ECSF: P1 | (2) Boston Celtics vs Philadelphia 76ers (3) | BOS 1-0

[antonac]

I'm beginning to feel like this Lakers pick has the potential to change the future of the league.

I'm not actually entirely sure what the sixers would do with the No.1 (though part of a trade might be the smartest move) but if Boston got their hands on one of the really good defensive bigs then you start wondering what Stevens is going to mould them into and you say hello to a potential dynasty.

[robbie84]

if they continue defending this way, they might get hotter, people disrespecting the Bucks big time... respec

Problem with the Bucks was absolutely idiotic coaching. Games 1-2 were classic trash ass Bucks, but then the coaches stumbled into an adjustment with the switching defense, and we actually had some success the next 4 games. But then they randomly went away from it in game 7 and got murked.

Will be interesting to see how Philly adjusts their defense for game 2, they have the pieces to replicate exactly what we did in games 3-6 and then some.

I'm still freaking amazed by middleton. I guess he made and impression on me. You down 9 with 3 mins to go- no problem Middleton knocks down 3s from anywhere in the court and Giannis goes inside and whatever. People do need to recognize tho. Your team is no joke. We won but barely and you're no joke. The defense to me was at a pretty high lvl as well.

The good news for the Bucks is that they can rebuild around Giannis and Kris pretty easily.

They'll probably let Jabari walk, and wait for free agent opps.
Imagine if they could get Rozier and Randle as free agents etc...get some solid ball movement with a coach like buldenhozer etc...
Great future ahead of them.

[iggymcfrack]

It's sad Celtics are playing this damn well so banged up. They'd be finals bound with just Kyrie healthy. If they have both Irving and Hayward with all the kids healthy next year I can only imagine the awesome battles they'll have with Philly. Good time to be an NBA fan.

Meh, a lot of the good play in Kyrie’s absence has been at PG. As well as Rozier has played, its entirely possible that Boston would have gotten eliminated by the Bucks if they had Kyrie starting instead.

[RB34]

It's sad Celtics are playing this damn well so banged up. They'd be finals bound with just Kyrie healthy. If they have both Irving and Hayward with all the kids healthy next year I can only imagine the awesome battles they'll have with Philly. Good time to be an NBA fan.

Meh, a lot of the good play in Kyrie’s absence has been at PG. As well as Rozier has played, its entirely possible that Boston would have gotten eliminated by the Bucks if they had Kyrie starting instead.

Meh, it could possibly go the other way too and Rozier could provide the scoring punch he is now off the bench resulting in blowout wins.

[Splashin]

It's sad Celtics are playing this damn well so banged up. They'd be finals bound with just Kyrie healthy. If they have both Irving and Hayward with all the kids healthy next year I can only imagine the awesome battles they'll have with Philly. Good time to be an NBA fan.

Meh, a lot of the good play in Kyrie’s absence has been at PG. As well as Rozier has played, its entirely possible that Boston would have gotten eliminated by the Bucks if they had Kyrie starting instead.

Highly doubtful. Kyrie is pretty good.

[Kool_Name_Right]

It's sad Celtics are playing this damn well so banged up. They'd be finals bound with just Kyrie healthy. If they have both Irving and Hayward with all the kids healthy next year I can only imagine the awesome battles they'll have with Philly. Good time to be an NBA fan.

Meh, a lot of the good play in Kyrie’s absence has been at PG. As well as Rozier has played, its entirely possible that Boston would have gotten eliminated by the Bucks if they had Kyrie starting instead.

How does that work in your opinion? Having Kyrie back means less production from the PG? Rozier will still get minutes and having more talent and depth is somehow a detriment now?

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[Kool_Name_Right]

It's sad Celtics are playing this damn well so banged up. They'd be finals bound with just Kyrie healthy. If they have both Irving and Hayward with all the kids healthy next year I can only imagine the awesome battles they'll have with Philly. Good time to be an NBA fan.

Meh, a lot of the good play in Kyrie’s absence has been at PG. As well as Rozier has played, its entirely possible that Boston would have gotten eliminated by the Bucks if they had Kyrie starting instead.

How does that work in your opinion? Having Kyrie back means less production from the PG? Rozier will still get minutes and having more talent and depth is somehow a detriment now?

Sent from my [device_name] using [url]RealGM mobile app[/url]

[iggymcfrack]

It's sad Celtics are playing this damn well so banged up. They'd be finals bound with just Kyrie healthy. If they have both Irving and Hayward with all the kids healthy next year I can only imagine the awesome battles they'll have with Philly. Good time to be an NBA fan.

Meh, a lot of the good play in Kyrie’s absence has been at PG. As well as Rozier has played, its entirely possible that Boston would have gotten eliminated by the Bucks if they had Kyrie starting instead.

Meh, it could possibly go the other way too and Rozier could provide the scoring punch he is now off the bench resulting in blowout wins.

Yeah, on average they’d probably be a little better if they had Kyrie but I don’t think it would be some huge difference that jumped up their Finals odds a bunch. During the regular season, the Celtics had almost the same record without Kyrie as with him and their PG play has been much better in the postseason than it was in the regular season after Kyrie got hurt. I just don’t see how he moves the needle for this team. I mean they might be like a point or two better a game, but they certainly wouldn’t be favored over any of the other 3 Eastern teams that are remaining just because Kyrie game back.

[Splashin]

Meh, a lot of the good play in Kyrie’s absence has been at PG. As well as Rozier has played, its entirely possible that Boston would have gotten eliminated by the Bucks if they had Kyrie starting instead.

Meh, it could possibly go the other way too and Rozier could provide the scoring punch he is now off the bench resulting in blowout wins.

Yeah, on average they’d probably be a little better if they had Kyrie but I don’t think it would be some huge difference that jumped up their Finals odds a bunch. During the regular season, the Celtics had almost the same record without Kyrie as with him and their PG play has been much better in the postseason than it was in the regular season after Kyrie got hurt. I just don’t see how he moves the needle for this team. I mean they might be like a point or two better a game, but they certainly wouldn’t be favored over any of the other 3 Eastern teams that are remaining just because Kyrie game back.

He made a bit of a difference with Cleveland in the post season didn't he? Comparing season records with and without star players is near meaningless as an iso-scorer of kyrie's calibur becomes irreplaceable come post season. Celtics won't keep shooting this well and they'll lose to the 76ers

[Fencer reregistered]

Meh, a lot of the good play in Kyrie’s absence has been at PG. As well as Rozier has played, its entirely possible that Boston would have gotten eliminated by the Bucks if they had Kyrie starting instead.

Meh, it could possibly go the other way too and Rozier could provide the scoring punch he is now off the bench resulting in blowout wins.

Yeah, on average they’d probably be a little better if they had Kyrie but I don’t think it would be some huge difference that jumped up their Finals odds a bunch. During the regular season, the Celtics had almost the same record without Kyrie as with him and their PG play has been much better in the postseason than it was in the regular season after Kyrie got hurt. I just don’t see how he moves the needle for this team. I mean they might be like a point or two better a game, but they certainly wouldn’t be favored over any of the other 3 Eastern teams that are remaining just because Kyrie game back.

Shane Larkin played 18 minutes in Game 1. I think Kyrie is somewhat better than he is.

[Andy123]

Might as well cancel the game. The sixers are the best team ever assembled and Boston won't score more than 12 points. RealGM has spoken.

This will go bad for the Celtics. So bad that after getting swept 4-0, real Celtics fans are going to storm the Garden and tear down all those banners homer fans keep talking about all the time.

Sig worthy post

[Spanish_Laker]

You gotta respect and love this Celtics team. It's wonderful to see such a decimated, hobbled team playing hard and beating good healthy teams. Their coach is probably the best in the NBA, he has done a phenomenal job so far. If only they had a full roster, they would be a lock for the Finals.

[yoyoboy]

I'm beginning to feel like this Lakers pick has the potential to change the future of the league.

I'm not actually entirely sure what the sixers would do with the No.1 (though part of a trade might be the smartest move) but if Boston got their hands on one of the really good defensive bigs then you start wondering what Stevens is going to mould them into and you say hello to a potential dynasty.

True, but there's a 96% chance that it turns into a 10-12 pick for Philly, which is Miles Bridges/Sexton/SGA tier, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. But if a team like Philly or Boston jumped into the top 3 I can only imagine how angry the fans of the top tanking teams would be.

[DBA]

Great game by the Celtics, love the young guys giving it all out there. Philly is getting cocky really quick, the game wasn't even over yet and they all walking out the arena already? Celtics should have slammed the ball one more time for that disrespect.

[RakimAbdulJabar]

I'm sticking with my preseason prediction of Celtics vs Rockets in the finals.

While it's never a good idea to try and judge any series off 1 game, there was a lot to like if you're a Boston fan from game 1

Firstly no matter what the score was throughout the game, it didn't really ever look like the Celtics were going to lose. The consistency of playing a game 7 vs sitting a number of days definitely showed from the outset. Some of that is Bostons defense which is an upgrade as opposed to facing the Heat but the Sixers looked off from the start.

They weren't terrible other than the 3 point shooting but they just didn't look in synch out there compared to how they were playing against the Heat. Simmons inability to knock down free throws at a respectable rate is going to be a factor and the main reason why I want the Celtics to advance and face the Cavs.

Both teams play good D, both have numerous 3 point shooters and bigs that can spread the floor as well as home court advantage over the Cavs, but with the ball in his hands so often, I feel like Simmons is going to be a liability if they choose to send him to the line and I don't think the Sixers have the composure that the Celtics have in facing a Lebron lead team.

While the Celtics will still rely heavily on young guys like Tatum, Brown and Rozier, they do have guys like Horford, Smart and Morris who are unlikely to be phased by the challenge

The Celtics deserve credit for their ability to step up as a team and the coaching staff deserve credit for putting a system in place that you could be without Irving and Brown and have guys step in and continue to play such a high level of basketball. When you factor in Hayward missing the entire season and Smart playing through obvious pain, this team if healthy is a testament to Ainge's vision and he deserves a lot of credit for what he's been able to do while so many others have failed spectacularly, and I say that as someone who doesn't like Ainge.

The icing on the cake for Ainge and the Celtics is watching Tatum out there playing like an Allstar while Fultz sits on the bench. That doesn't mean Fultz's career is over, but right now you're ecstatic with that trade if you're Boston and kicking yourself if you're the Sixers. For all the talk of Tatum potentially being phased by the moment, I haven't seen any signs of it, he doesn't look like he's about to slow down either. I'm sure the Sixers will bounce back, and they're definitely a better team than the Bucks, but I don't think this one is going 7, sticking with Celtics in 5 or 6

Finally how about Rozier, the kid came out and played as perfect a game as you would want for someone having to fill in for one of the best and most creative scoring guards in the league. He won't do that every game but again another guy who simply isn't afraid of the moment and has that confidence that can be misguided if it's not controlled but Stevens seems to have him playing within the system as opposed to just Crawfording his way out there. I'm happy for him, but sad that it's now too late to 'steal' him off the Celtics

[FlatearthZorro]

does bellinelli smoke on the bench?

Yo where did you show up from... Your posts ahahah

[kuclas]

Celtics hit their 3s. Close to 50%? Sixers didn’t. Sixers shot 19%? That’s basically the ball game. If Celtics keep hitting at a 50% clip from 3. Hats off to them.

Yes. Celtics guard the 3 the best in the league. Stevens made sacrifice to let embiid get his 2 points over letting sixers defenders get open for 3s. That works as long as Celtics are scoring on offense.

Sixers have to make changes on defense. I don’t think saric or Simmons are strong enough to guard horford (when baynes is guarding embiid). Ersan should be in the lineup with Horford/baynes.

Simmons on Rozier. Covington on tatum. I’d sacrifice and have reddick on hobbled Jaylen brown until he proves he can move on hamstring.

Just keep pounding the ball into the post to embiid. Baynes will get in foul trouble real quick. That’s something Stevens has to readjust to. Cause Stevens does not want Al Horford guarding embiid long term. Too much energy will be expended on Horford.

[Ascrilas]

I mean, it is true that we had an unusually hot shooting night and Philly missed way more from 3 than they normally would, but I think Sixers fans are kinda overblowing how much the law of averages will come back to bite us in the ass. You shot .192 from three, but also .526 from two and had 35 free throws which accounts to a FT/FGA rate of .313 (regular season avg was .198). You can always stress the aspects where the own team underperformed while ignoring the ones where you overperformed.

At the end of the day, Philadelphia scored 101 points which isn't too bad considering how often we are able to hold opponents down to two-digit scoring. Philly had an ORtg of 105.1 today, Boston's regular season DRtg was 103.9 - so, yeah, let's just see. Sub-20% three-point shooting will obviously not sustain, but I wouldn't necessarily expect Philly to be really better offensively in the following games. Our defense is just really **** good, Brown and Smart are both elite perimeter defenders, Rozier's not too shabby either and Horford can protect the paint, and if needed, we can just throw in Ojeleye.

The key for Philly will be to contain our offense, we will not score 117 points every game, but we don't need to. It's not like this was a close game, we won by 16, we can still win games even when not being that hot, and Brown will need to figure out how to prevent Rozier and Tatum from getting advantageous matchups, because right now, guys like Redick and Belinelli are just getting smoked left and right.

I still think Philly will grind it out in the end, but it will be close, and we deserve credit no matter what.

[RakimAbdulJabar]

Celtics hit their 3s. Close to 50%? Sixers didn’t. Sixers shot 19%? That’s basically the ball game. If Celtics keep hitting at a 50% clip from 3. Hats off to them.

Yes. Celtics guard the 3 the best in the league. Stevens made sacrifice to let embiid get his 2 points over letting sixers defenders get open for 3s. That works as long as Celtics are scoring on offense.

Sixers have to make changes on defense. I don’t think saric or Simmons are strong enough to guard horford (when baynes is guarding embiid). Ersan should be in the lineup with Horford/baynes.

Simmons on Rozier. Covington on tatum. I’d sacrifice and have reddick on hobbled Jaylen brown until he proves he can move on hamstring.

Just keep pounding the ball into the post to embiid. Baynes will get in foul trouble real quick. That’s something Stevens has to readjust to. Cause Stevens does not want Al Horford guarding embiid long term. Too much energy will be expended on Horford.

They didn't even use Monroe, who might not be the best defender but showed some improvements and at least has some strength to put up some kind of resistance on Embiid for 10-15 minutes if needed

[lambchop]

Celtics hit their 3s. Close to 50%? Sixers didn’t. Sixers shot 19%? That’s basically the ball game. If Celtics keep hitting at a 50% clip from 3. Hats off to them.

Yes. Celtics guard the 3 the best in the league. Stevens made sacrifice to let embiid get his 2 points over letting sixers defenders get open for 3s. That works as long as Celtics are scoring on offense.

Sixers have to make changes on defense. I don’t think saric or Simmons are strong enough to guard horford (when baynes is guarding embiid). Ersan should be in the lineup with Horford/baynes.

Simmons on Rozier. Covington on tatum. I’d sacrifice and have reddick on hobbled Jaylen brown until he proves he can move on hamstring.

Just keep pounding the ball into the post to embiid. Baynes will get in foul trouble real quick. That’s something Stevens has to readjust to. Cause Stevens does not want Al Horford guarding embiid long term. Too much energy will be expended on Horford.

a lot of the celtics open 3s were actually a product of Embiid's inability or unwillingness to get out to the three point line. His RPM was -6 which means he wasn't as bad as others on D and of course he was awesome on the offensive end, but if you go through celtics buckets again, you'll see that they put Embiid in a lot of pick n pops and pick n rolls that created open looks for the Cs. But I still have to see the sixers adjustments