Pacers (15-17) at Celtics (23-8) Game #32 12/29/24

[SCeltic34]

The C's just weren't ready for Indiana this game.  They knew Indiana was going to come out motivated after getting their ass kicked two nights ago, but the C's still didn't match their intensity.  Indy punched first.  The brief lead we had was luck.  Knocked down some 3's.

Indy outplayed us almost the entire game and deserved to win.  I don't see the same level of fight and intensity in this team as last year.  JB brought it this game.  PP had his moments.  Everyone else didn't play up to standard, especially defensively.

[blink]

the 'others' for the Pacers played well tonight.   They got really good games from Mathurin, Walker, Sheppard.
we gave the Pacers too many fts, they shot 27 fts.  they out-rebounded us by 9.   that tells you everything.
the def wasn't there and the hustle on the boards wasn't there.

[celticinorlando]

Lost 4 out of the last 6

More losses at home before Jan. than they had all of last season.

One more home game before a tough tough road trip out west.

Cavs keep winning because they want the 1 seed.

Knicks are going to sprint by Boston this upcoming week.

[Phantom255x]

The biggest issues for this team is:

1. Points in the paint
2. 4th quarters, particularly on the defensive end

#1 is the biggest to me though. Teams just gravitate inside and can generate easy buckets with little to no resistance. And not only that, but even the rebounding inside is just bad.

4th quarter defense is alarming. There are games where the C's actually do well on offense but they literally can't get stops. NBC Sports Boston even put a graphic up recently showing how terrible our defensive rating tends to be "in the clutch" (meaning the last 6 minutes of games). It's very noticeable. We've only trailed after 3 quarters 5 times this season, but in those games we're 1-4. Not great.

[jpotter33]

Dying by the 3.

Dying by the 3 and the lazy defense.

People want to argue that the extremely high volume of threes aren?t a problem because we won last year while shooting a lot of threes, but we?re shooting so many this year that it?s not even comparable to last year - while also being substantially less efficient with our percentages too this year. We were second in percentage last year compared to 15th this year, which was likely dropped to 17th for us after tonight. Despite this, we regularly have games like tonight where we shoot the vast majority of our shots from three (54 of 93 - >58%) at a whopping 30%.  That?s just bad offensive basketball.

The defense is the biggest problem, but the extreme three point volume/overreliance on the three is a close second that also contributes to the poor defense. These are some major issues with this team right now, yet it seems like ole dogmatic Joe has reared his ugly head again and refuses to adjust.

[Roy H.]

We take 39 shots from two, and shoot 69%.

We take 54 shots from three, and shoot 29.6%.

Braindead, lazy basketball.

[jpotter33]

I do think the defense - at least the interior defense - is primarily due to injuries. When KP plays we?ve had one of the best interior defenses. Jrue being out also hurts.

But out on the perimeter, much of that just seems to be a lack of focus and energy being put on the defensive end, i.e. the championship hangover.

[jpotter33]

We take 39 shots from two, and shoot 69%.

We take 54 shots from three, and shoot 29.6%.

Braindead, lazy basketball.

But don?t forget, we shot a lot of threes last year and still won, so it?s fine. Just conveniently don?t compare the substantially higher volume on substantially lower efficiency from three point range - along with much more porous defense. Other than that, it?s pretty much a spitting image of last year!

[SparzWizard]

Looks like 'the energy has shifted' to the other side after JB's diss-tracks this season.

Alarming that Boston is losing a lot of home games with this roster, although, they've always done bad at home esp in the postseasons. So who is the elephant in the room that needs to be traded?

[Phantom255x]

FWIW, the C's need to go 17-10 the rest of the way to reach the "40/20" rule, the one Phil Jackson coined saying if you win 40 games before reaching 20 losses, you're a legit contender and going to win the Finals for sure.

It's been pretty accurate and gives you a good idea of who the legit contenders and Finals threats are. OKC and Cleveland should be able to reach it no problem. Boston should too BUT their schedule does get really hard after the New Years.

[Phantom255x]

I used to think if we couldn?t get the 1 seed we should tank for the 4 seed but Cleveland has been so good that maybe we should stick even at 3. A path of MIA/ATL, then NY then CLE is still better than MIL, CLE then NY/ORL. Don?t really care about HCA, we?re inconsistent at TD Garden anyways. The matchups matter more

[SparzWizard]

I used to think if we couldn?t get the 1 seed we should tank for the 4 seed but Cleveland has been so good that maybe we should stick even at 3. A path of MIA/ATL, then NY then CLE is still better than MIL, CLE then NY/ORL. Don?t really care about HCA, we?re inconsistent at TD Garden anyways. The matchups matter more

True. If they're not even gonna bother playing well at home, just let them play all playoff games on the road. They like that underdog mindset. They did this to themselves playing sloppy losing games they should have won; now they should go and play teams like Atlanta and at New York in a 7-game series.

[tenn_smoothie]

If the Cs make early 3s they play with energy and their defense is better.

If they don't they sulk and play lazy. Lately they have not made early 3s and they clock out.

That is a characteristic of a head coach who is not demanding and just goes with the flow.
How Mazzulla can sit over there for these 25% 3-point nights at 50+ attempts and not change anything in his approach is beyond me.

[Goldstar88]

If the Cs make early 3s they play with energy and their defense is better.

If they don't they sulk and play lazy. Lately they have not made early 3s and they clock out.

That is a characteristic of a head coach who is not demanding and just goes with the flow.
How Mazzulla can sit over there for these 25% 3-point nights at 50+ attempts and not change anything in his approach is beyond me.

Probably because of this:

[celticinorlando]

Cs games the last month have followed a pattern. They come out slow with everyone chucking 3s for bricks. They play no defense and get behind.

They then make a run late 3rd early 4th to tie or take the lead only to watch the other team go on a run to put the game away.

Yesterday, Boston was tied, had the ball and Hauser has a baseline jumper for 2 wide open. He instead dribbles back out to the 3 point line and bricks a 3. From there the Cs were never in the game again.

Just a really lazy and stupid team. Al shot them into the abyss from 3.