Hawks (1-3) at Celtics (3-1) Round 1 Game #5 4/25/23

[Who]

how this team comes out for game 6 will speak volumes about whether they've smartened up and will end this or if they're going to fizzle out really quickly this year in the playoffs

I expect they'll come out strong in game 6. Their pride is hurt after this game. I expect a reaction.

Atlanta at home with all the momentum. Boston gave them life.

Doesn't matter. It is only Atlanta.

ATL cannot beat BOS if BOS plays well. They can only beat BOS if BOS plays poorly.

BOS is in control. Not ATL.

Counting on Boston to play well is a huge unknown

True.

[ozgod]

And with the loss as well, PHI gets an additional two days of rest since even if we advance, Game 1 is now Monday, not Saturday

Yes, if we were min-maxing for a series win over Philly it's not good...but we have to get there first 

[blink]

If this series actually goes 7 then that's going to be embarrassing. Atlanta was supposed to be not just an easy first round opponent, but probably the EASIEST opponent in the entire field (even teams like the Wolves I feel are a bit better)

Well this loss is about as embarrassing as it can get.   Up double digits in the 4th, at home, in a close out game, to a 7 seed.  The amount of screwups that we had to do to allow the Hawks to win that game was amazing. 

Lots of work for Joe.  Need to find and execute a better game plan to defend TY.  Get the team's head back on straight after that abomination.

[celticinorlando]

If this series actually goes 7 then that's going to be embarrassing. Atlanta was supposed to be not just an easy first round opponent, but probably the EASIEST opponent in the entire field (even teams like the Wolves I feel are a bit better)

It was the only reason to want to play Miami in round one. They would have taken them seriously. They haven’t played with any interest vs Atlanta

[slamtheking]

reporter actually asked Joe about Tatum's comments this season about learning from past playoff mistakes and not letting up or giving an opponent live and why that doesn't seem to be happening.  Joe, not taking his team to task of course.

[SparzWizard]

how this team comes out for game 6 will speak volumes about whether they've smartened up and will end this or if they're going to fizzle out really quickly this year in the playoffs

I expect they'll come out strong in game 6. Their pride is hurt after this game. I expect a reaction.

Atlanta at home with all the momentum. Boston gave them life.

Yup. Atlanta has life now. D. Murray is back to put 50 points on us for revenge. I don't expect any reactions or pride. This team is just soft in the head lol.

[Mahk E Mahk]

If Celts don't make it out of the East, it is time for Brad to shake things up.

Everyone talks about trading Brown, maybe we ought to be looking at the other J.

these guys might not make it out of the first round. they’re entitled, soft, and think the finals loss last year automatically punched their ticket for a return. in the closing seconds tonight, you could see the thousand yard stares from the guys who thought this was a coronation, instead of a competition. they were stunned the hawks thoroughly outplayed them in crunch time, and they panicked or quit or both. the inability to cleanly inbound the ball with 2.8 seconds remaining with a chance to salvage the win was pure lack of effort from guys who were shell shocked the other team actually showed up and outplayed them.

it’s been said on this forum plenty of times previously: neither J has the killer instinct or leadership necessary to lead a team to a banner. lots of exciting splash plays, big stats, and premature fawning from national sports writers. also plenty of no-shows in big games, wildly inconsistent performances, and a disturbing penchant for under-reacting to losses that should have been wins. unless brad finds a larry or kg, these two pippens will win some games and star in plenty of sports center highlights, but won’t hang a banner.

[Billz401]

Tatum 1-10 from deep, Brown 1-5 from the line although he played pretty good overall. Need those 2 to be the best players on the court game 6 and the team to play a full 48 minutes to put this away. I thought game 3 was the wake up call but lets hope tonight was and they figure this out!

[angryguy77]

how this team comes out for game 6 will speak volumes about whether they've smartened up and will end this or if they're going to fizzle out really quickly this year in the playoffs

I expect they'll come out strong in game 6. Their pride is hurt after this game. I expect a reaction.

Atlanta at home with all the momentum. Boston gave them life.

Yup. Atlanta has life now. D. Murray is back to put 50 points on us for revenge. I don't expect any reactions or pride. This team is just soft in the head lol.

This was the game for them to prove something. Blowing them out in game 6.is more an indictment of how soft they were because if they had any fire, they would've done it tonight

[jpotter33]

https://twitter.com/dangercart/status/1651042651980853253

I don’t know how everyone in the world can see what was happening with Tatum walking up possessions other than the players and coaches of the team

I keep expecting them to learn from one of these experiences and they simply refuse to

How is Smart or Brogdon not back in with the express instructions to get the ball and pick up the pace? Why is Jayson dominating every possession when he’s playing like Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. and Jaylen has 35 (but can’t make a FT)?

Another big issue with tonight. Tatum simply can't be bringing the ball up late in the game. This whole "wait out the clock" philosophy is preached as the exact opposite of what to do from pee wee league basketball up, yet we just do this to ourselves every game down the stretch.

[jpotter33]

https://twitter.com/KevinOConnorNBA/status/1651042509471244289

What a massive choke job by the Celtics. Trae Young going off, why didn't Joe Mazzulla have the Celtics send two at him? Where was Malcolm Brogdon? Mazzulla watched that collapse and did nothing.

KOC calling out Joe sitting on his hands down the stretch, too.

[SparzWizard]

If Celts don't make it out of the East, it is time for Brad to shake things up.

Everyone talks about trading Brown, maybe we ought to be looking at the other J.

I was showering and had a similar thought that maybe it's the other J who needs to be looked at under a microscope. What's Jayson's deal? For a 1a, he needs to be leading and make wise decisions. Not chuck 3s after 3s or play conservative or dribble to 2 seconds left go ISO and chuck another 3.

[SparzWizard]

https://twitter.com/KevinOConnorNBA/status/1651042509471244289

What a massive choke job by the Celtics. Trae Young going off, why didn't Joe Mazzulla have the Celtics send two at him? Where was Malcolm Brogdon? Mazzulla watched that collapse and did nothing.

KOC calling out Joe sitting on his hands down the stretch, too.

Funny thing is, Joe tryna be Bill Belichick and keep it one-word response or short phrase response.

Joe Schmo looks like Matt Patricia out there guys.

[celticinorlando]

Play stupid games win stupid prizes. Celtics reverted back to the turnover machine we saw in the finals

[hpantazo]

The Hawks had absolutely no answer for Brown the whole game, yet he barely got the  ball in the last 5 minutes.