Celtics playoff run: drive for #18

[aluminum seats]

Perhaps the most impressive TEAM playoff win I've ever seen by the Celtics. Our main guy gets bottled up, everyone else finds the next gear. Warriors players looked disoriented in the fourth quarter getting hit from all sides. I wish I had recorded this one, anyone know when/where a replay is available? I want to see that fourth quarter again.

I watched the 4th quarter again this morning. I actually record them all, for that purpose, but also because sometimes I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack and need to pause

 

[everlong]

The first half was a real treat. Both teams back and forth. Much more like the Bucks series than the Heat in terms of game flow and both teams being competitive. I was thinking if this is the way every game plays out this is going to be an all time series.

Third quarter I'm throwing my hands up screaming can anyone please block out? And then GS would hit these contested shots and you have to think if they're going to nail these even when the Celtics are playing great defense this might be a short series.

Forth quarter, wow. They start blocking out and stop giving GS multiple opportunities every time down the floor, GS goes cold, Celtics heat up and Tatum rather than force it becomes the passer.

A great point made after the game was the Celtics were pick and rolling into Curry to make him defend. He's an amazing athlete and well conditioned but that strategy took it's toll.

Scall called Poole unplayable in this series because the Celtics would shut down his movement on offense and expose him on defense. For one night at least he was dead on.

 

[jimnance]

The first half was a real treat. Both teams back and forth. Much more like the Bucks series than the Heat in terms of game flow and both teams being competitive. I was thinking if this is the way every game plays out this is going to be an all time series.

Third quarter I'm throwing my hands up screaming can anyone please block out? And then GS would hit these contested shots and you have to think if they're going to nail these even when the Celtics are playing great defense this might be a short series.

Forth quarter, wow. They start blocking out and stop giving GS multiple opportunities every time down the floor, GS goes cold, Celtics heat up and Tatum rather than force it becomes the passer.

A great point made after the game was the Celtics were pick and rolling into Curry to make him defend. He's an amazing athlete and well conditioned but that strategy took it's toll.

Scall called Poole unplayable in this series because the Celtics would shut down his movement on offense and expose him on defense. For one night at least he was dead on.

Yeah the standard method to slow down a great offensive player has always been make him expend energy on defense.
Which the C's did (eventually), as you pointed out.
These are 2 heavyweights. GS will now make adjustments. I think this is a series BB will really enjoy: 2 great defenses vs 2 great offenses. 2 very good coaches. Lot of adjustments. Lot of tough physical players as well as skilled ones. Kinda sounds like the Bucks and Heat series.
These last 3 series have been fun to watch. NBA had become boring but these 3 series had the intensity and skill levels of classic 80's and early 90's Bird/Magic/MJ/Dr.J/et al games

 

[everlong]

Yeah the standard method to slow down a great offensive player has always been make him expend energy on defense.
Which the C's did (eventually), as you pointed out.
These are 2 heavyweights. GS will now make adjustments. I think this is a series BB will really enjoy: 2 great defenses vs 2 great offenses. 2 very good coaches. Lot of adjustments. Lot of tough physical players as well as skilled ones. Kinda sounds like the Bucks and Heat series.
These last 3 series have been fun to watch. NBA had become boring but these 3 series had the intensity and skill levels of classic 80's and early 90's Bird/Magic/MJ/Dr.J/et al games

The problem I had with the Heat series is it lacked a good flow. This was mostly because of the amount of foul called. Every quarter took twice as long to watch as the Bucks series. That was Pat Riley with the Knicks in the 90's or the Pistons of the 80's type of series. The Heat want to muck it up and they were successful.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Jimmy Butler is still giving me nightmares. Any team seems like a good matchup after he became Michael Jordan the last few games. No matter how good your defense is, in the NBA there’s no way to stop someone like that. Dude was hitting every shot despite being doubled constantly. Nothing against Curry, but he can’t break a defense the same way a guy like Giannis, LeBron or Butler (playing at that level) can. And note that these superstars have eliminated the Celtics in the past. Curry is incredible as an off ball player, but GS needed in the fourth for an alpha to iso up and score…the Celtics were jamming the lanes and making it ugly.

I’m optimistic because I think GS lacks a traditional scoring threat who constantly make plays and goes to the rim to draw fouls. That was Durant and why they were impossible to stop. That’s why the offense wasn’t as pretty with Durant but they were still much tougher because going into ugly, disrupt defense mode didn’t work. They’d just iso him and win that way. But even other guys like Thompson and Iguodala back then were better as iso players and not totally dependent on ball movement and spacing. GS has a lot of good shooters but if you break the passing flow of their offense, they don’t have 1-on-1 guys who can beat the Celtics defenders. They’re still very good, but I think we’ll see a lot of streaks and runs and big lead swings.

 

[jimnance]

Jimmy Butler is still giving me nightmares. Any team seems like a good matchup after he became Michael Jordan the last few games. No matter how good your defense is, in the NBA there’s no way to stop someone like that. Dude was hitting every shot despite being doubled constantly. Nothing against Curry, but he can’t break a defense the same way a guy like Giannis, LeBron or Butler (playing at that level) can. And note that these superstars have eliminated the Celtics in the past. Curry is incredible as an off ball player, but GS needed in the fourth for an alpha to iso up and score…the Celtics were jamming the lanes and making it ugly.

I’m optimistic because I think GS lacks a traditional scoring threat who constantly make plays and goes to the rim to draw fouls. That was Durant and why they were impossible to stop. That’s why the offense wasn’t as pretty with Durant but they were still much tougher because going into ugly, disrupt defense mode didn’t work. They’d just iso him and win that way. But even other guys like Thompson and Iguodala back then were better as iso players and not totally dependent on ball movement and spacing. GS has a lot of good shooters but if you break the passing flow of their offense, they don’t have 1-on-1 guys who can beat the Celtics defenders. They’re still very good, but I think we’ll see a lot of streaks and runs and big lead swings.

I love Butler. One of my favorite players.
But Tatum is better. And hes still a young dude. His peak will be in the Giannis/Lebron stratosphere. You can stop a sizzling Butler if you play D against him the way GS played it vs. Tatum last night. You can stop ANYBODY incl. MJ that way. Constant double and triple teams. So Tatum torches them to the tune of 13 assists to 2 turnovers. That might be better than any pg in the nba played in the entire playoffs,incl. CP3. GS underestimated Tatum's elite passing and his teammates' ability to knock down shots. C's offense is not a one-trick pony. Its obe of the top 3 offenses in the nba and multi-faceted. Plus the best defense in the league. But GS is there for a reason. The C's will earn this title and it wont be easy
But truth is, Boston and Milwaukee (with Middleton) are the 2 best teams in the nba. Period. I watched a lot of Phoenix and GS. C's are just better than both. The East is finally the superior conference again. Both at the top and depth-wise.

 

[TheRainMaker]

I'm still confident in the Warriors. However, if they lose game 2...it's over.

 

[Kdo5]

I'm still confident in the Warriors. However, if they lose game 2...it's over.

To me it’s only “over” if you go up 3-0. I’d be tempted to say it’s over if the Celts go up 3-1 though, given how good they are.

 

[BTTA]

Really looking forward to how the Celtics weather the intense storm that the Warriors have to throw at them on Sunday.

There's been A TON of good reporting since Game 1, especially at BSJ and The Athletic. This article in particular gives me goosebumps about the makeup of this Celtics team: Amick: So much for the Warriors' mystique. Why the Celtics' calm should concern them

So much for the Warriors’ mystique. Why the Celtics’ calm should concern them​

...You can tell a lot about a team by watching how they walk off the floor. At least that’s been my belief for quite some time now. It’s an inexact-science sort of thing, to be sure, but you tend to find clues about a team’s collective character in those moments.

Teams that might still have that happy-to-be-here mindset tend to celebrate Game 1 wins as if they’re series clinchers, so I wondered what we might see from this Celtics squad that boasts four conference-finals appearances in the last six seasons but hasn’t been this far since the 2010 finals loss to the Lakers. Truth be told, I half expected to see the Celtics letting loose at least a little bit because of the way it had all gone down in the fourth quarter.

Instead, there was the kind of collective calm that probably should concern Curry & Co. Udoka connected with Grant Williams, who was one of the few Celtics who struggled. Payton Pritchard casually talked with assistant coach Will Hardy as they headed for the locker room. Matt Ryan, the ineligible two-way player who was working in a cemetery a year ago, lifted the spirits of his teammates by announcing, “That’s one. That’s one. Three more, baby.” Assistant general manager Mike Zarren made an understated phone call.

One by one, they made their way to the back with the kind of enthusiasm you’d typically see in December. Only Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck did anything that remotely resembled a celebration, briefly raising his fists, Rocky style, as he came off the floor...

 

[TheRainMaker]

To me it’s only “over” if you go up 3-0. I’d be tempted to say it’s over if the Celts go up 3-1 though, given how good they are.

I forgot the NBA rightfully switched back the Finals format to 2-2-1-1-1. I was thinking Boston up 2-0 with 3 home games would be too tough to overcome.

 

[bormio]

The Celtics have had a hard time with prosperity. They have been playing better with their backs to the wall. I’d like to see this change in game 2 - time to break their effing neck.

 

[aluminum seats]

I’m in London on a business trip, the game starts at 1am

I’m thinking about it

 

[Vatahala]

I’m in London on a business trip, the game starts at 1am

I’m thinking about it

Schedule a 330 AM wake-up call.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Warriors will win tonight. It's amazing though in the this era of the NBA you could be up 14-20 points in any moment of the game, but somehow lose by double digits. Lol.

 

[venecol]

Warriors will win tonight. It's amazing though in the this era of the NBA you could be up 14-20 points in any moment of the game, but somehow lose by double digits. Lol.

What happened in Gm 1 had never happened before.

 

[Vatahala]

Somehow I can't get pass the fact that Celtics won by 12 despite Tatum's 3-17 shooting so I believe the Warriors are over-matched. Tatum gets 40 tonight and Williams has 18 rebounds to lead the Celtics to an easy win.

 

[TheRainMaker]

What happened in Gm 1 had never happened before.

I was referring to overall. What happened in game 1 won't be the last time.

 

[Zuma]

I just hope the Celts aren't counting on hitting 3 pointers again with a very high percentage. I hope they know that and plan accordingly.

 

[rochrist]

What happened in Gm 1 had never happened before.

Maybe not in the Finals. In 2002 conf finals, the Celtics came back from 21 points down in the fourth quarter to win 94-90. That was the largest comeback in playoff history.

 

[rochrist]

I just hope the Celts aren't counting on hitting 3 pointers again with a very high percentage. I hope they know that and plan accordingly.

Why? 36-40 percent should be readily doable. The average almost 38 percent for the season.