The Celtics have blown 20+ leads in BOTH GAMES

[MoreyWins]

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[MoreyWins]

Joe won't coach his team to play with grit or passion, but he will recommend a bomb movie to watch

[Raps in 4]

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The Celtics should bring Doc back next season.

[Lalouie]

Knicks defense being underrated here. Getting stops at the right time and running at them at the 3 point line.

guarding the 3 is easy because players are used to OPEN 3's. no one contests 3s and no one shoots contested 3s

[durden_tyler]

Still not sure if the Celtics has the capability of responding to this like they did after going down to Miami, 0-3 years ago (though they lost the G7 on that one and had an injury to Tatum that game). i mean, they are still the better team on paper but at this point, Tatum and company might even be doubting that already considering all the Knicks key players have survived their best punches and came back to steal the game both times. i want to believe this is going to be a longer series but i also feel the Knicks are just too tough and won't let go of an opportunity like this...

[Bank Shot]

It's definitely becoming clear that they didn't actually get over their mental issues that cost them in 2022 and 2023 last season. They were just able to out talent everyone along their extremely easy path to the championship.

[Papi_swav]

We know one thing for sure, Tatum definitely ain't no Kobe lol

[Oscirus]

thibs and the knicks piss poor 3 defense is coming in clutch here as it encourages the Celtics to take open, ill-advised shots which has caused both games to get out of hand for them

[durden_tyler]

Just looking back to the time when the Celtics did it to the Miami Heat (2023 East Finals)

Lost Game 1 in Boston, 123-116
Lost Game 2 in Boston, 111-105
Lost Game 3 in Miami, 128-102

After every loss and even when down 0-3, i remember clearly that they were so favored that the payout for a series win was not that good and maybe just even money at that point.

Also, in those losses i believe the narrative was just the Heat were just shooting scorching hot from 3 that eventually it will normalize and Celtics will get their shot at a comeback (they did)

Miami 3 pt shooting
Game 1 - 16 of 31 (Miami led 12 points entering the 4th)
Game 2 - 9 of 26 (so not here but Boston led 98-92 with 4 minutes to go)
Game 3 - 19 of 35 (Miami led by 30 points entering the 4th)

Games 4 and 5 were not close (Celtics favor), Game 6 was the White putback. And Game 7, Tatum got injured on the first play of the game (Played through 42 minutes but was clearly hurt and Heat won via a blowout)

Why am i bringing this up? Am not sure, i want to see if the Celtics are in it mentally the same way they did in Miami back then. The major difference is that the first two losses to New York is mentally draining! It wasn't just because of the opposition who were shooting the lights out, this is self-inflicted!

Additionally, i think this Knicks team is more talented, perhaps more tough (definitely more tough defensively) than those Jimmy Butler-led squad.

The Knicks know that if they lose Game 3 they are letting the Celtics back in it. But a win will be a virtual series victory because of history (no one came back from it) and i think New York will play accordingly...

[Bloodbather]

Arrogant Celtics fans now hiding in their greenhouse Could someone please check on dogie hauser and the coreys?

Where's that dude who argued all season that OKC had no shot against them because they were that much better than everyone else?

[SlimShady83]

Don't be surprised if Boston wins series.

I'll get back to this at the end

[wco81]

Game 2, it would have been unjust if Knicks lost by one score. Brunson was clearly fouled on the 3 point attempt by Jrue and that led to a break opportunity where White got 2 FTs.

So that was potentially a 5-point swing.


On the last shot attempt, it looked like Tatum was trying to kick it back out to JB instead of shooting it but Bridges got the ball instead.

[xinxin]

the celtics during the Jays era have unfortunately earned that reputation of choking big time during the playoffs.. I thought they had over come that last year with ring no. 18...

looks like it's rearing its ugly head again.. one thing is for sure, KP has been a no show in this series so far. is he injured?

[evilpimp972]

Last year was a FLUKE.

[bledredwine]

This is why people who argue that there is no such thing as clutch are full of it.

[shi-woo]

Yeah, i'm trying not to be the chicken little fan, but I can't help it. These loses have been inexcusable.

I want to be mad at Joe, he is the coach, but at the end of the day this has been an issue that Celtic fans have been plagued with since IT left. We talk about it every year, on our forums and this one. So the problem simply can't be Joe.

Brown and Tatum need to take a long look in the mirror, because at this point thy are the only continuing factor in all these blown loses. The team gets complacent, and thinks they can just stop playing, or that they can reignite their energy but they can't. Then they get nervouse, and the rest is history. It's been the same story for years now.

I think having such early success, and always being there has ruined these guys perception of how the game actualy works, and what it takes to win. It's always been easy for them, so they never have to actually go all out. Maybe not getting blown our for 50 games every year like most rookies has given them an aire of thinking they are better than they are and don't have to claw for these wins.

IDK what it is, we blamed Smart, we blamed Brad and Ime, and now we are blaming Joe. Win or lose, at this point, I just want to shake this whole thing up and start over after this. This team is just simply not an enjoyable team to watch play on most nights, and crumble when it matters most every single year. Keep 1 or 2 guys and the rest can go in hopes of finding players with actual heart who are willing to fight for wins like Luka, Hart, Hali, Green, Joker, Gordon, Westbrook, ect.

I said it at the end of last game, but man, how can we have a coach as psycopathic and intense as Joe, and literally none of that metriculates to the team...

[Godymas]

the efficiency is so jarring, it doesn’t even feel like Boston are getting bad looks. they’re just sucking

also Brunson is singlehandedly proving that CPOY is a real award that deserved respect

[Froob]

Already seeing the crap like Celtics need a traditional point guard. Team shot themselves in the foot a million times. Just win game 3 baby

[tsherkin]

This is why people who argue that there is no such thing as clutch are full of it.

I think this isn't quite the situation where those remarks are generally intended. This was a strategic breakdown. 19 of their 44 FGA in the second half were 3s. In the first half, 21 of 50.

That's their problem right there, in a nut shell. Now, the 8-minute drought was friggin wild, but that was a pervasive breakdown in the team's ability to score. No one was hitting anything. Tatum, Horford, Pritchard and KP were the only guys to hit a field goal for Boston in the 4th. And Pritchard was the only one who hit 2, which is insane.

These teams basically mirrored each other in reverse. The Knicks were BRUTAL in the first quarter, then both were reasonably close in the middle, and then New York blew Boston apart in the 4th. Along the way, they had both of the highest-scoring quarters in the game, too. 28 in the 2nd and 30 in the 4th.

Ultimately, though, their team strategy is a problem. 42.6% of their FGAs were 3s, and they hit only 10 of them. That sank them right there. This is what happens when you stick to a high-variance strategy even when it isn't working, but that's been the gameplan.



That's Boston's 3PAr since Tatum's rookie year. 2022 was the Finals run under Udoka, taking over after years of Brad Stevens. 2023 was the start of Mazzulla, where they made an immediate 5.5% jump in 3PAr and ranked 2nd in the league in 3PAr after never having been higher than 8th under Stevens. It was also their best RS offense (+3.2). Then 47.1% last year, ranking first (en route to the title), and then 53.6% this year, both of those coinciding with immense RS offensive success.

And this year specifically represents a career-high in 3PA/g and 3PAr for Tatum specifically.

So there's a good deal of coach-driven motivation involved here.

[zimpy27]

I think Mazzula has pushed 3 volume up high expecting the shots to win% to be linear but it appears to be parabolic. Celtics are shooting too many 3s at this point, if they do lose this series then I expect he will correct the plan next season.

Celtics are in unchartered territory, Mazzula explored. It doesn't make him a bad coach