So how much trouble are we in?

[Evantime34]

HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE?

as long as our best player and pg shows he is incapable of playing defense (even in the playoffs) we have no advantage...

Careless turnovers and players like Crowder and Bradley not stepping up is more of a concern than IT's defense.

Nope. IT's D is the bigger issue and it has been all series.

I think the biggest issues are rebounding and turnovers.

But regarding IT's D, I'd rather have one bad defender out of five players on the court than four bad offensive players out of the five guys on the court.

Offense is not the problem. We've got a 112.9 oRTG in the series. The only guy struggling with his shot in this series is AB. We're shooting 41% from beyond the arc for the series.

The problem is we are giving up an absurd 119 oRTg to the Wizards. And that's not all because of turnovers and offensive boards (Chicago worked us on the glass too), though those are a factor. It's IT's inability to cover a single one of the Wizards starters that is crushing us.

I'm not sure where you are getting your numbers but according to NBA.com Washington's offensive rating this series is 112.5 and Boston's is 110.

At home our offense isn't a problem (124.4 offensive rating, best in NBA this round), but on the road it is a problem (95.5 offensive rating, worst in NBA this round). The numbers and the victories indicate that both teams are much better at home, good thing we have home court advantage.

Basketball Reference.

The number indicate that we are getting shellacked defensively. When you give up 116 and 121 in consecutive regulations, the problem is not underachieving offensively. We could have scored 110+ and still lost.

Defensively is where we're getting killed and have been all series. We just got lucky with the Morris injury in Game 1 (giving us a place to hide IT defensively) and then we needed a historic offensive explosion from IT to keep pace in Game 2.

We have the capability of getting scorching hot offensively again so I'm not counting us out but that doesn't change the fact that defense is the big problem here and IT's more than anybody's.

I think the biggest part of our problems on defense stem from allowing the Wizards to get out in transition. For example the Wiz scored 34 points off turnovers in game 3.

If the Celtics don't turn the ball over as much then the Wizards don't have such a high offensive rating. If the Celtics offense takes care of the ball it would be extremely detrimental to Washington's offense.

This series the Celtics are last in the NBA giving up 21.3 points off turnovers a game. If the Celtics don't turn the ball over and give up 21.3 points on easy shots for the Wiz then the Wiz don't score as well.

The problem is more the offense than the defense because our offense actually drives the Wizards offense.

You should use the nba.com rating numbers since they use player tracking to determine their numbers where basketball reference has to estimate their o/d ratings because they don't have access to the same tracking numbers.

[mctyson]

I think the biggest part of our problems on defense stem from allowing the Wizards to get out in transition.

I agree and not only are the turnovers leading to that, but the missed shots are, particularly 3s.

I expect to see a lot of Terry Rozier in Game 5, possibly with Thomas, Bradley, and Smart playing the 4.

[Neurotic Guy]

I expect the C's to lose this series.  There is certainly a decent chance that the C's get by Washington, but the Wiz have been the better team and I think they'll end up on top.  A hard-fought loss to the Wizards may be a more palatable end to the season than a 4-game drubbing at the hands of the Cavs.  But of course I'll be ecstatic to see the C's make it to the ECF.

Next Tuesday is a very big day for the C's whether they are in the ECF or not.

[PhoSita]

I actually think it might be better for the purpose of attracting a FA this summer to lose a hard-fought 7 game series against the Wiz than to advance to the ECF and get blown away like the Raps just did.

[Neurotic Guy]

I actually think it might be better for the purpose of attracting a FA this summer to lose a hard-fought 7 game series against the Wiz than to advance to the ECF and get blown away like the Raps just did.

Hard to know for sure, but I'm thinking the same.

[cousytoheinsohn]

HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE?

as long as our best player and pg shows he is incapable of playing defense (even in the playoffs) we have no advantage...

Careless turnovers and players like Crowder and Bradley not stepping up is more of a concern than IT's defense.

Nope. IT's D is the bigger issue and it has been all series.

I think the biggest issues are rebounding and turnovers.

But regarding IT's D, I'd rather have one bad defender out of five players on the court than four bad offensive players out of the five guys on the court.

Exactly. Well said.

I don't even like to think where the Celts would be without Isaiah.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE?

as long as our best player and pg shows he is incapable of playing defense (even in the playoffs) we have no advantage...

Careless turnovers and players like Crowder and Bradley not stepping up is more of a concern than IT's defense.

Nope. IT's D is the bigger issue and it has been all series.

I think the biggest issues are rebounding and turnovers.

But regarding IT's D, I'd rather have one bad defender out of five players on the court than four bad offensive players out of the five guys on the court.

Exactly. Well said.

I don't even like to think where the Celts would be without Isaiah.

They'd be a far cry from the 1 seed, maybe not even in the playoffs.

[Eja117]

I definitely think we are in trouble after a fashion

[ayer]

Are we really in trouble?
I believe the minimum goal if that's how you call it is to pass the first round of play off.

We also had the number 1 standing of the east.

I would think we have achieved more. if we lose to Wiz then so be it. We win then it would be more happy.

[mr. dee]

HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE?

as long as our best player and pg shows he is incapable of playing defense (even in the playoffs) we have no advantage...

Careless turnovers and players like Crowder and Bradley not stepping up is more of a concern than IT's defense.

Nope. IT's D is the bigger issue and it has been all series.

I think the biggest issues are rebounding and turnovers.

But regarding IT's D, I'd rather have one bad defender out of five players on the court than four bad offensive players out of the five guys on the court.

Offense is not the problem. We've got a 112.9 oRTG in the series. The only guy struggling with his shot in this series is AB. We're shooting 41% from beyond the arc for the series.

The problem is we are giving up an absurd 119 oRTg to the Wizards. And that's not all because of turnovers and offensive boards (Chicago worked us on the glass too), though those are a factor. It's IT's inability to cover a single one of the Wizards starters that is crushing us.

The Wizards generated 19 points through fastbreaks. If they were actually more careful, the game would be much closer and winnable. Let's not act like IT is the only one blowing his assignments. Crowder got blown by multiple times and AB may have slowed down due to injuries.

[CoachBS#1]

The Celtics will win the series, period, GO CELTICS!!!

[tarheelsxxiii]

I'll be surprised if the Celtics don't win game 5.  Beyond the Wizard's road struggles, our two wins + ability to take over games when the 3s are falling, and the way we seem to become motivated (i.e., back up against the wall), we should play with urgency and squeak out one more.  Beyond that, it's all up in the air.  The consensus here seemed to be Celtics in 7, so we may get to see.

[Kuberski33]

The Celtics best hope to win the series was to wear Washington down over 7 games.  They totally punted both games in Washington - allowing Brooks not to overtax his starters because neither game was competitive.  The depth advantage to me is now out the window and Washington has the best player in the series.  And too many of our guys haven't stepped up - or maybe they are playing to their real talent level now that its the playoffs..  I also think AB is hurting more than anyone has let on.

I'd say they're in trouble.  I'd put their chances of winning the series at about 40/60.

[iadera]

A lot.