ATL - Ham Slamwich to the Lakers

[chonestown]

People in 2022 stuck in 2017.imo

Hai.

Tuesday was a lifetime ago, no.

[jschligs]

Is Timelord what Donte was to us last year? He seems like a critical part of their success but tbh the Celts haven’t really missed a beat without him.

Rob Williams being hobbled or out has curtailed the Celtics these playoffs. They've managed to win anyway, but he means so much to them healthy, and he's been a shadow of himself since his surgery.

The Bucks can rightly point to Middleton being out as a huge factor, but Rob Williams' injury is significantly hurting Boston as well. Before his injury he was that good on interior D, guarding the perimeter on switches, and with the lobs.

They wouldn't be in the finals though if he hasn't been playing through pain and giving them what he can.

I disagree, when Williams was out it gave more PT to Horford and Grant Williams who are hot at the right time.

[Turk Nowitzki]

Is Timelord what Donte was to us last year? He seems like a critical part of their success but tbh the Celts haven’t really missed a beat without him.

Rob Williams being hobbled or out has curtailed the Celtics these playoffs. They've managed to win anyway, but he means so much to them healthy, and he's been a shadow of himself since his surgery.

The Bucks can rightly point to Middleton being out as a huge factor, but Rob Williams' injury is significantly hurting Boston as well. Before his injury he was that good on interior D, guarding the perimeter on switches, and with the lobs.

They wouldn't be in the finals though if he hasn't been playing through pain and giving them what he can.

I disagree, when Williams was out it gave more PT to Horford and Grant Williams who are hot at the right time.

Yep, it's always a huge advantage for the Bucks when our opponents play a more traditional C for Brook to guard. Maybe Idoka figures it out even if Williams is healthy but it was big deal for Boston when they rolled with Horford and Grant Williams to space the floor on Brook.

[Ron Swanson]

Tatum has been incredibly mediocre these playoffs. Which is why the hot takes are gonna be wild/hilarious if the Celtics win it all.

[emunney]

Came in feeling this series was a toss-up, obv slight lean to Boston with their 1 game advantage now. We'll see what happens (Ws could win the next 4, w/e), but I think people have to come to terms with the fact that this Ws team, with a much older Curry, post-injury Klay, and a diminished supporting cast -- all still good, but just less so -- is categorically different from the steamroller that flattened the league half a decade ago. This is an ordinary very good team on the same plateau as the rest of the league's very good teams.

[aboveAverage]

These playoffs have come down to just incredible shot making by Boston in fourth quarters. They are frankly just hitting a ridiculous amount of contested threes. It’s not sustainable in the long term, but it’s working for them now.

We probably win game 6 easily if Tatum doesn’t go off for 46, hitting some ridiculous contested threes in the second half. Those were not good shots, and if Tatum shoots his normal percentage and the Bucks win, he probably gets all kinds of hate for being selfish. Giannis was an absolute beast that game and was ready to end that series before Tatum (and Brown) exploded. Sometimes the variance gods go your way.

Same thing happened last night vs Golden State. They just couldn’t miss in the fourth quarter. If we had a quarter like that in any of our losses vs Boston, we would blow them out. Hell, if we even just shot our normal percentage on open threes, we would’ve won that series.

Either way, I like our chances against them next season with a healthy Middleton and a better backup point guard.

[Profound23]

These playoffs have come down to just incredible shot making by Boston in fourth quarters. They are frankly just hitting a ridiculous amount of contested threes. It’s not sustainable in the long term, but it’s working for them now.

We probably win game 6 easily if Tatum doesn’t go off for 46, hitting some ridiculous contested threes in the second half. Those were not good shots, and if Tatum shoots his normal percentage and the Bucks win, he probably gets all kinds of hate for being selfish. Giannis was an absolute beast that game and was ready to end that series before Tatum (and Brown) exploded. Sometimes the variance gods go your way.

Same thing happened last night vs Golden State. They just couldn’t miss in the fourth quarter. If we had a quarter like that in any of our losses vs Boston, we would blow them out. Hell, if we even just shot our normal percentage on open threes, we would’ve won that series.

Either way, I like our chances against them next season with a healthy Middleton and a better backup point guard.

Yep, it's like the Giants with Eli. Even if they aren't the best team, they are the hottest team and make the right plays at the right time. The shooting and defense in the fourth quarter were phenomenal.

[WeekapaugGroove]

You would think the Celtics overpowering the Warriors and (potentially) winning the title would make you feel better about the Bucks taking them to 7 and having multiple chances to win up the series while being down an all star, but it’s just more infuriating lol.

We’ll always be able to hold the Middleton thing over the C’s fans heads. Far more so than the Nets abuse we endured last year, because the Bucks were actual defending champions. Let’s have fun with it.

It's a tough call. On one hand the Cs have a ton of dbag fans so it's justified and fun to poke them. On the other hand fans who play the 'if' game with champions are the absolute worst and dbags themselves.

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

[chonestown]

Came in feeling this series was a toss-up, obv slight lean to Boston with their 1 game advantage now. We'll see what happens (Ws could win the next 4, w/e), but I think people have to come to terms with the fact that this Ws team, with a much older Curry, post-injury Klay, and a diminished supporting cast -- all still good, but just less so -- is categorically different from the steamroller that flattened the league half a decade ago. This is an ordinary very good team on the same plateau as the rest of the league's very good teams.

<CTRL + F "false discourse">
<no results found>

[Ron Swanson]

That elite Boston jedi-mind trick defense at it again, holding Golden State to *checks notes*....42% from 3 on 45 attempts.

Much adjustments, very genius. Bud could only wish.

[RiotPunch]

That elite Boston jedi-mind trick defense at it again, holding Golden State to *checks notes*....42% from 3 on 45 attempts.

Much adjustments, very genius. Bud could only wish.

Curry Q1: 21 points
Curry Q2-Q4: 13 points

Celtics shouldn't have been dumb enough to need to make the adjustment to sell out on Steph, but at least they made it. Kerr made it way too easy by playing lots of Dray/Looney/Iggy together in spurts. I will agree it wasn't some coaching savant clinic last night.

Kerr should permabench Iggy and give those minutes to Moody and/or Kuminga. Dubs looked slow as hell defending out there.

[CharityStripe34]

Not so hot take: the Celtics don’t beat the Bucks if Robert Williams doesn’t get injured. Going 5 out was the key for that series. Williams was an anchor for them in our series.

Gave Lopez someone he could guard without having to plod out to contest three-pointers. Once Williams wasn't in the lineup that advantage evaporated.

[CharityStripe34]

Tatum has been incredibly mediocre these playoffs. Which is why the hot takes are gonna be wild/hilarious if the Celtics win it all.

Get ready for Skip Bayless and other media trolls to annoint Tatum as the "best player in the league."

[Ron Swanson]

Look, Boston deserves the lion's share of credit for how they've defended this postseason. They're an elite defensive team with multiple great defenders. But I do enjoy mocking this idea that 3PT defense is something that you can control, when the data over the past several years now has shown that it's not really a thing.

To be a great NBA defense in 2022, you have to control what you can (limiting paint points, contest without fouling), but no defense can cover everything with modern offensive rules, so you basically just have to live with teams taking certain shots. 3PT variance is a thing whether people like it or not, and the idea that you can really heavily influence it outside of running guys off the line, has a very "energy and effort" feel to it.

[PintSizedBox10]

I'll continue to advocate for changes to be made to the three point line. The easiest adjustment would be to do away with the corner three entirely. If that's too extreme then I'd suggest widening the court so the corner three is the same distance. Granted the league would never do this but I'm a firm believer that adjustments need to be made. I worry that in 15 years teams will be jacking 80 threes a game because the payoff to hitting threes is absurd.

Sent from my SM-G981U using RealGM mobile app

[WeekapaugGroove]

I'll continue to advocate for changes to be made to the three point line. The easiest adjustment would be to do away with the corner three entirely. If that's too extreme then I'd suggest widening the court so the corner three is the same distance. Granted the league would never do this but I'm a firm believer that adjustments need to be made. I worry that in 15 years teams will be jacking 80 threes a game because the payoff to hitting threes is absurd.

Sent from my SM-G981U using RealGM mobile app

I'm with you that something should be done. Of the realistic possibilities I like widening the court the most.

Won't happen but a better fix would be to make current 2s count as 3 and current 3's count as 4. Basically change the math

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

[Ruben Quevedo]

GS needs Poole to be on his game or this could be a short series. If there is one potential weakness to the Celtics D, quick guards who can get in the paint can attack switches against Horford/Williams/Williams.....neither us nor Miami had a quick guard who could really dribble past those bigs.

[Antinomy]

I'll continue to advocate for changes to be made to the three point line. The easiest adjustment would be to do away with the corner three entirely. If that's too extreme then I'd suggest widening the court so the corner three is the same distance. Granted the league would never do this but I'm a firm believer that adjustments need to be made. I worry that in 15 years teams will be jacking 80 threes a game because the payoff to hitting threes is absurd.

Sent from my SM-G981U using RealGM mobile app

Last night’s game felt very cheap to watch in the 4th.

Warriors outplayed them for most of the game then suddenly it was over in a 5 minute stretch because BOS hit like 10 3s.

[PintSizedBox10]

I'll continue to advocate for changes to be made to the three point line. The easiest adjustment would be to do away with the corner three entirely. If that's too extreme then I'd suggest widening the court so the corner three is the same distance. Granted the league would never do this but I'm a firm believer that adjustments need to be made. I worry that in 15 years teams will be jacking 80 threes a game because the payoff to hitting threes is absurd.

Sent from my SM-G981U using RealGM mobile app

Last night’s game felt very cheap to watch in the 4th.

Warriors outplayed them for most of the game then suddenly it was over in a 5 minute stretch because BOS hit like 10 3s.

No lead is safe in today's NBA. That's why I laugh when the media acts like a 14 point lead is some insurmountable deficit. Teams can get right back in it in three possessions.

[BigO]

These playoffs have come down to just incredible shot making by Boston in fourth quarters. They are frankly just hitting a ridiculous amount of contested threes. It’s not sustainable in the long term, but it’s working for them now.

We probably win game 6 easily if Tatum doesn’t go off for 46, hitting some ridiculous contested threes in the second half. Those were not good shots, and if Tatum shoots his normal percentage and the Bucks win, he probably gets all kinds of hate for being selfish. Giannis was an absolute beast that game and was ready to end that series before Tatum (and Brown) exploded. Sometimes the variance gods go your way.

Same thing happened last night vs Golden State. They just couldn’t miss in the fourth quarter. If we had a quarter like that in any of our losses vs Boston, we would blow them out. Hell, if we even just shot our normal percentage on open threes, we would’ve won that series.

Either way, I like our chances against them next season with a healthy Middleton and a better backup point guard.

Once again, this idea that The Celtics are lucky or playing out of their minds is just ahistorical. They have been good for a very long time. Explaining away their success may seem logical for a game here or a game there, but they've been doing the same thing over and over. Their offense is good and their defense is beyond good.
Holding Golden State to 16 points in the fourth quarter was no fluke.

Beside the Celtics being really good, two other things are evident to me:

1) Bucks win if KM played OR Bud made the most basic of adjustments
2) We wasted another year of Giannis being God-like. There was no dominant team, as things have played out, and it was all there for the taking.