Celtics (48-13) at Nuggets (42-20) Game #62 3/7/24

[Goldstar88]

Will Tatum show up in the 4th quarter? 10pts so far isn’t going to cut it. He seems flat on both ends of the court. Not good..

[Yuckabuck33]

Interesting how the other ref is willing to blow the whistle for the Cs, but Brothers seems to do it grudgingly or not at all. I hate the NBA but I love the Celtics. I need help.

[keevsnick]

Why does Brown get a technical for clapping but Jokic does not for holding his hands out like he’s Jesus

Because Jokic is an MVP and one of the faces of the league.

[RMO]

This might be one of those games where the Cs just never really get it together. Not like Denver is smoking them. Or, it might be one of those games where they finally manage to put together a good 3- or 4-minute stretch near the end of the game and it ends up being just enough to win.

They don't win close games

[keevsnick]

This is the worst off-ball defense we've played all year, I think. Between the off-ball cuts leading to scores and over-helping, we're just killing ourselves. You simply can't play that kind of lackluster, porous defense against a team like Denver.

And as I say that, JB makes a gamble on Jokic, leaves his man open in the corner, and leads to an open nailed three. Just dumb basketball.

So to be honest, I don't mind that play. Jokic has been roasting us inside, at some point you have to try something on him besides letting him roast you with 6 foot floaters after 6 foot floater. jaylen almost got him on one of those sneak digs earlier in the game. I think its a good gamble given the circumstances.

I'd rather lose trying something different than ose just watching the same play ove and over again kill us.

[ozgod]

On the plus side… This team said their times they think they’re invincible and can come back from whenever… This is a good time to show it and if they don’t, it’ll be a good dose of humility for them that they’re not as good as they think they are And they have more work to do to catch up to the benchmark of the league

[Atzar]

This is the worst off-ball defense we've played all year, I think. Between the off-ball cuts leading to scores and over-helping, we're just killing ourselves.

And as I say that, JB makes a gamble on Jokic, leaves his man open in the corner, and leads to an open nailed three. Just dumb basketball.

It's not dumb basketball.  It's the best player on the planet playing us like a flute. 

Don't send the double?  Guy is 9-14 with zero turnovers.  He's playing nearly flawlessly, and our bigs have no hope in one-on-one coverage.  KP is good at a lot of things but post defense is not one of them.  Send help?  He has generational court vision and his guys forgot how to miss in that quarter.  So good luck with that.  Both of those poisons kill. 

We're trying things, we're throwing different defenders at him, KP, Horford, Tillman, even Tatum a few times.  We're trying to attack with help from his blind side.  But the best player on the planet is putting us through a meat grinder tonight. 

[jpotter33]

Between the turnovers, missed free throws, questionable officiating, and just overall poor decision-making, this might be the most frustrating game of the year for us this far. We're doing all of this to ourselves.

And then JB misses two more free throws. Inexcusable. We're just not a serious team right now. The vast majority of this is self-inflicted.

To be honest, I’m not that frustrated… Obviously Denver the defending champions they’ve got more of that clutch gene, we played terribly,  Tatum, Holiday, and White have gone missing, we’ve missed eight free throws and are down by 10.  But I get it, it sucks when you know that at your best, you’re better than the other team but you can’t produce your best when you need to but that’s the gap between them and Denver

Are we the better team, though? I'm not so sure anymore. If we're so in our own heads that we can't play our best against this team who is just more professional and consistent than us, then I don't think we're the better team.

I'll say this, while we should reach the Finals and get out of the East, I don't think anyone can realistically feel confident about beating Denver in a series. I just don't know if we play consistently well enough to beat an elite team with a top-tier star like Jokic in four out of seven games, especially with the variability in our star play and shooting that we're susceptible to.

[SCeltic34]

Man, T up Malone.  He's been chewing out the refs the entire quarter so far.

[ozgod]

Between the turnovers, missed free throws, questionable officiating, and just overall poor decision-making, this might be the most frustrating game of the year for us this far. We're doing all of this to ourselves.

And then JB misses two more free throws. Inexcusable. We're just not a serious team right now. The vast majority of this is self-inflicted.

To be honest, I’m not that frustrated… Obviously Denver the defending champions they’ve got more of that clutch gene, we played terribly,  Tatum, Holiday, and White have gone missing, we’ve missed eight free throws and are down by 10.  But I get it, it sucks when you know that at your best, you’re better than the other team but you can’t produce your best when you need to but that’s the gap between them and Denver

Are we the better team, though? I'm not so sure anymore. If we're so in our own heads that we can't play our best against this team who is just more professional and consistent than us, then I don't think we're the better team.

I'll say this, while we should reach the Finals and get out of the East, I don't think anyone can realistically feel confident about beating Denver in a series. I just don't know if we play consistently well enough to beat an elite team with a top-tier star like Jokic in four out of seven games, especially with the variability in our star play and shooting that we're susceptible to.

Well, if they take the series 2-0 they’re clearly the better team. Maybe I should’ve said we’re the the better team when we’re beating up on scrubs

[PAOBoston]

Tatum is the worst player on the floor

[liam]

Tatum is asleep.

[Indocelts]

JB missed lots of FTs, but at least he showed some fighting spirit and carried this team.

The other Jay simply wilted, just like in the last minute of the Cavs game.

[liam]

Tatum is the worst player on the floor

and they just keep going to him...

[ozgod]

Tatum gave up guarding Murray as soon as he switched onto him… Tatum’s body language is very negative like, he’s really struggling to get into this game even though it’s already the fourth quarter. Wonder if it’s the altitude, but God knows he’s played here enough times