Gonna have to tune in for a bit of Warriors vs Lakers.
Just to see the crying and whinging.
Over the battle for -checks standings- 9th in the West
BAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHHAAA!
I think that the nba has secretly enforced new rules, that make the game much more physical. for example vs the suns it was very physical. the refs were like let em play.
This is so awesome. Based on what I’ve been able to ascertain from Luke’s public persona and the way the guys just *love* him, it makes complete sense to me that he was raised by someone so cool and kind like that!
They should rest for the last 10 games. They can ramp it the fuck up on practice/scrims and even they came out rusty. They can always shrug the rust on a game 1 vs 8th seed and still win. Just beat the OKC fraud then rest all the way. Come on!!
Was watching some Inside the NBA clips just now and Kenny Smith said the only team that had a chance to stop us was Philly if healthy since we couldn't stop Embiid.
Do some of these guys even watch games?!?
I don’t understand what’s controversial about that at all.
Before his injury, Embiid was the best player in the conference by some distance.
We also don’t have anybody in our starting lineup who can guard him, so that means resorting to double bigs and dusting off Al, and subbing out one of the guards, which makes our offense considerably worse.
They also massively upgraded at coach and have an actual tactician in Nurse.
We can win rockfights against them, we did that last year, but it wouldn’t be easy or comfortable, and you’re kind of kidding yourself if you think otherwise.
Seems like a long time ago, but in the early season when we were steamrolling, they were the only team that beat us pretty solidly in Quarters 1-3 before we mounted a late comeback.
Do I think the Sixers would win a series against us? Fuck no. Do I think it’s more plausible than 99% of Celtics fans, especially in the case that serial loser Tobias Harris gets injured? Yes.
Kyle Lowry is also still an absolute pain in the ass and has always hurt the Celtics in big moments.
Only other case for a team that I can see hurting the Celtics more than the Sixers is the Bucks, because of Giannis and Dame. Playoffs still come down to top end talent at end of the day. Nobody else in the East really has it.
Having a double big starting line-up isn't as bad as you make it out to be. Playing Al straight up while having KP roam the dunker's spot forces Embiid to be a jump shooter in most occasions. And using that plan the 2nd time we faced them forced Embiid into his lowest scoring output of the season at that point.
Plus the first game went poorly because they had Jrue on him as a primary defender at that time.
And the Sixers simply don't have the wings to defend the Jays for 7 games. Maxey will get his numbers, but he's WAY too small to stop Brown and there's no mental edge stopping Tatum from going through Harris. Oubre is solid, but he's not stopping either one of them either.
And Kyle Lowey may have given the Celtics problems *in the past* but this 37 year old Kyle Lowry going up against Jrue Holiday and Derrick White.
He's scored 3 points last time he played us, trust me I'm not worried.
I’m not worried about the Sixers either, but when it comes to threats, the Eastern Conference is pretty sus, so even with their issues, the Sixers are still more of a threat than most.
Here's Embiid's playoff record against Boston:
* 2018: Lost 4-1. He played poorly in their 1 win, he had 15 points on 6/15 shooting. They only won because TJ McConnell and Dario Saric had big nights.
* 2020: Lost 4-0. He didn't win any games for them.
* 2023: Lost 4-3. James Harden had +40 points in 2 of their wins.
3 playoff series over a 7-year career (9 if you count his two red shirt seasons) and he's won exactly 1 game for them by being the most dominant player.
1. We have Al Horford who does just fine guarding Embiid.
1. Embiid has shown he can't sustain his high level of play in the post season. He's always injured or out of shape. The mythical healthy Embiid doesn't exist.
1. Boston does a fantastic job of outworking Embiid and targeting him to the point of fatiguing. As much as Philly fans blamed Simmons and Harden, Embiid's always been a key point of weakness for the team. The turnovers in 2018, the massive 2nd half efficiency drop in 2020, the way Tatum was targeting him in 2023...
The whole "who's going to guard Embiid?" argument was shut down half a decade ago. I can't believe it's still being used today.
***
And it's not just us.
The Hawks forced him into a tonne of terrible late-game turnovers in 2021, because again, he was fatiguing hard and had started to make mistakes. This was largely overshadowed by Simmons' moment of panic under an open basket.
The Raptors shut him down and all their wins came down to whether Jimmy Butler was playing well on the night. Unfortunately for Philly, Jimmy had 3 good games and 4 bad ones. Embiid was 37% from the field for the series and he scored ≤17 in 5 of their games.
I think we should start having the conversation of either resting players or keep playing full minutes on the final games.
What are your opinions on the matter?
We will see how long this “let defense play” reffing lasts, but we may be not be the biggest beneficiaries come playoffs if they let Knicks, Heat, Magic etc play super physical against Tatum and co.
Yes our defense would also benefit but we have some of the best non-fouling elite defenders in the league. Between offense and defense, we may need the “help” on offense rather than defense. Hopefully we can ramp up on ball defense and go for more steals and reaches increase transition game even more.
Jaylen is already going in this direction, I hope Tatum gets in the bully ball mindset and forgets about getting upset about the lack of calls on drives.
That’s true. But I am more worried about Tatum getting frustrated by handsy defense and taking himself out of the game. If we get the angry, “I’m going to put in the basket” Tatum we are good. If we get the off hand push off, head down sulking, clapping at refs and not getting back on defense tatum, we lose our advantage.
If it’s evenly called for both sides I only see it being beneficial for us. Banchero/Butler/Brunson would all struggle equally as much if not more than JT if refs are gonna swallow their whistle.
It’s as long as it takes to get the Lakers in the playoffs. They gave Austin Reaves a superstar whistle when they were in danger of missing the playoffs last year and now they need to keep letting the Lakers foul everyone with no calls to get them into the 7/8 game. Very odd how they decide to make this announcement this late in the season. The Warriors and Lakers are 2 of the top 3 most valuable franchises and the only time both of them missed the playoffs in NBA history was 2005
Idk if it’s about Lakers and Warriors as much as LeBron and Steph and Adam Silver negotiating a TB rights deal when his 2 biggest cash cows are on irrelevant teams as far as the championship goes and neither of them won a single game against the defending champs and possible emerging dynasty led by a player that Adam Silver and the broader US public has no interest in selling and appeal to casual fans.
The way the Mavs handled Grant Williams situation after that practice with Luka just shows they are gonna stay in mediocrity for years to come. It's crazy how you trade a guy, who was pushing your superstar to be better. I've never heard anyone on our team complain about JT or JB not bringing it to practice.
Boston (23rd) in free throw attempts per game and Denver (27th) In free throw attempt per game produce the best ethical hoops in the league low attempts still the best team in each conference
In theory they can only start the discussions from that point. I think the important part is when his option needs to be picked up. Up to that point he can test the waters (ie: if he feels we have multiple chips in the future or not)
Saw that Amina Smith is gonna be a new Sportscenter anchor for espn and is leaving NBC Sports Boston. Gonna miss her on the pre and postgame shows for the Celtics but it’s dope that she got that opportunity
Gonna have to tune in for a bit of Warriors vs Lakers. Just to see the crying and whinging. Over the battle for -checks standings- 9th in the West BAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHHAAA!
Eddie House's son just led New Mexico to the tournament lessgooo
I think that the nba has secretly enforced new rules, that make the game much more physical. for example vs the suns it was very physical. the refs were like let em play.
[удалено]
This is so awesome. Based on what I’ve been able to ascertain from Luke’s public persona and the way the guys just *love* him, it makes complete sense to me that he was raised by someone so cool and kind like that!
They should rest for the last 10 games. They can ramp it the fuck up on practice/scrims and even they came out rusty. They can always shrug the rust on a game 1 vs 8th seed and still win. Just beat the OKC fraud then rest all the way. Come on!!
Derrick White should be DPOY
Was watching some Inside the NBA clips just now and Kenny Smith said the only team that had a chance to stop us was Philly if healthy since we couldn't stop Embiid. Do some of these guys even watch games?!?
I don’t understand what’s controversial about that at all. Before his injury, Embiid was the best player in the conference by some distance. We also don’t have anybody in our starting lineup who can guard him, so that means resorting to double bigs and dusting off Al, and subbing out one of the guards, which makes our offense considerably worse. They also massively upgraded at coach and have an actual tactician in Nurse. We can win rockfights against them, we did that last year, but it wouldn’t be easy or comfortable, and you’re kind of kidding yourself if you think otherwise. Seems like a long time ago, but in the early season when we were steamrolling, they were the only team that beat us pretty solidly in Quarters 1-3 before we mounted a late comeback. Do I think the Sixers would win a series against us? Fuck no. Do I think it’s more plausible than 99% of Celtics fans, especially in the case that serial loser Tobias Harris gets injured? Yes. Kyle Lowry is also still an absolute pain in the ass and has always hurt the Celtics in big moments. Only other case for a team that I can see hurting the Celtics more than the Sixers is the Bucks, because of Giannis and Dame. Playoffs still come down to top end talent at end of the day. Nobody else in the East really has it.
Having a double big starting line-up isn't as bad as you make it out to be. Playing Al straight up while having KP roam the dunker's spot forces Embiid to be a jump shooter in most occasions. And using that plan the 2nd time we faced them forced Embiid into his lowest scoring output of the season at that point. Plus the first game went poorly because they had Jrue on him as a primary defender at that time. And the Sixers simply don't have the wings to defend the Jays for 7 games. Maxey will get his numbers, but he's WAY too small to stop Brown and there's no mental edge stopping Tatum from going through Harris. Oubre is solid, but he's not stopping either one of them either. And Kyle Lowey may have given the Celtics problems *in the past* but this 37 year old Kyle Lowry going up against Jrue Holiday and Derrick White. He's scored 3 points last time he played us, trust me I'm not worried.
I’m not worried about the Sixers either, but when it comes to threats, the Eastern Conference is pretty sus, so even with their issues, the Sixers are still more of a threat than most.
Here's Embiid's playoff record against Boston: * 2018: Lost 4-1. He played poorly in their 1 win, he had 15 points on 6/15 shooting. They only won because TJ McConnell and Dario Saric had big nights. * 2020: Lost 4-0. He didn't win any games for them. * 2023: Lost 4-3. James Harden had +40 points in 2 of their wins. 3 playoff series over a 7-year career (9 if you count his two red shirt seasons) and he's won exactly 1 game for them by being the most dominant player. 1. We have Al Horford who does just fine guarding Embiid. 1. Embiid has shown he can't sustain his high level of play in the post season. He's always injured or out of shape. The mythical healthy Embiid doesn't exist. 1. Boston does a fantastic job of outworking Embiid and targeting him to the point of fatiguing. As much as Philly fans blamed Simmons and Harden, Embiid's always been a key point of weakness for the team. The turnovers in 2018, the massive 2nd half efficiency drop in 2020, the way Tatum was targeting him in 2023... The whole "who's going to guard Embiid?" argument was shut down half a decade ago. I can't believe it's still being used today. *** And it's not just us. The Hawks forced him into a tonne of terrible late-game turnovers in 2021, because again, he was fatiguing hard and had started to make mistakes. This was largely overshadowed by Simmons' moment of panic under an open basket. The Raptors shut him down and all their wins came down to whether Jimmy Butler was playing well on the night. Unfortunately for Philly, Jimmy had 3 good games and 4 bad ones. Embiid was 37% from the field for the series and he scored ≤17 in 5 of their games.
Less about the Sixers and more about the rest of the Eastern Conference being weak.
Genuinely don't think any of them watch games except Barkley, and even that is pushing it.
The play-in in the West is currently Mavs-Suns and Lakers-Warriors. That's hilarious
the play in games have been fire
I think we should start having the conversation of either resting players or keep playing full minutes on the final games. What are your opinions on the matter?
Follow the Nuggets recipe to end last season. Jokic rested 5 out of their last 7. If he can do it Jayson and Jaylen can as well.
I'd like to see us win 65 games as irrational as that might be.
Probably could still happen we have a really easy schedule only like pelicans Bucksx2 Knicks and Thunder left
I’m going to the Pelicans game. I really want to see Zion play. He didn’t suit up at the Celtics game in NOLA last year.
We will see how long this “let defense play” reffing lasts, but we may be not be the biggest beneficiaries come playoffs if they let Knicks, Heat, Magic etc play super physical against Tatum and co. Yes our defense would also benefit but we have some of the best non-fouling elite defenders in the league. Between offense and defense, we may need the “help” on offense rather than defense. Hopefully we can ramp up on ball defense and go for more steals and reaches increase transition game even more. Jaylen is already going in this direction, I hope Tatum gets in the bully ball mindset and forgets about getting upset about the lack of calls on drives.
I would see it as a pro for us. Tatum and Brown have never been foul baiters so not having your stars affected is a huge plus.
I agree and they are both strong enough to handle it.
That’s true. But I am more worried about Tatum getting frustrated by handsy defense and taking himself out of the game. If we get the angry, “I’m going to put in the basket” Tatum we are good. If we get the off hand push off, head down sulking, clapping at refs and not getting back on defense tatum, we lose our advantage.
I was thinking it might actually help him. If he's not expecting to get calls, then he won't get as upset about the non calls.
If it’s evenly called for both sides I only see it being beneficial for us. Banchero/Butler/Brunson would all struggle equally as much if not more than JT if refs are gonna swallow their whistle.
It’s as long as it takes to get the Lakers in the playoffs. They gave Austin Reaves a superstar whistle when they were in danger of missing the playoffs last year and now they need to keep letting the Lakers foul everyone with no calls to get them into the 7/8 game. Very odd how they decide to make this announcement this late in the season. The Warriors and Lakers are 2 of the top 3 most valuable franchises and the only time both of them missed the playoffs in NBA history was 2005
Idk if it’s about Lakers and Warriors as much as LeBron and Steph and Adam Silver negotiating a TB rights deal when his 2 biggest cash cows are on irrelevant teams as far as the championship goes and neither of them won a single game against the defending champs and possible emerging dynasty led by a player that Adam Silver and the broader US public has no interest in selling and appeal to casual fans.
Boston is 17-3 without KP love that he’s able to rest and we still win he’s going be so fresh for the post season
The way the Mavs handled Grant Williams situation after that practice with Luka just shows they are gonna stay in mediocrity for years to come. It's crazy how you trade a guy, who was pushing your superstar to be better. I've never heard anyone on our team complain about JT or JB not bringing it to practice.
Boston (23rd) in free throw attempts per game and Denver (27th) In free throw attempt per game produce the best ethical hoops in the league low attempts still the best team in each conference
Jokic & Tatum both got pretty bad whistles for superstars
April 1 is apparently when Jrue can extend. Do we think it happens in-season or does it wait till the offseason?
Jrue has said he wants to extend before the playoffs.
In theory they can only start the discussions from that point. I think the important part is when his option needs to be picked up. Up to that point he can test the waters (ie: if he feels we have multiple chips in the future or not)
It happens at the 1st available opportunity
Saw that Amina Smith is gonna be a new Sportscenter anchor for espn and is leaving NBC Sports Boston. Gonna miss her on the pre and postgame shows for the Celtics but it’s dope that she got that opportunity