2022 NBA Finals | (3) GSW VS. (2) BOS (TIED 1-1)

[KamikazeK]

Bradley Stevens should give Daniel Ainge some of his 'ship bonus if they win it since he constructed nearly the entire roster.

C's won game 1 thanks to Horford and White, both Stevens acquisitions.

[Fencer reregistered]

Various guys outperformed their usual levels.

Two of them are Stephen A. Smith and Magic Johnson, in that they combined to make one interesting point, which is a vastly higher number than would normally be expected of them.

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/why-stephen-smith-now-nervous-hell-about-his-nba-finals-prediction

We were up in the booth with Magic Johnson and he said, 'Look at the Warriors. At the end of the first quarter, everybody's got their hands on their hips.' They looked absolutely exhausted. They took a body blow, and they didn't seem able to handle it. They came out storming in the third quarter but couldn't maintain that efficiency because they didn't appear to have that stamina to keep up with the young thoroughbreds on the Celtics.

[themoneyteam2]

So we're just expecting Boston to hit 20 3's a game and have White/Smart/Horford go ballistic all series?

So we're just expecting Tatum to go 3-17 from the field and for Brown and Tatum to go 3-13 combined 3PT all series?

[DreamTeam09]

Bradley Stevens should give Daniel Ainge some of his 'ship bonus if they win it since he constructed nearly the entire roster.

C's won game 1 thanks to Horford and White, both Stevens acquisitions.

Yeah if anything, this should look a little bad on Ainge. He refused to part with picks to get another guy or to round out the roster. Stevens did that year 1 in position.

[Mr.Raptorsingh]

Bradley Stevens should give Daniel Ainge some of his 'ship bonus if they win it since he constructed nearly the entire roster.

C's won game 1 thanks to Horford and White, both Stevens acquisitions.

I thought Horford was initially brought in by Daniel.

[Triple M]

I'll live with the results as long as the Celtics keep moving the ball. On average, the results should be good if they are taking initiative and moving it, because if it is not 20 3s it might be finding points elsewhere. The Warriors exerting energy from side to side on defence seems to impacting their offense.

[DreamTeam09]

Boston fans, why did Marcus smart seemingly get bench for a large stretch last night. Ino White was hot and ino smart can stagnate things at times. I guess what I'm really asking is, White at his best and Smart at his best, whos the better option in the backcourt next to Brown

[soxfan2003]

Bradley Stevens should give Daniel Ainge some of his 'ship bonus if they win it since he constructed nearly the entire roster.

C's won game 1 thanks to Horford and White, both Stevens acquisitions.

Yeah if anything, this should look a little bad on Ainge. He refused to part with picks to get another guy or to round out the roster. Stevens did that year 1 in position.

Why it really looks bad on Ainge is he gave Kemba Walker with multiple knee surgeries a huge max contract when Marcus Smart was a better PG for winning an actual championship with the rest of this Celtics roster.

What makes it perplexing is Ainge himself knows that your don't need a traditional PG to win championships and he also repeatedly said small PG's often have it much harder in the playoffs. Neither Dennis Johnson or Ainge were traditional PGs. Both combo guards. So many other PG's with really just combo guard skills have won it all.

Even many years before Kemba signing, I always felt PG and not SG was Marcus Smart's best position overall.

If you have Smart as a SG, you really are giving up an advantage you have since chances are the PG will not a very good defender.

I realize this years Celtics team odds were enhanced due to injuries to other teams but at the same time, if so many resources including time were not wasted on IT, Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker the Celtics in much better shape. In the case of IT, I was for the deal but I never thought the Celtics would build their entire offense around him and play him tons of minutes. That style of team very unlikely to win it all. There was some logic to the Kyrie Irving trade but Kemba Walker made zero sense.

[Wolfgang630]

Man if Boston could pull this out and Horford wins MVP would be a great story.

[DreamTeam09]

C's won game 1 thanks to Horford and White, both Stevens acquisitions.

Yeah if anything, this should look a little bad on Ainge. He refused to part with picks to get another guy or to round out the roster. Stevens did that year 1 in position.

Why it really looks bad on Ainge is he gave Kemba Walker with multiple knee surgeries a huge max contract when Marcus Smart was a better PG for winning an actual championship with the rest of this Celtics roster.

What makes it perplexing is Ainge himself knows that your don't need a traditional PG to win championships and he also repeatedly said small PG's often have it much harder in the playoffs. Neither Dennis Johnson or Ainge were traditional PGs. Both combo guards. So many other PG's with really just combo guard skills have won it all.

Even many years before Kemba signing, I always felt PG and not SG was Marcus Smart's best position overall.

If you have Smart as a SG, you really are giving up an advantage you have since chances are the PG will not a very good defender.

I realize this years Celtics team odds were enhanced due to injuries to other teams but at the same time, if so many resources including time were not wasted on IT, Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker the Celtics in much better shape. In the case of IT, I was for the deal but I never thought the Celtics would build their entire offense around him and play him tons of minutes. That style of team very unlikely to win it all. There was some logic to the Kyrie Irving trade but Kemba Walker made zero sense.

I agree, I think before this year, the best boston looked was when Hayward came back and kinda rounded out into his current form. Smart / Hayward / Brown / Tatum / and whoever the big was, Horford???

Hayward as the lead or 2nd facilitator in the backcourt with smart, Tatum beating guys off of the dribble at the 4spot so other teams would have to go small and match that. Although bubble marcus smart ate my raps and he was playing SG, or atleast he was taking and making a lot of big shots

[KamikazeK]

Man if Boston could pull this out and Horford wins MVP would be a great story.

Would Atlanta ever recover?

[BigDan245]

It's been really nice to see teams like Toronto, Milwaukee, and Boston get a shot at winning a title. Even a team like Phoenix from last year. No super teams and no GOAT playing right now has made who wins the championship more of a mystery and it's been exciting to see how these teams grow as a team through their runs.

Boston IMO looks so much better than they did against Milwaukee. You can see the growth of their guys and the confidence of their role players.

Hopefully we get 6 more of these and have another team do it again next year.

[hugepatsfan]

C's won game 1 thanks to Horford and White, both Stevens acquisitions.

Yeah if anything, this should look a little bad on Ainge. He refused to part with picks to get another guy or to round out the roster. Stevens did that year 1 in position.

Why it really looks bad on Ainge is he gave Kemba Walker with multiple knee surgeries a huge max contract when Marcus Smart was a better PG for winning an actual championship with the rest of this Celtics roster.

What makes it perplexing is Ainge himself knows that your don't need a traditional PG to win championships and he also repeatedly said small PG's often have it much harder in the playoffs. Neither Dennis Johnson or Ainge were traditional PGs. Both combo guards. So many other PG's with really just combo guard skills have won it all.

Even many years before Kemba signing, I always felt PG and not SG was Marcus Smart's best position overall.

If you have Smart as a SG, you really are giving up an advantage you have since chances are the PG will not a very good defender.

I realize this years Celtics team odds were enhanced due to injuries to other teams but at the same time, if so many resources including time were not wasted on IT, Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker the Celtics in much better shape. In the case of IT, I was for the deal but I never thought the Celtics would build their entire offense around him and play him tons of minutes. That style of team very unlikely to win it all. There was some logic to the Kyrie Irving trade but Kemba Walker made zero sense.

A little unfair on Kemba here. He has no injury history or concerns when we signed him. He was a legitimate all star for us and then he had a midseason injury. Kembas time in Boston going down like it did was genuinely bad luck in the same way Haywards was.

Very fair point that they should have went with Smart at PG over a scorer. But Kemba was legit that first year until a random injury derailed his career.

[Bruin]

Read on Twitter

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[Cricket23]

Sticking with Boston in 6, even though I think they also win game 2. I see GS taking 3 and 5.

Glad to not see any bitching about the refs for a change.

Very predictable are the takes about unsustainable shooting, and the multiple appropriate counterpoints have already been given. Boston hasn't been shooting 50% from 3 for all of 2022, yet they've been steamrolling teams.

If I were a Warriors fan, I'd be concerned about Green's postgame comments. His notion of 42 minute dominance is silly, but if he thinks that was GS playing dominating basketball then perhaps he doesn't expect them to play much better? GS should be more concerned than they seem to be instead of hoping for the best.

GS could obviously win the next game, but I'm leaning towards Boston pummeling them right from the opening tip. Tatum and Brown weren't emotionally ready for game 1. Brown got there eventually, and they'll all be there for the start of game 2.

[Higgs Boston]

Yeah if anything, this should look a little bad on Ainge. He refused to part with picks to get another guy or to round out the roster. Stevens did that year 1 in position.

Why it really looks bad on Ainge is he gave Kemba Walker with multiple knee surgeries a huge max contract when Marcus Smart was a better PG for winning an actual championship with the rest of this Celtics roster.

What makes it perplexing is Ainge himself knows that your don't need a traditional PG to win championships and he also repeatedly said small PG's often have it much harder in the playoffs. Neither Dennis Johnson or Ainge were traditional PGs. Both combo guards. So many other PG's with really just combo guard skills have won it all.

Even many years before Kemba signing, I always felt PG and not SG was Marcus Smart's best position overall.

If you have Smart as a SG, you really are giving up an advantage you have since chances are the PG will not a very good defender.

I realize this years Celtics team odds were enhanced due to injuries to other teams but at the same time, if so many resources including time were not wasted on IT, Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker the Celtics in much better shape. In the case of IT, I was for the deal but I never thought the Celtics would build their entire offense around him and play him tons of minutes. That style of team very unlikely to win it all. There was some logic to the Kyrie Irving trade but Kemba Walker made zero sense.

A little unfair on Kemba here. He has no injury history or concerns when we signed him. He was a legitimate all star for us and then he had a midseason injury. Kembas time in Boston going down like it did was genuinely bad luck in the same way Haywards was.

Very fair point that they should have went with Smart at PG over a scorer. But Kemba was legit that first year until a random injury derailed his career.

Kemba had knee issues, he had a surgery before signing with celtics, he was an old midget inefficient scorer and horrible defender that depended on speed, it was a terrible signing with or without injuries.

[Slax]

Boston fans, why did Marcus smart seemingly get bench for a large stretch last night. Ino White was hot and ino smart can stagnate things at times. I guess what I'm really asking is, White at his best and Smart at his best, whos the better option in the backcourt next to Brown

White's quickness and ability to get over the top of screens give him particular matchup advantages against a team with Steph Curry that aren't really as beneficial as Smart's strength, positioning, versatility, and ability to take charges against other teams, so we don't lose as much with Smart on the bench. And White is a better playmaker in general and has been on a hot shooting streak since his son was born. In general when we are not playing the Warriors and White isn't shooting out of his mind, Smart is the better player and fits better next to Brown.

That said, no need for either/or. The best Celtics lineup this playoffs has been White/Smart/Brown/Tatum/Horford.

[shi-woo]

Boston fans, why did Marcus smart seemingly get bench for a large stretch last night. Ino White was hot and ino smart can stagnate things at times. I guess what I'm really asking is, White at his best and Smart at his best, whos the better option in the backcourt next to Brown

This isn't a fair question to ask the Celtic fan-base. There is too large of a community that just doesn't like Smart for whatever reason, and it seems to run deep on the GB too.

Personally, I think Smart is still one of the most under rated players among NBA fans, and if you look at his last 3 playoff runs you'll see why.

Smart is an All-Star level player in my honest opinion. DPOY, literally the best perimeter defender i've ever seen, and over the last 3 years in the playoffs,through 37 games, he has given us over 15/5/5 a game on 40/35/83 shooting. He's the heart of the team, and is the reason we have the ability and mindset to do what we did last night.

Even last night Smart was the one who sealed the game in the fourth, and had a read nice 18/5/4 game with some really nice defensive moments.

I roll with Mascus Smart over D White every day of the week, but LOVE having both obviously

[Curmudgeon]

Kemba had knee issues, he had a surgery before signing with celtics, he was an old midget inefficient scorer and horrible defender that depended on speed, it was a terrible signing with or without injuries.

Yes, he was hunted by every team. I have no idea why Ainge did not want to pay Rozier, who was younger, cheaper and better.

[gorz]

Sticking with Boston in 6, even though I think they also win game 2. I see GS taking 3 and 5.

Glad to not see any bitching about the refs for a change.

Very predictable are the takes about unsustainable shooting, and the multiple appropriate counterpoints have already been given. Boston hasn't been shooting 50% from 3 for all of 2022, yet they've been steamrolling teams.

If I were a Warriors fan, I'd be concerned about Green's postgame comments. His notion of 42 minute dominance is silly, but if he thinks that was GS playing dominating basketball then perhaps he doesn't expect them to play much better? GS should be more concerned than they seem to be instead of hoping for the best.

GS could obviously win the next game, but I'm leaning towards Boston pummeling them right from the opening tip. Tatum and Brown weren't emotionally ready for game 1. Brown got there eventually, and they'll all be there for the start of game 2.

I can guarantee that won't happen. Boston has been the most inconsistent team the entire playoffs. The only reason they are being hyped up right now is because they stole game one from the Warriors by putting up a 40 point fourth quarter. If there's any team right now that knows how to bounce back from a loss like that one, it's the Warriors.