1/12/23 Celtics @ Swamp Dragons
- Thread starter Bernie Carbohydrate
- Start date
Announcers say that's the dagger. Apparently, they haven't been watching NBA basketball this year.
I'm not sure it can be a rivalry if one team beats the other 9 times in a row. But I share your disdain for the team.
I dislike the Heat and the Sixers more, but Brooklyn is a strong third. (Plus, the Lakers.)
Miami is probably the closest over the last handful of years by virtue of the conference finals matchups. Nets haven’t done enough, but that is kind of what makes them more dislikable.
I bet Golden State will be their nemesis over the next 5yrs...Curry/Wiggins/Klay is a great foundation
TNT postgame:
Ernie: We just got a preview of how Brooklyn is going to respond to the absence of Durant.
Charles; Yeah, they gonna lose.
Ernie: We just got a preview of how Brooklyn is going to respond to the absence of Durant.
Charles; Yeah, they gonna lose.
This is a good point - “arch-rival” I think implies a mutual respect.
Nets are maybe most villainous.
I was mostly being facetious and f'ing around But Marcus's game and his intensity reminds me of the way and fire Cowen played with. AND I loved Cowens. It's probably Havlicek. Then Cowens.
Kyrie, there is no bigger Boston villain
Boston owns the Nets, its a really bad match-up for them
At one point Kyrie had Marcus guard him, then switch on to White, then switch on to Grant....Nobody to hunt.
I have Star Wars Emperor hate for the Nets, 6ers, Heat, and Bucks come playoffs. But the Nets have two superstars who I cannot stand. That probably bumps them to the top, but it’s tough saying that when I look across the other teams and see the likes of Embiid, Lowry, and the walking offensive foul machine.
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Some are going to write this one off ("of course Boston beat the Nets, Durant was hurt") but don't let them. The final line was just Boston -1, and with good reason. The Celtics missing Brown/Horford is pretty close to the Nets missing Durant, and a back to back on the road is significantly harder than playing a home game after 3 full days off. This was an impressive win, and not nearly as close as a couple of recent ones over some lesser teams.
If they had lost on the second night of a b2b without Jaylen and Al, I would have shrugged it off but also been a little bummed that they were tied in the loss column with Brooklyn. To now be three games clear of the rest of the East with a significant leg up on the h2h with Brooklyn is a pretty big deal. And Durant or no Durant, that Brooklyn team is riddled with light-out shooters. Holding them under 100 is outstanding. It's a great win as far as I'm concerned.
Damn right. This was a schedule loss that the C's turned into a win. Period. Nets are missing Durant, and we're missing an All-NBA guy and another starter.
Kyrie and all of Brooklyn, can eat all the logs of shit.
Someone needs to show me how Brooklyn is going to play in the playoffs.. Are they going to sit Simmons for the entire second half?.. are they going to play together well enough to actually make any difference in the first round? Is Durant going to be able to stay healthy throughout? Is Kyrie going to stay interested? How are they going to play any better than they did last year when the Celtics either reduce their rotation or picks up the pace with a deeper team.. are Kyrie's and KD's legs going to get younger as they play more minutes in the playoffs?
Main thing.. I have no idea how the three of them are going to play together... and if Simmons can't play because he can't shoot FTs.. are the rest of them going to step up?
This game was a good example of why Kornet is (IMHO) #9 on the depth chart. He's fundamentally sound (albeit with below average athleticism) and a sneaky good shooter. Hauser was a pretty boy for a while, but he's gone cold. Pritchard is now contesting him for the #10 slot, albeit without much success.
It wasn't 1 for 1 (the Nets also got two rotation players in Drummond and Curry, plus two 1st rounds picks with some light protections) and Harden certainly has his own issues, but considering how thoroughly screwed the Sixers were with Simmons, it really feels like they get the better end of the deal (steal is pushing it). The book isn't closed just yet as Simmons is signed through 2025 (for better or worse) and Harden could leave Philly as a FA this summer, but yikes is Simmons embarrassing. It'd be one thing if Simmons just couldn't score, but we've got 4 years of proof that he should be scoring a moderately efficient 15 points per game. He's not scoring because he's obviously terrified of getting fouled, and even worse, everyone knows it. He's completely useless in a half court offense, you just stick your worse defender on him and sit in the paint. This has terrible implications for how he'll perform in the playoffs when everything gets a bit brighter (other than Brooklyn's ugly ass court) and the game slows down.
You have to pretty much go out of your way to play 26 minutes in an NBA game without scoring a point. Think the Celtics had a game this year where Grant scored 2 in 26 but that's about it.
Simmons’ next contract is going to be fascinating, coming off his age 28 season where he will be paid $40 MILLION.