Pacers (0-1) at Celtics (1-0) ECF Game 2 5/23/24

[radiohead]

Cleveland hadn’t lost at home in the playoffs either and Cleveland had a really good home crowd. About the same as Indiana

And there are a lot of Celtics fans that will be there in Indiana

Feels like this would be a 7 game series where the home team wins all their games. Pacers can score. But if Haliburton is out then that would be a disaster for them.

But Boston once again getting the bad rap with beating injured teams again sigh

The sad part is Indy benefitted from no Giannis and Dame plus a slew of NY injuries. It’s part of the game.

[0003323344]

I think we should give Brissett more of Haauser's minutes. Hauser can't hit a shot. He had at least 3 open looks.

I'm glad Hauser played 20 minutes tonight. He needs to play through his shooting woes as long it's not a detriment to the team.

[0003323344]

Cleveland hadn’t lost at home in the playoffs either and Cleveland had a really good home crowd. About the same as Indiana

And there are a lot of Celtics fans that will be there in Indiana

Feels like this would be a 7 game series where the home team wins all their games. Pacers can score. But if Haliburton is out then that would be a disaster for them.

But Boston once again getting the bad rap with beating injured teams again sigh

Yes Indiana can score and so can the Celtics. The difference is Indiana doesn't or can't play defense the Celtics can and did.

[tenn_smoothie]

I think we should give Brissett more of Haauser's minutes. Hauser can't hit a shot. He had at least 3 open looks.

I'm glad Hauser played 20 minutes tonight. He needs to play through his shooting woes as long it's not a detriment to the team.

Brissett, Tillman and even Queta need more minutes.

Having said that, I 100% agree about Hauser.
Give him consistent minutes - that is how he finally became an asset during the regular season.
He will get his shot back, hopefully along with Tatum.

[blink]

I think we should give Brissett more of Haauser's minutes. Hauser can't hit a shot. He had at least 3 open looks.

I'm glad Hauser played 20 minutes tonight. He needs to play through his shooting woes as long it's not a detriment to the team.

Brissett, Tillman and even Queta need more minutes.

Having said that, I 100% agree about Hauser.
Give him consistent minutes - that is how he finally became an asset during the regular season.
He will get his shot back, hopefully along with Tatum.

I agree about Hauser as well.  He played pretty good def tonight, but he needs to uncork this shooting slump.  He might be a under-rated key to us winning a title.  Don't ice him out of his minutes.   He will find his stroke eventually.

I thought Brissett gave great change of pace minutes tonight.  More of him and give Tillman some minutes too.   Even if it is just 2-3 min here and there to spell Al a bit to keep his legs fresh.

[jambr380]

Cleveland hadn’t lost at home in the playoffs either and Cleveland had a really good home crowd. About the same as Indiana

And there are a lot of Celtics fans that will be there in Indiana

Feels like this would be a 7 game series where the home team wins all their games. Pacers can score. But if Haliburton is out then that would be a disaster for them.

But Boston once again getting the bad rap with beating injured teams again sigh

It's not like Boston has been making comebacks after Mitchell/Haliburton have gone down. 2-1 in Cavs series, 2-0 in this one (we were up 13 entering the 4th). I guess the Heat didn't have Butler, but this Heat team just didn't look the same as in years past. And it's not like we haven't been without KP.

Injuries happen (we know this all to well) - we were a 64 win team and were likely to make the Finals anyway. If anything, it might be a disadvantage because we are less battle tested.

[celticinorlando]

Cleveland hadn’t lost at home in the playoffs either and Cleveland had a really good home crowd. About the same as Indiana

And there are a lot of Celtics fans that will be there in Indiana

Feels like this would be a 7 game series where the home team wins all their games. Pacers can score. But if Haliburton is out then that would be a disaster for them.

But Boston once again getting the bad rap with beating injured teams again sigh

I think the Celtics have figured some things out with this Pacers team.

I think them playing small vs Indiana is really smart. Brissett can guard. He rebounds. Plays hard.

We NEED sam hauser to score. If he starts hitting 3s then Boston is golden

[Birdman]

If I were a pacer fan or even a player, I be upset that Carlisle took out all his starters with 7 minutes to go especially with Siakim going off

[Donoghus]

Does anyone know what has gotten into KOC lately? Although, I’ve disagreed with him on stuff, I’ve found him to be pretty reasonable. However, lately he’s been on the “try hard hot take train” and acting whiny.

It’s kinda cringy.

[Redz]

If I were a pacer fan or even a player, I be upset that Carlisle took out all his starters with 7 minutes to go especially with Siakim going off

Yeh.  That seemed like a weird white flag.  Almost came across as a white flag for the series.

[Surferdad]

I know it’s a small sample size so far, but I’m willing to bet that this Oshae Brissett thing will continue to work. But it took an injury for Joe to even give him a chance. It might be proof that Mazzulla has no idea what he’s doing in terms of rotations.

Definitely agree. After the game, Holiday was asked about Oshae’s performance and he pointed out that Oshae might have extra motivation against his former team. At the very least, he has practiced with those guys and knows their tendencies and weaknesses. The lineup with JT at the 5 and Oshae at the 4 worked really well against Indy.

[RMO]

Does anyone know what has gotten into KOC lately? Although, I’ve disagreed with him on stuff, I’ve found him to be pretty reasonable. However, lately he’s been on the “try hard hot take train” and acting whiny.

It’s kinda cringy.

Agreed.  I find it hard to listen to him or read his stuff.

I don't know if you're speaking in terms of his takes on the Celtics or just basketball in general.  On the Celtics I've wondered if he makes an effort to be more critical of the Celtics since he works for Bill Simmons whose whole thing is being a Boston superfan.  Maybe doesn't want to seem like he's a puppet for his boss.

[Vermont Green]

I know it’s a small sample size so far, but I’m willing to bet that this Oshae Brissett thing will continue to work. But it took an injury for Joe to even give him a chance. It might be proof that Mazzulla has no idea what he’s doing in terms of rotations.

Definitely agree. After the game, Holiday was asked about Oshae’s performance and he pointed out that Oshae might have extra motivation against his former team. At the very least, he has practiced with those guys and knows their tendencies and weaknesses. The lineup with JT at the 5 and Oshae at the 4 worked really well against Indy.

It is a small sample size and it is also the first time that IND has seen him in the mix.  You can recall from the CLE series, that the first game after Porzingis was injured, and Kornet got more minutes, Kornet looked pretty good.  But as the series progressed, CLE was able to figure out ways to exploit Kornet.  The same will happen with Brissett.

That said, I am all for playing Brissett.  He seems to match up better against IND.  He is more suited to the pace.  And it gives IND some different looks they have to prepare for.

[tonydelk]

I know it’s a small sample size so far, but I’m willing to bet that this Oshae Brissett thing will continue to work. But it took an injury for Joe to even give him a chance. It might be proof that Mazzulla has no idea what he’s doing in terms of rotations.

Definitely agree. After the game, Holiday was asked about Oshae’s performance and he pointed out that Oshae might have extra motivation against his former team. At the very least, he has practiced with those guys and knows their tendencies and weaknesses. The lineup with JT at the 5 and Oshae at the 4 worked really well against Indy.

It is a small sample size and it is also the first time that IND has seen him in the mix.  You can recall from the CLE series, that the first game after Porzingis was injured, and Kornet got more minutes, Kornet looked pretty good.  But as the series progressed, CLE was able to figure out ways to exploit Kornet.  The same will happen with Brissett.

That said, I am all for playing Brissett.  He seems to match up better against IND.  He is more suited to the pace.  And it gives IND some different looks they have to prepare for.

And a good coach would know this and would adjust.  You have Tillman, Queta and Brissett that are high effort and energy guys.  Playing them based off of the game flow is what a good coach would do.  If the pacers don't know who will play they would have less time to react and adjust.  Brissett brought great energy yesterday.  It was needed.

[footey]

Does anyone know what has gotten into KOC lately? Although, I’ve disagreed with him on stuff, I’ve found him to be pretty reasonable. However, lately he’s been on the “try hard hot take train” and acting whiny.

It’s kinda cringy.

Agreed.  I find it hard to listen to him or read his stuff.

I don't know if you're speaking in terms of his takes on the Celtics or just basketball in general.  On the Celtics I've wondered if he makes an effort to be more critical of the Celtics since he works for Bill Simmons whose whole thing is being a Boston superfan.  Maybe doesn't want to seem like he's a puppet for his boss.

Simmons discovered KOC writing draft coverage for CelticsBlog. His research back then was excellent, and he was very accessible to posters (like me) asking him questions. He is as much a Celtic fan as Simmons, but claims that he stopped becoming a fan once he became a national journalist.  He is trying too hard to do that, LOL.