Celts Turn Up The Heat! ECF Game 4 Victory Cigar vs MIA 5/23 (MIA leads 3-1)

[zoyathedestroya]

Watch on YouTube

Focus on 1:05 to 1:25 of the video.

I know we were down at halftime but in the first half, you knew they were trying to play the right way. How many times have you seen JB make multiple quick passes in a single possession when he has an opportunity to just shoot or drive it?! Let alone in B2B possessions. And he had several kickouts that didn't necessarily lead to direct assists but started the chain of ball and bodies moving.

Move the ball, shift the defense.

In the second half, it was more turning our defense into easy offense. Love how they kept pushing off misses and TOs even with a double digit lead in the 4th. Credit to Smart and the Jays there.

Really should be a conscious effort to play with pace and to move the ball cos it just doesn't come natural to some of them.

If hand/wrist/elbow is hurt and you can't shoot for ****, there are still so many ways you can contribute to winning.

[philing00]

Finally we played some D and got our rebounds and ran.
Do what the Heat are making us do, force them to dribble left. Jimmy always up fakes and try to spin to his right after driving left.
Still worried about Brown and Brog on offense. Thankfully Brown has been looking for Rob on the pass. Only counted 2 bone headed plays by him tonight.
Shout out to Grant. Great heart and great shooter.
Smarts first half was horrible but he redeemed himself in the second.
On offense, still a bit too much high screen for Tatum or Brown for my liking. Our screening is pretty **** apart from Grant. Saw a bit of clear out for Tatum which was good.
One game at a time…


One game at a time boys.

[zoyathedestroya]

Watch on YouTube

Loved Joe’s timeout when we cut the lead 61-58 and Jaylen was about to be doubled near the sideline even though it was essentially a free timeout for Miami amidst our run. Got a White open corner three after the timeout off ball movement as opposed to a possible JB turnover or bad offensive possession.

[Parasite]

Some of y’all are the mole in whack-a-mole swear to God. This team isn’t winning this series folks. And it is infuriating they played hard and with purpose only after being down 3-0 and 6 at the half of the fourth game. Winning this game doesn’t change the fact that changes need to be made in the off-season.

You don’t think they can win game 5? I do. I am usually a very negative poster here but all they have to do is win on thursday and make miami start to sweat.

I didn’t say that. I said they aren’t winning the series. There are too many fundamental flaws with this team. Playing well for a half when you are already down 3-0 to the 8th seed doesn’t change that.

[philing00]

Wish we won the game playing a different style of offense. We’re still attacking the same way, only our shooting came back. Can’t rely on hoy shooting to win 4 in a row. We still had hiccups with playing against the zone. We still need to find a way to break their defense down.
Thankfully our defense turned up which gets us some easy buckets with Heat defense that’s not set.

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

Some of y’all are the mole in whack-a-mole swear to God. This team isn’t winning this series folks. And it is infuriating they played hard and with purpose only after being down 3-0 and 6 at the half of the fourth game. Winning this game doesn’t change the fact that changes need to be made in the off-season.

You don’t think they can win game 5? I do. I am usually a very negative poster here but all they have to do is win on thursday and make miami start to sweat.

I didn’t say that. I said they aren’t winning the series. There are too many fundamental flaws with this team. Playing well for a half when you are already down 3-0 to the 8th seed doesn’t change that.

I feel the same way. I think they can win game 5 and keep the series somewhat interesting but they dug themselves in such a deep hole I am just not expecting them to win this series; especially with their streaky at best three point shooting.

[Tyakack]

If I were the Celtics in the Heats place right now I’d be very concerned. The Heat were completely in charge of this series and couldn’t finish it off. Got dominated. Boston as we all know is the better team. Boston plays just one more game in Miami and the rest at home. For all we know they could lay an egg game 5 at home as usual and this series is over. I don’t see it though. Momentum has shifted. A lot of pressure on the Heat to close it out. In no way do I believe this series is over and I believe if we take care of business at home we have a really good shot here. We’ll see.

They are still completely in charge of the series. 1 win doesn't change that. A 3-1 series lead is still control. I think they would have to win one more game before the momentum actually shifts and for the heat to potentially sweat at all.

I'm glad they won game 4 but honestly, I need to see another win before I even entertain the thought of them winning the series... And the Celtics having 2 more home games really doesn't mean much when they lose at home literally all the time.

[Jammer]

What you talking about bro it was a blow out. You take away all of Grant's 14 points they still win.

Grant Williams (14 pts), Horford (12 pts), White (16 pts) = 42 points.

The line you quoted was "it took Grant Williams, Al Horford and Derrick White to salvage this game." Grant does not even start. It's a true statement. Grant and White alone were 30 pts.

I mean, if you remove 3 rotation players contributions from any night sure it's gonna be hard to win. You make it sound like we barely won thanks to Grant, Horford and White getting hot but the fact is the game was comfortably won.

Yes, but the not so subtle point was also that All-NBA player Jaylen Brown was seemingly the 5th best Celtic yesterday.

The Celtics finally win a game because they outshot their opponent from 2 and 3, made 5 less Turnovers and had 10 more Assists. Sheesh, that formula would probably win every game. Yet, in addition to massive heroics from Jayson Tatum, it took Grant Williams, Al Horford and Derrick White to salvage this game.

An alternative perspective:

Pts. + Rebounds + (0.5 x Assists) + Steals + (0.5 x Blocks) - Missed FGs - (0.5 x Missed Free Throws) - Turnovers - (0.5 x Fouls)

+34.5 Jayson Tatum 42 minutes despite 5 Turnovers damn shame he has to play 42 minutes

+18 .5 Grant Williams 29 minutes
+15.5 Al Horford 25 minutes
+14.5 Derrick White 27 minutes

+11 Jaylen Brown 37 minutes
+10.5 Marcus Smart 35 minutes a normal Smart game from 2 years ago

+4 Payton Pritchard 1 minute
+3.5 Rob Williams III (22 minutes)
+3 Malcolm Brogdan 17 minutes
0 Sam Hauser 1 minute
0 Luke Kornet 1 minute
0 Mike Muscala 1 minute
0 Justin Champagnie

Team Total = +115

[Celts17Pride]

Jaylen Brown is a scorer, he is going to make shots. Always has, always will. Same with Tatum. I never worry about JT & JB scoring. Shooting comes and goes. If Jaylen Brown moves the ball, makes quick easy decisions once he gets the ball and penetrates and kicks the ball out like he did last night the Celtics will be significantly better on offense.

1 game is a good start. Now have the same approach for the next 3 games.

[Triple7]

I really think something is wrong with Jaylen's shooting hand, wrist or elbow. Ever since the first game he has had trouble with it. I also believe that, just like in the finals last season with Tatum's wrist, the Celts are keeping it quiet, and we won't find out about it until the off season.

Also, DO NOT trade Brown based on a bad series. DO NOT split up Tatum and Brown. These two combined are the best bet for the Celtics going forward. Keep them together and continue to build around them. Boston needs to get more athletic.

I think we need to get bigger in the front court. A legit big that can protect the middle. Rob can’t really rim protect. He’s long and jumps high, but can’t really guard the paint. Butler easily scored on him in the post. Plus with all this switching D, he always ends up guarding guards beyond the 3pt line. Horf should come from the bench at this point. A jarret Allen, evan mobley type is what we need. Also sick of guys like lowry getting offensive boards.

[31to6]

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Loved Joe’s timeout when we cut the lead 61-58 and Jaylen was about to be doubled near the sideline even though it was essentially a free timeout for Miami amidst our run. Got a White open corner three after the timeout off ball movement as opposed to a possible JB turnover or bad offensive possession.

possible?
possible?
he was about to hand it to them and give them a push heading towards their basket
or put up a 3:)

[NYCelticsfan136]

You don’t think they can win game 5? I do. I am usually a very negative poster here but all they have to do is win on thursday and make miami start to sweat.

I didn’t say that. I said they aren’t winning the series. There are too many fundamental flaws with this team. Playing well for a half when you are already down 3-0 to the 8th seed doesn’t change that.

I feel the same way. I think they can win game 5 and keep the series somewhat interesting but they dug themselves in such a deep hole I am just not expecting them to win this series; especially with their streaky at best three point shooting.

Just win game 5 and anything is possible. If they survive the onslaught early in a game 6 they might have a chance. One thing is for sure is that Miami does not want a game 7.

[London2Boston]

Really is a shame we aren’t elite at home and in fact are actually bad.

3 Must Win Games with 2 at home on paper looks doable for an actual contender, but I can’t see past a home letdown.

[Froob]

Watching four days in October now to get hyped, wouldn't this Celtics team be the exact idiots to pull this **** off?

[playa-hater]

Watch on YouTube

Focus on 1:05 to 1:25 of the video.

I know we were down at halftime but in the first half, you knew they were trying to play the right way. How many times have you seen JB make multiple quick passes in a single possession when he has an opportunity to just shoot or drive it?! Let alone in B2B possessions. And he had several kickouts that didn't necessarily lead to direct assists but started the chain of ball and bodies moving.

Move the ball, shift the defense.

In the second half, it was more turning our defense into easy offense. Love how they kept pushing off misses and TOs even with a double digit lead in the 4th. Credit to Smart and the Jays there.

Really should be a conscious effort to play with pace and to move the ball cos it just doesn't come natural to some of them.

If hand/wrist/elbow is hurt and you can't shoot for ****, there are still so many ways you can contribute to winning.

Almost never

[keevsnick1]

That ship has sailed, this is who Boston is. They will continue to live (or die) by the 3 as they've done all year.

Do people not get this? Boston coming into this game had actually DOMINATED Miami on points in the paint this series. They dominated the offensive glass in game 3. They had taken 11 more FTA's in the series.

At some point, THEY HAVE TO HIT THREES. Coming into this game they were shooting under 30% from three, and MIA was shooting 48% from three. It almost literally does not matter what else you do if you get out shot that badly. MIA had 13 MORE three point makes on 14 FEWER three point attempts before today.

Basically the three point shooting disparity alone meant Boston was spotting MIA 15+ points every game. And that's before you consider the demoralizing effect it can have on your overall play.

Boston HAS TO, HAS TO take and make threes this series (and/or MIA has to miss theirs). Its REALLY HARD to overcome that disparity. but especially so for this c's team as designed.

Or, conversely, Boston has to use defense to help force Miami back to their mean with regards to their 3pt shooting?

Its debatable how much you can actually effect 3 point percentage with defense. Many analytically minded people tend to think you actually can't. you can maybe effect how many threes a team takes, but if a player is open enough ton get a shot off they are going to hit what the hit.

The heat were a BAD 3 point shooting team this entire regular season. Even if you think Boston is doing a bad job defending the three they shouldn't be hitting 48% from three through the first 3 games. Its to some extent luck.

Of course they also hit 45% from three in 5 games vs the Bucks, so that's not much comfort.

[playa-hater]

Jaylen Brown is a scorer, he is going to make shots. Always has, always will. Same with Tatum. I never worry about JT & JB scoring. Shooting comes and goes. If Jaylen Brown moves the ball, makes quick easy decisions once he gets the ball and penetrates and kicks the ball out like he did last night the Celtics will be significantly better on offense.

1 game is a good start. Now have the same approach for the next 3 games.

Not trying to be funny or keep beating a dead horse, but how often does this happen with Brown?? I say almost never. Hoping but not expecting another game like this from him.

[Celticsfan100]

If I were the Celtics in the Heats place right now I’d be very concerned. The Heat were completely in charge of this series and couldn’t finish it off. Got dominated. Boston as we all know is the better team. Boston plays just one more game in Miami and the rest at home. For all we know they could lay an egg game 5 at home as usual and this series is over. I don’t see it though. Momentum has shifted. A lot of pressure on the Heat to close it out. In no way do I believe this series is over and I believe if we take care of business at home we have a really good shot here. We’ll see.

They are still completely in charge of the series. 1 win doesn't change that. A 3-1 series lead is still control. I think they would have to win one more game before the momentum actually shifts and for the heat to potentially sweat at all.

I'm glad they won game 4 but honestly, I need to see another win before I even entertain the thought of them winning the series... And the Celtics having 2 more home games really doesn't mean much when they lose at home literally all the time.

I’m just saying we all thought we would lose this game and the series was over including me. If we win the next game then game 6 would feel like a game 7. Because this team does have a great track record in game 7’s if it ever came back to Boston. Just win the next game. We actually have a shot here. This is far from over.

[Bostondave]

Beware fools gold. Heat had a letdown, that was apparent. Granted Celts played better, stepped up, but some of what I saw was Heat mental lapses, stepped down. WHich was normal and natural human nature. Game 5 might be the most psychological game to see what happens with these teams mentally. But at least we're talking about a game 5.

Take it one game at a time. If neccessary take it one quarter at a time. Win the quarters and the game takes care of itself.

[Bird84]

Watching four days in October now to get hyped, wouldn't this Celtics team be the exact idiots to pull this **** off?

I said the same thing. Except I called them buttholes.