2024 NBA Season and Playoffs

[tazzmaniac]

I like to see Minnesota choke after being crowned and Anthony Edwards being crowned and skyrocketed to top 5 in the league after 6 good playoff games, but I also hate it because I don’t think we have any chance against Denver unless we just get scorching hot for a series…even then I really don’t see it.

not sure why everyone has built denver into this unstoppable force we have zero chance against. sure we have no one who can stop jocic. But at the same time, they only were a 57 win team this year choking away the #1 seed. this isnt the prime warriors against Lebron and a bunch of nobodies. Or Denver against the clearly overmatched Miami team who you could tell didn't belong.

we would have to win by spreading them out with our shooters and overwhelming them from 3 imo. this series we 100% will need KP. to spread Jokic out and open up the paint. Denver doesn't shoot many 3's. even last night only took 18. that and their depth is their weakness if anything. Minnesota also doesn't seem to shoot many 3's either. at least at the level we do.

where they scare me most is more their late game execution. thats where I think we still lack.

but we will see, I don't think Minnesota wins this series. but I don't think it ends Thursday night. I think this goes 7.

So you’re not sure why everyone has built Denver into this unstoppable force but then go on to basically agree that we would have to get unconscious from 3 to have a chance.
Celtics will have to play there best basketball of the season and certainly the playoffs to even extend a series against Denver. Sorry, but the way they’re currently playing against competition not even half as good as Denver, they will get swept.

see this is what i mean. you act as if we are totally outmatched and will get swept. I don't see this huge talent discrepancy that you seem to see where we have no chance where we can't even do what Miami did last year...a team with not even half the talent we have this year.

but then again. somehow being 7-2 this playoffs and 2 days ago being our first win under 11ppg is garbage.

btw I never said we had to go "unconscious from 3" to win. I said we need to play our game which is spread the floor and shoot 3's. Denver made 8 3's last night ALL GAME.  our average is 16. Also if you spread the floor, doesn't that mean their "bigs" have to spread the floor taking away their advantage inside on defense?

There 2 best players are better then our 2 best players. Sure we have beaten the competition in front of us but we have been playing possibly the worst competition I’ve ever seen in the playoffs. Denver is on a complete different level. Sure we could pray for a miracle and beat them but to think they’re favorites or should win is delusional.

I'll give you Jokic....but there is no way Murray is better than Tatum nor Brown.

I was assuming that he meant that their best 2 players combined are better than our best 2 players combined.  Which is arguable but I might agree with it.  If he is saying Murray is better than Tatum that is just idiotic.

I read it as their #1 (Jokic) > our #1 (Tatum) and their #2 (Murray) > our #2 (Brown). I'm not sure I agree with Brown being better than Murray, though, because of Brown's significant advantage on D.

Combined Jokic and Murray are probably better than Brown and Tatum, but that's a lot harder to quantify. But in the big picture, Jokic is their only clear advantage over us. He's a huge advantage, but I don't buy that it's the only one that matters

Jokic and Murray are a better complimentary fit.  Tatum and Brown definitely have a significant advantage on D.  Assuming KP is healthy, I think the Celts overall have the advantage.  Without him, it is a lot more dicey.  I expect Jrue and White will give Murray big headaches.  Of course, the Celts need to play well.  If Celts offense devolves to 3-point chucking or Tatum/Brown doing my turn your turn hero ball we're in trouble. 

[Vermont Green]

I think a Celtics-Nuggets finals would be a super close matchup of exciting, high level basketball. I would expect it to go 7 games. Not sure if the Celtics would pull it off in the end but it would be close.

If we do end up getting to the finals and DEN does too, at least we have home court.  I know we have not protected home court all that well with losses to MIA and CLE so far, but still rather play in BOS than DEN.

[cman88]

Nuggets may have the best player. but id argue 2-6 goes to the Celtics talent wise.

[Roy H.]

Nuggets may have the best player. but id argue 2-6 goes to the Celtics talent wise.

You have Murray that low?

[Vermont Green]

Nuggets may have the best player. but id argue 2-6 goes to the Celtics talent wise.

You have Murray that low?

Only when he is injured, would he be that low.

[Moranis]

If healthy Murray is certainly the 3rd most important player among the 2 teams and very well might be the 3rd best player behind only Jokic and Tatum.

[cman88]

Nuggets may have the best player. but id argue 2-6 goes to the Celtics talent wise.

You have Murray that low?

no no no, i meant that our 2-6 are better than their 2-6 player vs. player.

I don't see him as so much better than Brown as some here have him. if anything they are equal. Brown better when including defense.

[Donoghus]

If healthy Murray is certainly the 3rd most important player among the 2 teams and very well might be the 3rd best player behind only Jokic and Tatum.

He's not better than Jaylen.

[Moranis]

If healthy Murray is certainly the 3rd most important player among the 2 teams and very well might be the 3rd best player behind only Jokic and Tatum.

He's not better than Jaylen.

that is very much debatable

[theswitch]

I worry about Aaron Gordon's defense on Tatum and KCP's defense on Brown. Gordon's been terrific on guys like Lebron and Edwards -- feels like his physicality would cause Tatum problems as well. KCP is one of the best wing defenders in the league. That puts pressure on Porzingis to bring Jokic out of the paint and hit shots, and on Jrue / White to be core scorers against Murray and Porter Jr. It's hard to extrapolate from one game but in the 102-100 playoff-like game in January, Tatum and Brown were 15-43 and the game was only close because Porzingis went 3-5 from deep and White put up an efficient 24.

In fairness, Brown went off in the March game but Tatum struggled again (5-13).

Jokic dominated in both matchups. We have enough talent to run off 2-3 wins. Getting a fourth would require some serious grit that the team needs to unlock.

The Knicks would actually be a good test run for that, especially if Anunoby plays. Hart and OG are athletic, physical defenders who are going to give Tatum and Brown some fits. It'll be healthy for them to have to grind through that versus guys like Sam Merrill, Duncan Robinson, and whoever else they've been playing.

[johnnygreen]

In non-playoff news, Vince Carter is getting his jersey retired by the Nets.

https://twitter.com/BrooklynNets/status/1790717581193527727





This seems pretty weak.  4 1/2 seasons, 3 All-Star appearances, no other awards/records.  3 playoff appearances netting 11 total playoff wins.

Personally when I think of 2000 era Nets, I don't think of Vince Carter.  When I think of Vince Carter, I don't think of 2000 era Nets.



I'm okay with the Haslem, Tony Allen, Nick Collison jersey retirements, but this one seems weakest out of all of them.

I had forgotten that he even played for the Nets. That one seems really strange.

[Celtics2021]

In non-playoff news, Vince Carter is getting his jersey retired by the Nets.

https://twitter.com/BrooklynNets/status/1790717581193527727





This seems pretty weak.  4 1/2 seasons, 3 All-Star appearances, no other awards/records.  3 playoff appearances netting 11 total playoff wins.

Personally when I think of 2000 era Nets, I don't think of Vince Carter.  When I think of Vince Carter, I don't think of 2000 era Nets.



I'm okay with the Haslem, Tony Allen, Nick Collison jersey retirements, but this one seems weakest out of all of them.

I had forgotten that he even played for the Nets. That one seems really strange.

The Nets and Raptors are the only two teams I associate him with, personally.  I’m not enough of a Nets fan to know how important he is to the overall history of the franchise, but its history has been pretty mediocre so I’m willing to believe he could be deserving by relative standards.

[Who]

If healthy Murray is certainly the 3rd most important player among the 2 teams and very well might be the 3rd best player behind only Jokic and Tatum.

He's not better than Jaylen.

that is very much debatable

Agreed. I would take J Murray over Jaylen.

The last time this came up I was thinking about Jamal Murray's playoff run last year and not only whether it surpassed anything Jaylen Brown has ever done in the playoffs but whether it had surpassed anything Jayson Tatum has ever done in the playoffs. This is not to say J Murray is better than Tatum but to encapsulate how good Murray was on that title run.

2022-23 Title run

26ppg 7apg 5.7rpg 47% FG% 39.6% 3PT% on 7.5 3PTAs per game 92.6% FT% Only 2.5 turnovers per game. His TS% was 58.6%.

Going series by series

Minny = 27ppg 6.4apg 5.6rpg 47% FG% 43% 3PT%
Phoenix = 24.8ppg 6.5apg 4.8rpg 45% FG% 36% 3PT%
Lakers = 32.5ppg 5.4apg 6.3rpg 53% FG% 41% 3PT%
Miami = 21.4ppg 10apg 6.2rpg 45% FG% 39% 3PT%

That was a phenomenal playoff run. I am constantly amazed how little credit Jamal Murray gets for it. People care more about whether he got named to an All-Star Game than they do what he did in the playoffs to help lead Denver to the title.

[Who]

In non-playoff news, Vince Carter is getting his jersey retired by the Nets.

https://twitter.com/BrooklynNets/status/1790717581193527727


This seems pretty weak.  4 1/2 seasons, 3 All-Star appearances, no other awards/records.  3 playoff appearances netting 11 total playoff wins.

Personally when I think of 2000 era Nets, I don't think of Vince Carter.  When I think of Vince Carter, I don't think of 2000 era Nets.



I'm okay with the Haslem, Tony Allen, Nick Collison jersey retirements, but this one seems weakest out of all of them.

I had forgotten that he even played for the Nets. That one seems really strange.

The Nets and Raptors are the only two teams I associate him with, personally.  I’m not enough of a Nets fan to know how important he is to the overall history of the franchise, but its history has been pretty mediocre so I’m willing to believe he could be deserving by relative standards.

Man, the Vince era was such a let down.

If you are going to retire someone's jersey, retire Kenyon Martin's jersey. He led you to 2 NBA Finals. When NJ lost Kenyon in FA and managed to replace him with Vince, they were supposed to be a better ball club. They never were. Not without Kenyon's muscle.

Kenyon was more valuable to that team than Vince ever was. Yet, individually it is nowhere close. Vince's talent dwarf's Kenyon's talent but the team results were the exact opposite. Despite his gaudy stats and impressive highlight reels, Vince was only a marginal improvement over what they were without him (2nd round instead of 1st round) ... and nowhere close to what they were with Kenyon Martin (title contender, in the East anyway).

I wouldn't retire Vince's jersey. Why not retire Richard Jefferson's jersey? He did not reach Vince's heights but he was there for longer and was actually part of their two trips to the Finals. Especially the 2nd one when he replaced Keith Van Horn and the team only got better.

[SparzWizard]

If healthy Murray is certainly the 3rd most important player among the 2 teams and very well might be the 3rd best player behind only Jokic and Tatum.

He's not better than Jaylen.

that is very much debatable

Murray over Brown any day of the week for me.

Murray's FT% is better. I also get frustrated over Brown's handles and turnover rate.