The Celtics have won 5 of them.
Let me just ask you this.
Have you said to yourself, “Damn, the Celts are struggling against the Heat zone again?”
Brad had one goal this summer, and that was to eliminate the threat of teams just like MIA.
That may have been then, but this is now.
No, nothing we see from October to April will guarantee anything come the Spring.
That’s not really what this is about and anyone who suggests otherwise is full of shit.
Every time the Celts play the Heat, it’s one of those opportunities, regardless of the outcome.
It’s not a situation where only the wins matter and the losses don’t.
If the Celts come out and play like shit against this team, it matters.
If they come out and blow doors like we’ve seen so far this year, that matters.
Who knows what the future holds, but man does the present feel pretty fucking good.
The Good
- I’ve played this video a bunch and guess what?
I’m going to continue to do it whenever these two teams play.
Al wasn’t really pulling out jumpers, and we certainly no Rob wasn’t.
This is the answer to the MIA puzzle.
And yeah, I’m nervous as shit about his rolled ankle.
Who wouldn’t be?
From the roster Brad built, to how Joe is coaching it, to how the players are executing.
No mental breakdowns, no scoring droughts, no careless basketball.
The reason things may feel different this time around?
There was no disappearing.
If he’s locked in and ready to go, everyone else will follow.
22/8/5 in the first win, 26/8/4 in the second win.
Just like with KP, the Heat haven’t really had an answer for Tatum either.
- The thing is, Tatum sort of always kills everyone he plays.
That’s why he is who he is.
There’s no way to spin it, the ECF was the worst series of his career.
I didn’t even mind his 3 TOs, because they all came from trying to create for others.
It wasn’t like the ECF where we saw decision making and dribbling issues.
I can live with what we got last night.
I don’t love it, but I can live with it.
The shooting is whatever to me too.
I know Jaylen can shoot.
I continue to be impressed with how he’s passing the ball in these matchups.
You don’t need to force a shot over 3 defenders, just lob it to the center.
- I’m just going to say this.
The weird anti-Joe losers won’t want to acknowledge this, but the proof is in the pudding.
They are too small.
Jrue and Derrick got pretty much whatever they wanted.
I’d say 37 points on 13-20 (6-13) with 11 AST and only 4 TOs qualifies.
Given their offensive issues in the halfcourt, they thrive on transition baskets and points off TOs.
The Celts shut both of those options off last night and it made all the difference in the world.
- Great showings from Luke Kornet and Pritchard off the bench too.
It happened and we all saw it.
The Celts never had a quarter under 30 points!
- Shoutout to dominating a 3rd quarter.
Crazy what can happen when this team doesn’t poop their pants coming out of the break.
Good shots, no turnovers, and stops.
You get into the final 2 minutes of a quarter, that is what I want to see.
The Bad
- I’ve already said 15 prayers for KP’s ankle.
I suggest you do the same.
If you wonder why Tatum hangs on the rim, plays like this are why.
This could have been disastrous and was entirely avoidable.
I mean seriously, what the hell.
Some of the fakest shit you’ll ever see in the history of the NBA.
Guy was shooting like 78% on contested 3PA over a 7 game series.
- Didn’t really love allowing 64 points on 54/43% splits in the first half.
The Celts benefitted from extremely hot shooting, but that’s not always going to be the case.
There weren’t a whole lot of things to put in this section after an ass kicking like this.
How about the first goddamn play of the game?
I mean on some level you do have to laugh a little bit.
The very first play and we immediately get the Celts with a broken brain basketball play.
You couldn’t script it any better.
If the Celts play like they did last night, I think that’s easily on the table.
