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

[tenn_smoothie]

12-41 three-point attempts, 12 free throw attempts total.

Life with Mazzulla.

[scaryjerry]

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.

Agreed, I really don’t care about this loss I care about the fact they’re not winning a title playing like this. Team has no defensive identity, worst 3rd quarter team in the entire league, turn it over constantly and their best player hasn’t elevated. Sadly Tyrese haliburton has elevated more than Tatum which is pretty much why the pacers won this game

[Muzzy66]

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

Tonight Tatum had 32 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists and only 2 turnovers.  He shot 13/26 (50%) from the field.  How is that NOT an MVP worthy game?

Our biggest issues tonight were that:
1. We had 2 points on 1/3 shooting from Al Horford in place of Porzingis
2. Indiana were hitting some utterly ridiculous shots that they simply wouldn't make on a regular day

Take away those two issues and we probably get a win.

And you can't blame Horford really.  We all knew depth was going to be a challenge with this team.  Horford is 37 years old, going on 38.  If you are relying on him to play 30 minutes a night over four straight games he's going to have some struggles. 

I'm pretty confident that if Porzingis was playing we wouldn't have had 2 points from the starter center position, and Indiana would have gotten far fewer easy shots around the basket. The whole game would have been different. 

But again, that's the way this team is constructed, so you kinda have to accept it.  When everybody is healthy the team is very, very hard to beat.  If we are missing a key player for extended periods of time then our lack of depth is going to eventually become a factor and will start to hurt us. 

[Muzzy66]

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.

Agreed, I really don’t care about this loss I care about the fact they’re not winning a title playing like this. Team has no defensive identity, worst 3rd quarter team in the entire league, turn it over constantly and their best player hasn’t elevated. Sadly Tyrese haliburton has elevated more than Tatum which is pretty much why the pacers won this game

According to today's NBA power rankings the Celtics have 2nd best defensive rating in the NBA and the best net rating in the league at +9.5.

The Celtics are 15-5 and are 7-3 over the last 10 games.
The Pacers are 11-8 and are 5-5 over their last 10 games.

Given a choice, I'll hapilly take Tatum and the Celtics.   

[tenn_smoothie]

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.

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 embarrassment.

That's the problem though and has been for the duration of the Tatum/Brown era - playing dumb at the end of close games.

[blink]

yeah, tonight the Pacers won the turnover battle by a lot.  It was the big difference in the game.  It was a strange game, we had no business even being in this game based on how well Pacers shot from 3.   It was 46% to 29% for 3p fg%.  That is normally a 20 point win for the hotter team.

But we were in it with a chance at the end, but the 17 turnovers just killed us.  they were pressuring us big time, but we have to play smarter and not be so loose with the ball.  So many bad passes by white and tatum down the stretch.  JB had some bad turnovers too.

If this is the future for Indiana, I hope we can avoid them in the playoffs.  Haliburton is a beast, and their team looked hungry and their crowd was going nuts.
Gotta tip your hat to the Pacers, they played great down the stretch. 

[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

Tonight Tatum had 32 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists and only 2 turnovers.  He shot 13/26 (50%) from the field.  How is that NOT an MVP worthy game?

Our biggest issues tonight were that:
1. We had 2 points on 1/3 shooting from Al Horford in place of Porzingis
2. Indiana were hitting some utterly ridiculous shots that they simply wouldn't make on a regular day

Take away those two issues and we probably get a win.

And you can't blame Horford really.  We all knew depth was going to be a challenge with this team.  Horford is 37 years old, going on 38.  If you are relying on him to play 30 minutes a night over four straight games he's going to have some struggles. 

I'm pretty confident that if Porzingis was playing we wouldn't have had 2 points from the starter center position, and Indiana would have gotten far fewer easy shots around the basket. The whole game would have been different. 

But again, that's the way this team is constructed, so you kinda have to accept it.  When everybody is healthy the team is very, very hard to beat.  If we are missing a key player for extended periods of time then our lack of depth is going to eventually become a factor and will start to hurt us.

Tatums numbers look fine but the eye test tells me he floats in and out of these games, whines to the officials constantly, doesn’t fully take over when it matters and tacks on useless stats when the game is already decided. I need more. He wouldn’t even be in my top 5 MVP candidates and he needs to be a legit actual mvp winner and play like it every night for this team to win a title. Tyrese haliburton was the best player on the court tonight. Also thought Jaylen browns game was more impactful. Not good enough.

[scaryjerry]

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.

Agreed, I really don’t care about this loss I care about the fact they’re not winning a title playing like this. Team has no defensive identity, worst 3rd quarter team in the entire league, turn it over constantly and their best player hasn’t elevated. Sadly Tyrese haliburton has elevated more than Tatum which is pretty much why the pacers won this game

According to today's NBA power rankings the Celtics have 2nd best defensive rating in the NBA and the best net rating in the league at +9.5.

The Celtics are 15-5 and are 7-3 over the last 10 games.
The Pacers are 11-8 and are 5-5 over their last 10 games.

Given a choice, I'll hapilly take Tatum and the Celtics.   

Exactly why they shouldn’t be losing this game then right. Oh wait.

[Mahk E Mahk]

12-41 three-point attempts, 12 free throw attempts total.

Life with Mazzulla.

the 12 FT attempts is maddening. in the 1H they were getting anything they wanted in the paint. indy is 30th in defense and 29th in rebounds, and they’re miserable defending the paint. jb was slashing to the rim with ease, and tatum was getting to the rim when he wasn’t settling for ugly threes, but joe abandoned a successful strategy in the 2H to shoot threes? insanity.

this is a perfect example of why joe is not the coach for this team. the c’s are built to win in a multitude of ways but joe is fixated on threes, even when they’re not falling. his bbiq is lower than jb’s, which is frightening.

[Muzzy66]

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.

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 embarrassment.

That's the problem though and has been for the duration of the Tatum/Brown era - playing dumb at the end of close games.

But people say this as if we are the only team in the league that makes these mistakes.  We aren't.  That's why the Celtics have had a top record all season long - you don't achieve that by constantly playing worse at the end of games then everybody else in the league.

For every game we've lost because we choked at the end, there have been 2+ games that we won because we played well at the end of the game and the other team didn't. 

All teams have games that they lose because of missed shots, untimely turnovers or bad decision making.  If there were statistics out there which measure how many botched possessions each team has in the last 5 minutes of a game, I expect the Celtics would actually be near the bottom of the list.

Every single thing that people here criticise the Celics for are things that fans of other teams on other forums are out there criticising their own team of doing too.  No team executes perfectly every game, especially when missing one of their best players. 

[tenn_smoothie]

Good. Get this stupid marketing stunt over with.
Give me the rest.

Pacers celebrating like they won the nba title

Pretty much agree. I hate the loss, but I hate this stupid "tournament" more.
Mid-season, this team needs rest more than an extra game so Jaylen can add $500,000 to his ridiculous salary.

[tenn_smoothie]

12-41 three-point attempts, 12 free throw attempts total.

Life with Mazzulla.

the 12 FT attempts is maddening. in the 1H they were getting anything they wanted in the paint. indy is 30th in defense and 29th in rebounds, and they’re miserable defending the paint. jb was slashing to the rim with ease, and tatum was getting to the rim when he wasn’t setting for ugly threes, but joe abandoned a successful strategy in the 2H to shoot threes? insanity.

this is a perfect example of why joe is not the coach for this team. the c’s are built to win in a multitude of ways but joe is fixated on threes, even when they’re not falling. his bbiq is lower than jb’s, which is frightening.

The two basketball savants, Joe & Jaylen.

[scaryjerry]

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.

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 embarrassment.

That's the problem though and has been for the duration of the Tatum/Brown era - playing dumb at the end of close games.

But people say this as if we are the only team in the league that makes these mistakes.  We aren't.  That's why the Celtics have had a top record all season long - you don't achieve that by constantly playing worse at the end of games then everybody else in the league.

For every game we've lost because we choked at the end, there have been 2+ games that we won because we played well at the end of the game and the other team didn't. 

All teams have games that they lose because of missed shots, untimely turnovers or bad decision making.  If there were statistics out there which measure how many botched possessions each team has in the last 5 minutes of a game, I expect the Celtics would actually be near the bottom of the list.

Every single thing that people here criticise the Celics for are things that fans of other teams on other forums are out there criticising their own team of doing too.  No team executes perfectly every game, especially when missing one of their best players.

Congrats on having a “top record all season” 20 games in. There’s 62 regular season games to go and it’s championship or bust.

[Muzzy66]

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.

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 embarrassment.

That's the problem though and has been for the duration of the Tatum/Brown era - playing dumb at the end of close games.

The Celtics have been to the ECF in what - 4 or thee last 5 years? Something like that? How many other teams in the league can claim that level of consistent success?

Would you rather be a Phily fan watching Embiid getting knocked out every year in the second round?

Obviously I would love to see the Celtics go a step further, make it to the NBA finals a second time, and preferably win a title.  But pretty much every year we have come out as a top 4 team in the league come playoff time.  Every year that we have been knocked out it's been by the team who either won the championship or at the very least a team that played in the finals. 

And it's been the Jays that we criticise so much that have been carrying us to that success for most of that time.  They have done better and gotten further then most of the stars in this league have. 

As far as fans go things might not be perfect, I think we could be doing a hell of a lot worse.

[scaryjerry]

Good. Get this stupid marketing stunt over with.
Give me the rest.

Pacers celebrating like they won the nba title

Pretty much agree. I hate the loss, but I hate this stupid "tournament" more.
Mid-season, this team needs rest more than an extra game so Jaylen can add $500,000 to his ridiculous salary.

Why do you care so much about jaylens contract? He earned it. Blame the NBA.