Cavaliers (0-1) at Celtics (1-0) Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 2 5/9/24

[Phantom255x]

I'm still picking Celtics in 6 btw. But it'll be rough. I expect them to go down 2-1, then win the next three with at least one game being a nail biter the C's prevail in.

Same.  Sticking to my Celtics in 6 preditction.  But starting to feel less and less confident about the NBA finals if we end up facing Minnesota or OKC.

Game 4 will be the series down 2-1. But I expect Boston to win that, and Games 5 + 6.

If we have these kind of stinkers in the Finals though that'll cost us for sure.

[CelticSooner]

Homecourt doesn't matter for this team. They continue to show that more each season. They cannot stop playing defense when the threes aren't falling though, unacceptable effort tonight.

[celticinorlando]

24 point loss at home to the undermanned Cavs. That is beyond embarrassing.

Absolutely zero urgency and fight by this team.

Jrue, Hauser and Tatum have been useless in this series.

[Larry for 3]

Boston will lose game 3 also.

How many times do you guys have to make these crazy, pessimistic predictions and get proven wrong before you stop overreacting to every single loss?

Denver had a cakewalk to the championship last year, yet they still lost four games along the way, including two in the second round. Relax. We'll be fine when they're not shooting way over their head and we're not shooting way under what we usually do.

Bad comparison. Denver never lost a game in last years playoffs at home or on the road by 25 and they didn't lose a game 2 until the finals when Miami beat them by 3. In fact, their 4 loses probably totaled less than 25 points. A 64 win team shouldn't be losing at home or on the road by 25 against an inferior team.

Denver isn't a three point shooting team either. That's the clear difference and why you see such wild swings from our team in terms of big wins and the few big losses.

Exactly A team this reliant on the 3 point shot won’t win a championship.

[celts55]

Overall a terrible game for the Celtics. It would be really helpful if anyone other than Pritchard could help them off the bench. Houser has been invisible.
Also, in my opinion, Tatum can’t be considered a superstar until he starts bringing it in the playoffs. Great players dominate in the playoffs. Mitchell, SGA, Ant etc are carrying their teams while Tatum has been average at best

[Larry for 3]

Boston will lose game 3 also.

How many times do you guys have to make these crazy, pessimistic predictions and get proven wrong before you stop overreacting to every single loss?

Denver had a cakewalk to the championship last year, yet they still lost four games along the way, including two in the second round. Relax. We'll be fine when they're not shooting way over their head and we're not shooting way under what we usually do.

Bad comparison. Denver never lost a game in last years playoffs at home or on the road by 25 and they didn't lose a game 2 until the finals when Miami beat them by 3. In fact, their 4 loses probably totaled less than 25 points. A 64 win team shouldn't be losing at home or on the road by 25 against an inferior team.

Denver isn't a three point shooting team either. That's the clear difference and why you see such wild swings from our team in terms of big wins and the few big losses.

Exactly A team this reliant on the 3 point shot won’t win a championship.

Just like last year and past X amount of years

[jambr380]

That was miserable. When you let Strus out hustle you for rebounds it's all over. We actually lost to this team who played nowhere near as well as Miami in game 2. I cannot say that any player on our team played well. Possibly Big Al because he did well defensively but man that is reaching.....

It really is a brutal loss because it wasn't just a team getting hot from 3 like Miami. We gave up so many easy lay-ins in the first half and that turned into wide-open 3s in the 2nd half. They thoroughly spanked us in every aspect of the game and our guys had no problem waving the white flag when our own 3s weren't falling.

Losing Smart was always a concern for me because his intensity often resonated with the rest of the team. We have a talented, yet methodical approach now. That has often worked when we get out to a big lead, but we completely wilt when the going gets tough. We had 64 wins this season, but were only 2-4 in OT games. If you look at the 2nd half as a long OT (we were tied at halftime), you can see where our heads were at. It is concerning moving forward, but I do still think we'll win this series.

But, no, this wasn't a matter of Cleveland just getting hot from 3. We sucked in every possible way we could suck this game.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

relying on only 3's is beyond idiocy from joe. find a dang inside game. inside out game.

it is not rocket science. he is wasting talent with that philosophy

[libermaniac]

I don’t get people calling them soft and gutless. Shots weren’t falling. They decided to drive and get to the line. That’s not what soft players do. When shots aren’t falling it’s easier for opponents to get transition points and build confidence. Cleveland made lots of highly contested 3 point shots. It’s basketball. Sometimes shots don’t fall. That’s why they play 7.

[Who]

Tatum = 7-17 FGA 25pts
Jaylen = 7-17 FGA 19pts

Tatum got 11 FTAs to Jaylen's 5 FTAs. He also hit 2 threes. Tatum also added 6 assists to just 1 turnover. Jaylen added only 1 assist to 1 turnover.

Same FG% but clearly Tatum had a much bigger impact with his superior ability to get to the FT line, superior scoring impact, vastly superior passing.

[libermaniac]

relying on only 3's is beyond idiocy from joe. find a dang inside game. inside out game.

it is not rocket science. he is wasting talent with that philosophy

45 2 point attempts to 35 3s. Compare that to game one 46/46. Seems to me like they tried to drive more.

[celticinorlando]

Celtics are once again playing too slow on offense, draining the shot clock and chucking up bad shots. Zero ball movement and tempo.

Defensively they cannot guard Mitchell.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

relying on only 3's is beyond idiocy from joe. find a dang inside game. inside out game.

it is not rocket science. he is wasting talent with that philosophy

45 2 point attempts to 35 3s. Compare that to game one 46/46. Seems to me like they tried to drive more.

maybe but they did not get it done and ultimately failed. we have seen many times how we panic and when threes do not fall we melt defensively also.

[celticinorlando]

I don’t get people calling them soft and gutless. Shots weren’t falling. They decided to drive and get to the line. That’s not what soft players do. When shots aren’t falling it’s easier for opponents to get transition points and build confidence. Cleveland made lots of highly contested 3 point shots. It’s basketball. Sometimes shots don’t fall. That’s why they play 7.

It was the effort. They got up 9 early and just quit. The energy was that of a game in January.

[celts55]

Tatum = 7-17 FGA 25pts
Jaylen = 7-17 FGA 19pts

Tatum got 11 FTAs to Jaylen's 5 FTAs. He also hit 2 threes. Tatum also added 6 assists to just 1 turnover. Jaylen added only 1 assist to 1 turnover.

Same FG% but clearly Tatum had a much bigger impact with his superior ability to get to the FT line, superior scoring impact, vastly superior passing.

That’s wonderful. A superior game in a 25 point bull kicking. Please. Tonight neither one did near enough to effect the game. On one did. The whole team played poorly. To say Tatum had any impact is ridiculous in my opinion. Mitchell had impact.