NBA Eastern Conf. Finals: Gm 1 – Celtics vs Heat – 6:30PM, Tues. 09/15/20

[keevsnick1]

You should check the heat - bucks series. Wesley Matthew did a phenomenal job on Butler and I think Smart can deliver the same pesky things type of defense.

I’d keep Brown on him tho as the primary defender but I’ll sleep easy knowing we have the Smart nuclear option in case he gets hot

Brown and Tatum will handle Butler, I ain't worried. You can keep Smart on whoever else is hot(from their 3 point shooters).

I mean it's almost meaningless to still talk about this like it's the 90s and man defense is played.

This will be endless screens and hand offs. Off ball and on ball.

And assuming MIA is well coached they will just be getting Kemba in pick and rolls for Bulter as he drives to the hoop which he thrives in. He averages 9 **** FTA/g this year. James Harden esque.

Ya the Celtics may need to try harder than they typically not to to automatically just concede the switch and end up with Butler on Kemba, it feel likes if Lowry could take advantage of that then Butler certainly will. Maybe the plan will be dont switch that particular action.

[leper-con]

Man , heat fans on the general board coming out of the wood paneling talking Chit.
delusional fan base with some of the talk going on.
I hope we beat those smug looks off those faces.

[steefP2]

Brown and Tatum will handle Butler, I ain't worried. You can keep Smart on whoever else is hot(from their 3 point shooters).

I mean it's almost meaningless to still talk about this like it's the 90s and man defense is played.

This will be endless screens and hand offs. Off ball and on ball.

And assuming MIA is well coached they will just be getting Kemba in pick and rolls for Bulter as he drives to the hoop which he thrives in. He averages 9 **** FTA/g this year. James Harden esque.

Ya the Celtics may need to try harder than they typically not to to automatically just concede the switch and end up with Butler on Kemba, it feel likes if Lowry could take advantage of that then Butler certainly will. Maybe the plan will be dont switch that particular action.

I mean they already did that in the raptors series with FVV and Siakam pick and roll sets. On those they’d play traditional pnr defense and not switch. Led to some decent looks for FVV but nothing that killed us. I’d expect more of the same

[Curmudgeon]

I see delusional fans on both sides. This Heat series is going to be a dogfight. The Heat are well coached and they have more shooters than we do.

[celticfan42487]

I mean it's almost meaningless to still talk about this like it's the 90s and man defense is played.

This will be endless screens and hand offs. Off ball and on ball.

And assuming MIA is well coached they will just be getting Kemba in pick and rolls for Bulter as he drives to the hoop which he thrives in. He averages 9 **** FTA/g this year. James Harden esque.

Ya the Celtics may need to try harder than they typically not to to automatically just concede the switch and end up with Butler on Kemba, it feel likes if Lowry could take advantage of that then Butler certainly will. Maybe the plan will be dont switch that particular action.

I mean they already did that in the raptors series with FVV and Siakam pick and roll sets. On those they’d play traditional pnr defense and not switch. Led to some decent looks for FVV but nothing that killed us. I’d expect more of the same

Yeah it was tough and they'd go back to it. It's hard for Kemba to fight over a pick to stunt to give time to switch back.

It's more that, like triple effort from Kemba and the switcher to perfectly time a stunt and dash by Kemba on the pick without leaving a red carpet to the front of the rim. It's tough, especially with someone like Lowry or Butler who can get to the FT line at will.

[leper-con]

I see delusional fans on both sides. This Heat series is going to be a dogfight. The Heat are well coached and they have more shooters than we do.

I'd go as far to say they are favoured in the series.

[Ben-N1ce]

Celtics need to shoot better to beat the Heat. If they get the looks they got from three against the Raptors they need to hit 35% or better. Celtics get a little to ISO happy but when the ball is moving well or there are good passes out of a double you can't be bricking baseline threes all night.

[Triple7]

The heat are a well balanced team, a good combination of shooting, with guys having the ability to attack inside. They have a better bench as well. The thing is they have to bench some of their young guys for Iggy or crowder. If those two comes in, they have a better defense, but their offense would suffer. If you put in Robinson and Herro, they have a better outside shooting, but poor defense. I think one of those two young guys would hit the bench to close the game. Hayward needs to come back soon. I think two of JT, Kemba and jaylen needs to play great every game for us to win.

[K For Three]

I'm still confused over the Heat a bit. But game 1 will give us a feel finally of what the heck we are up against as we mentally move on from our buddies in Toronto.

I guess my gut feeling right now if I HAD to call it would be Celtics in 6.

I just hope a lack of depth don't hurt us in this series, sure would be nice to have Gordon back.

[Floody100]

A lot of Heat fans on both the General Board & their own forum getting that over-confidence we were showing after winning game 1 against Milwaukee last year.
They might’ve beaten the Bucks but everyone knew going into that series they were always a bad match up for them. If you break it down we’re actually a pretty bad match up for them. They rely heavily on 3 pointers & we’re the best perimeter defence in the league. They’re harping on about their better depth but that’s exactly what Raptors fans were saying.
What I want to know is how their going to stop Tatum ? Anunoby & Siakam are better wing defenders than anyone the Heat has & he still averaged 24.3 points per game while being the best player on the court. Also out of all the Raptors who play heavy minutes, Van Vleet was the only one who you would consider isn’t a great defender. The Heat have 3 ordinary defenders who play heavy minutes for them.
I think we’ll win but I’m also not stupid enough to be over-confident in case we do end up losing.

[ConstableGeneva]

We shouldn't underestimate our enemy. We should just destroy them.

[carnageta]

I see delusional fans on both sides. This Heat series is going to be a dogfight. The Heat are well coached and they have more shooters than we do.

I'd go as far to say they are favoured in the series.

We ain't favored.


Vegas as the Celtics as the favorites to win the series.


Heat: +110

Boston: -130

[carnageta]

A lot of Heat fans on both the General Board & their own forum getting that over-confidence we were showing after winning game 1 against Milwaukee last year.
They might’ve beaten the Bucks but everyone knew going into that series they were always a bad match up for them. If you break it down we’re actually a pretty bad match up for them. They rely heavily on 3 pointers & we’re the best perimeter defence in the league. They’re harping on about their better depth but that’s exactly what Raptors fans were saying.
What I want to know is how their going to stop Tatum ? Anunoby & Siakam are better wing defenders than anyone the Heat has & he still averaged 24.3 points per game while being the best player on the court. Also out of all the Raptors who play heavy minutes, Van Vleet was the only one who you would consider isn’t a great defender. The Heat have 3 ordinary defenders who play heavy minutes for them.
I think we’ll win but I’m also not stupid enough to be over-confident in case we do end up losing.

LMAO bro did you just say Vanvleet isn't a great defender?

And do you really think Siakam and OG are better defenders than Jimmy Butler and Andre Iguodala?



You really gotta watch a few games outside of your own team once in a while. I'm not saying we'll 'stop' him, but we can certainly make it a lot tougher on him than Toronto did.


Sometimes it just comes down to mentality. Pandemic P and Quiet as a cat OG Anunobody weren't rattling college players, let alone dynamic scorers such as Tatum and Brown.

[Parliament10]

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[Triple7]

I see delusional fans on both sides. This Heat series is going to be a dogfight. The Heat are well coached and they have more shooters than we do.

I'd go as far to say they are favoured in the series.

We ain't favored.


Vegas as the Celtics as the favorites to win the series.


Heat: +110

Boston: -130

but you guys destroyed the Bucks, and that we barely beat the lowly raps and Bam will totally go Shaq on us! Right?
gtfo TROLL!

[floyd]

You really gotta watch a few games outside of your own team once in a while.

Says the guy that compared Theis to Birdman.

We all know he’s a Gordon Hayward clone.

[ConstableGeneva]

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The six that didn't: Wanamaker, Smart, Timelord, Kemba, Kanter, Hayward

Last three shouldn't even count. They started out with other teams.

[Big Joke Line]

The lesson of Hayward being inserted into the starting lineup too soon after injury should not be neglected.

More specifically, I'd like to see him start out with offensively challenged reserve-heavy lineups where it is GOOD strategy for him to try to force things and discover what he can or can't immediately do.

I think you and anyone else who thinks that should go down to that we should have Hayward come off the bench thread and just see how dramatically better our team is with Hayward playing with the starters vs having Smart playing with them.

It's the playoffs can't handicap yourself.

That said I doubt we have Hayward at all in this series so the point is moot.

A healthy hayward yeah. A hayward coming off an injury at maybe 60-70%? If he never got hurt obviously you put him in the starting lineup over smart. It's not that black and white though. We saw what happened the last time they tried to force hayward back into the starting lineup after an injury. The celtics are playing very well right now. Putting a less than 100% hayward in the starting lineup over smart I don't think is the right move.... But hey, maybe I'm wrong. Just giving my opinion. I think it depends on how healthy hayward is and how rusty he is.

I don’t really have an opinion on starting but keep in mind the lineup he came back to last year included Kyrie, Mook and Terry. And Kyrie.

[carnageta]

I'd go as far to say they are favoured in the series.

We ain't favored.


Vegas as the Celtics as the favorites to win the series.


Heat: +110

Boston: -130

but you guys destroyed the Bucks, and that we barely beat the lowly raps and Bam will totally go Shaq on us! Right?
gtfo TROLL!

lol GTFO, you leprechauns are favored to win the series. Vegas don't lie. We're the dogs, always have been.

[celticfan42487]

I think you and anyone else who thinks that should go down to that we should have Hayward come off the bench thread and just see how dramatically better our team is with Hayward playing with the starters vs having Smart playing with them.

It's the playoffs can't handicap yourself.

That said I doubt we have Hayward at all in this series so the point is moot.

A healthy hayward yeah. A hayward coming off an injury at maybe 60-70%? If he never got hurt obviously you put him in the starting lineup over smart. It's not that black and white though. We saw what happened the last time they tried to force hayward back into the starting lineup after an injury. The celtics are playing very well right now. Putting a less than 100% hayward in the starting lineup over smart I don't think is the right move.... But hey, maybe I'm wrong. Just giving my opinion. I think it depends on how healthy hayward is and how rusty he is.

I don’t really have an opinion on starting but keep in mind the lineup he came back to last year included Kyrie, Mook and Terry. And Kyrie.

Kemba/Brown/Tatum/Theis with Gordo: 116.6 ORtg (92nd percentile), 104.7 DRtg (93rd percentile), +11.9 NRtg (97th percentile)
Kemba/Brown/Tatum/Theis with Smart: 105.0 ORtg (13th percentile), 100.0 DRtg (99th percentile), +5.0 NRtg (80th percentile)

That's too much of a dropoff in offense to justify the improvement in defense.

And to hugepatsfan's point, we don't use hockey 5-for-5 substitutions. Brad usually pulls out Hayward or Tatum early to bring them back before the 1Q/3Q ends so they can lead the "second unit." So not only do you maximize your starting group this way by getting them more minutes together, you also have someone to make your bench group's offense functional/more potent.

It's the same counter-argument to fans who have suggested that Kemba should come off the bench in favor of Smart.

EDIT: Smaller sample but the current starting lineup w/ Smart is scoring about the same (105.1 pts per 100 possessions) in the playoffs.

The stats take into account for that variance and aren't speaking on that.