Celtics (43-31) at Trailblazers (39-36) Game #75 3/31/16

[i believe in brad]

IT - 6-21, 1 assist, 5 TOs and pretty much blew our comeback with his forced shots and selfish play. That's not what leaders are supposed to do.

? And without him they're a lottery team getting blown out tonight.  he isn't perfect doesn't make him a bad leader.

He was also the one who made the 3 to cut it to 2 after crowder got the rebound after missed FT.  Gotta take the good with the bad with IT4, and big picture there is a lot more good than bad

But if a player has a bad night, meh, it happens.

This is more of a team loss than on one player.  The Marcus throwaway to AB on fast break in 4th, same with Amir to AB on fast break.  Couple slips by IT4 trying to be aggressive late there.

If Dame doesn't hit that beautiful fall-away jumper to take back the lead with a minute left, we probably win the game and everyone on here is talking about what a gutsy 4Q comeback that was.

[alldaboston]

I honestly could care less how they do in the playoffs.  They're not winning a title and they're not winning the conference.  What's important is the lottery and the moves they make this summer.

Make a good impression in the playoffs and players will want to come. We have to at least get to second round, and that only happens if we play Miami or Charlotte.

[i believe in brad]

Looks like we are going to stumble into the playoffs.

The Celtics draft pick could end being 18 or 19 if they keep slipping. 

You don't sound like a Celtics fan.  I don't want you rooting for my team.

[jpotter33]

IT also only has a total of 10 assists in the last 4 games. That's concerning.

[TheTruth]

I was rooting for the three seed but now that we are stumbling, I'm all about the draft position.

Getting to the second round and beating Toronto is looking pretty dim.

[alldaboston]

Looking back on the play by play, the called the foul on Bradley before the charge. Hence, it won't be an IC (incorrect call) on the ref report tomorrow

[i believe in brad]

I was rooting for the three seed but now that we are stumbling, I'm all about the draft position.

Getting to the second round and beating Toronto is looking pretty dim.

Losing to a motivated portland team on the road isn't a bad loss in an 82 game season, so I can't throw away my playoff expectations because of this one.  Obviously we had our chances to put this one away so that is certainly frustrating - and why I probably came off mean-spirited.  Sorry man!

[jpotter33]

I was rooting for the three seed but now that we are stumbling, I'm all about the draft position.

Getting to the second round and beating Toronto is looking pretty dim.

You know, there's a reason we've been stumbling, i.e. a pretty tough schedule and several major injuries that have kept guys out.

As long as we get a good matchup, i.e. Charlotte or Miami over Atlanta, then we should ultimately be favored to beat them in the first round.

[SHAQATTACK]

Just a tuff bunch of teams with guys out . 

They played good effort wise .

Road trips to the West are never easy.

[trickybilly]

Just a tuff bunch of teams with guys out . 

They played good effort wise .

Road trips to the West are never easy.

Plumlee was great. Aminu showed why he got that deal. And Gerald H looks just as good as he did 4 years ago. Portland will be a tough out for OKC.

[alldaboston]

Now that I'm a bit more calm, I guess losing to Aminu isn't that bad. I mean, what are the odds he goes 55% from three and sets a career high in points again for awhile? Glad that we somewhat maintained dame and cj

[Ilikesports17]

I was rooting for the three seed but now that we are stumbling, I'm all about the draft position.

Getting to the second round and beating Toronto is looking pretty dim.

come on now. Chin up. We are stumbling. Earlier in the year we lost to Brooklyn and LA in concession and the sky was falling, but we turned it around. There is enough time left in the season to hit our stride heading into the playoffs. Also despite these stumbles we are a game and  a half out of 3rd and we have Charlotte Atlanta and Miami as our final 3 games. If we can get hot going into that week those 3 wins could catapult us to 4th or third or at the very least give us confidence going into round 1.

Finally the difference between pick 18 and say 21 is really not that big especially with all the seconds we have. Id be much more concerned about positioning ourselves for FA and adding to our current guys value via a strong playoff push.

I want to hear your thoughts.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

Now that I'm a bit more calm, I guess losing to Aminu isn't that bad. I mean, what are the odds he goes 55% from three and sets a career high in points again for awhile? Glad that we somewhat maintained dame and cj

Somewhat contained? AB shut Dame down, he barely made his way to 10pts but got some fts at the end to make it look better! We did a very good job on CJ most of the way too. Aminu lit the world on fire but he wasn't why we lost, there were a lot of factors involved. CBS should have broken up that unit that started the 4th quicker, that was a major turning point even though we fought back, without that run we win the game. Can't have 2 important players in KO and Smart being -23, I mean, don't a lot of guys here love +/- stats? That late timeout by CBS when they stormed us for a  12 or 10-0 run wasn't helpful either. Hero ball and fumbling the ball was hard to watch too. Refs were awful as usual. We let this one slip away.

[jpotter33]

Now that I'm a bit more calm, I guess losing to Aminu isn't that bad. I mean, what are the odds he goes 55% from three and sets a career high in points again for awhile? Glad that we somewhat maintained dame and cj

Somewhat contained? AB shut Dame down, he barely made his way to 10pts but got some fts at the end to make it look better! We did a very good job on CJ most of the way too. Aminu lit the world on fire but he wasn't why we lost, there were a lot of factors involved. CBS should have broken up that unit that started the 4th quicker, that was a major turning point even though we fought back, without that run we win the game. Can't have 2 important players in KO and Smart being -23, I mean, don't a lot of guys here love +/- stats? That late timeout by CBS when they stormed us for a  12 or 10-0 run wasn't helpful either. Hero ball and fumbling the ball was hard to watch too. Refs were awful as usual. We let this one slip away.

Yep. TP.

[mef730]

I was rooting for the three seed but now that we are stumbling, I'm all about the draft position.

Getting to the second round and beating Toronto is looking pretty dim.

come on now. Chin up. We are stumbling. Earlier in the year we lost to Brooklyn and LA in concession and the sky was falling, but we turned it around. There is enough time left in the season to hit our stride heading into the playoffs. Also despite these stumbles we are a game and  a half out of 3rd and we have Charlotte Atlanta and Miami as our final 3 games. If we can get hot going into that week those 3 wins could catapult us to 4th or third or at the very least give us confidence going into round 1.

Finally the difference between pick 18 and say 21 is really not that big especially with all the seconds we have. Id be much more concerned about positioning ourselves for FA and adding to our current guys value via a strong playoff push.

I want to hear your thoughts.

TP for the optimism, because this one left me really depressed. I fell asleep with us up ten in the 3rd and to see us come out of it with a loss was really disheartening. This one hurt more than most.

Mike