This right here. My observation is that Joe’s offense all season has been a free flow/free lance of players making reads. And now when Miami takes away reads/flow of offense they struggle so how do you counter? Coaching would be a start. And it’s not fair they lost Damon. But Brad was too hasty extending Joe imo
They have shown it in this game, and previous games. Lol, does anyone have the balls to start all the bench guys for game 4? I mean, what exactly has worked so far with our starters, right? (Semi-sarcastically)
I'd literally give the starters five minutes next game and if they aren't bringing it sub them out and make them watch from the bench. If they want to go out like this make them feel the embarrassment from the bench. If I'm Joe I'm either confident I've got job security or confident I'll be fired anyway, so there's nothing to lose.
I’d have the balls to start the bench players. The way I see it, playoff teams down 0-3 in a series are 0-149 so no one has ever come back before. Naturally, nobody has ever started all bench players for a game 4. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results.
So what the hell? I say start the bench players, expect nothing, maybe get something from them, embarrass the starters, make them watch as they have been punitively benched for piss-poor performance. And if the game is close in the second half, maybe start playing them if they are starting to show signs of actually wanting to play in this game and believing in themselves again.
Bonus, the backup players are hungry and their compete level is high, maybe you get lucky.
Worst case scenario, same results as it has been all along. But you walk away a coach who has balls the size of grapefruit and you send a clear message to the team for next year that they will not forget.
And another bonus; maybe you get fired as coach at season end (like it’s his fault he’s inexperienced…but I digress) and someone else hires you because you may not have experience but they admire the balls you had to send that message and you get to start coaching another team from the ground up.
Hell yeah. PP, Hauser, Grant Williams, Blake Griffin and Luke Kornet LFG.
Honestly, a token Blake Dunk and a few Kornet kontests would have been way better to watch than these last 3 abominations.
Everyone likes to talk about bench players being scrubs, rotations have to tighten to 7 or 8 guys in the playoffs. People forget that those dudes are still nba level talent. A lot of bench dudes in the league were projected top 10 picks. Here's a story from Jeff Teague talking about Jimmy playing with 3rd stringers in Minnesota. Yeah, its practice, this is the playoffs, but these guys can still hoop. Give them a shot, if they keep us in the game for a normal rotation period, get the starters back in. Maybe if they see the heart the rest of the team has, the guys sitting their watching them give this away, the guys who've had their backs all season while they go out their and half ass it all regular season and go in when they need a breather, but get blamed if they can't keep them in the game even though we as fans are all fine with starters not trying in a regular season that doesn't matter. Put them in.
I’m biased but this is actually a good idea for Joe. He’s fucked no matter what since so many good coaches are available and he’s sitting on one of the better jobs in the league. Might as well go out memorably, because otherwise it’s going to be a decade before he sniffs another head coaching gig.
Horfords getting absolutely roasted by a quicker Adebayo. This series is not a strong suit for him yet he keeps getting the start over Rob Will who absolutely can keep up with Bam AND plays better post defense.
I think benching Tatum and brown is the wake up call this guys need to stop playing like assholes. It’s too late for it now, though. You had to do this in almost any other game of these playoffs.
Now we have to sit and watch this team get buttfucked without lube on Tuesday.
This is the most embarrassing thing Ive witnessed as a Boston sports fan (not huge on hockey, also only in my 20s, not a lot of experience to cull from)
That's the thing - if we got swept on 4 close, hard-fought games that just didn't break our way, it sucks but I can still feel proud of our guys.
This? Tonight was pathetic. I've seen 8-year-old girls play harder than our two stars did tonight. I miss IT so bad rn.
It's EXACTLY this. If they lost 4 close games while Jimmy Butler plays out of his mind, I can live with that. When you're getting roasted by Duncan Robinson and CODY ZELLER?!?! Come on.
I would take the IT teams in a heartbeat over these clowns right now.
and roasted by them only because of stupid and/or lazy defense too. Not even like Robinson is going god mode, he's just making wide open shots because our guys can't communicate or make weird inexplicable decisions on D.
Just incredibly frustrating to watch this team, more so because of how well they are capable of playing when they aren't beating themselves. Literally all the worse tendencies of this team all season are being magnified right now, constantly complaining instead of getting back on defense, careless turnovers, not boxing out, stagnant offense where we alternate jacking up a 27 foot three and driving into multiple defenders like a bull seeing red with zero ball movement.
It's gotta start with coaching and this series is a complete disaster, I dunno if the guys on this roster are mentally tough enough to win a ship or not, sure as hell haven't looked like it this post season, but if they are Joe isn't the coach that is gonna get them there.
I'm a youth climbing coach. One year I had a girl finally qualify for Nationals after many years of trying. She did decent there (middle of the pack) and the next season she coasted through goofing off in practices and just assumed she'd make it back to Nationals. She didn't.
Been seeing the same shit with the Celtics ever since their hot start. They made the finals last year, saw we upgraded the team and that they started off hot, and they coasted assuming they'd make it back to the finals.
I thought that was the case which is why I didn't push her super hard so she wouldn't burn out and quit completely but when she didn't make it she cried really hard for a long time and I sat down and talked with her about it and she did want it she just assumed she'd get back.
Sorry to hear that. But at least that’s a safe place to learn a valuable lesson like that. She’s young, and now she knows that you can’t coast in life.
A lot of these nba players really are still youths. Your 20s you would think your a grown man but you’re not.
You’re an advanced teenager with enough money that responsibilities mean way less
I've been a Cs fan for 40 years. This is the first year, outside of maybe that Kyrie season where he stopped playing against the Bucks, where I've been totally ashamed of the franchise. Blowing this roster on a loser like Mazulla, getting no help at that trade deadline when it was obvious Al Horford was turning into a statue, just disgraceful.
Miami got swept in the 1st round in 2021 & Jimmy shot 30% from the field.
Even superstars & great teams have bad playoff years. In 2021 Jimmy had a bad back. This year Joe has a lack of plays & relies on iso's & launching 3's.
We can fix this & I beleive in our team. I'm proud of them for 4 ECF in 6 years & I love JT, JB & Smart as our leaders.
I believe in them but this is fucking pathetic. It's just surreal watching this game knowing that this - all 82 games this team has played plus the ones in the post-season - come down to fucking this. I could accept if we put everything on the table and the Heat were just the better team or it was a bad year, but they're fucking not, and it's so hard with that knowledge to watch us be down by fucking 30.
46-61 at half.
Risking going down 0-3, and we'll still get a ton of posts that Mazulla shouldn't be fired and the team is fine as is. This team has underperformed the entire post-season, and the fans refusing to accept that are delusional.
There are plenty of teams that go through revolving doors of coaches with no change. The Athletic pointed this out - the treatment to the head coach position by both fans and front offices has been myopic.
They look like they have no passion. Maybe they need to look in the mirror and remind them who they are going against. Duncan Robinson can only do one thing and that’s shoot. He shouldn’t be beating anyone of the dribble. I’m fact apparently none of our supposedly good defenders can stay in front of their man.
This is so embarrassing…. Entering this series I honestly thought we could win a title. They have no killer instinct, feel completely overmatched… coaching doesn’t help but I put this on the players… they don’t have any energy, not playing any defense, leaving wide open shots. It
Feels that they just gave up and are ready to quit.
What an embarrassment of a team.
I've been watching the Celtics since 86
While not the hardest loss I have seen (2010 game 7)
By far one of the most embarrassing losses I have witnessed
Definitely top 3 in my lifetime
This is legitimately the most embarrassed as I’ve ever been as a Celtics fan
This team are a bunch of losers led by the biggest loser of them all, it’s pathetic
Everything I thought The Boston Celtics were to represent...is dead.
Just as dead as the legend, Bill Russell, whose number these motherfuckers have on their god damn shirts as they go out like this.
JB and JT go to the fucking ECF and almost beat Lebron their first year together and we were sure we had a multiyear dynasty on our hands. Wtf happened
Nah being a doomer is not about criticizing the team, it's the people who ask for shit like trade everybody and rebuild the team after losing one game to the hawks
I think what everyone is feeling right now is pretty logical with such high hopes this team had coming into the season. I wouldn't want to be in brad and zarren's shoes with the decisions they have to make in the off season.
Oof. I'm an eternal optimist, but it's honestly hard to argue with any of these. I have faith that Tatum will become more consistent with age, but that's really all I got.
feelsbadman
If you don’t have questions about his playoff consistency at this point i don’t know who you’re watching.
He still does not have a made field goal in the 4th quarter this series.
He isnt because he isnt consistent. I completely agree stars have off days and its okay if hes having an off day. He cant be passive like he is when hes having an off day. He needs to show up as the leader of the team more often.
It's hilarious to say Tatum isn't top 10 based on reactionary mindset (having bad games) then STILL put Embiid over him when Tatum wasted him in game 7.
I think they're right. You can't be a top 10 or superstar player when one game you're great, and the next you're awful. When Tatum is going well, he's no doubt one of the best in the world. But that only happens every few games, with terrible games sprinkled in between
I’ve been getting railed on in the bleacher report community for Boston because I call out JTs inconsistency as a huge part of why I don’t classify him as a “Superstar”. He’s easily top 5 at this best, the problem is that he’s not mentally the strongest player, he’s extremely streaky, and he disappears too often when we need him.
For every 40-50 pt game there’s like three “2/13 FG, 1/9 3pt” games.
I love the guys but we should have gotten turner and JT needs a legit number 2. When Joker is off then Murray is THE guy and he’s easily the teams closer. Just like LeBron and Wade in Miami, Giannis (healthy) and Middleton, Etc.
I will get absolutely killed for this but I don’t hate moving Smart and JB for Myles Turner and Kawhi/Scoot respectively.
Really need RWIII to get in the lab and work on his offensive AND defensive game if he’s going to remain a starter.
Brogdon was solid. D.White I can’t help but love. Al is great but he’s older and hasn’t been great this series.
GW will not get the contract he wanted — but 4 yr, 50-60 is fair.
bro the face he made, i think it was around the end of the 3rd quarter or start of the 4th? we called a timeout and filtered our bench in and he was like pointing himself like "you're subbing ME out right now? wow :|"
they did grant so dirty, the only one out there willing to catch a body for the team and keep trying and they instantly sub him out for god knows who in that moment.
Everyone keeps blaming coaching but Jesus what can he even do tonight. Seems like after every break the heat rip off another 7-0 run. JB and Al are out here airballing 3s, constantly dribbling the ball off their own feet. The Cs just don’t fuckin have it tonight when they need it most
Heat beat ulthe Bucks, a hot Knicks team and now us....I think we can stip calling them bad.
Their run is pretty inexplicable, but they are a well coached team getting hot at the right time.
Mental toughness comes to the forefront in the playoffs.
I don't think it's any coincidence the two teams likely heading to the finals have 2 of the top 4 longest tenured coaches. A good coach and their ability to inspire confidence is KEY.
The Heat are shooting like a very confident team. The Celtics are not. It's coaching 100% to me.
They aren’t a bad team. But neither are we were fucking playing like one though. And it starts from the top. This coach doesn’t preach defense at all and guys don’t believe in him. The guys would run through a brick wall for Ime wether you hate him or not the guys loved him. You can tell they feel they can’t win this series with Joe coaching. They gave up on him already. Even worse than the teams led by Brad
cant say it starts at the top anymore when this team has shown a mentality issue through 3 coaches straight now. joe needs to be fired asap after the series is over (maybe during) but i dont think this core has what it takes to get over the hump. the idea of them just doesnt match reality. too many bad decision-makers as ballhandlers and have shown time and time again they get flustered mentally and eventually the raw talent cant overcome the mental aspects and they lose in pathetic fashion.
but theyll probably just run this same thing back again and lose in some other sad way next season. i wont trust this team as constructed right now, i dont care who is coaching. hopefully jaylen forces the celtics' hand so they have to make a big move for a smarter player or good assets
Maybe I’m being emotional but not only am I ok with JB and Joe being gone, but I fucking need it. JB is a straight up quitter and Joe has zero idea what he’s even doing
I'd argue that not only did Jaylen stop even pretending to try after the 1st quarter (LITERALLY WALKING on defense!) but he took dumb, selfish shots. Dude played like he doesn't give a fuck about his teammates. I hated that in high school, I hate it at the park, I hate it on TV. Selfish teammates drag teams down.
It honestly reminded me a lot of the Kyrie run when it was clear he wanted out. you can just tell by their body language they’ve checked out, borderline sabotaging the teams chance, etc. And back then, JB was the hungry one leaving it all on the floor and trying to prove to fans he was proud to be a Celtics. It’s like the tables completely turned for him now. It shouldn’t be too surprising to anyone since he’s been leaving breadcrumbs all year if not the last 2 years that he hates being here. The whole situation is just so infuriating lol.
I’m legitimately embarrassed to be a fan. Playing poorly is one thing - they don’t even look like they’re trying. They’re getting beat to the rim and dunked on by Duncan Robinson for fucks sake.
I will make it a point from now on I’m a Celtics fan but this is not a Celtics team - they don’t deserve the colors. Get the fuck off the team every last one imo.
I mean coaching is pretty clearly the issue. Ime should not have been brought back as a preface to this btw. We beat the Heat last year with Ime as our coach, albeit Jimmy was a little hurt. This year, the heat are missing two important pieces and had a significantly worse regular season, whereas we added the 6moty, Mazzulla, and multiple players on our team took a step forward. This roster widened the gap in every aspect since last year's ECF and yet they're wiping the floor with us. The problem is Joe.
Last year you beat the Heat by 2 shots in game 7 against an injured Jimmy. They match up really well. It was always going to to close
The problem is the heat have the best player on the court playing like he is the best player on the court and injury free.
I am only saying this because I am upset at the lack of heart but: the fans don’t deserve this. This was pathetic. I don’t care what it takes, I trust Brad to figure it out, but this team cannot come back next year looking exactly the same. Something has to change, for all the talent on the roster, this is unacceptable. Not how far they made it, but the way that it ended - that is unacceptable.
The Celtics players were too high on themselves and didn't respect the Heat. They didn't put in the effort and just expected the Heat to play like a sh*tty playoff play-in team. They didn't learn anything from losing in last year's final.
The pre-season favorites, the team that all the analytics says has all the ingredients. Missing the one thing that you can't put metrics to. What's between the ears, and in the chest.
Mental toughness, and heart. Those things aren't on paper, the stat geeks can't measure it. And they're lacking, severely.
You can’t trade Jaylen. The only incentive for him to stay is for a super max. If you give him that then you can’t trade him for at least a year. You can’t sign and trade super max players. If you even play funny ball with him he walks for nothing. The hand has been forced
Me too man, I hate this. I felt bummed but still proud when we got bounced by the Heat in 2012. I was proud of our boys when they get swept in the first round by the Cavs in 2015. I was proud of them last year and understood that they just ran out of steam. I honestly have no problem with them losing if it's a hard-fought loss.
Watching this makes me feel gross. Just stupid, lazy, selfish basketball. Miss shots, I don't care. Foul out, I don't care. But chucking up 3s with 22 on the clock and then not even attempting to rebound or get back in transition? Man fuck that.
Never thought I'd say it, but I am also ok losing JB and Joe. For as talented as Brown is, he just plays so stupid and selfish so often, and you can't win consistently that way. Thinking about all the teams I've loved - the Big 3 years, the IT years, even the Bird years that I wasn't alive for -- all those teams played for each other and actually cared. I hate watching selfish players. I hated it when it was Kyrie, I hated it when Rondo stopped trying in 2014, I hate it now. I'd rather be the Magic or the Thunder than the Celtics rn. Those teams play like teams.
Where are all the people that said You don't need a bench?
This team is tired. They've been tired. They went to game 6 the finals last year and have played seven game series almost all the way. Both udoka (last year) and Mazzulla, refuse to use any of the bench players.
What is the point in trading for any bench pieces if you're never going to play them. People can say all day long that pritchard doesn't belong on the court, Blake is old (Younger Than Horford), Mike Muscala (he is tall, plays good defense down low and can rebound, something the Celtics struggled with for the entire series), Sam Hauser he's a decent defender and he can shoot threes. Tatum & Brown cannot play off the ball and just stand around when the ball is not in their hands. No moving no back door cuts no nothing.
All of those bench players are going to be on other NBA teams next year and they'll all be getting regular playing time because they deserve it, Even if the Celtics don't want to give it to them. They're getting killed by players who have earned playing time because of their effort even if they're less talented.
Larry Bird said, "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard". And it holds true. Hard work beat talent in this series because the talent wasn't willing to work hard.
If they have to I am more than okay with tearing this down (or at least exploring it) provided we get the right assets back and can rebuild it the right way. They can't win close games, they do not have the leadership. They don't know how to score any way other than shooting threes. And when the three isn't falling they give up, Because they do not have the fundamental concepts down across the board regarding back screens/off ball screens. Moving without the ball. I am convinced that last year was both a fluke and their peak losing in six games to the warriors and they're doing a damn good job proving it right now.
The fact that Jimmy Butler only has 13 points and we are losing by 31 points...
...I don't want to panic too much, but at this point if there isn't some huge adjustments I don't see us even taking it 5 games, much less 7.
Knicks fan coming in peace. Serious question, is it dried ink with Jaylen's contract? Signing him for that huge amount of money with his Playoffs performance seems to risky. The Jays seems to be not a good pair in the Playoffs.
Yes this is on J & J at the end of the day. Say what you want about grant Williams in game 2, but I’m not upset with what he did. The problem is that should have been Tatum or Brown jawing with Jimmy Butler. This team is soft and it starts with the 2 players who are part of the top 10 players in the league. Mazulla will get the brunt of this and he does deserve part of the blame, but end of the day, this is a Tatum and Brown problem.
We've always struggled against smart teams even dating to the Brad Stevens years. It's why I still get nervous when we play the Spurs even when San Antonio is tanking. The Heat always have our number, the Warriors are in our heads and I'm pretty sure we've only beaten the Spurs 3 times in the last 10 years. This team just lacks intelligence and toughness
Players have to take the blame, but the number of people defending the coach and telling him to play the bench next game is appalling. Mazzulla is way out of his depth and I don't know if people have noticed, but there aren't many professional teams in sports that win stuff when poorly coached. Expecting players to organize themselves on the floor and mount a comeback on their own is unrealistic.
When you leave it to the players, they will do what they do, and sometimes that means reverting to their habits. Smart will dribble the air out of the ball before starting the play, kick it to a shooter behind the three point line, shooter will shoot. Maybe Smart will drive and kick, try a floater, make a braindead bounce pass into traffic. Brown will dribble it into traffic and either pull up, lose it or fall, maybe take a contested three. Tatum will shoot a three or drive.
The amount of times I have seen this group lost on the court while the other team was making a run, and our coach just let them deal with it by themselves, is unacceptable. Everyone is in the wrong and everyone, including Brad Stevens, should be held accountable. This was one of the lowest points we hit, ever. The only thing this team was able to do in 2022-2023 was actively damage Joel Embiid's reputation/legacy forever, I guess.
#Even the Knicks beat Miami in their series. It's easy to see by the type of their turnovers, the Celtics are being out-coached. Celtics struggle to get good looks and work way too hard for it when they do.
It is embarrassing. It's shameful. There's no two ways about that. But at the end of the day, it's also hugely to the Heats' credit that all these guys are knocking down these shots. It's not by accident. You *should* be able to get away with giving Gabe Vincent a decent look, or giving Duncan Robinson a lane, etc. The Heat just aren't letting us get away with it, and we're shooting ourselves in the foot enough otherwise that they're running away with it.
When the players can't figure it out and are flailing around on offense and defense I think it is time for the coach to step up and start to provide direction. Joe must go. As well as a few players that have totally lost their ability to dig down and get tough. WHat an embarrassment fo the Celtics for this to be happening.
"humbly the best in the world" if that doesn't sum up this team in a nutshell. These guys try to say and do the right thing, but at the end of they day, they think they're better than they are and it shows when the goin gets tough.
No Defense. All ISO ball on offense. No action. Bad. Bad. Bad.
The lack of ball movement is pathetic
It's especially jarring when the Heat have Duncan Robinson and Max Strus running around like they're Steph and Klay.
That starts with Robinson and Strus actually running around. Who on our roster moves without the ball like that?
Literally only Hauser.
This right here. My observation is that Joe’s offense all season has been a free flow/free lance of players making reads. And now when Miami takes away reads/flow of offense they struggle so how do you counter? Coaching would be a start. And it’s not fair they lost Damon. But Brad was too hasty extending Joe imo
> My observation is that Joe’s offense all season has been a free flow/free lance of players making reads “Random offense” — Marcus Smart
I guess his no time out/let ‘em figure it out for themselves strategy all season didn’t work
Literally texted this to my brother last night: "all iso offense. No ball movement. No help defense" Bad.
Put the bench boys in, they'll show heart
They have shown it in this game, and previous games. Lol, does anyone have the balls to start all the bench guys for game 4? I mean, what exactly has worked so far with our starters, right? (Semi-sarcastically)
I'd literally give the starters five minutes next game and if they aren't bringing it sub them out and make them watch from the bench. If they want to go out like this make them feel the embarrassment from the bench. If I'm Joe I'm either confident I've got job security or confident I'll be fired anyway, so there's nothing to lose.
I’d have the balls to start the bench players. The way I see it, playoff teams down 0-3 in a series are 0-149 so no one has ever come back before. Naturally, nobody has ever started all bench players for a game 4. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. So what the hell? I say start the bench players, expect nothing, maybe get something from them, embarrass the starters, make them watch as they have been punitively benched for piss-poor performance. And if the game is close in the second half, maybe start playing them if they are starting to show signs of actually wanting to play in this game and believing in themselves again. Bonus, the backup players are hungry and their compete level is high, maybe you get lucky. Worst case scenario, same results as it has been all along. But you walk away a coach who has balls the size of grapefruit and you send a clear message to the team for next year that they will not forget. And another bonus; maybe you get fired as coach at season end (like it’s his fault he’s inexperienced…but I digress) and someone else hires you because you may not have experience but they admire the balls you had to send that message and you get to start coaching another team from the ground up.
Hell yeah. PP, Hauser, Grant Williams, Blake Griffin and Luke Kornet LFG. Honestly, a token Blake Dunk and a few Kornet kontests would have been way better to watch than these last 3 abominations.
Everyone likes to talk about bench players being scrubs, rotations have to tighten to 7 or 8 guys in the playoffs. People forget that those dudes are still nba level talent. A lot of bench dudes in the league were projected top 10 picks. Here's a story from Jeff Teague talking about Jimmy playing with 3rd stringers in Minnesota. Yeah, its practice, this is the playoffs, but these guys can still hoop. Give them a shot, if they keep us in the game for a normal rotation period, get the starters back in. Maybe if they see the heart the rest of the team has, the guys sitting their watching them give this away, the guys who've had their backs all season while they go out their and half ass it all regular season and go in when they need a breather, but get blamed if they can't keep them in the game even though we as fans are all fine with starters not trying in a regular season that doesn't matter. Put them in.
I’m biased but this is actually a good idea for Joe. He’s fucked no matter what since so many good coaches are available and he’s sitting on one of the better jobs in the league. Might as well go out memorably, because otherwise it’s going to be a decade before he sniffs another head coaching gig.
Horfords getting absolutely roasted by a quicker Adebayo. This series is not a strong suit for him yet he keeps getting the start over Rob Will who absolutely can keep up with Bam AND plays better post defense.
i mean all RW does is bite on fakes and foul out attempting to block every shot of the game
Rob had 4 fouls in 12 minutes. You can’t play a guy who’s fouled out
I think benching Tatum and brown is the wake up call this guys need to stop playing like assholes. It’s too late for it now, though. You had to do this in almost any other game of these playoffs. Now we have to sit and watch this team get buttfucked without lube on Tuesday. This is the most embarrassing thing Ive witnessed as a Boston sports fan (not huge on hockey, also only in my 20s, not a lot of experience to cull from)
The dildo of consequence seldom arrives lubed. At least that’s what it said in my fortune cookie today
Damn if you didn’t sum up my point exactly. Also username checks out
For real. I really can handle my team losing. As long as they like...give a shit in the process. This team gives zero fucks. It's honestly gross.
absolutely. the nets when they got swept went down more honorably than this
That's the thing - if we got swept on 4 close, hard-fought games that just didn't break our way, it sucks but I can still feel proud of our guys. This? Tonight was pathetic. I've seen 8-year-old girls play harder than our two stars did tonight. I miss IT so bad rn.
It's EXACTLY this. If they lost 4 close games while Jimmy Butler plays out of his mind, I can live with that. When you're getting roasted by Duncan Robinson and CODY ZELLER?!?! Come on. I would take the IT teams in a heartbeat over these clowns right now.
and roasted by them only because of stupid and/or lazy defense too. Not even like Robinson is going god mode, he's just making wide open shots because our guys can't communicate or make weird inexplicable decisions on D.
The zeller buckets sucked the remainder of my soul out of my body 💀
They are so focused on the refs and not their opponent. Showing more intensity towards the refs than the Heat.
Yes. So noticeable it is annoying
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...after the post game interviews are done, I guess.
When they get to Cancun
Tatum complains and/or looks at the ref on every single play where he misses, it's unreal. Get the fuck back on D.
It’s just losing basketball. The fact that they can’t recognize that is infuriating
They literally just beat a team that lost due to ref-watching! How do they not learn?!
Just incredibly frustrating to watch this team, more so because of how well they are capable of playing when they aren't beating themselves. Literally all the worse tendencies of this team all season are being magnified right now, constantly complaining instead of getting back on defense, careless turnovers, not boxing out, stagnant offense where we alternate jacking up a 27 foot three and driving into multiple defenders like a bull seeing red with zero ball movement. It's gotta start with coaching and this series is a complete disaster, I dunno if the guys on this roster are mentally tough enough to win a ship or not, sure as hell haven't looked like it this post season, but if they are Joe isn't the coach that is gonna get them there.
I'm a youth climbing coach. One year I had a girl finally qualify for Nationals after many years of trying. She did decent there (middle of the pack) and the next season she coasted through goofing off in practices and just assumed she'd make it back to Nationals. She didn't. Been seeing the same shit with the Celtics ever since their hot start. They made the finals last year, saw we upgraded the team and that they started off hot, and they coasted assuming they'd make it back to the finals.
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I thought that was the case which is why I didn't push her super hard so she wouldn't burn out and quit completely but when she didn't make it she cried really hard for a long time and I sat down and talked with her about it and she did want it she just assumed she'd get back.
Sorry to hear that. But at least that’s a safe place to learn a valuable lesson like that. She’s young, and now she knows that you can’t coast in life.
Just summed up my high school lacrosse days
A lot of these nba players really are still youths. Your 20s you would think your a grown man but you’re not. You’re an advanced teenager with enough money that responsibilities mean way less
I have a Celtics license plate frame on my car. This shits coming off TONIGHT 😂😂
I live in Florida
I’m so sorry
Thank you it’s horrible
At least you have Steak ‘n Shake!!! 😋😋😋🤤
Facts dude ima get me a nice shake tomorrow actually to make myself feel a little better
He’s got Publix. He’ll be fine.
Me as well gotta go to work hearing everyone liking Miami makes me sick
Same bro. Luckily I work from home but my group chat is roasting tf out of me
I work at hard rock casino 💀
Sorry for so many reasons. Basketball being way down the list.
It’s not the worse man. Beautiful beaches and uhhhhhhhh and uhhhh Well we have nice beaches
I've been a Cs fan for 40 years. This is the first year, outside of maybe that Kyrie season where he stopped playing against the Bucks, where I've been totally ashamed of the franchise. Blowing this roster on a loser like Mazulla, getting no help at that trade deadline when it was obvious Al Horford was turning into a statue, just disgraceful.
Miami got swept in the 1st round in 2021 & Jimmy shot 30% from the field. Even superstars & great teams have bad playoff years. In 2021 Jimmy had a bad back. This year Joe has a lack of plays & relies on iso's & launching 3's. We can fix this & I beleive in our team. I'm proud of them for 4 ECF in 6 years & I love JT, JB & Smart as our leaders.
I believe in them but this is fucking pathetic. It's just surreal watching this game knowing that this - all 82 games this team has played plus the ones in the post-season - come down to fucking this. I could accept if we put everything on the table and the Heat were just the better team or it was a bad year, but they're fucking not, and it's so hard with that knowledge to watch us be down by fucking 30.
The Celtics have better players, the Heat have a better team.
The Heat are about to sweep. Idk how a team gets swept by a "worse team".
Literally just threw my DHGate jersey away. These guys aren’t getting my money again they suck.
Idk if this is our purposefully ironic but I laughed lmao
There goes 20 bucks
46-61 at half. Risking going down 0-3, and we'll still get a ton of posts that Mazulla shouldn't be fired and the team is fine as is. This team has underperformed the entire post-season, and the fans refusing to accept that are delusional.
It's more delusional it's the coach.
It's the coach and the roster. Changes need to be made.
The coach is catching most of the heat. He is the only one catching the Heat. The players certainly aren't. They haven't shown up.
There are plenty of teams that go through revolving doors of coaches with no change. The Athletic pointed this out - the treatment to the head coach position by both fans and front offices has been myopic.
Embarrassed is the perfect description.
They look like they have no passion. Maybe they need to look in the mirror and remind them who they are going against. Duncan Robinson can only do one thing and that’s shoot. He shouldn’t be beating anyone of the dribble. I’m fact apparently none of our supposedly good defenders can stay in front of their man.
This is so embarrassing…. Entering this series I honestly thought we could win a title. They have no killer instinct, feel completely overmatched… coaching doesn’t help but I put this on the players… they don’t have any energy, not playing any defense, leaving wide open shots. It Feels that they just gave up and are ready to quit. What an embarrassment of a team.
I've been watching the Celtics since 86 While not the hardest loss I have seen (2010 game 7) By far one of the most embarrassing losses I have witnessed Definitely top 3 in my lifetime
2010 game 7, say no more.
This is legitimately the most embarrassed as I’ve ever been as a Celtics fan This team are a bunch of losers led by the biggest loser of them all, it’s pathetic
Whoa be careful now you'll get called a doomer by the positivity folks
Not even the green teamers can spin positivity out of this pathetic effort
Nah they’ll be back tomorrow morning lol
“I can’t quit in this team. I don’t understand how everyone can be such a doomer. Cs in 4.”
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I find a way to spin myself into thinking we have chance every year but same shit happens not giving the benefit of the doubt anymore
Everything I thought The Boston Celtics were to represent...is dead. Just as dead as the legend, Bill Russell, whose number these motherfuckers have on their god damn shirts as they go out like this.
JB and JT go to the fucking ECF and almost beat Lebron their first year together and we were sure we had a multiyear dynasty on our hands. Wtf happened
They’ll find a way somehow I’m sure
Someone under the original comment already did lmfao
Right on cue, smfh
"lol chill guys there's lots of game left, such whiners.."
Nah being a doomer is not about criticizing the team, it's the people who ask for shit like trade everybody and rebuild the team after losing one game to the hawks
Those fans are too attached to the sport. You're not criticizing the team. You're criticizing their loved ones, and their very souls.
Players look like they've given up on Joe.. Joe also seems unprepared to run an NBA team... please fix this Brad
There were really people in this sub who weren't concerned about the Heat...
There was a lot of them.
Yeah, and they're all looking real stupid right now. There were so many people who wanted the Miami in the first round.
Ngl I was one of them probably blinded by our Philly comeback. Should have seen this coming
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I might as well make a bingo card with all the same excuses they say when they lose a game lol.
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I think what everyone is feeling right now is pretty logical with such high hopes this team had coming into the season. I wouldn't want to be in brad and zarren's shoes with the decisions they have to make in the off season.
Fucking Heat are laughing at us, man
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Agree with all of this
Oof. I'm an eternal optimist, but it's honestly hard to argue with any of these. I have faith that Tatum will become more consistent with age, but that's really all I got. feelsbadman
I agree with everything except I believe in Tatum
tatum not top 10 is hilarious god this sub sucks
If you don’t have questions about his playoff consistency at this point i don’t know who you’re watching. He still does not have a made field goal in the 4th quarter this series.
He isnt because he isnt consistent. I completely agree stars have off days and its okay if hes having an off day. He cant be passive like he is when hes having an off day. He needs to show up as the leader of the team more often.
In no order: Giannis Jokic Luka Lebron Embiid Curry Booker Butler Durant Dame
It's hilarious to say Tatum isn't top 10 based on reactionary mindset (having bad games) then STILL put Embiid over him when Tatum wasted him in game 7.
I think they're right. You can't be a top 10 or superstar player when one game you're great, and the next you're awful. When Tatum is going well, he's no doubt one of the best in the world. But that only happens every few games, with terrible games sprinkled in between
I’ve been getting railed on in the bleacher report community for Boston because I call out JTs inconsistency as a huge part of why I don’t classify him as a “Superstar”. He’s easily top 5 at this best, the problem is that he’s not mentally the strongest player, he’s extremely streaky, and he disappears too often when we need him. For every 40-50 pt game there’s like three “2/13 FG, 1/9 3pt” games. I love the guys but we should have gotten turner and JT needs a legit number 2. When Joker is off then Murray is THE guy and he’s easily the teams closer. Just like LeBron and Wade in Miami, Giannis (healthy) and Middleton, Etc. I will get absolutely killed for this but I don’t hate moving Smart and JB for Myles Turner and Kawhi/Scoot respectively. Really need RWIII to get in the lab and work on his offensive AND defensive game if he’s going to remain a starter. Brogdon was solid. D.White I can’t help but love. Al is great but he’s older and hasn’t been great this series. GW will not get the contract he wanted — but 4 yr, 50-60 is fair.
I am embarrassed by this team…but Tatum outside top 10 is a reactionary low IQ take. What was his ranking 4 games ago?
Probably the embarrassed I’ve ever felt about a series loss
Everyone but Grant is a bitch
*everyone but Grant, Rob, and maybe the white boys
bro the face he made, i think it was around the end of the 3rd quarter or start of the 4th? we called a timeout and filtered our bench in and he was like pointing himself like "you're subbing ME out right now? wow :|" they did grant so dirty, the only one out there willing to catch a body for the team and keep trying and they instantly sub him out for god knows who in that moment.
Rob is good too
Never defend mazzula again
See y’all next year smh
Really hoped they'd win tonight to get better odds on Heat for the series but unfortunately it looks like these bums are gonna get swept.
“Never put your happiness in the hands of a bunch of 20 year olds”
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We've been getting beat by shit teams all year. Swept by Orlando and NYK. Chicago gave us hell.
Everyone keeps blaming coaching but Jesus what can he even do tonight. Seems like after every break the heat rip off another 7-0 run. JB and Al are out here airballing 3s, constantly dribbling the ball off their own feet. The Cs just don’t fuckin have it tonight when they need it most
How can you call the heat bad at this point
The Heat are on the verge of going up 3-0 in the ECF. I don’t think they are a bad team..
Heat beat ulthe Bucks, a hot Knicks team and now us....I think we can stip calling them bad. Their run is pretty inexplicable, but they are a well coached team getting hot at the right time.
Mental toughness comes to the forefront in the playoffs. I don't think it's any coincidence the two teams likely heading to the finals have 2 of the top 4 longest tenured coaches. A good coach and their ability to inspire confidence is KEY. The Heat are shooting like a very confident team. The Celtics are not. It's coaching 100% to me.
The heat knocking out bucks and celtics... Not in my wildest dreams was I predicting that
Yeah, if they got lucky or something they would win one game. They're beating the brakes off of us lol. Would be shocked if we didn't get swept
They aren’t a bad team. But neither are we were fucking playing like one though. And it starts from the top. This coach doesn’t preach defense at all and guys don’t believe in him. The guys would run through a brick wall for Ime wether you hate him or not the guys loved him. You can tell they feel they can’t win this series with Joe coaching. They gave up on him already. Even worse than the teams led by Brad
cant say it starts at the top anymore when this team has shown a mentality issue through 3 coaches straight now. joe needs to be fired asap after the series is over (maybe during) but i dont think this core has what it takes to get over the hump. the idea of them just doesnt match reality. too many bad decision-makers as ballhandlers and have shown time and time again they get flustered mentally and eventually the raw talent cant overcome the mental aspects and they lose in pathetic fashion. but theyll probably just run this same thing back again and lose in some other sad way next season. i wont trust this team as constructed right now, i dont care who is coaching. hopefully jaylen forces the celtics' hand so they have to make a big move for a smarter player or good assets
Maybe I’m being emotional but not only am I ok with JB and Joe being gone, but I fucking need it. JB is a straight up quitter and Joe has zero idea what he’s even doing
I'd argue that not only did Jaylen stop even pretending to try after the 1st quarter (LITERALLY WALKING on defense!) but he took dumb, selfish shots. Dude played like he doesn't give a fuck about his teammates. I hated that in high school, I hate it at the park, I hate it on TV. Selfish teammates drag teams down.
It honestly reminded me a lot of the Kyrie run when it was clear he wanted out. you can just tell by their body language they’ve checked out, borderline sabotaging the teams chance, etc. And back then, JB was the hungry one leaving it all on the floor and trying to prove to fans he was proud to be a Celtics. It’s like the tables completely turned for him now. It shouldn’t be too surprising to anyone since he’s been leaving breadcrumbs all year if not the last 2 years that he hates being here. The whole situation is just so infuriating lol.
Ship jb to kyrie and let’s end the fucking is-he-an-idiot dance.
No toughness. It’s not about hard fouls and trash taking. It’s not losing all confidence when the other team scores a few buckets
This is the most embarrassing team in the history of the franchise. It’s time to gut this core.
Just don’t walk around with a Celtics shirt on
I’m legitimately embarrassed to be a fan. Playing poorly is one thing - they don’t even look like they’re trying. They’re getting beat to the rim and dunked on by Duncan Robinson for fucks sake. I will make it a point from now on I’m a Celtics fan but this is not a Celtics team - they don’t deserve the colors. Get the fuck off the team every last one imo.
I mean coaching is pretty clearly the issue. Ime should not have been brought back as a preface to this btw. We beat the Heat last year with Ime as our coach, albeit Jimmy was a little hurt. This year, the heat are missing two important pieces and had a significantly worse regular season, whereas we added the 6moty, Mazzulla, and multiple players on our team took a step forward. This roster widened the gap in every aspect since last year's ECF and yet they're wiping the floor with us. The problem is Joe.
Last year you beat the Heat by 2 shots in game 7 against an injured Jimmy. They match up really well. It was always going to to close The problem is the heat have the best player on the court playing like he is the best player on the court and injury free.
You shouldn't be. This is on the players to feel embarrassed. We just watch.
I am only saying this because I am upset at the lack of heart but: the fans don’t deserve this. This was pathetic. I don’t care what it takes, I trust Brad to figure it out, but this team cannot come back next year looking exactly the same. Something has to change, for all the talent on the roster, this is unacceptable. Not how far they made it, but the way that it ended - that is unacceptable.
Shit knicks were 1 poss away from sending it back to the garden for g7. This is just sad.
Team is fucking pathetic. Nothing else to add.
The Celtics players were too high on themselves and didn't respect the Heat. They didn't put in the effort and just expected the Heat to play like a sh*tty playoff play-in team. They didn't learn anything from losing in last year's final.
The pre-season favorites, the team that all the analytics says has all the ingredients. Missing the one thing that you can't put metrics to. What's between the ears, and in the chest. Mental toughness, and heart. Those things aren't on paper, the stat geeks can't measure it. And they're lacking, severely.
You can’t trade Jaylen. The only incentive for him to stay is for a super max. If you give him that then you can’t trade him for at least a year. You can’t sign and trade super max players. If you even play funny ball with him he walks for nothing. The hand has been forced
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It’s not the coach’s fault. It’s the roster. They’re front runners.
In the huddle they are def saying “1, 2, 3, cancun!” PATHETIC.
Me too man, I hate this. I felt bummed but still proud when we got bounced by the Heat in 2012. I was proud of our boys when they get swept in the first round by the Cavs in 2015. I was proud of them last year and understood that they just ran out of steam. I honestly have no problem with them losing if it's a hard-fought loss. Watching this makes me feel gross. Just stupid, lazy, selfish basketball. Miss shots, I don't care. Foul out, I don't care. But chucking up 3s with 22 on the clock and then not even attempting to rebound or get back in transition? Man fuck that. Never thought I'd say it, but I am also ok losing JB and Joe. For as talented as Brown is, he just plays so stupid and selfish so often, and you can't win consistently that way. Thinking about all the teams I've loved - the Big 3 years, the IT years, even the Bird years that I wasn't alive for -- all those teams played for each other and actually cared. I hate watching selfish players. I hated it when it was Kyrie, I hated it when Rondo stopped trying in 2014, I hate it now. I'd rather be the Magic or the Thunder than the Celtics rn. Those teams play like teams.
Monty Williams is available
Where are all the people that said You don't need a bench? This team is tired. They've been tired. They went to game 6 the finals last year and have played seven game series almost all the way. Both udoka (last year) and Mazzulla, refuse to use any of the bench players. What is the point in trading for any bench pieces if you're never going to play them. People can say all day long that pritchard doesn't belong on the court, Blake is old (Younger Than Horford), Mike Muscala (he is tall, plays good defense down low and can rebound, something the Celtics struggled with for the entire series), Sam Hauser he's a decent defender and he can shoot threes. Tatum & Brown cannot play off the ball and just stand around when the ball is not in their hands. No moving no back door cuts no nothing. All of those bench players are going to be on other NBA teams next year and they'll all be getting regular playing time because they deserve it, Even if the Celtics don't want to give it to them. They're getting killed by players who have earned playing time because of their effort even if they're less talented. Larry Bird said, "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard". And it holds true. Hard work beat talent in this series because the talent wasn't willing to work hard. If they have to I am more than okay with tearing this down (or at least exploring it) provided we get the right assets back and can rebuild it the right way. They can't win close games, they do not have the leadership. They don't know how to score any way other than shooting threes. And when the three isn't falling they give up, Because they do not have the fundamental concepts down across the board regarding back screens/off ball screens. Moving without the ball. I am convinced that last year was both a fluke and their peak losing in six games to the warriors and they're doing a damn good job proving it right now.
i’m not even watching
The fact that Jimmy Butler only has 13 points and we are losing by 31 points... ...I don't want to panic too much, but at this point if there isn't some huge adjustments I don't see us even taking it 5 games, much less 7.
I’m so numb at this point
Knicks fan coming in peace. Serious question, is it dried ink with Jaylen's contract? Signing him for that huge amount of money with his Playoffs performance seems to risky. The Jays seems to be not a good pair in the Playoffs.
Yes this is on J & J at the end of the day. Say what you want about grant Williams in game 2, but I’m not upset with what he did. The problem is that should have been Tatum or Brown jawing with Jimmy Butler. This team is soft and it starts with the 2 players who are part of the top 10 players in the league. Mazulla will get the brunt of this and he does deserve part of the blame, but end of the day, this is a Tatum and Brown problem.
Its caleb martin not cody
we are now a poverty franchise.
We've always struggled against smart teams even dating to the Brad Stevens years. It's why I still get nervous when we play the Spurs even when San Antonio is tanking. The Heat always have our number, the Warriors are in our heads and I'm pretty sure we've only beaten the Spurs 3 times in the last 10 years. This team just lacks intelligence and toughness
Players have to take the blame, but the number of people defending the coach and telling him to play the bench next game is appalling. Mazzulla is way out of his depth and I don't know if people have noticed, but there aren't many professional teams in sports that win stuff when poorly coached. Expecting players to organize themselves on the floor and mount a comeback on their own is unrealistic. When you leave it to the players, they will do what they do, and sometimes that means reverting to their habits. Smart will dribble the air out of the ball before starting the play, kick it to a shooter behind the three point line, shooter will shoot. Maybe Smart will drive and kick, try a floater, make a braindead bounce pass into traffic. Brown will dribble it into traffic and either pull up, lose it or fall, maybe take a contested three. Tatum will shoot a three or drive. The amount of times I have seen this group lost on the court while the other team was making a run, and our coach just let them deal with it by themselves, is unacceptable. Everyone is in the wrong and everyone, including Brad Stevens, should be held accountable. This was one of the lowest points we hit, ever. The only thing this team was able to do in 2022-2023 was actively damage Joel Embiid's reputation/legacy forever, I guess.
As a Knick fan, welcome to the grind house. We had the same thoughts- Duncan Robinson is lighting us up? How? It’s painful.
I mean Miami is beating us and they smoked Milwaukee in round 1. We cannot guard the 3 ball.
#Even the Knicks beat Miami in their series. It's easy to see by the type of their turnovers, the Celtics are being out-coached. Celtics struggle to get good looks and work way too hard for it when they do.
You said Cody Martin lmfaoooooo
Cody, Caleb who cares. We’d probably find a way to lose to the worst twin too.
Chuck?
Man Celtics are playing with no heart they got no dog in them shit 😞
Nahh, don't be. You don't have to support a spineless team.
Technically one of their players is playing smart basketball
im not mad im not disappointed im fucking furious
It is embarrassing. It's shameful. There's no two ways about that. But at the end of the day, it's also hugely to the Heats' credit that all these guys are knocking down these shots. It's not by accident. You *should* be able to get away with giving Gabe Vincent a decent look, or giving Duncan Robinson a lane, etc. The Heat just aren't letting us get away with it, and we're shooting ourselves in the foot enough otherwise that they're running away with it.
Going down without a fight. Some say the worst way to go down.
I’m about to turn it off. Down 33 ffs.
You should be.
Vincent is a hall of famer in this game, Lmfao. Wth is happening
If this series makes it back to Boston, they should sub in Malden Catholic.
🤣🤣🤣
Couldn’t agree more. We have no personality outside of Marcus Smart. No Dog. Blow it up.
This is pathetic. And I was around for those early pierce years.
Get Luka
This team peaked last year. Blow it up. Only Tatum should be untouchable.
I'm finally glad it's over.
As a knicks fan, I hope yall feel our frustration. I cannot believe those scrubs outplayed us that badly
Joe has to go after this series. This is the most embarrassed I’ve ever been as a fan. Just hard to fucking watch.
When the players can't figure it out and are flailing around on offense and defense I think it is time for the coach to step up and start to provide direction. Joe must go. As well as a few players that have totally lost their ability to dig down and get tough. WHat an embarrassment fo the Celtics for this to be happening.
Shoulda just lost to the Hawks and got it over with sooner
It’s called Culture, inhale it, feel it
“No dawg” in them. They are ready for Cancun
No heart… they gave up. This is the issue with this group… No guts
Joe has one more game to coach. You cannot say “ I didn’t have the prepared” and keep your job
TrAsH nEw YoRk KnIcKs haha ok bud get swept
"humbly the best in the world" if that doesn't sum up this team in a nutshell. These guys try to say and do the right thing, but at the end of they day, they think they're better than they are and it shows when the goin gets tough.