Celtics (15-4) at Pacers (10-8) Game #20 12/4/23

[ozgod]

Well good thing it’s just December. A lot of folks are on the ledge over this. The biggest concern is turnovers. And that is always the issue with the Celtics

Hopefully the Celtics get the bucks Friday night for an extra chance to beat them at home

We’re always on the ledge after any loss 

I agree with you on the turnovers for sure…someone said we had turned the ball over 38 times in 2 games, we got away with it vs Philly but we paid for it today as it opened up a lot of transition threes for Indy on their way to shooting 47% from the perimeter. They really need to take care of the ball better

[scaryjerry]

This team is not perfect, but I do think people are overracting a bit here. 

You don't win every game.  Nobody does.  Even the 72-10 Warriors had a couple of ugly blowouts to bad teams.  Every team has bad nights.

This Celtics team has had the best record in the league for most of this season and we have won a number of games against contending teams.  We've had wins against Philly twice, Milwaukee, New York twice, Indiana (by 50) and Miami.

We have lost only five games including tonight. 
* Three of those five losses were by 5 points or less. 
* Four of those five losses were against playoff calibre teams.
* Three of those five losses were in games where we were missing at least one starting player.

Even after today's loss we still only half a game behind Minnosota for the best record in the NBA. 

Yeh I know, some of these losses have been frustrating.  Some of them are games we could have (and should have) won.  But things really aren't that bad.

The 72-10 warriors aren’t losing this game to the average pacers.
That 50 point win against the pacers, they didn’t have haliburton.
One of our wins against the 76ers they didn’t have Embiid or maxey and we almost lost.
Milwaukee is still figuring it out and we absolutely dominated them and they played awful and yet we still tried desperately to choke that game away.

This team was better last season at this point and all the red flags from years past are still here with this team. If porzingis doesn’t stay healthy they have 0 shot and it’s gonna be a struggle even if he does stay healthy

[ozgod]

Is Joe’s head back under the guillotine

 

You know it

[scaryjerry]

This team is not perfect, but I do think people are overracting a bit here. 

You don't win every game.  Nobody does.  Even the 72-10 Warriors had a couple of ugly blowouts to bad teams.  Every team has bad nights.

This Celtics team has had the best record in the league for most of this season and we have won a number of games against contending teams.  We've had wins against Philly twice, Milwaukee, New York twice, Indiana (by 50) and Miami.

We have lost only five games including tonight. 
* Three of those five losses were by 5 points or less. 
* Four of those five losses were against playoff calibre teams.
* Three of those five losses were in games where we were missing at least one starting player.

Even after today's loss we still only half a game behind Minnosota for the best record in the NBA. 

Yeh I know, some of these losses have been frustrating.  Some of them are games we could have (and should have) won.  But things really aren't that bad.

The issue was they failed in a do or die game in the same way they have failed in the past. The IST is a dry run for the playoffs. They still have the same weaknesses they had the previous years. Bad 3rd quarters. Bad offense. Bad shooting.

Yup.

This team needs to remain completely healthy and Tatum needs to be a legitimate mvp. Neither happening right now.

[lbgreen33]

I think it has to be said, so I will say it. This board acts like a bunch of children sometimes. I mean the Celtics had a bad game, it happens.
No the Sky is Not falling, No our season is not over! We just lost a game, we are one of the luckiest teams in the league people!!!
We have a ton of talent, we are in 1st Place!!!!! Please!! We could be the Knicks or the Sixters!!!!!  Just enjoy the team we have man!! It could be way worse.
I know this is a good place to vent, but I think someone need to point out just how lucky we are to have this team!!!

[ozgod]

Same issue with Boston. They make 3s they win. They miss them they continue to shoot them in volume instead of looking for other offense.

I don't understand why the Celtics 3 point defense is so bad.

Losing the ball and giving up open transition 3s

Struggled defending the high pnr nd left shooters open

Haliburton made some really tough well contested 3s

[johnnygreen]

This is a roster problem. Too many players that don't belong on a NBA roster (or at least the NBA roster of a good team).

What, in all of creation, does this mean? The Celtics have a virtual all star starting five, a potential HOFer (Horford) coming off the bench, and one of the best 3 point shooters in the league (Hauser). Pritchard and Kornet are fine bench players, especially if they're 7-8 on the depth chart. If a team has all that, and they need contributions from players 9-12 on the depth chart, then break this team up.

The Celtics need to take teams seriously, show up for third quarters, and defend the 3.

[scaryjerry]

I think it has to be said, so I will say it. This board acts like a bunch of children sometimes. I mean the Celtics had a bad game, it happens.
No the Sky is Not falling, No our season is not over! We just lost a game, we are one of the luckiest teams in the league people!!!
We have a ton of talent, we are in 1st Place!!!!! Please!! We could be the Knicks or the Sixters!!!!!  Just enjoy the team we have man!! It could be way worse.
I know is is a good place to vent, but I think someone need to point out just how lucky we are have this team!!!

It was a do or die game and the same problems that have plagued them in every postseason reared their head. It’s a problem. They’re a good team but unless they stay 100 percent healthy and Tatum starts playing at a consistent actual mvp level they’re not winning a championship. Congrats on 1st place in December though.
Also I wouldn’t talk that way about the “sixters” they’re building something over there and are completely different with Nick nurse who will coach circles around Joe and maxey playing the way he is

[jpotter33]

This team is not perfect, but I do think people are overracting a bit here. 

You don't win every game.  Nobody does.  Even the 72-10 Warriors had a couple of ugly blowouts to bad teams.  Every team has bad nights.

This Celtics team has had the best record in the league for most of this season and we have won a number of games against contending teams.  We've had wins against Philly twice, Milwaukee, New York twice, Indiana (by 50) and Miami.

We have lost only five games including tonight. 
* Three of those five losses were by 5 points or less. 
* Four of those five losses were against playoff calibre teams.
* Three of those five losses were in games where we were missing at least one starting player.

Even after today's loss we still only half a game behind Minnosota for the best record in the NBA. 

Yeh I know, some of these losses have been frustrating.  Some of them are games we could have (and should have) won.  But things really aren't that bad.

The 72-10 warriors aren’t losing this game to the average pacers.
That 50 point win against the pacers, they didn’t have haliburton.
One of our wins against the 76ers they didn’t have Embiid or maxey and we almost lost.
Milwaukee is still figuring it out and we absolutely dominated them and they played awful and yet we still tried desperately to choke that game away.

This team was better last season at this point and all the red flags from years past are still here with this team. If porzingis doesn’t stay healthy they have 0 shot and it’s gonna be a struggle even if he does stay healthy

They *literally* lost to the 29-53 Timberwolves, 33-49 Nuggets AND Bucks,  and 42-40 Mavericks during the 73-9 season, and Indiana projects to be as good if not a bit better than the Mavericks.

Criticize how they lost all you want, but it's non-sense to say that these kinds of losses to these teams don't happen. They happen all the time, even by the best teams.

[scaryjerry]

This team is not perfect, but I do think people are overracting a bit here. 

You don't win every game.  Nobody does.  Even the 72-10 Warriors had a couple of ugly blowouts to bad teams.  Every team has bad nights.

This Celtics team has had the best record in the league for most of this season and we have won a number of games against contending teams.  We've had wins against Philly twice, Milwaukee, New York twice, Indiana (by 50) and Miami.

We have lost only five games including tonight. 
* Three of those five losses were by 5 points or less. 
* Four of those five losses were against playoff calibre teams.
* Three of those five losses were in games where we were missing at least one starting player.

Even after today's loss we still only half a game behind Minnosota for the best record in the NBA. 

Yeh I know, some of these losses have been frustrating.  Some of them are games we could have (and should have) won.  But things really aren't that bad.

The 72-10 warriors aren’t losing this game to the average pacers.
That 50 point win against the pacers, they didn’t have haliburton.
One of our wins against the 76ers they didn’t have Embiid or maxey and we almost lost.
Milwaukee is still figuring it out and we absolutely dominated them and they played awful and yet we still tried desperately to choke that game away.

This team was better last season at this point and all the red flags from years past are still here with this team. If porzingis doesn’t stay healthy they have 0 shot and it’s gonna be a struggle even if he does stay healthy

They *literally* lost to the 29-53 Timberwolves, 33-49 Nuggets AND Bucks,  and 42-40 Mavericks during the 73-9 season, and Indiana projects to be as good if not a bit better than the Mavericks.

Criticize how they lost all you want, but it's non-sense to say that these kinds of losses to these teams don't happen. They happen all the time.

I’m aware teams lose games all the time. This was a playoff atmosphere that both teams really wanted to win in a do or die scenario and they lost to an inferior team with the same issues that have plagued them for years but ok

[hpantazo]

I'm not concerned about this loss. I am more concerned with Tatum's slump the past few weeks and the overall poor perimeter shooting of our team besides Hauser. Everyone else has been awful from three for a while now, including Porzingis before he got hurt. Our top 6 plus Hauser and Pritchard was supposed to make these stretches of poor shooting less of a problem, but it still persists as a major problem.

[Muzzy66]

This team is not perfect, but I do think people are overracting a bit here. 

You don't win every game.  Nobody does.  Even the 72-10 Warriors had a couple of ugly blowouts to bad teams.  Every team has bad nights.

This Celtics team has had the best record in the league for most of this season and we have won a number of games against contending teams.  We've had wins against Philly twice, Milwaukee, New York twice, Indiana (by 50) and Miami.

We have lost only five games including tonight. 
* Three of those five losses were by 5 points or less. 
* Four of those five losses were against playoff calibre teams.
* Three of those five losses were in games where we were missing at least one starting player.

Even after today's loss we still only half a game behind Minnosota for the best record in the NBA. 

Yeh I know, some of these losses have been frustrating.  Some of them are games we could have (and should have) won.  But things really aren't that bad.

The issue was they failed in a do or die game in the same way they have failed in the past. The IST is a dry run for the playoffs. They still have the same weaknesses they had the previous years. Bad 3rd quarters. Bad offense. Bad shooting.

We can say that, but this is really the only "do or die" game they have played in so far this season so we don't exactly have much of a sample size to go off.  In the playoffs you play a 7-game series, not a one game elimination.  Could Indiana hit all of those flukey shots they hit tonight consistently?  If we played 7 games against each other right now, would this Indiana team be able to beat us 4 times?  I doubt it. 

This is also the 4th straight game we have played without Porzingis (who could be argued to be our 2nd most important/impactful player) - so I would argue that going 3-1 / 0.750 over that stretch (while relying on 30 minutes a night from a 37 year old Al Horford and taking one key guy away from our already shallow bench) is actually probably about as good a result as we should expect.

As I said the game result is frustrating because we were right there, and we could have (and should have) won if the team made some smarter calls at the end of the game.   But outside of that, losing a hard fought game against a playoff calibre team while missing a top 3 player is far from an embarassment.

[hpantazo]

As for bright spots tonight, Brown played very well, and Kornet was great.

[scaryjerry]

This team is not perfect, but I do think people are overracting a bit here. 

You don't win every game.  Nobody does.  Even the 72-10 Warriors had a couple of ugly blowouts to bad teams.  Every team has bad nights.

This Celtics team has had the best record in the league for most of this season and we have won a number of games against contending teams.  We've had wins against Philly twice, Milwaukee, New York twice, Indiana (by 50) and Miami.

We have lost only five games including tonight. 
* Three of those five losses were by 5 points or less. 
* Four of those five losses were against playoff calibre teams.
* Three of those five losses were in games where we were missing at least one starting player.

Even after today's loss we still only half a game behind Minnosota for the best record in the NBA. 

Yeh I know, some of these losses have been frustrating.  Some of them are games we could have (and should have) won.  But things really aren't that bad.

The issue was they failed in a do or die game in the same way they have failed in the past. The IST is a dry run for the playoffs. They still have the same weaknesses they had the previous years. Bad 3rd quarters. Bad offense. Bad shooting.

We can say that, but this is really the only "do or die" game they have played in so far this season so we don't exactly have much of a sample size to go off.  In the playoffs you play a 7-game series, not a one game elimination.  Could Indiana hit all of those flukey shots they hit tonight consistently?  If we played 7 games against each other right now, would this Indiana team be able to beat us 4 times?  I doubt it. 

This is also the 4th straight game we have played without Porzingis (who could be argued to be our 2nd most important/impactful player) - so I would argue that going 3-1 / 0.750 over that stretch (while relying on 30 minutes a night from a 37 year old Al Horford and taking one key guy away from our already shallow bench) is actually probably about as good a result as we should expect.

As I said the game result is frustrating because we were right there, and we could have (and should have) won if the team made some smarter calls at the end of the game.   But outside of that, losing a hard fought game against a playoff calibre team while missing a top 3 player is far from an embarassment.

I’m not worried about the Celtics losing a 7 game series to the pacers per se although I’m sure it would go 7. I’m worried  about this team having the same problems that are the reason they lose every year in the playoffs. Worst 3rd quarter team in the league, turning it over constantly and can only win if they shoot a good percentage from 3. Not having porzingis is obviously big but him staying healthy through June just isn’t likely unfortunately.

[Mahk E Mahk]

36 turnovers in two games.

thirty-six.

not winning anything with such carelessness.

update: 38!


the c’s are so careless with the ball, they turned it over two more times in the final 90 seconds. wow, just wow.

This really has become a major problem for us - just like last year. It's ridiculous, and it's all just carelessness on our part with our passing, ball-handling, and decision-making. We're so nonchalant with the ball.

Total reliance on the threes to fall + awul taking care of the ball = us just being the same version as last year.

and joe’s nonchalance is the root of the problem. every coach i ever played for hated, HATED turnovers. no post-game punishment ever reached the level of what carelessness with the ball engendered. it’s crazy we don’t see joe eviscerating the jay’s for their consistent carelessness with the ball. he’s like a poorly trained parrot; his answer to every question is the same (shoot more threes).