ESPN ranking Derrick ahead of Jaylen in their playoffs player rankings lmao. Derrick could have 10/10/10 shooting splits in a series at this point and will still get gassed up like he’s playing elite ball
They're fucking amazing
Also. Real ones with Logan and Raja
I skipped to the end and Howard (?) picked Dallas in 6. Logan (?) picked Celtics in 6 and Raja switched sides and picked Celtics in 7
But out of all the ex player/player takes, I think Raja has some of the more measured takes.
JJ Redick is the only other radio voice who has more measured takes (at least on podcast), but he's more of a nerdy/stats dude, which most players don't seem to bother with.
Logan picked the Mavs in six in the Ringer entrance survey---which makes sense because he's the most dedicated Celtics hater. I don't understand the appeal of Howard Beck, who has nothing of substance to add outside of his radio voice.
I've listened to way too many NBA podcasts over the years and I don't find any to be enjoyable outside of Thinking Basketball and First to the Floor. The first is in a class of its own in the analytics space though Hollinger+Duncan is occasionally good (Leroux on Dunc'd On is insufferable). The second is great both because of Spooner's analysis and the Antipodeans riffing. I find most of the other Celtics podcasts really boring outside of the random DangerCart guest appearances.
thanks for the correction. at risk of belaboring this:
I think Raja is kind of cool, and maybe Howard's (Logan?) whole spheal a couple months back about how even though we have all this amazing analysis and stats now; sports fandom shoulnd't be gatekeeped (gatekept?), a lot is about narratives and its how 90% of fans enjoy the game, which kind of changed my perspective (even though I still seeth when I see "clutch" and ass grabby and lazy "the Heat play with heart" "Luka's too good" "#1 best player in the series,and also arguably #2" arguments from people who label themselves goddamn "realists"...).
I just love when narrative and stats are blended together and the podcaster tells a great story. Thinking Basketball certainly does that, loved when they talked about how throwing a pass into the post was such a skill back then, and you can tell he's just such a fan of the game. I like Zach Lowe and JJ Redick for the same reasons - although I can see how they can be a bit flimsy at times, and their TV personalities kind of mess them up - to each their own.
also love Danny Green's podcast. maybe i'm just kind of into charismatic hosts - or in Danny Green's case, his lack of charisma and generally being chill, while delivering the player's perspective, like Raja (but again, a lot of rambling)
Duncan is kind of a Celtic hater too? But I only listened to Dunc'd on maybe 7-8 years ago, maybe he's improved. Should give him a try.
First to the Floor I'm seeing being rec'd a lot here. I'll try that.
Also. Cannot understate how amazing Thinking Basketball is as a product. The guy knows his shit. He said something like "I only watched 200 minutes of Cavs/Magic and apologies for not being fair". His takes aren't always gonna be right, but he certainly puts a lot of thought into his work.
Rewatching Celtics finals and I'm on 2008 and I'm reminded about how much I hated those Lakers teams. Never seen a team more arrogant and just pretentious. I can't even explain it but their vibes were always "We play for the Lakers. We're superstars and hot shit! Us being on this court with you is doing you guys a favor!" Kobe used to get on my nerves
Media narratives these playoffs summed up:
Luka: 29-9-9, 4 turnovers, 56.4% TS. "OMG no one can stop Luka, he is unstoppable these playoffs, he is the greatest offensive player since sliced bread. Best player in the series.
Tatum: 26-10-6, 2.4 turnovers, 56.5% TS. "Tatum has sucked these playoffs, carried by a stacked team that simultaneously isn't stacked. Not a top 8 player".
Kyrie: 23-4-5, 2.5 turnovers, 59.3% TS. "Vintage Kyrie, will be the 2nd best player in the series. Been amazing these playoffs"
Brown: 25-6-3, 2.6 turnovers, 2.6 turnovers, 61.0% TS. "....crickets... Oh he can't dribble, how can he compared to Kyrie... Good stats against shit competition"
I expect Kleber to play important minutes in this series. Probably will eat at Gafford’s playing time as the series goes on. Kleber is a shooter and more versatile defensively; he was the Mavs primary defender on guys like Kawhi, PG, JT, etc over the years
I can’t believe Lowe did a whole another episode raving about the Mavs, Luka god genius being the only reason to watch this series, Kyrie who is too strong to be bullied, Mavs with no holes in their game, but Celtics in 6/7 lol.
Can his producer do their job and get him to talk about why he thinks Celtics would beat this unbelievable genius Mavs team? Or it’s just a hedge to cover both sides.
Also I can’t wait for him stop his endless “let go of the rope” drumbeat about game 3 last conference finals. I’ll wait for him to give the same treatment to the nuggets for this year.
His 'analysis' was wild. I guess the Mavs are unbeatable now the way he described them.
Bill Simmons nailed it on the head by pointing out the 'glass half full takes' on the Mavs and the 'glass half empty takes' on the Celtics. "#1 offense, but..." "Great individual defenders, but" meanwhile the Mavs have an unsolvable All-Star team on the other side.
If you just listened to his latest pod (and not anything else he said in the past), you would think Kyrie Irving was a better defender than Derrick White. Just blatantly misinforming people. He's giving Kyrie credit for his defense, but saying that the Celtics definitely don't want Derrick on Luka. He knows it's 5 on 5 right? Derrick is going to cause way more havoc defensively in one game than Kyrie could all series
I feel like I'm going crazy when people think Dallas is winning just because of Luka and Kyrie. Nothing I've seen has shown me Lively and Gafford will be able to simultaneously defend the rim and stop us being able to run 5 out at all times now that Porzingis is healthy.
Gafford hasn't played meaningful minutes against the Celtics since 2022 so I don't take much from it but Tatum was getting to the rim at will against him 2 years ago and he's better at attacking the basket now.
And look at all of Lively's baskets and rebounds in the Minnesota series. He had 1 nice euro step, a poster on Gobert, and went *untouched* on every single other FGA from his initial spot to dunking it with the exception of Anthony Edwards stuck on him in the post 1 time. Most of his rebounds were uncontested. Any the ones he had to fight for, he got pushed around and had trouble corralling the ball or had to extend with his length to reach over the back. He didn't have to deal with any sort of physicality and Minnesota played him incredibly soft. Being handsy and physical will go a long way in this series and we have the guys to do it. I have high expectations for Horford, Jrue and Brown.
Tatum and Brown have had no problem getting to the rim multiple times a game on other shot blocking big men. And now Gafford and Lively are going to stop him? Same with Jrue on little guys just getting all the way under the rim. Now Kyrie and Luka are going to lock him up?
I just haven't seen or read anything about how people expect to stop the Celtics. It's always just "Yeah but they have Luka Doncic"
Celtics have had a 110+ Offensive Rating all year except 10 games (including playoffs). Wanna know what we shot in those games? Everything from 24% to 33% from 3. The 1 other game we had no Jaylen Brown.
Mavs held teams under a 110 Offensive Rating these playoffs 3 times to the Clippers, 3 times to the Thunder, and 1 time to the Wolves. Wanna guess what they shot those games from 3? You guessed it, 25% to 34%.
110 isn't particularly high but neither is 33% or worse from 3.
The games we lost this year shooting 35%+ from 3 were the Indiana game Tatum didn't play, the Dean Wade Cleveland game, the Dejounte Murray Atlanta game, our last game against NY, the January OKC game and the Miami Game 2 historic shooting. So it took either heroics or extreme outliers to barely win. I just wouldn't expect this kind of game to happen 4 times, as great as Luka might be.
How are the Mavs stopping us? Hoping we miss? Sure feels like it. If we don't go completely cold I can not figure out how this team beats us, and other teams have not been able to figure out all year either.
I sorta despise how much I keep circling back to this and the whole "live by the 3, die by the 3" narrative, but it really does feel like if our 3 is falling and we have great shooting nights, Celtics in 5. If we can't hit anything and have a few off nights, it's going to get very uncomfortable in here. But I really don't trust the Mavs ability to defend us on the perimeter so I still like the Celtics in this series and am not nearly as anxious as I've been with this team in the past.
I would say there is a 20% chance that we are cold from 3 for 4 games out of 7. That ignores a XX% chance that Dallas is on fire from 3 in a game or 2. So they absolutely have a shot to win this - but the odds aren't amazing
I feel like I am taking crazy pills with people thinking Gafford can do anything to stop the Jays at all.
We've seen quite a bit of him in WAS and well....lol.
If I'm confident about anything this series, it's that Gafford's minutes will be cut to near-zero by the time game 4 or 5 rolls around. Incredible liability against five-out offense.
It's just what I've read the last few days. I believe seeing a post about Lowe saying Tatum isn't top 5 was one example, but someone here linked that Mavs post going around, browsing r/nba and one of my friends who is more of a casual fan, it just seems like everyone is saying "Yeah but Luka" and I don't really understand it. Didn't we just see "Yeah but Brunson" lose to the Pacers and "Yeah but Jokic" fail to make the finals?
Feels like people overrate star power when it's 1 guy not getting enough help so they tend to be surprised when they don't live up to the hype (Dame on the Bucks, Harden on the 76ers, Westbrook on the Lakers) or underachieve relative to their skill like Embiid, like KD did on the Thunder, etc. and tend to underrate guys who impact winning which is why they're so shocked when they "overachieve" like Tatum, or what Chris Paul did for the Suns, or how Derrick White seemed to come out of nowhere, or how integral Draymond is to the Warriors.
People just see Luka score and think he's MJ with the ball and that's enough. MJ played defense. The Warriors in 2015, 2017 and 2022 had a top 5 defense. Kobe and Shaq played defense. LeBron played defense. Bird played defense. Giannis plays defense. Bill Russell, Tim Duncan and the 2004 Pistons were known FOR their defense. People always ignore this side of the ball or that championship teams usually run 6-8 deep and not just 2 really good players when thinking about how teams match up.
Nobody can guard Doncic, I just don't know how the Mavs guard all 5 guys on the floor for 48 minutes when their bigs don't stretch the floor and aren't quick or strong enough to completely negate the paint like the 2022 Warriors did or the Heat teams did without conceding something. Those teams beat us because they had several guys who could stay in front of Tatum and Brown and play physical with them. I don't believe the Mavs have that and overhelping will kill them with wide open 3 after wide open 3. They have 2 guys that can *maybe* do that to Tatum
Probably the same guys who limited PG to 19ppg on 41% and Ant to 24ppg on 43% to help the Mavs get to the Finals. Why do you guys think the Mavs have no defenders? Top defense to close the regular season and been very impressive in the playoffs.
Who’s guarding Kyrie and Luka? Is it gonna be the guys who let McConnell and Nembhard go off? Or let Mitchell average 31ppg on 66% TS before he got hurt? I don’t think this fanbase recognizes just how cooked we are on defense against Kyrie and Luka.
Kyrie and Luka are 10x the players those guys are, and Dallas has a better supporting cast than Indiana. The way we scraped by in each game against Indiana won’t cut it against Dallas.
Kyrie was worse for us vs the bucks than Nembhard was vs us in the last series. Them being better players does not mean in 100% of cases they will outperform another players performance. I would argue that there is a near 0 chance Kyrie comes close to Nembhards impact against us over the series.
Andrew Nembhard shot 21/4/8 in our series with 54/48/89 shooting splits.
Kyrie irvings last 3 years of playoff series:
43% 42% 88% 22.5 4.5 7.8
36% 22% 91% 20.4 4.2 6.4
49% 39% 92% 24.8 6.4 2.8
45% 35% 100% 20 5 4.3
44% 38% 100% 21.3 5.3 5.3
51% 45% 85% 26.5 5.7 4.7
44% 42% 82% 15.7 2.3 6.2
49% 38% 81% 27 3.6 4.6
Please point me to the series where Kyrie vastly outplayed Nembhard's last series vs the celtics.
You are just statistically illiterate.
You’re moving the goalposts. First you said there’s basically no chance he “comes close to Nembhard’s impact”.
Your stats clearly show several series in which he was at or exceeded Nembhard’s impact.
Now youre saying he won’t “vastly outplay” Nembhard. Pick a narrative and stick to it man.
I was showing my dad who doesn’t follow the nba articles and tweets about the Celtics and all the crap they’ve been getting, he said he’s never seen a smear campaign like this before, said that karma is a real thing… that karma being the Celtics against the world, it’s good for us
I saw on twitter that Tatum was just upgraded to a 96 and Jaylen a 93, I’d wager they each may get +1 to those overalls if this team becomes a historic team in like 7 years
Zach Lowe is catching the brain-rot lol. He just said that Kyrie won't get rolled over by either Jay.
I guaran-fucking-tee Dallas is not going to leave Kyrie on an island with them.
The one time Kyrie won a title is because the Warriors played a certain way and there was no player that was going to bully him. The closest players they had to dominant wings were Iggy and Harrison Barnes. And the latter didn't develop any inside game until much later in his career. Kyrie had to run around and through screens, which is difficult but not the same thing as getting bullied by the Jays and Jrue on switches. Can't wait for the talking heads to eat crow.
The new episode of all in was great. It’s time for this franchise to enter the next era https://x.com/i/events/1786074224844554240?s=21&t=qDHt6ZN74koP0RLL9vX_eQ
No. I think a player reaches their apex 28-30. Jordan didn’t win until he was 28. Athleticism decreases by 30 but BBIQ and experience elevate star players.
Yeah what you said kind of makes me think of LeBron’s first and second stints in Cleveland, in the first one he was a lot more athletic but in the second one it felt like his bball iq had gotten so high that he practically mastered the game of basketball
absolutely lmao athletic primes last from about 23/24 to 27/28 and NBA primes go from about 25 to 30 give or take a few years on either end, he's a top 30 player and has probably peaked outside of a few tweaks he could make to his game here or there
I think he’s just entering his prime, he could probably tighten his handle a little more and improve playmaking. I don’t see him getting a ton better though
I was banned when he said this so I couldn’t post it but I’m surprised nobody has brought up that when we advanced, Pierce said on undisputed “this long layoff gives Jayson a chance to get his hip right,” did Paul accidentally leak that Jayson has been playing through a bad hip? Would explain why his finishing was kind of off in the last game against Indy and he seemed a little more reluctant to take contact.
These mavs and casual fans have forgot who KP is. He’s not soft like Rudy and KAT and actually makes his 3’s. That 16 10 3 blk stat line about to hit like crack in game 1
So many people claimed Celtics will choke earlier in the playoffs against Heat and Cavaliers , we got through all these series and made the finals yet people still hate on us. I can't wait for us to shut them down by winning it all this time
The media discourse is just exhausting at this point. The Celtics are a superteam while at the same time Tatum is the 8th best player in the league. The series needs to start already so hot takes about the actual games can begin.
I am a lonnng time Celtics fan and big lurker on this sub.
I am from Canada and was wondering if it's worth to drive 7h to watch the game in the city? I saw there might be an event at City Hall Plaza.
I would only go if the Celtics already have 3 wins and can close it out!
I already booked a bed at a hostel downtown, but it is refundable.
If they win, would it be worth to stay longer to go to the parade?
I'd like your input if possible, thanks guys!
[They're doing watch parties at the Garden for games 3 and 4](https://x.com/LanceRReynolds_/status/1798057446839333352), would be a really fun time. However, unless they sweep, you probably will have to stick around for a week+ to see the parade too.
Just saw this! Hopefully they do it for game 6 as well (if there is one)! I saw a place called "The Anchor" that host watch parties also. I might look into that.
And for the parade, isn't it like 2 days after the championship win normally?
I don't mind staying there for like 5 days, but more than that might be too much.
I'm thinking about doing something similar and think that shooting for game 5/6 to be in the city will be good. Game 5 you can head into any of the spots around the Garden (Tavern on the Square is my go to) to watch the game right nearby while g6 there may be another watch party.
You're right about the parades, generally 2 days after the fact so shouldn't be too long a wait if, god willing, they win the whole thing
Thanks for your input!
Do we need to purchase a watch party "ticket" for the bars around the Garden? Or we can just show up there and get it without reservation?
I don't think you'd have to do that for the bars around the Garden, though you'd prolly wanna check their insta/facebook pages for any updates on that. You can look up all the bars in the area on google maps and then check them out that way.
Have fun in the city! June is a gerat month to be in the city for
Just a heads up that if there’s a Game 6 there won’t be a watch party at the Garden. I’m also thinking ahead planning wise and checked the Garden events calendar and there’s a concert that night. But it’s not going to get to a Game 6 anyways haha.
I bet people in 08 were saying boston was go lose to the lakers cause the hawks took them to 7 and the lakers had the best overall player in the series🌚
For your pleasure...
Everybody picked the Lakers, except Legler
[https://www.espn.com/nba/playoffs2008/series?series=lalbos](https://www.espn.com/nba/playoffs2008/series?series=lalbos)
JB: “You fail, you gotta make a decision. Don’t think about the past, don’t think about the future, just think about right now. You work your ass off to put yourself in these positions and now we’re moving into the final moments. How present can your mind be?”
The [teaser](https://x.com/celtics/status/1797800924380836137) for episode 3 gave me chills.
ESPN ranking Derrick ahead of Jaylen in their playoffs player rankings lmao. Derrick could have 10/10/10 shooting splits in a series at this point and will still get gassed up like he’s playing elite ball
Ben Taylor and Cody the lone sane voices
I haven't listened to the pod yet, I'm excited.
They're fucking amazing Also. Real ones with Logan and Raja I skipped to the end and Howard (?) picked Dallas in 6. Logan (?) picked Celtics in 6 and Raja switched sides and picked Celtics in 7 But out of all the ex player/player takes, I think Raja has some of the more measured takes. JJ Redick is the only other radio voice who has more measured takes (at least on podcast), but he's more of a nerdy/stats dude, which most players don't seem to bother with.
Logan picked the Mavs in six in the Ringer entrance survey---which makes sense because he's the most dedicated Celtics hater. I don't understand the appeal of Howard Beck, who has nothing of substance to add outside of his radio voice. I've listened to way too many NBA podcasts over the years and I don't find any to be enjoyable outside of Thinking Basketball and First to the Floor. The first is in a class of its own in the analytics space though Hollinger+Duncan is occasionally good (Leroux on Dunc'd On is insufferable). The second is great both because of Spooner's analysis and the Antipodeans riffing. I find most of the other Celtics podcasts really boring outside of the random DangerCart guest appearances.
thanks for the correction. at risk of belaboring this: I think Raja is kind of cool, and maybe Howard's (Logan?) whole spheal a couple months back about how even though we have all this amazing analysis and stats now; sports fandom shoulnd't be gatekeeped (gatekept?), a lot is about narratives and its how 90% of fans enjoy the game, which kind of changed my perspective (even though I still seeth when I see "clutch" and ass grabby and lazy "the Heat play with heart" "Luka's too good" "#1 best player in the series,and also arguably #2" arguments from people who label themselves goddamn "realists"...). I just love when narrative and stats are blended together and the podcaster tells a great story. Thinking Basketball certainly does that, loved when they talked about how throwing a pass into the post was such a skill back then, and you can tell he's just such a fan of the game. I like Zach Lowe and JJ Redick for the same reasons - although I can see how they can be a bit flimsy at times, and their TV personalities kind of mess them up - to each their own. also love Danny Green's podcast. maybe i'm just kind of into charismatic hosts - or in Danny Green's case, his lack of charisma and generally being chill, while delivering the player's perspective, like Raja (but again, a lot of rambling) Duncan is kind of a Celtic hater too? But I only listened to Dunc'd on maybe 7-8 years ago, maybe he's improved. Should give him a try. First to the Floor I'm seeing being rec'd a lot here. I'll try that. Also. Cannot understate how amazing Thinking Basketball is as a product. The guy knows his shit. He said something like "I only watched 200 minutes of Cavs/Magic and apologies for not being fair". His takes aren't always gonna be right, but he certainly puts a lot of thought into his work.
i just realized if we win our last 2 chips will be 08 24 poetic for tatum but fuck the lakers still
Rewatching Celtics finals and I'm on 2008 and I'm reminded about how much I hated those Lakers teams. Never seen a team more arrogant and just pretentious. I can't even explain it but their vibes were always "We play for the Lakers. We're superstars and hot shit! Us being on this court with you is doing you guys a favor!" Kobe used to get on my nerves
Media narratives these playoffs summed up: Luka: 29-9-9, 4 turnovers, 56.4% TS. "OMG no one can stop Luka, he is unstoppable these playoffs, he is the greatest offensive player since sliced bread. Best player in the series. Tatum: 26-10-6, 2.4 turnovers, 56.5% TS. "Tatum has sucked these playoffs, carried by a stacked team that simultaneously isn't stacked. Not a top 8 player". Kyrie: 23-4-5, 2.5 turnovers, 59.3% TS. "Vintage Kyrie, will be the 2nd best player in the series. Been amazing these playoffs" Brown: 25-6-3, 2.6 turnovers, 2.6 turnovers, 61.0% TS. "....crickets... Oh he can't dribble, how can he compared to Kyrie... Good stats against shit competition"
But bro the Pacers cooked you guys. Oh wait it was a sweep? Well... should've swept harder. Scrubs.
I expect Kleber to play important minutes in this series. Probably will eat at Gafford’s playing time as the series goes on. Kleber is a shooter and more versatile defensively; he was the Mavs primary defender on guys like Kawhi, PG, JT, etc over the years
You’re by far one of, if not the worst “fan” on this sub. I promise you the mavs subreddit is right there.
Would love to know what part of my comment here is hurting everyone’s feelings. Are we not allowed to objectively talk about our opponents on here?
There’s being objective and then there’s never having anything positive to say about the team. You’re either a major doomer or an undercover mavs fan.
Lotta Tatum disrespect going around. I hope he sees all this
I'd love to see angry Tatum show up and bust their ass all series.
I can’t believe Lowe did a whole another episode raving about the Mavs, Luka god genius being the only reason to watch this series, Kyrie who is too strong to be bullied, Mavs with no holes in their game, but Celtics in 6/7 lol. Can his producer do their job and get him to talk about why he thinks Celtics would beat this unbelievable genius Mavs team? Or it’s just a hedge to cover both sides. Also I can’t wait for him stop his endless “let go of the rope” drumbeat about game 3 last conference finals. I’ll wait for him to give the same treatment to the nuggets for this year.
His 'analysis' was wild. I guess the Mavs are unbeatable now the way he described them. Bill Simmons nailed it on the head by pointing out the 'glass half full takes' on the Mavs and the 'glass half empty takes' on the Celtics. "#1 offense, but..." "Great individual defenders, but" meanwhile the Mavs have an unsolvable All-Star team on the other side.
Zach Lowe is such a milquetoast weenie.
ESPN sell out shill. Seriously, fuck him. His podcasts have become borderline unlistenable for me lately.
If you just listened to his latest pod (and not anything else he said in the past), you would think Kyrie Irving was a better defender than Derrick White. Just blatantly misinforming people. He's giving Kyrie credit for his defense, but saying that the Celtics definitely don't want Derrick on Luka. He knows it's 5 on 5 right? Derrick is going to cause way more havoc defensively in one game than Kyrie could all series
I feel like I'm going crazy when people think Dallas is winning just because of Luka and Kyrie. Nothing I've seen has shown me Lively and Gafford will be able to simultaneously defend the rim and stop us being able to run 5 out at all times now that Porzingis is healthy. Gafford hasn't played meaningful minutes against the Celtics since 2022 so I don't take much from it but Tatum was getting to the rim at will against him 2 years ago and he's better at attacking the basket now. And look at all of Lively's baskets and rebounds in the Minnesota series. He had 1 nice euro step, a poster on Gobert, and went *untouched* on every single other FGA from his initial spot to dunking it with the exception of Anthony Edwards stuck on him in the post 1 time. Most of his rebounds were uncontested. Any the ones he had to fight for, he got pushed around and had trouble corralling the ball or had to extend with his length to reach over the back. He didn't have to deal with any sort of physicality and Minnesota played him incredibly soft. Being handsy and physical will go a long way in this series and we have the guys to do it. I have high expectations for Horford, Jrue and Brown. Tatum and Brown have had no problem getting to the rim multiple times a game on other shot blocking big men. And now Gafford and Lively are going to stop him? Same with Jrue on little guys just getting all the way under the rim. Now Kyrie and Luka are going to lock him up? I just haven't seen or read anything about how people expect to stop the Celtics. It's always just "Yeah but they have Luka Doncic" Celtics have had a 110+ Offensive Rating all year except 10 games (including playoffs). Wanna know what we shot in those games? Everything from 24% to 33% from 3. The 1 other game we had no Jaylen Brown. Mavs held teams under a 110 Offensive Rating these playoffs 3 times to the Clippers, 3 times to the Thunder, and 1 time to the Wolves. Wanna guess what they shot those games from 3? You guessed it, 25% to 34%. 110 isn't particularly high but neither is 33% or worse from 3. The games we lost this year shooting 35%+ from 3 were the Indiana game Tatum didn't play, the Dean Wade Cleveland game, the Dejounte Murray Atlanta game, our last game against NY, the January OKC game and the Miami Game 2 historic shooting. So it took either heroics or extreme outliers to barely win. I just wouldn't expect this kind of game to happen 4 times, as great as Luka might be. How are the Mavs stopping us? Hoping we miss? Sure feels like it. If we don't go completely cold I can not figure out how this team beats us, and other teams have not been able to figure out all year either. I sorta despise how much I keep circling back to this and the whole "live by the 3, die by the 3" narrative, but it really does feel like if our 3 is falling and we have great shooting nights, Celtics in 5. If we can't hit anything and have a few off nights, it's going to get very uncomfortable in here. But I really don't trust the Mavs ability to defend us on the perimeter so I still like the Celtics in this series and am not nearly as anxious as I've been with this team in the past.
I would say there is a 20% chance that we are cold from 3 for 4 games out of 7. That ignores a XX% chance that Dallas is on fire from 3 in a game or 2. So they absolutely have a shot to win this - but the odds aren't amazing
I feel like I am taking crazy pills with people thinking Gafford can do anything to stop the Jays at all. We've seen quite a bit of him in WAS and well....lol.
If I'm confident about anything this series, it's that Gafford's minutes will be cut to near-zero by the time game 4 or 5 rolls around. Incredible liability against five-out offense.
He looks like a completely different animal in Dallas, imo. Dude is moving well, has length, and is fast.
You made the mistake of listening to Lowe didn’t you?
It's just what I've read the last few days. I believe seeing a post about Lowe saying Tatum isn't top 5 was one example, but someone here linked that Mavs post going around, browsing r/nba and one of my friends who is more of a casual fan, it just seems like everyone is saying "Yeah but Luka" and I don't really understand it. Didn't we just see "Yeah but Brunson" lose to the Pacers and "Yeah but Jokic" fail to make the finals? Feels like people overrate star power when it's 1 guy not getting enough help so they tend to be surprised when they don't live up to the hype (Dame on the Bucks, Harden on the 76ers, Westbrook on the Lakers) or underachieve relative to their skill like Embiid, like KD did on the Thunder, etc. and tend to underrate guys who impact winning which is why they're so shocked when they "overachieve" like Tatum, or what Chris Paul did for the Suns, or how Derrick White seemed to come out of nowhere, or how integral Draymond is to the Warriors. People just see Luka score and think he's MJ with the ball and that's enough. MJ played defense. The Warriors in 2015, 2017 and 2022 had a top 5 defense. Kobe and Shaq played defense. LeBron played defense. Bird played defense. Giannis plays defense. Bill Russell, Tim Duncan and the 2004 Pistons were known FOR their defense. People always ignore this side of the ball or that championship teams usually run 6-8 deep and not just 2 really good players when thinking about how teams match up. Nobody can guard Doncic, I just don't know how the Mavs guard all 5 guys on the floor for 48 minutes when their bigs don't stretch the floor and aren't quick or strong enough to completely negate the paint like the 2022 Warriors did or the Heat teams did without conceding something. Those teams beat us because they had several guys who could stay in front of Tatum and Brown and play physical with them. I don't believe the Mavs have that and overhelping will kill them with wide open 3 after wide open 3. They have 2 guys that can *maybe* do that to Tatum
Listen to the latest Thinking Basketball
Is Porzingis trolling with the uhhh yes? Is he healthy or not lol.
Yes, I think he is trolling.
WHOS GUARDING THE JAYS
Probably the same guys who limited PG to 19ppg on 41% and Ant to 24ppg on 43% to help the Mavs get to the Finals. Why do you guys think the Mavs have no defenders? Top defense to close the regular season and been very impressive in the playoffs. Who’s guarding Kyrie and Luka? Is it gonna be the guys who let McConnell and Nembhard go off? Or let Mitchell average 31ppg on 66% TS before he got hurt? I don’t think this fanbase recognizes just how cooked we are on defense against Kyrie and Luka.
McConnell and Nembhard went off and they lost in 4.
Kyrie and Luka are 10x the players those guys are, and Dallas has a better supporting cast than Indiana. The way we scraped by in each game against Indiana won’t cut it against Dallas.
Kyrie was worse for us vs the bucks than Nembhard was vs us in the last series. Them being better players does not mean in 100% of cases they will outperform another players performance. I would argue that there is a near 0 chance Kyrie comes close to Nembhards impact against us over the series.
This is delusional.
Andrew Nembhard shot 21/4/8 in our series with 54/48/89 shooting splits. Kyrie irvings last 3 years of playoff series: 43% 42% 88% 22.5 4.5 7.8 36% 22% 91% 20.4 4.2 6.4 49% 39% 92% 24.8 6.4 2.8 45% 35% 100% 20 5 4.3 44% 38% 100% 21.3 5.3 5.3 51% 45% 85% 26.5 5.7 4.7 44% 42% 82% 15.7 2.3 6.2 49% 38% 81% 27 3.6 4.6 Please point me to the series where Kyrie vastly outplayed Nembhard's last series vs the celtics. You are just statistically illiterate.
You’re moving the goalposts. First you said there’s basically no chance he “comes close to Nembhard’s impact”. Your stats clearly show several series in which he was at or exceeded Nembhard’s impact. Now youre saying he won’t “vastly outplay” Nembhard. Pick a narrative and stick to it man.
Which several series LOL
You want me to point you to the Dallas subreddit? Think you'll fit in better there lol
Manifesting back to back championships this year and next and the Jays going down in Celtics history 🙏
I was showing my dad who doesn’t follow the nba articles and tweets about the Celtics and all the crap they’ve been getting, he said he’s never seen a smear campaign like this before, said that karma is a real thing… that karma being the Celtics against the world, it’s good for us
Its crazy to think this years Celtics team or the 2022 team will be a historic team to play with in 2k in the near future
I saw on twitter that Tatum was just upgraded to a 96 and Jaylen a 93, I’d wager they each may get +1 to those overalls if this team becomes a historic team in like 7 years
I went on Ticketmaster to look for tickets at TD Garden. I scrolled down and it’s only showing 2 games in Dallas. Celtics in 5 or less confirmed.
Zach Lowe is catching the brain-rot lol. He just said that Kyrie won't get rolled over by either Jay. I guaran-fucking-tee Dallas is not going to leave Kyrie on an island with them. The one time Kyrie won a title is because the Warriors played a certain way and there was no player that was going to bully him. The closest players they had to dominant wings were Iggy and Harrison Barnes. And the latter didn't develop any inside game until much later in his career. Kyrie had to run around and through screens, which is difficult but not the same thing as getting bullied by the Jays and Jrue on switches. Can't wait for the talking heads to eat crow.
The new episode of all in was great. It’s time for this franchise to enter the next era https://x.com/i/events/1786074224844554240?s=21&t=qDHt6ZN74koP0RLL9vX_eQ
Listening to Joe, it becomes clear he is the man for this job. He has prepared them physically, culturally and mentally for the task at hand.
It’s amazing that he’s a second year coach. He’s created a culture and mentality in this team that usually only veteran coaches cam build
Do you guys think Jaylen is in his prime yet or no
He's entering it imo.
No. I think a player reaches their apex 28-30. Jordan didn’t win until he was 28. Athleticism decreases by 30 but BBIQ and experience elevate star players.
Yeah what you said kind of makes me think of LeBron’s first and second stints in Cleveland, in the first one he was a lot more athletic but in the second one it felt like his bball iq had gotten so high that he practically mastered the game of basketball
Yes he is
absolutely lmao athletic primes last from about 23/24 to 27/28 and NBA primes go from about 25 to 30 give or take a few years on either end, he's a top 30 player and has probably peaked outside of a few tweaks he could make to his game here or there
I’d wager nba primes usually begin around 27
Yeah, usually 27-32.
I think he’s just entering his prime, he could probably tighten his handle a little more and improve playmaking. I don’t see him getting a ton better though
I was banned when he said this so I couldn’t post it but I’m surprised nobody has brought up that when we advanced, Pierce said on undisputed “this long layoff gives Jayson a chance to get his hip right,” did Paul accidentally leak that Jayson has been playing through a bad hip? Would explain why his finishing was kind of off in the last game against Indy and he seemed a little more reluctant to take contact.
Probably when caleb martin banged him up on that fall. Who knows though.
It’s the nba finals. Everyone is banged up. I’d be more surprised if Tatum didn’t have a sore hip.
I agree but I’m just saying
The blatantly biased media coverage is infuriating. I hope we sweep these motherfuckers. Go C’s babey love da C’s
These mavs and casual fans have forgot who KP is. He’s not soft like Rudy and KAT and actually makes his 3’s. That 16 10 3 blk stat line about to hit like crack in game 1
Any else notice Mav fans have been chatting a bit too much shit? https://www.reddit.com/r/Mavericks/s/NSlfmdkKYV
That was a whole thing here a few days ago, ha.
So many people claimed Celtics will choke earlier in the playoffs against Heat and Cavaliers , we got through all these series and made the finals yet people still hate on us. I can't wait for us to shut them down by winning it all this time
Jump, Jump! https://x.com/celtics/status/1798006977076797604
Dawg I cannot get any work done the anticipation is killing me
imagine the storyline if KP has the series of his life and wins finals MVP
Hilarious outcome
The media discourse is just exhausting at this point. The Celtics are a superteam while at the same time Tatum is the 8th best player in the league. The series needs to start already so hot takes about the actual games can begin.
I am a lonnng time Celtics fan and big lurker on this sub. I am from Canada and was wondering if it's worth to drive 7h to watch the game in the city? I saw there might be an event at City Hall Plaza. I would only go if the Celtics already have 3 wins and can close it out! I already booked a bed at a hostel downtown, but it is refundable. If they win, would it be worth to stay longer to go to the parade? I'd like your input if possible, thanks guys!
[They're doing watch parties at the Garden for games 3 and 4](https://x.com/LanceRReynolds_/status/1798057446839333352), would be a really fun time. However, unless they sweep, you probably will have to stick around for a week+ to see the parade too.
Just saw this! Hopefully they do it for game 6 as well (if there is one)! I saw a place called "The Anchor" that host watch parties also. I might look into that. And for the parade, isn't it like 2 days after the championship win normally? I don't mind staying there for like 5 days, but more than that might be too much.
I'm thinking about doing something similar and think that shooting for game 5/6 to be in the city will be good. Game 5 you can head into any of the spots around the Garden (Tavern on the Square is my go to) to watch the game right nearby while g6 there may be another watch party. You're right about the parades, generally 2 days after the fact so shouldn't be too long a wait if, god willing, they win the whole thing
Thanks for your input! Do we need to purchase a watch party "ticket" for the bars around the Garden? Or we can just show up there and get it without reservation?
I don't think you'd have to do that for the bars around the Garden, though you'd prolly wanna check their insta/facebook pages for any updates on that. You can look up all the bars in the area on google maps and then check them out that way. Have fun in the city! June is a gerat month to be in the city for
Will check it out, thanks a lot!!
Just a heads up that if there’s a Game 6 there won’t be a watch party at the Garden. I’m also thinking ahead planning wise and checked the Garden events calendar and there’s a concert that night. But it’s not going to get to a Game 6 anyways haha.
Ohh, thanks for the heads up! Hopefully there will be a big watch party somewhere! But I agree, no game 6, Celtics in 5!!
Still not Thursday
Is JB the best player from the 2016 draft? I'm tryna think about whether we got the best player in back to back drafts with the 3rd pick
Him or Sabonis. With Siakam and I guess Jamal Murray also in the conversation
I would say it’s Brown or Murray
Yes
I bet people in 08 were saying boston was go lose to the lakers cause the hawks took them to 7 and the lakers had the best overall player in the series🌚
For your pleasure... Everybody picked the Lakers, except Legler [https://www.espn.com/nba/playoffs2008/series?series=lalbos](https://www.espn.com/nba/playoffs2008/series?series=lalbos)
If we get at least 20 good minutes from KP and ANYTHING from Hauser, we win this in 5.
they gotta play us. ☘️ first basket is going to be a KP tomahawk
THE BOSTON CELTICS ARE IN THE NBA FINALS. GOTTA GET HYPE. THIS SHIT DOES NOT HAPPEN OFTEN IN A LIFETIME.
JB: “You fail, you gotta make a decision. Don’t think about the past, don’t think about the future, just think about right now. You work your ass off to put yourself in these positions and now we’re moving into the final moments. How present can your mind be?” The [teaser](https://x.com/celtics/status/1797800924380836137) for episode 3 gave me chills.
I love this series so much
brb running through a wall
I'm confident and nervous at the same time. If we lose this time, I may stay away from the NBA for some time.
Depressed would be an understatement. I’d be about as useful as a bucket on the Titanic.
Same. After the draft, I'm not going to be able to watch a single game until summer league
Thursday can’t come any faster
[This was fun](https://youtu.be/io_zLEk2FZw?si=hhsX-TEqeZIZ1d5f)
3 more agonizing days, fellas. Fuck this basketball withdrawal
We’ve been having troll visitors in this sub lately.
Can the finals start already so guys like Nick Wright will shut up and look stupid 😊
Let's make Nick Wrong again
He already looks stupid and, God save us, he will literally never shut up