Round 3: Celtics vs Pacers

InstaFace

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Tatum absolutely wrecked Kornet in a celebratory shoulder jump in the aftermath of the final whistle. I took the liberty of capturing it...

 

Garshaparra

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Sometimes when you flip a coin, it comes up heads 4 straight times. If someone teaches the Pacers to play even some transition defense, they'll be terrifying. As it is, their inexperience caught up to them in every game, and the losses were fair and square. Let's root for the Wolves for a couple of games, and make Dallas work for it.
 

BigSoxFan

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May 31, 2007
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Tatum absolutely wrecked Kornet in a celebratory shoulder jump in the aftermath of the final whistle. I took the liberty of capturing it...

I could do without Tatum doing a 180 and landing on a twisted knee!

(But I love the enthusiasm)
 

mostman

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I feel like the Pacers played to the absolute limit of their potential. They worked their asses off, their stars were beasts, and they got great output from their role players. And they got swept. Celtics are good.
 

InstaFace

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I know the media has tried to rob some of this joy lately, so it's nice to just enjoy it. We're lucky to get to watch this iteration of our favorite team.
I'm getting a bit sad now realizing (A) it'll be 9 days until the next time we see these guys play, and (B) at most, I only get 7 more games to watch them. Last team that really got me choked up realizing how much the clock was ticking was the 2018 Red Sox.
 

bosockboy

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For all the “easy path” dickheads in your life, ask them if they said the same about the Lakers when the Celtics were steamrolling to back to back titles in 2009 when Garnett went down in Utah. Or Perk in 2010.
 

Ed Hillel

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Indy really played well overall this series, much better than MN is playing relative to its talent. This is not a victory to be ashamed of or apprehensive about. Boston was put to the test and earned it.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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The Pacers are going to be tough going forward. I know people were making Caleb Martin jokes but I think Indiana has something in Nembhard and their rotation overall is pretty good assuming a Siakam deal is all but done and Toppin doesn't get pried away.
I dunno, Going from mediocre to good is a lot easier than going from good to contender. I'm not sure Halliburton and Nembhard can play together and be a contender and when Mathurin comes back, Carlisle is going to have his hands full splitting up the guard minutes?

It will certainly interesting to watch.
 

Senator Donut

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I’m surprised Bontemps didn’t vote for Jimmy Butler.
lmao, glad I’m not the only one who hasn’t let that go. Butler scored 27 points in the middle three games combined.

He did partially redeem himself by not saying Edwards was better than Tatum, as some of his ESPN colleagues decreed.
 

Eddie Jurak

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I'm seeing some on-line whining that Jaylen Brown was not called for a flagrant foul when he hit McConnell in the face going for a loose ball.

I have no idea what the league policy on shots to the face is, and I can see what Brown did being called a flagrant despite the lack of intentionality. But, I think it would have been a travesty had they called it here, because earlier in the game Jackson kicked Pritchard in the face and it was not called a flagrant. If you are going to call flagrant on careless (not just intentional) shots to the face, you had to call both. If you aren't, then you should have called neither.
 

NomarsFool

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I’d have to watch it again, but I kind of thought the kick in the face was intentional. Not in a well thought out I’m trying to hurt this guy kind of way, but I’m up in the air and I see this guy getting past me and maybe I can stop him with my leg kind of way. Like a sort of instinctual reaction, but still intentional and not an accidental thing.

With regards to Jaylen’s foul, I think I would have given him a flagrant. It was a shot to the face and the whole idea is to have the players be a little more careful to not hurt other players. It was certainly worse than all those my pinky toe was a cm away from his landing space on the step back three flagrant fouls they give out.
 

Justthetippett

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I’d have to watch it again, but I kind of thought the kick in the face was intentional. Not in a well thought out I’m trying to hurt this guy kind of way, but I’m up in the air and I see this guy getting past me and maybe I can stop him with my leg kind of way. Like a sort of instinctual reaction, but still intentional and not an accidental thing.

With regards to Jaylen’s foul, I think I would have given him a flagrant. It was a shot to the face and the whole idea is to have the players be a little more careful to not hurt other players. It was certainly worse than all those my pinky toe was a cm away from his landing space on the step back three flagrant fouls they give out.
The kick was wreckless (both for Pritchard's health and Jackson's), but the hit was much less forceful. I'm very surprised the Jaylen play was not a flagrant. The right hand came in a bit late, the contact was directly to the face and not all that close to the ball, and the actual result was jarring to watch. I actually think if Jaylen doesn't immediately look concerned and contrite, they call it, because the NBA just makes this stuff up as they go.
 

JCizzle

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The kick was wreckless (both for Pritchard's health and Jackson's), but the hit was much less forceful. I'm very surprised the Jaylen play was not a flagrant. The right hand came in a bit late, the contact was directly to the face and not all that close to the ball, and the actual result was jarring to watch. I actually think if Jaylen doesn't immediately look concerned and contrite, they call it, because the NBA just makes this stuff up as they go.
It might have looked less forceful, but I’m not sure it actually was less forceful. PP was bleeding and you could basically see Jackson’s shoe print on his face while he was taking the FTs.
 

HomeRunBaker

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I’d have to watch it again, but I kind of thought the kick in the face was intentional. Not in a well thought out I’m trying to hurt this guy kind of way, but I’m up in the air and I see this guy getting past me and maybe I can stop him with my leg kind of way. Like a sort of instinctual reaction, but still intentional and not an accidental thing.
Jackson has made an almost identical move in the past on Jordan McLaughlin. Same spot on the floor too.
 

joe dokes

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Jul 18, 2005
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Even without Haliburton I think Indiana was head and shoulders better than either Miami or Cleveland. It is extremely impressive to sweep that offense, especially considering they shot >50% in 3/4 games. Whoever said the Pacers are the Celtics from a few years ago nailed it. Played us tight for 45 minutes in 3/4 games but the Celtics just destroyed them at the end of games. The difference between a good young team and a great vet team.
It can't be easy to continue to play ramped-up lockdown defense against a high-powered offense like the Pacers'. They really had to have the belief and commitment that if they kept it up, it would work at the end.
 

GB5

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One of the things I was thinking about is I wasn’t sure if they called a Flagrant one on Brown does it count as a technical foul. Jaylen had one earlier in the game for pushing Siakam. He wouldn’t have been tossed correct?
 

Toe Nash

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I'm seeing some on-line whining that Jaylen Brown was not called for a flagrant foul when he hit McConnell in the face going for a loose ball.

I have no idea what the league policy on shots to the face is, and I can see what Brown did being called a flagrant despite the lack of intentionality. But, I think it would have been a travesty had they called it here, because earlier in the game Jackson kicked Pritchard in the face and it was not called a flagrant. If you are going to call flagrant on careless (not just intentional) shots to the face, you had to call both. If you aren't, then you should have called neither.
Agree, Jackson's movement was in no way a natural follow through after getting faked out. He was trying to block or bother the shot with his foot. Dangerous play
 

JCizzle

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One of the things I was thinking about is I wasn’t sure if they called a Flagrant one on Brown does it count as a technical foul. Jaylen had one earlier in the game for pushing Siakam. He wouldn’t have been tossed correct?
Correct. They’re categorized differently for in game ejections.
 

ragnarok725

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I'm getting a bit sad now realizing (A) it'll be 9 days until the next time we see these guys play, and (B) at most, I only get 7 more games to watch them. Last team that really got me choked up realizing how much the clock was ticking was the 2018 Red Sox.
I feel the same way, but it's worth remembering that the entire squad is under contract next year. Unless they make a trade, they can run the entire 1-8 back again for another go around.
 

Kliq

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My "The East is tougher than the West" take from the start of the playoffs did not end up aging well!
 

Humphrey

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If the gap between now and when the finals start is that long, you have to think Zinger will be ready...or they've just been bullshitting us for a while.

And I would imagine even if Lively ends up in the concussion protocol, he'll be out of it by then.
 

InstaFace

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I feel the same way, but it's worth remembering that the entire squad is under contract next year. Unless they make a trade, they can run the entire 1-8 back again for another go around.
that IS worth remembering! And with Tatum obviously going to accept the supermax, White seemingly at least slightly favored to accept the $31M max allowable extension, and Hauser presenting less of a dilemma with every bricked shot, the chance the band stays together for a few years yet seems pretty good.

Which is awesome. Happens so, so rarely in sports these days - the only constant is change. But we have more or less the exact roster we want, they're all in their primes with the exception of Al (who is kinda ageless anyway), and Brad's maneuvering room is basically nil anyway, so until and unless we blow it up we actually have a ton of forces working towards roster stability rather than the typical churn.
 

RorschachsMask

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The team has so many guys playing at a high level. This is thinking basketball’s BPM for the playoffs, Al is at 4.7 as well.

IMG_5634.png
 

InstaFace

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My "The East is tougher than the West" take from the start of the playoffs did not end up aging well!
(1) You might have been right "But for the injuries", first of all...

(2) You might have been right, except Boston is just such a juggernaut that it didn't matter - all the other teams might well have been superior to their equivalent seed in the West, but the train came for 'em all. Bucks-Pacers was a dogfight, Cavs-Magic was a dogfight, Knicks-Pacers was obviously a bar fight worthy of an Old West movie... but the Celtics still outclass everyone so badly (1st seed by 14 games!) that it's easy to underrate the talent here. And there was no equivalent steamroller in the West, much as everyone expected Denver to be one.

(3) When the Celtics finish steamrolling in the Finals, your take will be back on terra firma. "At least the Pacers had 3 close games that they might well have won!" will go the whining. The excuse-making will be as appalling as it is predictable - and amid all of that, there will be room again for your "Actually the West wasn't nearly as good as advertised" point to land.
 

jmcc5400

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(1) You might have been right "But for the injuries", first of all...

(2) You might have been right, except Boston is just such a juggernaut that it didn't matter - all the other teams might well have been superior to their equivalent seed in the West, but the train came for 'em all. Bucks-Pacers was a dogfight, Cavs-Magic was a dogfight, Knicks-Pacers was obviously a bar fight worthy of an Old West movie... but the Celtics still outclass everyone so badly (1st seed by 14 games!) that it's easy to underrate the talent here. And there was no equivalent steamroller in the West, much as everyone expected Denver to be one.

(3) When the Celtics finish steamrolling in the Finals, your take will be back on terra firma. "At least the Pacers had 3 close games that they might well have won!" will go the whining. The excuse-making will be as appalling as it is predictable - and amid all of that, there will be room again for your "Actually the West wasn't nearly as good as advertised" point to land.
Wait, we’re playing another round? I thought Minnesota-Denver was the finals.
 

lovegtm

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Halliburton needs to get in the weight room. The Pacers were a lot tougher defensively with him out. Still attackable, but not in the "every time down is a quality look" way.
 

Al Zarilla

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Agree, Jackson's movement was in no way a natural follow through after getting faked out. He was trying to block or bother the shot with his foot. Dangerous play
I can’t imagine a basketball player having adept control of his foot enough when it is that high off the ground and he’s spinning around as to kick another player with it. He’s not a kickboxer or a ballerina. JMO.