Celtics (2-3) at 76ers (3-2) Round 2 Game #6 5/11/23

[Who]

I have a lot of respect for how Tatum played tonight on a bad shooting night. It is nights like this where you show your character.

Do you stop playing defense? Do you keep showing effort for lose balls? Do you attack the glass? Do you find a way to help offensively with your handles and passing? Tatum did all that.

He never stopped competing. Hustling.

He can't buy a bucket until late but he never stopped trying to find a way to help his team. That is character. That is not giving up. That is fighting through adversity. That is finding a way to get it done.

[Kernewek]

anyone backing off the notion that joe should have benched tatum is drunk on the emotion of the “win.” if hauser or pp or grant replace jt during the game and hit just a few pedestrian buckets, the c’s win going away and they don’t need his last minute “heroics.”

this was bad coaching and if the sixers don’t completely melt down in epic doc fashion, the c’s lose handily. 

our future super max finally hit a few shots, after disappearing for most of the playoffs, including last year’s finals, and suddenly he’s the man? go sell crazy some place else.

i’m glad the c’s won and everyone can revel in the moment, but this isn’t sustainable, winning basketball.

This is a bad time for an 'I told you so' moment. Perhaps not starting Tatum would have yielded different results, but by the time we knew Tatum was bad (end of the 1st), it was already official. It had happened.

Give the man his dues. He was a punching bag all night and came up big when we needed him the most. That is the definition of a superstar.

this is the exact opposite of an “i told you so moment,” as the C’s pulled it out. had the C’s lost and tatum continued his putrid play, then it’s an “i told you moment.”

i get the euphoria and i’m thrilled the C’s won to stay alive but joe has to be willing to hold tatum accountable for not showing up consistently. it’s not as if tatum had an unusually poor shooting night and we’re calling for him to be benched for one bad night. the dude has been worse than a no-show; he’s hurting the team with his epic run of disappearing acts.

if tatum knew there were consequences for consistent poor play, we might not see it as much. that’s called accountability and coaching. even “superstars” need to be held accountable and coached.

When your data points for “a consistent run of poor play” include last years finals, you’re stretching.

Like I said, broadly speaking you’re not wrong about playing time - but Tatum’s consistent poor play is averaging 27/10/5 this postseason. We think our bench guys who aren’t playing currently can replicate that when they’re not playing with Tatum? I have my doubts.

Not to mention he played well tonight, even if his shot wasn’t falling.

[Phantom255x]

https://twitter.com/BrianTRobb/status/1656843328401408000

Celtics beat 76ers 95-86 to force at Game 7 at TD Garden on Sunday. Start time will either be 3:30, 6:30 or 8 p.m. depending on results of other games tonight/tomorrow.

Lot of people online seem to think it'll be 6:30 or 8. Denver is looking like they'll cruise tonight, so it might depend on who wins tomorrow as well between GSW-LAL and if there'll be a Game 7 in that series

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

SMARTACUS AT THE PODIUM

[celticinorlando]

 Celtics are their own amusement park. Ups, downs, puking, elation, frustration, fun house shenanigans and at the end of the day exhausting but memorable

[angryguy77]

anyone backing off the notion that joe should have benched tatum is drunk on the emotion of the “win.” if hauser or pp or grant replace jt during the game and hit just a few pedestrian buckets, the c’s win going away and they don’t need his last minute “heroics.”

this was bad coaching and if the sixers don’t completely melt down in epic doc fashion, the c’s lose handily. 

our future super max finally hit a few shots, after disappearing for most of the playoffs, including last year’s finals, and suddenly he’s the man? go sell crazy some place else.

i’m glad the c’s won and everyone can revel in the moment, but this isn’t sustainable, winning basketball.

100% correct

[trickybilly]

I have a lot of respect for how Tatum played tonight on a bad shooting night. It is nights like this where you show your character.

Do you stop playing defense? Do you keep showing effort for lose balls? Do you attack the glass? Do you find a way to help offensively with your handles and passing? Tatum did all that.

He never stopped competing. Hustling.

He can't buy a bucket until late but he never stopped trying to find a way to help his team. That is character. That is not giving up. That is fighting through adversity. That is finding a way to get it done.

Well said. TP.

[Mahk E Mahk]

anyone backing off the notion that joe should have benched tatum is drunk on the emotion of the “win.” if hauser or pp or grant replace jt during the game and hit just a few pedestrian buckets, the c’s win going away and they don’t need his last minute “heroics.”

this was bad coaching and if the sixers don’t completely melt down in epic doc fashion, the c’s lose handily. 

our future super max finally hit a few shots, after disappearing for most of the playoffs, including last year’s finals, and suddenly he’s the man? go sell crazy some place else.

i’m glad the c’s won and everyone can revel in the moment, but this isn’t sustainable, winning basketball.

Yes I’m sure Preston Pritchard or Grant Williams are more meaningfully impactful to winning basketball games than Jayson Tatum.

Players miss shots. It happens.

You are missing the point.

All three of those guys are shooters, though Joe has done everything he can to tear down their confidence.
All three play 10 minutes each, Tatum and Brown get some rest. those three surely hit a few shots between them, plus Grant and Peyton bring energy and effort. Not sure what Mazzulla's problem is with Grant.

A 7 man rotation feels extreme for me from a minutes played perspective, but those guys are nothing more than warm bodies. Our much-vaunted depth is, basically, 1-7. Grant Williams in a pinch is replacement level.

Before tipoff who is predicting Tatum goes 1-13? Who is honestly going to advocate for pulling him for journeymen? He’s not my favourite player or my favourite Celtic but you ride and die with your best players.

“warm bodies” is exactly what tatum has been for most of the playoffs, including the finals last year.

maybe you’ve selectively forgotten grant’s game 7 vs. the bucks. these guys can contribute. again, if pp/grant/hauser play a pedestrian game and score at their typical efficiency, the c’s don’t need 4Q heroics. if they stink up the joint, you put tatum back in in the fourth and see if the benching cleared his head.

philly played horribly all game and were begging to be put away early. tatum single-handedly kept them in the game.

I'm all for giving Grant/pp more minutes especially when the Celtics energy isn't there for spot minutes during the game.

But this idea of you should bench your superstar to kill his confidence even more for role player is just horrible. Name me a team who does that?

You also act like these bench guys like grant get open in a bubble. They get open off of the attention Tatum/brown command

if benching tatum kills his confidence, then he’s not a superstar.

[celticinorlando]

We need Tatum’s scoring in game 7…early. Enough of this 0- for the first half

[#1P4P]

The defense wrested the momentum from the jump and wore the Sixers down. We used a lot of energy on defense, which affected our offense. We wouldn’t have gotten away with the amount of turnovers and giving up offensive rebounds without the level of defense exhibited tonight especially on the road.

I will take this game ten times out of ten than the perfectly executed offense with lax defense and little room for turnovers and off nights that has been the mo this season.

The C’s bread is buttered on defense. Credit to Mazzulla for going out of his comfort zone to change the focus, starting lineup, and give Rob ample minutes. It changed the trajectory of the game, series, and season.

[celticinorlando]

Marcus Smart said he was "ecstatic" about the lineup change. Said he knows Mazzulla has "been getting (criticized) lately, and rightfully so." Said Mazzulla is learning on the fly and made the proper adjustments for Game 6.

[Phantom255x]

Sixers players sound defeated and Doc sounds fed up/annoyed. Sixers fans melting down too

Still have to play hard Sunday, but the C's definitely have the momentum. Given how that game tonight played out, PHI can't be feeling too good. They needed to win tonight at home. And they had many chances to. If the C's start Game 7 strongly, I think PHI folds. Tonight was their Game 7 IMO.

[libermaniac]

anyone backing off the notion that joe should have benched tatum is drunk on the emotion of the “win.” if hauser or pp or grant replace jt during the game and hit just a few pedestrian buckets, the c’s win going away and they don’t need his last minute “heroics.”

this was bad coaching and if the sixers don’t completely melt down in epic doc fashion, the c’s lose handily. 

our future super max finally hit a few shots, after disappearing for most of the playoffs, including last year’s finals, and suddenly he’s the man? go sell crazy some place else.

i’m glad the c’s won and everyone can revel in the moment, but this isn’t sustainable, winning basketball.

100% correct

He had 2 steals, 2 blocks and 6 assists. Hauser doesn’t do those other things so it’s not as clear cut as you are implying. Horrifically bad shooting but you never know when he’s gonna get hot. Case in point the last 5 minutes.

[Kuberski33]

Marcus Smart said he was "ecstatic" about the lineup change. Said he knows Mazzulla has "been getting (criticized) lately, and rightfully so." Said Mazzulla is learning on the fly and made the proper adjustments for Game 6.

Unbelievable comments from Smart. He basically acknowledged that the players know Joe is in over his head. Wow.

[Phantom255x]

If Game 7 is ESPN/ABC I am praying it's not Doris Burke again. But it was so nice hearing her cry at the end