Ugly Loss, But We Did Our Job. Now The Series "Officially Starts" Friday Night

[Phantom255x]

The first important goal in this series was to steal one at Milwaukee, and we did.

It was asking a lot to go 2-0 in Milwaukee and I think we ALL would have gladly accepted going into Game 3 tied 1-1 if that was an option presented to us before the series began. Game 2 sucked without question and that 28-2 run we gave up was inexcusable (especially for a playoff game). But we also did fantastic in Game 1 and still showed we can fight with this Bucks team. I thought in Game 2 we just had a brutal 8-10 minute stretch but it's also a stretch I don't see us replicating (I hope).

We played awful last night but frankly I’m not sure we could do any worse. Don’t expect Kyrie in particular to have 2 straight bad playoff games. Kyrie, Hayward and Tatum all scored less than 10 (Kyrie 4-of-18) and I seriously don’t think that will happen again. Also, the odds felt like they were against us when we heard Brothers and Davis were the refs. We didn't lose because of the refs, but they certainly left their marks on this game still and let Giannis do whatever he wanted.

Now we come back to hopefully a loud and energetic TD Garden Friday night with home court advantage temporarily with us at the moment. The way I see it, you could say this series now officially begins Friday night at home 

Personally, I think if we win both Games 3 and 4 at home, then we should be able to win this series in 6. If we split though and it's 2-2 heading into Game 5, I think Milwaukee seizes the edge and I feel they'll win the series in 7 (Game 7 at home for them). Now if the C's lose both the next two games, then welp, but in that case it probably means we didn't deserve to reach the ECF anyways.

I'm a little sad about losing Game 2 but I still feel really good about where we're at. Now hopefully they can do what Milwaukee did and bounce back at home after a blowout loss.

If this team comes out flat in Game 3 and shows no urgency, THEN it's a serious problem IMO.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I agree with your basic premise—the general idea for road teams is to earn a split, and Boston did that, stealing HCA. So if I hadn't seen either of the two games, I'd be perfectly content.

The problem for me, though, is that I actually watched game 2. And what I saw, in the first half, was a plethora of missed opportunities to grab a big lead, and it really started to catch up to Boston in the last couple minutes of the first half, when they lost their lead for good. And what I saw in the second half was a team that looked as though it had very little idea about how to play the game of basketball, even at a fundamental level with basic dribbling and passing.

Hopefully these guys have their heads in the game Friday.

[Big333223]

Splitting the next two games means winning will require two road wins which would be tough. If the C's take care of business at home, I'll alter my prediction and say they'll win the series. If it's 2-2, Milwaukee is still in the driver's seat and likely to win.

The Celtics have it it them, though, to win this series.

[Phantom255x]

Splitting the next two games means winning will require two road wins which would be tough. If the C's take care of business at home, I'll alter my prediction and say they'll win the series. If it's 2-2, Milwaukee is still in the driver's seat and likely to win.

The Celtics have it it them, though, to win this series.

Yep this is where I'm at pretty much.

[Silky]

If the team splits games 3 and 4, then Boston wont win until 6 games.

If the team wins games 3 and 4 then the celtics will close out in game 5.

[Chris22]

I thought we looked tired last night.

We can't win unless Kyrie is Kyrie.

And will someone please teach the Celtics how to throw a bounce pass? They kept trying to throw shovel passes in traffic that got intercepted. The bounce pass works better.

And will someone please teach Tatum to shoot with his left hand. He's being paid millions of dollars, and he has not bothered to learn how to shoot with his left hand.

[footey]

I thought we looked tired last night.

We can't win unless Kyrie is Kyrie.

And will someone please teach the Celtics how to throw a bounce pass? They kept trying to throw shovel passes in traffic that got intercepted. The bounce pass works better.

And will someone please teach Tatum to shoot with his left hand. He's being paid millions of dollars, and he has not bothered to learn how to shoot with his left hand.

Fortunately the next two games have two days off before each is played. So if we are tired this will help us.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I thought we looked tired last night.

We can't win unless Kyrie is Kyrie.

And will someone please teach the Celtics how to throw a bounce pass? They kept trying to throw shovel passes in traffic that got intercepted. The bounce pass works better.

And will someone please teach Tatum to shoot with his left hand. He's being paid millions of dollars, and he has not bothered to learn how to shoot with his left hand.

I noticed this too. Usually it occurred in the paint with several Milwaukee players close by. Very maddening.

[Hank Finkel]

Also, the odds felt like they were against us when we heard Brothers and Davis were the refs. We didn't lose because of the refs, but they certainly left their marks on this game still and let Giannis do whatever he wanted.

0-13 when Brother referees a Celtic game on the road.  How is that even possible and how does the NBA allow this to continue.  There is no reason Brother should ever referee a Celtics game again  in his life.  There are 29 other teams to ref.  And you wonder why people think the games are fixed and the NBA is crap.  If I had money to gamble I would have bet everything last game on Brothers for the win.   

[mctyson]

To put an even greener spin on it:  being down only 3 with 1.5 quarters left in a must-win game for Milwaukee had to be enough to let them forget Game 2.  They had a terrible stretch of basketball, it happens, especially on the road.

They need to close it this weekend.

[sirnastee]

I'm kinda glad we won game 1 and got blown out in game 2 instead of losing game 1 and blowing them out in game 2.  Now that we got blown out the last game, I feel like the C's will come out strong in game 3.  If it was the other way around, then Bucks may have come out strong in game 3 and we may be down 2-1 at home.

[SparzWizard]

C's win Game 3 comfortably, but lose Game 4 in a clincher and becomes a best of 3 with MIL edge.

Going to be hard finding them locking down Khris Middleton and Malcolm Brogdon. Can forget about Giannis.

[LilRip]

I feel comfortable in our ability to win both games at home. Not only will guys like Brown, Rozier, and Tatum likely play better, but guys like Connaugton, Bledsoe, and Ilyasova will likely play worse. Giannis really has to put on his cape to win a game in Boston.

[gpap]

Celts did indeed win one on the road which is what they needed to do.

That said, they still have lots of room for improvement.

Tatum needs to play better. He hasn't even been a factor in this series.

Kyrie needs to trust his teammates a little more. In game 2, he tried doing too much on his own. Furthermore, the Bucks know the ball is going to be in Kyrie's hands and they're defending him accordingly.

Brad may want to stick with keeping Morris on the bench. I get Morris is a good match for Giannis because of his size but Morris sadly has the dubious ability of shooting the Celtics out of a game.

We need to see more of the Gordon Hayward we saw in game 4 vs Indy and in game 1 of this series. Hayward was also a no-show yesterday.

Finally, keep Rozier on the bench and have Hayward be the point guard for the 2nd unit. Yes, I know Hayward is naturally a small forward, but I've noticed he's very good when he's running the offense. I saw enough of Rozier and all his missed shots in game 2 to say that we really don't need or want him on the court right now. He's really hurting us.

[mr. dee]

Celts did indeed win one on the road which is what they needed to do.

That said, they still have lots of room for improvement.

Tatum needs to play better. He hasn't even been a factor in this series.

Kyrie needs to trust his teammates a little more. In game 2, he tried doing too much on his own. Furthermore, the Bucks know the ball is going to be in Kyrie's hands and they're defending him accordingly.

Brad may want to stick with keeping Morris on the bench. I get Morris is a good match for Giannis because of his size but Morris sadly has the dubious ability of shooting the Celtics out of a game.

We need to see more of the Gordon Hayward we saw in game 4 vs Indy and in game 1 of this series. Hayward was also a no-show yesterday.

Finally, keep Rozier on the bench and have Hayward be the point guard for the 2nd unit. Yes, I know Hayward is naturally a small forward, but I've noticed he's very good when he's running the offense. I saw enough of Rozier and all his missed shots in game 2 to say that we really don't need or want him on the court right now. He's really hurting us.

I'm one of the more critical people about Morris but he have played well as of late, especially in this series. I agree with Hayward running offense in the 2nd unit.