The shot, the pass, the block...

[Ogaju]

this entire series with against the Raptors may be one for the ages because we witnessed the growth of the Celtics future. Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum not one of them can be said to be in their prime yet. They played against a championship team and a championship coach, saw adversity, overcame adversity, and sent the defending champions home in a gruelling 7 game series. They overcame the absence of one of their max veterans which required the team to insert its bench leader into the starting lineup depleting what is already a weak bench. They overcme a tough miracle pass/shot that turned a sure victory to a loss in game three. They overcame the struggles of their other max player who was targetd by the opponent with a rather effective defensive scheme. They overcame a 'cheating' championsip coach is guile that on one occassion caused a turnover by stepping on the court and inducing an errant pass. There are so many memorable moments in the series for both teams, but the winner usually writes the narrative.

If Toronto had not made that miracle game winning shot in game three, I bet the narrative of that game would have been Kemba Walker's world class pass to Theis, but Toronto won that game so that pass is relegated to the 'shot'. It shouldnt be.

Celtics won the series so the Cs can write the history of this game. So what was or were the magical moments in the series that you will not soon forget. Smart,s five threes in a row? Smart's block in game 7? G William's block in game 7. Smart racing through two Raptors like a soccer player or WR to score  that basket. What are your favorite plays of the series.

[Silas]

this entire series with against the Raptors may be one for the ages because we witnessed the growth of the Celtics future. Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum not one of them can be said to be in their prime yet. They played against a championship team and a championship coach, saw adversity, overcame adversity, and sent the defending champions home in a gruelling 7 game series. They overcame the absence of one of their max veterans which required the team to insert its bench leader into the starting lineup depleting what is already a weak bench. They overcme a tough miracle pass/shot that turned a sure victory to a loss in game three. They overcame the struggles of their other max player who was targetd by the opponent with a rather effective defensive scheme. They overcame a 'cheating' championsip coach is guile that on one occassion caused a turnover by stepping on the court and inducing an errant pass. There are so many memorable moments in the series for both teams, but the winner usually writes the narrative.

If Toronto had not made that miracle game winning shot in game three, I bet the narrative of that game would have been Kemba Walker's world class pass to Theis, but Toronto won that game so that pass is relegated to the 'shot'. It shouldnt be.

Celtics won the series so the Cs can write the history of this game. So what was or were the magical moments in the series that you will not soon forget. Smart,s five threes in a row? Smart's block in game 7? G William's block in game 7. Smart racing through two Raptors like a soccer player or WR to score  that basket. What are your favorite plays of the series.

Nice summary and I agree with the four mentioned.  TP...

[AshyLarry]

Down the line I will remember-

Marcus. Smart.

The amount of dunks. We haven’t dunked this much in possibly ever. Thanks Bob Will and the gang.

How OG Anunoby cemented himself in Celtics lore.

How Nick Nurse is obviously an Andy Kaufman type character piece. He is way too animated soccer dad to be a real nba coach. 

Tatum and Brown’s confidence and leadership manifesting before our eyes.

Tatum’s passing.

Grant Williams’ 4th quarter minutes.

The Ibaka 3 pointers.

Brown’s D.


What a series.

[perks-a-beast]

Down the line I will remember-

Marcus. Smart.

The amount of dunks. We haven’t dunked this much in possibly ever. Thanks Bob Will and the gang.

How OG Anunoby cemented himself in Celtics lore.

How Nick Nurse is obviously an Andy Kaufman type character piece. He is way too animated soccer dad to be a real nba coach. 

Tatum and Brown’s confidence and leadership manifesting before our eyes.

Tatum’s passing.

Grant Williams’ 4th quarter minutes.

The Ibaka 3 pointers.

Brown’s D.


What a series.

Yeah, unbelievable series. Most entertaining Celtics series since 09 vs. the Bulls. There was more at stake in this series though since we clearly weren’t winning the title that year, and we actually have a shot this year. Such a shame fans didn’t get to witness this series in person.

[Roy H.]

Tatum’s rebound on Williams’ FT miss.  That may have saved the series.

[Donoghus]

Tatum’s rebound on Williams’ FT miss.  That may have saved the series.

Certainly up there.

Also, amazed that Tatum came out of that fine.  That had the potential to be a really nasty fall. 

[libermaniac]

As you mentioned Kembas pass to Theis with 0.5 seconds would’ve been etched in memory. OGs 3 shouldn’t distract from what a special play that was.

[Neurotic Guy]

Smart’s impact is the clear takeaway from this series. But a strong 2nd I think is Jaylen’s defense on Siakam. 

While Jayson had big games and a solid series I don’t feel like he had one of those games where he looks otherworldly.  That will happen v. The Heat. 

Lowry’s play after game 1 was memorable as are his antics and complaints.  His pass to OG and the shot are definitely things I can now allow myself to remember without having to associate them with the pain of losing the series.  But I can’t let go of the impossibility of the crosscourt catch and shot occurring within .5 seconds.  NBA needs to figure that out.  It’s impossible for a human being to start a clock exactly at the touch point without triggering the clock in anticipation - which would lead to early buzzers.  But if you’re counting “one one-thousand” as a second, OG does not catch that ball and release it within half that time. Impossible.

GW being alert enough to catch the ball and draw the foul last night was great.  I hoped (for his own confidence) that he’d make one. But turns out that he gave us another memory by missing the 2nd in that crazy clutch rebound by Tatum.

RWills contributions and Theis’ play in general really are pluses and hopefully carry over to the Heat.

[radiohead]

JT has been criticized (and rightly so) because of his turnovers during this series. But his passing was what stood out for me vs Toronto. 9 and 7 assists during the final 2 games, while scoring 29 pts on each of those, showed his game maturing right before our eyes. JB’s silent contribution was also a highlight for me this series. His rebounding (particularly in game 6) and defense was really amazing. And the guy was humble enough to tell the media that it was an honor playing and learning alongside JT. We have two special kids in our team. The two Js and Marcus should be Celtic lifers. 

[tonydelk]

Everyone had some great thoughts

The nick nurse baseline Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline.eshow will also stand out.  It was the worst shenanigan that I have seen from a coach since Mike Tomlin coach of the steelers tripped the kick returner in an nfl game on. Sure fire return TD. 

[johnnygreen]

That was definitely a memorable series, where both teams would seemingly do anything to try to win. A testament to the idea of what it takes, when it relates to the heart of a champion. No one exemplified that more than Marcus Smart, especially in game 7. When it happened, I thought Smart’s hustle to outrun two Toronto players for a loose ball and eventual layup, would be the highlight of the series for me. Then his block at the end of the game happened. Both plays were jaw dropping. The guy is relentless, in an area, where no statistician can measure.

[Ogaju]

That was definitely a memorable series, where both teams would seemingly do anything to try to win. A testament to the idea of what it takes, when it relates to the heart of a champion. No one exemplified that more than Marcus Smart, especially in game 7. When it happened, I thought Smart’s hustle to outrun two Toronto players for a loose ball and eventual layup, would be the highlight of the series for me. Then his block at the end of the game happened. Both plays were jaw dropping. The guy is relentless, in an area, where no statistician can measure.

TP!