NBC Sports – For the first time in his young career, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum has been named to the All-NBA First Team. Tatum was voted to the exclusive club alongside Milwaukee Bucks center Giannis Antetokounmpo, Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Dončić, and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić. He received 49 first-team votes, 47 second-team votes, and three third-team votes for a total of 390 points.
The 24-year-old is the first Celtics player to be selected to the All-NBA First Team since Kevin Garnett in 2008.
I have been calling this since 2017, just *weeks* into his rookie season, but Jayson Tatum can now officially call himself an All-NBA First Team player. Superstar. Is an MVP trophy next? He’ll be going head to head with Luka Doncic for that trophy over the next decade, but I’d be shocked if he doesn’t put at least one up on his mantle if not more. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves since we’re just a few days removed from Tatum having more turnovers than baskets like he did in Game 3. Granted he followed that up with 3`1/8/5 and is averaging 27.2 points per game in the playoffs thus far.
If the Celtics don’t take care of business though and get bounced in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Heat for the second time in three years then this all becomes kind of hollow. So hopefully this motivates Tatum to show out and ride his greatest personal accolade ever into his greatest team accomplishment ever; a trip to the NBA Finals.
Now, let’s check some receipts!
Jayson Tatum is going to be All-NBA one day. #Celtics
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 C’s really were forced to start jacking up 3’s.
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 “point center” 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 can’t 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 C’s 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 “addition by subtraction” 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.
It’s 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 doesn’t 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 he’s 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.”
NBCSports – LeBron James joined Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami promising multiple championships. But the Heat lost in the 2011 NBA Finals then lost three straight to trail the Celtics 3-2 in the 2012 Eastern Conference finals. LeBron was labeled a choker who didn’t deliver in the clutch.
Then, he turned in a performance for the ages – 45 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a victory in Boston.
How did LeBron summon that level of focus and execution?
LeBron on Instagram Live:
My mentality was, if we lose, Pat Riley may break us all up. And I didn’t want that. It might be the quickest breakup in basketball history.And not only might they break it all up, my legacy is going to take a huge, huge hit if I don’t go out here and perform at an all-time high. Win, lose or draw, I had to be focused. I had to lock in and lead us to victory. Didn’t know if it was going to happen that way, but that was my mindset.
Despite an unprecedented run of dominance in Boston across multiple sports over the past 20 years, it’s the bitter defeats that stick with me most. I vividly remember sitting at my future father-in-law’s house in 2012 watching LeBron James rip my heart out as he went God Mode for 45 and 15 in Game 6. Just an absolutely unbelievable, singlehanded display of dominance. And it knocked out the already exhausted legs of the aging, proud, veteran laden 2012 Celtics. I’ve written about how that Celtics squads was one of my all-time favorite Boston teams many times.
Led by three Hall of Famers in Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen, but all three were well past their primes. This was a full four years after the Celtics won Banner 17. This wasn’t the 2008 Celtics, this was the Grit and Balls Celtics.
KG was 36, Ray was 36, and Pierce was 34-years-old at this point so this was going to be their last run at a chip and everybody knew it. It’s impressive they even got that far after winning just 39 games in the regular season that year.
People forget the C’s actually went down 0-2 in this series before ripping off 3 straight wins and putting LeBron on the ropes, which was oh so sweet at the time. KG and the Celtics broke LeBron two years before and legitimately bullied him so bad he left Cleveland to team up with his super friends. After the most ridiculous display in pro sports history (AKA the pre-season dynasty predicting rock concert)
LeBron and co. proceeded to get worked by Dirk and the Mavs in the 2011 Finals.
0 for 1.
So if the Heat lost yet again in Year 2, with LeBron, D-Wade, and Chris Bosh all on massive contracts, I very easily could have seen Pat Riley saying F this whole operation. Would that have been an overreaction? Yea sure, but this is Pat Riley we’re talking about not Brad Stevens.
To think we were THIS close to imploding that mini-dynasty less than 24 months into its inception like a cheap folding chair. That Game 6 literally gave birth to the LeBron James we know today. It essentially washed away the choker tag as LeBron evolved into the most dominant player in the world that night.
Yes, LeBron swung the sword that decapitated the end of the Celtics’ run and won his first NBA title in the process. But lets not forget the following season, if not for Ray Allen’s dagger 3 in Game 6 of the Finals the Heat lose to the Spurs in 2012.
I remember watching this game at T’s Pub on that crappy projector screen, turning to Big Z and saying “Well Ray just won the Finals for LeBron.” They still had to go to OT just to win Game 6 and then win Game 7 on top of that, but the hardest job was already done by Jesus Shuttlesworth.
The Heat then lost to the Spurs in 2013 too. That would have made the Heat 1/4 in the Finals with the Super Team, which would have made LeBron an ugly 1/5 in his career up to that point. Add that with losing 3 out of 4 to the Warriors in Cleveland and LeBron could easily be 2/9 in the Finals. So a couple of butterfly wing flaps one way or the other and LeBron could have left Miami with just one or even zero championships. Imagine that?
Now I love watching LeBron play, I understand I am witnessing one of the greatest to ever play the game, but goddamn was it fun to root against LeBron with KG and Pierce wanting to bury the guy more than anybody every single night.
I’m more focused on Queen Mallory making power moves and demolishing Grammy winning rappers.
Mallory Edens has really blown up recently, probably due to our humble website blogging about the Queen on a regular basis, but she just jumped into the stratosphere by putting Drake in a bodybag. Sitting court side rocking the Pusha T shirt, she just put Jimmy back in a wheelchair.
For anyone who doesn’t follow internet rap beefs, Drake and Pusha T got reeeeaaaal personal last year. Pusha T legitimately outed Drake on a diss track for secretly fathering a son with a porn star. Pusha rapped about Drake’s boy, 40, probably dying soon because he has Multiple sclerosis. Yikes. KFC actually had a really thorough breakdown of the beef if you’re interested in all the deets.
So for Mallory to wear that shirt right in Drake’s face is a power move. Drizzy seems smitten by the move and to be perfectly honest its hard to blame him.
Bend the knee for the Queen and save your kingdom.
Here we go guys, this is where the fun really starts. Two of these teams are just four W’s away from the NBA Finals and thank god we won’t be subjected to Golden State vs Cleveland V. No mas. Just look at Rocky as the best example of this. Rocky 1-4 were all awesome and exciting flicks with Rocky 5 being one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. So I’m psyched for some fresh blood this year. But I digress, lets take a look at the Conference Finals matchups.
Golden State Warriors (1) vs Portland Trail Blazers (3) (Game 1 – Tuesday at 9 pm)
In what ultimately made little difference for the Rockets, Kevin Durant will be out yet again for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday night. Durant is one of the top 3 players in the entire league, but lets not forget just how stacked this Warriors team still is with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. Thats a 2x MVP, a 5x All-Star, and a 3x All-Star/Defensive Player of the Year. Soo yea the Warriors are still in good shape.
Kevin Durant is out for at least Game 1 of the WCF, source tells ESPN. He’s not being re-evaluated until Thursday so it’s “unlikely “ he plays Game 2 either.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 13, 2019
It doesn’t sound like Durant is particularly close to returning either though and if he misses multiple games in this series then it starts to become a legitimate threat to the Warriors’ NBA Finals streak.
Unless you’re watching a ton of NBA games, I don’t think many casual fans realized just how good the Portland Trail Blazers are. Everyone knows how good Damian Lillard is 25.8/4.6/6.9 with a ridiculous 28.4 in the playoffs, but his shot just was not falling in Game 7 (13 pts).
Enter CJ McCollum, who is a bad, bad man. After averaging “just” 21 points per game in the regular season, McCollum has jacked that up to 25.6 in the playoffs, including 37 points in a ridiculous Game 7 performance against Denver.
Don’t forget about the brother on brother battle we’ll see with Steph Curry vs Seth Curry. Okay so maybe its not that big of a matchup with Seth only averaging 7.9 ppg to Steph’s 27.3 in the regular season but hey it’s still pretty cool to see two brothers playing against each other in the Western Conference Finals. Man, genetics are a trip.
While I can’t pick against the defending champs until I see them stumble, I really really like this Portland team. I just don’t know if they’ll be able to defend all of the Warriors elite shooters. If Durant misses a couple of games and Lillard and McCollum can keep scoring in the 25-30 points range each night, then I think they’ve got a real shot to dethrone the Warriors.
Milwaukee Bucks (1) vs Toronto Raptors(2)
(Game 1 – Wednesday at 8:30 pm)
The Kings in the North now turn their gaze towards conquering the East, which won’t be easy if you saw Giannis Antetokounmpo dropping 30 and 40 point games on the Celtics in the second round. There’s a reason the Bucks were the No. 1 seed in the East and why Giannis was my pick for MVP.
Kawhi Leonard is what Kyrie Irving wants to be when he grows up. Kawhi has singlehandedly willed this Toronto team from an annual playoff disappointment into one on the brink of the NBA Finals. He also produced the biggest shot in Raptors history with the immediately iconic Game 7 buzzer beater three over Joel Embiid.
After being acquired by the Raptors in a risky one year rental he’s proving exactly why it was worth the risk for Toronto. He’s averaging 31.8 points per game in the playoffs, up from 26.6 in the regular season, while also leading the team in rebounds per game at 8.5. This guy is getting it done all over the court.
He literally made Joel Embiid cry for christs sake. And I love Embiid so thats not a knock, but do you know how badly you have to rip a guy’s heart out to make him cry on the court?
Giannis showed just how borderline unstoppable he can be though after personally breaking the Celtics’ will to live. Now do I think the Celtics played garbage defense and failed to adjust to Giannis (and his goddamn spin move)? Yes. Does that mean I think any less of Giannis’ dominance? Hell no.
The Bucks destroyed the Celtics in games 2-5 in a gentleman’s sweep, but had huge performances from guys that aren’t exactly household names like George Hill, Pat Connaughton (did you know he’s from Massachusetts?!), and Ersan Ilyasova. Thats not exactly a second unit I would bet my mortgage on, but the Bucks moved like a well oiled machine with everyone playing a specific role, so what do I know? They were the No. 1 seed after all.
We’ll also get more of Mallory Edens on national TV too and thats never a bad thing.
Ultimately, the 2019 Finals could very well be the long-predicted battle between the Warriors and Bucks, who are -550 and -300 favorites to oust the Trail Blazers (+375) and Raptors (+250), respectively. Any bettors out there looking for a great mobile betting experience prior to betting should check out this site. In terms of valued odds, you could definitely do a lot worse than Portland at +275 to win Game 1 vs Golden State. The Blazers have been road warriors in the playoffs and won’t be at a size disadvantage with Kevin Durant out. Golden State is susceptible when opponents beat them on the offensive glass, and Portland is the third-best offensive rebounding team in the league (regular season and playoffs).
While I’m bummed the Celtics bowed out like absolute dogs, we’ve got some awesome storylines to keep an eye on in the Conference Finals regardless. Who ya got? Tweet me @The300sBoston and let me hear it.
Before I even write one word, I will admit this is all coming from a Celtics fan that just got got by LeBron James…again. So I may not be the most objective person in the world, but, the ball washing of LeBron that we are now witnessing is unprecedented. Its the number 1 reason a lot of people just cannot get on board as a fan of LBJ, despite being a once in a lifetime talent.
It hit its peak during this Eastern Conference Finals. LeBron James won the series with a herculean performance no doubt. In the 2018 playoffs he is averaging 34 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. Thats bananas, but going into this series how many people actually picked the Celtics to win while being lead by a bunch of guys in their early twenties?
Lets go to the board!
Oh look three people.
Of the 22 ESPN “Experts” polled, all but three picked the Cavs to win the series, two of whom are Boston writers. And only 5 predicted the series would even go 7 games, so we can’t just turn around now and say it was some miraculous effort that LeBron willed this team to a win after you all picked him to win outright 2 weeks ago.
Hell ESPN said the same exact thing before the C’s played the Sixers too, giving them almost no shot of winning.
So is this a young underachieving team that got exactly as far as it possibly could? Or is this LeBron the savy vet, the all-time great somehow, some way getting past a Celtics team MISSING THEIR TWO BEST PLAYERS.
Its just recency bias.
Going into this series no one gave the C’s a shot because they were too young and inexperienced. Then the C’s win the first two to flip the script and put the pressure back on the Cavs. After battling back and winning the series though people are legitimately saying this is LeBron’s greatest achievement ever. The guy who has won three titles and is going to his 8th straight NBA Finals, beating the Celtics WHO WERE MISSING THEIR TWO BEST PLAYERS in 7 games is his greatest feat.
So while most of us still feel like this:
You gotta remember once Kyrie Irving went down we all said if the Celtics can get out of the first round then the rest is gravy. So while this loss stings, I know this team will be right back in it and competing for a title in a few months. This team took LeBron James, the greatest player of our generation, to 7 games on the back of a 20 year old rookie in Jayson Tatum.
So for the national media to come out as if this is some grand upset for LeBron and the Cavs to beat the Celtics WHO WERE MISSING THEIR TWO BEST PLAYERS is laughable.
Too many people are pointing to the Cavs supporting cast and saying LeBron has no help. Well, first off this is entirely his doing. If LeBron had committed to staying in Cleveland beyond dinner time then this team would be able to build around him with the security in knowing he won’t be jetting this summer. Plus most of these bums that people point to are guys that LeBron the GM forced his team to acquire and overpay for, whether its Tristan Thompson, JR Smith, or even Kevin Love himself. LeBron has forced this team to trade No. 1 overall picks, overpay aging role players, and had such a toxic relationship with a 25-year-old stud in Kyrie Irving that he forced a trade. All of that combined had a Cavs team constantly scrambling and slapping band-aids on a team that was generally building for right now rather than striking a balance and building for the long term. Thats how teams get old and supporting casts get slow. Thats on LeBron so I will shed no tears for that one.
Have we also forgotten the national reaction to the Cavs shaking up their entire roster at the trade deadline? The Cavs were not lighting up the world and Isaiah Thomas wasn’t a great fit so they hit the reset button on their roster and brought in Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr., George Hill, and Rodney Hood. The national media all said the Cavs were the team to beat hands down after that.
Now to pretend like the Cavs weren’t always the favorite in the East and this is some grand magic trick by LeBron is just dishonest.
So, no I won’t build a statue for him because his team, who was the favorite to win the series, won the series in 7 games while the Celtics…say it with me…WERE MISSING THEIR TWO BEST PLAYERS.
I must tip my cap to the man though. After torturing him during the early years of his career and chasing him from Cleveland, LeBron has poetically paid the Celtics back year after year. The guy is incredible and as much as he drives me nuts, he is a joy to watch because he’s just that good. Gotta give credit where it’s due, and as Brian Windhorst points out, the guy is money. He may have imploded more when he was younger, but LeBron James just doesn’t choke these days.
“James has won six straight Game 7s over the past 10 years, two of them on the road. He has won seven of the past eight elimination games he’s been in, including three this postseason. And he has now come from 2-0 down to win a series three times in his career. That has happened only 20 times in seven-game series in NBA history.”
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.
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.
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.
Despite what I said yesterday about not panicking just yet and how I think the Celtics aren’t in trouble yet, tonight is still an absolute hands down must win. There is zero chance this young Celtics team can go into Cleveland and steal a Game 6, especially after getting trounced there twice already, and then come back and take a Game 7 in back to back games.
Even The Truth agrees:
“The Celtics have to win in six,” he said. “They have to win in six. They have to win this game and they have to get the road win in Cleveland. I’m just not comfortable with having LeBron in Game 7 — no matter where it is . . . Unless you have the Truth on your side, I’m not comfortable with that.”
The Celtics need Jaylen Brown to stop getting stuffed by KYLE KORVER, they need Marcus Smart to stop cosplaying as Ray Allen, and they need Al Horford to play like the max player he is. Sprinkle in a little Scary Terry and just throw Marcus Morris and whoever else out to just make LeBron work and you have a good shot. However, if Brad Stevens doesn’t adjust from the last two thumpings and the Celtics continue to allow bums like JR Smith to bury them, then they’re in for a world of pain.
Thankfully the Celtics have been money at home in the playoffs this year and have yet to lose a game. LeBron can definitely smell blood in the water, but the guy is going to get his. If LeBron drops 45 and 15 and the Celtics lose I can live with that. What I cannot live with is Korver, Smith, George Hill and Tristan Thompson being the reason we lose.
I think getting in front of the home crowd will be an elixir for those young guys and give a little more ammo for guys like Smart and Morris to be the glorious dickheads that they are.
We don’t need another “young, overachieving” Celtics team playing its role as jester before stepping up to get its head cut off on national TV by King LeBron. We already saw that episode in 2015 and 2017.
Don’t forget, the Celtics have chased LeBron out of Cleveland before. Do it again.
Oh look three people.
The 300s 