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.
1 seed in the west? finished
defending champs? finished
we have to win it now.
celts mavs final
or bring on the wolves who cares
BEAT EVERYBODY
Sorry to go slightly off-topic, but because the C's have such a great chance at a ring, I am puzzled as to why Xavier Tillman is glued to the bench. This was Brad's "win-now" move but Joe is refusing to use him.
I'm not sure it was Brad's win-now move given he was traded for Lamar Stevens and second round picks...if anything it was probably more an insurance move for the regular season. As for why he's not playing, it can only be that the fans' opinion of him, based on what we've seen, is higher than Joe's opinion of him, based on what Joe's seen. Clearly it's a lack of trust, something Joe or his coaching staff have seen where they're not quite confident that he either has the defensive and offensive schemes down pat or whatever else. Only Joe knows but in the minutes that matter in the crunch games it looks like Joe's going with the folks he's worked with the past year or so and knows very well - the Top Six, PP, Sam, and Luke as the nine (8 with KP out) rotation players.
Maybe he feels the less permutations in the lineups the easier to manage but who knows, maybe he uses X or Q as a gamebreaker or something different in this series.