EC FINALS, Gm 1 – Pacers @ Celtics – 8:00PM, Tues, May 21, 2024

[playa-hater]

I feel Boston should definitely win this series. with or without KP... But this board in general are definitely underrating the Pacers. I hope the Boston players who have that issue at times, do not do the same.

If this game is close at the end, do you really trust Boston will "definitely" come through?? It feels like many on here think that way. Our late game history and Joe scare the "shet" out of me.. Get a nice cushion please.. don't let this game stay close..

Close games are coinflips. No team definitely comes through in a 3-4 possession games where a 40% chance success roll (e.g. a wide open three) can swing the outcome. If Jimmy Butler makes a wide open three in G7 of 2022 ECF, then they probably move onto the finals and Ime is not clutch and can't coach a close game.

Perhaps I shouldn't have used the word definitely. But I believe the better team has control more than just a coin flip. But we are going to have to Is execute well Late. And if we start doing what we do often and slowing down and making silly no ball movement ISOs, we will be in trouble.

[zoyathedestroya]

Read on Twitter

If they be about it, they won't have to talk about it.

[tfribs45]

Read on Twitter

If they be about it, they won't have to talk about it.

erase our memories from watching Curry ,Draymond and CO. smoking stogies on our floor! The time is now! Someone get Bruce Buffer to announce the starting lineup! LFG

[BK_2020]

I feel Boston should definitely win this series. with or without KP... But this board in general are definitely underrating the Pacers. I hope the Boston players who have that issue at times, do not do the same.

If this game is close at the end, do you really trust Boston will "definitely" come through?? It feels like many on here think that way. Our late game history and Joe scare the "shet" out of me.. Get a nice cushion please.. don't let this game stay close..

Close games are coinflips. No team definitely comes through in a 3-4 possession games where a 40% chance success roll (e.g. a wide open three) can swing the outcome. If Jimmy Butler makes a wide open three in G7 of 2022 ECF, then they probably move onto the finals and Ime is not clutch and can't coach a close game.

Perhaps I shouldn't have used the word definitely. But I believe the better team has control more than just a coin flip. But we are going to have to Is execute well Late. And if we start doing what we do often and slowing down and making silly no ball movement ISOs, we will be in trouble.

We just have to make sure there's no close games, only blowout wins. But for what it's worth we won the only somewhat close game this postseason.

[keevsnick1]

The one nice thing about this Pacer's match up is at least its a healthy team. When you beat the decimated Heat or the Mitchell/Allen less Cavs its hard to know how to feel about that because it sort of ruins the calibration. You have no idea how good or bad those injured teams are.

But we know what the Pacers are. They have one All-NBA level guy in Haliburton and one solid All-Star level guy in Siakam. They fill out their starting lineup with solid shooting role players who make sense together. After acquiring Siakam (after the all star break) they went 16-10 or about a 50 win pace and had the league's second best offense and an average defense. They have a pretty deep bench, and they like to play very fast.

They are a solid team. So seeing how Boston plays against them will be a good calibrator of how Boston itself is playing.

I'll be at the game tonight, so hopefully the garden is rocking.

[Fierce1]

Calibration makes it sound like the Celtics are a diesel engine.

[BK_2020]

They gonna say Haliburton's back is hurting and Mathurin is out.

[zoyathedestroya]

PSA:

Read on Twitter

[BK_2020]

Biden going to the game tonight? I thought he'd be a Sixers fan.

[Celts17Pride]

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[Hal14]

Cs let their guard down, Pacers have a shot.
Cs play their A-game, Pacers get swept.

As simple as it is, it is what it is.

I think the Pacers have a legitimately very good offense. Despite these historic oRating numbers, I do not however think the Celtics run any sort of great, intricate offense.

If the Celtics play down and the Pacers play up like both are known to do, they could easily steal at least two games.

With that said, that’s their shot. It shouldn’t be any more than that.

Celtics have to take this Series, convincingly.
6 ECF in 8 years. And 1 Finals. What else is left.

They have to come away with a Title. Or, it's time to seriously talk about Trades.

Did we not just make 2 major trades last summer? KP and Jrue. Those were both big trades.

Plus Grant (a rotation player on 3 of those teams that went to ECF) sign and trade to Dallas.

Less than half of the guys on last year's 15 man playoff roster are still with the team.

This is only Mazzulla's 2nd year as a HC - his first year with assistants that he picked.

It's a pretty new team this season. Let's see how the rest of the playoffs go. But keep in mind, out of those 2 big trades we made last summer, 1 of the guys we got (KP) has been out for most of the playoffs and might not even play another game this postseason.

We're the least healthy team remaining in the playoffs. If we fall short of winning a title, it'd be a bummer but it would probably just be due to injury luck - so drastic changes probably won't be necessary. Unless it's moving KP for a more reliable big..

[Fencer reregistered]

Biden going to the game tonight? I thought he'd be a Sixers fan.

I read that he's on a campaign swing through New England.

I'm old enough to recall when it was easy to get a shot off trying to assassinate a president, so I have to sadly concede the precautions are justifiable. And yes, I've been inconvenienced by such things more than once.

[Larry_Russell]

Biden going to the game tonight? I thought he'd be a Sixers fan.

I thought he preferred to watch youth games.

[Ben-N1ce]

I have a weird feeling Carlisle is going to give Tatum 3's since he's shot like total ass the entire playoffs until he makes them pay.

[zoyathedestroya]

Longest six hours of my life.

[zoyathedestroya]

I have a weird feeling Carlisle is going to give Tatum 3's since he's shot like total ass the entire playoffs until he makes them pay.

From one of the previews, they mentioned Tatum had something like 48% expected eFG% in the Pacers games but shot something like 68% eFG%. So yeah, his shot quality leaves something to be desired esp against a team that's not known for its defense. Can we expect for these same shots to fall?

[31to6]

8pm start times (in this series) rather than 7pm (in the first two series) will probably help the Garden feel a bit more amped up.

Worse for my old-man-viewing-at-home schedule, but so it goes:)

WHERE IS BANNER 18 BOOGIE

[keevsnick1]

The Celtics shot more threes per game then anybody else in the regular seaosn. The Pacers allowed fewer threes on defense than any other team in the regular seaosn. Interesting clash there.

[BK_2020]

I have a weird feeling Carlisle is going to give Tatum 3's since he's shot like total ass the entire playoffs until he makes them pay.

From one of the previews, they mentioned Tatum had something like 48% expected eFG% in the Pacers games but shot something like 68% eFG%. So yeah, his shot quality leaves something to be desired esp against a team that's not known for its defense. Can we expect for these same shots to fall?

He's shooting like 18% on wide open threes (over 6 ft) and 15% on closely guarded threes (2-4 ft). He's been much better on both, between 40-50% on wide open threes, and in the low 30s on closely guarded threes, so he *should* shoot better but who knows what he'll do on small samples.

[BK_2020]

The Celtics shot more threes per game then anybody else in the regular seaosn. The Pacers allowed fewer threes on defense than any other team in the regular seaosn. Interesting clash there.

The Pacers don't help on defense, which is how they play so fast on offense and also "not allow" threes.