2021 NBA Playoffs Gamethread

Humphrey

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terrynever

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pawtucket

HomeRunBaker

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You can probably thank this guy for why no one remembers the strongest team in the ABA at the time of the merger. https://www.lighthousehockey.com/law-owners-special-islanders-unit/2013/1/8/3796738/new-york-islanders-roy-boe-owner-history (I either never knew; or forgot, that he owned the Islanders too)
That league was so bizarre. Denver had a great team but the one squad with the best overall talent finished 35-49 that year. Spirits of St Louis had 3 players who later made NBA All-Star teams (Moses Malone, Maurice Lucas, and ML Carr), a three other NBA starters (Don Chaney, Ron Boone, and Caldwell Jones), and another guy who had as much potential as anyone (Marvin Barnes).
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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That league was so bizarre. Denver had a great team but the one squad with the best overall talent finished 35-49 that year. Spirits of St Louis had 3 players who later made NBA All-Star teams (Moses Malone, Maurice Lucas, and ML Carr), a three other NBA starters (Don Chaney, Ron Boone, and Caldwell Jones), and another guy who had as much potential as anyone (Marvin Barnes).
There was a lot more going on in St. Louis than basketball. Here's a fun article recapping the franchise: http://www.remembertheaba.com/Spirits-of-St-Louis.html

D'Antoni was on that team too.
 

Humphrey

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That league was so bizarre. Denver had a great team but the one squad with the best overall talent finished 35-49 that year. Spirits of St Louis had 3 players who later made NBA All-Star teams (Moses Malone, Maurice Lucas, and ML Carr), a three other NBA starters (Don Chaney, Ron Boone, and Caldwell Jones), and another guy who had as much potential as anyone (Marvin Barnes).
So in my lifetime St. Louis has lost a baseball team, two football teams and two basketball teams. Neck-and-neck with Oakland in that dubious accomplishment.
 

jon abbey

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Ben Simmons missed more FTs than everyone else in that game combined, they were 41-46 and he was 3-10. It is a tough thing to overcome when your PG can’t hit FTs to the point where the other team intentionally fouls him.
 

TripleOT

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If the Celtics signed Reggie Jackson and Nic Batum for this season, they probably would still be playing. On a team with so many young players, like the 2021 Celtics, you need to hit on a couple of minimum salary veterans.

Hopefully, Brad would do a better job this off season than Ainge did his last one.
 

TripleOT

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Ben Simmons missed more FTs than everyone else in that game combined, they were 41-46 and he was 3-10. It is a tough thing to overcome when your PG can’t hit FTs to the point where the other team intentionally fouls him.
IDK if a team can go deep in the playoffs with a star PG who can’t make a shot outside of five street, and can’t make FTs.

Philly might win this series, but Simmons needs to play on a team with a stretch 5, or learn to shoot.
 

Cellar-Door

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If the Celtics signed Reggie Jackson and Nic Batum for this season, they probably would still be playing. On a team with so many young players, like the 2021 Celtics, you need to hit on a couple of minimum salary veterans.

Hopefully, Brad would do a better job this off season than Ainge did his last one.
I mean.... you realize how buyouts work right? Batum and Jackson had calls in from BOS I'm sure, they picked LA because they thought it was a better chance to win a title (also it's in LA).
 

Jimbodandy

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If the Celtics signed Reggie Jackson and Nic Batum for this season, they probably would still be playing. On a team with so many young players, like the 2021 Celtics, you need to hit on a couple of minimum salary veterans.

Hopefully, Brad would do a better job this off season than Ainge did his last one.
I just looked up Batum's offensive playoff numbers because my memory was that he was dreadful in the playoffs. His shooting stats were comparable to Porzingis. So...bad, but a bargain price bad.

You're right about veterans. They need more.
 

TripleOT

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I mean.... you realize how buyouts work right? Batum and Jackson had calls in from BOS I'm sure, they picked LA because they thought it was a better chance to win a title (also it's in LA).
I didn’t realize how it works. Thanks for the high level insight.

Can you use your next level thinking to let me know if the Celtics can ever sign a quality minimum salary veteran?
 

Cellar-Door

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I didn’t realize how it works. Thanks for the high level insight.

Can you use your next level thinking to let me know if the Celtics can ever sign a quality minimum salary veteran?
Hey they signed a guy who is MIL's backup PG playing 13 MPG against the Nets, then cut him.

My point is, saying... "oh hey if we signed the most in demand buyout players who had no interest in signing here we'd have been better" isn't a productive line of reasoning. We know Batum was better than what we had... he wasn't interested in coming here. Same with Jackson, and Blake, and even Drummond (who I don't think was better than TT). It's like asking why we didn't draft LaMelo instead of Nesmith... it was never a real option.
 

Tony C

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Beyond that, there is some random element here. Last year the Lakers signed Kief Morris and he was great in the playoffs. This year they re-signed him at (or near) the minimum and he stunk. Was Pelinka brilliant last year and dumb this year? Or was he lucky last year and unlucky this season? My money is on the latter.

Similarly, who all had Reggie Jackson in the valuable signing category? My recollection is that last year on the Clips he was seen as one of those guys who shouldn't see the court much during the playoffs. Bottom line: These vet signings are a bit like signing relief pitchers in baseball: they make you look awfully smart when the player has a good streak, and sure some of those signings are better than others, but there's also a bit of random luck in re how well they end up contributing.

That said, I definitely agree the Celtics have had too many young players on their roster and should have taken their best shot on the vet market.
 

Jimbodandy

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Beyond that, there is some random element here. Last year the Lakers signed Kief Morris and he was great in the playoffs. This year they re-signed him at (or near) the minimum and he stunk. Was Pelinka brilliant last year and dumb this year? Or was he lucky last year and unlucky this season? My money is on the latter.

Similarly, who all had Reggie Jackson in the valuable signing category? My recollection is that last year on the Clips he was seen as one of those guys who shouldn't see the court much during the playoffs. Bottom line: These vet signings are a bit like signing relief pitchers in baseball: they make you look awfully smart when the player has a good streak, and sure some of those signings are better than others, but there's also a bit of random luck in re how well they end up contributing.

That said, I definitely agree the Celtics have had too many young players on their roster and should have taken their best shot on the vet market.
Good post.

Yeah Teague and TT looked like decent signings too. But the former ended up looking pretty cooked here...then he didn't. Hard to predict sometimes. But we definitely need more vets in the mix. Hopefully the right ones.
 

128

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Where is the Kris Middleton who can't miss a shot against Boston?
 

Lazy vs Crazy

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not Utah, too?

And have developed a hatred for Blake Griffin. What a dog...getting paid 10s of millions in Detroit to dog it.
Yeah what Blake did to the Pistons is criminal.

I don't think Gobert is going to be effective against the Nets and at some point Ingles is going to stop being the most efficient offensive player of all time.
 

TripleOT

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Where are those newly acquired “dogs” that were going to make the Bucks a much tougher playoff team this season? Newcomers Holiday, PJ Tucker, and crazy Portis were supposed to make a difference, but again the Bucks are getting worked by the Nets.
 

cheech13

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I wonder if Coach Bud is one of those “coaches still coaching in the playoffs that would be interested in the Celtics job.”
Isn’t the book on Bud that he can maximize talent and install a system, but can’t make in-game adjustments and is very slow to react to changes in a series? It’s why he has had good regular season teams that have flamed out in the playoffs.
 

HomeRunBaker

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He completely dogged it in Detroit and was rewarded with a buyout and contract with the best team in the league.
Lol he didn’t dog it. He was returning from two knee surgeries and hadn’t run in a year. Everyone knew, or should have known, he was only put out there to showcase him to teams to show he wasn’t cripple and working his way back into shape. He couldn’t even get enough lift to dunk back then.
 

Cellar-Door

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Has there ever been a coach who has had a bigger disparity between regular season success and playoffs?
He just ran a 2-3 zone against an all-time good outside shooting team.
 

Just a bit outside

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Lol he didn’t dog it. He was returning from two knee surgeries and hadn’t run in a year. Everyone knew, or should have known, he was only put out there to showcase him to teams to show he wasn’t cripple and working his way back into shape. He couldn’t even get enough lift to dunk back then.
He absolutely didn’t go 100% for the Pistons. Here is his quote about dunking before he played a game for the Nets. “I know a lot has been made about that, but I promise you I still can. I promise that,”. He was coming back from injury and dogged it with Detroit. Both can be true.
 

Tony C

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Where are those newly acquired “dogs” that were going to make the Bucks a much tougher playoff team this season? Newcomers Holiday, PJ Tucker, and crazy Portis were supposed to make a difference, but again the Bucks are getting worked by the Nets.
Is "crazy Portis" a thing or did you just make that up? He really does have crazy looking eyes...
 

Light-Tower-Power

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Has anyone ever come back from a blown achilles the way Durant has? He looks like he’s 24 years old out there. Didn’t lose an ounce of his ability.
 

Auger34

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Lol he didn’t dog it. He was returning from two knee surgeries and hadn’t run in a year. Everyone knew, or should have known, he was only put out there to showcase him to teams to show he wasn’t cripple and working his way back into shape. He couldn’t even get enough lift to dunk back then.
Blake was coming off two knee surgeries, hadn’t been cleared to run until after season began then didn’t have a training camp. He was in preseason mode his entire time in Detroit.
This is a really weird hill to die on and argue about....literally everyone that talks about Blake admits he was dogging it.

You can argue whether it was smart (not wasting the limited amount of juice he has left in his legs for a team that was awful) or the only means to an end (not wanting to waste one of your last few years playing for an awful team).

Those are fair arguments. But acting like he wasn’t purposely giving lackluster effort to get out of there? Cmon man. He dunked on Giannis tonight...he didn’t dunk with the Pistons for over a year and a half!
 

Auger34

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Is "crazy Portis" a thing or did you just make that up? He really does have crazy looking eyes...
If you haven’t googled Bobby Portis I’d highly recommend it....Hes out of his fucking mind.

Two highlights:
-Punching Nikola Mirotic in the face and fracturing his orbital bone....oh yeah, Mirotic was his teammate at the time.
-He psyches himself up by imagining every member of the opposing team has slapped his mom across the face...
 

djbayko

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I have significant Nets futures and bets on Bud to not be coaching the Bucks next year...and I hate how this series is going. Fuck the Nets.
 

HomeRunBaker

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This is a really weird hill to die on and argue about....literally everyone that talks about Blake admits he was dogging it.

You can argue whether it was smart (not wasting the limited amount of juice he has left in his legs for a team that was awful) or the only means to an end (not wanting to waste one of your last few years playing for an awful team).

Those are fair arguments. But acting like he wasn’t purposely giving lackluster effort to get out of there? Cmon man. He dunked on Giannis tonight...he didn’t dunk with the Pistons for over a year and a half!
Not really dying on it. Blake couldn’t run or jump for most of the season. When he first came to Brooklyn he still couldn’t move. I don’t know what was expected of him physically at that point.