So how much trouble are we in?

[RockinRyA]

Clearly many of you are being shortsighted.  We're up 2-1, and that's great.  But my eyes tell with they are the better team and have mismatches that we need to account for.  We squeak out two wins at home while they blow us out.  As I said, our only advantage may be that we have one more home game.  And it may yet lead us to overcome the better team, but you can't ignore the way to series has played out.

Being up 2-1 is not the story.  The Bulls were ahead of us too (until they weren't).

We still havent played well. Yet we are up 2-1. And it looks like the players are p---ed. Game 4 is gonna be a war.

To quote myself in another thread.

we get blown out in game 3 and win a close one in game 4.

[myselfonline]

We played poorly for 3 games and are up 2-1. It shows how important HCA is. As long as we still have HCA, we are not in trouble yet.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

We played poorly for 3 games and are up 2-1. It shows how important HCA is. As long as we still have HCA, we are not in trouble yet.

good results are not sustainable with mediocre efforts/performances. it will catch up to you. we need good performances from here on out for 48 mins a game and the results will take care of themselves. People are concerned about these performances. we easily could be down 3-0.

[Roy H.]

Imagine if we had CelticsBlog in the '84 Finals.

[cousytoheinsohn]

We're up 2-1 and have home court advantage.. I'd say we are in less trouble then the Wizards.

Yeah. And we've got the best player in the series. No reason to panic.

Is this sarcasm? I think the vast majority of Cs fans would gladly do a 1 for 1 deal of IT for Wall.

I agree that there is no reason to panic yet, though. Hopefully we can come out and not lay an egg in the first quarter on Sunday.

I'll stick with IT.

Better scorer, more efficient, better team, better chemistry, tougher, more clutch.

Better PER, almost twice as many offensive win shares, better VORP / BPM, better at getting to the line and converting FTs, a career 12-3 H2H record, etc.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.fcgi?request=1&sum=0&player_id1_hint=John+Wall&player_id1_select=John+Wall&y1=2017&player_id1=walljo01&player_id2_hint=Isaiah+Thomas&player_id2_select=Isaiah+Thomas&y2=2017&player_id2=thomais02

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&player_id1_hint=John+Wall&player_id1_select=John+Wall&player_id1=walljo01&player_id2_hint=Isaiah+Thomas&player_id2_select=Isaiah+Thomas&player_id2=thomais02

Some incontrovertible numbers there that speak volumes. Well done.

Even if Wall were the so-called better player, and the numbers say he isn't, I'd take Isaiah every time precisely for those intangibles you mention and a whole lot more. He's a special player and person. They don't grow on trees, they're getting harder and harder to find in the world in general, regardless of the field of endeavor, and it's not easy to get one on your team.

I find it weird after all Isaiah has done since coming to the Cs, how many still have a problem with his size alone. It borders on pathological.

More than anything, I'm just glad the kid finally got the chance to prove how great a player he is, and obviously that the Celtics were the team that extended the opportunity. It's working out pretty well for everybody. It's a really cool story that's far from the end.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Imagine if we had CelticsBlog in the '84 Finals.

or 85? or 87? This place would have melted down Fukishima style.

[SHAQATTACK]

heap big trouble kemosabe. 

[manl_lui]

Imagine if we had CelticsBlog in the '84 Finals.

or 85? or 87? This place would have melted down Fukishima style.

 

[SCeltic34]

In a way, I'm glad we got our butts kicked and embarrassed off the floor. 

How we respond in the 1st quarter of game 4 will say a lot about our team.  Falling into another huge deficit just cannot happen 4 playoff games in a row.  Even though we haven't played well in Washington all year, I expect us to come out and play much better on Sunday. 

[D Dub]

In a way, I'm glad we got our butts kicked and embarrassed off the floor. 

How we respond in the 1st quarter of game 4 will say a lot about our team.  Falling into another huge deficit just cannot happen 4 playoff games in a row.  Even though we haven't played well in Washington all year, I expect us to come out and play much better on Sunday.

Agree first paragraph, disagree second.

I 100% expect we get killed in game 4.   Rinse/repeat.    Then maybe even lose game 5 after the guys succumb to the pressure at home.   

Still doesn't mean Washington is better out of 7 games though.   Our team needs its back to the wall in order to excel.

[Moranis]

I expected Boston to shoot worse from three on the road. O thought Washington would shoot better and am surprised Boston got whipped on a poor shooting night for the Wizards. I expect Washington to win game 4 as well but Boston to rebound and win game 5.

[Eja117]

Imagine if we had CelticsBlog in the '84 Finals.

This team does not in any way even borderline resemble the 80s Celts. We handled the 08 Celts pretty well.

[Somebody]

I expect us to return the favor against Washington, Gerald Green looked p---ed after the game, we're not letting a bunch of fake tough guys show us up. We'll win game 4 to give us a 3-1 lead and not choke.

[LilRip]

Not big trouble.

I think the series goes to 7 games, honestly. And I predicted (in another thread) that in one of these 2 away games, we will lose by 15+. That happened in game 3. I think game 4, we probably still lose but maybe by single digits or 10 or something. Hopefully I am proven wrong and we win

[JOMVP]

Remember when Spurs lost by like 40 on their home court to start the series vs Houston? Looking fine the past two games. Blow outs happen, Cs will bounce back game 4.