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Post by FLCeltsFan on May 18, 2017 20:48:55 GMT -5
 at  Cleveland Cavaliers (1-0) at Boston Celtics (0-1)
Friday, May, 19, 2017
8:30 PM ET
Eastern Conference Finals Game [HASH]2
Playoff Game [HASH]15, Home Game [HASH]9
TV: TNT
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, WTAM 1100
TD Garden  Probable Starters   PG: Isaiah Thomas ........................................ SG: Avery Bradley  C: Al Horford   SF: Jae Crowder ............................................ PF: Amir Johnson Celtics Reserves Demetrius Jackson Jordan Mickey Terry Rozier James Young Tyler Zeller Marcus Smart Kelly Olynyk Jonas Jerebko Jaylen Brown Gerald Green Injuries None Reported Head Coach Brad Stevens   Probable Starters   PG: Kyrie Irving ................ SG: JR Smith  C: Tristan Thompson   SF: LeBron James................. PF: Kevin Love Cavs ReservesKay Felder Channing Frye Richard Jefferson Dahntay Jones James Jones Kyle Korver Iman Shumpert Deron Williams Derrick Williams Injuries Edy Tavares (hand) out Game Notes After a tough loss in game 1 to the Cavaliers, the Celtics have to go back to the drawing board and figure a way to stop, or at least slow down, LeBron James without leaving his teammates open to hit three pointers. The Celtics also have to be more focused and as Danny said, they need more compete. They let the Cavaliers' domination at the beginning get them down and they weren't as aggressive as they could be. However, they started to show some spunk and go at the Cavs in the 4th quarter. They need to carry that over to Game 2 and hit them right from the start. The Cavs went on an 18-6 run in the 2nd quarter to take a 61-39 lead at halftime. The Celtics showed more of the “compete” that Ainge talked about in the second half, outscoring the Cavs 65-56, but couldn't make up the big gap. Brad Stevens may opt for a lineup change, but more than likely he will stick with the same starting lineup. The one bright spot in the first game was the play of Jaylen Brown. We may see more of Brown in this game, whether he starts of comes off the bench. The Celtics have no reported injuries. The Cavs have Edy Tavares out with a hand injury. Key Matchups vs Jae Crowder vs LeBron James James averaged 26.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8.7 assists and shooting 54.8% from the field in the regular season. Playoff LeBron is definitely a thing because he has upped his averages to 34.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 7.1 assists for the playoffs. In the first game he had 38 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, while shooting 58% from the field. Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, and Kelly Olynyk all spent time alone with Jae trying to slow him down, to no avail. Slowing him down will be a key in this game. vs Amir Johnson vs Kevin Love The Celtics have to also find a way to slow down Kevin Love. Love finished Game 1 with 32 points and 12 rebounds on 56% shooting. He also shot 67% on 3 pointers. Most of the three pointers that he took were open so the Celtics need to find a way to stay with him especially beyond the arc. Honorable Mention Al Horford vs Tristan Thompson Thompson gave the Celtics problems all night. He was 7-7 from the floor for 20 points to go with 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. He also took 10 free throws. Al has to stay with him and especially keep him off the boards and out of the paint. Keys to the Game Defense Defense Defense!! Defense is key to winning every game. The Celtics must concentrate on getting stops and keeping the Cavaliers from scoring at will. The Cavs are averaging 114.5 points per game in the playoffs and they lead the playoffs with 14.4 3-pointers per game on 43.4% shooting from beyond the arc. The Celtics must play lock down defense and keep the hot shooting Cavs from scoring at will. Rebound - The Celtics can't score if they don't have the ball. They must crash the boards as a team to prevent the Cavs from getting second chance and fast break points. They also need to rebound to give themselves extra possessions and to fuel their running game. The Cavs are averaging 41.4 rebounds to 38.3 rebounds for the Celtics in the playoffs. The Celtics must rebound as a team with every player crashing the boards. Run, Run, Run - The Celtics need to run on every possession in order to get some easy points before the Cavs defense sets up. When the Celtics walk the ball up and slow the game down they struggle. They have to run and they have to move the ball with crisp passes. Ball movement and energy will be important for the Celtics especially from the start. Be Aggressive - The Celtics must be the more aggressive team. They have to beat the Cavs to every loose ball and win the 50/50 plays. They have to be aggressive on the boards and in driving into the paint and to the basket. They have to be the team that works harder and the team that wants it more. The Cavs may have more stars, but the Celtics have to be the team that wins by playing harder. As Danny said after Game 1, they need more compete. Play 48 Minutes - The Celtics gave up an 18-6 run in the second quarter of Game 1. Just as in the losses to the Wizards, even though they played better and even outscored them in the 2nd half, they couldn't catch up. The Celtics need to avoid allowing the Cavs to go on a big run at any point. They need to play hard from the opening tip to the final buzzer. X-Factors Home Court - The Celtics will be playing at home and that has to give them a boost to have the crowd behind them. In spite of being down big in Game 1, the crowd stuck with the team and cheered them on. The Celtics have to take advantage of being at home and the crowd needs to be loud and give their team energy once again. Officiating - As always, the officiating is an x-factor. Every crew officiates differently and teams never know what to expect. Sometimes they let them play and other times they call a foul on every possession. Some games they call evenly and others they favor one team or the other. It's like Forrest Gump's box of chocolate... you never know what you are going to get. In most games against the Cavs, the Cavs seem to get the benefit of way too many calls. The Celtics must play through it and not let the officials take them out of the game if that happens. |
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Post by jmost on May 19, 2017 6:16:29 GMT -5
I keep thinking of how John Havlicek used to defend a great scorer. He would bust his !!!GREENIAC!!! trying to keep him from getting the ball, denying the passing lanes to him. I don't know if that's even possible in today's game, but Jaylen might be a good choice to try it, being young and quick. I don't expect JB to start but I do think we'll see a lot of him. I just hope he can avoid fouls.
Beyond that, we need to shoot better, and I believe we will. We missed an awful lot of open shots. And we need to play harder the whole game. You can live with yourself if you know you tried your best and lost to a better team, but not if you know you didn't give it your all.
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Post by Roadrunner on May 19, 2017 17:37:13 GMT -5
I keep thinking of how John Havlicek used to defend a great scorer. He would bust his (censored) trying to keep him from getting the ball, denying the passing lanes to him. I don't know if that's even possible in today's game, but Jaylen might be a good choice to try it, being young and quick. I don't expect JB to start but I do think we'll see a lot of him. I just hope he can avoid fouls. Beyond that, we need to shoot better, and I believe we will. We missed an awful lot of open shots. And we need to play harder the whole game. You can live with yourself if you know you tried your best and lost to a better team, but not if you know you didn't give it your all. Based on a small sample size, aka game #1, assign G Green and J Brown. Everyone else got abused. I really hope Stevens changes the plan, because he gambled Lebron ISO, no double teams, and that did not work. |
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Post by DERRENMATTS on May 19, 2017 17:45:43 GMT -5
I keep thinking of how John Havlicek used to defend a great scorer. He would bust his (censored) trying to keep him from getting the ball, denying the passing lanes to him. I don't know if that's even possible in today's game, but Jaylen might be a good choice to try it, being young and quick. I don't expect JB to start but I do think we'll see a lot of him. I just hope he can avoid fouls. Beyond that, we need to shoot better, and I believe we will. We missed an awful lot of open shots. And we need to play harder the whole game. You can live with yourself if you know you tried your best and lost to a better team, but not if you know you didn't give it your all. Based on a small sample size, aka game #1, assign G Green and J Brown. Everyone else got abused. I really hope Stevens changes the plan, because he gambled Lebron ISO, no double teams, and that did not work. Yup, I agree. I thought Jaylen did an exceptional job on Lebron. Jaylen's confidence was growing in that game; seemed to invite Lebron to challenge him. He even took it right at Lebron on offensive and nailed a stagger step pull up jumper at the free throw line. |
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Post by DERRENMATTS on May 19, 2017 20:02:25 GMT -5
Darn it, down by 14 already, at the end of the 1st quarter. Need to come out strong next quarter or else this game is in the bag.
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Post by afceltic on May 19, 2017 20:38:45 GMT -5
NBA record 41 point lead for the Cavs. These guys should be embarrassed. I know it is hard to play when Tony Brothers won't allow you to play defense, but show some heart. I can really see them trading IT now and keeping Fultz. I have always said that IT is a great 6th man and isn't a starter on a true championship contender. We are not close to Cleveland at all. We have time to still rebuild and we need better players and that starts with Fultz. Horford has been a "no show" again too. I wish we could unload his crappy contract on someone too.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on May 19, 2017 20:41:30 GMT -5
(Sigh) Not fun for Celtics fans. But hey, we aren't supposed to he here anyways. We are not contenders, as we painfully see.
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Post by jmost on May 19, 2017 20:43:40 GMT -5
Wow. I'm not sure I've ever seen such dominance in an NBA playoff game. Celtics were undressed on national TV.
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Post by jmost on May 19, 2017 20:50:54 GMT -5
It's hard right now not to think that Ainge should trade IT. This is exactly what happened last year in the playoffs. He can't get his shots off and he can't create for others.
On the other hand, it's not all his fault. We missed a ton of open shots, made a ton of bad passes, committed a ton of bad fouls, looked slower than the Cavs in almost every aspect, left the Cavs open for a ton of open shots etc etc etc.
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Post by jmost on May 19, 2017 21:08:50 GMT -5
I can't think of one reason why James is still on the court for the Cavs up 44 halfway through the 3rd. You could say the same for Kyrie and Love. Are they going for the biggest beatdown in history?
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Post by mev17 on May 19, 2017 21:14:39 GMT -5
Well, that's the season. Can't see the Celtics remotely coming back from this -- it will be an easy sweep. It's a shame, because we played so beneath ourselves that all people will remember is our being blown out in historic fashion. I doubted we could beat Cleveland, but they aren't THIS much better than we are. Clearly, the Conference Finals was more than our team could mentally handle. Very disappointing.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on May 19, 2017 21:32:58 GMT -5
It's hard right now not to think that Ainge should trade IT. This is exactly what happened last year in the playoffs. He can't get his shots off and he can't create for others. On the other hand, it's not all his fault. We missed a ton of open shots, made a ton of bad passes, committed a ton of bad fouls, looked slower than the Cavs in almost every aspect, left the Cavs open for a ton of open shots etc etc etc. Yeah, against championship caliber teams in the playoffs (not during the regular season), IT isn't effective. In a 7 game series, these great teams know how to contain him. And we also need to inject more talent, especially in the starting rotation. |
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Post by jmost on May 19, 2017 21:47:39 GMT -5
I think it's very possible that we take a step back next year if this series has Danny thinking about 5 years from now rather than gearing up to challenge the Cavs in the next few years.
I think we all need to accept that guys we've grown fond of may be traded. Just keep Jaylen please.
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Post by afceltic on May 19, 2017 22:29:07 GMT -5
I think it's very possible that we take a step back next year if this series has Danny thinking about 5 years from now rather than gearing up to challenge the Cavs in the next few years. I think we all need to accept that guys we've grown fond of may be traded. Just keep Jaylen please. We need to keep Jalen and draft Fultz and I don't think Danny will consider trading Jalen unless it gets us a true superstar and maybe not even then. How this affects going after any FA's is up to Danny. I would think that IT isn't going to be resigned and Bradley won't get a max deal so he will be allowed to test the market and if nobody is stupid and gives him the max, then we may get him back and if they do, then good for him for making his money. The problem is that Horford is on the books for 3 more years at a max level, which is pretty much untradeable. That is where Danny is stuck between "going for it" now and using more patience and giving LeFlop a few more years to get older and to finally start slowing down. That is all depending on who we can get for IT in a trade. Danny has his work cut out for him that is for sure. |
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Post by Roadrunner on May 19, 2017 22:30:20 GMT -5
I think it's very possible that we take a step back next year if this series has Danny thinking about 5 years from now rather than gearing up to challenge the Cavs in the next few years. I think we all need to accept that guys we've grown fond of may be traded. Just keep Jaylen please. CLE's big 3 played great. BOS's team s-cked, except for Brown. He answered the call. |
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