Celtics (0-0) at Pistons (0-0) Game #1 10/20/26

[tenn_smoothie]

watched on delay.  today's hot takes:
- PG probably had his best game of the season.  I'm sure he'll have other really good games but I would not be surprised at the end of the season when we look back at how he's played and see this was his best game.
- Tatum had one of his worst games shooting and in general impact.  sure, lots of assists but at no point did it feel like he was going to lead the team to victory doing the tough/little things to win.  we'll see some other stinkers this season like we always do but for the first game of the year to play this badly says something.
- White shot better than last season but felt like a real non-factor.
- PP was not looking like a projected second option in this game. 
- The center rotation was underwhelming
- The young guns didn't step up to provide any spark or output.
- Joe coaching yet another game with his head up his butt.  blew another 20+ point lead.  couldn't bother to call a timeout to slow Det down as they stormed back in the third quarter.  absolute dumbass.

it's only 1 game but I'm wondering if this team will right the ship by next game or will we see a similar lackluster effort in the next one. No more JB to blame for team losses.  curious who the haters are going to select as the new whipping boy to blame.

Seen it since 2023, there is still one whipping boy to blame and it's Joe Mazz.

We got rid of 2/3rd of the issue (Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown)...now we need to get rid of the final issue (Joe), and this one is supposed to be the biggest issue of the 3.

Amen. What did Joe do to stop the disastorous 23 - 0 run by Detroit ?

[Goldstar88]

watched on delay.  today's hot takes:
- PG probably had his best game of the season.  I'm sure he'll have other really good games but I would not be surprised at the end of the season when we look back at how he's played and see this was his best game.
- Tatum had one of his worst games shooting and in general impact.  sure, lots of assists but at no point did it feel like he was going to lead the team to victory doing the tough/little things to win.  we'll see some other stinkers this season like we always do but for the first game of the year to play this badly says something.
- White shot better than last season but felt like a real non-factor.
- PP was not looking like a projected second option in this game. 
- The center rotation was underwhelming
- The young guns didn't step up to provide any spark or output.
- Joe coaching yet another game with his head up his butt.  blew another 20+ point lead.  couldn't bother to call a timeout to slow Det down as they stormed back in the third quarter.  absolute dumbass.

it's only 1 game but I'm wondering if this team will right the ship by next game or will we see a similar lackluster effort in the next one. No more JB to blame for team losses.  curious who the haters are going to select as the new whipping boy to blame.

Seen it since 2023, there is still one whipping boy to blame and it's Joe Mazz.

We got rid of 2/3rd of the issue (Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown)...now we need to get rid of the final issue (Joe), and this one is supposed to be the biggest issue of the 3.

Amen. What did Joe do to stop the disastorous 23 - 0 run by Detroit ?

He called a timeout after they went on the first 7 of that 23pt run. It didn?t seem to make a difference.

[ScoobyDoo]

This team has "desperately" needed a real point guard to run it for as long as Jayson and Jaylen have been here and it is no different this year. The solution to all our problems about choking games away all the time has to do with the lack of a true floor general calling the shots.

Give the ball to Pritchard, Carter (when he's back), Conley and yes, even Dillon Mitchell and let them run it. I'd be pretty happy if I never saw Tatum bringing the ball up the court ever again.

Give the ball to the point guards, have the them push the heck out of the pace, and tell everyone else to keep up, get in line with the point guard's orders, or get off the court. 

One of the main reasons the Pierce, Ray, KG teams were so good was because Rondo was an elite floor general who could get other people great shot opportunities.

For all the management basketball brains we have in Boston, why is this glaring issue so hard to udnerstand?
 

[ozgod]

watched on delay.  today's hot takes:
- PG probably had his best game of the season.  I'm sure he'll have other really good games but I would not be surprised at the end of the season when we look back at how he's played and see this was his best game.
- Tatum had one of his worst games shooting and in general impact.  sure, lots of assists but at no point did it feel like he was going to lead the team to victory doing the tough/little things to win.  we'll see some other stinkers this season like we always do but for the first game of the year to play this badly says something.
- White shot better than last season but felt like a real non-factor.
- PP was not looking like a projected second option in this game. 
- The center rotation was underwhelming
- The young guns didn't step up to provide any spark or output.
- Joe coaching yet another game with his head up his butt.  blew another 20+ point lead.  couldn't bother to call a timeout to slow Det down as they stormed back in the third quarter.  absolute dumbass.

it's only 1 game but I'm wondering if this team will right the ship by next game or will we see a similar lackluster effort in the next one. No more JB to blame for team losses.  curious who the haters are going to select as the new whipping boy to blame.

Seen it since 2023, there is still one whipping boy to blame and it's Joe Mazz.

We got rid of 2/3rd of the issue (Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown)...now we need to get rid of the final issue (Joe), and this one is supposed to be the biggest issue of the 3.

Amen. What did Joe do to stop the disastorous 23 - 0 run by Detroit ?

He called a timeout after they went on the first 7 of that 23pt run. It didn?t seem to make a difference.

To me, it's a simple failure in execution. Their execution in the 2nd half was not at the same level as it was in the first, aided by Detroit being the ones who were lackadaisical in defense in the first half. When Detroit raised their physicality they weren't able to respond, missed some open shots, then they had several defensive breakdowns that resulted in Javonte Green hitting multiple 3s off the bench and Robinson doing the same.

Sometimes it's really as simple as this 

[Kernewek]

It's the autumn of 2026 and the sky is still falling. Cosy. Comforting.

Everyone looked bad except for Paul George - generally I'd expect everyone else to play better and him to fall to earth. First game and all that, not to mention that the Pistons are likely an awful matchup for this roster, but I don't think our in-season conversations will be very different than last year. Fire the coach, don't fire the coach, why are they shooting so many threes, why isn't Bench Guy no.171 playing more often, &c.

[Who]

It's the autumn of 2026 and the sky is still falling. Cosy. Comforting.

Everyone looked bad except for Paul George - generally I'd expect everyone else to play better and him to fall to earth. First game and all that, not to mention that the Pistons are likely an awful matchup for this roster, but I don't think our in-season conversations will be very different than last year. Fire the coach, don't fire the coach, why are they shooting so many threes, why isn't Bench Guy no.171 playing more often, &c.

Why do you think they are such a bad matchup for us?

[Vermont Green]

I am not going to overreact to this one game.  Tatum will play better.  The team will play better (or play better for the whole game).  BOS will lose a few more that you think they should have won and BOS will steal some wins along the way where the other team will feel like they should have won.  If it still looks this bad (or inconsistent) after say 5-10 games, maybe I start to worry.

And people are making way to much over calling a time out or not.  DET ran BOS out of the gym in the second half, plain and simple.  You could have called 10 time outs and I don't think it makes any difference.  And I am not sure if there was a magic "adjustment" that could have been made.  Maybe.  It was ugly, but still just one game, half of one game really.

In the first half, it was ominous to me that BOS was leading but losing ORebs and Turnovers.  DET was just missing.  My biggest concern was that there were too many turnovers and too many ORebs given up.  Shots will fall or not fall from game to game, but you need to watch these extra possession stats.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I'm encouraged and discouraged by this game.

I'm encouraged at our depth, our ability to build a large lead, Tatum's distributing, George's efficiency, and the general scheme of the team.

I'm discouraged because what happened last night has been happening since the GSW beat us in the championship. When a team decides to get really physical with us, they little brother us, and we don't offer much resistance. I'd like to see one guy on our team match Detroit's intensity and physicality. It just feels like we wilt.

We got a lot of dudes this year who can do that, and I'm still hopeful there can be growth int his area.

[Vermont Green]

Javonte Green shot 5-8 from 3, 19 points (+21), in the second half.  Duncan Robinson was 4-5 form 3 and 18 points (+20), in the second half.  How often do you think these 2 will combine for 37 points in a half?

I get that this kind of collapse is a scene we have all watched too many times.  It happens to all teams.  I am not sure if it happens to BOS anymore than average.  I think it is a biproduct of taking a lot of 3s.  If you take more 3s, you will miss more shots, and those misses tend to lead to better looks at the other end for the other team.  And if a couple of guys get hot and hit a bunch of 3s, it can go bad fast, faster than if you took less 3s.

I don't agree necessarily that this means that BOS should stop taking 3s (yes, the core debate every time we lose a game like this).  A good 3PT attempt is still a good 3PT attempt.  You will have stretches where you miss 3 or 4 in a row and this feeds the run for the other team.  But you might also have a run where you take it to the hoop 3 or 4 times in a row and come up empty.  Either can be the right approach if you are taking what the defense is giving.  Either can be wrong if you are forcing it.  I don't agree that it is as simple as "we missed a few 3s, call a time out and change the gameplan".  If it was 3-4 forced 3s, yes, call a time out and reset, but that does not necessarily mean change the whole gameplan.

[Kernewek]

It's the autumn of 2026 and the sky is still falling. Cosy. Comforting.

Everyone looked bad except for Paul George - generally I'd expect everyone else to play better and him to fall to earth. First game and all that, not to mention that the Pistons are likely an awful matchup for this roster, but I don't think our in-season conversations will be very different than last year. Fire the coach, don't fire the coach, why are they shooting so many threes, why isn't Bench Guy no.171 playing more often, &c.

Why do you think they are such a bad matchup for us?

Not sure I can offer a massive amount of insights here - at the end of the day, we have a new team that lost by 8 points in a game where we had 11 fewer free throws and ten fewer rebounds (bigger disparity than I expected) to a good team that's been together for a year or so with some hot shooting (detailed above)...  but:

The Pistons' pressure defence really, really got to the Celtics, like they had no idea what to do when they were being pressed that high up the court. That's not something I expected to see and (by the C's poor reaction to it) not something they expected either. I also don't expect White to keep turning the ball over after pressure from defenders too: the bigs will get faster at getting out of screens and our guards will get faster at passing out of the pressure as well.


Also, new to me for this season, but have you all looked at Dribble IO? Seems like an interesting platform (at least nice UX).
https://drbl.io/games/401909088

[Who]

Jordan Walsh led the team with 3 offensive rebounds in his 13 minutes. Ha, he led the team in overall rebounds with 6. That is bad. The centers gotta do better than that (MR 3reb Queta 4reb). Tatum has gotta do better than that (5reb).

0pts for J Walsh but 6reb 1stl 1blk 1ast in 13min. 0-2 FGA.

[LilRip]

Wemby went 1 for 13
Tatum went 6 for 23
Brunson went 6 for 19
Embiid went 4 for 15

It looks like the first game of the season lol

It was a tough loss but I walked away from the game more impressed by the Pistons with their physicality, defense, and rebounding, rather than being disappointed in the Cs. Bad turnovers, guys clogging up same lanes, shots that wouldn?t go down.. I think these will fix themselves out over the course of the season as our guys get more used to playing with each other.

That said, in the upcoming games, I think I would be watching out for the Cs ability to penetrate (or lack thereof).

[slamtheking]

watched on delay.  today's hot takes:
- PG probably had his best game of the season.  I'm sure he'll have other really good games but I would not be surprised at the end of the season when we look back at how he's played and see this was his best game.
- Tatum had one of his worst games shooting and in general impact.  sure, lots of assists but at no point did it feel like he was going to lead the team to victory doing the tough/little things to win.  we'll see some other stinkers this season like we always do but for the first game of the year to play this badly says something.
- White shot better than last season but felt like a real non-factor.
- PP was not looking like a projected second option in this game. 
- The center rotation was underwhelming
- The young guns didn't step up to provide any spark or output.
- Joe coaching yet another game with his head up his butt.  blew another 20+ point lead.  couldn't bother to call a timeout to slow Det down as they stormed back in the third quarter.  absolute dumbass.

it's only 1 game but I'm wondering if this team will right the ship by next game or will we see a similar lackluster effort in the next one. No more JB to blame for team losses.  curious who the haters are going to select as the new whipping boy to blame.

Seen it since 2023, there is still one whipping boy to blame and it's Joe Mazz.

We got rid of 2/3rd of the issue (Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown)...now we need to get rid of the final issue (Joe), and this one is supposed to be the biggest issue of the 3.

Amen. What did Joe do to stop the disastorous 23 - 0 run by Detroit ?

He called a timeout after they went on the first 7 of that 23pt run. It didn?t seem to make a difference.

well then that must mean there's no way a second timeout could ever hope to fix the issue or slow down the other team.  oh no, what will we ever do?   one timeout couldn't fix the issue?  all is lost!!!

I know what will work, get a coach smart enough to call another timeout and get the team functioning again. 

[Kernewek]

watched on delay.  today's hot takes:
- PG probably had his best game of the season.  I'm sure he'll have other really good games but I would not be surprised at the end of the season when we look back at how he's played and see this was his best game.
- Tatum had one of his worst games shooting and in general impact.  sure, lots of assists but at no point did it feel like he was going to lead the team to victory doing the tough/little things to win.  we'll see some other stinkers this season like we always do but for the first game of the year to play this badly says something.
- White shot better than last season but felt like a real non-factor.
- PP was not looking like a projected second option in this game. 
- The center rotation was underwhelming
- The young guns didn't step up to provide any spark or output.
- Joe coaching yet another game with his head up his butt.  blew another 20+ point lead.  couldn't bother to call a timeout to slow Det down as they stormed back in the third quarter.  absolute dumbass.

it's only 1 game but I'm wondering if this team will right the ship by next game or will we see a similar lackluster effort in the next one. No more JB to blame for team losses.  curious who the haters are going to select as the new whipping boy to blame.

Seen it since 2023, there is still one whipping boy to blame and it's Joe Mazz.

We got rid of 2/3rd of the issue (Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown)...now we need to get rid of the final issue (Joe), and this one is supposed to be the biggest issue of the 3.

Amen. What did Joe do to stop the disastorous 23 - 0 run by Detroit ?

He called a timeout after they went on the first 7 of that 23pt run. It didn?t seem to make a difference.

well then that must mean there's no way a second timeout could ever hope to fix the issue or slow down the other team.  oh no, what will we ever do?   one timeout couldn't fix the issue?  all is lost!!!

I know what will work, get a coach smart enough to call another timeout and get the team functioning again.

I don't have a horse in this race, but I can't imagine the entire run is dependent on one, or even two, time outs.

I do think a lot of us, holistically, find that our defence tends to let guys get in the zone more often than usual, which is why some of these big collapses always seem to happen to the C's, and why the fact that our defence is usually pretty good doesn't always feel like it passes the eye test. But that's bigger than two timeouts vs one timeout.

[Celtics4ever]

We had the same scoring droughts as when we had Brown?

I was disappointed by Tatum's performance.  It is only one game and he probably has some caution after the injury.  But this was clearly a time to step up.

Offensive rebounding was ok.   But we gave up too many defensive rebounds.   Every likes offensive rebounding better, every board is like a pass to yourself.   But defensive rebounds ends possessions.