Bulls (11-7) at Celtics (12-9) Game #22 12/9/15

[tarheelsxxiii]

This was a win that shows what tough defense can do for a team having a poor shooting night.The Bulls defense was good, but ours was better.

Most teams in the NBA are one dimensional.
The Bulls are a solid defensive team. Teams like GSW and  San Antonio are elite on both ends. Miami is starting to look good in that regard.

We are a top 10 NBA player/scorer away from being a very balanced team.
A guy like Butler would be so good for us.

Funny, received a text from a friend tonight that I haven't spoken to in years: "Imagine the Celtics with Butler? Could that be the 2nd best team in the East?"

[Quetzalcoatl]

This was a win that shows what tough defense can do for a team having a poor shooting night.The Bulls defense was good, but ours was better.

Most teams in the NBA are one dimensional.
The Bulls are a solid defensive team. Teams like GSW and  San Antonio are elite on both ends. Miami is starting to look good in that regard.

We are a top 10 NBA player/scorer away from being a very balanced team.
A guy like Butler would be so good for us.

Funny, received a text from a friend tonight that I haven't spoken to in years: "Imagine the Celtics with Butler? Could that be the 2nd best team in the East?"

You really think he'd make us as good as the Hornets are right now?

http://www.nba.com/standings/team_record_comparison/conferenceNew_Std_Cnf.html

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

This was a win that shows what tough defense can do for a team having a poor shooting night.The Bulls defense was good, but ours was better.

Most teams in the NBA are one dimensional.
The Bulls are a solid defensive team. Teams like GSW and  San Antonio are elite on both ends. Miami is starting to look good in that regard.

We are a top 10 NBA player/scorer away from being a very balanced team.
A guy like Butler would be so good for us.

Funny, received a text from a friend tonight that I haven't spoken to in years: "Imagine the Celtics with Butler? Could that be the 2nd best team in the East?"

You really think he'd make us as good as the Hornets are right now?

http://www.nba.com/standings/team_record_comparison/conferenceNew_Std_Cnf.html

Hell, if that 1.5 games behind cavs is right, I'm sure Butler is good enough to where we would have AT least that many more wins!

[crimson_stallion]

So cool to see all the positive media attention Cs are getting.

Van Gundy predicts we beat GSW on Friday (retracted a bit later, but whatever).

Funnily enough, it wouldn't shock me if they did.

Of all the teams out there, I think a healthy Celtics matches up with the Warriors better than most teams.  They might not be any better trio than Smart / Bradley / Crowder is to defend Curry / Thompson / Barnes, and Golden State doesn't really have a lot of offensive presence at the big man spots (where we traditionally get outmatched).  We also have one of the deeper lineups in the NBA, which puts us in a pretty good position to be able to match up with their (also very deep) lineup.

With Smart out though, it's going to be a lot harder.  Curry will likely murder Thomas out there, and if you put Bradley on Curry then who takes Thompson?  Crowder?  Then what, put Thomas on Barnes?  That won't work.

Only real choice is to put Thomas on Curry, and I think that's a very hard matchup for Thomas.  At least he'll force Curry to play defense though - maybe he can tire him out and slow him down a little.

[tarheelsxxiii]

This was a win that shows what tough defense can do for a team having a poor shooting night.The Bulls defense was good, but ours was better.

Most teams in the NBA are one dimensional.
The Bulls are a solid defensive team. Teams like GSW and  San Antonio are elite on both ends. Miami is starting to look good in that regard.

We are a top 10 NBA player/scorer away from being a very balanced team.
A guy like Butler would be so good for us.

Funny, received a text from a friend tonight that I haven't spoken to in years: "Imagine the Celtics with Butler? Could that be the 2nd best team in the East?"

You really think he'd make us as good as the Hornets are right now?

http://www.nba.com/standings/team_record_comparison/conferenceNew_Std_Cnf.html

Hah. True, thanks for keeping me honest.

[saltlover]

So cool to see all the positive media attention Cs are getting.

Van Gundy predicts we beat GSW on Friday (retracted a bit later, but whatever).

Funnily enough, it wouldn't shock me if they did.

Of all the teams out there, I think a healthy Celtics matches up with the Warriors better than most teams.  They might not be any better trio than Smart / Bradley / Crowder is to defend Curry / Thompson / Barnes, and Golden State doesn't really have a lot of offensive presence at the big man spots (where we traditionally get outmatched).  We also have one of the deeper lineups in the NBA, which puts us in a pretty good position to be able to match up with their (also very deep) lineup.

With Smart out though, it's going to be a lot harder.  Curry will likely murder Thomas out there, and if you put Bradley on Curry then who takes Thompson?  Crowder?  Then what, put Thomas on Barnes?  That won't work.

Only real choice is to put Thomas on Curry, and I think that's a very hard matchup for Thomas.  At least he'll force Curry to play defense though - maybe he can tire him out and slow him down a little.

Good news is Barnes is also out.  The bigger question is if Thompson plays, since he rolled an ankle Tuesday.  If he's out, you can put Bradley on Curry sometimes.

[tarheelsxxiii]

So cool to see all the positive media attention Cs are getting.

Van Gundy predicts we beat GSW on Friday (retracted a bit later, but whatever).

Funnily enough, it wouldn't shock me if they did.

Of all the teams out there, I think a healthy Celtics matches up with the Warriors better than most teams.  They might not be any better trio than Smart / Bradley / Crowder is to defend Curry / Thompson / Barnes, and Golden State doesn't really have a lot of offensive presence at the big man spots (where we traditionally get outmatched).  We also have one of the deeper lineups in the NBA, which puts us in a pretty good position to be able to match up with their (also very deep) lineup.

With Smart out though, it's going to be a lot harder.  Curry will likely murder Thomas out there, and if you put Bradley on Curry then who takes Thompson?  Crowder?  Then what, put Thomas on Barnes?  That won't work.

Only real choice is to put Thomas on Curry, and I think that's a very hard matchup for Thomas.  At least he'll force Curry to play defense though - maybe he can tire him out and slow him down a little.

Completely agree. Fortunately for us, Klay is questionable for Friday due to injury. That would make match-ups simpler, along with Barnes being out.

When both teams are healthy, I actually don't hate the idea of IT on Curry at all, for the reason you mentioned -- he'll seriously put him to work on defense. Plus, let's be real, no one is slowing down Curry right now. It is proving to be humanly impossible, unless it's himself having an off night (also impossible).

Actually kinda sucks they are due for a loss with these injuries. I've enjoyed seeing them make history. That team is awesome.

[chambers]

So cool to see all the positive media attention Cs are getting.

Van Gundy predicts we beat GSW on Friday (retracted a bit later, but whatever).

Funnily enough, it wouldn't shock me if they did.

Of all the teams out there, I think a healthy Celtics matches up with the Warriors better than most teams.  They might not be any better trio than Smart / Bradley / Crowder is to defend Curry / Thompson / Barnes, and Golden State doesn't really have a lot of offensive presence at the big man spots (where we traditionally get outmatched).  We also have one of the deeper lineups in the NBA, which puts us in a pretty good position to be able to match up with their (also very deep) lineup.

With Smart out though, it's going to be a lot harder.  Curry will likely murder Thomas out there, and if you put Bradley on Curry then who takes Thompson?  Crowder?  Then what, put Thomas on Barnes?  That won't work.

Only real choice is to put Thomas on Curry, and I think that's a very hard matchup for Thomas.  At least he'll force Curry to play defense though - maybe he can tire him out and slow him down a little.

Good news is Barnes is also out.  The bigger question is if Thompson plays, since he rolled an ankle Tuesday.  If he's out, you can put Bradley on Curry sometimes.

I think we might see Turner getting major minutes vs GSW because of this.
Turner on Thompson
Bradley on curry
Crowder on Iggy
Sully on green
Amir on Bogut

Would be nice having IT come in when Thompson goes out.
Will be interesting to see what Brad does.