2021-22 Celtics Playoffs Discussion

[tazzmaniac]

Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP
The Nets shot 53.8% in Game 1 Sunday, that's the 3rd best shooting night against the NBA's #1 defense all year.

But this...the Celtics had lost 16 straight and 36 of 37 games when giving up a number that high.

Yeah, I was astonished by how well the likes of Dragic and Curry shot the ball. Even Claxton was good from the field (woeful at the free throw line though).

Doubt it happens again.

What is really surprising is that they did it with KD shooting 9 of 24. 

[tazzmaniac]

Sadly the 2018 ECF is the one blemish, but when the C's go up 2-0 in a playoff series, they are something like 40-1 in the series last I read.

No doubt, a win in Game 2 would be massive for our chances to win the series. One game at a time.

The Nets had the worst home record of any EC playoff team at 20-21. If we lose, we're still in it. If we win, the Nets are in very deep ...

You do realize one glaring factor in their home record this season, right? Like, a player that may not have been allowed to play due to certain local ordinances?

They still had KD and Harden.

KD only played 55 games and Harden only played 44 games for them. 

[Kernewek]

Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP
The Nets shot 53.8% in Game 1 Sunday, that's the 3rd best shooting night against the NBA's #1 defense all year.

But this...the Celtics had lost 16 straight and 36 of 37 games when giving up a number that high.

Would be interesting to see when those games had occurred during the season - my guess is much earlier on.

[Vermont Green]

Sadly the 2018 ECF is the one blemish, but when the C's go up 2-0 in a playoff series, they are something like 40-1 in the series last I read.

No doubt, a win in Game 2 would be massive for our chances to win the series. One game at a time.

The Nets had the worst home record of any EC playoff team at 20-21. If we lose, we're still in it. If we win, the Nets are in very deep ...

You do realize one glaring factor in their home record this season, right? Like, a player that may not have been allowed to play due to certain local ordinances?

Yeah, I don't think it would be a very good plan to hope the Nets play bad at home.  This is the playoffs, all bets are off.

Historically, home court is a series advantage overall and in particular in game 7.  Per Bleacher Report, the home team wins 65% of games in the playoffs and 78% of game 7s in a series.

What I have seen over the years is that the role players tend to play better at home.  The stars play well anywhere.  Someone above said that in game 1 it was kind of the opposite.  BKN role players played better than BOS role players for the most part.  We will see if Smart and Horford play as well on the road.

In the playoffs, it's even more stark, with the home team winning 65 percent of all games since 1984.

There have been 135 [game 7s] in NBA history, 78.5 percent of them won by the home team.

[td450]

Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP
The Nets shot 53.8% in Game 1 Sunday, that's the 3rd best shooting night against the NBA's #1 defense all year.

But this...the Celtics had lost 16 straight and 36 of 37 games when giving up a number that high.

Would be interesting to see when those games had occurred during the season - my guess is much earlier on.

That's amazing considering we lost only 31 games!

[Roy H.]

Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP
The Nets shot 53.8% in Game 1 Sunday, that's the 3rd best shooting night against the NBA's #1 defense all year.

But this...the Celtics had lost 16 straight and 36 of 37 games when giving up a number that high.

Would be interesting to see when those games had occurred during the season - my guess is much earlier on.

That's amazing considering we lost only 31 games!

It's not talking about this season only.  As Grande said, this was only the third time we allowed that FG% this season.  We lost the other two games, (against Chicago and Utah).

[slamtheking]

I think we took Brooklyn's best shot practically.  only thing that could have gone better for them is KD shooting better.  I think game 2 will see Durant hit at a higher rate but Kyrie and their bench cool off a bit.  figure they'll score a bit less overall.

also figure we're not going to see the same level of shooting from Smart and Al next game but hopefully that's offset with better offense from the bench so hopefully that'll be a wash for us overall.

Really need to take game 2.  There's no way the league is going to let Brooklyn off the national stage in 4-5 games.  I fully expect some sketchy officiating to draw this series out to at least 6 games if not the full 7.  I feel foolish stating a league conspiracy theory but can't escape the feeling the league wants to milk this series for every game it can get.

[Roy H.]

I think we took Brooklyn's best shot practically.  only thing that could have gone better for them is KD shooting better.  I think game 2 will see Durant hit at a higher rate but Kyrie and their bench cool off a bit.  figure they'll score a bit less overall.

also figure we're not going to see the same level of shooting from Smart and Al next game but hopefully that's offset with better offense from the bench so hopefully that'll be a wash for us overall.

Really need to take game 2.  There's no way the league is going to let Brooklyn off the national stage in 4-5 games.  I fully expect some sketchy officiating to draw this series out to at least 6 games if not the full 7.  I feel foolish stating a league conspiracy theory but can't escape the feeling the league wants to milk this series for every game it can get.

I think this will be a long series, regardless of the league putting its thumb on the scales. 

On balance, Brooklyn had a good game, but I don't think that that was their best shot.  They had some really sloppy turnovers and got in some foul trouble.  And, as you mentioned, Durant was uncharacteristically bad.  I think you'll see at least game where they put it all together.

I think we'll need Timelord to win this series.  I think he'll be back, and I think that will give us enough of a boost to get over the hump.  But, I don't think it's going to be easy.

That said, I'm encouraged by a lot of Game 1.  Yes, it was a one point win on a buzzer beater, but there were some fluke plays that went in Brooklyn's favor.  There was the missed Horford dunk, and that funky three pointer by Dragic that bounced in off the backboard.  So, they got some breaks.  And, as much as I hated the fourth quarter offense, we did build a nice lead on them in the third. 

I think we're evenly matched teams without Timelord.  With him, I think we're a half-step better.

[CelticsWhat35]

I think we took Brooklyn's best shot practically.  only thing that could have gone better for them is KD shooting better.  I think game 2 will see Durant hit at a higher rate but Kyrie and their bench cool off a bit.  figure they'll score a bit less overall.

also figure we're not going to see the same level of shooting from Smart and Al next game but hopefully that's offset with better offense from the bench so hopefully that'll be a wash for us overall.

Really need to take game 2.  There's no way the league is going to let Brooklyn off the national stage in 4-5 games.  I fully expect some sketchy officiating to draw this series out to at least 6 games if not the full 7.  I feel foolish stating a league conspiracy theory but can't escape the feeling the league wants to milk this series for every game it can get.

I don’t think that was the Nets’ best shot at all, but I also don’t think the Celtics played great either.  I still that if both teams are at their best, the Celtics will win

[Vermont Green]

On balance, Brooklyn had a good game, but I don't think that that was their best shot. 

You could be right.  I think the real question is that you just don't know what BKN's "best shot" is.

Game 2 is an important game.  I feel we have a real good shot to take it.  The line has been narrowing but right now we are favored by 3.5 points.  Best shot or not, we are a slight favorite to win this game so it is really important to do just that.

I think BKN did play well in game 1.  They came out with energy and got significant scoring contributions from some players that they don't usually get it from.  Collectively, Durant and Irving had 62 points.  You can say that Durant missed some shots that he may make next game but can you really expect all that much more than 62 points out of the two of them?

BKN will study the film and make adjustments just like we will.  So in that regard, we do need to be better in terms of strategy or adjustments.  We can't just stand pat.  Shots will go or not.  There will be different role players emerging every game.  This may be cliché but we need to treat this game like it is game 7.  In reality, the next game is always more important than the last game but I feel game 2 is an important moment in this series, an impactful opportunity that we don't want to let slip away.

[seancally]

We did not take advantage of our stifling defense early on. Our guys were jittery — Brown and the role players showed their nerves in the first half. I think they settle down and play more crisply in game 2. Brooklyn meanwhile should expect more from KD, but not from Kyrie. They shot the lights out even with KD struggling. The delta between both teams’ Game 1 performance and their potential “best” performance is larger for Boston than it is for Brooklyn.

[Who]

I agree with the "that was BKN's best shot" viewpoint. I just don't see them getting that level of offensive contribution from their supporting cast more than once or twice in a 7 game series. They got it in Game 1 and failed to get the win. That does not bode well for their chances in the 5-6 games in the series where they fail to get that contribution from Kyrie, Dragic and Curry.

[angryguy77]

KD had a bad night because the defense played him well for the most part. We missed a good number of layups as well.

This may not have been the Nets' best shot offensively, but it may have been their best shot to steal a game on Boston.

[Roy H.]

KD had a bad night because the defense played him well for the most part.

I'm not sure that I agree.  The Celts didn't make things easy on him, but a lot of nights Durant is immune to good defense.  We could play the exact same level of defense on him next game and he could drop 40 on 60% shooting.

[Who]

Teams that do not take advantage of nights like those where your supporting cast plays big almost never win / upset a playoff series.

You only have so many nights like that in you.

BKN had one and failed to make it count.