NBA Eastern Conf. Finals: Gm 1 – Celtics vs Heat – 6:30PM, Tues. 09/15/20

ConstableGeneva · Post #81 » by **ConstableGeneva** » Sat Sep 12, 2020 3:01 pm

Unsung hero. Another tough challenge coming up battling against an All-Star/All-Defense big in Bam.

floyd · Post #82 » by **floyd** » Sat Sep 12, 2020 3:03 pm

sam_I_am wrote:
floyd wrote:So, they’ve only got 3 dudes that shoot the three ball in their starting lineup and one of those is Crowder? If Crowder and KO rain threes on us that will be freakin depressing.

I really am fond of those 2 Ex-Celtics.....but I can’t say that thought scares me even a little. Jay’s toughness and physical play on the other hand is a concern.

I just remember Crowder clanging every big three in the playoffs. I see his percentages are way up this year but dude has always been streaky and pretty one dimensional. We’ll see if he can defend Tatum as well as OG and Pascal who were fantastic.

GreenBloodedC · Post #83 » by **GreenBloodedC** » Sat Sep 12, 2020 3:08 pm

sam_I_am wrote:
floyd wrote:So, they’ve only got 3 dudes that shoot the three ball in their starting lineup and one of those is Crowder? If Crowder and KO rain threes on us that will be freakin depressing.

I really am fond of those 2 Ex-Celtics.....but I can’t say that thought scares me even a little. Jay’s toughness and physical play on the other hand is a concern.

As long as KO does not go Game 7 Wizards against us, we can handle them. :lol:

ConstableGeneva · Post #84 » by **ConstableGeneva** » Sat Sep 12, 2020 3:09 pm

We're getting some reinforcements. Good luck, Miami!

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ddb · Post #85 » by **ddb** » Sat Sep 12, 2020 3:16 pm

Going to be a heck of a series. Miami has been the best team in the bubble so far.....Celtics match-up pretty well against Miami and have a little more star talent at the top over the Heat. The Celtics need to defend the 3pt line with force if they want to win this series. Looking forward to it!

Bill Lumbergh · Post #86 » by **Bill Lumbergh** » Sat Sep 12, 2020 3:22 pm

I can't wait to see Smart guarding Butler, which will happen often enough. Butler tries to bully people, and guaranteed, Smart is having none of that. Another one I can't wait to see is Butler guarding Tatum. Want to see how Tatum responds. Guessing Brown will be the main guy guarding Butler, though. I sure hope we get Gordon back by game 3 or 4 at least.

nic4747 · Post #87 » by **nic4747** » Sat Sep 12, 2020 3:26 pm

I’m hoping whatever has been plaguing Kemba recently has was specific to the Raptors. He can’t keep laying eggs in this series.

MagicBagley18 · Post #88 » by **MagicBagley18** » Sat Sep 12, 2020 3:26 pm

I’m not fully over last nights win yet to engage in this series in depth. I know it’s gonna be another dog fight and they are a completely different team from the 2 wins we had earlier in the year.

Joshyjess · Post #89 » by **Joshyjess** » Sat Sep 12, 2020 3:38 pm

I hope that if Hayward does come back in this series, that he comes off the bench. Right now the C's are playing great. Just imagine having a guy like Gordon being the first guy off the bench! With Gordon back we would have Hayward, RW, Wannamaker and Grant Williams as our 6 - 9 players, with Kanter playing as needed. I don't think Miami could match our bench.

Valid · Post #90 » by **Valid** » Sat Sep 12, 2020 3:58 pm

ConstableGeneva wrote:Unsung hero. Another tough challenge coming up battling against an All-Star/All-Defense big in Bam.

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Talk about a steal of a contract. Theis has been a revelation this season. I've always said that not enough people talked about his absence back in the 2018 playoffs. All of the focus was on Kyrie and Hayward being out, and I guess deservedly so, but Theis was also a huge loss that year.

TheMartian · Post #91 » by **TheMartian** » Sat Sep 12, 2020 4:02 pm

GH coming back to play in this series will be huge for the C's, if and when he plays. Some are saying he won't be able to play at all in these playoffs, but why would he return to the bubble and why that message from Robyn Hayward?

Hopefully our coaching staff has already done their homework and scouted the Heat. This will be another chess match between coaches unlike the 1st round vs the Sixers.

BillTheGOAT · Post #92 » by **BillTheGOAT** » Sat Sep 12, 2020 4:03 pm

NuckyPowell wrote:I can't wait to see Smart guarding Butler, which will happen often enough. Butler tries to bully people, and guaranteed, Smart is having none of that. Another one I can't wait to see is Butler guarding Tatum. Want to see how Tatum responds. Guessing Brown will be the main guy guarding Butler, though. I sure hope we get Gordon back by game 3 or 4 at least.

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100proof · Post #93 » by **100proof** » Sat Sep 12, 2020 4:15 pm

NuckyPowell wrote:I can't wait to see Smart guarding Butler, which will happen often enough. Butler tries to bully people, and guaranteed, Smart is having none of that. Another one I can't wait to see is Butler guarding Tatum. Want to see how Tatum responds. Guessing Brown will be the main guy guarding Butler, though. I sure hope we get Gordon back by game 3 or 4 at least.

Brown will guard Bam alot.
Theis on Crowder
Tatum on dragic
Kemba on Duncan
Smart on Butler

Valid · Post #94 » by **Valid** » Sat Sep 12, 2020 4:50 pm

Triple7 wrote:
threrf23 wrote:This series should see the return of Enes Kanter. Adebayo is a good player, but not a shooter and he can be ignored somewhat outside of the paint. The Heat also don't rebound well offensively, so Kanter should be able to clean the defensive glass. The Heat also rank towards the bottom of the league in terms of opponent FG% near the basket, so Kanter should be able to establish himself as a scorer down low.

I’m down with that in spurts, especially againt KO!

Kanter absolutely cannot match up with KO. Olynyk will just pull him out to the perimeter the entire time.

Post #95 » by **bisme37** » Sat Sep 12, 2020 5:07 pm

Honestly I think this will be an easier series than the last one. Celtics in 6 or even 5.

I know we're all worried about Jimmy but we have guys who match up perfectly and can slow him down. I like Jimmy a lot but his reputation is better than is actual play imo. He's inconsistent over the course of a series. Against the Bucks he was getting locked down by Wes Mathews by the end of the series. It was actually Herro who was out there playing the Jimmy role at the end of games. That kid has a massive ballsack for a rookie.

I don't think the Heat defense sniffs what the Raps were doing and I don't think they have a ton for us. Go C's!

Edit: After more thought I think C's in 5 might be too optimistic. Those Heat guys play too consistently hard and can win games just from hot shooting alone. C's in 6.

Post #96 » by **Feed Your Head** » Sat Sep 12, 2020 5:15 pm

I LOVE the Heat matchup for the C’s.

Post #97 » by **bisme37** » Sat Sep 12, 2020 5:22 pm

General Grant!

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Post #98 » by **bisme37** » Sat Sep 12, 2020 5:31 pm

Regarding Bam...

I really love that kid. He'd be awesome on the Celts, and just about any team for that matter. And I've been really impressed by the leap he made with his offensive skillset this season. And he's excellent defensively of course.

But I was looking at game threads for Heat-Bucks on the GB and found some Heat fans who are really exasperated with him for not being aggressive on offense. Most notably a moderator named King David who usually seems to be an even-keel fan. He said early in Bam's career he wouldn't even look at the rim when he had the ball and was only looking to pass. It's improved a little but not a lot, and Heat fans get annoyed by his passiveness on offense. He has the skill to score but just doesn't assert himself.

Thought I'd share.

ConstableGeneva · Post #99 » by **ConstableGeneva** » Sat Sep 12, 2020 5:49 pm

Miami's half court offense is much harder to defend than that of Toronto. Stevens may have to bring out our defensive blueprint against the pre-KD Warriors for this one. Heat just run a ton of action with players screening, cutting, running every which way until they get a wide open look. They have Bam as their more offensively-equipped Draymond Green, who they rely on a lot to initiate and facilitate on offense. Then they have shooters from every position if they wanted and cutters/drivers like Butler/Dragic/Herro.

This isn't an easy matchup either. Not as tough defensively but harder to guard than the Raptors. I wanna say Celtics in 6 but I think we're going the full length again. Six if we're clicking on all cylinders, we don't tire out, and we get awesome Gordo for at least a game.

EDIT: And just like with the Raps, the regular season meetings don't mean much. Heat were on 2nd night of a B2B for all of them. They were missing Butler for one, Dragic for another, and Jae/Iggy for the two earlier matchups which Cs won. They were starting Meyers Leonard who's barely playing now. We also had Hayward for two of those games, even the best player in one.

FlatearthZorro · Post #100 » by **FlatearthZorro** » Sat Sep 12, 2020 5:50 pm

The thing I like about our matchup with the Heat is that they aren't as good defensively as the Raptors. The Raptors have 2 all-defense guards in their backcourt, OG is close to elite, Gasol did well on defense, so did Ibaka(especially protecting the paint) and even Siakam was good despite his poor performance on offense. The only guy that is somewhat suspect on their team on defense is Powell.

Herro and Dragic ain't stopping nobody and Jae has been historically average. I have no idea how good/bad Robinson is, I haven't checked his stats. Kelly is meh, too. So it's Bam and Butler for the most part, Iggy too, but the dude is old.