Tag: Kyrie Irving

ESPN Ranks Jayson Tatum as the 23rd Best Player in the NBA and I Feel Some Sort of Way

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So the Celtics have been getting a lot of love on ESPN’s Top 100 Players ranking they’ve been slowly releasing over the past couple of weeks with 6 (and counting) players cracking the list. But, what has me all jazzed up is the hype around my boy Jayson Tatum. After an excellent rookie season, Tatum looks ready to take the next leap into superstardom and ESPN seems to agree.

A quick explanation of how ESPN ranks these players:

“NBArank is a prediction for the coming season. Dozens of panelists from across ESPN, The Undefeated and FiveThirtyEight — TV analysts, reporters, editors, producers and researchers — voted to forecast which players would be best in 2018-19, taking into account both the quality and the quantity of their contributions.”

Before we get to Tatum, lets take a look at the full breakdown of every Celtics players that made the list. (ESPN has yet to release the Top 20 players yet so obviously Kyrie Irving is in there somewhere.)

  • Terry Rozier – No. 82
    • Rozier went from fans complaining Danny Ainge wouldn’t throw him into trades for rentals like Serge Ibaka to a lethal scorer off the bench that even spawned an iconic nickname in Scary Terry.
  • Marcus Smart – No. 55
    • Smart is the ultimate enigma as a player that is an average to awful shooter who doesn’t put up big scoring numbers, but is a defensive savant and is the energy guy to end all energy guys. It’s tough to rate a player that makes all the little plays, but the Celtics sorely missed him when he was out last year.
  • Gordon Hayward – No. 40
    • This is a 20 spot drop for Hayward, which seems like a bit much, but thats almost entirely due to uncertainty after missing all of last season. How will Hayward mesh with the Celtics was an interesting question last year and that was before the emergence of Tatum and Jaylen Brown. A good problem to have indeed.
  • Jaylen Brown – No. 37
    • A HUGE jump for Jaylen as he wasn’t even on the list last year. With a career best 39.5% from 3-pt range, 18 PPG in the playoffs, all while becoming an elite defender, Brown will be a huge factor for the C’s this season. He just may need to adjust to less playing time with the explosion of Tatum and the return of Hayward.
  • Al Horford – No. 34
    • Say it louder for the people in the back, ESPN. “Average” Al is the 34th best player in the league according to this survey. Horford may thrive this year as he’ll be asked less than he already is to be a leading scorer, which should allow him to facilitate until the cows come home.
  • Jayson Tatum – N0. 24
    • Obviously last year was Tatum’s rookie season so he wasn’t on this list before because he was still playing at DUKE. To go from playing for Coach K to being ranked the 24th best player in the NBA at the age of 20 is unreal. This truly has me feeling some kind of way. As I said over and over again last year, Jayson Tatum is a future 1st Team All-NBA player and he only got better as the season went along.

Here’s what ESPN had to say about Tatum as we gear up for his sophomore season.

“Tatum evolved from role-playing starter into playoff closer, calmly averaging 18.5 PPG in 19 postseason games, looking like a longtime star in the process. With Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward back, it will be interesting to see if Tatum is asked to take a backseat.

Given Brad Stevens’ willingness to put his five best players on the floor regardless of position, I wouldn’t expect Tatum’s minutes to decline. He can play some small-ball 4 and has proved he can remain efficient without volume. With that said, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get fewer opportunities given Boston’s multitude of weapons”

Now before we all crown the Celtics champions lets remember it’s still September so anything can happen. Guys can take a step back, players can shatter their ankles, or another Super Team could rise out of the ground, but this Celtics team looks special. Not only are they chock full of talent, but they are so, so flexible that its scary. Just about every guy in their starting 5 can switch onto almost any position on defense. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum could probably stand next to each other and cover the entire width of the basketball court. Or just give them the ball and get out of the way as we saw in the playoffs last year. Horford is the ultimate facilitator and we haven’t even seen this team play with Gordon Hayward yet.

ESPN’s Zach Lowe is even more hyped about this team‘s potential than I am:

“This quintet is the most exciting group since Golden State stumbled into the Death Lineup: Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward and Al Horford.”

Them fighting words. The Death Lineup is essentially the most efficient lineup in NBA history by most metrics. The Death Lineup is just lethal from any position as it features a starting 5 of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala, and Draymond Green. So to be compared to that?

Still not enough Celtics love for you? Alright lets pump their tires even more with these excerpts. Anddd go!

Brian Windhorst: “I’m bullish on Jayson Tatum’s future. (I know, join the club.) I think he has an outside shot to be a top-10 player next season.. I think the guy is an absolute stud in the making…I think he’s still ranked too low. I see him and the Celtics as having huge seasons.”

Kevin Pelton: “Tatum is nearly [a top 20 player] at age 20, making him a safe bet to reach the top 10.

Not to mention Tatum has been studying and practicing with some guy named Kobe Bryant so that may help him improve even further. Kobe has embraced the mentor role much better than I thought he would in retirement and thats a game changer for Tatum who has essentially modeled his entire game around the Hall of Famer.

Just a quick reminder that the Celtics are back on the court and playing organized basketball once again in just seven days. Then the regular season, and the sky high expectations that go along with it, kicks off October 16th at home as the 76ers come to town.

 

But Seriously, Have People Been Paying Attention to Kyrie Irving’s Shoe Game?

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I have become fascinated with sneaker culture over the past couple of years, mainly with the supply and demand of hot new releases. It started with Yeezys. Despite the fact that the majority of Kanye’s clothing line is essentially Derelicte; a fashion, a way of life inspired by the very homeless, the vagrants, the crack whores that make this wonderful city so unique.

Despite that, Yeezy sneakers are actually fire flames. At least the Yeezy Boosts…some of the other Yeezy sneakers look like they came out of the Steph Curry “Dad has to mow the Lawn 7’s” batch.

Kanye releases his sneakers a few times a year with enough to supply to nearly outfit a small high school. AKA not many. So its damn near impossible to get the shoes unless you buy on the secondary market for an exorbitant mark up, which I refuse to do. Defeats the purpose. It’s basically become a game. Find all the retailers that are going to have any Yeezys, what online outlets will have them, what contests you can enter, and then when Saturday morning arrives, open up 2 laptops, 2 iPhones, and a tablet and enter the online waiting room. I have yet to actually get past that goddamn waiting room to, ya know, buy a pair. But hey thats half the fun, battling the bots and other sneaker nerds to try and score some rare sneakers.

*whispers* I’ll see you September 21st

ANYWAYS, back to the blog about Kyrie and the hot, hot, heat he’s been wearing recently.

An injured man does not walk around with custom Lucky Charms sneakers. No this is the move of a man so cocky, so confident, he is just counting the days until the season starts so he can resume his reign as commander of the only NBA team that can legitimately claim “I got next.”

Only an asshole would sell shoes based on a children’s cereal out of the standard orange box by the way. Nay, you need something a little more elaborate than that.

The man legitimately released a “Cereal Pack” of sneakers with other kinds of breakfast snacks like Cinnamon Toast Crunch as the inspiration.

Hell, if you wanna go really meta, Kyrie even dropped his own Kix kicks.

Gotta have your Wheaties too, kids.

This is actually a sequel to some of the Celtics specific sneakers Kyrie was rocking last season.

So keep doing your thing Kyrie, and if you’re feeling generous The 300s is not against accepting donations in the form of shoes, because as the wise Deion Sanders once said:

Boston Celtics NBA 2K19 Ratings Predictions

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For two days in a row, the folks at 2K have given us a super early sneak peek at some of its player ratings for the 2018-19 NBA season – and one of the Green’s young guys in particular is already receiving quite a bit of love!

Though “NBA 2K19” isn’t set to hit stores until September 11 (September 7 if you pre-order), we already know that LeBron James will presumably be the game’s highest-rated player. The first renderings of the King in purple and gold were released on Monday along with the news that his overall rating would be a 98, one point higher than where he sat at the beginning of last season. (Wouldn’t it be great if Harden or Durant came in at a 99, though? Oh MAN, that would chap LeBron’s ass!)

Most expected that 2K would follow that up with some of the game’s other premier talents – a la the aforementioned Harden, Durant, or maybe even someone like Steph – but instead they chose to focus on one of the league’s future superstars by going with Celtics second-year stud Jayson Tatum!

I could sit here and wax poetic about Tatum for hours. (Seriously, ask my girlfriend about my incessant “TATUM IS GONNA WIN IT FOR US TONIGHT” ramblings in the hours leading up to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Sure, the Memorial Day Weekend beers may have had something to do with it that day, but, COME ON, the kid is nasty!)

Apparently, the developers at 2K agree with me, as they gave the 20-year-old an 87 overall rating, the rating he actually finished with by season’s end in “NBA 2K18” after roster updates.

At least he’s getting the respect he deserves after getting robbed of last season’s Rookie of the Year award – which ultimately went to Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons (who finished last season with an 85 rating, mind you) – and I have no doubt that Tatum will continue to ascend the rankings and improve upon the already impressive 13.9 points and 5.0 boards he averaged last season.

2K is expected to continue releasing ratings in similar fashion, but we’re not likely to receive a glimpse at another Celtics player for at least a few weeks. So, while you wait, here’s a look at where we think some of the other guys on the team might land in this year’s rankings.

Kyrie Irving

After starting off last season as a 90, Kyrie actually finished higher in the rankings by season’s end with a 93, even though he missed the final month and entire postseason due to injury.

Based upon his talent, a 93 is certainly not unmerited – in fact, it should probably be higher – but durability concerns could lower him a bit heading into the fall. Last season marked the second time in three years in which Kyrie failed to play more than 60 games, and the fourth time in seven career seasons that he failed to play 70 games.

Except for a minor dip in points per game and free-throw percentage, Kyrie remained pretty consistent across the board from a performance standpoint when he was on the floor last season. And even with all the talent brimming throughout the Celtics roster, Kyrie is still THE guy on this team.

(NBA 2K19 ratings prediction: 92)

Al Horford

Setting aside the fact that Al Horford’s salary this season may be a bit high (seriously, $30 MILLION for this guy?), the 86 rating he finished with at the end of last season seems about right.

I might be a little harder on Al than others, but even though his overall numbers don’t pop off the stat sheet (12.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in 2017-18), he was a Second Team All-NBA defender last year and is a key facilitator in the team’s offense due to his elite passing ability and high basketball IQ. The guy never seems to be out of position and does the little things that make it easier on the more skilled guys around him.

Prone to complete disappearing acts every now and then (i.e. Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals), Horford is about as reliable and consistent, albeit unspectacular, as they come. Therefore, I doubt his ranking changes very much at all and may even get a boost from the team’s success last season.

(NBA 2K19 ratings prediction: 88)

Gordon Hayward

Hayward started and finished last season with an 88 rating, as it’s a bit difficult for one’s score to change very much after playing a total of five minutes all season.

Before last season’s gruesome opening-night injury, however, Hayward had continued to improve in pretty much every single offensive category, every single year, since he came into the league eight years ago – including four-percent and five-percent increases, respectively, in field-goal percentage and three-point percentage between his last two years in Utah.

Hayward is a true all-around talent who is still only 28 years old and ever-improving, and I am GIDDY to see him in action this year. While I truly believe he’ll be worthy of a low-90s rating by season’s end, I predict he’ll stay put right where he’s been, as the 2K crew will give him time to prove his worth before making any changes.

(NBA 2K19 ratings prediction: 88)

Jaylen Brown

It may be surprising to hear that Jaylen Brown finished with just an 81 rating at the end of last season. But outside of an April in which he averaged over 20 points per game, he didn’t really take off until the postseason, after ratings stopped being updated on the game’s online servers.

Besides a mediocre performance in the Conference Semifinals against the Sixers, Brown dominated throughout the playoffs for the Celtics, playing well beyond his years and shouldering the load for the C’s along with Tatum. (Brown averaged a few ticks under 20 points per game in the Conference Finals, including notching four 20-plus-point performances.)

Furthermore, Brown continued to play dominant defense all year while also taking a HUGE leap in a lot of other areas of his game, improving his three-point shot by almost six percent and displaying confidence not often seen from most second-year players.

Now about to enter his third year in the league, the only thing that could hinder Brown’s further development is a dip in playing time with Hayward back in the fold. But for now, the guy deserves a little bump.

(NBA 2K19 ratings prediction: 86)

Terry Rozier

While many are still riding high from “Scary Terry’s” performance in the first two rounds of the playoffs, they may be overlooking some of the clunkers he produced against LeBron and Crew in the Conference Finals.

Besides an epic 28-point affair in Game 6 – during which he made six three-pointers and shot an ABSOLUTELY SILLY 62 percent from the field – Rozier shot less than 40 percent overall in the series. Besides continuing his hard work on the glass, he truly may have been more of a detriment than he was a help. (He shot 20 percent on 15 shots in Game 5. Woof!)

Rozier was also a bit inconsistent throughout the regular season as well; after breaking out in February and March, increasing his scoring average by over five points per game from previous months, Terry saw his points per game plummet by over 10 points in April (which, to be fair, consisted of only six games, but he still shot below 30 percent from the field over that stretch).

Now before you all think I’m the president of the “Terry Really Ain’t So Scary Fan Club,” you’d have to be blind to not see a lot of positive improvement in his overall game last year. Especially if Marcus Smart does end up going elsewhere – along with the fact that there are really no other point guards to compete with on the roster besides Kyrie – we could see Rozier completely take over the second unit in 2018-19.

For now, though, I think we see him take a slight hit in the rankings until we see a bit more consistency.

(NBA 2K19 ratings prediction: 77)

And while I certainly don’t want to disrespect any of the other guys on the roster (especially my boy Aaron Baynes!), here are my quick-hitter ratings predictions for some of the other important rotation pieces:

  • Marcus Morris: 79
  • Aaron Baynes: 77
  • Semi Ojeleye: 69
  • Daniel Theis: 68

Regardless of how 2K ranks everyone this year, this team is locked and loaded for another serious run in 2018-19.

All previous “NBA 2K18” rating information courtesy of 2kratings.com.

Today Marks the 5 Year Anniversary of the Infamous Boston Celtics Brooklyn Nets Trade of Pierce and Garnett for ALL the Draft Picks

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So Facebook reminded me that today marks the 5 year anniversary of the Celtics-Nets trade of Paul Pierce and KG for a BOATLOAD of draft picks. At the time I was a young’n living in Allston still holding onto the heyday of the Celtics. Hell, that 2012 NBA playoffs commercial for the Celtics is still my favorite NBA commercial to this day.

Young, athletic teams are exciting, but in my opinion nothing is more fun to watch than the old, proud, savvy veterans making a last stand.

I still vividly remember when the trade was first announced on ESPN because I was sitting at White Horse crushing some $2 Coors Lights. At the time I was pretty bummed because I loved Paul Pierce and KG is my favorite Celtic of all time. Cue the Facebook memory!

This was the best Celtics squad of my lifetime finally broken up, and probably a couple of years too late. But don’t tell that to former Nets GM Billy King, who was more than willing to pay top dollar for guys entering their age-36 and age-37 seasons in Pierce and Garnett.

Just look at the fucking quotes from King and former Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov.

“Honestly, did I think we could pull something like this off? No,” Nets general manager Billy King said during a Friday conference call. “… But (Celtics GM) Danny (Ainge) and I just kept working at it and got to the point where we both were comfortable.”

“Today, the basketball gods smiled on the Nets,” team owner Mikhail Prokhorov said in a statement. “With the arrival of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, we have achieved a great balance on our roster between veteran stars and young talents. This team will be dazzling to watch and tough to compete against.”

Laugh out loud funny looking back.

Obviously that trade has been roasted in the years since and while it seemed like an overpay at the time, it wasn’t completely outlandish. People, Sports Illustrated included, thought the Nets were going to be awesome.

So the thinking was, “welp whats a few late first round picks?”

As we joked on the podcast the other day, the Celtics drafting this year at No. 27 overall is house money — just draft an absolute scrub or roll the dice on an asshole. Late first rounders in the NBA are rarely game changers.

Except, as we all know, the Nets experiment bombed miserably. Historically bad. I joke with my buddy who is a Nets fan that this is going to be the greatest 30 for 30 ever.

For the price of FOUR first round picks the Nets got 75 games out of Paul Pierce and 96 games out of KG. In those two years the Nets went 44-38 and 38-44.

The Nets then blew it up and proceeded to go:

  • 21-61 (2015-16)
  • 20-62 (2016-17)
  • 28-54 (2017-18)

Holy. Shit. What a bad deal.

Meanwhile, with those Nets picks the Celtics went on to draft and/or acquire via trade:

  • James Young – No. 17 overall (2014)
  • Jaylen Brown – No. 3 overall (2016)
  • Jayson Tatum – No. 1 overall (2017) *Celtics traded down to No. 3 to take Tatum and in the process picked up the following piece below
  • Kings 2019 1st round pick
  • Kyrie Irving – via trade of the Nets’ No. 8 overall pick, Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and a second round pick

So we actually get one more bite at the apple due to Danny’s draft day trade last year. As long as the Kings don’t get the No. 1 overall pick it goes to the Celtics and that will officially wrap up this debacle of a Nets trade.

Thanks again to Mikhail, Jay-Z, Billy King, and the borough of Brooklyn for fast tracking the Celtics rebuild and putting us back on the brink of the NBA Finals in just 5 years! If Jayson Tatum becomes the 1st-Team All-NBA player like I think he will then Nets fans probably have no choice but to become full blown Celtics fans. I mean when you think about it, this is basically the Bizarro Nets. God its good to be a Boston fan.

 

PS – Oh yea, Jason Terry was part of that deal too, but the Jet only played one season with the Nets as well. Terry is *still* playing by the way as he just wrapped up his 18th season with the Bucks.

Double PS – Lets go back and look at some of the reactions to this trade when it was announced because with hindsight being 20/20 these are some of the worst takes you’ll ever see.

The 300s Podcast: We’re Going Green and Breaking Down the Celtics Offseason

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Friend of the podcast Mattes joins us on this episode as we break down the Celtics offseason thus far, we go around the rest of the NBA, a 60 Second Review of Uncle Drew, and Mattes rips into LaVar Ball. Listen on iTunes, Google Play, and The 300s Podcast is also NOW ON SPOTIFYYYYY

  • What Have You Liked/Disliked About the Celtics Offseason So Far?
  • What is the Future in Boston for Marcus Smart, Kyrie Irving, and Kawhi Leonard?
  • Mattes’ 60 Second Review of Uncle Drew!
  • Should LeBron Be Charged With Insider Trading?
  • Paul George Resigning With OKC is a Win for Small Towns Everywhere
  • What’s Going on With Old Friend Isaiah Thomas?

The 300s Podcast: Golf is Hard and is the World Cup Un-American?

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Get your Monday started the right way with a fresh episode of The 300s Podcast! Joey B joins the pod as we regale some tales from our latest golf outing, we debate if the World Cup is Un-American, and is Oprah secretly trying to sink the Patriots? Click here to listen or download on iTunes or Google Play. Subscribe and review today!

Also on this episode Joey B and I discuss:

-Our latest disaster on the links:

“Golf is the only sport where for whatever reason you just kind of expect to play well even though you only play once a month. Its also one of the few sports where having a six pack before noon actually improves your performance.”

-Tom Brady saying he’s going to retire “sooner rather than later” in his interview with Oprah.

-Joe and I argue about the true value of Kyrie Irving and whether he is now expendable for the Celtics.

-The MMA Minute

-Joe’s latest Snake It Til You Make It award winner

 

Lets Review Celtics vs Cavs One More Time, It’ll Be Cathartic I Promise

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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.”

We’ll see you guys next year, until then best of luck to LeBron as the Cavs are a -1000 underdog to the Warriors in the Finals. Godspeed.

 

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.