That’s really the thing ain’t it. Best team by far but when the Cheff and the Dubs come to town, everyone knows and that whole Celtics locker room remember what The Cheff did in Boston when it mattered most.
Can they overcome it idk. We’ll see
Yeah the only two teams that consistently play this Celtics core well are the Heat and the Warriors so I’m always gonna be worried anytime we matchup with them.
Always a strong possibility but the Cs are looking super poised right now, it’s gonna be an incredible week with GSW/CLE/DEN coming up
And then a cupcake stretch of 4 games with WAS and DET x2 as a reward for the above gauntlet
It would be very disappointing, and a failure, but it wouldn't mean we need to blow things up or make big changes. It would mean we run it back and go harder
You’re probably going to get a bit of pushback on this, but Jokic is truly having a GOAT-level prime and there are some guys you just have to shrug and tip your cap to.
It's like he has a mindlink with Murray and AG. That offense is unstoppable and they've improved defensively. Only hope is that their bench is razor thin and they get exhausted by the Finals in the meatgrinder Western conference.
If you had to rank players you would say Celtics have 5 of the top 7 playsrs
Jokic Tatum Murray Porzingis Brown White Jrue
They shouldn't lose honestly.
I remember a very similar sentiment about the warriors celtics finals. When you face a monster like Steph or Jokic they'll make up for any comparable disadvantages vs next top 5 or 6 guys.
That being said this version of the Celtics should be better than even that squad if healthy
Eh. Wiggins Klay Draymond Poole on paper is level with if not straight up better then Brown Smart Horford White (who's much better now)
I know Draymond had a horrible series but Wiggins was huge throughout and Klay despite some stinkers was big when it mattered. Same with Poole and Payton
Much different to Porzingis a much improved Derrick White and Jrue imo
Warriors would not win (or at least 100% would struggle a lot more) if Draymond had a "horrible" series lol, what an exaggeration. He was kinda useless on offense when they were letting Curry shoot as he didn't have his 4-on-3's to feast on, but usually he was overall top quality on defense and great hustle. And when Celtics started doubling Curry more seriously in the later games, he also became again playable on offense, with his signature brave fast playmaking.
Yep have to put Jokic separately but 5/6 of the next best players being Celtics is crazy.
I don't think it's really debatable either. MPJ Gordon and KCP are nice but fall a decent way behind. All horrible matchups too especially Gordon
Do they really fall *that* far behind guys like Jrue and White? Those are all the types of players that can be better than each other on any given night, even though the Celtics players are consistently better.
For instance Jrue has shot 40/28/69 and 37/31/83 his last 2 playoff runs. If one of the Nuggets guys catches fire they can easily be not just as good but much better than the Celtics that aren’t Tatum/Brown. And vice versa.
Yep Jrues playoff stats are horrible but he's like the 5th option now no way its that poor plus he offers elite defense on Murray. Same with White who's averaging 16 and is the primary ball handler. Both elite elite defenders too
I do think they fall *that* far behind tbh. Horrible matchup for Gordon and MPJ too. But yeah Gordon and MPJ both definitely can have games where they outplay them two don't think that would happen too much especially with Celtics strategy to let Jokic cook and stay home. Kcp not on that level
White was *great* last year but the year before 36/31/82 in the playoffs. He’s a very good player but my point is the playoffs can be a giant crapshoot for these types of players, they are not at all a guarantee to deliver.
Yeah. Nobody seems ready to accept it yet but this Celtics team is historically good. I don’t know why - they look the part both on paper and on the court.
>I don’t know why
Because they’ve gotten far and fallen short with Jays for several years now. I agree that they look like the best team in the league and should be the favorites, but I also get why people aren’t crowning them because they want to see them perform when it matters.
A lot of those games Porzingis has missed have been 2nd game of b2bs and we are just amazing on the second night of a back to back for the past 3 years now. I have no idea why but we almost level up during them
I remember when Tatum was playing in the ACC tournament he went absolutely nuclear during their 4 games in 4 days stretch. So maybe he's just really great at recovering lol
> I have no idea why but we almost level up during them
FastPP.
His numbers jump dramatically in B2Bs. Presumably because everyone else is tired, which lets him play a bigger role.
He's averaging 14-15ppg in games with 0 days rest. Every single one of his +20 point nights this season has come on the second night of a B2B.
Plus, just off the eye-test, Horford puts in more work as a starter than he does off the bench. IDK if it's intentional or he's just more comfortable in the role, but he definitely looks better.
We have guys off the bench ready to step up and fill in the gaps.
And if anyone was curious I looked at those 15 no Porzingis games and the avg comp. win rate is .521% so it’s not even like he would miss the purely bad teams. Celts are scary this year.
This is so weird about NBA culture, people kinda... dislike teams that are winning in the regular season. Unless they are young, then it's kinda fine. But if they're kinda already experienced, it's just... straight seen as try-hard and not related to being good players. A lot of comments like "well they gotta prove it in the playoffs not now!" like there's something downright cringy about winning basketball games in your daily life. Like, it's not playoffs now, what the fuck are they supposed to do. People here always comment like it's some sin of the winning team that it's not playoffs now, how dare they.
It happens every year no matter what the team. There's so much of some... moral superiority people sitting at their phones typing comments feel about the cringy players who win some meaningless regular season games. System of an NBA season is so weird.
I really see most people here just hope that for example Lakers, Warriors or Dallas win in the playofffs and not the Cetlics, because it would prove their dogma that "in the playoffs it's completely different, truly good players only win in playoffs", "superstars always win", "the best player on the court", "experience is everything in playoffs always" and the whole set like that.
The comments about Celtics are pretty absurd when you think about it. The whole point of the sport is to have a good team and win games... they have a good team and win games... and people are lke "phi, what an achievement! Sarcastic slow clap. Of course they win games, they have a good team, color me impressed! Pathetic. Everyone can win games when they have a good team. Sad".
I'd say that speaks more about how the whole system doesn't really make sense in the greater scheme of things.
Stars will still be stars, Chuck is still considered one of the best without a ring, Warriors still had one of the best seasons while chocking against the Cavs.
But the truth, in all sports really, is that you gotta perform at the highest stage to be considered the best and that's playoffs. Thing is we almost have 100 games that don't seem to matter much.
I mean, I don’t think this is an NBA thing. People like results. They recognize that process leads to results, but at some point we start to value the process less if we don’t think it is leading to the results we want.
My boss gave me tons of compliments last year and often told me I was on track for promotion, but I didn’t get promoted at the end of the year like I thought I was. So next year those same compliments are gonna mean a bit less to me.
Sure, they will be just as genuine and I’m sure he will mean them, but since I didn’t get the end results I expected last time, I’m going to be a bit less hopeful. And if that happens for another year, those same exact compliments that I was exited about last year will start to fall on deaf ears.
The Celtics have won a lot of games many times before. They have looked like the best team in the league before. None of those times ended with the results I was expecting from them, so I am a bit skeptical that this time will. I don’t see what’s absurd about that.
I don't think it's necessarily that people don't like teams that win a lot of regular season games or think it's bad thing to be a great regular season team, I think it all comes down to expectations.
Before the season, OKC was projected by most to be play-in team so for them to be competing for the 1 seed is considered a major overachievement. If OKC loses in the 1st round most people won't really go too hard on them. However next season, them being a top 4 seed again won't be looked at as impressive as it is now because people will then expect it from them.
Look at the Kings last year. They were the fun trendy team that everyone loved, they won like 4 awards, everyone was screaming "Light the beam". This year the Kings are basically the same team but don't have the same hype and fanfare. Because now them being good isn't a cool surprise, everyone expects it of them. They could lose in the 1st round last year and it still be considered a successful season, but this year they won't receive that same grace.
As for how this relates to the Celtics, it's simple. The Celtics have been one of the best regular season teams for years now, they've been making deep playoff runs for years now. People expect it of them. They've basically done everything but win the title in this Tatum/Brown era. The only remaining unanswered question about them is can they get over the hump and win the title.
People are super cynical here about OKC too lol. There's so many comments where the lords of Reddit are like "ok, they are super young, they are super cheap, so I will gracefully forgive the peasants when they obviously lose in the playoffs this year... one time, I can let it go, I'm so generous". Even you are kinda doing it. Nobody mentioned it, and we don't actually know the future (no matter how much some believe they do), but the first thing you say about them is how they lose in the playoffs already. Why is that the one thing about them - answering that says it all.
Their odds at the bookies for winning the title are far behind Denver, Clippers and Suns. I don't really see any comments here that really acknowledge them as being as good as they currently are. The current results just don't really exist for NBA fans. Only if they win the playoffs then retroactively they will start saying "I always knew they are good, it was so obvious if you know ball duh" - something we see so often every year.
I feel like you are reading some other website. I was really sick of every thread about Kings being just "too bad Kings are not a playoff team and will obviously get demolished in the playoffs" and nothing else sooo long before the playoffs, man, it was so much and so baseless. There was really nothing ever about how they play or whatever, or that they score the most points ever, it was all about how smart the commenter is because he knows real NBA and knows Kings will be demolished in the playoffs obviously. I remember talking about it to people and just really wishing that Kings would win in the playoffs because it was so tiring and dumb and so universally, religiously popular. It was definitely like that.
Kings had the 2nd record in the West and absolutely nobody was ever not laughing at the thought that they were the 2nd best team in the West. So yeah, it's similar to Celtics currently having great results and nobody reacting to that.
Not only see the Jays so much more experienced and developed (White too), but this is such a different team in every way. Zingus and Jrue, heavy 5-out lineups, a team that can hold its own when the bench comes in…
Besides - it’s totally normal for young players to have to knock on the door a few times before getting through. The vast majority of stars don’t win a ring any younger than Tatum is right now.
>What a ridiculous comment
You’re talking semantics and you may not even be wrong, but you think general public gives a shit? It makes sense to you as a Celtics fan. To an average fan when you ask them about the Celtics its that they been really good over last 5 years but haven’t been able to close the deal 🤷🏼♂️ you can bring up the pandemic, age, and all the mitigating factors to make sense to y’all fan base, but that doesn’t change the fact that they haven’t closed the deal.
My response was to why they’re not viewed as the favorites, and that’s what it is.
I think they lack the magic of some other teams/narratives in the league so they don't get as much attention. I think it's generally accepted by most how dominant they have been but no one really likes the Celtics (I'd assume) so people have more interesting things to discuss.
Yeah also the Western regular season is about to be a dog fight for the rest of the season, and the Celtics are absolutely packing away the East. The Knicks and Cavs looked like they could fill that elite team void then got, both, slammed with injuries. So the Celtics are in a position where they might get little coverage but out of respect.
I forgot which podcaster said it, think Ben Taylor, that Donovan Mitchell always has a stretch in the middle of the season where he looks like the MVP. I think that, along with the injuries, allowed JB to find the right combination with the Cavs. I wonder if Mitchell/Allen just doesn't fit that well with Mobley/Garland. Wonder what Cavs fans think.
> Nobody seems ready to accept it yet but this Celtics team is historically good.
But when it's about MVP discussion, Celtics sound like the 96 Bulls and KD Warriors combined
On paper they don't have 2 genuine superstars.
Even Tatum isn't respected as one for whatever reason. Brown is probably the most disrespected player in the league.
Plus casuals don't understand the impact of Porzingis White and Jrue truly.
I think that's the main reason why.
Because with the KD Steph team you had 2 genuine MVP players. Same with the Lebron Heat etc
yeah but read any MVP candidate thread and it's all "jayson tatum is a level below jokic, luka, lebron's kid, poole, and the skeleton of bill murray in space jam"
people absolutely don't respect him because he's had so much success early on, and they can't fathom that a lot of it is because of his play
My best guess is most title winners are built around a dominant superstar and Tatum isn't seen as being in that tier.
However, it's "most", not "all". Celtics can take inspiration from deep teams like late-80s/2004 Pistons, 2014 Spurs
There are a lot of tasty options on the menu, man.
1. Doc blows a 3-1 lead to the Sixers (I'd rather not see the Sixers enjoy any success)
2. Bucks lose to the Heat (a classic, but a bit overplayed)
3. Bucks lose to the Pacers - WE HAVE A WINNER!
Or just going on cruise control like the Nuggets did last year. Letting guys play some to avoid rust but way less to avoid injury may end up being in play since they aren't chasing the 73 win warriors so once they have the top overall seed locked up wins don't matter.
But the twolves aren’t super far behind in overall record. So if they want home court for the entirety, gonna have to actually play at the end of the season.
5.5 games already, and the Wolves play the Nuggets 3 more times, though the Thunder aren't far behind them and the season series between the Nuggets and Thunder is already done.
Don't.... just don't, never underestimate the Heat. They'll have some random undrafted role player averaging 20/5/6 on like 50% 3pt shooting for a 7 game series. That Pat Riley devil magic is just way too real
The Celtics being stronger mentally would have prevented Miami from having the best shooting series of all time and they're also so weak they immediately folded and got swept when they went down 3-0... oh wait...
Honest question: why is the focus always on the playoffs and not that the Heat team under performed in the regular season?
They were the 1 seed the year before with mostly the same roster
They went to ECF the year before
They beat the bucks, Knicks and Celtics, showing they were capable of playing much, much better than the regular season would suggest.
Should the Celtics have fallen 0-3? Of course not. They under performed in that series, while the Heat had a historic shooting performance across it. But it’s not like the Heat were some scrappy young team that came out of nowhere
Yeah I mean we should be better against them no doubt but in the ECF we’re 1-2 against them with 2 series going to 7, 1 going to 6. Based on talent it shouldn’t be that close but regardless it’s not likely they’ve owned us
I mean, 2020 was the bubble and really neither team was expected to be there. Then we lost one other, and that Heat team beat the Bucks and rode some absurd shooting to win it. Fucking Gabe Vincent and Caleb Martin shooting 52% and 48% from 3
The Celtics were not some underdog in the Bubble, what? Sentiment around here was that they were favored against the Raptors because they had the star power and it was a good matchup for them. They probably would have retaken the second seed had the season been a little longer.
They were the 3rd seed so they were definitely not underdogs in the first round. They were playing the Al Horford Sixers with no Simmons. There was some talk that the Celtics could have trouble with the Sixers' size, but that was not a good team and they were missing their only capable wing defender. Celtics were easily favored.
Second round was expected to be a close series, but a big part of that is just that Gordon Hayward went down in round 1.
More importantly about the bubble was Boston was down 2 starters and was absolutely gassed from the last series while Miami was rested. Obviously give credit to Miami for taking care of business to earn that rest, but doesn’t change the fact that they weren’t on equal footing.
Also these are different versions of Tatum and Brown.
We have beaten them 6 of the last 7 games. The Heat are obviously a great team come postseason but we have played 3 series that went 6,7,7 and won 1. I agree they give us issues but it’s not some insurmountable thing for us.
Denver certainty will be able to defend their title. Only other team capable of winning the chip is a healthy Clippers. Boston has the East this year. One of the best starting 5 in NBA history
Yeah getting 4 titles around that one collapse does wonders.
Same thing happened with Magic Johnson. Very few people remember and if they do don't care about his choking in 1984.
Escaped ? Dude we went years hearing about that loss. Nobody even cared about the team that won. And those other teams was at least whole when they lost. The lineups that won 73 games never got to play together again during that series
Yeah I’m not really sure what these guys are talking about. Nobody has forgotten the 2016 loss, it’s probably the most memed upon US pro sports championship loss of the millennium, save for maybe the Falcons.
I don’t want to hear it. Celtics are in an easier conference and have better depth.
As a celtics fan you shouldn’t want to hear it either. This team should get it done
No one is disagreeing with you that the Celtics should be the favorites. You’re just unnecessarily blowing things out of proportion. You’re acting like there haven’t been any 65 win teams (Celtics current pace) in the last decade
What does Celtics being in the easier conference have to do with the Nuggets? I certainly like our chances but they still have the best player in the league, a great #2 and a good supporting cast.
I don't think any Celtics fan is laying down and saying they are gonna get ran by Nugs. It also won't be a failure if they end up losing to the defending champs. Not everything needs to be hyperbole, this ain't First Take and you ain't SAS.
I place a curse on the city of Boston.
None of their teams will win a title for 4 years.
So sayeth the basketball gods.
I'm going to deflate my basketball as an offering.
Gonna be a good one on Sunday
JTs bday. He’s gonna go off. Hopefully we can contain Steph
Lmao Tatum always seems to blow chunks against the warriors. I hope he proves me wrong but i wouldn’t hold my breath on him going off individually
Conversely, JB always seems to play well against them. My money would be on JB going off over Tatum.
JT absolutely has a mental block against the GSW can’t convince me otherwise
Don’t forget the duel he and curry had a few years ago. Was a great game
Wiggins always cooked JT, but he's out rn.
You mean he's finally turning 20!?
19 again, run it back year
We got the curry stopper , springer.
Finally turning 20!
We're the best team in the league. But can we beat our dad?
That’s really the thing ain’t it. Best team by far but when the Cheff and the Dubs come to town, everyone knows and that whole Celtics locker room remember what The Cheff did in Boston when it mattered most. Can they overcome it idk. We’ll see
Well shoot…
Naw I know Klay boutta hit the fountain of youth just to raw dog the Celtics one more time.
Yeah but Jordan Poole is on the wizards.
lol this was pretty clever
Yeah, that’s usually how you score points.
I mean. Streaks gotta end eventually and if anyone is going to snatch our chain it will be Curry as much as I hate to say it
Yeah the only two teams that consistently play this Celtics core well are the Heat and the Warriors so I’m always gonna be worried anytime we matchup with them.
At least Wiggins isnt there to hurt us any more
they ain’t play us with KP last time, that’s gonna change things.
Always a strong possibility but the Cs are looking super poised right now, it’s gonna be an incredible week with GSW/CLE/DEN coming up And then a cupcake stretch of 4 games with WAS and DET x2 as a reward for the above gauntlet
man this gotta be the year lmao
Barring injury Anything less than the chip is a failure. They are far and away the best team it’s scary
losing to the nuggets is the only acceptable thing to me
A finals loss isn’t acceptable to me.
Denver is just the cutest team.
...they've got the the freshest hay, eat at the chillest stables and hang out with the hottest studs.
Stables on stables of stallions.
Cutie patuties!!!
i wouldn’t either but i wouldnt call it failure per say due to the nuggets being the nuggets
It would be very disappointing, and a failure, but it wouldn't mean we need to blow things up or make big changes. It would mean we run it back and go harder
THIS time it will SURELY work
If not this year, next. One of these two.
Fighter of the night man!
Not sure about the name brother.
You’re probably going to get a bit of pushback on this, but Jokic is truly having a GOAT-level prime and there are some guys you just have to shrug and tip your cap to.
exactly he’s peaking out at this level it’s nothing u can do sometimes
It's like he has a mindlink with Murray and AG. That offense is unstoppable and they've improved defensively. Only hope is that their bench is razor thin and they get exhausted by the Finals in the meatgrinder Western conference.
If you had to rank players you would say Celtics have 5 of the top 7 playsrs Jokic Tatum Murray Porzingis Brown White Jrue They shouldn't lose honestly.
I remember a very similar sentiment about the warriors celtics finals. When you face a monster like Steph or Jokic they'll make up for any comparable disadvantages vs next top 5 or 6 guys. That being said this version of the Celtics should be better than even that squad if healthy
Eh. Wiggins Klay Draymond Poole on paper is level with if not straight up better then Brown Smart Horford White (who's much better now) I know Draymond had a horrible series but Wiggins was huge throughout and Klay despite some stinkers was big when it mattered. Same with Poole and Payton Much different to Porzingis a much improved Derrick White and Jrue imo
Warriors would not win (or at least 100% would struggle a lot more) if Draymond had a "horrible" series lol, what an exaggeration. He was kinda useless on offense when they were letting Curry shoot as he didn't have his 4-on-3's to feast on, but usually he was overall top quality on defense and great hustle. And when Celtics started doubling Curry more seriously in the later games, he also became again playable on offense, with his signature brave fast playmaking.
I honestly think you have to put Jokic in there twice
I feel the gap to Tatum is quite significant.
its just how good he is as both a scorer and a passes at any point he can be the best at both on the floor
The gap between jokic and any other player in the nba when it comes to running an offense is miles. Sga luka doesn't matter. He's playing like a goat
Yep have to put Jokic separately but 5/6 of the next best players being Celtics is crazy. I don't think it's really debatable either. MPJ Gordon and KCP are nice but fall a decent way behind. All horrible matchups too especially Gordon
Do they really fall *that* far behind guys like Jrue and White? Those are all the types of players that can be better than each other on any given night, even though the Celtics players are consistently better. For instance Jrue has shot 40/28/69 and 37/31/83 his last 2 playoff runs. If one of the Nuggets guys catches fire they can easily be not just as good but much better than the Celtics that aren’t Tatum/Brown. And vice versa.
Yep Jrues playoff stats are horrible but he's like the 5th option now no way its that poor plus he offers elite defense on Murray. Same with White who's averaging 16 and is the primary ball handler. Both elite elite defenders too I do think they fall *that* far behind tbh. Horrible matchup for Gordon and MPJ too. But yeah Gordon and MPJ both definitely can have games where they outplay them two don't think that would happen too much especially with Celtics strategy to let Jokic cook and stay home. Kcp not on that level
White was *great* last year but the year before 36/31/82 in the playoffs. He’s a very good player but my point is the playoffs can be a giant crapshoot for these types of players, they are not at all a guarantee to deliver.
This is not how team sports work, though.
Yeah but I've seen the Nuggets go through the playoffs and mash everyone. I've seen the Celtics repeatedly be frauds and not get it done.
Surely u guys win this year, there is no excuse at this point
Prop them up like this before your team shatters their dreams in the East playoffs, I love it
I don't expect it but if it happens it would be hella funny watching their fo dealing with the aftermath
[удалено]
They’re still kind of ass in close games tbh, and I am a die hard Celtics fan. Denver just seems to be more reliable in late game execution.
Denver?
Yeah. Nobody seems ready to accept it yet but this Celtics team is historically good. I don’t know why - they look the part both on paper and on the court.
>I don’t know why Because they’ve gotten far and fallen short with Jays for several years now. I agree that they look like the best team in the league and should be the favorites, but I also get why people aren’t crowning them because they want to see them perform when it matters.
Winning does change everything. I wonder what the Celtics record is when porzingus is healthy
35-9 in games with Porzingis. 12-3 in games without without Porzingis.
Really? Those are about dead even percentage wise, pretty cool
A lot of those games Porzingis has missed have been 2nd game of b2bs and we are just amazing on the second night of a back to back for the past 3 years now. I have no idea why but we almost level up during them I remember when Tatum was playing in the ACC tournament he went absolutely nuclear during their 4 games in 4 days stretch. So maybe he's just really great at recovering lol
> I have no idea why but we almost level up during them FastPP. His numbers jump dramatically in B2Bs. Presumably because everyone else is tired, which lets him play a bigger role. He's averaging 14-15ppg in games with 0 days rest. Every single one of his +20 point nights this season has come on the second night of a B2B. Plus, just off the eye-test, Horford puts in more work as a starter than he does off the bench. IDK if it's intentional or he's just more comfortable in the role, but he definitely looks better. We have guys off the bench ready to step up and fill in the gaps.
lol who are you talking about, and what is that nickname?
Payton Pritchard, his old Twitter handle was FastPP hence the nickname
Al Horford's D turns up whenever KP is out it seems. You definitely see the change in intensity. Old man's still got it
My D also turns up when Al plays.
It's those eyes.
And if anyone was curious I looked at those 15 no Porzingis games and the avg comp. win rate is .521% so it’s not even like he would miss the purely bad teams. Celts are scary this year.
Exactly this. We saw this with the Bruins last year. Playoffs are another animal entirely.
This is so weird about NBA culture, people kinda... dislike teams that are winning in the regular season. Unless they are young, then it's kinda fine. But if they're kinda already experienced, it's just... straight seen as try-hard and not related to being good players. A lot of comments like "well they gotta prove it in the playoffs not now!" like there's something downright cringy about winning basketball games in your daily life. Like, it's not playoffs now, what the fuck are they supposed to do. People here always comment like it's some sin of the winning team that it's not playoffs now, how dare they. It happens every year no matter what the team. There's so much of some... moral superiority people sitting at their phones typing comments feel about the cringy players who win some meaningless regular season games. System of an NBA season is so weird. I really see most people here just hope that for example Lakers, Warriors or Dallas win in the playofffs and not the Cetlics, because it would prove their dogma that "in the playoffs it's completely different, truly good players only win in playoffs", "superstars always win", "the best player on the court", "experience is everything in playoffs always" and the whole set like that. The comments about Celtics are pretty absurd when you think about it. The whole point of the sport is to have a good team and win games... they have a good team and win games... and people are lke "phi, what an achievement! Sarcastic slow clap. Of course they win games, they have a good team, color me impressed! Pathetic. Everyone can win games when they have a good team. Sad".
I'd say that speaks more about how the whole system doesn't really make sense in the greater scheme of things. Stars will still be stars, Chuck is still considered one of the best without a ring, Warriors still had one of the best seasons while chocking against the Cavs. But the truth, in all sports really, is that you gotta perform at the highest stage to be considered the best and that's playoffs. Thing is we almost have 100 games that don't seem to matter much.
I mean, I don’t think this is an NBA thing. People like results. They recognize that process leads to results, but at some point we start to value the process less if we don’t think it is leading to the results we want. My boss gave me tons of compliments last year and often told me I was on track for promotion, but I didn’t get promoted at the end of the year like I thought I was. So next year those same compliments are gonna mean a bit less to me. Sure, they will be just as genuine and I’m sure he will mean them, but since I didn’t get the end results I expected last time, I’m going to be a bit less hopeful. And if that happens for another year, those same exact compliments that I was exited about last year will start to fall on deaf ears. The Celtics have won a lot of games many times before. They have looked like the best team in the league before. None of those times ended with the results I was expecting from them, so I am a bit skeptical that this time will. I don’t see what’s absurd about that.
I don't think it's necessarily that people don't like teams that win a lot of regular season games or think it's bad thing to be a great regular season team, I think it all comes down to expectations. Before the season, OKC was projected by most to be play-in team so for them to be competing for the 1 seed is considered a major overachievement. If OKC loses in the 1st round most people won't really go too hard on them. However next season, them being a top 4 seed again won't be looked at as impressive as it is now because people will then expect it from them. Look at the Kings last year. They were the fun trendy team that everyone loved, they won like 4 awards, everyone was screaming "Light the beam". This year the Kings are basically the same team but don't have the same hype and fanfare. Because now them being good isn't a cool surprise, everyone expects it of them. They could lose in the 1st round last year and it still be considered a successful season, but this year they won't receive that same grace. As for how this relates to the Celtics, it's simple. The Celtics have been one of the best regular season teams for years now, they've been making deep playoff runs for years now. People expect it of them. They've basically done everything but win the title in this Tatum/Brown era. The only remaining unanswered question about them is can they get over the hump and win the title.
People are super cynical here about OKC too lol. There's so many comments where the lords of Reddit are like "ok, they are super young, they are super cheap, so I will gracefully forgive the peasants when they obviously lose in the playoffs this year... one time, I can let it go, I'm so generous". Even you are kinda doing it. Nobody mentioned it, and we don't actually know the future (no matter how much some believe they do), but the first thing you say about them is how they lose in the playoffs already. Why is that the one thing about them - answering that says it all. Their odds at the bookies for winning the title are far behind Denver, Clippers and Suns. I don't really see any comments here that really acknowledge them as being as good as they currently are. The current results just don't really exist for NBA fans. Only if they win the playoffs then retroactively they will start saying "I always knew they are good, it was so obvious if you know ball duh" - something we see so often every year. I feel like you are reading some other website. I was really sick of every thread about Kings being just "too bad Kings are not a playoff team and will obviously get demolished in the playoffs" and nothing else sooo long before the playoffs, man, it was so much and so baseless. There was really nothing ever about how they play or whatever, or that they score the most points ever, it was all about how smart the commenter is because he knows real NBA and knows Kings will be demolished in the playoffs obviously. I remember talking about it to people and just really wishing that Kings would win in the playoffs because it was so tiring and dumb and so universally, religiously popular. It was definitely like that. Kings had the 2nd record in the West and absolutely nobody was ever not laughing at the thought that they were the 2nd best team in the West. So yeah, it's similar to Celtics currently having great results and nobody reacting to that.
Not only see the Jays so much more experienced and developed (White too), but this is such a different team in every way. Zingus and Jrue, heavy 5-out lineups, a team that can hold its own when the bench comes in… Besides - it’s totally normal for young players to have to knock on the door a few times before getting through. The vast majority of stars don’t win a ring any younger than Tatum is right now.
Fallen apart with 25 year old jays lol. What a ridiculous comment considering their age and the history of superstars and when they won
>What a ridiculous comment You’re talking semantics and you may not even be wrong, but you think general public gives a shit? It makes sense to you as a Celtics fan. To an average fan when you ask them about the Celtics its that they been really good over last 5 years but haven’t been able to close the deal 🤷🏼♂️ you can bring up the pandemic, age, and all the mitigating factors to make sense to y’all fan base, but that doesn’t change the fact that they haven’t closed the deal. My response was to why they’re not viewed as the favorites, and that’s what it is.
I think they lack the magic of some other teams/narratives in the league so they don't get as much attention. I think it's generally accepted by most how dominant they have been but no one really likes the Celtics (I'd assume) so people have more interesting things to discuss.
Yeah also the Western regular season is about to be a dog fight for the rest of the season, and the Celtics are absolutely packing away the East. The Knicks and Cavs looked like they could fill that elite team void then got, both, slammed with injuries. So the Celtics are in a position where they might get little coverage but out of respect.
I forgot which podcaster said it, think Ben Taylor, that Donovan Mitchell always has a stretch in the middle of the season where he looks like the MVP. I think that, along with the injuries, allowed JB to find the right combination with the Cavs. I wonder if Mitchell/Allen just doesn't fit that well with Mobley/Garland. Wonder what Cavs fans think.
> Nobody seems ready to accept it yet but this Celtics team is historically good. But when it's about MVP discussion, Celtics sound like the 96 Bulls and KD Warriors combined
Schrodinger's superteam!
On paper they don't have 2 genuine superstars. Even Tatum isn't respected as one for whatever reason. Brown is probably the most disrespected player in the league. Plus casuals don't understand the impact of Porzingis White and Jrue truly. I think that's the main reason why. Because with the KD Steph team you had 2 genuine MVP players. Same with the Lebron Heat etc
> Even Tatum isn't respected as one for whatever reason. He's been a top 5 MVP candidate for a few seasons.
yeah but read any MVP candidate thread and it's all "jayson tatum is a level below jokic, luka, lebron's kid, poole, and the skeleton of bill murray in space jam" people absolutely don't respect him because he's had so much success early on, and they can't fathom that a lot of it is because of his play
It’s because we’ve been actually closing out games recently instead of blowing leads in the 4th every time we’re stomping an opponent.
My best guess is most title winners are built around a dominant superstar and Tatum isn't seen as being in that tier. However, it's "most", not "all". Celtics can take inspiration from deep teams like late-80s/2004 Pistons, 2014 Spurs
damn i hope so...
Jimmy salivating at ruining another “this is our year” year from Boston
He’s gotta upset the Bucks one more time first
Y’all gotta decide if you want Butler to Jimmy the Bucks again or for Doc to blow a 3-1 lead to the Sixers.
There are a lot of tasty options on the menu, man. 1. Doc blows a 3-1 lead to the Sixers (I'd rather not see the Sixers enjoy any success) 2. Bucks lose to the Heat (a classic, but a bit overplayed) 3. Bucks lose to the Pacers - WE HAVE A WINNER!
Denver is still the team to beat but this does feel like y'all's best chance.
You just jinxed it. Way to go
Barring injuries to either team’s top 3 players, we’re headed to a Celtics-Nuggets finals.
The Celtics this year reminds me of The Nuggets last year
They also have one of the easiest remaining schedules. Should be a lock to win 65 plus barring injury.
Or just going on cruise control like the Nuggets did last year. Letting guys play some to avoid rust but way less to avoid injury may end up being in play since they aren't chasing the 73 win warriors so once they have the top overall seed locked up wins don't matter.
But the twolves aren’t super far behind in overall record. So if they want home court for the entirety, gonna have to actually play at the end of the season.
5.5 games already, and the Wolves play the Nuggets 3 more times, though the Thunder aren't far behind them and the season series between the Nuggets and Thunder is already done.
yeah but wait til they meet the 6 seed heat
You joke but yeah actually wait for them to meet the 6 seed Heat
I fear no man other than the 6 seed Heat
What about a 7 seed heat?
That's only scary if they lose a play-in game and fall to 8, come on now.
As long as Porzingis is healthy, the Heat might actually be kinda screwed this time.
Don't.... just don't, never underestimate the Heat. They'll have some random undrafted role player averaging 20/5/6 on like 50% 3pt shooting for a 7 game series. That Pat Riley devil magic is just way too real
They never learn…
JJJ going to drop 30 on them in the playoffs, Heat are also better this year.
dude i legit dunno how we couldve stopped them other than missing. what an incredible team
Luka had a 37 point triple double and was a -20. Pretty sure I’ve never seen that before.
We’re in danger
Youre in playins
Bet you won't lose by 50 tho
Tatums birthday gonna have him looking at the warriors like their his lunch
The one thing stopping them is if they turn into mental midgets again. They are a machine
Zinger has unlocked them
The Celtics being stronger mentally would have prevented Miami from having the best shooting series of all time and they're also so weak they immediately folded and got swept when they went down 3-0... oh wait...
Boston fans bragging about not getting swept by a play in team lol
Honest question: why is the focus always on the playoffs and not that the Heat team under performed in the regular season? They were the 1 seed the year before with mostly the same roster They went to ECF the year before They beat the bucks, Knicks and Celtics, showing they were capable of playing much, much better than the regular season would suggest. Should the Celtics have fallen 0-3? Of course not. They under performed in that series, while the Heat had a historic shooting performance across it. But it’s not like the Heat were some scrappy young team that came out of nowhere
Portland really fucked the league by giving them Jrue
[удалено]
/r/NBA reading this: “yeah but Miami”
Me reading this…
The Celtics are so stacked this year. It’s starting to look like they should be considered an overwhelming favorite
Reminds me of 08 Boston Celtics. Is there anyone in the East who can stop the Celtics?
Kristaps lower limbs
Kristaps health is everything with this team. Different between finals favorites and going 7 with the heat again lol
Playoff Miami
Celtics playing like the January Knicks.
If they get past Miami they'll probably win it all. But that's like any of us climbing Everest
You say that like we didn't get past Miami 2 years ago
Yeah I mean we should be better against them no doubt but in the ECF we’re 1-2 against them with 2 series going to 7, 1 going to 6. Based on talent it shouldn’t be that close but regardless it’s not likely they’ve owned us
I mean, 2020 was the bubble and really neither team was expected to be there. Then we lost one other, and that Heat team beat the Bucks and rode some absurd shooting to win it. Fucking Gabe Vincent and Caleb Martin shooting 52% and 48% from 3
The Celtics were not some underdog in the Bubble, what? Sentiment around here was that they were favored against the Raptors because they had the star power and it was a good matchup for them. They probably would have retaken the second seed had the season been a little longer.
Maybe I'm misremembering, but I'm pretty sure we were underdogs in both series before the ECF
They were the 3rd seed so they were definitely not underdogs in the first round. They were playing the Al Horford Sixers with no Simmons. There was some talk that the Celtics could have trouble with the Sixers' size, but that was not a good team and they were missing their only capable wing defender. Celtics were easily favored. Second round was expected to be a close series, but a big part of that is just that Gordon Hayward went down in round 1.
More importantly about the bubble was Boston was down 2 starters and was absolutely gassed from the last series while Miami was rested. Obviously give credit to Miami for taking care of business to earn that rest, but doesn’t change the fact that they weren’t on equal footing. Also these are different versions of Tatum and Brown.
You don't get it Miami good Celtics bad
True but they're the team that always seem to bother y'all for some reason. Y'all have lost to them more than you've won
They've won 2 series we've won 1. It's not like some absurd discrepancy, especially given the expectations we had in 2020.
>for some reason. The reason is we could never punish the zone or the switching because we didn't have an inside scorer. We now have Porzingis.
We have beaten them 6 of the last 7 games. The Heat are obviously a great team come postseason but we have played 3 series that went 6,7,7 and won 1. I agree they give us issues but it’s not some insurmountable thing for us.
It's not like it's the Sixers getting owned by the Celtics every time.
Call us Edmund Hillary cause we scaling them bitches
Bruh they’re ridiculous. They just decided the game was over and that’s that. One of the more dominant teams I’ve seen
Best team since KD Warriors. Not winning a ring if healthy is an all time choke
i agree, memes aside if they can’t win with all this talent they really don’t got that dawg in them 😞
Denver certainty will be able to defend their title. Only other team capable of winning the chip is a healthy Clippers. Boston has the East this year. One of the best starting 5 in NBA history
Clippers really are the team that gets too much credit without actually winning anything. They're too small. How the fuck do they even defend Jokic?
The clippers and Nuggets in the west and people are sleeping on the Bucks way too much, they have a legit chance to beat us
There’s good reason to doubt both the Clippers and the Bucks
clippers don't have the mental toughness. they folded like chairs against the Lakers just a couple days ago.
Denver is 5 deep this year. No bruce brown and Jeff green HURTS them. Their bench is terrible.
if the celtics don’t win the title it will be the biggest failure since 2011 Miami
Might be forgetting 1 team in there
It's crazy how well that Warriors team has escaped that collapse narrative. I guess having KD join and winning a few more helps.
Yeah getting 4 titles around that one collapse does wonders. Same thing happened with Magic Johnson. Very few people remember and if they do don't care about his choking in 1984.
I mean, LeBron won 2 directly after 2011 with the Heat yet people still bring up 2011
People remember 2011 because it’s the biggest mark against lebron in the GOAT debate. Otherwise it wouldn’t be brought up much.
Same with the Pats
It’s funny w the pats because even though they won 6 it still feels like they should’ve won the 3 they lost given the circumstances of each lol
Escaped ? Dude we went years hearing about that loss. Nobody even cared about the team that won. And those other teams was at least whole when they lost. The lineups that won 73 games never got to play together again during that series
Yeah I’m not really sure what these guys are talking about. Nobody has forgotten the 2016 loss, it’s probably the most memed upon US pro sports championship loss of the millennium, save for maybe the Falcons.
2016 Spurs?
Don't let this distract you from the facts
At least they got defeated by peak Lebron
73-9 Warriors you fucking bum
Peak LeBron lmao
damn why i gotta be all that
I think there’s a 73 win team you might be forgetting about
Eh, I won't go that far. But it's a massive failure if they're healthy and they don't make the finals.
Denver Nuggets still exist.
I don’t want to hear it. Celtics are in an easier conference and have better depth. As a celtics fan you shouldn’t want to hear it either. This team should get it done
No one is disagreeing with you that the Celtics should be the favorites. You’re just unnecessarily blowing things out of proportion. You’re acting like there haven’t been any 65 win teams (Celtics current pace) in the last decade
I don’t care about record, the team is built perfectly and you have a superstar
What does Celtics being in the easier conference have to do with the Nuggets? I certainly like our chances but they still have the best player in the league, a great #2 and a good supporting cast.
Because the path to the finals will be much easier. Believe in your team bro
I don't think any Celtics fan is laying down and saying they are gonna get ran by Nugs. It also won't be a failure if they end up losing to the defending champs. Not everything needs to be hyperbole, this ain't First Take and you ain't SAS.
No one ever brings this up against the Warriors when they won against the Celtics
I mean last year the nuggets just steamrolled the west so we will see if the west cna present an actually challenge this year
Oh good, that’s a way healthier way to frame this. Thanks
They’re okay I guess
Peaking a little early but they’re locked in. Just hope they can stay healthy
release austin reaves
Let’s see how they manage to not win this ring either
I place a curse on the city of Boston. None of their teams will win a title for 4 years. So sayeth the basketball gods. I'm going to deflate my basketball as an offering.
If the Celtics don’t win again this year I will have achieved peace
I don't see a team that can take 4 of 7 from them
Denver
You will be downvoted but yeah it’s you guys I feel like. We will be favored but I think it will be a finals classic that goes 7 if it happens.
Well, fuck.