Category: Celtics

Here They Come. Celtics Look to Close Out LeBron James and Advance to the NBA Finals Tonight

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The biggest game of many Celtics’ players lives is tonight. Game 6 with the chance to go to the NBA Finals right in front of them. A team that nobody gave a chance after the injuries they suffered is 48 minutes away from reaching the championship round. Now all they have to do is go through LeBron James and his 7 consecutive trips to the Finals.

Every time the Celtics have a big game I am compelled to post this video; it is my favorite Celtics commercial of all-time.

It was a different time and it was a different team. Back in 2012 the Celtics were the aging veterans, the old heavyweight, the last samurai — whatever you want to call it. They were on their last legs and they knew it and thats what made them so dangerous. It took an absolute HOF God Mode performance from LeBron ironically enough to knock that team off, but they had him on the ropes with the opportunity to close him out in a Game 6. Just. Like. Tonight.

This Celtics team could not be any different than that one. This team is lead by 20 and 21 year old guys with only a couple of “real veterans” to round it out. Jayson Tatum is 20 years old and looks like he’s a 10 year veteran, but this is all a first for him. Jaylen Brown seems to have taken on the role of a calming force…in his second year in the league. Al Horford, and Marcus Smart, and Marcus Morris, and Terry Rozier, and Aron Baynes and…and well thats probably it, but thats who we’re rolling with.

Great moments are born from great opportunity and thats what you have here tonight boys. Thats what you’ve earned here tonight.

Celtics Remain Undefeated at Home and are Now One Win Away from the NBA Finals

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Think about that headline for a second. The Boston Celtics are one win away from the NBA Finals. No Kyrie, no Gordon Hayward, hell no Daniel Theis! Yet they are 48 minutes away from going back to the NBA Finals for the first time in 8 years.

Granted they still have to finish off LeBron James in Cleveland.

The C’s remain undefeated at home in the playoffs this year at 10-0 yet are only 1-6 on the road. It really is preposterous how much better this Celtics team is at home than on the road, and you could say the same exact thing about the Cavs. The home team in this series has won every game and won it running away. In the first five games the home team has won by 25, 13, 30, 9, and 13. Thats banana land.

So I would very much prefer to have the Celtics finish off the Cavs and drive LeBron out of Cleveland on his home court. BUT, recent history suggests that is unlikely. But I really, really do not want to have to go to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals to try and beat LeBron with a trip to the Finals (his 8th in a row) on the line. A game like that could go either way. Young guys like Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Terry Rozier could absolutely ball out and it wouldn’t surprise me. Or they could wilt in the face of a veteran championship winning team while LeBron turns on God Mode for 50 points. So lets just avoid that scenario and take care of business in Game 6.

Boston got back to its winning ways and lead Cleveland by as much as 21 before ultimately winning 96-83. The Celtics had everyone chipping in with 5 players scoring in double digits, which is even more impressive when you consider the fact that Brad Stevens shortened his rotation to just SEVEN players. Only seven guys even got in the game last night: Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Aron Baynes, Terry Rozier, Marcus Morris, Marcus Smart, and Jaylen Brown. Abdel Nader and Guerschon Yabusele each got 2 mins of garbage time at the end of the game so that doesn’t count. Don’t tell Yabusele that though as he jacked up two 3’s (and missed both) in the 120 seconds he was on the floor.

Jayson Tatum had a coming out party in Game 5 as he was pretty much unstoppable, save for some missed layups that he should have had. Tatum led the Celtics 24 points and was beating defenders off the dribble and pulling up for daggers going 3-7 from deep.

Al Horford was solid with a respectable 15/12 double double on the night and earned a new nickname from The 300s in the process.

As we predicted on this very site earlier this week, going back home was the perfect elixir for guys like Marcus Morris so he could continue to be the glorious dickhead that he is.

In all seriousness though, I don’t think that counts as an official win in the NBA history books because if you didn’t hear, LeBron was tired. The entire second half the ESPN broadcast team reminded everyone how tired LeBron looked.

So that’ll be the storyline everywhere today. Not the fact that the Celtics have pushed the Cavs to the brink of elimination, it’ll be that LeBron didn’t have enough Gatorade before Game 5 so he was too tired. Maybe he should be taking a nap instead of doing all that exhausting reading before the game.

The Cavs were on their heels all night long as we saw guys like JR Smith come back down to earth scoring 2 points going 1-6 from the field and 0-4 from deep. Smith was playing hero ball all night long and I loved it.

The crowd at TD Garden had its fangs out last night too. After Smith banged knees with a Celtics player he was slow to get up and the Boston crowd, remembering Smith’s cheap shot on Horford and prior to that Jae Crowder, had little sympathy busting out the “FUCK YOU JR” chant.

Kevin Love was even getting the business from the rich white guys sitting courtside.

Basically when the Celtics win its because everyone is contributing and they limit the Cavs supporting cast. In Game 5 the Cavs only had 2 players in double digits scoring with Tristan Thompson (1 pt), Smith (2 pts), Larry Nance Jr. (2 pts), Kyle Korver (7 pts), George Hill (7 pts) all falling back to earth.

If there was ever one graphic that summarized this Celtics vs LeBron matchup its this:

So the Celtics have a golden opportunity to close this series out and earn a trip to the NBA Finals in Game 6 on Friday night. Until then though Celtics fans can take their fingers off the panic button.

I’m Bordering on Concerned About the Celtics Now

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Before I bare my soul I will repeat what I said in defense of the Cavs after Game 2; you’re not in trouble in a series until you lose a home game. The Celtics took care of business and stomped out the Cavs in Games 1-2 in Boston and the Cavs have now returned the favor.

If the NBA (and many of its players home/road splits) didn’t have such wild swings in momentum, officiating, and legitimate home court advantage I would be in full on panic mode. Thats also why everyone who has mocked the Celtics for the past few years for being a soft No. 1 or No. 2 seed and how the regular season “doesn’t matter” needs to pipe down. Have the Celtics overachieved the last couple of seasons? Absolutely. Thats exactly why they need that home court advantage over a team like the Cavs. Guys like Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart are notoriously better at home so yes its important for the C’s to grind out those first 82 games in order to secure any minor advantage they can. I’d also like to point out that the Celtics have yet to lose a game at home in the playoffs.

So with all that being said, do I feel great heading back to Boston with this series tied up and LeBron and his flunkies feeling themselves after back to back W’s? Noooope. LeBron has been LeBron and just abused whoever is defending him or has facilitated like the basketball Magic Johnson facsimile that he is. That was pretty much always going to happen, regardless of how much we all pumped up Marcus Morris for being the LeBron Stopper.

What concerns me the most though is how much better the Cavs have gotten each game, in particular the supporting cast of bums like George Hill and JR Smith. Smith is a notorious front runner so I’m confident in the fact the Celtics can get back to their business in Game 5 at home and Smith could very predictably shut it down. George Hill was non-existent in Games 1-2 yet in the 2 games in Cleveland he was a problem, but that could very easily just be a case of role players (like Smart and Rozier) balling out at home.

What absolutely cannot happen though is guys like Kyle Korver just son-ing Jaylen Brown. Korver set up shop in the young forward’s brain, blocking a couple of Brown’s shots and then working him on the glass to go along with his unconscious shooting from 3. Not to mention Jaylen Brown absolutely bricking a wide open dunk.

The Cavs just keep getting better and better the last two games so I’m telling myself (read: hoping) that this is just a home team taking care of business. But Cleveland’s improvement over the last 4 games is just ridiculous. Seriously, look at the Cavs’ FG% and 3-point percentages from Game 1 to Game 4.

  • Game 1: 36% / 15%
  • Game 2: 46% / 32%
  • Game 3: 48% / 50%
  • Game 4: 50% / 34%

I don’t appreciate the Cavs seemingly getting better every single game after looking like they were on the brink of implosion after the first 2.

The No. 1 problem that Brad Stevens is going to have to fix before Game 5 though is a bunch of guys in their early 20s looking at LeBron getting it going and saying ‘here we go again.’ Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Terry Rozier all grew up watching LeBron go on runs like this. The C’s need a veteran (paging Al Horford) to remind this team how badly they beat up on Cleveland in the first two games. Do it again.

This is why going back home is just what the doctor ordered. The role players need to get their shit together, which is hard for young guys to do on the road. In particular I need Marcus Smart to get back to doing the little things and stop jacking a 3 pointer (1-5 last night) just because the Cavs are daring him to do so.

The Cavs have done an excellent job in finding the matchups they want, including somehow getting Rozier on LeBron more times that I’d like to remember. Stevens adjusted:

But give the guy a couple of days to digest what the Cavs and that genius Tyronn Lue are doing and I believe they can slow Cleveland down. Speaking of Tyronn Lue, how about the balls on the head coach doing head coaching things last night?

I’m surprised LeBron didn’t just rip the whiteboard out of his hands on the sidelines after that.

And I hate to be that guy, but since the NBA had a ref in Tim Donaghy get sent to fucking PRISON for messing with games, I’m going to go ahead. The officiating has been abysmal in this series. One of the worst examples was the refs wiping out a would be 4-point play and calling an offensive foul on Marcus Morris on a MADE 3 pointer.

The officiating has been terrible and looks like a blatant design to extend the series and favor the home team. We can only hope that favor is returned in Boston.

The Celtics return to TD Garden to try and right the ship on Wednesday night. The Cavs have a ton of momentum, but again the C’s have yet to lose at home in the playoffs so I will refrain from panicking quite yet. Game 5 is an absolute must win for the C’s though so lets get it.

Celtics Eat a Bag of Dicks in Game 3, Lose by 30

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Well that was less than ideal. The Celtics never lead once in Game 3 and lost to the Cavs in an absolute blowout, 116-86. From the jump the Cavs were the hungrier team, the Celtics looked slow and sloppy with 15 turnovers and they got absolutely worked on the glass with the Cavs crushing them in rebounds 45-34. Cleveland was just more engaged and aggressive on defense and of course shooting 50% from behind the arc helps.

Kyle Korver went 4-4 from 3, JR Smith went 3-4, and LeBron went 3-3 himself. Thats a lot of firepower raining down on the C’s from deep. The Cavs were obviously a 3 point heavy team in the regular season, but it was a stark contrast from the first two games when the Cavs shot 32% and 15% respectively from deep.

Cleveland also stopped relying entirely on LeBron to bail them out. Something I pointed out in Game 2 was how the Celtics had several players in double figures while the Cavs had just 3 (barely). Well in Game 3 the Cavs had SIX players in double digits and the Celtics looked like a high school team.

With that being said LeBron was still incredible with a “quiet” 27 and 12 and was making plays like *this*

Jaylen Brown came crashing back to earth with 10 points after being the Celtics best player the first two games of the series. Marcus Morris was 2/8 from the field for 9 points and was a dreadful -28 on the night. The bad Marcus Smart reared its ugly head after getting his tires pumped up by everyone in Boston for the past week and a half for doing all the little things. In Game 3 he jacked up 4 three pointers and made exactly none of them.

As soon as you saw Guerschon Yabusele enter the game with 4 minutes to go in the first though, you knew it was gonna be a bad night. If the Dancing Bear is in that early you’ve already lost.

Celtics are 1-5 on the road in the playoffs now.

I’ll take the crab juice.*

Al Horford took FOUR fucking shots all night.

Its like everyone ragged on Al all season long for being too passive, for not shooting enough, then he cranked it up in the playoffs and looked like a legit stud. Then in Game 3 he took his foot off the gas and somehow the whole game went to hell. Thats not Tristan Thompson being a Horford antidote; thats Al slipping back into the average monicker.

Everyone on the Celtics took their foot off the gas on Saturday night and I guess thats the danger of such a young team, which shouldn’t really be a surprise. But for god sakes LeBron James is Jason Voorhees; do not let him up off the mat. He’s not dead until he’s dead. If this series comes back to Boston tied 2-2 I will not sleep well.

Home cooking was a factor as well with Jaylen Brown having four fouls before the fans were back from getting beers at halftime. His fifth foul was a disaster of a defensive effort and well deserved, but it was interesting to note that Boston’s clear cut best player in Games 1-2 is immediately chucked into foul trouble in the first road game of the series.

Silver lining of the night was former Celtic (draft pick) Ante Zizic chucking one off the back of the goddamn backboard. I legitimately laughed out loud despite the 30 point shellacking.

Uncle Drew still looks like possibly the worst movie of all time and Kyrie Irving isn’t even able to blind us to that fact with his play on the court.

I honestly think Mark Jackson might strangle the life out of Jeff Van Gundy before this series is over. These guys legitimately do not like each other and with a 30 point blowout there was plenty of time for these two to subtweet each other live on TV in front of America.

Game 4 will be a pivotal point in the series as the Celtics will either snap out of it and be one step away from offing LeBron or the series will go back to Boston tied and I will be more nauseous than a pregnant woman. Game 4 tips off Monday night at 8:30, see ya there.

*If you get that reference then you and I are now good friends.

Having to Wait This Long Between Celtics Cavs Game 2 and Game 3 is Criminal

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After watching high octane playoff games with the Bruins and Celtics playing every other night for basically the past month, the fact that there are 4 days between Celtics-Cavs Game 2 and 3 is criminal. With the Bruins and Celtics both in the playoffs I was watching something every night that had me gripping my chair like I was dropping into the Sunken Place.

Now that has slowed to a snail’s pace as the Bruins got knocked out of the playoffs and the NBA is squeezing every last drop of attention out of the Conference Finals as it possibly can by spacing the series out over 14 DAYS. That leaves this huge gaping hole in between Games 2 and 3 where I’m forced to watch the Red Sox run into outs on the bases and injure themselves playing Fortnite and having hissy fits in the dugout. It just doesn’t compare.

I am salivating at the thought of potentially putting the nail in LeBron’s coffin on his home floor. Only another 50+ hours until Game 3.

Celtics Take a Commanding 2-0 Lead Over the Cavs With a Grit and Balls Win

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Grit and Balls baby. That was a vintage Celtics win that would make Kevin Garnett proud. Boston imposed its will on the Cavs and just beat them down for a 107-94 victory despite a monster game from LeBron. Now the series heads back to Cleveland on Saturday night with the Celtics holding a commanding 2-0 lead.

Fun fact: the Celtics are 37-0 when up 2-0 in a best of 7 series.

As back and forth as this game was, there were actually only 2 lead changes in the entire game. That really speaks to the Celtics just holding on for dear life as LeBron put up 42 points including an insane 21 points in the first quarter.

LeBron was using allll of the Infinity Stones in that first quarter as he was just unstoppable.

Despite that absolute show from LeBron, the Celtics were only down 4 after one due in large part to Jaylen Brown dropping 13 points himself in the first quarter.

LeBron did give everyone a scare at the end of the 2nd quarter though after taking a shoulder to the head from Jayson Tatum. He looked a little woozy and shortly afterwards went back to the locker room for a brief moment. He came back just a couple of minutes later and did finish with 40+ points so he seemed to be fine. Was he milking it for the cameras? Ehhhh I think he might have been just a little bit, but its always difficult to tell with potential head injuries.

We do get this qualifier directly from NBA.com of when and why the C’s went on a huge run and won the game so thats fun.

Kind of leaves out the fact that LeBron only scored 4 points in the second quarter and elected to not play defense half the game. Really, it was a HUGE run after half time that was the turning point for the C’s who outscored Cleveland 36-22 in the third quarter and then never really looked back.

The Cavs also had TRIPLE the amount of turnovers as the Celtics with 15 to Boston’s 5. Rebounds were nearly even with Boston edging Cleveland 46-45 so the Tristan Thompson effect wasn’t nearly as prolific as many thought it may have been. Al Horford even finished with another double double (15 pts, 10 rebounds) despite having Thompson’s vaunted defensive attention.

The Cavs also got some bad news before the game when their coveted Brooklyn Nets pick, the crown jewel of the Kyrie Irving trade, turned into the No. 8 pick in this year’s draft. So Danny Ainge hoarded those Nets picks for *years* and then at the last second he jumps off the bandwagon and trades his last Brooklyn pick and it drops all the way to No. 8!

Hello darkness my old friend.

J.R. Smith always has been and always will be a scumbag. Late in the game Horford went up for a layup and Smith pushes him in the back sending Horford crashing to the hardwood behind the hoop. Even the broadcast team called it a disgusting, dirty play and called for a Flagrant 2 (Smith only got a 1).

Do people remember J.R. Smith legitimately hammer fisting an unsuspecting Jae Crowder in the face in the 2014-15 playoffs? That was one of the dirtiest things I’ve ever seen.

Smith was suspended 2 games for that sucker punch. Once a shithead, always a shithead.

Absolutely LOVE Marcus Smart getting right in JR’s grill too and letting him know that shit ain’t gonna fly, resulting in both getting technicals. Its a walking cliche at this point, but Marcus Smart just has that IT factor. Whether you want to call it energy, passion, grit, whatever it is, Smart makes this team remarkably better.

The TD Garden crowd was doing their role too with crystal clear chants of FUCK YOU JR, which was easily heard on the ESPN broadcast.

After that the Cavs checked out and called it a night. Even the national grab ass broadcast team was calling out the Cavaliers’ effort once the Celtics started putting the screws to them. Usually those takes are reserved for Boston talk radio in between Terry Rozier MVP calls.

We talked a lot in the past few days about how much deeper the Celtics are in terms of scoring threats. Just look at the Game 2 box score. LeBron went off for a monster triple double with 42 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. Kevin Love had a great game with 22 and 15. Other than that only one Cavs player even touched double digits and that was Kyle Korver with 11 points and Korver scored all of those in his first 9 minutes on the floor before going scoreless for the final 12 minutes he played. Not exactly the Big 3 LeBron is used to playing with.

The Celtics meanwhile had SIX players in double digits. Jayson Tatum (11 pts), Marcus Morris (12 pts), Al Horford (15 pts), Jaylen Brown (23 pts), Terry Rozier (18 pts), and Marcus Smart (11 pts). That is depth.

Now holding a commanding 2-0 lead the Celtics head to Cleveland on Saturday night to try and put the nails in LeBron’s coffin. However, its a popular saying for a reason: you’re not in trouble in a series until you lose a game at home. While I think the Celtics are in prime position to win this series it is far from a lock because LeBron is legitimately Jason from Friday the 13th. Don’t just assume he’s done, make sure he is dead and buried before turning your attention elsewhere. I do not want to be having this conversation about the series being tied 2-2 this time next week.

Keep the foot on the gas and put LeBron away so he can get out of Cleveland, head west, and cede his rule over the East to this young Celtics squad. Bend the knee, LeBron.

 

Rapid Reactions at Halftime of Game 2 Between Celtics and Cavs.

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LeBron was using allll of the Infinity Stones at the start of Game 2, going off for 21 points in the 1st quarter with 4 three pointers. He was playing out of his mind, hitting one ridiculous shot after the next.

Jaylen Brown was right there with him though, putting up 13 in the first quarter to help the Celtics keep pace.

But we all knew this was coming, we all knew LeBron was coming out throwing haymakers. After that blistering start LBJ only scored 4 points in the 2nd quarter, so its just a matter of holding down the patio furniture when the storms rolling through.

We did also get an absolutely money shot of sad LeBron James and you had to wonder just what he was thinking.

Also a scary moment towards the end of the second quarter when Jayson Tatum cut across the baseline attempting to steal a loose ball, shouldering LeBron James in the head in the process. LeBron looked pretty groggy and left the game to head back to the locker room so you had to start thinking concussion. But he came back about 90 seconds later so it would seem he’s fine, but who knows with shots to the head.

Kyle Korver also came to play tonight scoring 11 points in 9 minutes in the first half so thats less than ideal. Brown is currently the only Celtics player in double digits scoring so we’re gonna need someone to step up and help Jaylen shoulder the load.

Second Half LETS GOOOO

Also Tonight, the Celtics Take on the Cavs Looking to Quiet LeBron James in Game 2

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Jaylen Brown and the boys are looking to shush LeBron James and take a commanding 2-0 lead in Game 2 tonight. After coming out of the gates strapped to a rocket in Game 1 the Celtics were able to cruise past Cleveland, who simply did not show up to play. The Cavs were ice cold from the field and an abysmal 15% from the 3 point line so I would expect water to find its level there, especially since the Celtics shot 51% for the game.

As we said here before Game 1 though, the Celtics match up with Cleveland extremely well and despite all their injuries Boston is just a deeper team. They have more players that are a threat to put up 20 points than the Cavs and that causes defensive nightmares for a team that flirts with Kevin Love at center. Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Terry Rozier, Marcus Morris, and Al Horford are all a threat to score off the dribble or from 3. The Cavs are more one dimensional, which is why they have been relying on LeBron to score 30+ every night.

Tyronn Lue hinted that his team may make some adjustments to the starting lineup for Game 2. This was after apparently doing even the most basic level of research where Lue and co. realized that Tristan Thompson is statistically the best player in the NBA against Al Horford.

“Looking at the statistics, over the last three years with at least 30 possessions [defending him], out of all the guys that have guarded Al Horford, Tristan is no. 1 in the league defending Al Horford,” Lue told reporters. “So, that’s a good thing, you know?”

Seems like something that you may have wanted to know before Game 1. Kevin Love cannot guard Horford, that is painfully clear. And Love is a great player, but he’s not exactly a physical presence in the paint and he loves to drift out for those corner 3’s so its much easier for the C’s to switch another defender onto him as he floats around. Thompson isn’t exactly an offensive wunderkind, but if he can put the screws to Horford defensively then it may alter how the C’s run their offense.

I think the Celtics are going to stick with what got them here rather than react prematurely to any lineup changes Cleveland makes. If the Cavs want to insert Thompson into the starting 5 then let them; don’t overthink things and change one of the most efficient lineups in the NBA.

“Tatum, Rozier and Brown — Ainge’s last three first-round picks — combined for 47 points and 20 rebounds on Sunday. Throw in the other two starters — Al Horford and Marcus Morris — and in these playoffs, that lineup is scoring at a more efficient rate than the Warriors’ Death Lineup, which might well be the best lineup in basketball history.”

Now the Celtics just need to withstand the roundhouse kick they all know is coming from LeBron James. He is going to come out guns blazing tonight. He was shooting around while most of us were still eating breakfast so he’s definitely ready to go.

Weather that storm boys.