EC FINALS, Gm 1 – Pacers @ Celtics – 8:00PM, Tues, May 21, 2024

[zoyathedestroya]

I have a weird feeling Carlisle is going to give Tatum 3's since he's shot like total ass the entire playoffs until he makes them pay.

From one of the previews, they mentioned Tatum had something like 48% expected eFG% in the Pacers games but shot something like 68% eFG%. So yeah, his shot quality leaves something to be desired esp against a team that's not known for its defense. Can we expect for these same shots to fall?

He's shooting like 18% on wide open threes (over 6 ft) and 15% on closely guarded threes (2-4 ft). He's been much better on both, between 40-50% on wide open threes, and in the low 30s on closely guarded threes, so he *should* shoot better but who knows what he'll do on small samples.

So let's not improve shot selection/quality of our best player since it's all random and luck anyways?

[zoyathedestroya]

They literally did away with positions. Odd teams.

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Congrats to White and Holiday! Much deserved.

[ThePigeon]

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Brothers?!
JT will start the game with a technical before the game even starts

And I can't stand Doris. Please bring a team of commentators that does not hate the Celtics so much

Well, enough bickering.
WIN BIG and shut the haters up!!

[meatball sub]

way too many people are predicting this goes 6-7. i dont buy it

[lon3lytoaster]

As simple as it is, it is what it is.

I think the Pacers have a legitimately very good offense. Despite these historic oRating numbers, I do not however think the Celtics run any sort of great, intricate offense.

If the Celtics play down and the Pacers play up like both are known to do, they could easily steal at least two games.

With that said, that’s their shot. It shouldn’t be any more than that.

Celtics have to take this Series, convincingly.
6 ECF in 8 years. And 1 Finals. What else is left.

They have to come away with a Title. Or, it's time to seriously talk about Trades.

Did we not just make 2 major trades last summer? KP and Jrue. Those were both big trades.

Plus Grant (a rotation player on 3 of those teams that went to ECF) sign and trade to Dallas.

Less than half of the guys on last year's 15 man playoff roster are still with the team.

This is only Mazzulla's 2nd year as a HC - his first year with assistants that he picked.

It's a pretty new team this season. Let's see how the rest of the playoffs go. But keep in mind, out of those 2 big trades we made last summer, 1 of the guys we got (KP) has been out for most of the playoffs and might not even play another game this postseason.

We're the least healthy team remaining in the playoffs. If we fall short of winning a title, it'd be a bummer but it would probably just be due to injury luck - so drastic changes probably won't be necessary. Unless it's moving KP for a more reliable big..

You forgot to add Tatum isn’t far enough into his prime to win.

[lon3lytoaster]

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Brothers?!
JT will start the game with a technical before the game even starts

And I can't stand Doris. Please bring a team of commentators that does not hate the Celtics so much

Well, enough bickering.
WIN BIG and shut the haters up!!

Have we had Foster yet? Come on, show me a friendly face.

[zoyathedestroya]

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[BK_2020]

From one of the previews, they mentioned Tatum had something like 48% expected eFG% in the Pacers games but shot something like 68% eFG%. So yeah, his shot quality leaves something to be desired esp against a team that's not known for its defense. Can we expect for these same shots to fall?

He's shooting like 18% on wide open threes (over 6 ft) and 15% on closely guarded threes (2-4 ft). He's been much better on both, between 40-50% on wide open threes, and in the low 30s on closely guarded threes, so he *should* shoot better but who knows what he'll do on small samples.

So let's not improve shot selection/quality of our best player since it's all random and luck anyways?

No you are on to something. Tatum should just take 20 wide open threes per game.

[zoyathedestroya]

He's shooting like 18% on wide open threes (over 6 ft) and 15% on closely guarded threes (2-4 ft). He's been much better on both, between 40-50% on wide open threes, and in the low 30s on closely guarded threes, so he *should* shoot better but who knows what he'll do on small samples.

So let's not improve shot selection/quality of our best player since it's all random and luck anyways?

No you are on to something. Tatum should just take 20 wide open threes per game.

That's not possible even against the worst defense in the league. 20 3s is too much for one player anyway.

[BK_2020]

So let's not improve shot selection/quality of our best player since it's all random and luck anyways?

No you are on to something. Tatum should just take 20 wide open threes per game.

That's not possible even against the worst defense in the league. 20 3s is too much for one player anyway.

Tatum is our primary creator and he plays like 15 minutes a game with the bench lineup. He's not going to get easy shots. Guys who get fed a bunch of easy shots are roleplayers with the exception of Haliburton who leads the playoffs in wide open threes. Case in point Horford, who leads the Celtics with 40 wide open threes (Tatum has 7, Jaylen has 6).
At any rate, suggesting that Tatum is a better shooter on closely guarded threes than 15% is nothing like saying we shouldn't improve Tatum's shot selection.

[31to6]

So let's not improve shot selection/quality of our best player since it's all random and luck anyways?

No you are on to something. Tatum should just take 20 wide open threes per game.

That's not possible even against the worst defense in the league. 20 3s is too much for one player anyway.

pfffft Marcus put up 22 once
https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/most-3-pointers-attempted-in-a-game-by-a-player

[BRUNiNHO91]

Just thinking about this game..a month ago everybody thought we would be here..but we thought Giannis, Dame, Middleton and them boys would be coming into town..

Now we have Haliburton, Siakam and Nesmith.


Come on lol if we lose it would be so shameful, we can’t state that enough.

[BK_2020]

Just thinking about this game..a month ago everybody thought we would be here..but we thought Giannis, Dame, Middleton and them boys would be coming into town..

Now we have Haliburton, Siakam and Nesmith.


Come on lol if we lose it would be so shameful, we can’t state that enough.

The Pacers were a pretty good team in the regular season. 10th by SRS and net rating, above Milwaukee, Cleveland, Magic, and also Dallas in the West.
In any case I don't know why the predominant discourse around the Celtics on social and national media always revolves around how shameful it would be if we lose and who needs to get fired and who needs to get traded if we lose.

[Celts17Pride]

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Don't know what Perk is drinking but we should all have some.

[BRUNiNHO91]

Just thinking about this game..a month ago everybody thought we would be here..but we thought Giannis, Dame, Middleton and them boys would be coming into town..

Now we have Haliburton, Siakam and Nesmith.


Come on lol if we lose it would be so shameful, we can’t state that enough.

The Pacers were a pretty good team in the regular season. 10th by SRS and net rating, above Milwaukee, Cleveland, Magic, and also Dallas in the West.
In any case I don't know why the predominant discourse around the Celtics on social and national media always revolves around how shameful it would be if we lose and who needs to get fired and who needs to get traded if we lose.

It’s pretty simple. If you don’t get to the finals having to play the cakewalk piss easy opponents we have played so far, you’ll never be good enough to win a championship. The only answer to such shameful demise would be to make massive changes again..

Unless you think winning 65 games and losing to a mediocre team is worthy of a second chance. This team shouldn’t lose a series to anybody besides Denver or Minny..period. This is as simple as it’s going to get. Just for comparison, last year we had to play Maxey, Embiid and Harden in round 2.

[Bad-Thoma]

Just thinking about this game..a month ago everybody thought we would be here..but we thought Giannis, Dame, Middleton and them boys would be coming into town..

Now we have Haliburton, Siakam and Nesmith.


Come on lol if we lose it would be so shameful, we can’t state that enough.

Bro you claim every loss is pathetic, I really can't take you seriously anymore when it comes to that. No team wins 100% of the time, no matter how good. Does it suck more to lose as the favored team than it does as the underdog? Maybe, but it's just a psychological bull **** thing, it's still the same season ending let down.

That said they better win or we will burn this whole **** thing down.

[Fencer reregistered]

No you are on to something. Tatum should just take 20 wide open threes per game.

That's not possible even against the worst defense in the league. 20 3s is too much for one player anyway.

pfffft Marcus put up 22 once
https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/most-3-pointers-attempted-in-a-game-by-a-player

And he hit half of them, scoring 37 points total.

The Celtics still lost.

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/game/1-18-2020-phx-at-bos-70113

[SuperDeluxe]

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Don't know what Perk is drinking but we should all have some.

The sun is a star.

[Fencer reregistered]

They literally did away with positions. Odd teams.

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Congrats to White and Holiday! Much deserved.

Weird stats: Jaylen got 3 votes for first team, but only 1 for second.

The Celtics had 4 guys who got votes of some kind, presumably that low only because Porzingis wasn't eligible at all.

[BRUNiNHO91]

Just thinking about this game..a month ago everybody thought we would be here..but we thought Giannis, Dame, Middleton and them boys would be coming into town..

Now we have Haliburton, Siakam and Nesmith.


Come on lol if we lose it would be so shameful, we can’t state that enough.

Bro you claim every loss is pathetic, I really can't take you seriously anymore when it comes to that. No team wins 100% of the time, no matter how good. Does it suck more to lose as the favored team than it does as the underdog? Maybe, but it's just a psychological bull **** thing, it's still the same season ending let down.

That said they better win or we will burn this whole **** thing down.

I didn’t even mean just this one game, I meant the series.

But yh sure..letting the Heat come into your house and hitting a historic amount of 3’s in game 2 is pathetic. Losing to Cleveland at home by double digits when they couldn’t win a single game on the road against the powerhouse Orlando Magic is also pathetic.

If you don’t think it is then maybe I should be the one not taking you seriously here.

Having that said, besides those two isolated farts, I feel like they have played decent ball. Winning 4-4 on the road in the playoffs is no small task regardless of who you play.