NBA 2023-2024 Season + Playoffs

[Kurth]

My Celtics barely saved a huge Game 1 upset to those feisty Pacers. That was a hell of a game, and that Pacers team is impressive. I think this is going to be a much more challenging series for Boston than some were predicting.

[El Guapo]

My Celtics barely saved a huge Game 1 upset to those feisty Pacers. That was a hell of a game, and that Pacers team is impressive. I think this is going to be a much more challenging series for Boston than some were predicting.

Indeed. Supposedly Porzingis is due back in game 4 - hopefully he's at reasonably close to full strength.

[Kurth]

My Celtics barely saved a huge Game 1 upset to those feisty Pacers. That was a hell of a game, and that Pacers team is impressive. I think this is going to be a much more challenging series for Boston than some were predicting.

Indeed. Supposedly Porzingis is due back in game 4 - hopefully he's at reasonably close to full strength.

They're going to need him to fend off this hungry Pacers team. I saw some talking heads talking about how the Pacers must be deflated by blowing it in the final seconds and letting their opportunity to win Game 1 and steal home court advantage slip through their fingers. I don't buy it. If I'm on that Pacers team, I'm thinking, "we came so close to beating the #1 seed Boston Celtics, the team everyone seems to be picking as the preordained finals favorite. We had them, and then we beat ourselves at the end . . . but we had them. We can hang with them. We can hang with anyone."

I'm betting they come out fired up tonight, not deflated. I think the Celtics find a way to win, but this series goes 7.

[El Guapo]

My Celtics barely saved a huge Game 1 upset to those feisty Pacers. That was a hell of a game, and that Pacers team is impressive. I think this is going to be a much more challenging series for Boston than some were predicting.

Indeed. Supposedly Porzingis is due back in game 4 - hopefully he's at reasonably close to full strength.

They're going to need him to fend off this hungry Pacers team. I saw some talking heads talking about how the Pacers must be deflated by blowing it in the final seconds and letting their opportunity to win Game 1 and steal home court advantage slip through their fingers. I don't buy it. If I'm on that Pacers team, I'm thinking, "we came so close to beating the #1 seed Boston Celtics, the team everyone seems to be picking as the preordained finals favorite. We had them, and then we beat ourselves at the end . . . but we had them. We can hang with them. We can hang with anyone."

I'm betting they come out fired up tonight, not deflated. I think the Celtics find a way to win, but this series goes 7.

Yeah, but the Celtics get the confidence of "we took their best shot and (barely) beat it", which probably gives them confidence too. The Pacers team is good, and they can absolutely win the series, but the Celtics team is unquestionably more talented and should win (especially if Porzingis comes back full strength).

I think Celtics in 6.

[Pyperkub]

I'm torn. The Pacers *should * have won game 1, but kept turning the ball over in the final minute up 3 and didn't even get a decent shot off to win after allowing the stupid tying shot.

Either the Celtics were rusty from the layoff, and hadn't faced much competition, and will now blitz through in another Gentleman's Sweep

Or

The Celtics aren't all that, and aren't battle tested like Indiana has been, and won't have an answer for Turner and this is a long series that Indiana can win.

I just didn't see enough in game 1, so tonight will be interesting - will the Celtics pull yet another Game 2 no-show and get dominated (I really doubt this after how they should have lost G1)? Or will they come out playing great defense and hit their 3s and dominate, or will it be another close game, and can Indiana win a close game against the Celtics, or will they only be able to win if the Celtics mail one in?

I really don't know. But I really don't expect them to have the no-show game after the escape in game 1, so this game should tell us if they can shut down Indiana or not, and if not, it may also tell us whether Indiana can close out a game against Boston (I'm not sold that they can - I think Boston has a big edge in clutch games in the 4th quarter here, just as the Knicks did before all the injuries).

[Pyperkub]

Color me impressed by the Timberwolves. Porter Jr and Gordon did nothing, and those were the guys who were the difference for them the past 2 years.

And on the other side, KAT finally didn't try to play hero ball and jack up incredibly stupid 3s late in games, like he has every other time they've been in the playoffs. Their defense was lights out in all their wins.

I spoke too soon. AntMan not showing up, especially in 4th Quarters, and KAT jacking up stupid 3s again. These are the multiple time 1st round exit T-wolves again.

As to the Celtics - they showed up, Indiana couldn't close out games and Turner disappeared after g1. Halliburton injury also key - Celtics get multiple games against a team w/o it's best player for the 3rd series in a row.

Will Luka/Kyrie get injured for multiple finals games? It sure seems like it.

[stessier]

The Celtics have also been without Porzingis for the last 5 games (and managed to win them all).

[Pyperkub]

The Celtics have also been without Porzingis for the last 5 games (and managed to win them all).

But he's like their 5th best player (6th?), not a comparison to Butler/Mitchell/Haliburton at all.

[Pyperkub]

The Celtics have also been without Porzingis for the last 5 games (and managed to win them all).

The Ringer wrote this even before the Halliburton injury (tho they have also been without Mathurin)

Easiest Injury-Adjusted Paths to Finals Since 1984
Team First Round Second Round Conf. Finals Avg. Opponent Wins
2024 Celtics Heat (37-45) Cavaliers (35-47) Pacers (40-42) 37.3
1985 Lakers Suns (27-55) Trail Blazers (42-40) Nuggets (47-35) 38.6
2007 Cavaliers Wizards (23-59) Nets (41-41) Pistons (53-29) 38.9
1987 Lakers Nuggets (37-45) Warriors (42-40) SuperSonics (39-43) 39.3
1984 Lakers Kings (38-44) Mavericks (43-39) Suns (41-41) 40.7

Methodology for injury-adjusted records in the article.

[Jaymann]

Can't believe I have to root for the Mavericks to upset the Celtics.

[Pyperkub]

Can't believe I have to root for the Mavericks to upset the Celtics.

On the other hand, you could be stuck rooting for a Timberwolves team which laid down dead.

[geezer]

I'm pro-Derrick White and anti-Kyrie. Celtics for me.

Apropos of nothing, KAT's stock is low right now - wouldn't mind seeing the Spurs burn a few draft picks to pair him with Wemby.

[El Guapo]

I'm pro-Derrick White and anti-Kyrie. Celtics for me.

Apropos of nothing, KAT's stock is low right now - wouldn't mind seeing the Spurs burn a few draft picks to pair him with Wemby.

I'm a Celtics fan so bear that in mind, but I think this team is pretty likable all things considered. Derrick White seems like a great guy and a humble grinder (though I miss his old goofy haircut). Jrue Holliday seems like a modest team player. Jaylen Brown is apparently a genius who was offered a NASA internshp and was an MIT fellow. Al Horford is a well-liked veteran grinding for a title. As far as I can tell no one's an asshole.

And I imagine no one wants to root for the Celtics to get an 18th title, but at least it would push the Lakers out of a tie for first.

[geezer]

I'm pro-Derrick White and anti-Kyrie. Celtics for me.

Apropos of nothing, KAT's stock is low right now - wouldn't mind seeing the Spurs burn a few draft picks to pair him with Wemby.

I'm a Celtics fan so bear that in mind, but I think this team is pretty likable all things considered. Derrick White seems like a great guy and a humble grinder (though I miss his old goofy haircut). Jrue Holliday seems like a modest team player. Jaylen Brown is apparently a genius who was offered a NASA internshp and was an MIT fellow. Al Horford is a well-liked veteran grinding for a title. As far as I can tell no one's an asshole.

And I imagine no one wants to root for the Celtics to get an 18th title, but at least it would push the Lakers out of a tie for first.

I'm with you 100%. Love the Buffalo and EVERYONE in San Antonio had nothing but good to say about his work ethic, attitude, general good-dudeishness etc. HAd no idea about Jalen Brown - that's pretty damn cool.

[El Guapo]

I'm pro-Derrick White and anti-Kyrie. Celtics for me.

Apropos of nothing, KAT's stock is low right now - wouldn't mind seeing the Spurs burn a few draft picks to pair him with Wemby.

I'm a Celtics fan so bear that in mind, but I think this team is pretty likable all things considered. Derrick White seems like a great guy and a humble grinder (though I miss his old goofy haircut). Jrue Holliday seems like a modest team player. Jaylen Brown is apparently a genius who was offered a NASA internshp and was an MIT fellow. Al Horford is a well-liked veteran grinding for a title. As far as I can tell no one's an asshole.

And I imagine no one wants to root for the Celtics to get an 18th title, but at least it would push the Lakers out of a tie for first.

I'm with you 100%. Love the Buffalo and EVERYONE in San Antonio had nothing but good to say about his work ethic, attitude, general good-dudeishness etc. HAd no idea about Jalen Brown - that's pretty damn cool.

Yeah I only stumbled on the stuff about Jaylen Brown the other week. Apparently he also gave a guest lecture at Harvard.

[Pyperkub]

I'm pro-Derrick White and anti-Kyrie. Celtics for me.

Apropos of nothing, KAT's stock is low right now - wouldn't mind seeing the Spurs burn a few draft picks to pair him with Wemby.

I'm a Celtics fan so bear that in mind, but I think this team is pretty likable all things considered. Derrick White seems like a great guy and a humble grinder (though I miss his old goofy haircut). Jrue Holliday seems like a modest team player. Jaylen Brown is apparently a genius who was offered a NASA internshp and was an MIT fellow. Al Horford is a well-liked veteran grinding for a title. As far as I can tell no one's an asshole.

And I imagine no one wants to root for the Celtics to get an 18th title, but at least it would push the Lakers out of a tie for first.

Oh Jrue and his wife Lauren are FAR more than that:

Jrue: "It’s definitely become reality where we have thousands of applicants, people who are again, applying for this grant, applying for our fund, and yes that does make it feel good because I feel like there are more people that we can touch, more people that we can connect through our fund and just be able to again, provide hope for them. I feel like you’ve seen their hope turn into reality. You’ve seen them grow, and if you get a chance to talk to them just how great, hopefully, it’s been during our cohorts, during our meetups and our family reunion. Hope has definitely turned into a reality."

Lauren: "I think for us it’s really the community that we’ve built. Now, our grantees aren’t just like desperate for money, they’re desperate for the community that we’ve created. That has very little to do with Jrue and I and everything to do with our team and everything to do with the businesses and the nonprofits that we started with. Now, I hear we get applicants and we’re like they’re overqualified, right, and they’re like we don’t even care about the money, we want the community. So, to build something like that, I think that’s what we’re most proud of and something that we want to continue to build because I feel like that is really what changes lives."

2 of the wonderful people on this planet, IMHO, and I am certain they have continued their work in Boston.

And they do it despite this.