Celtics News

[Phantom255x]

And the C's F-ing around the past few games probably cost them. Tatum out tonight. If only they wrapped it up earlier 

[Who]

Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP

The real story of the +29 is that Jayson Tatum (+28) is the only Celtic starter that's a plus through 6 games.

And it's not close.

Queta -6
Brown -7
Hauser -15
White -18

3:14 AM May 1, 2026 65.6K Views

That is amazing.

Not surprised Queta & Hauser have negative scorers. A little surprised by JB and D White. White has played badly with his scoring but he usually still ends up with a positive +/- even on his bad shooting / scoring nights. JB is always a risk to go either way.

Still, only starter and by a large margin at that.

[celticinorlando]

Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP

The real story of the +29 is that Jayson Tatum (+28) is the only Celtic starter that's a plus through 6 games.

And it's not close.

Queta -6
Brown -7
Hauser -15
White -18

3:14 AM May 1, 2026 65.6K Views

That is amazing.

Not surprised Queta & Hauser have negative scorers. A little surprised by JB and D White. White has played badly with his scoring but he usually still ends up with a positive +/- even on his bad shooting / scoring nights. JB is always a risk to go either way.

Still, only starter and by a large margin at that.

Every starter tonight is a negative player in this series. And no JT? This is going to be a bloodbath.

[Goldstar88]

Following a May 2026 Celtics game, Joe Mazzulla stated, "We're always going to play to the strengths of the roster that we have. I think it's the best way to be able to do that... We go out and get five big men that can post, we'll post it every single time... we'll do whatever we got to do to win".


I?ve said this many times. This is how Brad wants the team to play. He built the roster to shoot 3s. Look at the trade deadline move. Stretch 5 who is not good defensively. When Brad was coaching the team shot a lot of 3s. They did so with Ime and now with Joe. This is how Brad wants them to play and he is the one who needs to change his philosophy. If Joe wasn?t doing what Stevens wanted, he wouldn?t be here.

[ozgod]

Following a May 2026 Celtics game, Joe Mazzulla stated, "We're always going to play to the strengths of the roster that we have. I think it's the best way to be able to do that... We go out and get five big men that can post, we'll post it every single time... we'll do whatever we got to do to win".


I?ve said this many times. This is how Brad wants the team to play. He built the roster to shoot 3s. Look at the trade deadline move. Stretch 5 who is not good defensively. When Brad was coaching the team shot a lot of 3s. They did so with Ime and now with Joe. This is how Brad wants them to play and he is the one who needs to change his philosophy. If Joe wasn?t doing what Stevens wanted, he wouldn?t be here.

It's also a style that more than half of the league is using - 21 teams shoot 40% of more of their total shots from 3. We are 4th in the league, with 45%, behind GS and Charlotte (with Charles Lee, who is a Joe protege) at 48%, and Portland at 46%. (Sorry to post these stats all the time, it's the only way I know how to support what I'm saying with data):

(click to enlarge)


We're also one of the more accurate teams to do it - 5th in the league.

(click to enlarge)


I know everyone here hates 3s, whether it's for ideological reasons, or because we (including me) grew up in an era where everyone pounded it inside and nobody took 3s, or because if you score 90 points shooting 90 2 pt shots and made 45 of them for 50%, vs shooting 90 3pt shots and made 30 of them for 33%, your miss rate on the 2s is 50% while it's 66% on the 3s, and missed shots affect us more than made shots, or whatever else. But I don't think Brad will punish Joe for what can be argued is a failure of the players to execute in the postseason, where they shot 33% vs 36% from 3. Unfortunately that 33% came from the following per-game accuracies:

(click to enlarge)


So taking the good with the bad...we shot 36%, 43% and 45% when we won 3 games, and 26%, 28%, 29% and 26% when we lost. Is it the strategy or the execution? Because we were actually 5th in the playoffs in number of drives to the basket:

(click to enlarge)


Brad's not the type to overreact, he will look at the data rather than trust his memory, and bad memories always imprint more vividly than good ones. The picture the data is showing is of a team that overachieved based on its talent level, and failed to execute their shot in 4 critical games in the playoffs.

[jpotter33]

Following a May 2026 Celtics game, Joe Mazzulla stated, "We're always going to play to the strengths of the roster that we have. I think it's the best way to be able to do that... We go out and get five big men that can post, we'll post it every single time... we'll do whatever we got to do to win".


I?ve said this many times. This is how Brad wants the team to play. He built the roster to shoot 3s. Look at the trade deadline move. Stretch 5 who is not good defensively. When Brad was coaching the team shot a lot of 3s. They did so with Ime and now with Joe. This is how Brad wants them to play and he is the one who needs to change his philosophy. If Joe wasn?t doing what Stevens wanted, he wouldn?t be here.

But again, it?s the extremes and lengths he goes to in employing this philosophy with no literal backup plan. It?s the reason he?s underachieved in 75% of his playoff runs thus far, because he?s too dogmatic and stuck in his ways to adjust. He doesn?t seem to appreciate that shot variance versus expected fg% in a seven game series is not the same as in the full regular season.

You can?t tell me that Brad is onboard with that plan. He was always a master tactician and would adjust as needed when that was what was called for.

[slamtheking]

Following a May 2026 Celtics game, Joe Mazzulla stated, "We're always going to play to the strengths of the roster that we have. I think it's the best way to be able to do that... We go out and get five big men that can post, we'll post it every single time... we'll do whatever we got to do to win".


I?ve said this many times. This is how Brad wants the team to play. He built the roster to shoot 3s. Look at the trade deadline move. Stretch 5 who is not good defensively. When Brad was coaching the team shot a lot of 3s. They did so with Ime and now with Joe. This is how Brad wants them to play and he is the one who needs to change his philosophy. If Joe wasn?t doing what Stevens wanted, he wouldn?t be here.

But again, it?s the extremes and lengths he goes to in employing this philosophy with no literal backup plan. It?s the reason he?s underachieved in 75% of his playoff runs thus far, because he?s too dogmatic and stuck in his ways to adjust. He doesn?t seem to appreciate that shot variance versus expected fg% in a seven game series is not the same as in the full regular season.

You can?t tell me that Brad is onboard with that plan. He was always a master tactician and would adjust as needed when that was what was called for.

agreed.

it's not an objection to taking 3 pointers in general but the ridiculous volume taken -- particularly in games when they're not making many -- and the refusal to have a Plan B to generate offense that doesn't rely on taking 3's. 
Perfect example was a play late in the last game that showed JB driving up the court with the ball and had Q ahead of him in the lane with an opportunity for a dunk/layup to get the lead but JB passes to PP for yet another bricked 3 point attempt because that's what Joe encourages.   JB stands by that play because that's what he's been trained to do with Joe whereas everyone else watching that play knows the smart move is to pass to Q to get the much higher percentage shot right at the rim.  getting the lead at that point would have changed the tone of the game and put more pressure on Philly instead of them getting the rebound and still having the lead. 

[ozgod]

Following a May 2026 Celtics game, Joe Mazzulla stated, "We're always going to play to the strengths of the roster that we have. I think it's the best way to be able to do that... We go out and get five big men that can post, we'll post it every single time... we'll do whatever we got to do to win".


I?ve said this many times. This is how Brad wants the team to play. He built the roster to shoot 3s. Look at the trade deadline move. Stretch 5 who is not good defensively. When Brad was coaching the team shot a lot of 3s. They did so with Ime and now with Joe. This is how Brad wants them to play and he is the one who needs to change his philosophy. If Joe wasn?t doing what Stevens wanted, he wouldn?t be here.

But again, it?s the extremes and lengths he goes to in employing this philosophy with no literal backup plan. It?s the reason he?s underachieved in 75% of his playoff runs thus far, because he?s too dogmatic and stuck in his ways to adjust. He doesn?t seem to appreciate that shot variance versus expected fg% in a seven game series is not the same as in the full regular season.

You can?t tell me that Brad is onboard with that plan. He was always a master tactician and would adjust as needed when that was what was called for.

agreed.

it's not an objection to taking 3 pointers in general but the ridiculous volume taken -- particularly in games when they're not making many -- and the refusal to have a Plan B to generate offense that doesn't rely on taking 3's. 
Perfect example was a play late in the last game that showed JB driving up the court with the ball and had Q ahead of him in the lane with an opportunity for a dunk/layup to get the lead but JB passes to PP for yet another bricked 3 point attempt because that's what Joe encourages.   JB stands by that play because that's what he's been trained to do with Joe whereas everyone else watching that play knows the smart move is to pass to Q to get the much higher percentage shot right at the rim.  getting the lead at that point would have changed the tone of the game and put more pressure on Philly instead of them getting the rebound and still having the lead.

Yes because in those moments, while we have the luxury of replay, JB has to make a decision in the spur of the moment. He sees PP out in the corner open, with Q down the floor with his hands up and Embiid behind him. He broke it down in his Twitch stream:


https://x.com/danield1214/status/2051109360202375424?s=20

For the record, I saw this unfold in real time, I saw Q open, I was yelling at the TV for JB to pass it to him. I didn't see Embiid behind him but even if I did I probably would have kept yelling for JB to pass to Q. But he passed it to PP, probably in because in those moments where you have to make a split second read, he saw PP wide open and PP has been a really clutch player for us.

I feel like this is an example of a play that can be dissected in hindsight and criticized simply because the shot was missed. Like if it was someone else out there in the corner? Would he have passed? Or was it because he knew PP has sunk these kind of shots his whole career?

[Who]

Because we were actually 5th in the playoffs in number of drives to the basket:

(click to enlarge)

I am surprised they were 5th in drives.

So 5th in overall drives but that drops to 9th (out of 16 teams) in FGA. Comfortably middle pack. So an average team on shooting off of drives. That makes more sense. Looks like there are a few outlier teams at the top who did very well in the first round and then everyone else clumped together. LAL finished bottom trailing the rest.

Then BOS drop to 15th out of 16 teams in FTA off of drives. Only LAL got to the FT line less off their drives and they had less drives than anyone else in the league.

BOS 4th in passes off drives. OKC, POR and TOR ahead of them. Houston behind BOS. I'd love to know how many 3s BOS took out of passes off drives but the page doesn't show that info.

8th in turnovers off drives. Middle of the pack.

Personal fouls? I presume that is fouls drawn rather than offensive fouls. BOS 2nd lowest with 3.0. Only LAL is worse. Makes sense given the two teams were bottom for FTAs.

Hmm ... interesting.

[ozgod]

Because we were actually 5th in the playoffs in number of drives to the basket:

(click to enlarge)

I am surprised they were 5th in drives.

So 5th in overall drives but that drops to 9th (out of 16 teams) in FGA. Comfortably middle pack. So an average team on shooting off of drives. That makes more sense. Looks like there are a few outlier teams at the top who did very well in the first round and then everyone else clumped together. LAL finished bottom trailing the rest.

Then BOS drop to 15th out of 16 teams in FTA off of drives. Only LAL got to the FT line less off their drives and they had less drives than anyone else in the league.

BOS 4th in passes off drives. OKC, POR and TOR ahead of them. Houston behind BOS. I'd love to know how many 3s BOS took out of passes off drives but the page doesn't show that info.

8th in turnovers off drives. Middle of the pack.

Personal fouls? I presume that is fouls drawn rather than offensive fouls. BOS 2nd lowest with 3.0. Only LAL is worse. Makes sense given the two teams were bottom for FTAs.

Hmm ... interesting.

Yes I was surprised too. Also as you say they weren't very successful at it, and they didn't draw the fouls that you could expect a team 5th in drives to do. I might see if I can break that down to Games 1-4 and then Games 5-7 to see if there is a meaningful change.

[Goldstar88]

Following a May 2026 Celtics game, Joe Mazzulla stated, "We're always going to play to the strengths of the roster that we have. I think it's the best way to be able to do that... We go out and get five big men that can post, we'll post it every single time... we'll do whatever we got to do to win".


I?ve said this many times. This is how Brad wants the team to play. He built the roster to shoot 3s. Look at the trade deadline move. Stretch 5 who is not good defensively. When Brad was coaching the team shot a lot of 3s. They did so with Ime and now with Joe. This is how Brad wants them to play and he is the one who needs to change his philosophy. If Joe wasn?t doing what Stevens wanted, he wouldn?t be here.

But again, it?s the extremes and lengths he goes to in employing this philosophy with no literal backup plan. It?s the reason he?s underachieved in 75% of his playoff runs thus far, because he?s too dogmatic and stuck in his ways to adjust. He doesn?t seem to appreciate that shot variance versus expected fg% in a seven game series is not the same as in the full regular season.

You can?t tell me that Brad is onboard with that plan. He was always a master tactician and would adjust as needed when that was what was called for.

Brad is on board with the plan, as he created the plan. Stevens built the roster to shoot 3s and has said in the past that he believes this is the best way to play.

[celticinorlando]

Following a May 2026 Celtics game, Joe Mazzulla stated, "We're always going to play to the strengths of the roster that we have. I think it's the best way to be able to do that... We go out and get five big men that can post, we'll post it every single time... we'll do whatever we got to do to win".


I?ve said this many times. This is how Brad wants the team to play. He built the roster to shoot 3s. Look at the trade deadline move. Stretch 5 who is not good defensively. When Brad was coaching the team shot a lot of 3s. They did so with Ime and now with Joe. This is how Brad wants them to play and he is the one who needs to change his philosophy. If Joe wasn?t doing what Stevens wanted, he wouldn?t be here.

But again, it?s the extremes and lengths he goes to in employing this philosophy with no literal backup plan. It?s the reason he?s underachieved in 75% of his playoff runs thus far, because he?s too dogmatic and stuck in his ways to adjust. He doesn?t seem to appreciate that shot variance versus expected fg% in a seven game series is not the same as in the full regular season.

You can?t tell me that Brad is onboard with that plan. He was always a master tactician and would adjust as needed when that was what was called for.

Brad is on board with the plan, as he created the plan. Stevens built the roster to shoot 3s and has said in the past that he believes this is the best way to play.

His press conference today sounded a lot different than that. Think there has been some realization that you cannot play that way in the playoffs.

[Larry for 3]

Following a May 2026 Celtics game, Joe Mazzulla stated, "We're always going to play to the strengths of the roster that we have. I think it's the best way to be able to do that... We go out and get five big men that can post, we'll post it every single time... we'll do whatever we got to do to win".


I?ve said this many times. This is how Brad wants the team to play. He built the roster to shoot 3s. Look at the trade deadline move. Stretch 5 who is not good defensively. When Brad was coaching the team shot a lot of 3s. They did so with Ime and now with Joe. This is how Brad wants them to play and he is the one who needs to change his philosophy. If Joe wasn?t doing what Stevens wanted, he wouldn?t be here.

But again, it?s the extremes and lengths he goes to in employing this philosophy with no literal backup plan. It?s the reason he?s underachieved in 75% of his playoff runs thus far, because he?s too dogmatic and stuck in his ways to adjust. He doesn?t seem to appreciate that shot variance versus expected fg% in a seven game series is not the same as in the full regular season.

You can?t tell me that Brad is onboard with that plan. He was always a master tactician and would adjust as needed when that was what was called for.

Brad is on board with the plan, as he created the plan. Stevens built the roster to shoot 3s and has said in the past that he believes this is the best way to play.

His press conference today sounded a lot different than that. Think there has been some realization that you cannot play that way in the playoffs.

I just hope it?s not too late. This group should have multiple championships. Tatum and Brown I mean.  Now I think it?s different. Changes are coming

[celticinorlando]

Following a May 2026 Celtics game, Joe Mazzulla stated, "We're always going to play to the strengths of the roster that we have. I think it's the best way to be able to do that... We go out and get five big men that can post, we'll post it every single time... we'll do whatever we got to do to win".


I?ve said this many times. This is how Brad wants the team to play. He built the roster to shoot 3s. Look at the trade deadline move. Stretch 5 who is not good defensively. When Brad was coaching the team shot a lot of 3s. They did so with Ime and now with Joe. This is how Brad wants them to play and he is the one who needs to change his philosophy. If Joe wasn?t doing what Stevens wanted, he wouldn?t be here.

But again, it?s the extremes and lengths he goes to in employing this philosophy with no literal backup plan. It?s the reason he?s underachieved in 75% of his playoff runs thus far, because he?s too dogmatic and stuck in his ways to adjust. He doesn?t seem to appreciate that shot variance versus expected fg% in a seven game series is not the same as in the full regular season.

You can?t tell me that Brad is onboard with that plan. He was always a master tactician and would adjust as needed when that was what was called for.

Brad is on board with the plan, as he created the plan. Stevens built the roster to shoot 3s and has said in the past that he believes this is the best way to play.

His press conference today sounded a lot different than that. Think there has been some realization that you cannot play that way in the playoffs.

I just hope it?s not too late. This group should have multiple championships. Tatum and Brown I mean.  Now I think it?s different. Changes are coming

I think Brad knows they are not good enough as is.

[ozgod]

Following a May 2026 Celtics game, Joe Mazzulla stated, "We're always going to play to the strengths of the roster that we have. I think it's the best way to be able to do that... We go out and get five big men that can post, we'll post it every single time... we'll do whatever we got to do to win".


I?ve said this many times. This is how Brad wants the team to play. He built the roster to shoot 3s. Look at the trade deadline move. Stretch 5 who is not good defensively. When Brad was coaching the team shot a lot of 3s. They did so with Ime and now with Joe. This is how Brad wants them to play and he is the one who needs to change his philosophy. If Joe wasn?t doing what Stevens wanted, he wouldn?t be here.

But again, it?s the extremes and lengths he goes to in employing this philosophy with no literal backup plan. It?s the reason he?s underachieved in 75% of his playoff runs thus far, because he?s too dogmatic and stuck in his ways to adjust. He doesn?t seem to appreciate that shot variance versus expected fg% in a seven game series is not the same as in the full regular season.

You can?t tell me that Brad is onboard with that plan. He was always a master tactician and would adjust as needed when that was what was called for.

Brad is on board with the plan, as he created the plan. Stevens built the roster to shoot 3s and has said in the past that he believes this is the best way to play.

His press conference today sounded a lot different than that. Think there has been some realization that you cannot play that way in the playoffs.

I just hope it?s not too late. This group should have multiple championships. Tatum and Brown I mean.  Now I think it?s different. Changes are coming

I think Brad knows they are not good enough as is.

I?m sure he knows? he probably knew at the start of the season, and he knew at the trade deadline, which is why he only got Vucevic and probably because he?s a $21 million expiring (expired now) and why they went through all those financial gymnastics with ten-day contracts to get under the luxury tax. I?m sure he appreciated the overachievement, but they all knew that it wasn?t sustainable because his actions were still very cautious. The role players significantly over achieved, Jaylen passed the test as a No1 option but end of day we still only had 3 shot creators on the team - the Jays and PP.

 He also knows that there?s not much he can do this off-season that will make them a serious contender next season, because they have to be under the tax another season, but the plan is to see which of these role players are going to be good enough to be extended in 2027. That?s when the wallets are gonna be opened.

By the way, a straight up Giannis for Brown trade will still allow us to be under the tax and as long as we don?t spend more than an additional 13 million using our Simons TPE or the non taxpayer MLE.