It was announced this week that Kemba Walker will be out until at least early January with a knee injury that continues to bother him and it got me thinking, why are all of the Celtics point guards almost always suffering from a debilitating injury? Is there some sort of curse on this team? Is this the curse of trading Rajon Rondo? The Celtics traded their, at the time, best player and 4x All-Star in Rondo on Dec. 18th, 2014 and the team has been like the Red Sox trying to replace Nomar at shortstop ever since. Pokey Reese, Orlando Cabrera, Edgar Renteria, Julio Lugo, Alex Gonzalez etc. etc. Ever since trading Rondo it seems like Celtics have seemingly always had a point guard dealing with career altering injuries.
Kemba met with the media today and detailed how his knee is still bothering him and how he got a stem cell injection to hopefully help, but he still doesn’t really know what the issue is. Cool. Kemba played his fewest minutes per game since his rookie year last season and started just 56 games in his first season with the C’s, which obviously was a disjointed mess due to the pandemic. Even Danny Ainge admits the team probably brought Kemba back from injury too soon as he played on a gimpy knee throughout the entire bubble it seemed.
Before that is what Kyrie Irving who missed 20+ games in 2017-18 plus the entire postseason with a knee injury of his own. Kyrie then missed 15 games the following season as he nursed the injury on his way out of town. I guess that shouldn’t have come as a surprise as Kyrie missed 10 or more games in five different seasons prior to his time in Boston, not to mention playing just 11 games at Duke before an injury ended his brief college career.
Before that it was Isaiah Thomas who had a debilitating hip injury in the 2017 playoffs. Granted it was in the playoffs and the Celtics traded him that offseason, but his absence killed a surging Celtics team that was making a run. Before that Isaiah was absolute nails as he finished 5th in MVP voting, playing in 76 regular season games (28.9 Points per game) that season, and 82 games (22.2 PPG) in 2015-16.
The Celtics did also draft Marcus Smart before the 2015 season at No. 6 overall, but opted to use him more as an off ball player/backup PG. Maybe Danny was protecting Smarf from the curse??
Looking back at the timeline of all this, the Celtics actually acquired Isaiah just two months after trading away Rondo so now I’m torn. Is this the curse of Rondo or Isaiah? Since the C’s traded Rondo he has yet to make another All-Star team and has only averaged double digit points once, but he did just win a ring with LeBron and the Lakers. Isaiah however has continued the #SlowGrind as he works his way back from said hip injury, but a lot of the league still thinks Danny did Isaiah dirty.
So name it after whoever you want, but one thing is clear, the Celtics are cursed at the point guard position.
Christmas Day NBA is my favorite sports day of the year hands down. You get five marquee basketball games to watch from your morning mimosa coffee all the way to your post-Xmas dinner blackout when all the IPAs you’ve been guzzling catch up to you late night. Obviously 2020 is a little bit different as I had Thanksgiving dinner at my house with just my wife and my dog like I live in Siberia, but Christmas Day NBA is a tradition that needs to continue. Not to mention we get gifted with the excellent Christmas present sneakers (we used to get Christmas Day jerseys before the Nike overlords stole that joy from us).
The Celtics are no stranger to Christmas Day games as they were featured for five straight seasons during the Pierce, KG, Ray Allen era when they were routinely one of the best teams in the league. They got relegated to spectators during much of the post-Big 3 rebuilding era and didn’t play again on Christmas until 2016, but the Celtics actually hosted their first Christmas Day game *ever* in 2017.
Now we turn to the actual matchup, which is so choice. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and co. vs the rebuilt on the fly sudden powerhouse New Jersey Brooklyn Nets led by Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. Now Kyrie would like everyone to think he doesn’t care about any perceived “rivalry” with his former team in Boston, but he does seem to dodge the Celtics every time the Nets play them. This would be Kyrie’s first game back in Boston since leaving the C’s in free agency if he does indeed suit up. With his buddy KD back in action though I would expect Kyrie to want to show off his shiny new toy.
And for that reason…
This will be the biggest rivalry shit talking season between myself and James in a decade when the Patriots made a habit of breaking my heart and losing to the Giants. Well after YEARS of us roasting all Nets fans for the trade that shall not be named…
…Brooklyn is looking for some long awaited revenge. How this Nets team is actually going to mesh though remains to be seen. With notable pill Kyrie, otherworldly talented yet hyper sensitive KD, and a brand new first year coach in Steve Nash, the Nets are either going to come out of the gates on fire like the ’07-’08 Celtics and win 66 games orrr they’ll be a complete dumpster fire.
So even though Kemba Walker will miss this game with his everlasting gobstopper of a knee injury, I need Tatum to drop 40 on the Nets on Christmas Day. Don’t want it, need it.
Whether you’re looking for a new C’s shirt now that Tatum has signed a long term extension, some Pats gear, Bear Force One swag, or just shirts that generally mock the Red Sox, we’ve got you covered. We also have plenty of The 300s merch too if you want to rep the brand around town. So grab your shirts, stickers, hoodies and more today and save 20% with code DEALS2020. Shop now!
I think the Celtics/Nike got spooked by the reaction to last year’s Irish Pub City Edition jerseys (that Enes Kanter leaked) because people were massively split on those. They were fine (aside from the blue/green debate), but I think a lot of people saw them as pandering to the Irish fans in New England. I mean the team is called the Celtics so I get it, but still.
Now lets take a closer look at the just unveiled 2020-21 City Edition jerseys.
These new jerseys are an explicit homage to the 17 banners hanging from the rafters, which is a pretty cool idea when you think about it. But, when I see it on a jersey I don’t know, it doesn’t really translate for me. I think this is something that is better in theory than in actual practice. I give the team credit for mixing it up and being creative without just rehashing a slightly different throwback or doing a vomit inducing jersey with different colors. This jersey is clean and simple, but the block letters and stacked Boston Celtics on the front do sort of make it look like a knockoff.
You won’t see it during most games when the jerseys are tucked in, but there is an excellent subtle feature to these tops though; a quote from Red Auerbach in the bottom corner.
“The Boston Celtics are not a basketball team, they’re a way of life.”
A+ attention to detail here.
It was definitely a smart bet to play it safe this year as the Celtics have had some truly ghastly alternate jerseys over the years:
Full disclosure, I dig and own a pair of the grey shorts
One of my favorite jerseys to this day was the old Christmas Day uni that Nike canned when they took over in 2017 in favor of City Edition jerseys they can pump out every single year. The cursive lettering with the snowflake on the back collar was perfectly simple. Good luck finding one of those gems these days.
Maybe I’ll feel different when I see Jaylen Brown slam down a dunk wearing this, but until then I am an enthusiastic “meh” on these unis.
I know a lot of fans wanted “fireworks” and wanted to see Danny Ainge make a huge blockbuster trade, but that was never going to happen. It’s nearly impossible to package lower picks to move up into the Top 5 in the NBA. The picks just are not nearly as valuable as they are in a league like the NFL because the rotations and the benches are so much smaller. And I know they were rumored to be in on guys like James Harden, but even if you wanted Harden you’d be silly to buy into that. The Celtics are always “in” on every big deal that they don’t actually do. Sure, a lot could change this afternoon depending on which way Gordon Hayward goes, but the Celtics did the only thing they really could do (without fundamentally changing the roster), stay pat and make their draft selections. So let’s take a look at who’s coming to Boston (or Maine) in a few weeks.
No. 14 – Aaron Nesmith, Forward 6’6″ Vanderbilt
Jay Bilas described Aaron Nesmith as the “best shooter in the draft” which is absolute porn for Celtics fans like me who have been begging for a 3 point threat on this team. Nesmith shot 52% from 3 last season to lead the nation. We do not need Marcus Smart jacking 10 threes a game with a guy like Nesmith on the team. This seems like a perfect fit considering the Celtics’ needs and their spot in the draft. A three point sniper who can provide much needed scoring off the bench (where the Celtics ranked 29th in the league in PPG and 28th in 3%) or provide spacing in run and gun lineups with Tatum, Brown, and Kemba.
Although he did only play 14 games last season due to a foot injury…
You’re never going to get a can’t miss stud in the middle of the first round; the NBA and college basketball just aren’t deep enough. So to get a desperately needed three point threat who can be an immediate contributor is about as good as it gets at this spot. If he turns into anything more, then thats gravy at No. 14.
Nesmith gives Boston an immediate plug-and-play shooter who can give the Celtics production off the bench. They still have a MLE, and whatever a potential Gordon Hayward trade gets them to fill out a bench. Nice development for the Celtics in this draft
No. 26 – Payton Pritchard, Point Guard, 6’1″ Oregon
QUACK! QUACK! Now I could make a joke about the Celtics taking a 6’1″ white Point Guard from Oregon, but I won’t because thats too easy and I’m a blogger not an animal. Pritchard has some legit credentials as he was the Pac-12 Player of the Year while he lead the league in Points per Game (20.5), Assists per Game(5.5), 3-pointers, Offensive Rating, and he started all 105 games over 3 seasons. So he’s a pretty good player, but again take a look at the key stat; 41% from 3 last season. Danny was looking for scoring off the bench this year, not freak athlete projects like he loves to do.
And this may mean nothing to you, but the kid is tough, led the league in minutes played, won four state titles in high school and led Oregon to the Final Four. So he may be more grit and balls than elite talent, but as I’ve repeatedly said this team needs more grit off the bench.
“Boston selected competitive and they selected winner and a clutch performer…he can stretch it out and shoot it from deep, he’s strong when he puts the ball on the floor, he’s a competitive defender even though he’s not the greatest defender” – Jay Bilas
No. 30 – Traded to Memphis Grizzlies for Future Pick(s)
First let’s all agree that there was literally no room in this organization for another rookie. Theres just not enough roster spots in Boston or even Maine. I was fully expecting a draft and stash, but Danny trading out of a shitty pick for a future, unknown pick will always make me laugh.
Reports are that its not even another first round pick either.
According to a league source, the Celtics will receive two future second-round picks from the Grizzlies in return for the 30th pick this year.
Two second rounders! Thats twice as good as one first rounder!
Itās gotten to the point where Danny is like Bill Belichick just laundering these picks over the years so itās nearly impossible to analyze what he actually got in return. So far itās not great though. Danny traded last year’s No. 26 pick and Aron Baynes to the Suns for a 2020 first rounder, which was originally from the Bucks. Which he then flipped last night to the Grizzlies. So now Danny has essentially turned the 2019 No. 26 pick and Aron Baynes into two future second round picks. Now thats value.
To be honest he was probably just jealous of the Thunder now having the biggest war chest of future draft picks: a title that Ainge coveted for the last several years. After a wild ride as the king of future draft assets, he’s like Henry Hill at the end of Goodfellas. And now itās all over.
No. 47 – Yam Madar, Point Guard, 6’1″, Israel
There’s the draft and stash! This kid is only 19 and will play at least another year over in Israel before the Celtics ultimately bring him in as reinforcements for the Red Claws. MassLive had a nice breakdown of Madar if you’re interested.
What did you think of the Celtics draft? Shoot us your complaints or wild predictions @the300sboston
In a weird, pandemic interrupted season that stretched 11 months and 27 days the Celtics went from an unmitigated disaster last summer watching two max contract players leave for nothing to landing Kemba Walker and going on a run to the Eastern Conference Finals. Despite all the missed opportunities that arose once the NBA season resumed, the Celtics accomplished what so few teams ever can; rebuilding on the fly. As Kemba said in his post-game press conference last night, “This is our first year together, we are going to have some time to grow.” He’s not wrong.
Now that the back patting is over, lets take a look at the epic choke job the Celtics completed last night. For whatever reason this team struggled mightily when it came to neck stepping time. Whether they’re too young, lack a killer instinct, or just don’t have a defined closer on the team, whatever it was, this team struggled to finish games. We saw it in the Raptors series that they were lucky to escape in 7 and it carried over to the Eastern Conference Finals where the Celtics blew late leads in Games 1 and 2. The latter of which led to an all-time dysfunctional locker room blowout before winning Game 3, dropping Game 4, and winning Game 5 to force a 6th and decisive game. It looked like Boston’s talent was going to do what it had in the previous round, overwhelm their gritty opponent. They even forced the Heat to go away from their vaunted zone defense as the Celtics finally figured out a consistent way to penetrate and disrupt.
However, when it came to crunch time the Celtics once again WITHERED. The Celtics defense imploded as the Heat scored at will.
The Celtics closed out Game 6 with a 159.1 defensive rating over the final nine minutes, allowing the Heat to score on 10(!) consecutive possessions in one stretch. On one last crunch-time collapse: https://t.co/SltOwilYtp
BRobb also tweeted out the Celtics’ clutch stats (idk ask BRobb for the definition of that one) and they’re just as bad as you’d expect.
Celtics final clutch stats against Heat over five games (19 minutes of clutch play) Offensive rating: 85.3 Defensive rating: 150 Net rating -64.7 https://t.co/SltOwilYtp
With 9 minutes to go in the game and Boston up by six, the Heat went on a 26-6 run to officially stomp them out. Even worse was their absolutely moronic, panic stricken shot selection down the stretch.
Jayson Tatum makes a two point shot to make it 102-103 with 5:40 left. Next possessions
Kemba missed three Tatum turnover Kemba missed three Tatum missed three Smart missed three Tatum missed tech FT Jaylen missed three Smart missed layup Kemba turnover
Where the hell is Brad Stevens during all that? The Heat went on something like a 19-6 run before he decided to call a timeout with 4:30 remaining. By that point though it was too late and too big of a hole and then the Cās really were forced to start jacking up 3ās.
One of my biggest complaints, but it’s probably more about the league in general than the Celtics specifically, is there insistence on chucking threes even when they’re clearly not falling. Boston went 15-46 (32.6%) from 3 for the game, 4-22 from 3 in the 2nd half, and an atrocious 2-14 in the 4th. In the 4th the Celtics shot 37% from the field including 14.3% from 3. Meanwhile the Heat shot 66.7% from the field while only taking 3 three pointers in the 4th and nailing them all. For the game the Heat went 13-27 from 3 for a 48.1% clip, nearly 16% better than the C’s.
The Celtics never had an answer for Bam Adebayo all night. Daniel Theis fouled out again while getting worked by the āpoint centerā and rookie Grant Williams probably did the best job covering the big man, but Bam was just on another level dropping 32 and 14.
I also want to point out that while I respect Jimmy Butler’s MJ-esque toxic competitive streak, I also would have been fully on board with Jaylen Brown getting ejected for knocking him out after that dirty play under the hoop.
No foul was called because the NBA officiating is hilariously inconsistent, but don’t let that fool you. This was a dirty, dangerous play and could have seriously injured Brown. Don’t be surprised if these two get into a scuffle down the line because I guarantee Brown will not forget about that play.
So where do the Celtics go from here? This is definitely a team at a crossroads with no clear path to improvement. Bench scoring is obviously a need, they need more defined roles, but more than anything the Celtics need to add some veteran grit and balls. Every great team has veteran players and character guys that can consistently get buckets and/or act as a mentor to younger teammates. Think Eddie House, James Posey, Sam Cassell, and PJ Brown on the ’08 Celtics. They need to add some grit to their bench rather than filling it with all their mediocre draft picks from the last 3 years who canāt create offense. Danny Ainge has created the greatest G League team ever assembled with all those draft picks, but that has not translated to consistent productive NBA players outside of Smart, Tatum, and Brown. Three core players no doubt, but the C’s have failed to develop much in the way of bench talent. That is only made more glaring when the C’s are getting lit up by rookies like Tyler Herro in Miami, who the C’s apparently loved pre-draft.
Grit seems to be the main thing they lacked this postseason as the Celtics routinely blew late leads only to get bailed out by the skin of their teeth on talent alone. Well that string of luck came to a swift end last night as the Heat showed them what a team with a lead is supposed to do. It steps on your neck and closes it out.
So do the Celtics looks to reconfigure their roster or just hope the deep playoff run provides valuable experience? Felger and Mazz producer Jimmy Stewart was floating rumors of a potential Marcus Smart trade last week if the Cās got bounced.
"I get the feeling that Marcus Smart might not be here next year." – @IAmJamesStewart after hearing from his mysterious sources.
Getting a W on Saturday night would help with a lot of this, but it sounds like a #Celtics power struggle is occurring between Smart, Brown, & Tatum. pic.twitter.com/UMpgsxpRFq
I think Tatum is completely untouchable at this point as he should be. He definitely needs some more seasoning to his game (stop routinely settling for fadeaway threes) and generally has some maturing to do, but you don’t trade elite talent for no reason.
Other than that they could move Jaylen Brown but I just cannot get on board with trading him or Smart. That would be a MASSIVE āaddition by subtractionā gamble that I would not be willing to take and I dont think Danny Ainge would either.
There was speculation that the team lacked clearly defined roles and too many guys thought it was their team. Theres only one basketball and if everyone wants to play hero ball and take the last shot then you’re going to run into trouble.
Itās not a hot take but I think their best bet is to hope yet another brutal postseason exit helps their young core build the testicular fortitude required to make the jump next year. I keep thinking of that scene from “The Last Dance” documentary where Michael Jordan details how he got his brains beat in by the Celtics and Pistons for years before finally getting over the hump. Even with 6 rings on his fingers, Jordan admitted those early struggles were necessary to give him the experience and the drive to finally break through.
The most unfortunate part though is this was the easiest path to the Finals the Celtics were going to have any time soon with a depleted/dysfunctional Philly team, Giannis getting knocked out early, no Kawhi or LeBron in the East, oh ya and the Nets will be rolling out Kyrie and Kevin Fucking Durant next season. So while I want to preach patience, I can understand if Celtics brass doesnāt feel the same way.
We don’t even know when the next NBA season will begin thanks to the COVID interruption. Training camps for next season would have normally started around now, but Adam Silver has hinted at a Christmas or even January start for the 2020-21 season. Until then we’ll have plenty of missed opportunities to regret as we watch LeBron James inevitably win another title. Hopefully this Celtics team uses that as motivation and comes back ready to take over the East and finally, legitimately threaten for the Larry O’Brien trophy next year.
And just like that the Boston Celtics are one game away from elimination in the Eastern Conference Finals. One more underwhelming performance and the Celtics will be on the wrong end of a gentleman’s sweep. It’s infuriating to watch because before Game 4 the Celtics led for the large majority of minutes played only to blow leads late. Game 4 itself was just a sloppy game for Boston all around despite the near miracle comeback in the closing seconds.
Jayson Tatum was AWFUL in the first half going 0-6 including four three pointers to go into the half with zero points, which was the first time he’s done that all season. He must have found a bottle of Michael Jordan’s Secret Stuff from Space Jam in the locker room though as he dropped 28 points in the final 24 minutes of the game.
His explosion in the second half just made Tatum’s first half struggles look even worse by comparison though. He is arguably the most talented player in this series and he was constantly dribbling out the shot clock and settling for shitty fadeaway threes. So much so that the studio analysts at halftime wondered aloud if he was injured. Why is a 6’8″ career 83% free throw shooter not attacking the rim if his shot isn’t falling? That is something that Tatum needs to understand better if he is going to take the next jump to superstardom.
This team still struggles mightily against the zone defense that my high school team used to play. Marcus Smart seemed to be the only player capable of driving and effectively kicking the ball out to shooters. It was something that Van Gundy pointed out during the game as Smart was the only player that was looking at the rim as he drives before kicking it out. Otherwise the defenders are just waiting for the outlet pass. The Celtics have been rendered completely helpless against the most basic defense for long stretches of this series. The broadcast team even suggested this may be the longest a team has ever stuck with a zone defense in any playoff series ever. Ay caramba.
If not for Gordon Hayward this team would have already been en route to their offseason vacations. While he didn’t light up the stat sheet in Game 3 he was a tangible force moving the ball and making a couple clutch shots. In Game 4 he was much more comfortable shooting the ball as he finished with 14 points. Hayward is the only player the Celtics can bring off the bench to consistently get buckets at this point, which is killing them. The rest of the bench had 8 combined points on Wednesday night. In Game 3 the bench scored a combined 11 points outside of Hayward, a respectable 16 (9 from Kanter) in Game 2, and 18 in Game 1 with 11 from Brad Wanamaker.
Tyler Herro is a goddamn baller, plain and simple. To be honest, we probably should have expected this dude to become an assassin based solely on his Draft Night fit.
Allegedly Danny Ainge was set to take the Kentucky shooter at No. 14 in last year’s draft before Pat Riley snatched him up right before the Celtics at No. 13 overall. I don’t know if I believe that as Danny tends to draft project athletes with high ceilings more than shooters, but goddamnit has Herro made it hurt to watch what could have been. He absolutely crushed the Celtics in Game 4 with a cool 37 points and was generally unstoppable with a clean look.
Marcus Smart continues to be the ultimate enigma making incredible and boneheaded plays within seconds of each other. Like when he laid out onto the floor to knock a loose ball to Jaylen Brown, who was then fouled. The Celtics then inbounds the ball at half court and Smart gets the ball only to immediately lose his handle and turn the ball over.
The No. 1 most hated play of the night goes to the C’s doubling the ball handler late in the 4th and leaving Goran Dragic wide fucking open for a 3 on a night where he scored 22 points. And you could see on the replay that Smart thought Jaylen Brown was going to rotate and cover the shooter as he was visibly upset and clapping at the young forward.
The officiating was generally awful both ways, but hey Tony Brothers was on the court so did we expect anything less? I also don’t get the Hayward foul call on this three pointer from Goran. I know he is technically “in the shooter’s space” but jesus christ what’s he supposed to do there?
The final play of the game was also a disaster. Down 3 with 1 second remaining the Celtics were out of timeouts so it was kind of a fire drill hail mary play, but I still hated what they came up with. Needing a TB12-esque picture perfect throw the Celtics opt for center Daniel Theis to make the inbounds pass. I understand Theis isn’t really a 3 point threat there, but heās also the worst passer on the floor being asked to make a pinpoint cross court pass with 1 second remaining. Not surprisingly he heaved one into traffic that never had a chance.
Is Bam Adebayo hurt? He was holding his wrist constantly in the last few minutes of the game after a collision with I believe Jaylen Brown under the hoop. He stayed in the game, but even the broadcast made note of how he was constantly waiving off the athletic trainers despite being in obvious pain. If Adebayo is injured that would be a huge factor in a do or die Game 5 as the Celtics have had no answers for the big man.
So the Celtics have an off night before Game 5 on Friday night to consider whether they have the fortitude required to push this series to the brink. They’ll need to win three straight against a Heat team that has been tough to beat when it comes to neck stepping time in the 4th quarter. If the Celtics bow out in five it would be a huge letdown, especially in a season where the path was seemingly cleared for them to reach the Finals. No Giannis, no Kawhi or LeBron in the East, just a scrappy Heat team led by a guy in Jimmy Butler that is on his fourth team in four years. After some serious collapses down the stretch and the much publicized blowout in the locker room after Game 2, if this team doesn’t make a series out of this I would not be surprised to see Danny make some tough decisions with the construction of this roster.
Until the final buzzer sounds though I’ll hold out hope just because we’ve seen crazier things happen. In times like this I like to think back to that infamous Kevin Millar quote back in 2004. “Don’t let us win today.”
The Celtics fell to Toronto 125-122 in a double OT nail biter Thursday night that ESPN deemed an instant classic, but it seemed like more than just the Raptors were going against them.
Despite holding the Raptors scoreless over the final 4:23 of regulation, Boston still couldn’t escape with the win.
I’m not going to put this loss entirely on the refs because Kyle Lowry played out of his mind with 33 points, including the go ahead bucket in double OT, and Kemba Walker was a no show with 5 points on the night. The refs were garbage, but I need to reiterate once more; Kyle Lowry BALLED OUT last night.
The Celtics were a mixed bag around Kemba’s atrocious offensive performance. Jaylen Brown was unstoppable in the first half with 21 points, but cooled off to finish with 31 (on 30 freakin shots) He did dominate the boards with 16 rebounds though. Despite finishing with 29 points, Jayson Tatum was largely inefficient going 9-21 from the field. Marcus Smart quietly went off for a triple double (23 pts, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) including SIX three pointers. The man is an enigma and the C’s would be lost without his energy, his balls to take 3’s he has no business making, oh and his NBA First Team Defense
Granted he is a bad, bad man with the ball in his hands, but Lowry was flopping all over the place last night. I do find it interesting how the national broadcast describes it as Lowry “selling” fouls whereas Marcus Smart is just a flopper.
Lowry nearly killed Jaylen Brown under the hoop too. Credit to Brown for not getting up and slugging Lowry right here. This easily could have been a technical because this is how dudes get seriously injured.
Jaylen Brown scary fall after Kyle Lowry undercuts his legs in game 6 of Boston Celtics vs Toronto Raptors! Full clip and Jaylen Brown first half highlights: https://t.co/TFcD8p64Uzpic.twitter.com/mOADWKSmvu
It just undermines your confidence in the game because the NBA always seems to find a way to extend a series in the interest of more compelling storylines.
Speaking of the garbage ass refs, there were a host of questionable calls down the stretch that saved the Raptors time and time again.
in a four-second span:
1) The Kemba non-foul call 2) Giving the Raptors the timeout instead of jump ball 3) The foul on OG 4) Which was not in the act of shooting? 5) It took 1.3 seconds off the clock???
Kemba not getting a foul as he got hacked going for a layup at the end of regulation was criminal too. I could only find the video from a dude in Colombia, but this guy is obviously pretty pissed off too.
TODAVIA NO LO PUEDO CREER ES INCREIBLE ES UN FOUL CLARISIMO A KEMBA WALKER HIJOS DE PUTA… pic.twitter.com/xweKNxRI8v
That could have easily been a tech. Jaylen Brown was especially unhappy with Nurse after the game saying “Grown men should be able to control themselves. Especially the coaching staff.”
But thats enough acting like someone pissed in my Cheerios as the Celtics need to shake it off and get ready for war in Game 7. Luckily we’re in the Bubble so the C’s don’t need to travel to Jurassic Park for a do or die game, but this is probably the biggest game in a lot of these guys’ careers. Brown and Tatum weren’t expected to topple LeBron James in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2018, Brad Stevens wasn’t expected to reach the Finals with a bunch of young guys and Al Horford, and Kemba Walker wasn’t expected to do much with that sorry Charlotte team. But they sure are expected to win this series and they will never hear the end of it if they lose tomorrow.
This will be a massive missed opportunity if they lose Game 7 with a path to the Finals cleared for them. With the Bucks getting knocked out early, the Celtics just need to take care of business Friday and then “all” they have to do is beat Jimmy Butler to reach the NBA Finals.
ESPN – Hall of Fame guard Steve Nash has signed a four-year contract to become the next coach of the Brooklyn Nets, sources told ESPN. The Nets announced the hiring Thursday afternoon.
In recent weeks, Nets owner Joe Tsai and general manager Sean Marks have been aggressive in recruiting Nash to make the leap that he had so far resisted in his retirement as a transcendent player: head coaching.
The Nets are keeping Jacque Vaughn as the lead coach and making him the highest-paid assistant in the league, sources said. Vaughn made a strong impression on Tsai and Marks after taking over for Kenny Atkinson in February, including during the league’s restart in Orlando, and he likely would’ve been the Nets choice had Nash been unconvinced of taking the job, sources said.
My first reaction was WOW Steve Nash is jumping into coaching! Followed immediately by wow the Nets are AGAIN hiring a head coach with zero coaching experience just six years after the unmitigated disaster that was the Jason Kidd experiment. But in all seriousness, I love this move for the Nets.
Ironically enough, Nash and Kidd went into the HOF the same year, but Nash is a different story entirely. A lot of people don’t realize Nash has actually been running the Canadian National Team for years as its GM from 2012-2019. So he has quietly been developing his team building chops for a while behind the scenes. I completely forgot he was a consultant for the Warriors too so he apparently already has a relationship with Kevin Durant. Add in the fact the Nets’ GM Sean Marks was a teammate of Nash’s in Phoenix and he’ll have solid backing right out of the gate.
Despite all that I do wonder how Nash as the guy in charge for the first time will mesh with mercurial superstars in Kyrie Irving and Durant. But these guys likely hand picked Nash so they should be on board. It will be interesting to see how the three work together when things inevitably get rocky like they do for any team. We’ll see just how much of LeBron has rubbed off on Kyrie, as LeBron is infamous for working behind the scenes to hire and fire coaches.
Nash is an extremely intelligent guy who has played with Hall of Famers, superstars, and mercurial talents like Kobe Bryant, Shaq, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Grant Hill, Amar’e Stoudemire, Dwight Howard, Jason Kidd, and Joe Johnson among others. This guy has probably been an armchair psychologist for the better part of 20 years. He played with Ron Artest for christs sake.
Not to mention he has been teammates with a handful of guys that went into coaching themselves like Kidd, Avery Johnson, Walter McCarty, and Steve Blake. He even played for Danny Ainge in the late 90s!
This is all before you even mention just how great of a player Steve Nash truly was. He’s a 2x MVP and an 8x All-Star so this isn’t some stats nerd holding the clipboard, this is one of the greatest players of all time. Yet he’s still young enough at 46 for Durant and Kyrie to be violently aware of Nash’s stature as a legend of the game. That grants him boatloads of respect just walking through the door.
Although as a rookie head coach Nash needs to be prepared for the ball busting that will inevitably come from the veterans on the team for his ill advised Sports Illustrated cover shoot in LA.
I am fascinated thinking about how Nash will coach his team considering he was part of arguably the most famous offense ever created (behind the Triangle Offense) with the Seven Seconds or Less Suns. He won two MVPs playing for Mike D’Antoni in that style of offense so I wonder is something like that going to be his bread and butter? Add in the fact he was a consultant with the Warriors and you get a guy that has institutional knowledge of how to run a fast paced, pick and roll focused, three ball launching type of offense. Kyrie would EAT in that type of offense. Now he obviously has two superstars on his roster that can score from anywhere regardless of the offense, but Nash is more than aware of how too many stars on one team not buying into a system can sabotage a seemingly great thing. Remember his comments from his time in LA where he not so subtly criticized the offense they installed/the lack of adoption from some of their core guys.
āI think Dwight just didnāt hide the fact that he didnāt like it. You either have to decide and say āIām not going to like it and move on or just eat it and make it work. You could tell he wasnāt committed to moving on. He didnāt like it. He was stuck in āI donāt like it mode.ā Iām not putting it on him but you can tell it really bothered him.ā
…Howard resisted playing pick-and-roll with a point guard who perfected that play.
āHe wanted to get the ball in the post,ā Nash said. āKobe can be a pain in the [butt]. Tough beans. Thatās tough beans. Instead of being like, Thatās Kobe and moving on and trying to work with it, it bothered him and ruffled his feathers. The ball didnāt move enough for him. When the ball doesnāt move enough, it means he didnāt get the ball enough.ā
Either way I think his collection of experience of being the best player in the world, the pilot of the best offense in the league, the teammate of future NBA coaches, the elder statesman on a disastrous Lakers team, the GM of Team Canada, and a consultant for the All-World Warriors teams puts him in a unique position as a rookie head coach. I’m excited to see what he does for the Nets even if I do hope the Celtics crush them for the next decade.
The 300s 