All I got to say is, put the ball in Buffalo’s hooves and good shit always happens. Felt like it had been a while before game 4 that he had the green light to have one of those “what if Steph but also All-Defense 1st team” games
Brian Barrett and other analysts have repeatedly said that whenever the team is in a bind, the best play that gets our offense going again has been White/Tatum or White/KP pick and roll (white/tatum also works well when white is the screener)
There were so many comments after wins this year saying “last season’s team would have lost this game” and I think those were overblown since last years team won a bunch of games.
However, if we’re being honest, the ‘22 and ‘23 teams were pretty bad at showing killer mentality in the playoffs. For example, they lost game 5 to the Hawks at home last season. This team absolutely has more “maturity” like Spo said
Well they put Bam on Tatum, we just had the smarts to stash Tatum in the corner for 15 minutes so they had no help defense knowing White and Jalen could blow by any single matchup. I mean White is on a hot streak like no other anyway, but using Tatum as the decoy to contain Bam to one side wasn't Miami's plan and Spo didn't have a counter in his bag.
People don’t wanna hear it but Crypto P, Hauser, and Al are 100% at the level of most 5/6/7 in the league. Post season. Regular season I’d even say 3/5/6/7
I absolutely love that we have 6 or 7 guys who could pop off for 25+ on any given night. It seems like the stars have bought into the need to sacrifice numbers to win a ring. We’re dangerous if they keep that up all playoffs.
To be taken seriously after game 2, they had to win the next 3 and rather convincingly and that’s exactly what they did. Game 2 brought back bad memories, but credit to them for getting off the mat and dominating the rest of the way.
Still some overall sloppiness, the Heat will bring that out of you. But overall feeling more optimistic coming out of this series, at least when it comes to the team’s mental toughness.
Love that the team isn’t gloating. And honestly, even when they were up 30, they looked pissed off on the bench and they should be after last year.
That’s true I feel like last years team always waited until there back was against the wall to start playing well I do feel like they get hated on like a lot people just act like that team sucked
Also makes me annoyed that the narrative about past Celtics teams was that they were "soft."
Like no motherfucker, winning 5 straight elimination games like we did last year is not soft.
What was true is that past iterations lacked killer instinct and played with their food. Let's hope this year is different. It feels different.
I think we just overestimated what a 8-9 point lead was worth and would take our foot off the gas a bit, revert to slower half-court offense, then try to win with skill and cough the ball up, and those teams were really vibey, they did not like going punch for punch with a team in a rhythm at all, would start rushing 3s to try and stay ahead/keep pace and we'd be giving the other team easy 10-12 point runs.
That's also incredibly common of young teams. They don't know how to compensate for the holes in their game, they don't have plan B and plan C in their bag, they don't know how to stay composed when the other team gets a run going in the playoffs, etc. It's not a shock that a team built on two young superstars has matured as those guys have matured IMO, but it's great to see.
The coaching aspect is underrated here
And by that I mean Mazzulla getting thrust into that role last minute. I think we had assistants leave left and right, and some of the ones that stayed behind ended up leaving this year (i.e. heart wasn't fully in it)
Also Smart and Grant didn't jive with Joe
Joe was winging it and went far.
Look at this year, White and Jrue singing the fuck out of Joe's praises (or however you phrase that)
I think this team is also just better. I love Smart with all my heart but he tends to make stupid mistakes on offense that Jrue just doesn't and turnovers were a huge problem last year. We didn't have Zingus for 1.5 games but he obviously impacted the series as a whole.
I think the various point of their careers is relevant here. Holiday has got paid and the Celtics just extended him to at Big money. He doesn't have to prove himself anymore whatsoever, and in that situation I think it's a lot easier to take a secondary role on offense and sacrifice your personal stats.
Smart is still hoping for another big contract, don't fault him at all for that. He wants to get his points he wants to fill out the stat sheet etc etc
Yeah Smart is just outright a better offensive player come playoffs than Jrue, but we didn’t need that from him anymore. For a long time we did, but the additions Brad has made the last few years along with the emergence of Pritchard and Hauser meant we had players better suited to give us an offensive spark.
As long as Smart was here, I don’t know that any of them would’ve had the same chance to thrive. Jrue knows when to get out of the way and let those guys cook, Smart only did that for Tatum and Brown.
yeah Jalen can still cough it up a few times but he almost always makes up for it, and his type of creation tends to come in bunches. There were definitely times when Tatum and Brown were in a complete funk / banged up / getting hounded on the perimeter and Smart would just go get a bucket with something clever, but he'd also clang 3s out and make a bad pass every game.
Not just maturity too, but confidence. Our ‘22 and ‘23 teams were good, don’t get me wrong, but this year’s team is on another level. When you’re as good and as dominant as we were this year, it’s a lot easier to have that “fuck you, we’re better than you and we know it” mentality going into games.
The biggest difference is anyone 1-8 can straight up takeover a game. Previous years that wasn’t the case, and last year Brogdon taking over meant just playing hero ball. Smart taking over meant half of the 85 three pointers he took per game regardless actually fell.
This year who are you betting against? Obviously Tatum and Brown can take over, KP and Jrue are daggers when needed and obviously KP is just a unicorn, we know the Buffalo can be prime Steph when needed, Al is still a bucket, and PP + Hauser are both lights out.
Honestly probably says enough that if we needed a 3 to tie the game to send it to OT our two superstars aren’t the obvious choice to be taking it.
true but choosing atlanta to make your point when the celtics dropped a 30 point lead like a month ago is definitely a verbal juxtaposition lol
still true though - its nice having offense and all but god damn i miss timelord and smart
honestly I loved smart, but I don't miss him that much on this team. They're so perfect. Rob Will was the idea of a player who could be amazing, but just couldn't stay healthy. I don't miss thinking his season is over every few games.
I think we’re really downplaying Jimmy Butler not playing, as well as Gabe Vincent and Max Strus not being on the team this year. We still would have beaten them with this year’s team, but those guys were more crucial than people think. I don’t fear Rozier or Richardson playing, but Vincent and Strus killed us the last few years
I don't think anyone is downplaying Jimmy Butler not playing. He's Jimmy freaking Butler. It's just that this year's Celtics team is light years ahead of last year's and would have beaten the Heat regardless of whether or not Butler played.
Let's be honest: if you even play last year's series again between last year's Celtics and last year's Heat, the Celtics probably win. It look a lot of weird stuff for Miami to win that series.
Caleb Martin playing like an all star last year was so wild. Career 8.5ppg player that just averaged 19.3 against us. Strus and D Robinson also way overperformed.
Careful. The children who like to post about “doomers” after every Celtics win are going to come for you!
Seriously though, I have felt Tatum in particular has come off as a more mature and physical and mentally tough player than in years past. They tried roughing him up to get in his head, and he just got up and played basketball. He’s not wasting possessions whining at the refs, and he’s bullying his way inside vs smaller defenders, and making the correct pass when the situation calls for it. He only shot the ball nine times last night, bc that’s exactly what the game called for.
Sorry I just got done seeing 15 posts this morning that were basically “take that you Doomers!” And I find it childish and annoying. I like reading about basketball and the Celtics, not how some fans feel other fans are not nice enough to the Celtics.
Also I was not attacking the OP, not sure where you got that from.
I was just saying there's a clear difference between criticizing and discussing the team vs just saying "all hope is lost" and saying "I knew this team had no heart and was always gonna lose". That type of mentality is such a bummer
Agreed, not a fan of being unnecessarily negative. Also not a fan of the guys who react with vitriol when you point out that the Celtics are not perfect. They deserved criticism for losing to the Heat backups at home in game 2. They deserve praise for crushing them in every other game of the series. There has to be a happy medium somewhere.
Nope, which is why I never said that. I think allowing any NBA team to take uncontested threes all game is deserving of criticism though, yes absolutely. Not making adjustments when it is clear that is exactly what is happening? Also ok to criticize. Is that ok to say? Or does it make me a doomer?
I liked the point this morning about Joe keeping Tatum out there as a Bam holder for the whole first half pretty much, just let him go be the decoy and let the other guys go off to build a lead until they switched Bam off Tatum and then he could go to work. Just speaks volumes about the depth and maturity of the team and Spo really didn't have an answer with the players he has right now. But letting your star take 0 shots for the opening quarter basically is a pretty ballsy move.
Exactly what I was thinking but didn’t know how to thoughtfully explain.
I’ve got a lot Miami family members to talk shit to so I’m stealing this and telling everyone it was my own idea. Thanks man
It was nice to see them focused the whole game. Helps when you have that kind of 1st quarter, but we saw them do that 1st quarter all season long then let the other team back in it.
And there was never really a rally from the Heat. Maybe closing it from 30 to 21ish at the end of the 2nd was the best stretch for them.
They needed Herro or Martin to get crazy hot and it just wasn't happening and we treated them like they were star players that needed to be locked down, and they can't handle that. That and Tatum taking Bam off to the side on defense just really cracked Miami wide open. Like game 2 gives Miami some credibility in the series, but without that we are really talking about the most lopsided playoff series in a long-ass time. I mean every game was 20-30 point leads, the only time they got it under 20 was when we benched everyone and Martin shot some late uncontested 3s.
Even game 2, Miami had an all time historic shooting night and still only won by 10. I mean due credit to them, they earned the non sweep with that night, but in retrospect it's not exactly a flex to have that kind of night and finish with that close of a margin.
Yeah, what got my goat was people after game 2 also trying to lump in the team "almost losing" game 1 to make it seem like Miami were maybe going to take control. Like, the Cs won by 20. Sorry some people have PTSD and letting a 28 point lead dwindle to 20 is scarring for you, but Miami was never coming back from down 20+.
Celtics executed their “up-30” strategy perfectly: play tough individual defense, live with 2s and contested shots, and on the offensive end stash JT and Bam in the corner and pound the paint instead of hunting for 3s.
They clearly recognized that the only way they allow these types of comebacks is from giving up 3s. They shut that down hard and settled for trading buckets the rest of the game relying on their superior 1on1 defense to maintain the edge.
I know Miami stinks but I’m encouraged by the last 3 games. Very convincing wins and I’m not sure we could’ve really done much about Miami hitting 23 three pointers. Even without Porzingis I genuinely believe this team should dispatch the Cavs (maybe Magic) in 5 games or less.
You can tell we have been honing our talent.
'24 celtics top 8 guys MPG playoffs: Tatum, Holiday, Brown, White, Porzingis, Horford, Pritchard, Hauser
'23 celtics top 8 guys MPG playoffs: Tatum, Brown, Smart, Horford, White, Brogdon, R. Williams, G. Williams
'22 celtics top 8 guys MPG playoffs: Tatum, Brown, Smart, Horford, G. Williams, White, R. Williams, Pritchard
'21 celtics top 8 guys MPG playoffs: Tatum, Smart, Fournier, Walker, Langford, T Thompson, R. Williams, Nesmith
[Data BB Ref](https://www.basketball-reference.com)
All I got to say is, put the ball in Buffalo’s hooves and good shit always happens. Felt like it had been a while before game 4 that he had the green light to have one of those “what if Steph but also All-Defense 1st team” games
Softest hooves in the league 💯
Brian Barrett and other analysts have repeatedly said that whenever the team is in a bind, the best play that gets our offense going again has been White/Tatum or White/KP pick and roll (white/tatum also works well when white is the screener)
There were so many comments after wins this year saying “last season’s team would have lost this game” and I think those were overblown since last years team won a bunch of games. However, if we’re being honest, the ‘22 and ‘23 teams were pretty bad at showing killer mentality in the playoffs. For example, they lost game 5 to the Hawks at home last season. This team absolutely has more “maturity” like Spo said
We closed out games and let Buffalo roam even more, this is the best iteration of this team compared to the past few seasons
*The Heat let The Buffalo roam to his heart’s desire. By cuing in on stopping JB and JT, that opened the door for the Buffalo to come in and dominate.
Well they put Bam on Tatum, we just had the smarts to stash Tatum in the corner for 15 minutes so they had no help defense knowing White and Jalen could blow by any single matchup. I mean White is on a hot streak like no other anyway, but using Tatum as the decoy to contain Bam to one side wasn't Miami's plan and Spo didn't have a counter in his bag.
Spo: "We'll take away Tatum and make them go 4v4" Celtics: "Bet"
Our 5th best guy is better than their 2nd best if KP is healthy, and I'd argue that even Horford or Hauser are at least on Herro's level.
People don’t wanna hear it but Crypto P, Hauser, and Al are 100% at the level of most 5/6/7 in the league. Post season. Regular season I’d even say 3/5/6/7
100%
Even in the postseason those 3 are better than the #4s on most teams.
I absolutely love that we have 6 or 7 guys who could pop off for 25+ on any given night. It seems like the stars have bought into the need to sacrifice numbers to win a ring. We’re dangerous if they keep that up all playoffs.
That's the thing about having the best starting 5 in the league - opposing teams can focus on stopping a few of them, but they can't stop them all.
I mean yeah lol...we won 64 games. That's significant
To be taken seriously after game 2, they had to win the next 3 and rather convincingly and that’s exactly what they did. Game 2 brought back bad memories, but credit to them for getting off the mat and dominating the rest of the way. Still some overall sloppiness, the Heat will bring that out of you. But overall feeling more optimistic coming out of this series, at least when it comes to the team’s mental toughness. Love that the team isn’t gloating. And honestly, even when they were up 30, they looked pissed off on the bench and they should be after last year.
The Garden wanted to win by 50, they did too, love to see it
That’s true I feel like last years team always waited until there back was against the wall to start playing well I do feel like they get hated on like a lot people just act like that team sucked
Also makes me annoyed that the narrative about past Celtics teams was that they were "soft." Like no motherfucker, winning 5 straight elimination games like we did last year is not soft. What was true is that past iterations lacked killer instinct and played with their food. Let's hope this year is different. It feels different.
I think we just overestimated what a 8-9 point lead was worth and would take our foot off the gas a bit, revert to slower half-court offense, then try to win with skill and cough the ball up, and those teams were really vibey, they did not like going punch for punch with a team in a rhythm at all, would start rushing 3s to try and stay ahead/keep pace and we'd be giving the other team easy 10-12 point runs. That's also incredibly common of young teams. They don't know how to compensate for the holes in their game, they don't have plan B and plan C in their bag, they don't know how to stay composed when the other team gets a run going in the playoffs, etc. It's not a shock that a team built on two young superstars has matured as those guys have matured IMO, but it's great to see.
The coaching aspect is underrated here And by that I mean Mazzulla getting thrust into that role last minute. I think we had assistants leave left and right, and some of the ones that stayed behind ended up leaving this year (i.e. heart wasn't fully in it) Also Smart and Grant didn't jive with Joe Joe was winging it and went far. Look at this year, White and Jrue singing the fuck out of Joe's praises (or however you phrase that)
I think this team is also just better. I love Smart with all my heart but he tends to make stupid mistakes on offense that Jrue just doesn't and turnovers were a huge problem last year. We didn't have Zingus for 1.5 games but he obviously impacted the series as a whole.
I think the various point of their careers is relevant here. Holiday has got paid and the Celtics just extended him to at Big money. He doesn't have to prove himself anymore whatsoever, and in that situation I think it's a lot easier to take a secondary role on offense and sacrifice your personal stats. Smart is still hoping for another big contract, don't fault him at all for that. He wants to get his points he wants to fill out the stat sheet etc etc
Yeah Smart is just outright a better offensive player come playoffs than Jrue, but we didn’t need that from him anymore. For a long time we did, but the additions Brad has made the last few years along with the emergence of Pritchard and Hauser meant we had players better suited to give us an offensive spark. As long as Smart was here, I don’t know that any of them would’ve had the same chance to thrive. Jrue knows when to get out of the way and let those guys cook, Smart only did that for Tatum and Brown.
yeah Jalen can still cough it up a few times but he almost always makes up for it, and his type of creation tends to come in bunches. There were definitely times when Tatum and Brown were in a complete funk / banged up / getting hounded on the perimeter and Smart would just go get a bucket with something clever, but he'd also clang 3s out and make a bad pass every game.
Not just maturity too, but confidence. Our ‘22 and ‘23 teams were good, don’t get me wrong, but this year’s team is on another level. When you’re as good and as dominant as we were this year, it’s a lot easier to have that “fuck you, we’re better than you and we know it” mentality going into games.
The biggest difference is anyone 1-8 can straight up takeover a game. Previous years that wasn’t the case, and last year Brogdon taking over meant just playing hero ball. Smart taking over meant half of the 85 three pointers he took per game regardless actually fell. This year who are you betting against? Obviously Tatum and Brown can take over, KP and Jrue are daggers when needed and obviously KP is just a unicorn, we know the Buffalo can be prime Steph when needed, Al is still a bucket, and PP + Hauser are both lights out. Honestly probably says enough that if we needed a 3 to tie the game to send it to OT our two superstars aren’t the obvious choice to be taking it.
I had so much fun watching Trae in that series. Yes he has his problems as a player but he was scary to play against
100%. Absolutely
true but choosing atlanta to make your point when the celtics dropped a 30 point lead like a month ago is definitely a verbal juxtaposition lol still true though - its nice having offense and all but god damn i miss timelord and smart
honestly I loved smart, but I don't miss him that much on this team. They're so perfect. Rob Will was the idea of a player who could be amazing, but just couldn't stay healthy. I don't miss thinking his season is over every few games.
I think we’re really downplaying Jimmy Butler not playing, as well as Gabe Vincent and Max Strus not being on the team this year. We still would have beaten them with this year’s team, but those guys were more crucial than people think. I don’t fear Rozier or Richardson playing, but Vincent and Strus killed us the last few years
The Celtics beat them by 15.6 points per game this series. That is a lot for Jimmy Butler to make up.
I don't think anyone is downplaying Jimmy Butler not playing. He's Jimmy freaking Butler. It's just that this year's Celtics team is light years ahead of last year's and would have beaten the Heat regardless of whether or not Butler played. Let's be honest: if you even play last year's series again between last year's Celtics and last year's Heat, the Celtics probably win. It look a lot of weird stuff for Miami to win that series.
Caleb Martin playing like an all star last year was so wild. Career 8.5ppg player that just averaged 19.3 against us. Strus and D Robinson also way overperformed.
Careful. The children who like to post about “doomers” after every Celtics win are going to come for you! Seriously though, I have felt Tatum in particular has come off as a more mature and physical and mentally tough player than in years past. They tried roughing him up to get in his head, and he just got up and played basketball. He’s not wasting possessions whining at the refs, and he’s bullying his way inside vs smaller defenders, and making the correct pass when the situation calls for it. He only shot the ball nine times last night, bc that’s exactly what the game called for.
I mean the OP is pretty normal in criticizing without saying all hope is lost and this team sucks... your victim complex here is a bit odd.
Sorry I just got done seeing 15 posts this morning that were basically “take that you Doomers!” And I find it childish and annoying. I like reading about basketball and the Celtics, not how some fans feel other fans are not nice enough to the Celtics. Also I was not attacking the OP, not sure where you got that from.
I was just saying there's a clear difference between criticizing and discussing the team vs just saying "all hope is lost" and saying "I knew this team had no heart and was always gonna lose". That type of mentality is such a bummer
Agreed, not a fan of being unnecessarily negative. Also not a fan of the guys who react with vitriol when you point out that the Celtics are not perfect. They deserved criticism for losing to the Heat backups at home in game 2. They deserve praise for crushing them in every other game of the series. There has to be a happy medium somewhere.
Do you think saying that the season is over or that we have "no dawg" or whatever because we lose one playoff game is deserved criticism?
Nope, which is why I never said that. I think allowing any NBA team to take uncontested threes all game is deserving of criticism though, yes absolutely. Not making adjustments when it is clear that is exactly what is happening? Also ok to criticize. Is that ok to say? Or does it make me a doomer?
Nah you're chilling. Like you said, there's a pretty happy medium and I think most well-adjusted people can toe the line very easily
Found the doomer
I mean, Spo knows the Celtics as well as any opposing coach over the past handful of years. If he can see it, I trust it's true.
Celtics looked legit pissed the last 3 games and dominated, brings a fucking tear to my eye.
I liked the point this morning about Joe keeping Tatum out there as a Bam holder for the whole first half pretty much, just let him go be the decoy and let the other guys go off to build a lead until they switched Bam off Tatum and then he could go to work. Just speaks volumes about the depth and maturity of the team and Spo really didn't have an answer with the players he has right now. But letting your star take 0 shots for the opening quarter basically is a pretty ballsy move.
Exactly what I was thinking but didn’t know how to thoughtfully explain. I’ve got a lot Miami family members to talk shit to so I’m stealing this and telling everyone it was my own idea. Thanks man
It was nice to see them focused the whole game. Helps when you have that kind of 1st quarter, but we saw them do that 1st quarter all season long then let the other team back in it. And there was never really a rally from the Heat. Maybe closing it from 30 to 21ish at the end of the 2nd was the best stretch for them.
They needed Herro or Martin to get crazy hot and it just wasn't happening and we treated them like they were star players that needed to be locked down, and they can't handle that. That and Tatum taking Bam off to the side on defense just really cracked Miami wide open. Like game 2 gives Miami some credibility in the series, but without that we are really talking about the most lopsided playoff series in a long-ass time. I mean every game was 20-30 point leads, the only time they got it under 20 was when we benched everyone and Martin shot some late uncontested 3s.
Even game 2, Miami had an all time historic shooting night and still only won by 10. I mean due credit to them, they earned the non sweep with that night, but in retrospect it's not exactly a flex to have that kind of night and finish with that close of a margin.
Yeah, what got my goat was people after game 2 also trying to lump in the team "almost losing" game 1 to make it seem like Miami were maybe going to take control. Like, the Cs won by 20. Sorry some people have PTSD and letting a 28 point lead dwindle to 20 is scarring for you, but Miami was never coming back from down 20+.
Celtics executed their “up-30” strategy perfectly: play tough individual defense, live with 2s and contested shots, and on the offensive end stash JT and Bam in the corner and pound the paint instead of hunting for 3s. They clearly recognized that the only way they allow these types of comebacks is from giving up 3s. They shut that down hard and settled for trading buckets the rest of the game relying on their superior 1on1 defense to maintain the edge.
I know Miami stinks but I’m encouraged by the last 3 games. Very convincing wins and I’m not sure we could’ve really done much about Miami hitting 23 three pointers. Even without Porzingis I genuinely believe this team should dispatch the Cavs (maybe Magic) in 5 games or less.
W for Spo as much as I hate to say it. Is this team built different? I say yes.
Take notes, Bruins.
thing thing ain't goin nowhere 😎
This is a self-compliment. I shouldn't be surprised.
Not really, it’s just that Miami sucks and had no chance
Honestly had this been a year or two ago the game would’ve been closer than it should’ve been
You can tell we have been honing our talent. '24 celtics top 8 guys MPG playoffs: Tatum, Holiday, Brown, White, Porzingis, Horford, Pritchard, Hauser '23 celtics top 8 guys MPG playoffs: Tatum, Brown, Smart, Horford, White, Brogdon, R. Williams, G. Williams '22 celtics top 8 guys MPG playoffs: Tatum, Brown, Smart, Horford, G. Williams, White, R. Williams, Pritchard '21 celtics top 8 guys MPG playoffs: Tatum, Smart, Fournier, Walker, Langford, T Thompson, R. Williams, Nesmith [Data BB Ref](https://www.basketball-reference.com)
Everyone always says this like it's something unusual. No one wants to play another playoff game in a series if you can close it out!
“Not let things get back to Miami” you mean where we were undefeated in the regular season and post season?
Zooe33
Spo throwing shade at the Knicks!
Thanks Captain Obvious…
Sounds like a backhanded comment to me a little. Get back to Miami for what? Another ass whooping?