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Post by jrmzt on May 20, 2022 20:07:58 GMT -5
As a team, I'm also more impressed with our active hands. The amount of steals I've seen us generate these playoffs is surely making anyone hesitant to pass it into the likes of Bam in the paint.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on May 20, 2022 21:30:37 GMT -5
I just pulled up the 2020 playoff series between us and the Heat, and the thing that jumped out at me was that Theis was our starting center in 2020 and played about 30 minutes a game, and now he's the 4th big man in our rotation behind Al, Rob and Grant. Bam thoroughly abused us in 2020 and it just isn't happening this year. Yup, that was one of the areas where we improved -- Rob and Horford are much better at guarding Bam than Theis. And look how left out he was Game 2.
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Post by runrondo on May 21, 2022 8:57:37 GMT -5
The Heat are right there with us on this stat, until you look a little deeper and see that we're 4-0 against the Bucks and Heat after a loss, and the Heat are 2-1 against ATL and PHI. Good point. Out of curiosity, I took a look at some of the other top teams (2018 Warriors 4-1): 1-0 against 7th seeded Spurs (no Duncan), 1-0 against the 6th seeded Pelicans (Rondo & AD), and then 2-1 against the Rockets when Chris Paul got hurt. (1960 Celtics 5-0): 2-0 against the Philadelphia Warriors in which most games were 10+ point differential and 3-0 against the St. Louis Hawks (2013 Heat 7-0): 1-0 against the 5th seeded Bulls (without D Rose), 3-0 against the 3rd seeded Pacers, and 3-0 against the Spurs in the finals (1986 Celtics 3-0): 1-0 against the 4th seeded Hawks (Dominique) and 2-0 against the 2nd seeded Rockets (Hakeem) I can't say many have the resume ours might end up with.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on May 23, 2022 22:05:20 GMT -5
Ok, series tied at 2 apiece. It's anyone's series now. First to 4 wins!!
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Post by jmost on May 23, 2022 22:34:59 GMT -5
Celtics and Heat fans have one thing in common. Both fan bases have to be asking themselves how their team can look so good one game and so bad the next. What a crazy series!
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Post by DERRENMATTS on May 23, 2022 22:43:21 GMT -5
Celtics and Heat fans have one thing in common. Both fan bases have to be asking themselves how their team can look so good one game and so bad the next. What a crazy series! Ain't that the truth! Just like in the Bucks series, whichever team wins consecutive games will win the series. It's like we take turns being good and being bad. Just hoping we learn not to let our guard down.
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Post by jmost on May 24, 2022 9:47:45 GMT -5
Ok, two out of three for a trip to the Finals. I think it comes down to this: MIA can't score in the halfcourt on us if Rob is playing, so if we limit our turnovers we should win.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on May 26, 2022 1:48:10 GMT -5
Is Jimmy hurt of has our defense completely shut him down?
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Post by jmost on May 26, 2022 6:40:32 GMT -5
I think he's hurt and that it's more than knee tenderness. He air-balled a set shot 3 from out top that must have been at least two feet short. He isn't looking to take over when his team needs him. Something is definitely going on.
I wonder about Bam too. He looks completely ordinary out there unless he's guarded by someone a lot smaller.
And Herro and Lowry are also definitely hurt/hurting.
I know we have Smart and Rob with injury issues but I think we're in much better shape than the Heat.
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Post by runrondo on May 26, 2022 7:26:37 GMT -5
Not to mention he played fine until he tweaked that knee - now he's had 2 terrible games. He was never a good shooter - but, air-balling back to back open shots was a pretty clear sign he's struggling out there with the injury.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on May 26, 2022 10:56:59 GMT -5
Jimmy could be hurt, but you can't tell by looking at him. He'll attack when he wants to. To me it seems like he's holding back.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on May 26, 2022 12:24:41 GMT -5
We really stifle their halfcourt offense. If we keep our turnovers down to limit their transition offense, we can close out this series tomorrow.
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Post by jmost on May 26, 2022 13:53:06 GMT -5
Butler has always been a guy who does what his team needs to win. He's not always looking to score 40, and he'll let other guys do the bulk of the shooting for most of the game, but when it's crunch time he takes over. But with Herro out, Lowry hurting and Bam ineffective against Al and Rob, he pretty much has to be in that Alpha dog mode all game - but we're just not seeing that. He's strangely passive, and even when more active he's missing easy shots.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on May 26, 2022 14:50:49 GMT -5
Butler has always been a guy who does what his team needs to win. He's not always looking to score 40, and he'll let other guys do the bulk of the shooting for most of the game, but when it's crunch time he takes over. But with Herro out, Lowry hurting and Bam ineffective against Al and Rob, he pretty much has to be in that Alpha dog mode all game - but we're just not seeing that. He's strangely passive, and even when more active he's missing easy shots. That's what I'm scratching my head about. He's a bucket getter, and it doesn't matter if it's Tatum, Jaylen, Rob or Horford -- he can score against them (maybe not efficiently, but still can get some points).
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Post by jmost on May 26, 2022 15:04:30 GMT -5
That's why I think he's really hurting.
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