Celtics (39-26) @ Kings (32-31) – 10:00PM, Wed, Mar. 6, 2019

[Parliament10]

It’s the smart move though. Especially when you have a backup capable of starting.

I don’t save how that’s a smart move sitting your best player with 18 games left and you’re currently the 5th seed with home court on the line in the first round and have playing as poorly as can be save for one game recently.

Smart move when
1) You want to put his medical needs first. Right thing to do given regular season doesn't mean much. Added benefit, he may appreciate you looking out for him and take that into account during free agency.
2) more of a chance for Hayward to have another good game helping his confidence heading into post season.
3) End of the day, if Celtics can't beat Indiana without one of Indiana's top players while starting off on the road, they won't beat Milwaukee, and then Philly/Toronto winner. That being said, Kyrie missing one game hardly kills Celtics chances at 4th or even 3rd spot.
4) I think who the Celtics play in round 1 and round 2 more important than HCA at this point. I am more optimistic against Philly/Milwaukee than against Toronto.
5) Gives Rozier a chance to shine as a starter which he actually deserves in a contract year. A few starting opportunities helps in case Kyrie misses a playoff game or two....

I haven't been afraid to criticize Ainge/Stevens -- see my previous rants against "small ball" -- but I give Stevens pretty high marks for getting the important stuff right this season. He is doing an A job in allocating minutes this year and I know he is being bashed for spreading them around but I think it is the right thing to do until very close to the very end of season/playoffs.

Important stuff is having all possible players that can contribute in shape and healthy for the games that matter in postseason.

HCA doesn't mean much if Kyrie and some other starter or Hayward are hobbled/injured by playoff time. East at the top is stronger this year even though the bottom is pretty pathetic.

I think it's a smart move. We have a very capable 6th-Man PG right behind him, in Terry Rozier.
There's 14 guys on this team. 16, if you count the Two-Ways.

No need these days to play your Best players into the ground.
give the Backups some burn, in case you need them later on.

[soxfan2003]

I’m all for being cautious, but it’s been to the extreme this year with Kyrie.

At this point it feels like he’s getting the Tim Duncan treatment, yet hes about a decade younger...

The analytics era has convinced most sane teams that are contenders, it is crazy to beat your players into the ground. Leonard isn't super old but Toronto is resting him quite often.

Analytics has hurt baseball and made it more boring to watch. Same thing in basketball to a certain extent but in both sports, managers/coaches are doing the correct things if the goal is to maximize a teams title chances given the way the rules are setup.

As a fan, I think the rules should change and there should be only around 70 games and the reward of a couple of first round byes and less playoff teams but I am not sure if Silver has the confidence in the NBA product itself to make that change.

I think that change might bring more fans to regular season basketball which could in the long run more than makeup for the lost games.

[yazfan]

Kyrie sitting out not a good look as a leader. Guess he's alright with the 5th seed. Either that or he's confident we'll roll these fools tonight.

The game opened as a "pickem" and the line has slowly increased to Celtics favored by -2.5.

Surprised this close.

[soxfan2003]

Kyrie sitting out not a good look as a leader. Guess he's alright with the 5th seed. Either that or he's confident we'll roll these fools tonight.

Honestly, I hope Rozier/Hayward and even Tatum/Brown/Morris all appreciate Irving missing this game. It gives all 5 of them a bit more of a chance to shine.

I think Irving is just confident enough to know this game after the Warriors feel good win doesn't mean much more than a practice in October.

I know I repeat myself but from my perspective the more fans that get this, Silver and the league may do something about it.

Eliminate back to back games. Less playoff games. Less regular season games. Reward great regular season records more.

All those steps will change player and coach behavior. Players/coaches just acting like rational decision makers given NBA rules.

[Darth Celtic]

Must win. Lakers need to start winning. Something inside me is saying the losing in lakers isn't all that they suck. Some of it is they want to lose. A 6% chance at AD is better than the 0% chance they have without a top 4 pick this year.

[greenroom31]

darn, just saw Kyrie is out. Bummer but lets get the W anyway.

[truth18]

darn, just saw Kyrie is out. Bummer but lets get the W anyway.

Glad you are alive. I installed my new front door an hour ago.

[greenroom31]

darn, just saw Kyrie is out. Bummer but lets get the W anyway.

Glad you are alive. I installed my new front door an hour ago.

Haha thanks man. I passed out shivering for 3 hours the second I got home from work and woke up with a crazy fever and 15 minutes to get to urgent care. Made it to almost half-time last night before the meds put me out again. Don't think I'll be able to watch this one, but hopefully we can get a repeat performance.

Hope the new door holds up for ya!

[Celtics_History_Lesson]

When he received a prestigious award, after trading away the Tatum pick so he could rent Rondo for a few months.






When someone explained to him that trading away the Tatum pick to rent Rondo was silly.






When he left his communist homeland and found out in California that instead of having to line up for four days to get one block of chocolate he could just walk into a store and had two hundred types of chocolate to choose from.



(Real story, from the Vlade/Petrovic documentary)




When it hit him that he had traded away a top 3 pick so he could rent Rondo.






"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking"








"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines. "




"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue."

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

Lol. Many of the same people complaining about Kyrie sitting out tonight are also the same people who think this team is better without Kyrie. Stop whining and make up your minds. Are we better without Kyrie or do we need him?

[truth18]

Lol. Many of the same people complaining about Kyrie sitting out tonight are also the same people who think this team is better without Kyrie. Stop whining and make up your minds. Are we better without Kyrie or do we need him?

Only one Kings team scares me. It's not the 2019 Kings.

Spoiler:

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

Lol. Many of the same people complaining about Kyrie sitting out tonight are also the same people who think this team is better without Kyrie. Stop whining and make up your minds. Are we better without Kyrie or do we need him?

Only one Kings team scares me. It's not the 2019 Kings.

Spoiler:

I enjoyed that team. Everyone except for Captain Pussywhipped - Doug Christie.

[Shak_Celts]

I figured kyrie would miss this game, he was rubbing that thigh pretty hard yesterday when he hit a screen. was kinda stretching the leg. I was worried that it was more but when he started rubbing the leg I figured it would be a bruise.

[mbsnmisc]

Spoiler:

Read on Twitter

Kyrie is OUT, Ducler.

Read on Twitter

Duclerbot acknowledges your input.

[Parliament10]

Read on Twitter

[Ed Pinkney]

Slight exaggeration perhaps, but possibly one one of the most important game of the season?

Winning on the road against a good young team on a back to back after their best win of the season would certainly feel like the season is heading back in the right direction with enough time left heading into the playoffs. Lay another egg and lose badly in a game they should win will put them right back in the **** they have been in for the past month.

[Captain_Caveman]

Last night was fun.

Can we please kick the **** out of someone again?

Thanks.

[mbsnmisc]

No Mike Gorman. Draper is suboptimal.

[Captain_Caveman]

Lol. Many of the same people complaining about Kyrie sitting out tonight are also the same people who think this team is better without Kyrie. Stop whining and make up your minds. Are we better without Kyrie or do we need him?

Only one Kings team scares me. It's not the 2019 Kings.

Spoiler:

I enjoyed that team. Everyone except for Captain Pussywhipped - Doug Christie.

Hated them and thought they were super overrated flopping crybabies. Maybe the most overrated team of all time.

[canman1971]

Ugh Draper doing play by play. Thankfully I’ll be going to bed. Too late for me on work nights. 1st half maybe on mute.