Pistons (2-28) at Celtics (23-6) Game #30 12/28/23

[Silas]

Best team in the NBA beats the worst team in the NBA.  Wins count.

[SHAQATTACK]

Celtics avoided what would have went down as historic  …..   epic loss

Whew 

[Celtics Mike]

Need to extend Derrick White's contract in the off season. He is a crucial cog in this Celtic's winning machine.

[hwangjini_1]

Even though Tatum and Jaylen are our Top-2 players, White + Porzingis IMO are our most important pieces if we want to win it all. Those two bring skillsets that complement the Jays well and they tend to make very smart decisions. They also calm things down well when things go a bit awry

Brad. Credit to him. This is the differnce between now and the past couple of seasons. Hate to say it but also credit to Joe for not screwing this up. It's working and the coaching staff has played a role in that.

true. i suppose a plus is that the coaches and players never gave up...in spite of the totally crappy first-half play. 

[Celtics Mike]

Celtics avoided what would have went down in history as historic  …..   epic loss

Whew 

The half time score didn't give me any confidence about the outcome

[RJ87]

I really wanna know if all the posters who carried on before this game even started about how "we're going to lose, we're gonna play down to the competition" can come in and acknowledge that they were wrong. Yeah, this team probably would've lost this game in seasons' past, but they came out after a lackluster 1st half and got it together.

I bet it'll be *crickets*

[jpotter33]

And let's all be clear about what happened in the second half - we stopped chucking a ton of bad threes and went for the better, more efficient shots closer to the rim.

Went 4 - 24 from three in the first half, and 7 - 15 from three in the second half. Only a couple of poor threes shot in the second half, and it led to a much more efficient three point shot percentage and ultimately the win.

Perhaps the team - particularly Joe and the Jays - can look at this game and realize that we have to better diversify the offense. The proof is in the pudding right here.

[SHAQATTACK]

I survived

Just barely

[hwangjini_1]

And let's all be clear about what happened in the second half - we stopped chucking a ton of bad threes and went for the better, more efficient shots closer to the rim.

Went 4 - 24 from three in the first half, and 7 - 15 from three in the second half. Only a couple of poor threes shot in the second half, and it led to a much more efficient three point shot percentage and ultimately the win.

Perhaps the team - particularly Joe and the Jays - can look at this game and realize that we have to better diversify the offense. The proof is in the pudding right here.

true, true. and especially in the overtime. how many close in shots did the celtics create? that was the difference.

[RJ87]

Survived the mother of all trap games.  Not upset about that.  Still frustrated with Tatum though.

yeah, but 31 points plus 7 rebounds 10 assists and 5 steals ain't bad.

If you're a Celtics fan, it is because the fanbase is spoiled and super entitled. When a player isn't perfect, he's trash. There's no in between. We're supposed to be one of the smartest fanbases in the league but nuance is a far off concept to a huge portion.

You know who'd love to have that player on their team? The Detroit Pistons.

[RPGenerate]

Bet on Detroit winning, cashed out big at half time, and we end up coming back and winning. I'm a happy camper.

[jpotter33]

Even though Tatum and Jaylen are our Top-2 players, White + Porzingis IMO are our most important pieces if we want to win it all. Those two bring skillsets that complement the Jays well and they tend to make very smart decisions. They also calm things down well when things go a bit awry

Brad. Credit to him. This is the differnce between now and the past couple of seasons. Hate to say it but also credit to Joe for not screwing this up. It's working and the coaching staff has played a role in that.

Well, let's not go too far there. He still has them shooting WAY too many threes and relying too heavily on the three point shot to win games. He's a big reason we've had some of the (admittedly few) struggles in games that we've had this year. Only when our backs are absolutely against the wall like tonight during halftime has he shown any willingness to emphasize a more efficient gameplan at the rim instead of being so heavily reliant on the three.

He's better than last year, and he did a great job in emphasizing this change in gameplan tonight at halftime. But he still has a long way to go.

[tenn_smoothie]

I do not understand why we keep giving Tatum the ball with the game on the line. Has he ever won a game with n the final seconds? He must be shooting like 2% in those situations. You have a walking mismatch in Porzingis and refuse to use him when it matters.

Yes, a ton actually lol He just had a game-winner against Philly in February.

Up until about mid last year after that last one in Philly, he was the highest fg% in NBA history in tying or go-ahead shots under 24 seconds to go. He's just been pretty bad since then for whatever reason, which has colored our perspective.

I have zero faith in his end of quarter/end of game scoring. I would rather see the ball go to Porzingis/White/JB (when healthy).

It doesn't help when the entire opponent's roster already know where the ball is going.
Aren't the NBA players and coaches supposed to be the best and smartest tacticians in the world ?

[Celtics Mike]

And let's all be clear about what happened in the second half - we stopped chucking a ton of bad threes and went for the better, more efficient shots closer to the rim.

Went 4 - 24 from three in the first half, and 7 - 15 from three in the second half. Only a couple of poor threes shot in the second half, and it led to a much more efficient three point shot percentage and ultimately the win.

Perhaps the team - particularly Joe and the Jays - can look at this game and realize that we have to better diversify the offense. The proof is in the pudding right here.

Let's hope so

[hpantazo]

Even though Tatum and Jaylen are our Top-2 players, White + Porzingis IMO are our most important pieces if we want to win it all. Those two bring skillsets that complement the Jays well and they tend to make very smart decisions. They also calm things down well when things go a bit awry

Brad. Credit to him. This is the differnce between now and the past couple of seasons. Hate to say it but also credit to Joe for not screwing this up. It's working and the coaching staff has played a role in that.

Well, let's not go too far there. He still has them shooting WAY too many threes and relying too heavily on the three point shot to win games. He's a big reason we've had some of the (admittedly few) struggles in games that we've had this year. Only when our backs are absolutely against the wall like tonight during halftime has he shown any willingness to emphasize a more efficient gameplan at the rim instead of being so heavily reliant on the three.

He's better than last year, and he did a great job in emphasizing this change in gameplan tonight at halftime. But he still has a long way to go.

Joe has been better, but I think the assistant coaching staff, especially Cassell, have been huge for us. The low post focus on offense is largely from Cassell for example.