Celtics Regular Season News

[Roy H.]

Wait, I'm confused why we play AT Atlanta tonight... and then AGAIN AT Atlanta Thursday? Meanwhile, ATL also has a home game against the Blazers Wednesday night. So do the Celtics just stay in ATL all week and just attend the Blazers-Hawks game for fun? 

Jaylen must have used his influence with the players union to get this road trip for the team. Ha ha. Lemon pepper wings.

[Phantom255x]

Wait, I'm confused why we play AT Atlanta tonight... and then AGAIN AT Atlanta Thursday? Meanwhile, ATL also has a home game against the Blazers Wednesday night. So do the Celtics just stay in ATL all week and just attend the Blazers-Hawks game for fun? 

Jaylen must have used his influence with the players union to get this road trip for the team. Ha ha. Lemon pepper wings.

Lot of sweet peach tea too 

[Goldstar88]

Well, that answers that…

Jayson Tatum is taking a leap in his style journey as Coach’s newest ambassador. “It means a lot to be able to join the brand in such an organic and authentic way,” Tatum tells PEOPLE exclusively of his gig, which involves the athlete looking suave in Coach’s spring 2024 accessories in a debut campaign. “It’s been a lot of fun.”

His motto: dress to impress without sacrificing comfort. “Being 6’9″ with big shoulders and a small waist, being comfortable is the most important thing,” he tells PEOPLE. “Being able to feel brave in whatever you’re wearing and not just whatever looks nice [is key]. We do so much traveling, we fly on a plane after games, so it’s always important to me that whatever I wear feels good and lets me be myself.”  – via People

[Phantom255x]

Unfortunately, it's starting to really look like Miami and Philly will play each other in the 7 vs 8 play-in game, meaning that unless a team like Chicago pulls an upset, we're facing the Heat or Sixers first round. Now if we manage to draw the Sixers first round and Embiid is out, sweet! But it sounds like Embiid will return early April.

I'm not concerned about winning a series against either, but there's no doubt it'll be a tougher and more tricky first round than if it were the Bulls or Hawks. Probably 6, dare I say 7 games. I'm thinking of it in terms of overall path. Won't be easy if it's something like MIA/PHI, then NY/CLE, then MIL. Worth noting that CLE is only 0.5 ahead of NY and 1 ahead of ORL at the 3 seed.

[ozgod]

JT mentioned that the fans yell a lot more @#$% with the advent of sports betting.

During a media availability on Wednesday, Celtics forward Jayson Tatum was asked about the topic of sports betting.

Tatum said he’d only “briefly seen” the gambling-related stories involving fellow athletes Shohei Ohtani and Jontay Porter earlier in the week, and declined to comment on them specifically.

On the general subject of sports betting, Tatum acknowledged that the dynamic of legalized gambling has altered fans’ treatment of players.

“Fans yell s*** all the time,” Tatum explained. “Shoot one more three, get one more rebound, get 25 before the half is over. So that’s definitely a part of it, for sure.”

“It wasn’t like that my first few years,” he added. “It definitely has changed. I guess when you hit people’s parlays and do good for them, they tell me. But then they also talk s*** if I’m on the court and I didn’t get 29 in a half, or whatever I was supposed to do.”

Acknowledging that he sees the pressure fans place on players—and continues to hear it on the court—Tatum reiterated that he’s only focused on trying to help the Celtics win.

“Yeah, you see people on Twitter,” said Tatum. “Fans going back-and-forth with players on Twitter about how you lost them money. I guess it’s kind of funny. I don’t know. I guess I do feel bad when I don’t hit people’s parlays. I don’t want to them lose money, but yeah know I just go out there and try to play the game.”

https://www.boston.com/sports/morning-sports-update/2024/03/28/jayson-tatum-sports-betting-nba-fan-comments-parlays/?p1=hp_featurestack

[Neurotic Guy]

JT mentioned that the fans yell a lot more @#$% with the advent of sports betting.

During a media availability on Wednesday, Celtics forward Jayson Tatum was asked about the topic of sports betting.

Tatum said he’d only “briefly seen” the gambling-related stories involving fellow athletes Shohei Ohtani and Jontay Porter earlier in the week, and declined to comment on them specifically.

On the general subject of sports betting, Tatum acknowledged that the dynamic of legalized gambling has altered fans’ treatment of players.

“Fans yell s*** all the time,” Tatum explained. “Shoot one more three, get one more rebound, get 25 before the half is over. So that’s definitely a part of it, for sure.”

“It wasn’t like that my first few years,” he added. “It definitely has changed. I guess when you hit people’s parlays and do good for them, they tell me. But then they also talk s*** if I’m on the court and I didn’t get 29 in a half, or whatever I was supposed to do.”

Acknowledging that he sees the pressure fans place on players—and continues to hear it on the court—Tatum reiterated that he’s only focused on trying to help the Celtics win.

“Yeah, you see people on Twitter,” said Tatum. “Fans going back-and-forth with players on Twitter about how you lost them money. I guess it’s kind of funny. I don’t know. I guess I do feel bad when I don’t hit people’s parlays. I don’t want to them lose money, but yeah know I just go out there and try to play the game.”

https://www.boston.com/sports/morning-sports-update/2024/03/28/jayson-tatum-sports-betting-nba-fan-comments-parlays/?p1=hp_featurestack

I’m not opposed to gambling, I visit the casino a couple times a year, but I think the everyday sports betting thing is a little much.  Not that I think everyone is betting every day, but the lines are a constant on sports radio, the sports TV channels, during Cs broadcasts.  And as in the example Tatum uses, the bets often have nothing to do with wins and losses.  I don’t like the idea that a player is even aware of how many points he needs to match the line, or that they might think that a lot of people will be impacted if they don’t get back in a game and get the 10 points they need for the over.  And how easy is it for a pal to call or text that they have money on you -  “you gotta score 25 tonight”… ?

I’ve never placed a sports bet and probably never will so clearly I’m not the right person to judge, but I think there’s way too much focus on betting and I wish we could turn the clocks back a bit on it. Not get rid of it, but not make it so accessible and all encompassing.

[Celtics2021]

JT mentioned that the fans yell a lot more @#$% with the advent of sports betting.

During a media availability on Wednesday, Celtics forward Jayson Tatum was asked about the topic of sports betting.

Tatum said he’d only “briefly seen” the gambling-related stories involving fellow athletes Shohei Ohtani and Jontay Porter earlier in the week, and declined to comment on them specifically.

On the general subject of sports betting, Tatum acknowledged that the dynamic of legalized gambling has altered fans’ treatment of players.

“Fans yell s*** all the time,” Tatum explained. “Shoot one more three, get one more rebound, get 25 before the half is over. So that’s definitely a part of it, for sure.”

“It wasn’t like that my first few years,” he added. “It definitely has changed. I guess when you hit people’s parlays and do good for them, they tell me. But then they also talk s*** if I’m on the court and I didn’t get 29 in a half, or whatever I was supposed to do.”

Acknowledging that he sees the pressure fans place on players—and continues to hear it on the court—Tatum reiterated that he’s only focused on trying to help the Celtics win.

“Yeah, you see people on Twitter,” said Tatum. “Fans going back-and-forth with players on Twitter about how you lost them money. I guess it’s kind of funny. I don’t know. I guess I do feel bad when I don’t hit people’s parlays. I don’t want to them lose money, but yeah know I just go out there and try to play the game.”

https://www.boston.com/sports/morning-sports-update/2024/03/28/jayson-tatum-sports-betting-nba-fan-comments-parlays/?p1=hp_featurestack

I’m not opposed to gambling, I visit the casino a couple times a year, but I think the everyday sports betting thing is a little much.  Not that I think everyone is betting every day, but the lines are a constant on sports radio, the sports TV channels, during Cs broadcasts.  And as in the example Tatum uses, the bets often have nothing to do with wins and losses.  I don’t like the idea that a player is even aware of how many points he needs to match the line, or that they might think that a lot of people will be impacted if they don’t get back in a game and get the 10 points they need for the over.  And how easy is it for a pal to call or text that they have money on you -  “you gotta score 25 tonight”… ?

I’ve never placed a sports bet and probably never will so clearly I’m not the right person to judge, but I think there’s way too much focus on betting and I wish we could turn the clocks back a bit on it. Not get rid of it, but not make it so accessible and all encompassing.

It’s a tough call.  There are definitely addicts out there.  I bet small amounts on these prop bets for fun, and while that sometimes makes me watch a game differently, I can’t imagine yelling at a guy to make another three, etc.  My feeling is it’s the same subset of obnoxious fans that yelled stupid things when they were drunk, and now they’re yelling different stupid things.  Maybe it was easier to block out for the players if it was just about the game writ large, as opposed to specific aspects of the game that the heckler feels personally invested in.

Those type of bets aren’t legal in MA on college games, which I think is good.  I wouldn’t totally hate it if they restricted them in the pros too, but I’m sure those bets turn a ton of profit for the books, based on how much they try to steer you to placing those sorts of bets.

[Vermont Green]

It is an interesting point in the season.  We have played 74 games and are 58-16, +11.4 point differential per game, +11.7 NRTG (per 100 possessions).

We were 29-8 in the first 37 games and 29-8 in the second 37 games.  +10.4 point differential in the first 37 games, + 12.3 point differential in the second 37 games.  Net Rating 10.3 vs. 13.0.  The Net rating is impacted by a reduction in average pace, 98.97 to 97.15, so we slowed it down some in the second half while increasing the point differential.

The 38th game was the MIL game where we lost by 33 points, so that game is kind of an inflection point in terms of both +/- and Net Rating.  I can't find exact numbers but I believe our strength of schedule was tougher the first half of the season.  If I do this recap after say 76 games, that game would be in the first 38 games and the difference between the first half and second half numbers would change quite a bit.

As we close out the season, there is going to be a point where the games are skewed by teams tanking or resting for the playoffs.  To this point, I feel like the games continue to be "real".  To me it is pretty surprising how consistent the team has been.  Our record is exactly the same but our point differential and NRTG have both improved for the second half of the 74 completed games.  Not sure if this means the team is better as the SOS has been easier.

What do people think?  Are we ready for the playoffs?  Is the team playing well enough to win a title?  Are we coasting some in the second half of the season?  Is there a switch to flip for the playoffs?

[green_bballers13]

What do people think?  Are we ready for the playoffs?  Is the team playing well enough to win a title?  Are we coasting some in the second half of the season?  Is there a switch to flip for the playoffs?

The Celtics are 29-7 over their last 36 games. That's an 80% winning percentage. I cannot possibly expect a better record over such a large span of games. Some fans might expect a 36 game winning streak, even with such a young coach. I'm perfectly happy with the way things are going and am optimistic about the Celtics chances to win another title.

[radiohead]

I’d like to think that the slight dip (if you wanna call it that) in the team’s recent games is because the team is actually waiting for the playoffs already. I do expect them to go on a deep playoff run and hopefully win the crown. My only real concern, like most of us here, is how they’ll deal with close games.

[SparzWizard]

They seem to struggle against teams who are missing their best players-- which all boils down to mental. With this roster I fully expect NBA Finals appearance and nothing less.

[cman88]

so, how many games until total #1 seed is locked up?

[hpantazo]

so, how many games until total #1 seed is locked up?

The Celtics magic number I believe is 3 for the overall #1 record in the NBA

[Phantom255x]

They seem to struggle against teams who are missing their best players-- which all boils down to mental. With this roster I fully expect NBA Finals appearance and nothing less.

Agree on the 2nd part, but I'm chuckling at the first part because the team is 58-16. Trust me, if that was true, it'd probably be more like 48-26.

[Moranis]

They seem to struggle against teams who are missing their best players-- which all boils down to mental. With this roster I fully expect NBA Finals appearance and nothing less.

Agree on the 2nd part, but I'm chuckling at the first part because the team is 58-16. Trust me, if that was true, it'd probably be more like 48-26.

struggle doesn't necessarily mean lose