Celtics Defeat Mavs, Win Banner 19! Victory Cigar vs DAL 1/25

[Shak_Celts]

I can’t explain it but even though we went 3-1, it feels like we went 1-3

I guess expectations are just so high. Hopefully can start to piece together some wins and importantly go backt to dismantling bad teams like we used to.

Your expectations are higher than winning? Well, we lost a championship last season.

[Fierce1]

This is not even one of the best games of the Celtics this season.

Team just shot 42.7% from the field.

There's still a lot of room for improvement.

[Marvel]

I'll take it

[Fierce1]

On the bright side of this a month and a half struggles, Cs will learn to find other ways to win when the offense is not good.

[ConstableGeneva]

Voted White and Holiday. 3-1 West road trips aren't as easy as you think. Get some momentum heading to ASB.

Expecting something minor for our trade deadline. Joe is set with his lineups when healthy it seems. Not even the Great Lonnie Walker can crack that 9-man rotation.

[Fierce1]

Amir Coffey can crack that 9-man rotation.

[Curmudgeon]

Jrue and White are key I guess. The two were fantastic today.

Actually I thought White sucked on offense in the first half, but really got it going in Q3. Having said that, when you consider both ends of the floor, that's probably the best backcourt duo in the league.

[return2glory]

Nice win.

Went with White and Jrue for the VC.

The difference between this game and the Laker game was White and Jrue combined for 40 points in this game and only combined for 6 points vs the Lakers.

I will continue to say, this team is as good as White and Jrue can take us. Not Tatum and Brown, but White and Jrue. We know what Tatum and Brown can do, but in order for us to be next level, it's based on how well White and Jrue play. I said that last season and been saying it this year.

Brown had a good game too. So did KP.

I thought Kornet played great. His 10 rebounds in only 16 minutes were huge. 5 assists too. That might have been a career high. He got there just a half a second late on that Grimes dunk.

Pritchard was also a beast on the boards with 9.

We were great in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, and average at best in quarters 1 and 4.

Tatum was our 5th or 6th best player. He has to do better.

[return2glory]

Tatum was our 5th or 6th best player. He has to do better. When they call him soft, he gets mad. When you take 22 shots and 12 of them are from 3, you're soft.

When you average less offensive rebounds that our 6'1 PG, who plays off the bench, you're not mixing it up on the boards. Tatum is at his best when he limits his 3s to 8 our less a game and drive and gets to the line. When he settles for 25-28 foot 3s, he is playing lazy and soft. When he doesn't play defense or crash the offensive glass, he is playing lazy ball.

[return2glory]

Convincing win. It doesn't make up for the violently crappy performances of late but still a good start.

It was a win. I will take it. They beat a 24-21 team without Luka.

We were great in the 2nd and 3rd quarters and average in quarters 1 and 4. We were only locked in for 24 minutes.

[Fierce1]

Tatum was our 5th or 6th best player. He has to do better. When they call him soft, he gets mad. When you take 22 shots and 12 of them are from 3, you're soft.

When you average less offensive rebounds that our 6'1 PG, who plays off the bench, you're not mixing it up on the boards. Tatum is at his best when he limits his 3s to 8 our less a game and drive and gets to the line. When he settles for 25-28 foot 3s, he is playing lazy and soft. When he doesn't play defense or crash the offensive glass, he is playing lazy ball.

Tatum not mixing it up and not playing as hard is not really a bad thing.

A lot of teams are really hit by injuries this season.

We need Tatum healthy and at his best in the postseason.

The guy has nothing to prove.

I think what he's trying to do is break Steph's 3-pointers made record.
He's really hunting the 3pt shot this season.

I'll take soft and healthy the whole regular season.

Dominating the regular season is just not worth it, IMO.

[Fierce1]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/43566092/celtics-admit-post-title-struggles-say-tide-turn

DALLAS -- The Boston Celtics readily admit that the aftermath of their championship celebration has impacted their intensity this season.

"We were a lion last season, and some games this year we've looked like a house cat," center Kristaps Porzingis said after the Celtics' 122-107 road win Saturday over the Dallas Mavericks. "We want to have that spirit as a team this year, and it's tough. Obviously we can't trick ourselves and make it [like] it's playoffs every game. It's tough, just human nature. But we know the group that we have and we know that we're going to bring it to the big games, but we need to bring it consistently and keep building on top of good wins like tonight."

[return2glory]

Tatum was our 5th or 6th best player. He has to do better. When they call him soft, he gets mad. When you take 22 shots and 12 of them are from 3, you're soft.

When you average less offensive rebounds that our 6'1 PG, who plays off the bench, you're not mixing it up on the boards. Tatum is at his best when he limits his 3s to 8 our less a game and drive and gets to the line. When he settles for 25-28 foot 3s, he is playing lazy and soft. When he doesn't play defense or crash the offensive glass, he is playing lazy ball.

Tatum not mixing it up and not playing as hard is not really a bad thing.

A lot of teams are really hit by injuries this season.

We need Tatum healthy and at his best in the postseason.

The guy has nothing to prove.

I think what he's trying to do is break Steph's 3-pointers made record.
He's really hunting the 3pt shot this season.

I'll take soft and healthy the whole regular season.

Dominating the regular season is just not worth it, IMO.

He can't dominate with our roster. We are too loaded when healthy. Brown, KP, White and Jrue all need their shots.

He doesn't have to prove anything, I agree. I actually said that a few days ago about our entire starters. They won't have to prove anything because they got their championship and all 5 starters are very well paid.

None of the starters are hungry this season. And they are tired from a long season from the prior season. But we got some bench guys like Springer, Tillman and Queta that are hungry and wants minutes. We aren't catching the cavs for the 1st seed. I just wish Joe could find at least 10 minutes a game for Springer, Tillman and Queta and give some of the starters a little less playing time or some days off from time to time.

[Fierce1]

Tatum was our 5th or 6th best player. He has to do better. When they call him soft, he gets mad. When you take 22 shots and 12 of them are from 3, you're soft.

When you average less offensive rebounds that our 6'1 PG, who plays off the bench, you're not mixing it up on the boards. Tatum is at his best when he limits his 3s to 8 our less a game and drive and gets to the line. When he settles for 25-28 foot 3s, he is playing lazy and soft. When he doesn't play defense or crash the offensive glass, he is playing lazy ball.

Tatum not mixing it up and not playing as hard is not really a bad thing.

A lot of teams are really hit by injuries this season.

We need Tatum healthy and at his best in the postseason.

The guy has nothing to prove.

I think what he's trying to do is break Steph's 3-pointers made record.
He's really hunting the 3pt shot this season.

I'll take soft and healthy the whole regular season.

Dominating the regular season is just not worth it, IMO.

He can't dominate with our roster. We are too loaded when healthy. Brown, KP, White and Jrue all need their shots.

He doesn't have to prove anything, I agree. I actually said that a few days ago about our entire starters. They won't have to prove anything because they got their championship and all 5 starters are very well paid.

None of the starters are hungry this season. And they are tired from a long season from the prior season. But we got some bench guys like Springer, Tillman and Queta that are hungry and wants minutes. We aren't catching the cavs for the 1st seed. I just wish Joe could find at least 10 minutes a game for Springer, Tillman and Queta and give some of the starters a little less playing time or some days off from time to time.

I agree with you.

But I think the problem is if you give at least 10 minutes a game for Spring, Tillman, and Queta, it will have to be at the expense of some of the starters.

This season the players have personal goals in mind.
Individual stats matter for purposes of making the All-Star team, All-NBA team, and other individual awards.

This is the players having control over Joe.

If you look at the Cavs this season, Donovan Mitchell's scoring average is down compared to previous years because he's only playing 31 minutes per game.

The Cavs are playing 10-men every game, that's why no player is getting more than 31 minutes per game.

What's at play here is since the ultimate goal of winning a championship has been achieved, some of the Celtic star players want the individual honors now.

[Riverwalk2021]

Jrue and especially White must be integral parts of this teams to win it all again. They're versatility on both ends makes this team special. We saw it in the POs. When you play them 19 minutes in a game and stick them in a corner like their Bruce Bowen on offense, of course they are not going to look good. Mazzulla has really struggled this season. I honestly think you put any other coach in the NBA on the bench, this team is at least as good as they are now. I won't deny his success as a coach, but can't stand his style and approach. The Celtics have had the most talented roster in the NBA for the last 4 seasons (starting with '22 trade deadline) so he has a lot to work with.

Tatum is the star of this team. His gravity makes everything go and his versatility is incredible. He can have a lousy scoring night and still positively impact the game unlike Brown. I wish he was a better finisher at the end of games but I put that mainly on Mazzulla and his lack of creativity. I think Brown and Porzingis are the ones that need to slide into more complimentary roles and be a lot more consistent on both ends.

The Cavs looks like a fraud. In the POs when the shots don't fall so easily they will be found out as frauds once again. I would rank the Knicks/Yucks ahead of them as threats but still hard to see either beating the C's in a 7 game series barring a '23 ECF 0-3 start lol.

[Jellybeans]

Someone please send ice bucket to that kid in first row

[playa-hater]

I have only missed 1 maybe 2 Celtic games in 3 years but never missed a Post game thread. Sad but true. Really want to see quality wins in a row. Won't comment on a game I did not see.

[Fencer reregistered]

Tatum not mixing it up and not playing as hard is not really a bad thing.

A lot of teams are really hit by injuries this season.

We need Tatum healthy and at his best in the postseason.

The guy has nothing to prove.

I think what he's trying to do is break Steph's 3-pointers made record.
He's really hunting the 3pt shot this season.

I'll take soft and healthy the whole regular season.

Dominating the regular season is just not worth it, IMO.

He can't dominate with our roster. We are too loaded when healthy. Brown, KP, White and Jrue all need their shots.

He doesn't have to prove anything, I agree. I actually said that a few days ago about our entire starters. They won't have to prove anything because they got their championship and all 5 starters are very well paid.

None of the starters are hungry this season. And they are tired from a long season from the prior season. But we got some bench guys like Springer, Tillman and Queta that are hungry and wants minutes. We aren't catching the cavs for the 1st seed. I just wish Joe could find at least 10 minutes a game for Springer, Tillman and Queta and give some of the starters a little less playing time or some days off from time to time.

I agree with you.

But I think the problem is if you give at least 10 minutes a game for Spring, Tillman, and Queta, it will have to be at the expense of some of the starters.

This season the players have personal goals in mind.
Individual stats matter for purposes of making the All-Star team, All-NBA team, and other individual awards.

This is the players having control over Joe.

If you look at the Cavs this season, Donovan Mitchell's scoring average is down compared to previous years because he's only playing 31 minutes per game.

The Cavs are playing 10-men every game, that's why no player is getting more than 31 minutes per game.

What's at play here is since the ultimate goal of winning a championship has been achieved, some of the Celtic star players want the individual honors now.

What honors are you thinking of?

[Fierce1]

He can't dominate with our roster. We are too loaded when healthy. Brown, KP, White and Jrue all need their shots.

He doesn't have to prove anything, I agree. I actually said that a few days ago about our entire starters. They won't have to prove anything because they got their championship and all 5 starters are very well paid.

None of the starters are hungry this season. And they are tired from a long season from the prior season. But we got some bench guys like Springer, Tillman and Queta that are hungry and wants minutes. We aren't catching the cavs for the 1st seed. I just wish Joe could find at least 10 minutes a game for Springer, Tillman and Queta and give some of the starters a little less playing time or some days off from time to time.

I agree with you.

But I think the problem is if you give at least 10 minutes a game for Spring, Tillman, and Queta, it will have to be at the expense of some of the starters.

This season the players have personal goals in mind.
Individual stats matter for purposes of making the All-Star team, All-NBA team, and other individual awards.

This is the players having control over Joe.

If you look at the Cavs this season, Donovan Mitchell's scoring average is down compared to previous years because he's only playing 31 minutes per game.

The Cavs are playing 10-men every game, that's why no player is getting more than 31 minutes per game.

What's at play here is since the ultimate goal of winning a championship has been achieved, some of the Celtic star players want the individual honors now.

What honors are you thinking of?

JT obviously wants another 1st Team All-NBA selection.

JB wants back on an All-NBA Team and make 1st or 2nd Team All-Defense.

White wants to be an All-Star.

If the Cs truly want to emphasize team first mentality, both Jays should not be getting 35-36 minutes per game.

No way JT averages 27 ppg playing 31 or 32 minutes per game.

Same with JB, JB will not average 23 ppg playing 31 or 32 minutes per game.

[Fencer reregistered]

I agree with you.

But I think the problem is if you give at least 10 minutes a game for Spring, Tillman, and Queta, it will have to be at the expense of some of the starters.

This season the players have personal goals in mind.
Individual stats matter for purposes of making the All-Star team, All-NBA team, and other individual awards.

This is the players having control over Joe.

If you look at the Cavs this season, Donovan Mitchell's scoring average is down compared to previous years because he's only playing 31 minutes per game.

The Cavs are playing 10-men every game, that's why no player is getting more than 31 minutes per game.

What's at play here is since the ultimate goal of winning a championship has been achieved, some of the Celtic star players want the individual honors now.

What honors are you thinking of?

JT obviously wants another 1st Team All-NBA selection.

JB wants back on an All-NBA Team and make 1st or 2nd Team All-Defense.

White wants to be an All-Star.

If the Cs truly want to emphasize team first mentality, both Jays should not be getting 35-36 minutes per game.

No way JT averages 27 ppg playing 31 or 32 minutes per game.

Same with JB, JB will not average 23 ppg playing 31 or 32 minutes per game.

Agreed in principle, but the All-Star ship has presumably already sailed for White.