Why did the Celtics lose to the Heat? (merged)

[Jon]

Again, while other people have legitimate complaints, if we have a healthy Rondo, despite all those problem, we definitely win Game 4 and we probably win Game 5.  If that happens, we likely win the series and all those other complaints wouldn't matter. 

True, but we didn't.  It's nice to have a good enough and deep enough team to win despite adversity instead of losing because of it.

I don't think the 08 team loses because of something like that.  Now if two centers were hurt too maybe they did.  But that's another thing. We traded a healthy center and relied on unhealthy ones.

Depends on what you mean.  Rondo wasn't that important on the '08 team.  Many games Doc finished with House and Posey paired with the Big Three.

However I think the C's absolutely would've lost if one of their Big Three had been injured like Rondo for two of the games.  I mean given that we went to 7 Games with Cleveland and that the Game 7 went down to the last bucket, I don't see how anyone could think that we could've won with Ray, Paul, or KG playing with one arm. 

Depth is a nice idea, but no team is truly deep enough to overcome the loss of an All Star, particularly when they're playing a team of Miami's stature. 

[LB3533]

Starting from Game 1:

1. Refs

2. PP losing his cool

Then from Game 2 on:

1. Wade and Lebron God Mode

2. Injuries

3. KG's decrease level of play



If you take away the refs, injuries...the bottomline is the Heat got much better production from their stars than we did.

[looseball]

Fatigue.

We showed we could beat Miami during the regular season when the older guys were fresher, but over the course of the entire season they just played too many minutes:  Ray (36), Paul (35), Kevin (30).

In the playoffs their minutes increased:  Ray (40), Paul (38), Kevin (36).

Young guys and guys in their prime can maintain their energy while playing big minutes, but asking the older guys to do it is doomed to failure.

[LB3533]

What exactly does an injured Perkins provide that JO didn't?

Scowl more meanly?

[LB3533]

In playoffs you can expect our starters to increase in minutes.

[OsirusCeltics]

What exactly does an injured Perkins provide that JO didn't?

Scowl more meanly?

TP
Exactly the man-crush some bloggers have on Perkins has got to stop lol

[OsirusCeltics]

Again, while other people have legitimate complaints, if we have a healthy Rondo, despite all those problem, we definitely win Game 4 and we probably win Game 5.  If that happens, we likely win the series and all those other complaints wouldn't matter. 

True, but we didn't.  It's nice to have a good enough and deep enough team to win despite adversity instead of losing because of it.

I don't think the 08 team loses because of something like that.  Now if two centers were hurt too maybe they did.  But that's another thing. We traded a healthy center and relied on unhealthy ones.

So Perk was healthy?

[CoachBo]

You're in the right place if you want to see the conflation of Celtics' youth - Perkins, Rondo. The comparison of Rondo to Scottie Pippen still has me laughing.

Reality is dawning in OKC. Why could Scotty Brooks have not just dropped Ibaka into the starting lineup, used Green as his lead second unit scorer and ridden Nazr and Krstic?

They overpaid wildly for Perkins' four points and six boards a night, and now they realize it. Just saw a sequence in the game when Gasol rejected Perkins without leaving the floor - because Perkins has no elevation whatsoever.

The reality is neither team has gotten what they wanted out of the deal. Perkins remains a shell of his former self. Love the trade or hate it, at least we don't have $36 million in stupid money handicapping us over the next couple of off-seasons.

[LiamB]

why? The Heat scored more points than us in four of the five games

[winsomme]

Injuries, mostly, including mid-season injuries.

Injuries dictated moving Perk.  Injuries cost us on the court.

Give me a healthy Marquis, Perk, Shaq, JO, Rondo, BBD, and Delonte, and I think we beat Miami in 6, at most (and that's assuming they had a healthy Haslem).  Unfortunately, injuries are part of the game, and we gambled on injury-prone players.  It just didn't work out.

I'd switch in "functional" for "healthy" and I'd still say we beat the Heat.

do you really think injuries dictated the Perk deal?

I'd say a mis-assessment of injuries made the Perk deal seem appealing. that is, Shaq from the beginning of the season made Perk seem not as important to our winning.

unfortunately, Shaq from the beginning of the season never reappeared.

  It's hard to argue the trade was unrelated to Daniels going down.

Well maybe not unrelated but IMO only peripherally related.

You could get a backup wing without trading your starting center.

[FallGuy]

The Celtics lost to the Heat because:

1) Miami's best guys outplayed Boston's best guys
2) Rondo got hurt
3) Boston has a mediocre (at best) offense

[GreenFaith1819]

As Chris Webber would say:

"Rondoooooooooooooohhhhhh".........(catches breath)....."Rondooooooooohhhhhhhhh".......

[winsomme]

You're in the right place if you want to see the conflation of Celtics' youth - Perkins, Rondo. The comparison of Rondo to Scottie Pippen still has me laughing.

Reality is dawning in OKC. Why could Scotty Brooks have not just dropped Ibaka into the starting lineup, used Green as his lead second unit scorer and ridden Nazr and Krstic?

They overpaid wildly for Perkins' four points and six boards a night, and now they realize it. Just saw a sequence in the game when Gasol rejected Perkins without leaving the floor - because Perkins has no elevation whatsoever.

The reality is neither team has gotten what they wanted out of the deal. Perkins remains a shell of his former self. Love the trade or hate it, at least we don't have $36 million in stupid money handicapping us over the next couple of off-seasons.

and yet they are on the verge of the WCF.

I love how people say how unhappy OKC is with Perk as their team has done nothing but excel since he came into the fold.

[BballTim]

You're in the right place if you want to see the conflation of Celtics' youth - Perkins, Rondo. The comparison of Rondo to Scottie Pippen still has me laughing.

  Haha. If you could explain why it's a bad comparison with anything more substantive than "it's funny", come up with a better example, or had a history of posts that seemed more knowledgeable than the average poster here that statement would mean something.

Reality is dawning in OKC. Why could Scotty Brooks have not just dropped Ibaka into the starting lineup, used Green as his lead second unit scorer and ridden Nazr and Krstic?

They overpaid wildly for Perkins' four points and six boards a night, and now they realize it. Just saw a sequence in the game when Gasol rejected Perkins without leaving the floor - because Perkins has no elevation whatsoever.

The reality is neither team has gotten what they wanted out of the deal. Perkins remains a shell of his former self. Love the trade or hate it, at least we don't have $36 million in stupid money handicapping us over the next couple of off-seasons.

  The reality is that Presti made that deal so that after Perkins recovers from his knee injury he'll be on the Thunder. You know he signed an extension with them already, right? They didn't make the trade for this season, although I'm sure he was hoping for better play from Perk. They also realize that when Perk is healthy they'll get more than 4 points and 6 rebounds a game.

[barefacedmonk]

You're in the right place if you want to see the conflation of Celtics' youth - Perkins, Rondo. The comparison of Rondo to Scottie Pippen still has me laughing.

Reality is dawning in OKC. Why could Scotty Brooks have not just dropped Ibaka into the starting lineup, used Green as his lead second unit scorer and ridden Nazr and Krstic?

They overpaid wildly for Perkins' four points and six boards a night, and now they realize it. Just saw a sequence in the game when Gasol rejected Perkins without leaving the floor - because Perkins has no elevation whatsoever.

The reality is neither team has gotten what they wanted out of the deal. Perkins remains a shell of his former self. Love the trade or hate it, at least we don't have $36 million in stupid money handicapping us over the next couple of off-seasons.

and yet they are on the verge of the WCF.

I love how people say how unhappy OKC is with Perk as their team has done nothing but excel since he came into the fold.

ESPN and TNT guys have nothing but good things to say about the trade and Perkins...so do the fans on OKC blog...and so do his team mates.