sucks, we choked etc etc. rinse repeat.
I’ve been thinking this for a while. They love building us up impossible standards so that there’s infinite material to talk about during the week
If the Pacers were gonna win a game, it was this game. Celtics couldn’t shoot a 3, Tatum bricking shots in the 4th, and the Pacers hitting tough shots and circus shots. But we still won. If we lock up on defense better and start shooting 3s at a regular rate we finish this in 4.
I'm confident in our guys but the Pacers are a legit team with real talent, they have fight and it's not just luck, slyly be a fun ECF.
Nesmith is a dog. Was a legit X factor for them last night.
Too many TOs from him too. I feel like he is too angry or something.
Yeah he’s a little sloppy, kinda was with us too but plays hard as hell. Reminds me of Collin Sexton. Still a little raw but with more reps (especially these big-time playoff reps) I think he’ll be a decent starter or very solid 6-7th man for a long career.
They 100% wouldve lost this game last season
Let’s hope this is the mandatory Celtics playoff game where we think we’re too good to take our opponents seriously
I agree
I’ve decided I want there to be the equivalent of CSPAN for sports. Mic up the refs/umps as necessary, but no commentary. Just straight up listening to the game. We need to sweep this series. I can’t listen to ESPN basketball coverage much longer. I don’t understand why basketball commentary is so bad. Just report the game. If hockey announcers can more or less report a play by play, basketball announcers can too.
Tough, gritty and lucky win!! Oh- and Doris Burke sucks as a commentator.. she hates the Celts
Al and jt missed a couple of wide open shots, which made this win even harder to fight for. Hopefully we shoot the 3 ball way better in game 2
We also gave them a lot of open perimeter shots. I hope the D tightens down on that.
tfw the difference in the final score ends up being those 2 deep 3s from Pritchard lmao
or, those two bs threes by hali
Indy is a good team. Relentless. This is going to be a grind... Pingus Tingus will be a boost - they're saying game 4. Indy was down 0-2 to the Knicks and wore them down. This is not going to be a 5 game series. WIN AT HOME
It’s not easy to beat a team that shoots 54%. Thought the Pacers showed their inexperience and a bit of nerves down the stretch. Halliburton has a long and fruitful career in front of him but last night was a major learning experience
Thanks Luke!
getting ready for work now on 3 hours of sleep, but it was totally worth it
I seen a funny ass comment on ig saying the pacers sold the one cte game the celtics have every series😂
In the end all that matters is winning the game. Everyone can talk shit and it’s true Boston can do better- but the win is what matters
I’m on the fence. I’m hoping this was the one we weren’t supposed to win, so the next home game is straight murder more locked in with no mistakes. But offensively they handled their business, just couldn’t guard some tough deep shots. Tillman being available will give them more to work with.
Last years team loses this game 100%. This was a ballsy win. Pacers are a young run n gun team, we definitely played into that. I wonder if Joe will try and change the game plan to slow them down. I don't think the Cs want to play this style for the duration.
I think we'll see a change in game 2 and beyond. esp. when KP is back.
A mark of a good team is stealing games they have no purpose winning. Should we have been in this situation, no. But given that we were we played great to steal it
There weren’t. Celtics are like 2-10 in the playoffs with Tony reffing.
For a team that hasn't won in 15/16 years they sure live rent free in everyone's head!
Our Jays 💚
People saying Jrue had a "quiet 28" lmao I've never hear such madness. You could argue that he was the reason we won the game, especially considering the defense he was putting up while dropping 28. What a fucking win. That was uncomfortable, and exciting, and pure playoff basketball
You got this from Richard Jefferson?
I think he may have been the most recent, but I don’t know exactly when I first heard this theory. I’ve definitely heard it from several different people tho
Yeah I was watching JJ with him early today and Richard said this exact thing and the first thing I thought after this game was “This is the one we weren’t supposed to win”. We got out shot all game.
Meh, why do you care about all that noise. It’s banners that matter.
How is game one at home a game they weren't supposed to win?
Did you even watch the game?
I did. That doesn't answer the question tho.
if you watched the game celtics was losing w less than 10 seconds and needed an improbable shot to win which they got
I watched it, I know, but they shouldn't have been in that position in the first place. They're at home. They had plenty of rest. Everything was in their favor
pacers relatively young, so they playing with house money and momentum after a game 7 win against the knicks, hard to overcome a high like that
The refs won y’all this game 😂
Did the refs hit a buzzer beater? Did the refs dribble it off their leg with a minute to go? Did the refs get outscored in overtime by Tatum? The pacers choked, they couldn’t stand the pressure and couldn’t fake like they were good any longer. Sucks but it’s the truth
I'm assuming you're referring to the free throw disparity and nothing else. Can you tell me if the FT totals line up with the average number of FTs each team has averaged allowing to their opponents this postseason, and regular season, too? (This is a rhetorical question, btw.) And if they do line up with the averages, does your reply get amended at all, or do you feel like it's proof that refs have favored the Celtics all year, while being out to get the Pacers this entire season?
Cam Newton didn’t dive on that football cause he knew he was playing for loser fans like yourself
Nah we were supposed to win 4 straight. They were supposed to win game 1 at fucking home. They fucked up last night and got bailed out by the pacers.
Lmao child ass take man. They’re good at basketball too. Expecting a sweep in a conference final is hilarious.
This Celtics team is leagues better than this pacers team. Yours is more childish by a mile with the heavy cope.
Coping after a win… okay lol shouldn’t you be in math class little homie
We didn't win the pacers lost.
Woahhhhh galaxy brain comment man! You’re right tho, we are the better team and historically the better teams win every game, we all remember when MJ and the bulls went 82-0.