Mavericks (33-25) at Celtics (46-12) Game #59 3/1/24

[celticinorlando]

Mavs fans might be some of the dumbest fans in the league. So much "Tatum doesn't do anything, Luka and Kyrie are a better duo that the Jays, Boston is just a regular season juggernaught, Dallas is a better team in all reality" hot takes

My god...boston has flat out killed the Mavs twice this season. Mavs look like another one and done playoff team. They are so concerned about any criticism of their team and Luka. Luka is a great offensive player that plays little defense.

I do not care about Tatum winning the MVP. Just don't. It is all about the championship

[liam]

Media frenzy attacking Boston fans as "classless" after chanting "Kyrie sucks".

I will never forget what Kyrie did in the 2021 playoffs...stomping on Lucky the logo. And his quitting attitude in 2019. These haters have no idea what having Kyrie on your team is like.

It’s gotten old.  We were up by 20 late in the fourth and the backups were in.  People need to let it go.  That Kyrie sucks is proved by our record since he left and the records of his teams — we can all look at the scoreboards and know who’s better.

I agree, it is kind of classless...we're acting like someone still mad about our girlfriend (or boyfriend) dumping us 6 years ago. Like we're dating a supermodel now, who cares about Cryrie? Move on for gawdsakes!

That said, it's probably fun booing someone and chanting "Cryrie sucks" when you've downed your 10th glass of overpriced beer and you're team's up by 20 

I’m not a big fan of booing a player throughout the game but I am curious about its actual impact.  I think fans have the notion that it gets under the player’s skin and causes mistakes.  I’d be interested in seeing the data on that. I wonder if it’s more likely to motivate the player. My hypothesis would be that the booing has no significant effect on the player’s performance.  Booing a call or a team’s performance feels like the only viable way a group of fans can express disapproval. Expressing disapproval of a person goes a bit further and I don’t love it.

As for the chant, I really don’t like it.  This is a relatively new phenomenon I think may have begun with Yankees Suck and has morphed into ‘BS’ chants and others.  It’s something I would never actually say to someone directly and don’t feel it’s right to do just because a crowd does it.

Exactly what JB addressed post-game. He said he personally doesn't think it affects the outcome but in case it does, he would have no problem with the fans booing opposing star players every night.

I think it affects a weak minded player like Kyrie.  It seemed to rattle Kyrie last night.

[cman88]

Perk is such a blow hard now.
Saying that there are western teams that are more likely to win the championship...
what the heck?

His whole argument is that we're in the weaker conference, yet we have the best record against .500 opponents. Also, having the weaker conference is a BENEFIT in the playoffs, too! Perk is just an idiot.

keep in mind, Perk also said hes not impressed with this win because Mavs are barely a playoff team.

then went on to praise Milwaukee as being "back" because they beat the hornets twice and the bulls and the 76ers without embiid....

[Donoghus]

The Kyrie stuff was mostly self inflicted. 

Fans express things in different ways.  He p---ed off a lot of people and he did it in a very passionate sports town.  If he wants to shut up the crowd, go out and beat the Celtics.  The fans are gonna continue to rattle the guy until he proves otherwise.

[Redz]

Perk is such a blow hard now.
Saying that there are western teams that are more likely to win the championship...
what the heck?

His whole argument is that we're in the weaker conference, yet we have the best record against .500 opponents. Also, having the weaker conference is a BENEFIT in the playoffs, too! Perk is just an idiot.

keep in mind, Perk also said hes not impressed with this win because Mavs are barely a playoff team.

then went on to praise Milwaukee as being "back" because they beat the hornets twice and the bulls and the 76ers without embiid....

Maybe Perk was getting accused of being too much of a homer for the Celtics because he has done a complete180 and seems to be going out of his way to be an illogical jerk about the Celts.  I didn’t see the post game, but at the half he was all over Tatum for being too passive and letting Donkic embrace him on his own court.  Celts were up 7.  I’m not sure why people aren’t taking Tatum’s approach as genuine.  The guy keeps getting team results this season and is throwing more and more resolves by it.  This is a good thing!

Shut up Perk!

[Redz]

Media frenzy attacking Boston fans as "classless" after chanting "Kyrie sucks".

I will never forget what Kyrie did in the 2021 playoffs...stomping on Lucky the logo. And his quitting attitude in 2019. These haters have no idea what having Kyrie on your team is like.

It’s gotten old.  We were up by 20 late in the fourth and the backups were in.  People need to let it go.  That Kyrie sucks is proved by our record since he left and the records of his teams — we can all look at the scoreboards and know who’s better.

I agree, it is kind of classless...we're acting like someone still mad about our girlfriend (or boyfriend) dumping us 6 years ago. Like we're dating a supermodel now, who cares about Cryrie? Move on for gawdsakes!

That said, it's probably fun booing someone and chanting "Cryrie sucks" when you've downed your 10th glass of overpriced beer and you're team's up by 20 

I remember being at the Old Schaefer Stadium for the Patriots games and those crowd would get extremely sloppy.   Remember the old Lite beer ads where they would argue “Tastes great” vs “Less filling”?  There was an era where whole packed stadiums would divide side by side and yep that back and forth.  One at least one occasion the Patriots fans took this to another level with one half of the stadium yell “bull ship” (but not a ship) and the other replying “duck you” (but not duck).  It was the most senseless, but amusing, thing I’ve seen a crowd do. 

I guess what I’m saying.  Sports crowds are any interesting slice of social behavior.

[Vermont Green]

Mavs fans might be some of the dumbest fans in the league. So much "Tatum doesn't do anything, Luka and Kyrie are a better duo that the Jays, Boston is just a regular season juggernaught, Dallas is a better team in all reality" hot takes

My god...boston has flat out killed the Mavs twice this season. Mavs look like another one and done playoff team. They are so concerned about any criticism of their team and Luka. Luka is a great offensive player that plays little defense.

I do not care about Tatum winning the MVP. Just don't. It is all about the championship

All fans can be dumb at times so don't let the dumb DAL fans affect your analysis of DAL as a team.  The first debate seems to be whether Doncic or Tatum is the better individual player, more MVP-worthy.  Doncic can do things offensively that Tatum can't but Tatum is clearly better at everything else.  I also think that Tatum has matured more as a leader than Doncic.  If you gave every GM a chance to pick one or the other to start a team with, I think it would turn out fairly even.  I don't think either is going to be the MVP though, not this season at least.

As for the two teams, the Celtics are clearly better.  I prefer Tatum+Brown over Doncic+Kyrie, but both teams have very good top 2 players.  It is from that point on that the Celtics are just miles better than DAL.  The Celtics may have the 4 next best players in Porzingis, White, Holiday, and Horford.  I am not sure there is anyone else on DAL that would crack the Celtic's 8 or 9 man rotation.

[Vermont Green]

More breakdown of the game stats.  I am always curious to see how the big rotations worked out.  Porzingis, when he was the 1-big, was +9 in 15 min.  Horford played 2 min as the 1-big (-2) and Tillman 4 min as the 1-big (-5).  That is 21 minutes of 1-big ball for a +/- of +2.

There were only 2 combinations of 2-big line ups, Porzingis+Horford, 15 min/+5 and Horford+Tillman, 11 min/+18 (Porzingis and Tillman did not play together).  That is a total of 26 minutes and +23.  There is some rounding but there were also 2 minutes of garbage time with Brissett as the 1-big (+3), that I am excluding from this analysis.

The 2-big line ups were clearly more productive in this game (+23 vs. +2).  This is something that I had speculated about when we first got Tillman.  If he was as good as he seemed like he was going be (i.e a notch better than Kornet, Brissett, Queta) would that enable the Celtics to play more 2-big line ups?  Excluding garbage time, it was 26 min with 2-bigs and 21 min with 1-big.  That seems like pretty good balance based on the Celtics roster and talent distribution.

[Phantom255x]

I feel joy knowing it's not just Celtics fans, even the entire NBA fandom hates Perkins. The guy is a tool. I think it's also telling that he's been clapped by many of his former teammates over the years too, he probably just isn't likeable around the league.

Anyways, regarding the Luka MVP debate, that's all Mavericks fans have. Everyone knows they'll be put out early anyways. Also are we really sure Luka is miles ahead of Young? I got to be honest, they both are pretty much prolific scorers who can barely play defense and their teams are extremely mid. Both guys have made a conference finals. Luka is definitely better but funny enough I feel like both of their career arcs have been similar. Young might be out of Atlanta soon, and Doncic himself might decide to leave Dallas when he realizes no more help is coming.

[Phantom255x]

The C's had a very brutal 10-game stretch going into the game against New York last Saturday, but so far they are 3-0. But still, next 4 in particular are just ridiculous. Golden State, then 3 road games against Cleveland, Denver, Phoenix, and then a B2B with Portland/Utah on the road too before coming back and playing Phoenix again. I'd be pretty happy if they can manage to go 5-2 in the next 7, though 4-3 wouldn't surprise me. It's just tough especially the Golden State, Cleveland and Denver games + the tricky B2B.

The good thing though is after this stretch, our remaining games are literally just mostly the likes of Charlotte, Detroit, Washington, Atlanta, etc. And by then we probably will have the 1 seed wrapped up anyways unless Cleveland or Milwaukee decide to randomly win 10 in a row or something.

[SHAQATTACK]

The C's had a very brutal 10-game stretch going into the game against New York last Saturday, but so far they are 3-0. But still, next 4 in particular are just ridiculous. Golden State, then 3 road games against Cleveland, Denver, Phoenix, and then a B2B with Portland/Utah on the road too before coming back and playing Phoenix again. I'd be pretty happy if they can manage to go 5-2 in the next 7, though 4-3 wouldn't surprise me. It's just tough especially the Golden State, Cleveland and Denver games + the tricky B2B.

The good thing though is after this stretch, our remaining games are literally just mostly the likes of Charlotte, Detroit, Washington, Atlanta, etc. And by then we probably will have the 1 seed wrapped up anyways unless Cleveland or Milwaukee decide to randomly win 10 in a row or something.

I feel  our guys owe Steph and will be locked in.

[SHAQATTACK]

The Kyrie stuff was mostly self inflicted. 

Fans express things in different ways.  He p---ed off a lot of people and he did it in a very passionate sports town.  If he wants to shut up the crowd, go out and beat the Celtics.  The fans are gonna continue to rattle the guy until he proves otherwise.

He provokes the fans with his antics … imo he has to suffer the consequences. 

[Phantom255x]

The Kyrie stuff was mostly self inflicted. 

Fans express things in different ways.  He p---ed off a lot of people and he did it in a very passionate sports town.  If he wants to shut up the crowd, go out and beat the Celtics.  The fans are gonna continue to rattle the guy until he proves otherwise.

He provokes the fans with his antics … imo he has to suffer the consequences.

Yeah idk why Cryrie wants to act like the victim. The stomping on the logo. And btw, remember Game 1 against the Nets two years ago when he literally flipped the finger behind his back at C's fans. Boo him all you want. He's done nothing since leaving Lebron too.

[liam]

The Kyrie stuff was mostly self inflicted. 

Fans express things in different ways.  He p---ed off a lot of people and he did it in a very passionate sports town.  If he wants to shut up the crowd, go out and beat the Celtics.  The fans are gonna continue to rattle the guy until he proves otherwise.

He provokes the fans with his antics … imo he has to suffer the consequences.

Yeah idk why Cryrie wants to act like the victim. The stomping on the logo. And btw, remember Game 1 against the Nets two years ago when he literally flipped the finger behind his back at C's fans. Boo him all you want. He's done nothing since leaving Lebron too.

Kyrie quit on us in the Bucks series knowing he was leaving after promising to stay is what makes me sick. He takes no takes responsability. He's a quitter.

[Phantom255x]

Porzingis questionable tomorrow. So is Curry FWIW but he's definitely playing IMO.