Celtics 2024 Playoff Run Thread

[Phantom255x]

The Celtics and Thunder haven't played in ages it feels like lol. The other teams who just finished their series are beginning tonight or already in a Game 2 

[Who]

I do expect Mitchell to score a lot vs Boston. He always does. But can he get consistent help from the other guys?

I don't spend much time watching other teams, but what's going on with Darius Garland?  His production is down, especially from his peak.  Is that simply a case of Mitchell hogging the ball?  His overall efficiency has been pretty good, but 15 / 5 isn't going to get it done.

In the playoffs Mitchell has 35% usage and Garland 20% so probably yes its probably Mitchell hogging the ball. He's actually shooting 40% from 3 but has taken less overall shots than Jarrett Allen.

Garland has been a very good player for several seasons.  More of a driver, run the team type of guard, but he can shoot the 3 also.  His plus/minus and net rating were really bad in the Orlando series.  Not sure what is going on.

I saw something saying that he lost like 15lbs from his broken jaw, losing that much weight is tough especially for a smaller guard like him. I can definitely see that impacting his driving game if it's true

Suggs defense on Garland was incredible. Best defensive guard in the league and it ain't close.

Orlando as a whole are a phenomenal defensive team. Very difficult to play against. Mobile. Athletic. Switch well.

[Phantom255x]

These aren't the same old Celtics, which is a good sign.

How many times in the last two postseasons did we see this team get off to slow/awful starts, look terrible defensively (especially 2023), and blow games in the 2nd half due to their own stupidity.

Well, today felt like a game they were gonna blow after not taking advantage early on, just like Game 1 against Philly last year. And guess what? They just put their foot on the throats of Cleveland in the 2nd half and blew them out. No mercy. Answered every run or momentum-moments from CLE. Mitchell going off? Doesn't matter, no panic and just keep playing our own game.

That's a very, very encouraging sign 

This is a different roster and they look way more locked in than last season, from the coach all the way to the 15th man on the roster.

[GreenEnvy]

I do expect Mitchell to score a lot vs Boston. He always does. But can he get consistent help from the other guys?

I don't spend much time watching other teams, but what's going on with Darius Garland?  His production is down, especially from his peak.  Is that simply a case of Mitchell hogging the ball?  His overall efficiency has been pretty good, but 15 / 5 isn't going to get it done.

In the playoffs Mitchell has 35% usage and Garland 20% so probably yes its probably Mitchell hogging the ball. He's actually shooting 40% from 3 but has taken less overall shots than Jarrett Allen.

Garland has been a very good player for several seasons.  More of a driver, run the team type of guard, but he can shoot the 3 also.  His plus/minus and net rating were really bad in the Orlando series.  Not sure what is going on.

I saw something saying that he lost like 15lbs from his broken jaw, losing that much weight is tough especially for a smaller guard like him. I can definitely see that impacting his driving game if it's true

Suggs defense on Garland was incredible. Best defensive guard in the league and it ain't close.

Orlando as a whole are a phenomenal defensive team. Very difficult to play against. Mobile. Athletic. Switch well.

That’s a bit of an exaggeration.

[Who]

I do expect Mitchell to score a lot vs Boston. He always does. But can he get consistent help from the other guys?

I don't spend much time watching other teams, but what's going on with Darius Garland?  His production is down, especially from his peak.  Is that simply a case of Mitchell hogging the ball?  His overall efficiency has been pretty good, but 15 / 5 isn't going to get it done.

In the playoffs Mitchell has 35% usage and Garland 20% so probably yes its probably Mitchell hogging the ball. He's actually shooting 40% from 3 but has taken less overall shots than Jarrett Allen.

Garland has been a very good player for several seasons.  More of a driver, run the team type of guard, but he can shoot the 3 also.  His plus/minus and net rating were really bad in the Orlando series.  Not sure what is going on.

I saw something saying that he lost like 15lbs from his broken jaw, losing that much weight is tough especially for a smaller guard like him. I can definitely see that impacting his driving game if it's true

Suggs defense on Garland was incredible. Best defensive guard in the league and it ain't close.

Orlando as a whole are a phenomenal defensive team. Very difficult to play against. Mobile. Athletic. Switch well.

That’s a bit of an exaggeration.

Nope. Suggs is incredible.

Guys like Jrue and D White do not have the quickness that Suggs has to pressure the ball like him. They have the size to other things at an elite level but so too does Suggs. Suggs is hands down the best defensive guard in the NBA.

[jpotter33]

https://x.com/nekiasnba/status/1788207081889083727?s=46&t=lGU0TGXtwjkuVuoin6WTNw

32 assists to 10 turnovers for Jayson Tatum in the postseason so far.

Boston with a 126.4 ORTG with him on, 101.7 with him off (PBP Stats).

Living in the flow state right now. Shots haven’t fallen for him yet and it looks like *this*.

[Donoghus]

https://x.com/nekiasnba/status/1788207081889083727?s=46&t=lGU0TGXtwjkuVuoin6WTNw

32 assists to 10 turnovers for Jayson Tatum in the postseason so far.

Boston with a 126.4 ORTG with him on, 101.7 with him off (PBP Stats).

Living in the flow state right now. Shots haven’t fallen for him yet and it looks like *this*.

Team ball. It's a testament to how good this team is.  Finding other ways to win when the shots aren't falling and guys lifting each other up offensively.

[Vermont Green]

https://x.com/nekiasnba/status/1788207081889083727?s=46&t=lGU0TGXtwjkuVuoin6WTNw

32 assists to 10 turnovers for Jayson Tatum in the postseason so far.

Boston with a 126.4 ORTG with him on, 101.7 with him off (PBP Stats).

Living in the flow state right now. Shots haven’t fallen for him yet and it looks like *this*.

Team ball. It's a testament to how good this team is.  Finding other ways to win when the shots aren't falling and guys lifting each other up offensively.

MIA and now CLE are clearly tilting their defense in order to stop him as a primary objective.  This is giving more space to others to score.  I hope the other teams keep this up.  The Celtics have too many weapons to allow a defense to focus on one.  The team is well prepared to respond to what the defense if giving them.  Tatum is the key to all of this.

[hpantazo]

https://x.com/nekiasnba/status/1788207081889083727?s=46&t=lGU0TGXtwjkuVuoin6WTNw

32 assists to 10 turnovers for Jayson Tatum in the postseason so far.

Boston with a 126.4 ORTG with him on, 101.7 with him off (PBP Stats).

Living in the flow state right now. Shots haven’t fallen for him yet and it looks like *this*.

Team ball. It's a testament to how good this team is.  Finding other ways to win when the shots aren't falling and guys lifting each other up offensively.

MIA and now CLE are clearly tilting their defense in order to stop him as a primary objective.  This is giving more space to others to score.  I hope the other teams keep this up.  The Celtics have too many weapons to allow a defense to focus on one.  The team is well prepared to respond to what the defense if giving them.  Tatum is the key to all of this.

Exactly, and when teams did this in the past few seasons the Celtics really struggled to score. That is not the case anymore with this group. Brad has masterfully addressed this issue with the new roster.

[angryguy77]

The slander on JT is getting out of hand on SM. Just casuals who think offense is the only aspect of the game that matters. They have a pick your poison team for opposing defenses.

Every single hater would be telling their kid to play like JT right now if they were getting doubled and tripled.

The mark of a great player is how they can affect the game without scoring. JT has done that in spades so far.

[Roy H.]

The slander on JT is getting out of hand on SM. Just casuals who think offense is the only aspect of the game that matters. They have a pick your poison team for opposing defenses.

Every single hater would be telling their kid to play like JT right now if they were getting doubled and tripled.

The mark of a great player is how they can affect the game without scoring. JT has done that in spades so far.

Yeah, JT's shot isn't falling, but he's doing the things we need:  rebounding, moving the ball, playing defense.  I'd like to see him drive to the hoop a bit more, but I have no major complaints.

If we look back over the last couple of seasons, we've lost games because JT / JB / Smart tried to do too much.  On this team, White and Jrue are fully capable of running the offense, which takes the pressure off of Tatum and Brown. 

[keevsnick]

I've always found the Tatum discourse weird. There seems to be a segment of "Celtics' fans who would prefer he average 35ppg and every game be a struggle so that Tatum can be the hero. And I don't get it. We KNOW he can do that, he's done it before. The Celtics are just good enough now that he doesn't have to.

Tatum has been solid in other area. He's taken advantage of the pressure he's faced and made the right passes. Been solid defensively. Been awesome on the boards. He has been good other than scoring. And that's okay, when you have Derick white shooting 50% from three and Brown shooting 55% from the floor you don't need high scoring Tatum. I'm confident scoring Tatum will be there when you need him.

Also, it might be that he's dealing with some physical stuff. He came down pretty hard on that ankle game 4, and it was already something that had lingered a lot of the year.

All in all if teams want to slant pressure towards Tatum and it results in the Celtics scoring 120 a game then the Celtics will win the title. Thats fine with me.

[celticinorlando]

Media: Tatum won’t be validated until he wins a title.

Tatum doubled teamed consistently and makes the right decisions. Does everything he can to win. Winning all playoff game by 20 plus points.

Media: he’s not scoring 40 plus a game. He’s deferring to teammates to get shots. He’s needs to play better.


He can’t win for losing. Every aspect of his game in the playoffs has improved. Rebounding, lower turnovers, moving the ball, making the right decisions, scoring when needed. Isn’t that what we wanted?

[tazzmaniac]

The slander on JT is getting out of hand on SM. Just casuals who think offense is the only aspect of the game that matters. They have a pick your poison team for opposing defenses.

Every single hater would be telling their kid to play like JT right now if they were getting doubled and tripled.

The mark of a great player is how they can affect the game without scoring. JT has done that in spades so far.

Yeah, JT's shot isn't falling, but he's doing the things we need:  rebounding, moving the ball, playing defense.  I'd like to see him drive to the hoop a bit more, but I have no major complaints.

If we look back over the last couple of seasons, we've lost games because JT / JB / Smart tried to do too much.  On this team, White and Jrue are fully capable of running the offense, which takes the pressure off of Tatum and Brown.

Exactly.  We'll have a problem if Tatum actually listens to the nonsense and starts trying to force his shot and play hero ball.  We'll have a problem if he starts letting his shooting being off a bit affect the rest of his game.  As long as he's playing team ball, we should cakewalk to the finals.  Might need him to score more in the finals depending on who the opponent is and whether KP is back. 

[Donoghus]

Media: Tatum won’t be validated until he wins a title.

Tatum doubled teamed consistently and makes the right decisions. Does everything he can to win. Winning all playoff game by 20 plus points.

Media: he’s not scoring 40 plus a game. He’s deferring to teammates to get shots. He’s needs to play better.


He can’t win for losing. Every aspect of his game in the playoffs has improved. Rebounding, lower turnovers, moving the ball, making the right decisions, scoring when needed. Isn’t that what we wanted?

A lot of narratives about this team are going to go out the window after this team wins the title in June.