Celtics (44-17) at Knicks (35-27) Game #62 2/26/23

[SparzWizard]

Aaand there goes the 1-seed

[slamtheking]

Aaand there goes the 1-seed

yup, percentage points in second. 

[SHAQATTACK]

Walked right into the trap .  SMH

They should have know Knicks weren’t going to gift them a game.

As coach , I d called time out early on maybe twice IF they weren’t hearing my message ,

“You guys need to match their energy “

Oh well.

[Mahk E Mahk]

The way our team is built it's hard to win when we shoot 21% from 3, given the volume we shoot. We have to get better at winning ugly, when we shoot bad. That's why those are the wins I love, that others here are usually upset about, the ones where we shoot terrible but find a way to win, whether it's by defense or by manufacturing shots closer to the basket. Because we're not always going to shoot 40-50% from 3, especially in the playoffs.

agreed but the problem is the offensive philosophy of this coaching staff.  we've been a "live by the 3, die by the 3" team since Brad was hired as coach.  if we're having a bad shooting night, we never deviate from that game plan to generate points without chucking 3's. 

this inflexibility in that offensive philosophy has me questioning more and more if this is the coaching staff that can get us over the finish line for banner 18.

this offensive philosophy is not only unsustainable, particularly in the playoffs, but it’s wholly unnecessary considering the elite talent the c’s have who can easily get in the paint and finish: jt, jb, d.white, brogdon, marcus, etc.

all of the above players are also excellent passers and have above average court vision. the obvious answer is a motion offense with a heavy focus on ball movement, screens, off-ball cutting, and drives into the paint. why brad had amassed the this type of talent but continues to rely on an offensive strategy that’s far too reliant on the three falling is mind boggling.

[Indocelts]

I am OK  if Joe wants to continue with his 3pt air raid as long as the players who takes the shots are the more capable ones. JB, JT (and Smart) are the least accurate shooters of the Cs shooting the 3s, yet they are taking big chunk of the shots, which is just not an efficient basketball.

JT and JB should wreak havoc driving to the basket and kick out, which they are good at actually, and let Horford, White, Brogdon, Hauser, GW take the 3pt shots. Joe should preach a more patient ball movement offense until the ball gets in the hands of our better shooters.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Aaand there goes the 1-seed

I'm curious, and also too lazy to do the research: In the last decade or so, how many No. 1 seeds have won the title? I'd love for the Cs to have homecourt throughout the playoffs, but I also have this suspicion that being the No. 1 seed is far from guaranteeing a trip to the Finals. Kinda like how the best regular-season team in the NHL often doesn't win the Stanley Cup. Seems kinda weird to say that I don't want the Bs and Cs to finish with the best record, but maybe it's better that way?

[SparzWizard]

Aaand there goes the 1-seed

I'm curious, and also too lazy to do the research: In the last decade or so, how many No. 1 seeds have won the title? I'd love for the Cs to have homecourt throughout the playoffs, but I also have this suspicion that being the No. 1 seed is far from guaranteeing a trip to the Finals. Kinda like how the best regular-season team in the NHL often doesn't win the Stanley Cup. Seems kinda weird to say that I don't want the Bs and Cs to finish with the best record, but maybe it's better that way?

Like 6 dating back to 2013?

2020 - Lakers
2017 - Warriors
2016 - Cavs
2015 - Warriors
2014 - Spurs
2013 - Heat

It doesn't happen every year, at least for the last 5 years

[ozgod]

The way our team is built it's hard to win when we shoot 21% from 3, given the volume we shoot. We have to get better at winning ugly, when we shoot bad. That's why those are the wins I love, that others here are usually upset about, the ones where we shoot terrible but find a way to win, whether it's by defense or by manufacturing shots closer to the basket. Because we're not always going to shoot 40-50% from 3, especially in the playoffs.

agreed but the problem is the offensive philosophy of this coaching staff.  we've been a "live by the 3, die by the 3" team since Brad was hired as coach.  if we're having a bad shooting night, we never deviate from that game plan to generate points without chucking 3's. 

this inflexibility in that offensive philosophy has me questioning more and more if this is the coaching staff that can get us over the finish line for banner 18.

Given how much everything is run by stats now, I'm guessing that the nerds in the coaching staff have worked out a numerical value for every spot on the floor and they have worked out the value of each shot taken, taking into account the probability of it going in. So if you have an open 3, its always going to be higher value than an open 2, even if the % of hitting the 3 is 35% and the % of hitting a 2 is 50%. Probably the only shot that would be weighted higher would be an open shot at the rim which might have a 90% chance of success.

The problem with that is when we have performances where we are significantly outside the standard deviation this season so far i.e. shooting 21% from 3. That kind of throws their math out the window 

It was really in the first quarter where we lost it - we were 1-12 from 3 and they were all relatively open shots and we fell behind by double digits. Then in Q2 we were 1-7, Q3 we were 5-13 and Q4 2-10. 2 point shots we had more attempts than the Knicks and shot a similar percentage, but they shot a lot better than us from 3 (12-31). I'm sure our team nerds would also have noticed when they ran our numbers that the correlation between a bad shooting night affecting our defense reared its head again. The team can't control if the shots go in or not but they can definitely control their commitment to defending, and they didn't do a good job of that tonight.

[ozgod]

Aaand there goes the 1-seed

I'm curious, and also too lazy to do the research: In the last decade or so, how many No. 1 seeds have won the title? I'd love for the Cs to have homecourt throughout the playoffs, but I also have this suspicion that being the No. 1 seed is far from guaranteeing a trip to the Finals. Kinda like how the best regular-season team in the NHL often doesn't win the Stanley Cup. Seems kinda weird to say that I don't want the Bs and Cs to finish with the best record, but maybe it's better that way?

Well thankfully, the No.1 overall seed isn't being decided today 

According to the stats, in the last 20 years, six No. 1 overall seeds have gone on to win it all: the 2016-17 Warriors, 2014-15 Warriors, 2013-14 San Antonio Spurs, 2012-13 Heat, 2007-08 Boston Celtics and 2002-03 Spurs. It definitely helps, because who wouldn't want their crowd behind them for every game 7?

But I think matchups are more important. Whoever has the best team usually wins, no matter where they play. And I think at full strength we match up well against the Bucks or the Sixers, we're built to beat them. It's Chicago and Orlando we have trouble with, with their big front courts.

[Billz401]

I have never seen so many missed WIDE open threes in my life. And Grant with another disappearing act, hoping Muscala starts to get some of his minutes. Hes surprisingly big, always thought he was like 6ft 9 and just a 3pt shooter but hes a legit 6ft11 and has showed some rim protection. Once he gets more comfortable with the defense and rotations I think he will start getting more minutes.

Also another game where the Celts have more paint points but shoot 20 less free throws. Not saying they caused the loss but the refs were pathetic tonight. The first T on Tatum was laughable and the countless times our guys were hit going into the paint without a call is alarming. And since when can you challenge a play and go back and give a foul to someone? That one had me scratching my head even though Smart did get him a little with the body. Next time Giannis has 5 fouls and the refs swallow the whistle maybe we can challenge the play and get him fouled out  .

Oh well, on to Cleveland

[boscel33]

I say again, Jaylen Brown, personal day!  #facepalm!

[letsgoblue86]

I say again, Jaylen Brown, personal day!  #facepalm!

I love how you can say this without a shred of understanding.

I’m sure you’ve never missed a day of work in your life.

[hodgy03038]

Hope we don't face the Knicks or Cavaliers in the playoffs or we go home

[Vermont Green]

I say again, Jaylen Brown, personal day!  #facepalm!

I love how you can say this without a shred of understanding.

I’m sure you’ve never missed a day of work in your life.

Yeah, I have no problem at all giving Brown the benefit of the doubt on this.  He has not given me any reason to doubt his commitment to the team.

As to the game, the Celtics have been sliding for some time.  I forget exactly which game it was but I had commented that I had the sense some of their mojo was starting to slip away and that I was concerned a little.  I am still concerned, maybe a little more concerned. 

But I had plenty of questions about Ime about this time last season.  He was able to answer them by the end of the season.  With Joe, it kind of seems the opposite, it seemed great to start but somehow, something with the team seems to be slipping away.  I am not going to give up on Joe just yet though.  Last season, the better play started almost overnight.  They just clicked.  Let's see if they can do that again.

[angryguy77]

If they can't learn to win when the 3's are not falling, you can kiss the title goodbye.

Last night they would get themselves back into the game by driving and being aggressive. As soon as they got within 10, they would start settling for 3's again. That is 100% on Joe. He.does.not.hold.these.guys.accountable.

I know it's one loss yadda yadda, but the theme here is the same as all the others. You have to be able to adjust your game when things are going sideways, or at least make an attempt.

I want to believe they'll win it all, but I never believed we would do it under Brad. Joe looking like Brad 2.0 is not giving me a boost in condifence. I'm not predicting they will lose in the playoffs, but I won't be shocked if they do.