CELTICS CLUTCH AGAIN, SWEEP PACERS! ECF G4 Victory Cigar vs IND 5/27 (BOS WINS 4-0! WE'RE GOING TO THE FINALS!)

[keevsnick1]

Tougher Finals opponent: Curry/Dray/Wiggins++ or Luka/Kyrie++?

I'd say its pretty close. I have a lot of respect for the Luka/Kyrie pairing, but that GSW team was the tale end of a dynasty with a guy who has proven a lot more in the playoffs than Luka has so far. I'd give the nod to the Warriors. Better balanced team imo, especially with Wiggins playing like he was at the time.

[Birdon]

Tougher Finals opponent: Curry/Dray/Wiggins++ or Luka/Kyrie++?

TBD but those Warriors had just enough gas left in them.
The difference -- hopefully -- is on the Celtics' side.
They should be "ready to do this" instead of "happy/excited to be there."

JT was seriously banged up two years ago.
JB is a much better player now.
We have Jrue and White. Perhaps KP will suit up.
Luka isn’t 100% right now.
I just hope home crowd will leave Kyrie alone. No need to repeat what they did to Curry two years ago. Give them no motivation to beat you.

[Darth Celtic]

12 down. 4 to go!

No idea why this posted twice, but Finals baby! Let's go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Because realgm servers run in a tandy 2000

[24istheLAW]

People will talk down the Pacers series. But the fact that we've closed out a bunch of games where we were behind in the end, despite not having Porzingis who has been the big difference in our end-of-game execution this season, is so satisfying.

If Porzingis can play in the finals, we win. Just need to stay healthy for once.

[BK_2020]

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It's frustrating as hell. No opportunity to go into a second action if defense shuts down your first. End up with an iso pullup or a one-pass contested shot.

Taking time off the clock means your opposition gets a much worse scoring opportunity. That's more valuable than having a 1.15 ppp offensive position vs. .95 ppp one. And it's not like you are not allowed to grab offensive rebounds if you start your action late. That's why every team does it. In the last Dallas-Wolves game, the Mavs up four and 2 minutes on the clock started their action with 14 seconds left on the clock. After a miss and a stop, they went back and started their action 14 seconds on the clock. They won and so did we.
TLDR; if starting an action a few seconds earlier makes it a lot easier for us to score, the same logic applies to the other team. In fact, 10 seconds vs 5 is a bigger difference than 19 seconds vs 14.

I don't mean with little time on the game clock left. They do this even with just a 10-pt lead with 8 minutes left in the game. And sometimes they do it on B2B possessions. While we chuck a semi-contested three with 1 second left on the clock, the other team runs it down our throat off the miss and gets a layup (not waiting 14 seconds to set up their offense).

That's a defense problem though. Running down the clock doesn't necessarily mean you give up a layup the next possession or you are more likely to give up a layup. Also 14 seconds is a pretty normal amount of time. It's not like running down the clock to the final 4 seconds where you have no choice but to take a bad shot. Tatum took some difficult threes in the final minutes but he does that all the time anyway.

[Triple7]

Our guys really need to step it up on D. We really need KP gor his rim protection, or for just being tall out there in the middle bothering shots. Nembhard, TJ, siakam, and even Nesmith had it easy with the midranges. Nembhard at times attacked inside with no problem, same with siakam. We had no one to bother them inside. They were just missing shots in the end. Just imagine if that were Kyrie and Luka. Those guys won’t miss much if we don’ play D. That’s why having KP back is important. Else Luka would just kill us on mid ranges or lobs to their bigs. I think Queta would have been a better matchup with lively and gafford because of his size and athleticism, but i doubt Joe would even play him. Tillman is just too slow, and kornet is just too soft, and both are below average rebounders.

Not comparable imo, Pacers offense is very free flowing and designed in a way that anyone can come at you in any way at anytime depending on what you take away. That's why they have the highest ORTG in the playoffs at 120. Dallas offense is way more structured, slower and you know what you're getting. They have mastered the PnR with their two bigs and two elite ball handlers with their role guys spacing the floor. Defending Dallas will be much simpler. I'm not saying it will be easier but it will be simpler and I trust our guys to execute.

Lol. So you’re saying nembhard and Tj is harder to defend than Luka and kyrie???
Take nembhard for example. He attacked Dwhite and almost always made the easy layups or easy mid range. That’s basically a one on one play. If we had rim protection, at least those guys would think twice in attacking us inside. Also saying defending defending the mavs are much simpler is just laughable. Just look at the best defense in the nba being down 0-3. You think nembhard, TJ and nesmith can just punk their way inside against the wolves like they did to us? Luka and kyrie are making tough shots. Tough fadeaways. If we played defense against the mavs like we did the pacers, then we are up for a long gruelling series. Probably lose. If we shoot well, tighten up our D, then i think we win in 5 or 6 max, but we definitely need KP out there.

[Triple7]

Tougher Finals opponent: Curry/Dray/Wiggins++ or Luka/Kyrie++?

I'd say its pretty close. I have a lot of respect for the Luka/Kyrie pairing, but that GSW team was the tale end of a dynasty with a guy who has proven a lot more in the playoffs than Luka has so far. I'd give the nod to the Warriors. Better balanced team imo, especially with Wiggins playing like he was at the time.

Nope i disagree. If our guys didn’t choke, we would have won the chip that year. We were the bigger team, but we tried to beat them at shooting, which obviously didn’t work. We let curry, even poole punk us from game 2 onwards. We lost the mental game that series. The warriors knew we were spooked, and they got even more confident. Same thing happened the following season the first time we played. Curry was doing the go to sleep sign punking us. Luka and Kyrie the better closers.

[Tyakack]

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[Memokerobi]

Our guys really need to step it up on D. We really need KP gor his rim protection, or for just being tall out there in the middle bothering shots. Nembhard, TJ, siakam, and even Nesmith had it easy with the midranges. Nembhard at times attacked inside with no problem, same with siakam. We had no one to bother them inside. They were just missing shots in the end. Just imagine if that were Kyrie and Luka. Those guys won’t miss much if we don’ play D. That’s why having KP back is important. Else Luka would just kill us on mid ranges or lobs to their bigs. I think Queta would have been a better matchup with lively and gafford because of his size and athleticism, but i doubt Joe would even play him. Tillman is just too slow, and kornet is just too soft, and both are below average rebounders.

Not comparable imo, Pacers offense is very free flowing and designed in a way that anyone can come at you in any way at anytime depending on what you take away. That's why they have the highest ORTG in the playoffs at 120. Dallas offense is way more structured, slower and you know what you're getting. They have mastered the PnR with their two bigs and two elite ball handlers with their role guys spacing the floor. Defending Dallas will be much simpler. I'm not saying it will be easier but it will be simpler and I trust our guys to execute.

Lol. So you’re saying nembhard and Tj is harder to defend than Luka and kyrie???
Take nembhard for example. He attacked Dwhite and almost always made the easy layups or easy mid range. That’s basically a one on one play. If we had rim protection, at least those guys would think twice in attacking us inside. Also saying defending defending the mavs are much simpler is just laughable. Just look at the best defense in the nba being down 0-3. You think nembhard, TJ and nesmith can just punk their way inside against the wolves like they did to us? Luka and kyrie are making tough shots. Tough fadeaways. If we played defense against the mavs like we did the pacers, then we are up for a long gruelling series. Probably lose. If we shoot well, tighten up our D, then i think we win in 5 or 6 max, but we definitely need KP out there.

You are putting words in my mouth. I did not say Nembhard or TJ are harder to defend than Luka and Kyrie. What I'm saying is the Pacers offense as a whole puts more pressure on a defense to think through multiple coverages and move constantly in a span of 5-14 seconds. It is a 5-man game, its free flowing, its based on getting to defense to move and then finding the best place to attack off of it. It can be a Nembhard drive after Myles Turner drives Al to the perimeter. It can be a TJ cut after Siakam draws extra attention in the low post etc. There is a reason they had the 2nd best offense in the regular season and the best offense in the postseason.

With Dallas you know what you're getting. Its going to be Kyrie or Luka initiating with a pick from one of Gafford/Lively with PJ/DJJ in the corners. Or it will be straight up iso with Gafford/Lively in the low dunker so they can throw lobs if the rim protector steps up. Maybe you'll get a double screen with a big and one of PJ/DJJ. That's like 70% of their offensive actions. Again, I am not saying they are easier to defend, I am saying its simpler. We will have to pick our poison and live with it. I think Dallas is a great team and it will be very tough (look at my posts in the Around the league thread), I just think we matchup well enough with them to get the necessary stops.

[31to6]

Tougher Finals opponent: Curry/Dray/Wiggins++ or Luka/Kyrie++?

I'd say its pretty close. I have a lot of respect for the Luka/Kyrie pairing, but that GSW team was the tale end of a dynasty with a guy who has proven a lot more in the playoffs than Luka has so far. I'd give the nod to the Warriors. Better balanced team imo, especially with Wiggins playing like he was at the time.

The Wiggins part gets me -- for those two weeks, he suddenly fulfilled his potential. And then disappeared (not trying to get into whatever has been going on his personal life). Without him playing the way he did, the Cs probably win the series -- though I don't put anything beyond Steph, who moved into the Top 10 all-time discussion for me with that win (how? easy, Kobe's not on my list) (Russell, Larry, Kareem, Michael, LeBron, Magic, Duncan and Hondo are my locks and then Wilt, Shaq, Curry, Durant, Moses(!) are my next 5) (IDGAF where others put Havlicek)

[31to6]

Tougher Finals opponent: Curry/Dray/Wiggins++ or Luka/Kyrie++?

TBD but those Warriors had just enough gas left in them.
The difference -- hopefully -- is on the Celtics' side.
They should be "ready to do this" instead of "happy/excited to be there."

JT was seriously banged up two years ago.
JB is a much better player now.
We have Jrue and White. Perhaps KP will suit up.
Luka isn’t 100% right now.
I just hope home crowd will leave Kyrie alone. No need to repeat what they did to Curry two years ago. Give them no motivation to beat you.

I hesitate to do this, but I have to credit John Zannis (CLNS postgame show) for saying "let people have their feelings about Kyrie." If they're still mad, fine, whatever. If like me they're over it, that's fine too. Kyrie doesn't need extra motivation or bulletin board material, as he'll tell anyone he's a grown ass man. Steph didn't need it either -- he's been a big-time basketball assassin for 20 years.

Exception: for the love of goodness, no racial stuff from our fans or from our media against Kyrie, please. That is the one exception to "let people have their feelings" that sadly probably needs to be explicitly stated. I believe in you, Boston! (hopefully..)

[London2Boston]

Underrated aspect of the trophy ceremony was how immersed Al’s son was in the team. Kid was giving back slaps to everyone stepping up to the mic even Coach Joe

[tfribs45]

Underrated aspect of the trophy ceremony was how immersed Al’s son was in the team. Kid was giving back slaps to everyone stepping up to the mic even Coach Joe

Joe actually handled himself well after the win, not as robotic as he is around Abby Chin. Maybe his wifey warned him not to go the Ime route lol. All kidding aside, it was nice to see the teams reaction to Joey after the recognition. He's slowly winning alot of the doubters over. Banner 18 would def put a lot of the backlash to rest, we shall see!

[TheChiefsStash]

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Hard to believe they are only 2 wins behind the 1986 teams pace. Lofty company for sure.

[CelticFaninLBC]

Where's Cave at?

.

[shackles10]

Amazing win! Pacers refused to give up and nearly sent this back to Boston. More than the win it was an amazing memory with my oldest son and my dad to be able to attend and have great seats for the experience as well. My son was so happy and excited (and he's only 10) he had tears after the game while we watched the trophy presentation and awards, and I had to take yesterday off work because I had no voice. Unfortunately they did the ceremony facing the other side, but we got even closer for that and able to be right at the tunnel when they all came through. Pure joy on the faces of all of our guys! So happy for JB and you could tell the guys all were too (including Tatum so don't even try that bs media). Crowd was not as Celtic friendly as it normally is for a Pacer game, but those are regular season and this is the ECF so to be expected. That being said, still awesome to see so many Celtic fans staying after to cheer on the team. Media often says teams "travel well", but I think that's just a phrase and some teams just have fans all over the place who when they get a chance to come support them they do. The Boston Celtics definitely have that, and while this might be the greatest Celtic experience I'll ever have the pleasure of attending, the team still has work to do. Time to win 4 more for Mike for retirement, Bill Walton after passing, Al for his resume, the Jays for the media/fan scrutiny, Joe so he can lighten up, KP for some Dallas revenge if we face the Mavs, hell even for Grant to get some Dallas revenge too!

[Hal14]

Tougher Finals opponent: Curry/Dray/Wiggins++ or Luka/Kyrie++?

TBD but those Warriors had just enough gas left in them.
The difference -- hopefully -- is on the Celtics' side.
They should be "ready to do this" instead of "happy/excited to be there."

JT was seriously banged up two years ago.
JB is a much better player now.
We have Jrue and White. Perhaps KP will suit up.
Luka isn’t 100% right now.
I just hope home crowd will leave Kyrie alone. No need to repeat what they did to Curry two years ago. Give them no motivation to beat you.

I agree with most of this. But it did seem like our crowd booing Kyrie and heckling him has thrown him off his game at times, when he was with the Nets. Rather than just using it as motivation, it seemed like he let the booing/heckling get to him, since he would turn to our crowd and throw his middle finger, or make the crying gesture..while shooting like 2/20 and getting blown out by 20 .

Kyrie is 0-10 in his last 10 games vs Boston. Our crowd boo'd and heckled him in those games. And Kyrie has not played very well in them. So I'm fine if our fans continue the booing and heckling of him, if we do meet Dallas in the NBA finals.

He doesn't seem to have the mental toughness of someone like MJ or Kobe..who can take the booing/heckling, use it to motivate themself and then go drop 40 points in a win.

[Birdon]

TBD but those Warriors had just enough gas left in them.
The difference -- hopefully -- is on the Celtics' side.
They should be "ready to do this" instead of "happy/excited to be there."

JT was seriously banged up two years ago.
JB is a much better player now.
We have Jrue and White. Perhaps KP will suit up.
Luka isn’t 100% right now.
I just hope home crowd will leave Kyrie alone. No need to repeat what they did to Curry two years ago. Give them no motivation to beat you.

I agree with most of this. But it did seem like our crowd booing Kyrie and heckling him has thrown him off his game at times, when he was with the Nets. Rather than just using it as motivation, it seemed like he let the booing/heckling get to him, since he would turn to our crowd and throw his middle finger, or make the crying gesture..while shooting like 2/20 and getting blown out by 20 .

Kyrie is 0-10 in his last 10 games vs Boston. Our crowd boo'd and heckled him in those games. And Kyrie has not played very well in them. So I'm fine if our fans continue the booing and heckling of him, if we do meet Dallas in the NBA finals.

He doesn't seem to have the mental toughness of someone like MJ or Kobe..who can take the booing/heckling, use it to motivate themself and then go drop 40 points in a win.

You have a point.
Anyway, booing or not, he’ll have a hard time with Jrue, White and JB taking turns on him.

[zoyathedestroya]

LOL Pacers tried to pre-switch and avoid putting Turner in PnR but Cs had a counter and still got the matchup they wanted. It's all JB getting to his spot and making the right read from there.

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[shackles10]

LOL Pacers tried to pre-switch and avoid putting Turner in PnR but Cs had a counter and still got the matchup they wanted. It's all JB getting to his spot and making the right read from there.

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Love the replays and slowing down that show the nuances of the game. Basketball truly is a beautiful sport and to the untrained eye they'd think a guy just took a random iso play with time running out and was lucky to find White. He had 3 great options available and all setup before he even dribbled forward. Intentional is exactly the right description.