Celtics (54-25) at Knicks (51-28) Game #80 4/9/26

[Silas]

D-White was atrocious. He really needs to play better than that. 2-10 from the field. 0-6 from 3pt. Finished with 8pts/3rebs/1ast in 38 mins. That is not acceptable.

Bad game from White and no JB....that's why I'm not concerned about this team. 

[radiohead]

I think they really sat JB out to see if we could hang with the Knicks with just JT. Never underestimate Joe and his mindgames. NY has never faced us at full strength this season and yet 3 of the 4 games we played were close. The playoffs will be different.

[tenn_smoothie]

I've never lost my hatred for the Knicks. My spite has always been shared equally between the Knicks, Sixers and Lakers.
Our rivalry with Los Angeles tends to get more attention because the playoff meetings are in the finals, but games like tonite are good reminders of the disdain I've always maintained for our Eastern enemies as well.

Once again, Brunson gets every little call and Tatum does not. How does a player like Tatum (or Brown) not get the same preferential treatment by officials as Brunson or Alexander or James or Curry, on and on.

[Larry for 3]

I think they really sat JB out to see if we could hang with the Knicks with just JT. Never underestimate Joe and his mindgames. NY has never faced us at full strength this season and yet 3 of the 4 games we played were close. The playoffs will be different.

You mean like last year? With a better roster.  Because the Celtics have totally figured out how to slow Brunson as you saw tonight. And that Queta pick and roll defense. That will surely improve in 2 weeks. It was so good tonight Joe yanked him the 4th. People don?t want to admit the Knicks have the Celtics number. That is 7 out of 10. So many excuses.

[slamtheking]

watched on delay.  today's hot takes:
- White stunk.  just flat out stunk.  if he plays a half-way decent game, C's win.
- Tatum barely better than stunk.  solid on the boards but his passing and ball handling were bad.  8 assists but 6 TOs with some of his passes off the mark leading to TOs.
- Vuc was bad.  not enough quality play to make me feel comfortable with him in the rotation for the playoffs.
- PP and Baylor played really well.  great game from Baylor.
- Joe still doesn't know how to coach against the Knicks.  doesn't have a plan to exploit NY's weak defenders like KAT and Brunson nor a better offensive plan that doesn't rely on 3's against the Knicks.  hasn't figured out how to stop NY's pick and rolls nor stopping Brunson from getting anywhere he wants on the court.  hasn't figured out how to mitigate Robinson on the boards either.

C's can look at this as a 'moral' victory in the sense they almost won in NY without JB but it's still a game they should have won if they played smarter.  NY will give this team fits in the second round because Joe has shown no gameplan to attack NY's weaknesses and mitigate their strengths. 

[Jiri Welsch]

Knicks are a terrible matchup for us.

[ozgod]

6 turnovers from JT...ouch. I know he had 24 pts 13 reb and 8 assists but those turnovers would have hurt

[ozgod]

watched on delay.  today's hot takes:
- White stunk.  just flat out stunk.  if he plays a half-way decent game, C's win.
- Tatum barely better than stunk.  solid on the boards but his passing and ball handling were bad.  8 assists but 6 TOs with some of his passes off the mark leading to TOs.
- Vuc was bad.  not enough quality play to make me feel comfortable with him in the rotation for the playoffs.
- PP and Baylor played really well.  great game from Baylor.
- Joe still doesn't know how to coach against the Knicks.  doesn't have a plan to exploit NY's weak defenders like KAT and Brunson nor a better offensive plan that doesn't rely on 3's against the Knicks.  hasn't figured out how to stop NY's pick and rolls nor stopping Brunson from getting anywhere he wants on the court.  hasn't figured out how to mitigate Robinson on the boards either.

C's can look at this as a 'moral' victory in the sense they almost won in NY without JB but it's still a game they should have won if they played smarter.  NY will give this team fits in the second round because Joe has shown no gameplan to attack NY's weaknesses and mitigate their strengths.

Or...the generous way to look at it is why show them our full hand if we might meet them in the playoffs 

(yes I know it's generous  )

[Billz401]

Ive been super impressed with every single player on this roster besides DWhite and Hauser, those 2 have stunk this year. And especially disappointed with DWhite, i expected more from him with JT out and he just refused to step up this season

[slamtheking]

watched on delay.  today's hot takes:
- White stunk.  just flat out stunk.  if he plays a half-way decent game, C's win.
- Tatum barely better than stunk.  solid on the boards but his passing and ball handling were bad.  8 assists but 6 TOs with some of his passes off the mark leading to TOs.
- Vuc was bad.  not enough quality play to make me feel comfortable with him in the rotation for the playoffs.
- PP and Baylor played really well.  great game from Baylor.
- Joe still doesn't know how to coach against the Knicks.  doesn't have a plan to exploit NY's weak defenders like KAT and Brunson nor a better offensive plan that doesn't rely on 3's against the Knicks.  hasn't figured out how to stop NY's pick and rolls nor stopping Brunson from getting anywhere he wants on the court.  hasn't figured out how to mitigate Robinson on the boards either.

C's can look at this as a 'moral' victory in the sense they almost won in NY without JB but it's still a game they should have won if they played smarter.  NY will give this team fits in the second round because Joe has shown no gameplan to attack NY's weaknesses and mitigate their strengths.

Or...the generous way to look at it is why show them our full hand if we might meet them in the playoffs 

(yes I know it's generous  )

very generous.  would rather have played JB tonight if he could go to get the win and sew up the second seed.  also send a message to NY we can and will beat them. 

[radiohead]

I think they really sat JB out to see if we could hang with the Knicks with just JT. Never underestimate Joe and his mindgames. NY has never faced us at full strength this season and yet 3 of the 4 games we played were close. The playoffs will be different.

You mean like last year? With a better roster.  Because the Celtics have totally figured out how to slow Brunson as you saw tonight. And that Queta pick and roll defense. That will surely improve in 2 weeks. It was so good tonight Joe yanked him the 4th. People don?t want to admit the Knicks have the Celtics number. That is 7 out of 10. So many excuses.

I think not having both Jays available in those 4 games matter a lot. It may be an excuse but it?s a big factor.

[SparzWizard]

I think they really sat JB out to see if we could hang with the Knicks with just JT. Never underestimate Joe and his mindgames. NY has never faced us at full strength this season and yet 3 of the 4 games we played were close. The playoffs will be different.

You mean like last year? With a better roster.  Because the Celtics have totally figured out how to slow Brunson as you saw tonight. And that Queta pick and roll defense. That will surely improve in 2 weeks. It was so good tonight Joe yanked him the 4th. People don?t want to admit the Knicks have the Celtics number. That is 7 out of 10. So many excuses.

I think not having both Jays available in those 4 games matter a lot. It may be an excuse but it?s a big factor.

I mean they had both Jays available last year too until the last 5 minutes of Game 4 and it all went downhill from there. But they were already trailing the series 2-1, losing both home games.

[86MaxwellSmart]

Whites needs to STOP this podcasting garbage and get himself back in the gym working on his shooting....he can go back to it after the season ends....He is letting EVERYONE down.

[Vermont Green]

I am not that surprised by the result of this game.  NYK is good.  Brunson in the P&R is lethal.  They are going to be a tough out in the playoffs.

But this game was a Thursday night in New York where BOS was without their best player (at least this season).  And the other best player didn't have a great game.  Some players played way above their pay grade (Hart, Scheierman), others played below.  NYK was better last night and they won the game.  I don't think BOS played great, certainly could have been better, but they were right there with a chance to win without Brown and in spite of it being something less than their best overall.

I will say that I think they need to do some different things to defend the Brunson P&R.  They may be saving some things for the playoffs, I don't know.  I think you have to double Brunson off the pick but then there should be rotation, not just the big trying to sag back to get back to Towns.

[celts55]

All in all, I thought it was a pretty competitive game..
No Brown certainly didn?t help, but to me, the biggest problem is their 3 point defense. Been going on for a while. The rotation is slow and continues to leave players wide open.
Both of Hart?s last two 3 points to seal the game, were perfect examples.
They have good defensive players, so I?m not sure what the issue is. Seems like bad rotations to me, but what do I know.