TL is like the Gronk draft pick. If there were no health concerns he would not have been available to the Celtics. It's like the early 2000s Red Sox, they have to win a game in this series when Pedro or Lowe isn't pitching.
Health has more or less affected both teams equally, so is not really an excuse. Lowry missed 2 games, Tucker missed parts of games, Butler missed half a game. We've had Rob miss one, Smart miss one, Horford miss one, White miss one. More games lost to injury but Butler is their star.It’s going to come down to health. It always does. The C’s are likely up 2-1 or even 3-0 with Horford, Williams and Smart playing all three games.
Celtic also missed seven free throws. Brown missed 3, Smart missed 2.The Celtics were +11 from the line and made one more 3 than the Heat. The difference in the game was the turnovers allowed Miami to shoot 22 more shots, making 9 more than the Celtics. There were too many lazy passes that lead to too many points for the Heat.
Well that’s not a shocker, no offense.Celtic also missed seven free throws. Brown missed 3, Smart missed 2.
Anna Horford is more optimistic than me.
View: https://twitter.com/AnnaHorford/status/1528217206206697473?s=20&t=3G_B-M6k-vZwEWn1Tbjn5g
Anna Horford: Cs will win this series.
This does not bode well for the Miami Heat on Monday night.The Heat took 22 more shots than the Celtics tonight. They also had 15 fewer turnovers (8-23). Still, the Celtics managed to get within one point late in the game before falling back at the end.
The Celtics are as good as anyone coming off of a loss (11-1 over the last 4 months), but Miami has already done what they wanted to do (win a game in Boston). Even if we start with the premise that Boston is better than Miami, which isn't a given at all, the Celtics are in a lousy spot and blew a golden opportunity tonight. The injury situation is really remarkable (Smart, Williams, Tatum, Butler, Lowry and Tucker could all miss game 4 and it wouldn't surprise me) and that uncertainty isn't a good thing for the Celtics.This does not bode well for the Miami Heat on Monday night.
Feels optimistic.538, whose ratings had been bullish on the Celtics until now, basically has the series at 50/50.
I don't think it's something missing and more just they are still a really young team.Feels optimistic.
This is the first time all postseason that I am doubting their ability to win the title.
I still don't think your "glass jaw" comment was accurate, but I do think you may be right that there is something missing.
If your idea of "glass jaw" means that the Celtics cannot regroup after being punched, then you are right to say that the Celtics don't have one. They obviously did turn it around after their 4 prior playoff losses! What I meant by it is something a little different from that: when they get punched it knocks them off their game for a while and they often don't regroup until the next game.I still don't think your "glass jaw" comment was accurate, but I do think you may be right that there is something missing.
In this case, the Celtics made their key run in the 4th while Tatum was injured, and bringing him back in ended the run.One criticism of Ime: I like the guy, and I like the quick timeouts he calls, but one thing he doesn't do is shake up the on-court lineups enough. When the energy is bad, you need to throw a spark in there: Pritchard, Nesmith, even Kornet, somebody who at least is going to play their heart out for a few minutes.
Well, the something missing could be "experience." Particularly for Tatum, particularly as THE guy on this team. Tatum has a ton of playoff experience for a 24 year old but this is the first season with him as the unquestioned leader of a championship caliber team.I don't think it's something missing and more just they are still a really young team.
They should have beaten the Bucks 5 or 6 but we're out executed in the close games.
So far they have won or tied every quarter expect for 2. But those two have been terrible and lost them 2 games. They are the better team, but they keep getting in their own way. If they can keep their heads on straight the Heat can't really play with them over a full game.
They were going backdoor against the overplaying defense. It worked once in G2. It didn't work at all this game because MIA was ready for it.It seemed to me like they were trying a different approach to beat the zone by passing to a cutter to the basket. Unfortunately, that seemed to not work like every time, either.a turnover, or if we’re lucky a kicked ball.
Ime has largely done a great job but he should be skewered for his Theis decision as well. He has all the data. He sees what we all see. I have no idea what his thought process was at all there.The “we’ve won more quarters” thing is the new “more days in first place”. Who cares? They’ve epically screwed themselves in 2 of the 3 games with unacceptable play that completely swung the game. What pisses me off the most is the lack of energy at the start last night. It’s a swing game at home in the ECF and that’s what you bring out of the locker room? Extremely frustrating.
That’s laughable.That being said if Time Lord plays instead of Theis, Celtics win this game. At full strength they are easily the best team in the league. Theis might be ok in some matchups but not against the Heat.
What part? I mean Bam did nothing with TL in the game.. he was one of the biggest reasons Miami got off to such a hog start.That’s laughable.
Pinning the blame for this loss on either Daniel Theis or the absence of Rob. It’s not Theis’ fault that Brown was allergic to the ball during the third quarter, or that Tatum was unable to score from the field during the second half. When a Celtic standing still makes a pass that is picked off by a Jeat player who was also standing still, that’s a deeper problem than having a guy out hurt. And if we are talking about the impact of injuries on this game, there’s still Jimmy Butler to consider.What part?
Well with all that they were within one. I’d argue that there’s a huge difference between TL and Theis starting.. and that Bam was their best player in the first. With Theis in there.. a player that barely plays.. defensive and offensive rotations are off.. he contributed nothing on either end. One could argue with the Cs so far behind in the first that they had to press the rest of the game.. causing some of those turnovers. Also for some inexplicable reason Ime used the same lineup for almost the entire second half.. all of that is related to Theis starting. That you think it’s laughable.. ok cool.Pinning the blame for this loss on either Daniel Theis or the absence of Rob. It’s not Theis’ fault that Brown was allergic to the ball during the third quarter, or that Tatum was unable to score from the field during the second half. When a Celtic standing still makes a pass that is picked off by a Jeat player who was also standing still, that’s a deeper problem than having a guy out hurt. And if we are talking about the impact of injuries on this game, there’s still Jimmy Butler to consider.
And last night they outscored the Heat by 25 after falling behind by 26, eventually cutting it to 1 before fading. They don’t quit in-game while facing adversity which is what I associate with glass jaw.If your idea of "glass jaw" means that the Celtics cannot regroup after being punched, then you are right to say that the Celtics don't have one. They obviously did turn it around after their 4 prior playoff losses! What I meant by it is something a little different from that: when they get punched it knocks them off their game for a while and they often don't regroup until the next game.
They pulled to within one, but lost by 6. Despite the Heat’s best player missing the second half.Well with all that they were within one. I’d argue that there’s a huge difference between TL and Theis starting.. and that Bam was their best player in the first. With Theis in there.. a player that barely plays.. defensive and offensive rotations are off.. he contributed nothing on either end. One could argue with the Cs so far behind in the first that they had to press the rest of the game.. causing some of those turnovers. Also for some inexplicable reason Ime used the same lineup for almost the entire second half.. all of that is related to Theis starting. That you think it’s laughable.. ok cool.
But that wasn’t your overall point and we all know it. You’re saying it’s laughable that TL for Theis was the major problem.. I think there’s a lot of evidence that it was despite all of the other things involved.They pulled to within one, but lost by 6. Despite the Heat’s best player missing the second half.
Do enlighten.But that wasn’t your overall point and we all know it.
I'm in the same boat. After three games, eve with Miami snagging two of them, I feel pretty confident that Miami really can't score enough points in traditional half-court sets against the Celtics to win the series. The only thing keeping them afloat is the massive amount of turnovers the Celtics have given them. If the Celtics can avoid that; they should win the series. Last night in the fourth quarter the Heat were DEAD on offense, but a few turnovers and some miracle-shots by Tucker/Bam allowed them to scrape enough together to hold off the Celtics.This does not bode well for the Miami Heat on Monday night.
It's hard to imagine that Smart will be able to play once the painkillers and adrenaline wear off and the ankle has a chance to swell up, but it was hard to imagine him coming back into the game last night too.Any injury updates on Tatum, Smart, and Butler? Are they all expected to play Game 4?
To be fair to EJ I edited to add context.. apologies for not noting itI think he said it right after in the quote you cropped….
You said it’s laughable that they would have won with Rob Williams playing and less Theis…
Butler is expected to play in Game 4 apparently. That’s kind of surprising to me as I really can’t think of something that would cause you to miss the second half of a game (when you have adrenaline flowing etc) but then have it reported immediately after the game that it’s not a big dealAny injury updates on Tatum, Smart, and Butler? Are they all expected to play Game 4?
What’s missing is Robert Williams, the big body banger who gets you a double double most games, while playing elite defense, closing lanes on that end, and opening them up on offense. Everyone asked what changed about the January-April Celtics, and the answer, to me, was Robert Williams both improved his game AND managed to stay healthy playing 40 minutes per game.Feels optimistic.
This is the first time all postseason that I am doubting their ability to win the title.
I still don't think your "glass jaw" comment was accurate, but I do think you may be right that there is something missing.