Knicks (38-27) at Celtics (45-19) Game #65 3/5/23

[hpantazo]

Great job by JT taking it to the rim!

Yet the final play call is yet again another three. You can't make this stuff up.

Do people legitimately think this is going to work in the playoffs? Teams have already caught on.

Ehh, thats a good shot. You got an open corner three out of a guy shooting like 60% from three since the all break.

They have a game tomorrow, at some point you gotta be okay shooting for the win.

Al is 36 years old and played 46 minutes tonight. He front rimmed the shot because he was tired. Going for a three in that situation is at the very least not the optimal shot, especially given that we'd been awful all OT long from distance.

Contrary to Joe's thinking, not everything has to be a three.

Even the younger guys were coming up short on all the threes in that second OT. Should have gone to White a lot more when he checked back in.

[Mahk E Mahk]

i’ll say it again: worst coach in the nba.

and i’ll restate what i posted in the previous game thread: if this game doesn’t engender a player’s only meeting, this team’s culture is worse than we thought.

[blink]

59 3s. Not sure how many they missed at the rim or in close.

But this team will shoot themselves out of games and they will shoot other teams into games with the amount of 3s. It is what killed them in OT and 2OT.

out of 109 shots meaning just 50 2-point shots taken.  that's horrific offense.  Tatum 6-17.  Smart 3-11.  white 1-4.  whole bench 3-12.  it's just a really bad offensive philosophy.  it's definitely not good enough to be the best team in the league

We still need to shoot 3’s but almost every time the 3 ball is better after we make the def move by passing the ball.  Get the other team moving, attack the seams, hit the open guy for three ion rhythm.

3's do have a place in the current NBA's offense -- but not more than half the shots to be taken in a game nor anything close to the percentage that Joe encourages this team to take

100% agree

[hpantazo]

We're also totally going to lose tomorrow against Cleveland.

[SCeltic34]

I love our fan base! So positive!

Nobody makes you participate here, you realise?

Oh I realize. I bet Nick realized this has become a cesspool as well.

Dude not everyone here is over the top negative.  What are you doing to make constructive comments?  You aren’t adding anything except complaining about us as a group.  I agree sometimes the negativity is a bit much.  But e way you fix that is to make a positive contribution.

I never understood posters like this.  Post in threads just to complain about other posters in the community?  Yeah there are some bad reactions, but you're going to get that on any site/board for a team that is expected to compete for a title.  Not all of the criticisms are unjust negativity, many of them are legit issues that educated fans can easily observe.

[jpotter33]

This team does nothing great. Does not defend great. Doesn't shoot great. Doesn't play hard. Offense is beyond stagnant.

Not tough. Not blue collar. Doesn't have a high BB IQ.

What is this team really? They have nothing they can count on night in and night out.

Exactly this. At least last year we had an identity - we were by far the best defensive team in the league and we would grind out wins at need.

There's simply no identity other than we chuck a ton of threes.

[celticinorlando]

I love our fan base! So positive!

Nobody makes you participate here, you realise?

Oh I realize. I bet Nick realized this has become a cesspool as well.

Dude not everyone here is over the top negative.  What are you doing to make constructive comments?  You aren’t adding anything except complaining about us as a group.  I agree sometimes the negativity is a bit much.  But e way you fix that is to make a positive contribution.
[/quote

I thought the Celtics played with grit tonight. Per ESPN, they had about an 85% chance of losing the game going into OT. They beat those odds and forced another OT.

Blowing double digit leads at home twice in two games is not gritty. It shows a lack of focus and effort.

[Phantom255x]

I wonder how the postgame interviews are going to sound and what quotes we get

But if these guys are still smiling or acting like everything’s fine even after this loss, then that’s not a good sign

It’s a long season but no way should they be satisfied right now

[jpotter33]

Can't blame effort tonight.  Just got beaten.  And in a way, that's even worse.

Maybe we just aren't as good as we thought we were.

Oh, we're good enough. We just have the wrong leadership and wrong system. Joe's offensive philosophy has been completely exposed since the stakes have been upped and teams are actually playing hard for the playoffs.

Mazulla ball is a one-dimensional joke of an offensive philosophy that is going to get us bounced out of the playoffs early.

Respectfully brother, Mazzulla ain't the only problem with this team right now.  Our interior defense has vanished because our big rotation is a mess.  Rob can't stay on the court, Al has slowed noticeably on defense, Grant has been nearly unplayable for a couple of months now, and Muscala is a target whenever he steps on the court.  I'm at the point that I want the team to play Blake just to see us try something new.  But truthfully I don't expect that to work either. 

We were a title favorite if Al and Rob had another year of elite defense in them.  We're still a contender because of the potential firepower that the Tatum/Brown/Brogdon trio brings but I don't put us at the top of the heap anymore.  Not unless we figure out a way to keep slashers away from the rim.  And that's a personnel issue at least as much as it is a scheme issue.

How is it a personnel issue? If anything we have more perimeter defenders this year with Brogdon The problem is the scheme and the lack of attention to detail and focus on the defensive end.

Yes, the injuries to the bigs definitely doesn't help, but that shouldn't change the perimeter D. The difference was the emphasis and focus put on playing hard-nosed D. These guys are not held accountable in the same way because Joe simply doesn't value it like Ime, and the guys have no incentive to play that hard all the time due to not being held accountable.

[hpantazo]

Mitchell Robinson killing us on the offensive boards and Tatum going 6-17 from three were two big factors that killed us tonight.

[Phantom255x]

That’s actually insane that Quickley played 55 minutes tonight

Kudos to him. That’s definitely not easy

[Mahk E Mahk]

This team does nothing great. Does not defend great. Doesn't shoot great. Doesn't play hard. Offense is beyond stagnant.

Not tough. Not blue collar. Doesn't have a high BB IQ.

What is this team really? They have nothing they can count on night in and night out.

Exactly this. At least last year we had an identity - we were by far the best defensive team in the league and we would grind out wins at need.

There's simply no identity other than we chuck a ton of threes.

i said the same in a previous game thread. our league-leading defense covered for our streaky three-point shooting tendencies. when the three was falling, we looked invincible. when it wasn’t falling, our defense kept us in games and won a lot of ugly games in crunch time.

[Phantom255x]

Mazzulla says his level of worry for our late season struggles so far is “zero”. This guy…

[hpantazo]

Mazzulla says his level of worry for our late season struggles so far is “zero”. This guy…

I love the way Joe deals with the media. Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer

[radiohead]

We're also totally going to lose tomorrow against Cleveland.

Watch them get an improbable win tomorrow. This team is just unpredictable.