Yeah, I have a slightly non-consensus thesis about what they should key on, or do key on in practice. I feel very strongly that this team lives and dies based on its offensive execution, and that you can tell their level of focus within a couple minutes in a given game, when you see how intentional they are being about their offense.
They will get worked by whoever comes out of the west if:
Speaking of JB - check out the last two clips in this post - https://www.celticsblog.com/2024/12/30/24331845/boston-celtics-indiana-pacers-defense-lapses-transition-joe-mazzulla-derrick-white - and look at how hard JB is running back.
To be fair, he was elbowed in the face like 3 times in that game and earlier was playing good D. They know what to do, just doing it consistently now around Xmas is going to be tall ask.
To get back to the finals. They are pretty clearly in a bad slump right now, yet at this moment are still slightly favored against the field (-105) to win the east per fan duel. The Knicks and Cavs are way behind at +450 and +550, respectively. If they play like this for the next 3 months (7-6 in December) those odds will shift, but I don't think that's likely.
They aren't being dropped into the finals next week so I'm not worried about the defense (if they do make it back through the east that's a problem that will have worked itself out), but yes, the biggest problem is KP and Al. At this point it feels like we'll be lucky to have a healthy porzingis in the finals and will again be relying on Al. He might still be able to pull off 30+ minutes of great play in the finals with plenty of rest between games (and my favorite Horford playoff stat is that he's shooting .561 from 3 in 11 finals games), but there are some potentially ugly matchups out there.
Many posters here seem to be dismissing the Cavs in much the way a lot of NBA observers dismissed the Celtics last season. At full strength, Cleveland is going to be a really tough out, and it might well have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
None of the smart people were dismissing the Celtics last year, just the lazy national types or biased homers. The only real critiques of the 2024 Celtics were that they didn’t have a bonafide top 3 player (something that every other champ has had going back to the 2015 Warriors), and they hadn’t won the title in previous years despite being close. Tatum was top 10 at least and could elevate to top 5, and Boston had a TON of playoff experience.
Cleveland is very similar to those Horford Hawks and heaven help the CAVs if Max Strus is a TOP5 player for them (Kenny Atkinson won't be falling for the Strus Show).
Well, MVP ladder has Spida at #8 and I don't think that's some kind of outlier opinion. Dude's good. If Garland's defensive upgrade is real (definitely stronger than his depleted self from the end of last year), I think they're pretty similar to the Cs in a lot of ways and have made an upgrade in coaching. I agree that Cs would be favored, but I'd be on the edge of my seat.
MVP rankings are pretty different from overall rankings. Brunson finished 6th in mvp voting last year, and I seen to remember the NBA mvp ladder having sabonis around 6th in their year end poll. The ringer's most recent ranking has him 14th which I think is both typical for him and extremely low for a top tier title contender.
I guess I'm just higher on Mitchell and Garland as offensive centerpieces, especially in a modern (Boston-inspired) offensive system.
I'm having a hard time summoning the intellectual curiosity necessary to find some meaning in this.
Happy New Year.
Just that despite seeing some takes about how this team has played, their net rating is better this season than it was last.I'm having a hard time summoning the intellectual curiosity necessary to find some meaning in this.
I think the rest of the league is catching up more than last year, which makes it feel more precarious. Mazzulla has been an offensive innovator, and a couple teams are incorporating those ideas and becoming scary on that end (Cleveland and NYK, primarily, with Memphis taking the screening/non-PnR advantage creation to crazy places).
Holy crap, it hadn't registered with me before - easily the toughest road trip of the year, this coming week. 4 games in 6 nights, with big travel, against good to great teams.
Dude has played too much basketball with not enough rest for a guy his age the past 400 days or so. If he needs a minor surgery and is out 2-3 months or something, I hope they consider it now.
Maybe I am misunderstanding you but the MEM loss was a B2B (MIL 12.6 MEM 12.7)?
He was predicting that we go 4-0 in the upcoming road stretch, as a result of being good in B2Bs (though clearly not perfect, as you note)
Ahh yes I was misunderstanding. Txs. 4-0 might get pundits talking about the Cs again.
TBH, it was more a tequila fueled fan boy hot take than a reasoned prediction. I appreciate the benefit of the doubt though.
Yeah that's not a good team that we beat, but it was utter humiliation from the jump, similar to Pacers 1 last Friday. When this team feels like stomping on someone, they just do.
When Jaylen Brown actively picks up the ball handler full court, the Celtics are the best team in the NBA.
How many games this year have been "other team makes everything from 3, plus refball?"
