Cavaliers (1-3) at Celtics (3-1) Eastern Conference Semifinals Game #5 5/15/24

[boscel33]

Glad Al was able to have one of those games finally.  He was rested more throughout the year, just for these moments.  I was beginning to wonder if there was anything left.  Wouldn't hurt me to see him retire, although, I still think we're hit with the contract.

[boscel33]

BTW, #maxstraus, yeah, that takes two big basketballs to wear that shirt, especially since the B's beat the Panthers in game five and have game six at home, but man, I'll give ya some cred!

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

max struuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuus

SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKS

BYE BYE MAX!

GOOD RIDDANCE

how does that "L" taste max?

[Neurotic Guy]

Notice how every other team that has had injuries gets the excuses but the Celtics lose a 21 point and 7 rebounds a game guy in KP and it’s glossed over.

True.

KP adds a dimension to this team that is irreplaceable. Rest of the guys have gotten use to the luxury of him on the floor . The game looks easy for Celtics when he is ball n .
You see how hard they have work without him .
His presence is like KG , it s a dominant one .

it's almost like the celtics Offense is entirely different without a 7ft 2 big who can space the floor and shoot in the post....then when he is out there.

and yet everyone. fans, media etc. ignore that fact. without KP this team is just a version of the last 2 years teams. with KP its a whole new dimension.

hopefully he's back soon.

Yeah, when you say Smart, Grant, and Brogdon for KP, Jrue, and a  contributing PP it feels like huge improvement.  Take KP out and we lose that swap badly.

[Vermont Green]

The Celtics did not play as well or as consistently as I would like to see, or as I think will be needed to win a title, but it was a win.  And I thought that they looked really good in the 4th quarter:

28 Pts
20 Opp Pts
64.7% FG%
55.6 3P%
4 ORebs
10 Assts
5 TOV (not great)

Overall, I thought they looked sharp in the 4th.  Passing was crisp.  Off ball movement was the best I have seen in the entire playoffs.  So to me, that was a very strong positive.

[Vermont Green]

Notice how every other team that has had injuries gets the excuses but the Celtics lose a 21 point and 7 rebounds a game guy in KP and it’s glossed over.

True.

KP adds a dimension to this team that is irreplaceable. Rest of the guys have gotten use to the luxury of him on the floor . The game looks easy for Celtics when he is ball n .
You see how hard they have work without him .
His presence is like KG , it s a dominant one .

it's almost like the celtics Offense is entirely different without a 7ft 2 big who can space the floor and shoot in the post....then when he is out there.

and yet everyone. fans, media etc. ignore that fact. without KP this team is just a version of the last 2 years teams. with KP its a whole new dimension.

hopefully he's back soon.

Yeah, when you say Smart, Grant, and Brogdon for KP, Jrue, and a  contributing PP it feels like huge improvement.  Take KP out and we lose that swap badly.

Porzingis is important.  The impact of his injury is amplified due to the fact that he is replaced with Kornet.  It is a loss of a really good player, at a position group (Bigs) where we have the least depth, where the drop off to the replacement player is huge.

Yes, this is being glossed over.  The playoff competition has been light for the Celtics so far so no one seems to care that Porzingis is out.  It is just assumed that we should win anyway.  MIA didn't have Butler.  CLE didn't have Mitchell for Games 4 and 5.  Porzingis goes under the radar.

[jambr380]

Notice how every other team that has had injuries gets the excuses but the Celtics lose a 21 point and 7 rebounds a game guy in KP and it’s glossed over.

True.

KP adds a dimension to this team that is irreplaceable. Rest of the guys have gotten use to the luxury of him on the floor . The game looks easy for Celtics when he is ball n .
You see how hard they have work without him .
His presence is like KG , it s a dominant one .

it's almost like the celtics Offense is entirely different without a 7ft 2 big who can space the floor and shoot in the post....then when he is out there.

and yet everyone. fans, media etc. ignore that fact. without KP this team is just a version of the last 2 years teams. with KP its a whole new dimension.

hopefully he's back soon.

Yeah, when you say Smart, Grant, and Brogdon for KP, Jrue, and a  contributing PP it feels like huge improvement.  Take KP out and we lose that swap badly.

You forgot Rob in that first group of who we had before. The swap gets even worse when you add him in there without KP.

The fact is, we had a championship level team last year that just couldn't figure out Miami and got injured at exactly the wrong time.

We have another championship level team this year, but you're right that KP is a big part of that. Hopefully he'll be back soon and will be healthy for the remainder of the run. We have done what we've needed to do thusfar, but KP is definitely the secret ingredient

[j804]

If you'd just listened to this game without seeing the score you'd swear the C's were down 10 the entire game instead of basically leading the entire game and winning by 15.

Get ready for more of the same in the ECF. If C's win by 20+ its "what they're supposed to do." If they win by less than 20+ then "they are coasting, not impressive." Winning the title vs Jokic is the only way they will get respect for this year of dominance.

We've been spoiled to the point where anything less than leading by 30 in the first quarter and growing that lead by 5 each subsequent quarter is seen as a fail 

I mean that's the thing too, the Cavs were without 3 of their main players (Lavert, Allen, Mitchell). The perception is (at least starting Game 4) is that the Celtics should've been blowing them out from the getgo. 30 points in the 1st quarter might be too much but I was thinking maybe a 18-20 point lead by half would be more reasonable? Esp at home lol

There's also that phenomenon where when you take one guy with 40% usage out of the team the rest of the team can play better because they get the ball more and they get underestimated.

I just been watching this game too long to take any NBA team for granted especially in a playoff game. Anyone who expects that the team should be winning by 20-30 points each game is going to be disappointed and upset with the team more often than not. Some of these guys on the other team are playing for contracts for next year, they want to stay in the NBA. Certainly never expect a 20 point lead as a given...to me that's a bonus more than anything else, especially in today's NBA where everyone can shoot open 3s 

Don't get me wrong, I expected a 4-1 win, with the 2nd game being the loss, and we got it, but I wasn't expecting 30 point blowouts each time. I expect each game to be tightly contested but our quality and talent to win out over the course of each 48 minutes 

Morris was also unconscious don’t think I’ve seen him play that well in a year and a half lol

[Kuberski33]

The Cavs got huge nights - i.e. way above their norm - performances from Morris and Mobley, which had everything to do with Cleveland being able to hang around the way they did.

Also Mobley, for whatever reason, was in all their heads defensively. I know he's a decent shot blocker, but they were afraid to challenge him. So the default was kick the ball back out - and eventually take a 3.  That likely goes away in the next series.

It bugs me a little that Joe, once again, wouldn't use all the tools available to him - i.e. Tillman - if only to annoy Mobley a little bit since Kornet couldn't guard him.  If the Knicks are the next opponent, Tillman can help in that series - whether or not Porzingis plays.

[j804]

The Cavs got huge nights - i.e. way above their norm - performances from Morris and Mobley, which had everything to do with Cleveland being able to hang around the way they did.

Also Mobley, for whatever reason, was in all their heads defensively. I know he's a decent shot blocker, but they were afraid to challenge him. So the default was kick the ball back out - and eventually take a 3.  That likely goes away in the next series.

It bugs me a little that Joe, once again, wouldn't use all the tools available to him - i.e. Tillman - if only to annoy Mobley a little bit since Kornet couldn't guard him.  If the Knicks are the next opponent, Tillman can help in that series - whether or not Porzingis plays.

Joe likely just runs Al to the ground

[liam]

The Cavs got huge nights - i.e. way above their norm - performances from Morris and Mobley, which had everything to do with Cleveland being able to hang around the way they did.

Also Mobley, for whatever reason, was in all their heads defensively. I know he's a decent shot blocker, but they were afraid to challenge him. So the default was kick the ball back out - and eventually take a 3.  That likely goes away in the next series.

It bugs me a little that Joe, once again, wouldn't use all the tools available to him - i.e. Tillman - if only to annoy Mobley a little bit since Kornet couldn't guard him.  If the Knicks are the next opponent, Tillman can help in that series - whether or not Porzingis plays.

Q and Tillman should both play some against big physical teams. If only in the first half. Just to wear them down. Those are two strong dudes.

[celticinorlando]

With how X defended AD last year in the playoffs I would have gone to him in the third quarter stretch where Mobley scored like 10 points and got the cavs back in the game. Luke could not do it.

[Vermont Green]

The Cavs got huge nights - i.e. way above their norm - performances from Morris and Mobley, which had everything to do with Cleveland being able to hang around the way they did.

Also Mobley, for whatever reason, was in all their heads defensively. I know he's a decent shot blocker, but they were afraid to challenge him. So the default was kick the ball back out - and eventually take a 3.  That likely goes away in the next series.

It bugs me a little that Joe, once again, wouldn't use all the tools available to him - i.e. Tillman - if only to annoy Mobley a little bit since Kornet couldn't guard him.  If the Knicks are the next opponent, Tillman can help in that series - whether or not Porzingis plays.

Joe likely just runs Al to the ground

Is this a critique of Mazzulla?  Are you saying he shouldn't play Horford as much?  Horford averaged 25.6 min/g vs. MIA.  That ticked up to 31.6 min/g vs. CLE, after Porzingis went down.  I don't have any issue playing Horford for 30 min/g, in this situation.  He has the highest +/- on the team for the CLE series, +11.6/g.  The team is -4.4/gm for the series when he is not on the floor.  And you want to play him less?

The fact is that there is a huge drop off when Horford sits and Kornet plays.  It wouldn't be any different if they played Tillman, it would probably be a little worse.  So yes, they are getting everything out of Horford that they can get.

I understand the Kornet vs. Tillman debate.  I would like to see Tillman more too but I don't know that he would be any better than Kornet.  He wasn't any better during the regular season.  But I have no problem with the amount that Horford has been playing since the Porzingis injury.

[Neurotic Guy]

The Cavs got huge nights - i.e. way above their norm - performances from Morris and Mobley, which had everything to do with Cleveland being able to hang around the way they did.

Also Mobley, for whatever reason, was in all their heads defensively. I know he's a decent shot blocker, but they were afraid to challenge him. So the default was kick the ball back out - and eventually take a 3.  That likely goes away in the next series.

It bugs me a little that Joe, once again, wouldn't use all the tools available to him - i.e. Tillman - if only to annoy Mobley a little bit since Kornet couldn't guard him.  If the Knicks are the next opponent, Tillman can help in that series - whether or not Porzingis plays.

Joe likely just runs Al to the ground

Is this a critique of Mazzulla?  Are you saying he shouldn't play Horford as much?  Horford averaged 25.6 min/g vs. MIA.  That ticked up to 31.6 min/g vs. CLE, after Porzingis went down.  I don't have any issue playing Horford for 30 min/g, in this situation.  He has the highest +/- on the team for the CLE series, +11.6/g.  The team is -4.4/gm for the series when he is not on the floor.  And you want to play him less?

The fact is that there is a huge drop off when Horford sits and Kornet plays.  It wouldn't be any different if they played Tillman, it would probably be a little worse.  So yes, they are getting everything out of Horford that they can get.

I understand the Kornet vs. Tillman debate.  I would like to see Tillman more too but I don't know that he would be any better than Kornet.  He wasn't any better during the regular season.  But I have no problem with the amount that Horford has been playing since the Porzingis injury.

I think it’s about the prospect of diminishing returns if you overplay Horford.  If you know Al is playing every other night, you have to be cautious about playing him too many minutes.

[celts55]

The Cavs got huge nights - i.e. way above their norm - performances from Morris and Mobley, which had everything to do with Cleveland being able to hang around the way they did.

Also Mobley, for whatever reason, was in all their heads defensively. I know he's a decent shot blocker, but they were afraid to challenge him. So the default was kick the ball back out - and eventually take a 3.  That likely goes away in the next series.

It bugs me a little that Joe, once again, wouldn't use all the tools available to him - i.e. Tillman - if only to annoy Mobley a little bit since Kornet couldn't guard him.  If the Knicks are the next opponent, Tillman can help in that series - whether or not Porzingis plays.

Joe likely just runs Al to the ground

Is this a critique of Mazzulla?  Are you saying he shouldn't play Horford as much?  Horford averaged 25.6 min/g vs. MIA.  That ticked up to 31.6 min/g vs. CLE, after Porzingis went down.  I don't have any issue playing Horford for 30 min/g, in this situation.  He has the highest +/- on the team for the CLE series, +11.6/g.  The team is -4.4/gm for the series when he is not on the floor.  And you want to play him less?

The fact is that there is a huge drop off when Horford sits and Kornet plays.  It wouldn't be any different if they played Tillman, it would probably be a little worse.  So yes, they are getting everything out of Horford that they can get.

I understand the Kornet vs. Tillman debate.  I would like to see Tillman more too but I don't know that he would be any better than Kornet.  He wasn't any better during the regular season.  But I have no problem with the amount that Horford has been playing since the Porzingis injury.

In general I think Kornet has been better than I hoped, but this last game he was getting destroyed by Mobley. I personally would have given Tillman a shot at him. My understanding is he’s a good defender.
If nothing else, he might have brought some energy to the garden crowd that was lacking, except when Big Al made some hustle plays.