ECF Not A Recap: Boston 108, Cleveland 83 (Or, The Mother’s Day Massacre)
2018-05-14
Well, that was disappointing. I never thought I’d have to do a “Not A Recap” for a playoff game, but here we are. I just couldn’t justify putting more effort into a recap than the Cavs did into this game, taking more time away from my own Mother. On Sunday afternoon the Cleveland Cavaliers reverted back to the state they were in when the playoffs began. Unfortunately, instead of a feisty Pacers team, this afternoon drubbing came at the hands of the Boston Celtics who are absolutely devastated by injuries. President Stevens and the Celtics have been punching far above their weight all playoffs long and the trend continued in Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals. However, I didn’t see anything all that different out of Boston than I did when they played Indiana. Kudos to them for taking us to the wood shed but I consider this more of a Cavaliers loss than a Celtics win.
From the moment the Cavs stepped on the court it was clear they were not going to be able to match the intensity and activity levels of Boston. After missing a few open threes they settled back on their haunches and watched as the Celtics played their hearts out. Maybe LeBron is more of a master tactician than we all think, his post-game interview certainly seemed like that might be the case. Maybe the amount of rest the Cavs had was too much rest, sort of like a slowly accelerating locomotive. Maybe Boston is really that good. I just can’t see LeBron with another 7 turnover game. Or the Cavs shooting 15.4% from three. Fifteen percent?! Yeah, you read that right. Cleveland went a woeful 4 of 26 for the night. And there were plenty of open looks so it wasn’t a result of some suffocating defense laid out by the great and powerful Stevens. Here are the highlights. Or, from our perspective, low-lights.
Some Quick Notes:
1) LeBron’s stat line was very atypically inefficient in this one. He finished the night with 15 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks. It’s crazy that we can look at a line like that and it still be bad for LeBron. That’s how good he usually is. Unfortunately he shot only 5-16 (0-5 from distance) and had 7 turnovers. He did continue his free throw shooting excellence though as he went 5-6 from the line. Boston shouldn’t count on another game like this by the King.
2) Kevin Love wasn’t any less effective than anyone else on the court and was Cleveland’s leading scorer at 17. It was good to see that he won’t take the brunt of this loss as he has in the past.
3) Once Cleveland started missing threes, instead of taking the ball to the hoop, they continued to settle for outside jumpers until the game was well out of hand. Hopefully this won’t be a trend. I can’t imagine they will want to replicate a 4-26 night from beyond the arc.
4) Tristan Thompson was actually not awful and brought a little bit more energy than his teammates tonight. He had a team high 11 rebounds and gave the Cavs just a couple more chances to miss some more threes.
5) Kudos to Boston’s young guys. They played hard and hit some tough shots. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are going to be legit for a long time to come. I don’t think they’ll be enough over the course of seven games, but we’ll see.
I still expect this to be an outlier game. The Cavs just didn’t look like they had any legs to keep up with the young and hungry Celtics. Boston was the team with something to prove and as LeBron said in his interview, “I have zero level of concern. I never went to college. This isn’t March Madness.” And he’s right. To a point. I will give them the benefit of the doubt until I see how they come out on Tuesday night. This was Mother’s Day so most of us here at CtB had some mothers to celebrate so apologies on behalf of all the writers that this was all we could get up. Looking forward to Tuesday allowing me to forget about this travesty, Go Cavs!
Holy **** what happened to William Shatner?
THEY”RE SO FAR UP! just screen and drive or screen and roll.
Horford totally fouled Love.
Whoa. Think James practiced some threes?
James redeems with a three.
Grr. Two bad turnovers already.
Hill!
*sigh* Good early action to get an uncovered strongside.
God, I hate Brad Stevens
live thread up.
And the winner is….LaLa Land!
Not trying to be an ass but why no draft/game2 thread??
It’s up.
Man Nick does not look well. I hope this is him getting better and not his condition worsening.
His condition causes spontaneous growth of tumors. I’m not sure he’s actually in pain/discomfort at any given time.
Looks better actually.
TT starting for Korver.
when do we put the balls in the tubes?
At the very last possible moment…and after these messages!
Nick survived brain surgery…getting the #1 pick is guaranteed. Glad you are on stage lil’ dude!
If they completely randomized all 14 picks instead of just the top 3, I’m sure tanking would be eliminated.
If the Cavs win the lottery again, the game will just be gravy. Bill Simmons would get so violent on twitter that the nice doctors with the net would finally come and take him off in a rubber truck to his rubber room where he can live happily ever after.
Glorious.
Ug I have serious heartburn about tonight. Can’t remember the last time the Cavs had such a big challenge in a series they’re supposed to win. All the pressure is on us this series.
Are we supposed to win though?
If we (at full strength regardless of how weird this season has been) can’t beat a Boston team missing their two best players while featuring a rookie and second year player with only 1 vet…that’s not a good look for LeBron, his teammates, Ty Lue or the Cavs organization
The guy is putting up historically great numbers and we went 7 with Indiana. Not sure there is any outcome, even a sweep by Boston, that results in a “bad look” for LeBron, sans him playing poorly.
would be impressed if houston, cavs/boston combine to win even a single game against gsw.
U guys here think tt in starting lineup would be the correct move??
I wouldn’t do it if I was Lue, but I also don’t think it’s the wrong move. I say put him out there on a short leash and see.
I would say it can’t hurt that much based off the result of the first game.
Yes, and I think TT will have a great game and might also help Lebron get going.
Yes.
Basically, TT should mirror Horford’s minutes.
I think it’s a bit more complex, as Boston can counter TT with Baynes to neutralize his offensive rebounding ability. Hence, Horford would not be playing the five position – Boston removes the Horford-TT match up from the equation.
To alter the series, cavs need to execute their offense at a high level and win the minutes where they run the line up of Love, Lebron, Korver, JR, Hill.
Talks about the draft just remind me of the Anthony Bennett pick. What a f’ing disaster.
Oladipo, Giannis, CJ and Gobert were all there for the taking. I wanted Oladipo next to Kyrie. Man that would had been great.
Very true, but would it have mattered though? Whoever it was drafted was going to be traded for Love anyways.
That was the following draft.
Any Cavs preview for tonight’s game?
This is pretty funny and basically shows the difficulty of ISO ball from the perimeter against the current warriors, not necessarily for the guy using the ISO set but for the role players in the spread ISO. Apparently Houston had an absurd 14 possessions where 3 or fewer seconds remained on the shot clock before a shot was put up. 14 times they nearly ran out of clock and had to put up a prayer/contested shot. Crazy. That won’t get it done. There is a reason why everyone on Houston besides Harden was something like 8/28 on threes. Cavs will… Read more »
Also this is even funnier and pretty much sums up the problems with how Houston plays against gs.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/deadspin.com/the-warriors-are-better-than-the-rockets-1826038408/amp
This is hilarious writing and one of the funniest lines I have ever read in a bball article:
“That, in turn, partly is due to the fact that the Warriors have Kevin Durant, but more importantly it’s because the Warriors know more ways to score than standing around like fu#$&ng idiots while their Designated Ball User dribbles a Morse Code War and Peace into the hardwood in 22-second chapters.”
Bill Simmons beside himself with smugness on Lowe Post. I really, really need Cavs to shut him up tonight.
We all do, Simmo. We all do.
I didn’t even listen to it. I would have if Celtics had lost that game. He is insufferable, but he’s no different than 95% of Celtics fans.
If the Cavs or Philly win the lotto tonight, that would help a lot with making someone a contender to GSW. Ditto Cavs/Philly in top 3.
Though almost all of Philly’s shooters are FAs (Reddick, Belinelli, Ilyasova).
Watch the lakers pick get the 2-3 spot and go to the Celtics. If the league wants another super super team to challenge gs, it would pretty much take care of that. Replace Horford with Ayton, Bagley, or Jackson or trade that pick plus other pieces for Kawhi.
Right. The league is warming up the freezer even as we speak.
Unfortunately it doesn’t matter if you think Draymond and Klay are too 10 or top 20… the fact remains that they both are tailor made fits for this Warriors system. KD, Steph, Klay and Draymond together are greater than the sum of their parts. Just as you say that Klay and Draymond couldn’t produce the same as other #1 options (Butler, PG, Oladipo, etc), you can make similar arguments that Steph isn’t the same without those two (elite shooting of Klay and Swiss Army knife Draymond). At least history will always show this is what it took to beat LeBron… Read more »
Agreed.
Thirded. The Dubs with Durant will go down as the second most talented team in league history: behind the various Celtic teams from the 50’s & 60’s that had 7-8 HOFers on them at various times: Russell, Cousy, Heinsohn, Sharman, Ramsey, Sam Jones, and Havlicek being the core guys over 11 titles & 12 Finals. Of course, Dubs still have some work to do to climb the Dynasty ladder. 1) Russell’s C: 11 in 13 years. 8 straight. 2) Mikan Lakers: 6/7 + 7 in 8 for Mikan 3) Jordan Bulls: 6 in 8 & he sat one year 4)… Read more »
Pretty much. I mean those four guys, whether Klay and Green are top 10 or top 20 are basically the greatest individual talent assembled since the 62-63 Celtics that had Russell, Cousy, Heinsohn, Sam Jones, and Havlichek in and his rookie year. I think they are about equal to the rest of those Celtics teams of the 60s after Cousy retired.
The Mavs beat Bron in his prime. The Spurs beat Bron in his prime (should have been twice).
I wouldn’t count 2015 due to the injuries. Nor do I consider Cleveland 1.0 Bron’s prime (though he was winning MVPs & we had the best record twice). If that is prime Bron, throw Boston (twice) & Orlando in there.
I would say Mavs and 2010 Celtics were certainly an outliers and the only playoff series where he himself got beat or rather failed to compete to his full abilities. By the time 2014 came around, Wade was nowhere near what he was. The Spurs had TP still near the top of his game, Duncan who was still an all star caliber player in 25-28 minutes a night, Manu who was still pretty good, Kawhi who was a budding superstar, and one of the greatest benches the league has ever seen as far as their effectiveness. They sort of were… Read more »
Not to mention they are coached by the best in the game. They don’t just iso or pass, they pass to get the exact iso they want and then they have the players to execute.
Seriously though…how fun would it be to be a warriors fan these past two years? Just complete domination. I hate them.
Bah, I’m sure I wouldn’t be saying this if I was the fan of the team but feels super hollow. Losing to the Dubs means nothing because it’s pretty clear that the advantage they own is so severe. The only thing that has any meaning anymore is if someone is able to upset the Dubs. Everything else results in a shoulder shrug because that’s what we all knew was going to happen back in October… Sure, there are other teams around the League that have surprised this season but ultimately it doesn’t really matter much because we know the ending… Read more »
Yawp. Basically how I have felt since the summer of 2016. It is what it is. At this point I am just enjoying LBJ in the playoffs. The 25 and 3 in the last two years of the playoffs pretty much says it all. I will be super impressed if the rockets get two and that team was literally built specifically to matchup with the warriors. I am sticking with the dubs in 5 though.
I don’t know, I think they themselves realize the absurdity of that team.
I do LOVE how the warriors in their interviews after the game talked about how great kevin durant is. Cuz…winning one title by themselves was so hard they needed a freakin break. unreal. and warriors fan…please keep comparing your all time great team to the 2010 cavs in justifying the need for Kevin Durant. The league hasn’t been this lopsided in talent since the bill russell celtics. It’s laughable.
I can’t remember a team in the modern era that would win back to back titles losing just 2 games in each playoff run. I believe they only lost one game last playoff run.
That’s just explain how lopsided the league is right now.
And to be honest they could easily do it again for the next two or three years unless the Celtics can add AD or KL to their roster this off-season.
Yeah I hate this. I knock the 90s Jordan era in terms of the competition he had to face, but in many ways it was a healthier league with so much talent spread across the league. Heck even in the 80s you had two super teams that were very evenly matched for most of the decade. Plus another in the early 80s Philly teams. The fact that the only way to beat gs is to assemble another team with basically four all stars (Tatum is headed there quick) is seriously going to kill playoffs if Boston gets another superstar in… Read more »
Totally agree with you, the league might need to come up with some type of player ranking or something and force the team owners to just have for example like two superstars per team.
I always thought that the league should re-draft right before each season starts. Tell the owners you can keep just 3 players of your current roster and send the rest of the players to a draft.
The teams with the worst records would have to pick first.
I know it’s a crazy idea, specially with the players contracts.
But they definitely need to change something.
How about if Lebron goes to Philadelphia and make a coaching change ?
I guess they might be more competitive…but that fit with Simmons is questionable.
AD and Kawhi would have to be added to Boston’s current roster without losing anyone for there to be a challenge to GSW.
You could replace Hayward with one of those guys and challenge. Ky, Kawhi, Tatum, Brown, Rozier, Horford, Smart is close. Tatum is going to be an all star caliber player sooner rather than later, like as in next year. Brown is probably going to be too in time.
You’re better off with Rozier than Ky. Need AD for tough buckets. Otherwise, play within an offensive system and focus on defense (need Kawhi cause he’s the only one in the league who can just slightly make KD uncomfortable)
I am not going that far yet. Rozier is nice, but Stevens can win with Ky. I am sure he can make that work. You also could not defend the death lineup with both AD and Horford out there. Ky, Kawhi, Brown, Tatum, and Horford would be ridiculous defensively even against the death lineup despite Iriving and be crazy potent on offense. Tatum guards Klay. Kawhi on Durant. Brown on Curry. Horford on Green. Ky on iggy.
They would just use pick and force switch Ky on to KD or Steph. You could have either Rozier or Smart out there for entire 48. Rozier/Smart, Tatum, Kawhi, Brown, AD would be what is needed.
Sure if they got both Kawhi AND AD. That would be insane because it would almost certainly mean that one of the two got traded essentially 1-1 with Hayward or Irving. No doubt the lakers pick, if it fell this year, or philly/sac pick next year would be required to get one of those guys in addition to Ky/Hayward. Especially since Ky would be an expiring contract. Don’t think Hayward alone plus the Celtics own first is enough to fetch the other. Also forcing a switch on a good defensive team is sometimes easier said than done. Ky did fine… Read more »
I think the Celtics could get Kawhi pretty easily if he really wants out, Heyward + Kings’ #1 in 2019 for Kawhi and Patty Mills’ bad contract should do the trick. They probably could even offer a decent package for AD, something like Brown, Horford and the Grizzlies and Clippers #1s in 2019 for AD and Solomon Hill’s bad contract. That Memphis pick is top 8 protected in 2019, top 6 protected in 2020 and unprotected in 2021. That could be a hell of an asset considering they should fall off a cliff right around then. PG – Irving SG… Read more »
Jeese. I didn’t realize they had those other picks. How in the heck did they get both of those? Ugh. Well they could be a new super team by the end of this offseason.
And DG sent Kyrie to the Celtics.
He really did KI a favor.
Yeah I didn’t realize they had so many potential high picks left in the war chest after giving up the nets pick. Probably would have made me think twice if I was Gilbert.
Should had gotten at least another first round pick out of the trade.
You might recall that the Cavs held out for more, and finally got some kind of crumb.
I might have forgone trading with Boston altogether just to prevent them from the possibility of building a team to challenge/take over the cavs. Of course no one knew how good Tatum would be so soon….
Yeah, thanks Billy King and Nets management. Really great play there.
Hamptons 5 may be the lamest sports nickname of all time. Typical lameness of Tim Kawakani.
Just so stupid that this is an actual team. Ridiculous.
Rockets unable to stop Curry’s layups. Didn’t see that being the difference.
Hope Silver and the owners make serious changes to the next CBA.
They think superteams are good for the league (vomit).
If they would have incrementally raised the cap instead of that huge jump, it would not gave been possible. Players deserve some blame as well for wanting the big jump immediately. Led by Bron & CP3.
As far as Silver, to a point he does. However, Silver came out and said after the Durant signing that it wasn’t good for the league and then stated he thinks the CBA needs to be overhauled during the next negotiations. I mean a lot of this is driven by players too in a positive feedback loop. Guys saw other guys team up and then realized they couldn’t compete without teaming up and subsequently it has led to what amounts to an arms race as far as guys deciding to form super teams. The more talent assembled, the more other… Read more »
GS with Durant is just perverse. Wimpiest NBA move of all time. They were beatable last year and this one without him.
Would not beat Houston or Lebron without KD.
Harden must feel a little like Lebron tonight…doing it all, and a lot of people not helping a lot.
Wow they actually called GSW on their illegal screens. Curry in shock.
I mean they have four of the top ten players in the league on one team. That’s never happened in the history of the league. What do you want?
Two top five and two top 20. Green and Klay are nowhere near as good on another team.
Green is a top ten player. Klay is the best shooter in the league and only behind Kawhi as a two-way wing player. I’d be hard pressed to find players better than them to fill out the top ten.
LBJ, Durant, AD, Curry, Kawhi, Harden, Giannis, Paul, Jimmy Butler, Paul George, or Dipo (two way), Westbrook (winning 50 games with that old team last year).
You couldn’t put green or Draymond on another team and expect them to carry a team like the rest of those guys. They rely on the gs offense to get theirs. Dray is just not that effective on another team and Klay’s d is a bit overrated.
They are good on their own, but they are great because of Kerr’s system. They wouldn’t be elsewhere.
I have to agree with John B, there is no way to me that Klay or Draymond are categorically top 10 NBA players. There is no such tier. Obviously there is top tier of super-duperstars (LeBron, Steph, Durant, Harden, Kawhi, AD, Giannis) who plainly are better than Klay and Draymond. That’s 7 spots in the top 10 taken up right there. I think most people would rate CP3 and Russ over Draymond and certainly Klay. So that’s 9 slots filled. Projecting for potential, I think many teams would consider Ben Simmons, Embiid, KAT and maybe even guys like Tatum, Mitchell,… Read more »
I’m with John and RC. Klay is a great shooter but he can’t carry a team as the number one option.
Green’s defense is good but again, he’s good next two 3 all-stars (2 hof). Put him in any other team besides the Spurs, Rockets, Celtics and Cavs, and he’s an average offensive player with a bit better D. Overrated.
No way Paul, Butler, PG, Dipo are better than Green and Klay.
Yeah they are. Klay and green could not carry a team like Bulter did with Chicago, or George or Dipo did with Indy. No way no how. They cannot carry an offense like those guys have.
But those two guys are top 20 even if taken off gs. They just aren’t top 10 on their own because so much of what they do is based around the warriors unique system/style of play.
Butler, George, and Dipo are together as in take your pick. Each of them would be more impactful than Green or Klay as a number one on a team that is not the warriors.
Klay or draymond
If you don’t look at stats, Draymond is top 10 player. Your list includes players with better stats but not better game.
I don’t see him having anywhere near the same type of defensive or playmaking impact on another team in a different system. A lot of his playmaking is setup by the Curry screen and roll with him with shooters you can’t leave spread out. You take that type of unguardable situation away and I don’t see the same type of creation. Same defensively. He isn’t going to be a Gobert level defensive player on a team that can’t switch everything like the warriors.
JohnB, Draymond in Curry’s absence did even better as play maker. Also, Curry needs Draymond as much as Draymond needs Curry to shine.
You are right about Gobert’s comparison. At the same time, it is hard for me to find another player that can truly defend all five positions.
Agreed, but you can also say that they are the Western all Stars or even Team USA.
When they play their death line up. They are basically team USA. The way they rest Iguodala during the season to use him in the playoffs is like he could play for three more seasons easily.
All true.
Two of the top 5 (Curry & Durant). The other two are perfect fits.
Harden showed up tonight. Didn’t expect that. Thought he would get shut down. Good for him. Probably won’t change the outcome because this series is going to be over in five. Calling it for the umpteenth time. Fra$ds in 5.
Rockets pushing back with Harden on the bench – impressive.
Gordon is Jordan Clarkson bad
He’s brutal tonight…
As great as Durant is he would have gotten more credit if he did all of this against the Warriors but since he just played the if you can’t beat them then joined them card he would never be as great as LeBron is.
Lebron had the same reputation, he couldn’t lead team hence joined Wade. No one remembers that now. Can’t fault someone for finding situation that fits them best.
He didn’t have a problem beating Wade. KD choked against the team he went to. Also the Celtics, Lakers, other top teams were not as far away talent wise as everyone is to the warriors. Second best player to a team with maybe the third best player, and two other allstars on a team that won 73 games is a totally different universe of taking the easy path. To say otherwise is completely and knowingly disingenuous since you would have to utterly ignore all context surrounding the move.
Exactly.
You are 100% wrong, LBJ never joined the team that defeated him. That’s weak.
LeBron led a bunch of no ones to the NBA finals. KD had Harden and Westbrook early and couldn’t do it. He was even one game away of beating the Warriors and choked.
Please don’t compare them.
C’mon now WF, you’ve made this argument here before. Like JOHN B said below, you’d be completely ignoring any context. There is a difference between grabbing another couple all-stars and going and building something on a team that was mediocre and straight up joining one of the greatest teams in history as the second best player in the league. Oh ya, not to mention that team he joined was the one he choked against to lose in the WCF just a couple months earlier… You are doing the old, “Oh, its different because I’m a fan of the team he… Read more »
+ several freakin’ thousand, JMay.
JMay, warriors won a championship without Durant, won 73 games and were leading 3-1 in finals before the best comeback ever and lost the series. Warriors proved very much capable of winning the championship by themselves. Rockets with better coach and system had a chance to take down warriors this year, same if Kawhi was healthy and if cavs did well in Kyrie’s trade. If Rockets had better game plan, they would have won yesterday. A game plan that doesn’t include Harden dribbling ball for 20 secs and taking shot and pretty much taking his teammates out, that too at… Read more »
You are proving my point WF. “. . . warriors won a championship without Durant, won 73 games and were leading 3-1 in finals before the best comeback ever and lost the series. Warriors proved very much capable of winning the championship by themselves.” This just confirms what I’m saying, that statement shows that they were one of the greatest teams in history who only lost the championship by 1 total point over the course of seven games to the greatest player to ever step foot on the court. And then they went out and added KD… That destroys any… Read more »
Sorry, I mixed up my responses, that response that warriors proved they could win championship wa to some of the posters who said, they couldn’t without Durant. Curry is playing well but not playing at MVP level. So, this playoffs Warriors don’t really have two MVP level players. Without Curry, warriors won comfortably and with Curry not at his best, they are winning against best reg season team and perhaps 2nd best team in playoffs. What I am getting into, Rockets are as much to blame for their self destruction ways and if they had better playoff coach who doesn’t… Read more »
Oh, c’mon. Saying “Well, Curry isn’t REALLLLY playing at MVP level” is such a cop out. So maybe he’s only at 95% of MVP level… That’s still all-world level. And you are making assumptions saying that if the Rockets were coached differently then they could have won. We are arguing about what is, not what could be. The reality is that the Rockets are who they are and the Warriors are who they are.
Exactly.
JMay, have to agree to disagree. Curry is not same, may be at 60-70%, understandably coming back from MCL grade 2 sprain and 53 days of layoff. He is getting there, may be after few more games. The point is that Rockets has an opening and they are to blame themselves for the loss. If you play to your potential and lose, different story but they didn’t play well yesterday., mostly because of their game plan and rotations.
If the Cavs were to face the Warriors in the Finals this year, I’m pretty confident there would be a game where the Warriors shoot 103% from the field…
Hehe probably.
lol, but Curry is not healthy enough for that to happen. This warriors team relying more on switch all defense than shooting.
About the Cavs/Celtics series, what to me is not acceptable is the Cavs letting their offense dictate their defensive effort.
To be honest neither the Cavs or the Celtics stand a chance against the Rockets or Celtics.
Yep. Barring injury that would be the logical view if considering in all the objective evidence.
They should sweep whoever comes out of the East.
I could see the cavs getting a game against the rockets.
Maybe but I believe the Warriors will beat the Rockets in six.
Cinco para mi.
Like Barkley said, Warriors en 3 jajaja
Totally disagree. Just two different styles. Both teams play at a pace that complements the other.
Lol you will see when the time comes. Anyways as I suspected the Warriors are going to take the home court advantage right out of the Rockets hands in just the first game.
CP3 purposefully hits people in the nuts more than Draymond. He is such a dirty player.
I didn’t get to watch the game yesterday but after seeing the score I was a little worried…But now having watched the game I’m not as anxious…The Cavs played about as bad on defense as they are capable of playing…On top of that they left 45 points on the court in the first half on shots they normally make which if they just hit 50% of those they’re only down 3 at the half…I really didn’t see anything special they did to stop LeBron…Seemed like he was sloppy with the ball but still made a lot of good plays that… Read more »
In reply to….
Whelp. Capela better be able to defend the death lineup.
It’s all about Capela, really.
I decided to mow the lawn instead of watching this massacre.
Fts is reporting that tt is likely to start, given the success he has had historically against Horford. Given this knowledge, the most logical question is : Why didn’t they consider this before Horford went off on 8/10 shooting and was totally dominant!!???
Cuz Ty Lue is playing 29th dimensional chess, you rube.
He is indeed on a different plane of existence…
Because Lue.
Stevens changed his lineup before Game 1 (inserting Morris for Baynes). Got a win.
Lue has to wait until we lose to switch things up.
Yeah, and those same analytics suggested this before we got whooped.
So…Larry Nance JR…
Give credit where it is due, Brad Stevens had his team ready. Their young guys actually play like veterans including the superb rookie in Tatum. Back at the start of the season, there was a debate here about how good Celts going to be after the make over. I was of opinion that Brad Stevens will keep this team as top defensive team and even though they will start rookie Tatum, Tatum has more like veterans game and will do fine in playoffs. That said, Celts don’t think have enough to win a 7 game series. I would bet everything… Read more »
You’re right. The Cavs were caught sleeping from the get go. Hoping tomorrow is different.
Very similar to how they started last year’s finals. They woke up in 3rd game that series and we had good close games even if they still lost 2 of those 3.
In fairness it’s not like Cleveland’s process “luck into multiple #1s and then have LeBron decide to forgive Sans Serif Dan and rejoin the team just because he’s a loyal NE Ohio guy” is a sustainable blueprint for franchise building.
I think if Wade had been available to start the fourth quarter, then Boston doesn’t go on quite such a dramatic run, the starters stay in, and the “story” is how scared the Celtics should be that the Cavs almost won the game.
Unfortunately, Wade seems to prefer to co-pilot the Millennium Falcon rather than play in a Conference Finals. In that case, I agree with those who dislike the Clarkson-Hood-James-Green-Thompson lineup. At least one of Korver, Smith, and Love needs to be on the floor at all times.
Ahhh what?
We don’t really need Wade. We need Lue to play his best rotations.
Sticking with cavs in four.
In rare agreement with Joeyb, ME TOO!
One thing I find annoying is this constant media narrative asking whether it is time for the Cavs to “panic” any time something not great happens. Look, if they win they win, if they lose they lose, but I don’t find it professional or constructive for sports journalists and blog boys to constantly be asking whether the Cavs are “panicking”. It strikes me as just trolling the Cavs and their fans. The Thunder got upset by the Jazz, nobody made a national story about whether the Thunder were panicking. When Boston went 7 against the Bucks nobody accused Stevens of… Read more »
They need a narrative and the wcf hadn’t started. Expect if the rockets get obliterated in game one (and I think they will) it will be just as big or bigger of a story because they are supposed to be competitive. I don’t think they will be. I think the cavs criticism is a product of their own success. They are supposed to make the finals against a weak east as they have always done. So any chink in the armor is a story. If the warriors lost to the rockets in the wcf that will be a bigger story… Read more »
Cavs in 6 still. I didn’t see anything in this game that leads me to believe the Celtics can actually stop the Cavs’ offense. They missed a ton of open shots early, LeBron was sloppy with his ball-handling and straight tossed the ball to Boston’s youngsters at times. Had they connected on some early threes, the game is different. That being said, Lue cannot toss out a lineup of Clarkson, Hood, Bron, Green, and TT and expect a better result than we have already seen in these playoffs. That lineup is garbage, will remain garbage, and is a waste of… Read more »
I think I might lean towards starting Tristan in this series. Make them guard big, put Horford out of his comfort zone, and get one of their shooters off the floor. I’m not sure if I would rather take J.R. or Kyle out for Tristan. I’d lean towards bringing Kyle off the bench. This isn’t a lineup to take down the Warriors, but Lue needs to match Horford with Tristan as much as possible. Bringing Kyle off the bench makes the Celtics second unit less physical. They can’t matchup Baynes with Love and Kyle on the floor during the brief… Read more »
Might need to start TT, but I suppose that will get Boston to start Baynes.
I would rather see Baynes than Brown out there.
I expect Morris would be the guy who sits. Brown can give a decent effort against James and make him work a bit more than Morris on the other end. I don’t know if he would be as solid defensively on James though.
Yes, Baynes in place of Morris.
Horford won’t guard TT though. Expect Baynes would quickly be inserted to shut down TT o boards. It would like you said take out Morris in all likelihood. Expect against TT the Celtics would employ their Rozier, Brown, Tatum, Horford, Baynes lineup. Would likely allow for some easy iso drives if Baynes gets switched onto LBJ though. Celtics help and recover well though.
By starting TT, you force Tatum or Brown to check LeBron.
Horford would still check Love, but TT would check Horford freeing Love from primary PnR defense. I want TT in Horford’s head.
The game is then put more into Rozier’ s hands. Fine with me, despite how surprisingly effective he has been.
If TT is starting, I think Stevens will start Baynes.
I would 100% agree with you if not for Lue. He got depantsed Sunday. Lebron has to Overcome the Celtics’ and Lue’s baffling preference for Clarkson and Green.
I didn’t see anything to suggest that the Cavs couldn’t do better on offense, but the Celtics also pretty much scored at will against the Cavs and did a good job controlling tempo. Cavs had I believe the 3rd best offensive rating after ASB but they were also something like 21st or 22nd defensive rating team and their offensive/defensive plus-minus was around +3 which is not bad, but certainly nothing like elite. It’s the points differential you would expect from a team that wins 45 games over a season. You still only get the ball every other time, and if… Read more »
+1. For Celtics to win, Lebron has to repeat this performance 3 more tiimes, not happening.
the Celtics played a great game on both ends, but also thought things were going extremely well for them playing at home, more of a ‘home cooking’ type of game, where all their guys were hitting shots….playoff games aren’t consistent and things change game to game, Cavs will figure something out and possibly switch up rotations and find a win, this Celtics team isn’t that much better. Their 2nd and 3rd quarters weren’t very good, and the latter quarter the Cavs started to bite back at deficit. Cavs have to come out strong to start the game against these young… Read more »
The Celtics keep surprising me, even though it should be clear by now that they present the Cavs with a serious challenge. Still don’t think they have enough to beat the Cavs, but I can see this going 7 games. Beginning with next year, I think the Celtics might have the start of a potential dynasty once they Gordon and Kyrie are back in action (plus perhaps another good draft pick). Maybe . . .
On paper. Will be interesting to see how their two stars, one of which is crazy ball dominant are integrated back into an offense that is very balanced. Hayward fits great. Kyrie, maybe not as much, but they need a guy that can do what he does in the playoffs. They also will take a big hit defensively with those two instead of Rozier and Brown, or Rozier and Tatum in the starters.
Good points. Fit will be key.
Perfectly done “not a recap”. No need to extend yourself in reviewing such a crap performance. LeBron’s basketball intelligence/memory is uncanny (I think you meant tactician), and he will need to sit down with Lue/coaches and come up with a better plan for tomorrow. The rotations by Lue were bad, and the 4th quarter intro lineup of JC, Hood, Green, TT and LeBron was a head scratcher. I think it’s time for JC to find a nice comfy cushion and use it as he should be glued to the bench. I don’t think he has the intelligence to make him… Read more »
I did mean tactician, already fixed. Thanks JRL.
Sure ;)
And I’m with you on the game, this was more of a Cavs’ loss than a Celtics’ win. They really didn’t do anything amazing now did they play that physical as Indy.
Cavs just didn’t have a glow to their offense, even when getting wide open looks they missed. I’m hoping the ring rust is gone by tomorrow.
an outlier? maybe. but too many don’t give Celtics credit – they are 100% better team w/ 200% better coaching. I expect Celtics to win the series unless Bron just shows up every game w/ 40+ pts w/ 10+ assists and at least 2 other players get in double digits .. Celtics offense can be stopped if Cavs play tough 48 min. But when do they do that? Lue consistently gets outcoached and out prepared by opposing coach. sad but true. having Green, TT, Hood, Bron out there on the 4th was a killer. prob would have lost any way… Read more »
Maybe so, but they haven’t beaten an experienced playoff team over the course of seven games yet. If the Cavs made even three more three pointers before the deficit was at 14 it would have been a 5 point game instead and they would have STILL only shot 27%… Dynamics change when games are closer. And I expect LeBron to win the close ones. Wasn’t a pretty game, to be sure, but I’m not ready to toss my hat in the ring because this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of a basketball team blew the first game the same way… Read more »
They don’t have a star, but boy do they have a lot of weapons, more than Indy. Reminds me of the 60 win Atlanta team with one huge and crucial difference. While Atl basically had Jeff Teague and Milsap to create offense from nothing, Tatum, Brown, Rozier, and even Horford against love can create for themselves. Heck even smart bulled his way to the hoop. You look at Tatum, Brown, Horford (the way he is playing), and even Rozier and they have four guys who are better than Indy’s second best guy. Tatum probably could average 20 these playoffs. Maybe… Read more »
Yeah, you’re right. They have plenty of reliable/able players who will constantly give you 15+ points.
Unfortunately we have streaky shooters and a coach unwilling to change his rotations once his mind is made.