Celtics 2024 Playoff Run Thread

[scaryjerry]

And now the social mediots are saying "The Boston Celtics officially have the easiest Mickey Mouse path in NBA history."

Idk what more do they want...a banged up Knicks team coming to Boston or a lowly seeded Pacers team coming into Boston.

Indy beat up a banged up Bucks team and Knicks team but no one bats an eye 😂 But when it comes to the Celtics everyone loses their minds

The Celtics and Jayson Tatum specifically are the most hated in the league right now by far

[Vermont Green]

The title odds still favor the Celtics:
(Per Fan Duel)

BOS     -160
MIN     +290
DAL     +500
IND   +2300

I think that is fair.  Betting odds reflect how "Books" think people will bet, not necessarily who they think will win, but in this case, these two seem to line up.  Of course there has to be some assumption built into this regarding Porzingis.  It is probably based on Porzingis coming back at some point in ECF and then being 100% for the finals.  Let's hope.

Head to head for the Conf finals:

BOS    -1200
IND     +680

MIN     -170
DAL    +138

[Moranis]

The title odds still favor the Celtics:
(Per Fan Duel)

BOS     -160
MIN     +290
DAL     +500
IND   +2300

I think that is fair.  Betting odds reflect how "Books" think people will bet, not necessarily who they think will win, but in this case, these two seem to line up.  Of course there has to be some assumption built into this regarding Porzingis.  It is probably based on Porzingis coming back at some point in ECF and then being 100% for the finals.  Let's hope.

Head to head for the Conf finals:

BOS    -1200
IND     +680

MIN     -170
DAL    +138

the title odds also reflect just how much a favorite Boston is against the Pacers.  You can't win the title if you don't make the Finals.

[Donoghus]

Anything less than a title at this point is a failure.

There is no reason why the Celtics shouldn't win the title given the teams remaining.  DEN was the threat.

[Celtics2021]

Anything less than a title at this point is a failure.

There is no reason why the Celtics shouldn't win the title given the teams remaining.  DEN was the threat.

Both games with the Wolves this year went to OT, and in neither game did any team have a double-digit lead, so both games were close throughout.  I’m a little nervous about that, although I do agree we should win.  I’d expect them to be our toughest matchup tho.

[Donoghus]

Anything less than a title at this point is a failure.

There is no reason why the Celtics shouldn't win the title given the teams remaining.  DEN was the threat.

Both games with the Wolves this year went to OT, so I’m a little nervous about that, although I do agree we should win.  I’d expect that to be our toughest matchup tho.

I've been on the title train all season.  The one non-title scenario I probably could've lived with was losing a tight series to DEN.  Defending champs, Jokic, dangerous roster.  If the Celtics lost to them, I could bring myself to understand it.

Agreed on MIN.  I have no idea who is coming out of the West.

[celticinorlando]

Denver was the one team that concerned me. But their lack of a bench and the losses they had off of it from last year crippled them. They played with fire all playoffs including the Lakers series and got burned.

I would rather play Dallas because Luka is beat up and they just do not scare me much.

As for the Pacers they seems to be able to score when they are on but can also get extremely cold. They do not defend well and do not rebound. Like a lot have said, they have also benefited from playing teams that have been injured.

I think the Celtics match up with them well and could make things tough on Haliburton. Pacers also have a little front runner in them. Get them down and they will fold.

[hpantazo]

The Celtics will not be overlooking the Pacers imo. The Pacers eliminated them in the In-season Tournament, and talked a lot of trashing doing it. They have not forgotten this.

[celticinorlando]

The Celtics will not be overlooking the Pacers imo. The Pacers eliminated them in the In-season Tournament, and talked a lot of trashing doing it. They have not forgotten this.

Agree with this. I think there is real dislike for the Pacers. Neismith's ties to Boston and him being a reckless player. Getting jobbed out of the game in Indiana when they called JB for the offensive foul. The in season tournament when the Pacers acted like they won the title.

In addition, the Pacers are not a good road team. Boston really needs to win the first two at home this series.

[gift]

a couple of questions that came to mind watching the conference finalists come into place:

1. is it more impressive to beat the indiana pacers in one game for the nba tournament/cup thing? or more impressive to beat them in a best-of-seven conference finals? 

2. what is the narrative if dallas beats minnesota and then boston beats dallas in the finals? many people liked to say that minny/denver was the real nba finals. if neither team makes it there, regardless of how good the teams were, it becomes ridiculous to say that. i think both teams are really good, but annoyed at those assumptions.

[celticinorlando]

a couple of questions that came to mind watching the conference finalists come into place:

1. is it more impressive to beat the indiana pacers in one game for the nba tournament/cup thing? or more impressive to beat them in a best-of-seven conference finals? 

2. what is the narrative if dallas beats minnesota and then boston beats dallas in the finals? many people liked to say that minny/denver was the real nba finals. if neither team makes it there, regardless of how good the teams were, it becomes ridiculous to say that. i think both teams are really good, but annoyed at those assumptions.

No doubt that if Boston wins it all the narrative will focus on the road they had to get there (diminishing the title) and they will hammer on Tatum unless he averages 30 plus a game. I can hear Stephen A Smith now say " I would have loved to see a healthy Knicks team play Boston".

It has gone from Tatum and Boston need to win a title to be validated to now style points. It is BS.

[86MaxwellSmart]

So Boston is in the weak Eastern Conf....So what?...

The supposed Team of the 80s, The Lakers Coasted to the Finals every year, while The Celtics had to battle Philly, Detroit, Milw, Chicago and Atlanta every year in the 80s...The Lakers played NOBODY....Yet, this is never talked about by the media...all we hear is how Magic was better than Bird...Nonsense.

[kraidstar]

The final four teams have no current or former MVP winners on their rosters. Apparently this is the first time that's ever happened.

It also means that the champion this year will not have a former MVP winner on the team for one of the few times in the last 30 years.

Everything is breaking the Celtics way. Have to win it this year.

I also think there is a deeper pool of elite players than there used to be. Guys who might never get MVP but are close to the guys that do.

[hpantazo]

So Boston is in the weak Eastern Conf....So what?...

The supposed Team of the 80s, The Lakers Coasted to the Finals every year, while The Celtics had to battle Philly, Detroit, Milw, Chicago and Atlanta every year in the 80s...The Lakers played NOBODY....Yet, this is never talked about by the media...all we hear is how Magic was better than Bird...Nonsense.

And that doesn't even get into all the years Lebron had a much easier path to the Finals in the Eastern Conference in the past.

[Phantom255x]

I saw this post and quite frankly, I feel the same way:

https://www.reddit.com/r/bostonceltics/comments/1ctvh9w/this_timberwolves_season_reminds_me_of_the_202122/

This Timberwolves' season reminds me of the 2021-22 Celtics team

•was a play-in team the previous season because of injuries

•showed true potential in the regular season by having the league's best defense

•Vibes are great

•Eliminated Kevin Durant's Big 3 by sweeping them

•Took the defending champs to Game 7 in the conference semis

For what it's worth, that Celtics team was my favorite in the Brown-Tatum era but this current team is undoubtedly the better one

And btw. Could the Celtics be the "Golden State" in the scenario, with them having the easier road to the Finals (not much mileage) and having the experience which Minnesota still doesn't have? If MIN wins Game 7, this could be a real parallel.

Also, GSW beat Brunson in the WCF 2022. We could face him next round ECF lol

And now this comparison looks even better. Minnesota beat Denver in 7.