Celtics (48-12) at Cavaliers (39-21) Game #61 3/5/24

[liam]

I am not concerned about the Celtics players as a team, even after this loss.

I'm more concerned about Joe as our HC handling the end game. He may cost us banner 18.

it was our huge concern all season.
agreed.

we win in spite of joe

he can easily derail us with his stupidity and ignorance in the playoffs

We win in spite of Joe but lose because of him. LOL

[PAOBoston]

This will henceforth be known as the Dean Wade game.

Truthfully I didn't think we played well all night.  Offense couldn't get much going unless Tatum or Brown or KP hit something difficult.  We built a lead out anyway because Cleveland had no firepower without Mitchell, but a random explosion by a random roleplayer bit us.  It is what it is. 

If you take fan allegiance out of the equation, this is one of the upsides of modern basketball.  A large lead is never safe because some nobody can hit six threes and flip the game on its head.  That unpredictability is exciting.  Sucked that it happened to us tonight but we move on.

The only thing I am ticked about is our refusal to call a timeout with 15 seconds left.   The poor execution to not get a shot up on the rim with a few seconds to give us a chance to rebound. 

But with the bolded, if we are happy about us going nuts on GS, we have to expect someone will do it to us too.

To be fair, Mazzulla called a time out with 4.6 seconds left. The refs just ignored him.

[liam]

On to Denver!

[celticinorlando]

Here comes the losing streak and where the bucks take over the Celtics for the top seed

Bro, even for you this is ridiculous and non-sensical. We are literally 8 losses up on the Bucks after this loss. It would take an absolute meltdown plus a record-setting pace for Milwaukee to catch us.

master of panic?

Can’t wait to hear the excuses Thursday. It’s not because they lost. It’s how.

Most of their loses this season follow this pattern. Good lead blown to a bad team.

Blowing a 22 point lead vs a depleted cavs team in the 4th quarter is embarrassing. Championship teams do not do this

Cleveland is 3rd in the conference with a 66% win percentage. They're not a bad team. Painting them as such is just your bias or lack of knowledge.

Good teams have bad losses sometimes. That's the nature of the modern game with the 3pt shooting being so influential. Some older posters will be better off if they just accepted that. Teams can come back quickly or go down just as quickly when certain shots fall.

A single loss shouldn't drive you to write off our entire season, but I look forward to you being here and celebrating like you've always been a believer when we win.

Cleveland tonight was missing north of 50 points without Mitchell and Struss. The team on the floor tonight was at best average

Buddy, I’ve been a believer since 1981. I’m also going to call them out when it comes time. Tonight is one of those nights.

I’m not writing off the season but I am concerned some of the sins of the past haven’t been exercised.

[scaryjerry]

13th loss of the season, the sun will come up tomorrow. On to Denver folks. Should be another good one.

It's not the loss, it's the how they lost

No it’s the loss. There is nothing more to prove in the regular season. If this team stays healthy they will be in the Finals at worst.

Looks that way, also has looked that way for lots of teams in lots of sports and hasn’t panned out.
Simply not guaranteed and the competition isn’t going to be easy getting there

[libermaniac]

Other than Kornet being a mismatch not being able to defend Wade and then going for the last shot instead of getting a quick look on the last possession our shots weren’t out of the ordinary. It wasn’t stagnant ball. They were good looks. And Cleveland basically made 10 straight shots. Most of them 3s. There were a couple of defensive breakdowns but mostly a fluke loss.

What I’m infuriated by is milking the clock for one attempt at the end when down one. Who does that? And it’s not the first time we’ve done that.

[CelticSooner]

Do you guys actually watch other teams play outside of the C’s? Teams choke games all the time including Denver. You know that same Denver team that lost 10 of their last 17 games last year. If you are still looking for reasons to trust this team you are never going to find them. If you can’t enjoy this ride I don’t know what to tell you.

[Roy H.]

This will henceforth be known as the Dean Wade game.

Truthfully I didn't think we played well all night.  Offense couldn't get much going unless Tatum or Brown or KP hit something difficult.  We built a lead out anyway because Cleveland had no firepower without Mitchell, but a random explosion by a random roleplayer bit us.  It is what it is. 

If you take fan allegiance out of the equation, this is one of the upsides of modern basketball.  A large lead is never safe because some nobody can hit six threes and flip the game on its head.  That unpredictability is exciting.  Sucked that it happened to us tonight but we move on.

The only thing I am ticked about is our refusal to call a timeout with 15 seconds left.   The poor execution to not get a shot up on the rim with a few seconds to give us a chance to rebound. 

But with the bolded, if we are happy about us going nuts on GS, we have to expect someone will do it to us too.

Really?  You weren't bothered by Joe not calling a timeout during the Cavs run?

We were up by 22 with nine minutes left.  Joe finally called a timeout at the 4:18 mark, after the Cavs had shaved off 19 points.

I don't know how a championship caliber team gets outscored by 19 points in four minutes 42 seconds, but Joe just sat there and watched it happen.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

13th loss of the season, the sun will come up tomorrow. On to Denver folks. Should be another good one.

It's not the loss, it's the how they lost

No it’s the loss. There is nothing more to prove in the regular season. If this team stays healthy they will be in the Finals at worst.

WRONG, it is how they lost aka PERFORMANCE

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

I am not concerned about the Celtics players as a team, even after this loss.

I'm more concerned about Joe as our HC handling the end game. He may cost us banner 18.

it was our huge concern all season.
agreed.

we win in spite of joe

he can easily derail us with his stupidity and ignorance in the playoffs

We win in spite of Joe but lose because of him. LOL

JOE IS DA BEST EVA! 

[scaryjerry]

Here comes the losing streak and where the bucks take over the Celtics for the top seed

Bro, even for you this is ridiculous and non-sensical. We are literally 8 losses up on the Bucks after this loss. It would take an absolute meltdown plus a record-setting pace for Milwaukee to catch us.

master of panic?

Can’t wait to hear the excuses Thursday. It’s not because they lost. It’s how.

Most of their loses this season follow this pattern. Good lead blown to a bad team.

Blowing a 22 point lead vs a depleted cavs team in the 4th quarter is embarrassing. Championship teams do not do this

Cleveland is 3rd in the conference with a 66% win percentage. They're not a bad team. Painting them as such is just your bias or lack of knowledge.

Good teams have bad losses sometimes. That's the nature of the modern game with the 3pt shooting being so influential. Some older posters will be better off if they just accepted that. Teams can come back quickly or go down just as quickly when certain shots fall.

A single loss shouldn't drive you to write off our entire season, but I look forward to you being here and celebrating like you've always been a believer when we win.

Cleveland without Mitchell and struss aren’t that good…but whatever helps you sleep tonight

[trickybilly]

Other than Kornet being a mismatch not being able to defend Wade and then going for the last shot instead of getting a quick look on the last possession our shots weren’t out of the ordinary. It wasn’t stagnant ball. They were good looks. And Cleveland basically made 10 straight shots. Most of them 3s. There were a couple of defensive breakdowns but mostly a fluke loss.

What I’m infuriated by is milking the clock for one attempt at the end when down one. Who does that? And it’s not the first time we’ve done that.

Reminds me of the Lions v Dallas... may as well just hero it, not much to lose.

[Atzar]

Here comes the losing streak and where the bucks take over the Celtics for the top seed

Bro, even for you this is ridiculous and non-sensical. We are literally 8 losses up on the Bucks after this loss. It would take an absolute meltdown plus a record-setting pace for Milwaukee to catch us.

master of panic?

Can’t wait to hear the excuses Thursday. It’s not because they lost. It’s how.

Most of their loses this season follow this pattern. Good lead blown to a bad team.

Blowing a 22 point lead vs a depleted cavs team in the 4th quarter is embarrassing. Championship teams do not do this

agreed. was about to post that. that is NOT what TITLE teams do.

"TITLE teams" are not this invincible mistake-free monolith that some people try to build them up as.  Consider that Denver had two separate streaks losing five of six last season. 

Title teams lay eggs.  They cough up leads, they choke, they fail.  Step away from the ledge.  We're still pretty good at this basketball thing. 

[celticinorlando]

Celtics didn’t ever guard wade.

BOS also attempted 10 more shots than CLE in the 4Q but was 8 for 25 and 0 for 8 from 3pt. CLE hits 8 threes in the final period.

Volume 3s up 22 is just ridiculous.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

I am not concerned about the Celtics players as a team, even after this loss.

I'm more concerned about Joe as our HC handling the end game. He may cost us banner 18.

it was our huge concern all season.
agreed.

we win in spite of joe

he can easily derail us with his stupidity and ignorance in the playoffs

We win in spite of Joe but lose because of him. LOL

do we win more because of joe or the talent?

you think joe did well tonight? if so YIKES