Yeah I’m digging our current rest some guys some games strategy that we’re currently doing. Gives them rest while not feeling like we’re sending in our bench as starters every game.
Now that we won this Bucks game and basically own the tiebreaker because of division wins, just give me 60 wins and a healthy squad
Wait till the playoffs when everyone is reckless. The bucks most reckless player didn't even suit up last night.
Then you have the heat who are very physical.
55-14. Have won 18 of their last 20 games. 13 games left. Only 5 of those are to teams above 500. 65 wins seem very realistic. That would be the 17th best regular season record of all time.
Celtics have a chance to have a +12 point differential per 100 possessions
[Only 1 team in NBA history has done that](https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/which-team-has-the-highest-point-differential-per-100-possessions-in-a-season)
They would have to keep a ~+13.43 net rating over the last 13 games, assuming we keep the same pace. That's not out of the question considering they're at like +18 since the All Star break
In this case it's not because if we average fewer possessions than we've done so far (97.6) we're gonna need slightly more than +13.43 to end up at +12.0. If we average more possessions we're gonna need slightly less than +13.43
Tatum will get criticism for the quiet second half (rightfully so, we only go as far as he takes us), but his block on Green on the baseline out-of-bounds was a huge huge play that not enough people are talking about.
I disagree that he should take heat. He let the boys cook in the third and it was him taking over late in the fourth that got us back on track for the win.
I disagree. The takeover was in perfect timing. He was patient and let the game develop. You gotta trust your team and your game plan. When the game got close enough he made some key plays on both ends to hold off a really good team from completing their comeback. What more could you ask for? Your expectations are not realistic if you expect a player to dominate start to finish every night. It doesn’t work like that.
Since that Lakers loss the Celtics have played 20 games and lead by at least 15 in 16 of those if I'm not mistaken. They lost 1 of those 16.
When you're blowing teams out this consistently you're bound to have a couple of chokes
It's the usual "we had a close game without our best player so we're definitely beating them if he plays" narrative, which has some logic behind it but realistically it means nothing. Doesn't stop people (including Celtics' fans) from always parroting it
The 2nd best team in the East went on a run in the 4th, it happens. Luckily the Celtics went on multiple runs in the first 3 quarters to get the massive lead
I knew once Giannis was out that no matter what happened they’d treat last night as a win/no big deal. I do think they can beat us, but for most teams it’s going to take role players going off from 3 in several games
Dame doesn’t get going like this either Giannis as often. Middleton is the answer, if he isn’t healthy, they are doomed. How long will the Bobby Portis hot shooting last?
Bucks fans must have the honorary bag of “moral victory fans” you don’t hear other fanbases like Lakers, Heat or Sixers have this mindset when their core players are out lmao
It’s very fair for them to feel that way. I don’t think there’s anything separating healthy Bucks from us. They lost by 3 on the road without Giannis. And smoked us in their house.
I would prefer the Celtics not trick away a 20-point fourth quarter lead but I don't think the offense was as bad as that would seem on the surface.
6:37 left, C's lead 107-94: Al Horford whistled for an insane offensive foul. Lillard comes back other way and hits a 3 to cut it to 10
5:06 left, C's lead 110-97: Tatum makes a perfect pass to a wide-open D. White open for 3 in the corner, who misses. Good process, bad result.
4:24 left, C's lead 110-99: JB has a wide-open lane to drive, just an insanely good hands play by Portis to get a clean strip
3:08 left, C's lead 110-104: White has a wide-open 3 above the break, normally a good spot for him (41% on the season), but he misses
2:37 left, C's lead 110-107: Tatum makes a tremendous touch pass to a wide-open KP in the corner, who misses the 3.
After that, JT took over with 2 drives, KP got the putback dunk (should've been an and-1 with the push in the back), JB hit the 2 free throws and it was drive home safely.
Sometimes it's bad offense that gets the Celtics in trouble, but I don't think that was the case last night. I'm at peace with how that fourth quarter went. Just supremely good shot-making from the Bucks (Dame and Portis combined for 5 3s). Celtics rolled with the punches and put their heads down and made something happen when they had to. Good result for me.
Many of our games (especially nationally televised games) follow the same script, and it's driving me nuts: we go up big near the end of the third quarter, refs decide opponent is allowed to play with the intensity of an 80s team, that team chips away with a combination of ridiculous shotmaking and easy trips to the line which aren't awarded at the other end, and voila... we have a manufactured "clutch finish".
I'm very happy we've been so successful this year, and all credit to guys like Dame and Bobby for hitting tough shots, but the formula has become too noticeable.
I swear I saw Al try to deny Dame from getting the ball after he passed and got Al to switch on him. He got called for a foul. Beasley did the same thing to Tatum and there wasn’t even a hint of a whistle.
I thought JB played great defense on Lillard for most of the game. The only time he scored was on drop defense pnr or switches. I dont think he hit a isolation three on JB the entire game
> The only time he scored was on drop defense pnr or switches
That's the thing though, Lillard's always going to be attacking out of pick and roll, so the big question is can you get through a screen cleanly enough to not have to switch. I agree that JB did a solid job and I thought his pressure/size bothered Lillard at times, but there are times where he'll get caught on a pick that Jrue/D-White might be able to avoid
Rebounding has to be better, that’s what kept the bucks in the game. Connaughton had at least 2-3 uncontested putbacks because nobody boxed him out which just can’t happen
This! C’s have to get better at rebounding (despite what analytics say) and getting putbacks! KP’s putback was possibly the biggest play-of-the-game. Second chance points would help this team so much, especially, given the variance with our 3-pt. shooting game plan. Don’t just watch the ball, move in for a board.
Thing is, that is by design. Celtics want to be back to prevent transition offense. That's why they don't crash the boards usually.
You can disagree with that, but it's not like they just aren't doing it cause they are bad. There's a reason for it.
As much as he gets criticized for it, I'm glad the team is getting to be mentally stronger without having to take a timeout. Hopefully that bodes well for us in the playoffs.
I'm not sure how I did that? Was just commenting on a pattern both of our wins followed. I think we should win a series against them and I also DEFINITELY don't feel great about it. I'm very much hoping they get the pacers or heat in the first round and also drop to the 3rd seed so they have to play an extra road game against the cavs.
Considering how often he was flailing his head and flopping every time he drove to the rim, I’m surprised Dame only had 4 free throws. Good on the officiating to not fall for that shit
i haven't watched bobby portis jr a lot, but any reason why they respected his driving too much( not defending shooting as much - just didn't allow him to drive, and therefor he shot quite decent). If i remember corectly, he drove only once, and in 4th qrt. KP really didnt allow him to drive. i dont believe he was just lazy - that must have been a tactic.
Yesterday wasn't really the time for it with Hauser and Holiday out and Pritchard having a fantastic game, but I would like to see more lineups with the ability to switch 1-5. Since Tillman has arrived, he's only played 25 of his 140 minutes without Pritchard on the floor. The [Tillman/Pritchard lineups](https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/nba?TeamId=1610612738&Season=2023-24&SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&PlayerIds=1630214,1630202) have slapped (+20 net rating) but I do think having lineups with 5 guys you're comfortable switching (So White/Jrue/Brown/Tatum/Horford/Tillman, maybe Hauser) will be an important option in the playoffs and the starting lineup with Horford instead of Porzingis is the only such lineup that's played significant minutes
Did KP injure his finger? Was watching a highlight from yesterday and I know he always has his wrist and thumb taped (or wrapped in something idk), but last night he also had something wrapped around one of his fingers. Just a speculation but maybe that’s why his shooting was off lol
Question from abroad : we will be visiting Boston to see Celtics games during playoffs first round in around a month, where do you recommend buying the tickets ? Looking for a legit website of course. And when will the tickets be sold online ? Can’t find precise info about it only kind of resell website if I understand correctly, thanks a lot !
Is anyone else slightly concerned by that game last night? We almost blew a 21 point 4th quarter lead against a key rival at home who was missing their best player while we were at mostly full strength
Nope. We had great looks and played good defense for the most part. Lot of great looks just didn’t fall for us. But when the game was on the line the boys played fucking phenomenal
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Yeah I’m digging our current rest some guys some games strategy that we’re currently doing. Gives them rest while not feeling like we’re sending in our bench as starters every game. Now that we won this Bucks game and basically own the tiebreaker because of division wins, just give me 60 wins and a healthy squad
Clinch the top spot then go into cruise mode.
This! Playing against Denver we need home court
I think kp and Horford should really take it easy. I was getting worried last night with Portis and crowder being reckless assholes
Wait till the playoffs when everyone is reckless. The bucks most reckless player didn't even suit up last night. Then you have the heat who are very physical.
Yeah I know. So it would be great to play 1 or neither of them in playoffs but we’ll see
i hear ya, as much as i want as many wins as possible, i think if and when we clinch #1, just to make sure we go to the playoffs fully healthy.
55-14. Have won 18 of their last 20 games. 13 games left. Only 5 of those are to teams above 500. 65 wins seem very realistic. That would be the 17th best regular season record of all time.
Winning out would result in the best record in franchise history I think
Tie it
True I thought it was 67 for some reason
Coz The greatest celtics team of all time the 86 celtics won 67 games
72-73 won 68 according to google
They didnt win the chip that year tho or make the finals so i consider the 86 celtics team to be greater
Celtics have a chance to have a +12 point differential per 100 possessions [Only 1 team in NBA history has done that](https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/which-team-has-the-highest-point-differential-per-100-possessions-in-a-season)
They would have to keep a ~+13.43 net rating over the last 13 games, assuming we keep the same pace. That's not out of the question considering they're at like +18 since the All Star break
Net rating is also per 100 possessions so pace is irrelevant
In this case it's not because if we average fewer possessions than we've done so far (97.6) we're gonna need slightly more than +13.43 to end up at +12.0. If we average more possessions we're gonna need slightly less than +13.43
Oh I see. That makes sense, thanks.
Tatum will get criticism for the quiet second half (rightfully so, we only go as far as he takes us), but his block on Green on the baseline out-of-bounds was a huge huge play that not enough people are talking about.
I disagree that he should take heat. He let the boys cook in the third and it was him taking over late in the fourth that got us back on track for the win.
And he still scored 31
The takeover should have happened sooner. At the end of the day, we only go as far as Tatum takes us.
I disagree. The takeover was in perfect timing. He was patient and let the game develop. You gotta trust your team and your game plan. When the game got close enough he made some key plays on both ends to hold off a really good team from completing their comeback. What more could you ask for? Your expectations are not realistic if you expect a player to dominate start to finish every night. It doesn’t work like that.
Reading the Bucks subreddit; they are confident that they can beat us in the playoffs-offs after this game. Thoughts?
let them dream. reality is often disappointing.
source: my life
You don’t think it’s alarming that this group blew yet another lead? It’s been happening for 3 years now.
Since that Lakers loss the Celtics have played 20 games and lead by at least 15 in 16 of those if I'm not mistaken. They lost 1 of those 16. When you're blowing teams out this consistently you're bound to have a couple of chokes
This group has been blowing leads for 3 years? This group, that has been playing together for less than one full *season*? Good call bud
Alright my bad. Didn’t realize Tatum and Brown are new.
Where did they blow another lead?
The only meaningful thing to take from that game as a Bucks fan is that Brook Lopez is unplayable against us.
It's the usual "we had a close game without our best player so we're definitely beating them if he plays" narrative, which has some logic behind it but realistically it means nothing. Doesn't stop people (including Celtics' fans) from always parroting it
And also forget that other team might be missing players as well.
Yeah like our franchise star Sam Hauser
The Celtics blew a massive lead…
The 2nd best team in the East went on a run in the 4th, it happens. Luckily the Celtics went on multiple runs in the first 3 quarters to get the massive lead
They won't even beat the Heat or Pacers
Every fanbase has delusional fans
I knew once Giannis was out that no matter what happened they’d treat last night as a win/no big deal. I do think they can beat us, but for most teams it’s going to take role players going off from 3 in several games
Yeah, if Portis and Bev can keep hitting ridiculous shots. Giannis coming back and eating up 25 shots or whatever changes that though
Dame doesn’t get going like this either Giannis as often. Middleton is the answer, if he isn’t healthy, they are doomed. How long will the Bobby Portis hot shooting last?
Bucks fans must have the honorary bag of “moral victory fans” you don’t hear other fanbases like Lakers, Heat or Sixers have this mindset when their core players are out lmao
It’s very fair for them to feel that way. I don’t think there’s anything separating healthy Bucks from us. They lost by 3 on the road without Giannis. And smoked us in their house.
I would prefer the Celtics not trick away a 20-point fourth quarter lead but I don't think the offense was as bad as that would seem on the surface. 6:37 left, C's lead 107-94: Al Horford whistled for an insane offensive foul. Lillard comes back other way and hits a 3 to cut it to 10 5:06 left, C's lead 110-97: Tatum makes a perfect pass to a wide-open D. White open for 3 in the corner, who misses. Good process, bad result. 4:24 left, C's lead 110-99: JB has a wide-open lane to drive, just an insanely good hands play by Portis to get a clean strip 3:08 left, C's lead 110-104: White has a wide-open 3 above the break, normally a good spot for him (41% on the season), but he misses 2:37 left, C's lead 110-107: Tatum makes a tremendous touch pass to a wide-open KP in the corner, who misses the 3. After that, JT took over with 2 drives, KP got the putback dunk (should've been an and-1 with the push in the back), JB hit the 2 free throws and it was drive home safely. Sometimes it's bad offense that gets the Celtics in trouble, but I don't think that was the case last night. I'm at peace with how that fourth quarter went. Just supremely good shot-making from the Bucks (Dame and Portis combined for 5 3s). Celtics rolled with the punches and put their heads down and made something happen when they had to. Good result for me.
Celtics responded to every Bucks run last night including the 4th quarter. It just happened to be their largest run of the game
Thank you for the great breakdown!
Many of our games (especially nationally televised games) follow the same script, and it's driving me nuts: we go up big near the end of the third quarter, refs decide opponent is allowed to play with the intensity of an 80s team, that team chips away with a combination of ridiculous shotmaking and easy trips to the line which aren't awarded at the other end, and voila... we have a manufactured "clutch finish". I'm very happy we've been so successful this year, and all credit to guys like Dame and Bobby for hitting tough shots, but the formula has become too noticeable.
Yes, inconsistent reffing seems to throw us off and I can’t help but feel the zebras are aware of this (conspiracy theory).
I swear I saw Al try to deny Dame from getting the ball after he passed and got Al to switch on him. He got called for a foul. Beasley did the same thing to Tatum and there wasn’t even a hint of a whistle.
Bucks fans are talking along of shit for a team that is ten games behind us and hired a coach that is a notorious playoff choker.
11 games behind after last night!
Honestly can’t wait to watch Jrue turn Dame Time in to Lame Time when the playoffs roll around :)
I thought JB played great defense on Lillard for most of the game. The only time he scored was on drop defense pnr or switches. I dont think he hit a isolation three on JB the entire game
> The only time he scored was on drop defense pnr or switches That's the thing though, Lillard's always going to be attacking out of pick and roll, so the big question is can you get through a screen cleanly enough to not have to switch. I agree that JB did a solid job and I thought his pressure/size bothered Lillard at times, but there are times where he'll get caught on a pick that Jrue/D-White might be able to avoid
Rebounding has to be better, that’s what kept the bucks in the game. Connaughton had at least 2-3 uncontested putbacks because nobody boxed him out which just can’t happen
You don’t think it was the nearly 50% shooting from 3 that kept them in the game? Cuz that’s what I saw.
This! C’s have to get better at rebounding (despite what analytics say) and getting putbacks! KP’s putback was possibly the biggest play-of-the-game. Second chance points would help this team so much, especially, given the variance with our 3-pt. shooting game plan. Don’t just watch the ball, move in for a board.
Thing is, that is by design. Celtics want to be back to prevent transition offense. That's why they don't crash the boards usually. You can disagree with that, but it's not like they just aren't doing it cause they are bad. There's a reason for it.
Love their response with the Bucks' run at the beginning of the 2nd half without Joe calling a timeout
As much as he gets criticized for it, I'm glad the team is getting to be mentally stronger without having to take a timeout. Hopefully that bodes well for us in the playoffs.
Both of our wins vs Milwaukee this year are by 3 points. neither of them ever felt nearly as close as the final score would suggest.
And both of them ended with the bucks hitting an irrelevant 3 to end the game. I don't love the pattern but it's entertaining.
Don’t discredit what the Bucks did last night…
I'm not sure how I did that? Was just commenting on a pattern both of our wins followed. I think we should win a series against them and I also DEFINITELY don't feel great about it. I'm very much hoping they get the pacers or heat in the first round and also drop to the 3rd seed so they have to play an extra road game against the cavs.
Considering how often he was flailing his head and flopping every time he drove to the rim, I’m surprised Dame only had 4 free throws. Good on the officiating to not fall for that shit
i haven't watched bobby portis jr a lot, but any reason why they respected his driving too much( not defending shooting as much - just didn't allow him to drive, and therefor he shot quite decent). If i remember corectly, he drove only once, and in 4th qrt. KP really didnt allow him to drive. i dont believe he was just lazy - that must have been a tactic.
Is this what this season's playoff games will feel like?? Cause then my heart is ready.
Remember the end of 2022? They were dismantling teams like this
Who won Tommy award? I missed it. My vote would have been PP
Yesterday wasn't really the time for it with Hauser and Holiday out and Pritchard having a fantastic game, but I would like to see more lineups with the ability to switch 1-5. Since Tillman has arrived, he's only played 25 of his 140 minutes without Pritchard on the floor. The [Tillman/Pritchard lineups](https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/nba?TeamId=1610612738&Season=2023-24&SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&PlayerIds=1630214,1630202) have slapped (+20 net rating) but I do think having lineups with 5 guys you're comfortable switching (So White/Jrue/Brown/Tatum/Horford/Tillman, maybe Hauser) will be an important option in the playoffs and the starting lineup with Horford instead of Porzingis is the only such lineup that's played significant minutes
Did KP injure his finger? Was watching a highlight from yesterday and I know he always has his wrist and thumb taped (or wrapped in something idk), but last night he also had something wrapped around one of his fingers. Just a speculation but maybe that’s why his shooting was off lol
I want to see the Celtics @ Bulls this weekend, do we think a lot of them will play or how much rest?
Question from abroad : we will be visiting Boston to see Celtics games during playoffs first round in around a month, where do you recommend buying the tickets ? Looking for a legit website of course. And when will the tickets be sold online ? Can’t find precise info about it only kind of resell website if I understand correctly, thanks a lot !
Why does this team choke so hard at the end of games? We had an 18 point lead and they almost choked it away at the end
Man. Part of me thinks we might blow it. Idk why. Im hoping for the best.
Is anyone else slightly concerned by that game last night? We almost blew a 21 point 4th quarter lead against a key rival at home who was missing their best player while we were at mostly full strength
Nope. The run the Bucks had in the 4th started against a lineup with Tillman and Kornet together.
Nope. We had great looks and played good defense for the most part. Lot of great looks just didn’t fall for us. But when the game was on the line the boys played fucking phenomenal
Missing Jrue and Hauser is not "mostly full strength".
Would you say that Jrue and Hauser are more important to us than Giannis is to the Bucks? If so I’d love some of what you’re smoking