Game Thread – Celtics (47-28) @ Raptors (42-32) – 7:30PM, Mon, March 28, 2022

[Marvel]

White is really good but idk if I'm doing that trade if I could go back. I liked Josh better.

Josh had a really nice mid range game which would've been helpful in games like this. Gave up too much for a guy who is pretty much the same player with less offense.

[Red2]

Damn . Should have won thst one

[Hal14]

**** White flat out choked.

looked like he may have got hit on the arm by trent as he went up with the shot inside, according to the replay.

with that being said, there's no way you can just point to 1 play in this game and say that play decided the outcome. so this is a weird post.

He choked on a bunny. What's weird about it?

so you didn't read my whole post?

[ajones9219]

Good game Celtics fan. Surprised to see negativity here after that effort by your team.

The problem with winning every game is people have all the negativity bottled up and have to unleash it at every loss

[Setshot33]

Not a talent loss. Low IQ loss.

Just one bad decision after another down the stretch.

[Bill Lumbergh]

looked like he may have got hit on the arm by trent as he went up with the shot inside, according to the replay.

with that being said, there's no way you can just point to 1 play in this game and say that play decided the outcome. so this is a weird post.

He choked on a bunny. What's weird about it?

so you didn't read my whole post?

I read it. I just didn't see the play as him getting hit on the arm. To me it looked like he just flat out blew a bunny, which is why I wrote what I did, in which case it wouldn't be a weird post. Whether I saw it correctly or not is another matter. Wouldn't mind seeing a replay.

Edit: Okay, just saw it again. He just blew it.

Watch on YouTube

[Pooh_Jeter]

I apologize for the Raptors fans trying to bait you guys on our board. Hell of an effort from the Celtics given the circumstances. I look forward to a rematch at full strength down the road.

[Raps1103]

I apologize for the Raptors fans trying to bait you guys on our board. Hell of an effort from the Celtics given the circumstances. I look forward to a rematch at full strength down the road.

Good game Boston fans ..

Just so you know, this clown, (Pooh) isn’t a raps fan.. he’s just a troll that lurks about in the raptors forum.. spreading negativity .. he doesn’t represent raptors fans in any way shape or form …

But, seriously .. good game boys.. I really hope we see you guys in the playoffs.. that’ll be fun .. maybe second round

[Bostondave]

I don't quite know what to make of such a young team seemingly so banged up. To sit almost all the starters doesn't seem right to me. But then I'm old school and have seen more than a few old beards limp out on the court to do battle. I realize these are much different times though. These days a player gets a hang nail and he's out for weeks. Players used to be made of much sterner stuff and were much tougher. I remember Bird laying prone on the sidelines because his back was hurting so bad. And getting up and hitting the floor whenever the coach called his number. McHale crippled I think with a bad knee but going out to battle. Again, different times. Tougher stronger times that I guess are goine forever.

Anybody want to youtube Willis Reed limping back onto the court and performing one of the bravest game 7 performances in NBA history.

[Slax]

I don't quite know what to make of such a young team seemingly so banged up. To sit almost all the starters doesn't seem right to me. But then I'm old school and have seen more than a few old beards limp out on the court to do battle. I realize these are much different times though. These days a player gets a hang nail and he's out for weeks. Players used to be made of much sterner stuff and were much tougher. I remember Bird laying prone on the sidelines because his back was hurting so bad. And getting up and hitting the floor whenever the coach called his number. McHale crippled I think with a bad knee but going out to battle. Again, different times. Tougher stronger times that I guess are goine forever.

Anybody want to youtube Willis Reed limping back onto the court and performing one of the bravest game 7 performances in NBA history.

The reason guys don't play through injuries these days is the same reason every single one of the players you mentioned was out of his prime by early 30's.

[Bostondave]

I don't quite know what to make of such a young team seemingly so banged up. To sit almost all the starters doesn't seem right to me. But then I'm old school and have seen more than a few old beards limp out on the court to do battle. I realize these are much different times though. These days a player gets a hang nail and he's out for weeks. Players used to be made of much sterner stuff and were much tougher. I remember Bird laying prone on the sidelines because his back was hurting so bad. And getting up and hitting the floor whenever the coach called his number. McHale crippled I think with a bad knee but going out to battle. Again, different times. Tougher stronger times that I guess are goine forever.

Anybody want to youtube Willis Reed limping back onto the court and performing one of the bravest game 7 performances in NBA history.

The reason guys don't play through injuries these days is the same reason every single one of the players you mentioned was out of his prime by early 30's.

Not every single one and by 30 you're gererally just inching past your prime, whyich is gernerally around late 20's. You have somewhat of a point though. Playhing through most injuries can sometimes come back to bite you in your later years. But it is also true these players are generally softer. Just the times we're in. They leave for less of a reason and stay out longer for the piddling injuries.

[Bostondave]

And not sure what to make of Iwe leaving timeouts on the floor in regulation and overtime. Use those last time outs to draw up something besides the guys just freelancing last shots. That was not good and hopefully that's not an indication that coaching suffers in those type situations.

[Slax]

I don't quite know what to make of such a young team seemingly so banged up. To sit almost all the starters doesn't seem right to me. But then I'm old school and have seen more than a few old beards limp out on the court to do battle. I realize these are much different times though. These days a player gets a hang nail and he's out for weeks. Players used to be made of much sterner stuff and were much tougher. I remember Bird laying prone on the sidelines because his back was hurting so bad. And getting up and hitting the floor whenever the coach called his number. McHale crippled I think with a bad knee but going out to battle. Again, different times. Tougher stronger times that I guess are goine forever.

Anybody want to youtube Willis Reed limping back onto the court and performing one of the bravest game 7 performances in NBA history.

The reason guys don't play through injuries these days is the same reason every single one of the players you mentioned was out of his prime by early 30's.

Not every single one and by 30 you're gererally just inching past your prime, whyich is gernerally around late 20's. You have somewhat of a point though. Playhing through most injuries can sometimes come back to bite you in your later years. But it is also true these players are generally softer. Just the times we're in. They leave for less of a reason and stay out longer for the piddling injuries.

Certainly every single one of the guys you mentioned - Bird, McHale, Reed - had very short primes compared to most modern superstars. If it was just an issue of gritting through pain I genuinely believe these guys would do it, but they're worried about lingering injuries, both this playoffs and for the remainder of their careers.

[Vampirate]

Your team's ceiling is in the next couple of years as Tatum, Timelord, Smart and Brown will be in their primes/peaks.

Our ceiling is really however good Barnes becomes.

We're likely first round fodder (an annoying one though since were pretty physical, i'd rather play the Hawks, Bulls or Hornets if I was a higher seed, less wear and tear), however in the bigger picture, I just want to see how Barnes does in the playoffs.

The East this year, while competitive doesn't seem to have some obvious overwhelming juggernaut.

The Bucks are probably the biggest threat atm, the 76ers are lead by 2 ultra talented players but both with their flaws. The Net's have 2 players that no team wants to face in a series, but they are not a juggernaut team, and of course noone know what to make of Ben Simmons. The Heat are a tough veteran team with some All Stars but no one is going to scare you on that team tbh.

As for seeding, I wouldn't be too surprised if the Nets became the 5th seed and the end of the season, with Kyrie now playing full time and their cakewalk remaining schedule (and the fact that both the Bulls and Cavs (and injured) are slumping) I wouldn't be surprised if they rose through the standings to 6th or even 5th.

Here's the Net's remaining Schedule fwiw

Detroit
Milwalkee
Atlanta
Houston
Knicks
Cleveland
Indiana

Pretty much any seed aside from the #1 seed has a chance of a 1st round exit depending on how well the Nets finish the season. I don't think they'll be in the playin for long tbh.


Honestly I can see the Celtics in the finals, just like the Bucks and Nets.

Let's see what happens.

[Feed Your Head]

Your team's ceiling is in the next couple of years as Tatum, Timelord, Smart and Brown will be in their primes/peaks.

Our ceiling is really however good Barnes becomes.

We're likely first round fodder (an annoying one though since were pretty physical, i'd rather play the Hawks, Bulls or Hornets if I was a higher seed, less wear and tear), however in the bigger picture, I just want to see how Barnes does in the playoffs.

The East this year, while competitive doesn't seem to have some obvious overwhelming juggernaut.

The Bucks are probably the biggest threat atm, the 76ers are lead by 2 ultra talented players but both with their flaws. The Net's have 2 players that no team wants to face in a series, but they are not a juggernaut team, and of course noone know what to make of Ben Simmons. The Heat are a tough veteran team with some All Stars but no one is going to scare you on that team tbh.

As for seeding, I wouldn't be too surprised if the Nets became the 5th seed and the end of the season, with Kyrie now playing full time and their cakewalk remaining schedule (and the fact that both the Bulls and Cavs (and injured) are slumping) I wouldn't be surprised if they rose through the standings to 6th or even 5th.

Here's the Net's remaining Schedule fwiw

Detroit
Milwalkee
Atlanta
Houston
Knicks
Cleveland
Indiana

Pretty much any seed aside from the #1 seed has a chance of a 1st round exit depending on how well the Nets finish the season. I don't think they'll be in the playin for long tbh.


Honestly I can see the Celtics in the finals, just like the Bucks and Nets.

Let's see what happens.

Barnes is going to become REALLY freaking good. There will be speed bumps and he will really struggle at times, but his upside is super high.

[Vampirate]

Your team's ceiling is in the next couple of years as Tatum, Timelord, Smart and Brown will be in their primes/peaks.

Our ceiling is really however good Barnes becomes.

We're likely first round fodder (an annoying one though since were pretty physical, i'd rather play the Hawks, Bulls or Hornets if I was a higher seed, less wear and tear), however in the bigger picture, I just want to see how Barnes does in the playoffs.

The East this year, while competitive doesn't seem to have some obvious overwhelming juggernaut.

The Bucks are probably the biggest threat atm, the 76ers are lead by 2 ultra talented players but both with their flaws. The Net's have 2 players that no team wants to face in a series, but they are not a juggernaut team, and of course noone know what to make of Ben Simmons. The Heat are a tough veteran team with some All Stars but no one is going to scare you on that team tbh.

As for seeding, I wouldn't be too surprised if the Nets became the 5th seed and the end of the season, with Kyrie now playing full time and their cakewalk remaining schedule (and the fact that both the Bulls and Cavs (and injured) are slumping) I wouldn't be surprised if they rose through the standings to 6th or even 5th.

Here's the Net's remaining Schedule fwiw

Detroit
Milwalkee
Atlanta
Houston
Knicks
Cleveland
Indiana

Pretty much any seed aside from the #1 seed has a chance of a 1st round exit depending on how well the Nets finish the season. I don't think they'll be in the playin for long tbh.


Honestly I can see the Celtics in the finals, just like the Bucks and Nets.

Let's see what happens.

Barnes is going to become REALLY freaking good. There will be speed bumps and he will really struggle at times, but his upside is super high.

Hope so, tbh I saw your comment on our half court offense (it's true), but in an ironic sense our best half court offensive player is probably our rookie.


Also yeah, don't be surprised if the Nets pull off a 7 game win streak to end the year which'll freak out the top 4 seeds in the East.

I think the final 4 playin seeds will be Atlanta, Charlotte, Cleveland and Chicago/Toronto/Brooklyn in that order. That 6th spot is really hard to figure out because the Nets have the easiest schedule left.

[Feed Your Head]

Your team's ceiling is in the next couple of years as Tatum, Timelord, Smart and Brown will be in their primes/peaks.

Our ceiling is really however good Barnes becomes.

We're likely first round fodder (an annoying one though since were pretty physical, i'd rather play the Hawks, Bulls or Hornets if I was a higher seed, less wear and tear), however in the bigger picture, I just want to see how Barnes does in the playoffs.

The East this year, while competitive doesn't seem to have some obvious overwhelming juggernaut.

The Bucks are probably the biggest threat atm, the 76ers are lead by 2 ultra talented players but both with their flaws. The Net's have 2 players that no team wants to face in a series, but they are not a juggernaut team, and of course noone know what to make of Ben Simmons. The Heat are a tough veteran team with some All Stars but no one is going to scare you on that team tbh.

As for seeding, I wouldn't be too surprised if the Nets became the 5th seed and the end of the season, with Kyrie now playing full time and their cakewalk remaining schedule (and the fact that both the Bulls and Cavs (and injured) are slumping) I wouldn't be surprised if they rose through the standings to 6th or even 5th.

Here's the Net's remaining Schedule fwiw

Detroit
Milwalkee
Atlanta
Houston
Knicks
Cleveland
Indiana

Pretty much any seed aside from the #1 seed has a chance of a 1st round exit depending on how well the Nets finish the season. I don't think they'll be in the playin for long tbh.


Honestly I can see the Celtics in the finals, just like the Bucks and Nets.

Let's see what happens.

Barnes is going to become REALLY freaking good. There will be speed bumps and he will really struggle at times, but his upside is super high.

Hope so, tbh I saw your comment on our half court offense (it's true), but in an ironic sense our best half court offensive player is probably our rookie.


Also yeah, don't be surprised if the Nets pull off a 7 game win streak to end the year which'll freak out the top 4 seeds in the East.

I think the final 4 playin seeds will be Atlanta, Charlotte, Cleveland and Chicago/Toronto/Brooklyn in that order. That 6th spot is really hard to figure out because the Nets have the easiest schedule left.

I think it’s well established between here and the GB from over the years, I have an extremely high opinion of the Raptors. And I may have ramped up the **** talking last night lol, but I just don’t think they have enough offense to make it a very long series. The games will be tough, physical as hell, and lower scoring, but the Celtics just have much more offensive talent. While losing Rob hurts, the Celtics still have a net rating of +17 when he’s off the floor, and Tatum is in. That’s still incredibly dominant, just a bit worse defensively.

One thing I don’t get with the Raptors is why Siakam goes ISO so much. He does it 23.5% of the time, which is 3rd highest in the league behind Harden and SGA, and averages just .88 PPP. Just to give an idea of how often 23.5% is, that’s 5% more than Tatum, who goes ISO a lot lol. I know there aren’t a ton of options to score against a good set defense, but I think if they had Siakam cut that down 5-6%, the offense and Pascal himself would benefit.

[Vampirate]

Barnes is going to become REALLY freaking good. There will be speed bumps and he will really struggle at times, but his upside is super high.

Hope so, tbh I saw your comment on our half court offense (it's true), but in an ironic sense our best half court offensive player is probably our rookie.


Also yeah, don't be surprised if the Nets pull off a 7 game win streak to end the year which'll freak out the top 4 seeds in the East.

I think the final 4 playin seeds will be Atlanta, Charlotte, Cleveland and Chicago/Toronto/Brooklyn in that order. That 6th spot is really hard to figure out because the Nets have the easiest schedule left.

I think it’s well established between here and the GB from over the years, I have an extremely high opinion of the Raptors. And I may have ramped up the **** talking last night lol, but I just don’t think they have enough offense to make it a very long series. The games will be tough, physical as hell, and lower scoring, but the Celtics just have much more offensive talent. While losing Rob hurts, the Celtics still have a net rating of +17 when he’s off the floor, and Tatum is in. That’s still incredibly dominant, just a bit worse defensively.

One thing I don’t get with the Raptors is why Siakam goes ISO so much. He does it 23.5% of the time, which is 3rd highest in the league behind Harden and SGA, and averages just .88 PPP. Just to give an idea of how often 23.5% is, that’s 5% more than Tatum, who goes ISO a lot lol. I know there aren’t a ton of options to score against a good set defense, but I think if they had Siakam cut that down 5-6%, the offense and Pascal himself would benefit.

I already said, we're pretty much going to be a grueling first round fodder lol. The only thing that really matters is Scottie's development and seeing how he does in the playoffs. I do want to see how he fares against the Giannis, Tatum, Embiid's of the playoffs, should be interesting to watch.

There's quite a lot of Rap fans getting caught up in the moment and the fact that both the Celtics and Raptors are divisional foes only heightens things. There's actually a section of Raptor fans who believe tanking wouldv'e been better this year and grabbing another top 10 pick, and then there's the opposite who want to compete. Last year was a good example, even though logic said otherwise.

Raptor fans argue with Raptor fans more than any other opposing fanbase.

As for the ISO thing our team is 2nd last in assists, barely ahead of the Knicks. I've seen comments that our team is full of players wanting to get their own lol.

The Raptors are pretty much the same team the last few years now with the same weaknesses and strengths but added a pretty good rookie.

As for Siakam, tbh, his PPG doesn't pop out but he's having a career year overall atm. Also, who else is as good as an offensive weapon as him atm, GTJ, FVV, our rookie? Siakam is both our leading scorer and one of our playmakers atm, 5.1/2.7 TO assists. He basically needs to be a threat to set up the teammates.


As for your Celtics and well pretty much the other 3 top teams, getting that #1 seed is pretty paramount to avoiding the Nets in the first round.

Tatum is turning into a monster, he just doesn't have the base regular season popping eye stats and efficiency to show for it yet. I don't hold Brown to nearly the same stature as I do Tatum. Brown is good, but he's a low tier All Star imo (an All Star is an All Star still), Tatum is a perennial All Star. There's tiers to these lol. I just don't know if Brown on another team is looked upon as an All Star, but I can easily see Tatum as one.

There should be a window in the future where Tatum is still in his prime and Barnes is entering his prime and that battle should be fun and interesting, assuming Barnes develops into an All NBA player.

Fwiw, there's a video of Tatum asking who's the best players about his age and under who impressed him, his answer was Mobley and Barnes.

A bit off topic, but Mobley is going to be awesome too, and I see his true ceiling as KD Lite, but a perennial DPOY player, depending on his handles and shooting. I think he can break past his ceiling as a center.

There's quite a few other noteworthy rookies as well such as Cade, Green, Kuminga, Franz, Giddey etc.

What a draft class.

[Hal14]

He choked on a bunny. What's weird about it?

so you didn't read my whole post?

I read it. I just didn't see the play as him getting hit on the arm. To me it looked like he just flat out blew a bunny, which is why I wrote what I did, in which case it wouldn't be a weird post. Whether I saw it correctly or not is another matter. Wouldn't mind seeing a replay.

Edit: Okay, just saw it again. He just blew it.

Watch on YouTube

You were saying?

Read on Twitter

[Bill Lumbergh]

so you didn't read my whole post?

I read it. I just didn't see the play as him getting hit on the arm. To me it looked like he just flat out blew a bunny, which is why I wrote what I did, in which case it wouldn't be a weird post. Whether I saw it correctly or not is another matter. Wouldn't mind seeing a replay.

Edit: Okay, just saw it again. He just blew it.

Watch on YouTube

You were saying?

Read on Twitter

I am saying that whatever very minor foul might have occurred, White had complete control of the ball when he blew the easy layup, as is evident in the clip I provided (just start it at about 1:55 of the video). I think I saw it the same way that Scal and Mike did watching the replay.

Scal: Oh, he just short armed it.
Mike : Yeah, he did. Exactly.

Anyway, whatever, the video evidence is there. I usually look right past criticisms of whatever I write, but for some reason your "weird post" comment made me want to respond, because I didn't think my eyes had betrayed me.

Here's what White himself had to say about it

Read on Twitter

?s=21&t=m8cAepYAp5Y9REKCNMqKfg