76ers (0-0) at Celtics (0-0) Round 2 Game #1 5/1/23

[kraidstar]

The lack of discipline, lazy passing, ISO plays at the end of the game, no adjustment to the zone, zero defense.  These guys are vets, but the coach allows this.

The same players have done this for three coaches now.  I think it’s time to question the team’s leaders.

Aka Smart. He should be setting the tone defensively.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

I should have bet against these bums the second it became apparent that Embiid wouldn't play

i need to reconsider my NO NBA wagering policy and bet against us rest of the way

[Kuberski33]

I don’t get the Joe blame. This team has played with the same attitude under THREE coaches now.

I’m not particularly worried about the series, but they clearly are NOT learning from their past. Not last series, not last season. They let teams off the hook time and time again.

They will blow the brakes off the Sixers next game but when will the next embarrassing loss come? Hopefully they got this series’ one out of the way tonight.

That is simply untrue. They did not play like this last year. They ALWAYS brought the effort, especially defensively, because they had a competent, true leader that held them accountable.

What is the same is the end-game lack of execution and boneheaded plays, and this team has quite a bit larger margin of error given the higher talent level, which allows them to keep it close or squeak out wins even when playing with subpar effort.

But it's simply untrue that the attitude has been the same. Ime had them playing the right way with the right effort 99% of the time, and they just didn't yet have enough experience and talent to win it all. But it was never a lack of effort or intensity or focus like this.

They also had Grant making the little plays that win you games - taking charges, grabbing a big rebound, coming up with a loose ball etc. That's missing right now defensively. Also Grant is on his way out of town this summer thanks to his coach not using him.

[CelticSooner]

A coach can only take you so far. Unless this core wakes the hell up and starts actually respecting teams instead of expecting their talent to always win out it will never change. I do not know how that happens though when I do not know who the leader is on this team.

[celticinorlando]

Game was lost when the Celtics were on fire in the first half and blew a 12 point lead with turnovers and lazy 3s. Shot the sixers right back in the game.

[SCeltic34]

A good question is why we've sucked so much at home since last year in the playoffs.  Our road record is better than our home record.

That said, I'm not that impressed with Philly.  Harden managed to turn back the clock and beat us individually.  They only had 17 assists as a team.  The key was they didn't turn the ball over (or we didn't play good enough defense to force turnovers).

They just won without their best player on a night we shot very well in the 1st half.

Still not impressed.  Teams win without their star players all the time.  Harden going iso over and over isn't winning basketball.  That's only going to work in a select few games when he's feeling it.

We gave the 76ers everything they needed to win that game.  Stupid and extremely untimely turnovers, bad ATO plays, poor defensive scheme, defensive miscues and poor communication.  You name it, we did it.

[angryguy77]

A coach can only take you so far. Unless this core wakes the hell up and starts actually respecting teams instead of expecting their talent to always win out it will never change. I do not know how that happens though when I do not know who the leader is on this team.

They play the defensive scheme the coach calls.
Milking at the end is correctable yet Joe let's them do it.

This poor defense didn't happen last year......what changed....

[kraidstar]

I should have bet against these bums the second it became apparent that Embiid wouldn't play

i need to reconsider my NO NBA wagering policy and bet against us rest of the way

And you know we'd start beating the spread every game lol

[celticinorlando]

Best Boston can hope for is tied 2-2 heading into game 5. Will be lucky to win one in Philly

[hpantazo]

Joe is going to have to actually do something as coach and make a personnel change. In particular, you're just going to have to play Timelord more and less of Al, particularly while Embiid is out. Al is simply not getting it done on eeither side of the ball. Not sure if his age is catching up to him or what, but he's been downright atrocious most of the playoffs thus far. Mazzulla's continued refusal to play him less and Timelord more has just hemorrhaged our defense, along with his other ridiculous decisions.

I think that's the major reason why our defense is not good. In the Hawks series, it was  the Hawks forcing the switches to get Al on Trey and Al couldn't stop him. Same thing here with Harden. Al has lost a couple of steps. It happens. At his age he should be coming off the bench instead of anchoring the defense for a team with championship hopes. Rob should be the guy, but Joe doesn't seem to want to play anyone late who can't stretch the floor. Rob and Grant should be getting a lot more run and leading the charge on defense.

[Phantom255x]

When was the last time this team had a slim lead in the final 2 minutes and actually held on? And no, I don’t count Games 4 and 6 against ATL because we actually pulled ahead by double digits as it got to under 2 minutes. The stakes weren’t as high up 9+

[GreenEnvy]

There are three very big calls that went against the Celtics:

1. The non-call on the obvious Flagrant foul on Tucker. If they can call Flagrants on “reckless” closeouts all day, you can’t let Tucker off the hook for that arm swing to Tatum’s groin. Alas, they did.

2. The Maxey drive. Smart was there IMO, and if Maxey doesn’t have 5 fouls we may have a different outcome then a block on Smart.

3. The shot clock violation. I haven’t seen a definitive replay, but I don’t believe Maxey gathered possession before the shot clock ran out which led to an uncontested layup.

Don’t get me wrong, Celtics did everything in their power to give this game away. But the refs did them no favors.

[Atzar]

The lack of discipline, lazy passing, ISO plays at the end of the game, no adjustment to the zone, zero defense.  These guys are vets, but the coach allows this.

The same players have done this for three coaches now.  I think it’s time to question the team’s leaders.

Aka Smart. He should be setting the tone defensively.

He’s definitely one of the guys I’m thinking of, yep.

[jpotter33]

https://twitter.com/NBCSCeltics/status/1653220234466062337

"I didn't put them in position to win the game."

Joe caught up with
@tvabby
 after the Celtics fall to Sixers 119-115 and shared his message to the team

More platitudes, yet no action to remedy your failures.

[Phantom255x]

https://twitter.com/NBCSCeltics/status/1653220234466062337

"I didn't put them in position to win the game."

Joe caught up with
@tvabby
 after the Celtics fall to Sixers 119-115 and shared his message to the team

More platitudes, yet no action to remedy your failures.

He literally said Horford has been one of our best defenders and that Harden just made a better shot. Implying he didn’t mind Horford on Harden. YIKES