GT: R2G2 Celtics (1-0) @ Champs (0-1), Tuesday 5:30 PM TV: SPORTSNET ESPN Radio: TSN RADIO 1050 TORONTO

[Alodar]

We are the champs until someone beats us 4 times.
Believe in your team!
Believe in your city!

Let's Go Raptors!!!

[Parataxis]

Let's go Raptors!

I want this win not for what it'll do for the series, but because it might give us a breath or two of respite from the constant doomers.

Just enjoy the game; it's the playoffs, this is supposed to be fun!

[Waylanderz]

[Sandman88]

Hopefully the raps are watching this bucks-heat game. 2 teams competing hard for the ultimate prize and not just giving it all away in the first quarter.

[AkelaLoneWolf]

lol they just showed FVV reuniting with his family on TNT...hopefully that lights a fire underneath him

[dafan590]

FVV needs to get another baby now in order for us to win this series lol

[Bankai]

After looking back, the lone bright spot was OG Anunoby still playing great defense, he had a couple of defensive stops that really stood out. But obviously that wasent enough, hopefully the Raptors woke up and have figured something out, or this will be a short Series.

[GooniesNeverDie]

we're going to meed pascal to be "very good" to put some pressure on the defense and open up some lanes.. we dont even need him to be great.

Sent from my SM-G960F using RealGM mobile app

[Ackshun]

Would like to see OG get more offensively aggressive. I think the coaching team put that in his ear in the second half, so hopefully we see more.

We need other guys to hit shots so we can free up our tiny guards to do their thing, which hopefully frees up Pascal.

[HangTime]

Why is this game at 5:30?

There are 2 games today, and 2 games tommorow, why won't they use the same time slots?

[milkii]

We don't have a guy that can drive to the basket to get fouls. I'm hoping the Bucks lose to Miami and Masai signs Giannis.

[AbC?]

Nurse will try it a little longer but this really doesn't seem like the series for Gasol to play much. He is amazing against Vuc/Embiid/Giannis/Jokic types but not needed as much with perimeter oriented teams like the Celtics.

More important than defense the main problem is Boston completely ignores him on offense. They literally do not care at all if he shoots from anywhere, they will not respect him as a scoring threat. Theis spends the entire team roaming off of Gasol to help against everyone else. They know he is a hesitant shooter from 3 and a non-threat inside the arc.

I would roll with Serge in the starting 5 (not ideal either), give Gasol minutes with Norm and TD off the bench, and you start going small with OG at the 5 with Lowry/FVV/Norm/Siakam. And this might be a series Boucher deserves a look.

If Nurse gets stubborn sticking with Gasol this series is over. Also, nothing matters if Siakam continues to suck the way he has been.

[milkii]

Nurse will try it a little longer but this really doesn't seem like the series for Gasol to play much. He is amazing against Vuc/Embiid/Giannis/Jokic types but not needed as much with perimeter oriented teams like the Celtics.

More important than defense the main problem is Boston completely ignores him on offense. They literally do not care at all if he shoots from anywhere, they will not respect him as a scoring threat. Theis spends the entire team roaming off of Gasol to help against everyone else. They know he is a hesitant shooter from 3 and a non-threat inside the arc.

I would roll with Serge in the starting 5 (not ideal either), give Gasol minutes with Norm and TD off the bench, and you start going small with OG at the 5 with Lowry/FVV/Norm/Siakam. And this might be a series Boucher deserves a look.

If Nurse gets stubborn sticking with Gasol this series is over. Also, nothing matters if Siakam continues to suck the way he has been.

I think you are right.

[TrustFundBaby]

Gasols inability to score whatsoever is a huge handicap now that we don't have the best player in the league anymore

And his post defense is irrelevant vs Theis. This is just not his series, he needs to sit. I would start Ibaka

They switch onto FVV and take away the 3. FVV already can't drive, if their length is stifling him, he is useless out there. His strips were good though. I'd start Norm for some needed size

They did fantastic on Tatum to start but he started to get his later in the game. I was questioning the small guards on him but I guess Nurse loves it

1) Gasol's on court DRating was 100, the defense was much worse without him on the floor. I thought he provided good help, but was mostly useless on offense. Serge came in drilling shots, but he also made two big defensive mistakes right off the bat that led to buckets. That's sort of what you get with him now, and he's at his best when he's being physical. Loved that he slammed Theis onto the floor, but he needs those 2nd and 3rd effort plays to wear the Celtics down. Didn't see much of it.

2) Fred was taking the same shots over Williams that he was taking over Allen, but nothing was falling. I don't mind the switches, he's smart enough to know what to do with them and Williams isn't as smart as Allen. Let's see what happens in game 2 here before the panac.

3) Lowry on Tatum worked because Tatum's handle is high and Lowry can scare him a bit, plus Lowry is stronger than him and can't get knocked off balance. The worry is that Tatum just gets comfortable with turnarounds, but I'd mix in smaller guys on him for now.

Agreed on 3

Also agreed that Ibaka was bad. It's why I hesitate to say he was a bright spot. He has some pretty costly turnovers.

As for FVV, we'll see. I won't lie, I'm getting some PHI PTSD. At least with Siakam the problem is clearly mental/decision making related. With FVV, if he looks bothered by the length, then it is really concerning.

Nurse will 99% stick to his guns for game 2, but I just think Norm/Ibaka are an obvious adjustment

That said, I feel like Smart going nuclear and our shooters going ice cold was an anomaly, so I'm actually down for a similar approach to game 1 lol

[TheBoi10]

Can't start Gasol. All that "Prime Marc" stuff before the restart was hilarious.

[ImaBeatDatAzz]

He doesn't need your love.

Siakam gonna show why he's worth every penny of that contract!

A special P-Spice performance coming right up ....

hahahaha ya.. im ready for him to drop 16points on 4-19 shooting

[mtcan]

We don't have a guy that can drive to the basket to get fouls. I'm hoping the Bucks lose to Miami and Masai signs Giannis.

We have a guy who drives to the baskets to get fouls. His name is Pascal Siakam...he gets fouls...offensive fouls.

Seriously though...what happened to that spin move that he used to do in transition to avoid picking up the charge? Why did he go away from it?

[ImaBeatDatAzz]

We don't have a guy that can drive to the basket to get fouls. I'm hoping the Bucks lose to Miami and Masai signs Giannis.

thats my only hope. theres no hope against celtics, but theres hope that we get giannis cuz heat destroy bucks everytime they play cuz of the matchups, so im hoping heat win in 6 just like celtics will win in 6, then we get giannis <3

Fvv/Norm/Giannis/Siakam/Ibaka
with a bench of: Lowry/Davis(or Thomas)/OG/RHJ/Boucher = title favourites

[TheBoi10]

We don't have a guy that can drive to the basket to get fouls. I'm hoping the Bucks lose to Miami and Masai signs Giannis.

We have a guy who drives to the baskets to get fouls. His name is Pascal Siakam...he gets fouls...offensive fouls.

Seriously though...what happened to that spin move that he used to do in transition to avoid picking up the charge? Why did he go away from it?

That spin was an automatic bucket or a foul, problem is there's help sitting on the direction he spins away from. In the halfcourt he's getting doubled in the post.

[JustWin]

Letsss gooo FREDERICO!!!!

Hopefully the guys seeing their families again lets them focus up and play better!