Series Thread: ECF: Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavs

[Shanemansj13]

Yeah 74th was too low since he's 4th all time. Hid defense is still quite good except that he doesn't always put full effort on each play. Probably because he is 33 and playing more minutes than anyone else in basketball.

Yep carrying a team at 33 while playing more minutes than young guys like Giannis, RW, Etc. It is definitely going to affect your play, no to mention, the Cavs don’t have any good perimeter defenders

 

[GNG]

So you have no rebuttal. Shocker.

You're just triggered...

 

[Shanemansj13]

The 4th all-time is for the entirety of his career. His defense was great in his first stint in Cleveland and in Miami. But since his 2nd stint, his defense has went off. This goes back to why I've told people he's in a steady decline for the last couple of years. Because he used to be able to play close to 40 mpg while playing elite defense. He can no longer do both, which is understandable - but the point still stands.

While he is slowly declining you just aren’t getting it.

League high in minutes
No good defenders around him
Carrying the team on offense with no rest
Plus that stat is very misleading

I mean since he has been on the Cavs, other than Lebron, their best defender is TT and he is a big man. He is was a lot better on the Heat bc he had some better good defenders around him, especially Wade. He is declining, yes, but that isn’t why his defense isn’t the same.

 

[BigKen]

The difference between the Celtics and Cavaliers is that the Celtics 'refuse to lose'. The Cavs had them down by 16 in games two and lost by 13. That's a 29 point swing. At one point the Celtics had come back and the score was tied at 66-66. I a heartbeat it was 77-66 Celtics. This is where LeBron started to put te Cavs on his back and "HE" started catching up with the Celtics. "HE" got them to within 6 and Stevens called a TO. Rozier came back and hit a 3 and Lebron missed a shot underneath. The other four Cavs were just watching and Celtics scored again and then the whole thing fell apart because the Cavs lost two turnovers in about minute and the score back up to 12.
At this point I don't think LBJ was defeated as much as he was disgusted with his team mates' efforts.

When the team is watching you play basketball and participating, it's not only frustrating, it's exhausting.

Maybe LBJ should contact Ainge in the offseason. Playing in Boston, he could play until he's 40 and win the next 4 NBA titles with the Green Kids.

 

[Wamu]

Hard to say. It depends on if they think Casey was really the problem. I might be inclined to see what they can do next year with a new coach.

On the other hand though, next year the Celtics should be healthy and the Sixers will be better for the experience they got this year, so they are looking at being, at best, the 3rd best team in the East with a decent sized gap between them and the top 2 teams.

And the top 2 teams are young. Looking at it like that, they may want to have a fire sale, gather as many assets as they can and start over.

This was their best chance to get to the ECF or Finals. I think they have to do something or like you mentioned they'll probably only be the 3rd best team in the EC.

 

[trojanfan12]

This was their best chance to get to the ECF or Finals. I think they have to do something or like you mentioned they'll probably only be the 3rd best team in the EC.

And given how the Celtics have performed without Hayward and Kyrie, it's not like they can depend on the Celtics losing someone to injury to help them out.

They really may be better off blowing it up.

On that note, a few minutes ago, I heard Dan Patrick say that from what he's heard, the Raptors have pretty much everyone on the trading block.

 

[msgkings322]

Yeah, when I first saw @BigKen post I thought..."I want some of what he's smoking. The Warriors are a different animal."

Then I thought about it for a minute and the Celtics are quick enough and athletic enough to be able to switch everything and stay with the Warriors.

So he may be right about how the series plays out if we see it.

The Celtics are absolutely a tougher matchup than the Cavs. Defense matters.

 

[trojanfan12]

The Celtics are absolutely a tougher matchup than the Cavs. Defense matters.

Yeah, we've seen the Cavs/Warriors movie and we know how it ends. This time it could be real ugly.

If we get Warriors/Celtics. I think the Warriors still win because of KD. But I think it would play out about like BigKen laid out.

I think the difference would be that the Celtics haven't played well on the road and the Oracle will be ridiculously loud.

 

[Wamu]

And given how the Celtics have performed without Hayward and Kyrie, it's not like they can depend on the Celtics losing someone to injury to help them out.

They really may be better off blowing it up.

On that note, a few minutes ago, I heard Dan Patrick say that from what he's heard, the Raptors have pretty much everyone on the trading block.

If someone would have said @ the start of the season the Celtics would be down their 2 best players & have a 2-0 in the ECF vs. LeBron & his Crew I would have said they were insane.

It might be in the Raptors best interest to blow this team up. Even w/ a new HC they still have the core of their team that has failed multiple times in the playoffs.

 

[flyerhawk]

On that note, a few minutes ago, I heard Dan Patrick say that from what he's heard, the Raptors have pretty much everyone on the trading block.

They need to move one of Lowry or DeRozan and get a quality big man that can score.

 

[Black Adam]

They need to move one of Lowry or DeRozan and get a quality big man that can score.

I honestly like Valenciunis, but you're right...

and yes, pretty much the entire roster should be firesold...

 

[Black Adam]

The Celtics are absolutely a tougher matchup than the Cavs. Defense matters.

"defense wins championships"...

said it the other day. oldie, but still very true...

 

[flyerhawk]

I honestly like Valenciunis, but you're right...

and yes, pretty much the entire roster should be firesold...

Valenciunis is perfectly fine for a banger in the paint. But he is offensively limited as is the entire Raptors front court.

 

[Heatles84]

While he is slowly declining you just aren’t getting it.

League high in minutes
No good defenders around him
Carrying the team on offense with no rest
Plus that stat is very misleading

I mean since he has been on the Cavs, other than Lebron, their best defender is TT and he is a big man. He is was a lot better on the Heat bc he had some better good defenders around him, especially Wade. He is declining, yes, but that isn’t why his defense isn’t the same.

Lebron was the offensive catalyst in Miami. He was also among the highest in minutes played while in Miami.

I've seen his on-ball defense, and it's nowhere near the same as it was in Miami.

Again, to say that Lebron's in decline is not a knock on Lebron. It is what it is.

What does other good defenders being around him have anything to do with on-the-ball defense?

 

[trojanfan12]

They need to move one of Lowry or DeRozan and get a quality big man that can score.

That would help. But I don't see it catching them up to the Sixers and Celtics.

As @Wamu said, this was their chance. They missed it.

 

[Wamu]

"defense wins championships"...

said it the other day. oldie, but still very true...

Damn right defense win championships. Which is why your Lakers ain't winning 1 anytime soon. Oh yeah.

#kobestvshowsucks

 

[Wamu]

That would help. But I don't see it catching them up to the Sixers and Celtics.

As @Wamu said, this was their chance. They missed it.

Sometimes a team can only go so far. It's gotta be disappointing to Raptors fans but I think the organization would be crazy not to mix things up this off season. They gotta try something. Or they'll just repeat the same failures.

 

[flyerhawk]

That would help. But I don't see it catching them up to the Sixers and Celtics.

As @Wamu said, this was their chance. They missed it.

Well their chance to get smoked by the Warriors.

 

[Black Adam]

Damn right defense win championships. Which is why your Lakers ain't winning 1 anytime soon. Oh yeah.

#kobestvshowsucks

Magic Johnson wanted me to give you this...

#dontshootthemessanger

 

[trojanfan12]

He is declining, yes, but that isn’t why his defense isn’t the same.

It's exactly why his defense isn't the same. He's 33 with a ton of mileage on him. Even if he were playing 25-30 minutes per game, he wouldn't be able to keep the same defensive energy that he could when he was younger.

At his age, with his mileage...concessions have to be made and those concessions are made on defense.

We saw the same thing happen with Kobe at about the same age. He had to start picking his spots on defense to save energy for offense.