Post-Game Notes: BOS 114, MIA 117 (0-1)

[SichtingLives]

For me this whole series comes down to Kemba (disregarding Hayward). If this is as good as he's gonna be we won't win. If he is all-star Kemba I don't think Miami has enough firepower to overcome it. But I am also of the opinion he is physically compromised and they just don't want to say it.

I like the kids game but with his knee appearing to be more and more problematic, looks like we bought a lemon.

If Hayward doesnt come back then he absolutely needs to be traded.

I think its already clear that we are past the Hayward era. Would be pretty cool if we finally squeezed some value out of his contract in this and the next series. Not really counting on it.

[CelticsPride18]

We are trying to close games by dribbling the ball for 24 seconds and not by making plays down the stretch.

[ConstableGeneva]

I’ve long felt that Stevens is at his best with a group of gritty underdogs. Give him real talent and he doesn’t know quite how to put the pieces together. We literally had a play in the fourth at the end where Kemba dribbled the ball and jacked a brick. No one else even touched the ball. It’s weird.

Most coaches run iso in low-clock situations when they have talent of Kemba and Tatum's level. Even Doc (remember Paul Pierce?).

I personally don't prefer it.

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

I didn't realize Tatum missed the last seven shots. as bad as Walker was this game he did hit some shots in OT.

My main concern continues to beat the Celtics defense in the clutch.

[Feed Your Head]

The guards need to clean up all the miscommunications defensively.

[BRUNiNHO91]

Miami is 9-1 in the playoffs, 9-2 in OT. This is a team with a winning swag right now and you need to put them on their asses early because if you let it get close they are more confident than you are and will win.

Jae Crowder 7-11 for 22 pts is a **** joke. Did the job on pretty much everybody else except this piece of ****. Oh and ofc.. Dragic with 29 looking like prime Allen Iverson out there. Come on.. Don't let it happen again.

[batabatuta]

Kemba pretty much cost us this game. We need his scoring badly.

[PierceFan4ever]

I honestly don’t mind that last Tatum three in regulation too much. I wanted the Celtics to take the last shot without giving them any time. I just wished Tatum took a step closer on that shot.

The 2 man iso of Kemba and Tatum killing clock has got to stop though. Compare our baskets to Miami and it’s night and day. They were getting everything easy

[Ben-N1ce]

We are trying to close games by dribbling the ball for 24 seconds and not by making plays down the stretch.

Not a fan of the wait for time to run out strategy that's for sure. In tight games you have to be aggressive.

[Feed Your Head]

Just like against the Raps, the Celtics need to realize that Miami won’t just roll over if you have a good sized lead.

I expect a much more consistent effort Thursday.

[soxfan2003]

Many people got on K Walker in the game threads.. I don't think that is really fair.. Recently, he hasn't shot as well and he normally does but he is facing tougher defense and he is willing to take shots at end of quarters that usually hurt your FG%. And Walker is making mostly good decisions and playing reasonably hard on both ends. As a fan I feel that is all one can ask for.

Ainge's biggest weakness as gm is being too infatuated with weak defenders at PGs that are undersized like Iverson (reported tried to trade for him), IT, Kyrie Irving and now K Walker. On defense Walker is one to two levels up from IT since he is bigger but he still compromises the defense against elite competition for him to be worthy of a max/near max deal. Kyrie Irving isn't even that short but he plays more like a small PG.

These guards all work reasonably well during regular season. But usually they are bad investments at max money if you want to win a championship.

Some will counter and say Steph Curry is clearly a bargain at max money. Not only is he 6"3 and arguably greatest shooter in NBA history but Steph Curry is super strong so even Lebron James in the NBA Finals was reluctant to try to back him down.

Honestly, if fans are ever frustrated with K Walker in this series, blame Danny Ainge/maybe Stevens and not K Walker. If you are going to succeed with a small PG, against truly elite competition you usually need other players to make up for it. SAS won with Avery Johnson and even Tony Parker but they were usually a huge team elsewhere to make up for it and neither of those PGs made the max. Duncan after all often played PF. They even had lineups with Duncan at PF and Leonard at SF. Duncan/Robinson.

Toronto won with Lowry but he makes up for his relative lack of height with a lot of strength and savvy. And Toronto with Gasol/Siakam/Leonard had a big front court.

Rajon Rondo may have been skinny but he is super long and athletic so he hardly fit the mold of undersized PG. Rondo also taller.

[Green89]

Like what? They had the ball in the hands of a guy who can get his shot over anyone and he took the potential GW shot as time expired. It was a makeable shot.

You take the highest percentage shots to win games on last possessions when you're tied. You should only think about deep threes when you're down three, or maybe if you're down 2 and can't get anything inside. You have to always look inside first in that situation. We just stood there and let them set their defense as we wound down clock and chucked it. That shot was too deep, even for Tatum. No way he hits shots from there at a better clip than closer to the line.

Well to be fared he did try driving it for the last shot in overtime and got rejected by Bam.

We were down 2. The deep three would have been a little more understandable there and the dunk better suited for a tie game play. It's like he got the two plays reversed.

[GoCeltics123]

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[Ben-N1ce]

Just like against the Raps, the Celtics need to realize that Miami won’t just roll over if you have a good sized lead.

I expect a much more consistent effort Thursday.

The real difference is Miami can legit shoot 40+% from three every game if they get good looks. That's a reality. Their worst three point shooter is their best player.. Think about that..

[Triple7]

I still can’t believe that Kemba iso getting blocked while running the clock out. That was just stupid. Everyone can see that a mile away a disaster waiting to happen. Kemba is not good with iso straight up. Someone should have given him a screen on that play. Tatum should have posted up several times, instead of getting the ball on top, and trying to dribble inside or taking that step back 3.

[JR Hawks]

Tough loss
Hope they have some heart to heart conversation/reflexion afterwards
...and get Hayward back;)

Do people really think that Hayward, who hasn't done anything meaningful for this franchise in three years, is going to come back and save the day?

That is literally the exact opposite of who Hayward is. He's going to take longer to come back than expected (already happening) and then play passively with zero confidence. That's who he is. And then he might leave the bubble again to watch the birth of his 20th kid, because he has no fire in his belly for the game of basketball.

[bisme37]

I'm not excusing all of Kemba's suckitude but I swear those slippery courts are throwing him off a lot. When he drives and goes into his step back or change of direction his feet don't seem to be gripping the court as well as usual and it's making him uncomfortable. He relies on shiftiness to get his shots off.

[hoop_head]

Hello folks, 2 things:

That was the very best Boston will see from a rested Miami team. For my 2 cents, advantage Boston with each coming game, as the grind intensifies it will be familiar territory given recent events.

There is no real home court advantage, and Boston is battle-tested. Credit to Miami for grabbing game 1, well done to start the series. Now that the initial trade of punches is in the books, in my bones I know the Celtics have the talent and ability to execute when things get tough, players pulling on legs of jerseys because they are exhausted, and it really comes down to who wants it more.

No easy road to the goal, but Boston will get there.

[TommyPointGawd]

Tough loss
Hope they have some heart to heart conversation/reflexion afterwards
...and get Hayward back;)

Do people really think that Hayward, who hasn't done anything meaningful for this franchise in three years, is going to come back and save the day?

That is literally the exact opposite of who Hayward is. He's going to take longer to come back than expected (already happening) and then play passively with zero confidence. That's who he is. And then he might leave the bubble again to watch the birth of his 20th kid, because he has no fire in his belly for the game of basketball.

I don't fully agree with you but this made me laugh out loud. Thanks

[MagicBagley18]

We should have swept this wack ass team.

This team is much better than people think...well coached, smart, ball movement who can knockdown shots. This is gonna be a hard ass series