So they played yesterday, obviously. The schedule for the 4 games is:
The Sac game feels like a win to me. Cs have played well on B2Bs under Joe, and it's not a true road B2B: you just drive 1.5 hours up the road from SF.
Good point.
That sounds like a reasonable guess, and I would be OK with that depending on how it goes down.
If you're using Pacific Time for these games, then the first two are at 7 PM, not 10 PM. Fans on the East Coast really need their sleep!
Tankathon: Celtics have easiest remaining schedule in the league.
Doesn't this just mean that the schedule after the Cali trip is very, very easy? (At least in terms of opposing team records.)
Celtics just finished up an 8 out of 9 game homestretch. In the NBA's world of travel this is much easier than going from city to city in a condensed period of time. Philly's last 6 games have been....
You're making way more out of my comment than I meant by it. I simply meant that they're about to play 4 games on the road against teams with a combined 57-44 record, and so, after that, the schedule is even easier on a pure winning % basis.
I know but winning % is a terrible way to judge schedule strength and is very misleading. I was referring more to ESPN and Tankathon's rankings fwiw. I would be interested to know their methodology but can pretty clearly see that it didn't take critical factors in their calculations.
They call the period from Boxing Day to the All Star break the dog days of the NBA schedule for a reason. But the Celtics are definitely a better road team than their 6-5 record indicates. The 5 losses have included losses in Minnesota, Philly and Orlando who have combined to go 32-5 at home; being trounced by Indy in a game that Porzingis missed and in which the Pacers benefited mightily from shot luck; and a truly fluke OT loss in Charlotte. And all but the Hornets are playoff teams. They've also won games in Philly, Toronto, New York and Brooklyn.
Winning the Jaylen/no Tatum minutes that decisively validates everything Brad and Joe have done. (and Jaylen too lol)
Phoenix has a stretch at the end of March where they play 9 of 11 on the road in 21 days. East swing with a trip home for a quick B2B, then back on the road for 5 more. That's about as brutal as one can get.
Thanks for the work above.
What is PHX deal? every time I watch they look out of sorts and rely way too much on Nurkic! (who has been decent)
Beal has played 6 games, all on minutes restrictions split up with 3-4 weeks off in between due to his back recurrence, with the final one lasting 4 and a half minutes before his bad ankle turn. I don't believe any of those games came with both Durant and Booker in the lineup. The three of them with Nurkic and Grayson Allen are an elite starting unit.
ECF looks like it's going to be lit.
Embiid would need to make an ECF for the first time in his career first though.
The Celtic's 3 most important players. <Ducks>
LEBRON just dropped a few minutes ago, too.
The data is obviously so precise that it's worth presenting to 3 decimal places.
DARKO/DPM, it looks like this so far
It’s not really a narrative to be fair, the numbers have shown it for years. This year, the team is stacked, so even when Tatum sits, they still kick ass.
Correct, which has been my point all year this year. Lost in all of the talk about who is the 2nd or 3rd or 7th most valuable on the team is that this team is good enough to withstand any of these guys missing a chunk of games in the regular season.
I posted the numbers on here yesterday, their net rating numbers are amazing almost across the board. There’s very few “breaks” for the other team, the Celtics just keep coming at you in waves.
Harden’s defense has been awesome since he’s gotten to LA. Not hyperbole either, he’s been kicking ass on both ends.
Harden has been a fantastic addition to that club and as was noted in the other thread, he is eating given the Clips opponents terrible choices about whom to guard. And the defense thing isn't completely surprising - we have seen him play D before for stretches (though don't blink!).
CJM has found some nice combos with Jaylen to lean into his strengths (attacking the rim/alpha scorer).
Harden's defense will last the season.
I don’t love the Thybulle move but he has shot better both last year and this year on threes
Kevin Love at 15? He must really be stuffing the stat sheet in the 19.2 mpg he's averaging.
Lowe (and Bontemps) also threw out John Konchar as someone who has some versatility, is on a reasonable contract, shouldn't cost a ton, and can hit a shot.
I don't think this roster is settled at all past 1-7. Everything 8-15 is in play imo and at least one piece will be added but likely two imo. There is no reason for us to enter the playoffs with Pritchard, Kornet/Queta, or Brissett/Stevens/Banton one injury away from playing major minutes....and two injuries away from two of them doing so. We are too close to not be better prepared.
