{~}Official 2023/2024 NBA Thread - 2024 NBA Champs Boston Celtics Boston vs Dallas (4-1) {~}
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I’m pretty sure he is. Kawhi too.
They playing good. Youth caught up with them.
Why would any Celtics fan leave that game early? Horrible fanbase.
Who dis?Fuckin Indiana Dickheads.
Should be.
Pacers are a great team.
10 takeaways from tonight in the NBA:
1) Pacers are gonna be kicking themselves all night. They had this game won multiple times but the turnovers were killer. You can't turn the ball over 21 times in Boston and expect to win. Actually check that, they still shoulda won LOL. Fourteen of those TO's were after halftime. They averaged 12.9 in the regular season. I'd go through each big turnover if I had the time but we'd be here all night. The Haliburton ones at halfcourt though. The Nembhard one... Ok, I gotta stop.
2) WHY DON'T YOU FOUL UP THREE?!!?!HSKHS. We ask the same question every time a team makes a three to send a game to OT. I mean, LeBron and JJ just talked about this in depth on episode 7 of Mind the Game. Carlisle said that he told the team to foul (I don't believe him) before the Jaylen Brown three but there wasn't an opportunity.
Anyway, salute to you. Shot was insane. Don't tell that to him though. He looked like the Celts just lost by double figures.
"Yes, but [Brown] caught the ball, and he was face-up, Pascal decided to lay off - which was, I understand. That’s probably the right decision, you don’t want to give up a four-point play." - Rick Carlisle on not fouling
"And yall still wanna know why I would foul up 3 EVERY SINGLE TIME??" - LeBron James
3) The clutch Tatum memes filled my timeline before overtime began. You don't understand how brutal the next couple of days were gonna be for him if he didn't get those five extra minutes to change the narrative. He scored 10 points in OT, the most for any player in a playoff game since 2021. If Brown doesn't hit that three, all people talk about is Tatum going 2-7 in the fourth. Taking a fadeaway jumper near the free throw line with 14 seconds left down three?
"He just plays with a level of poise and comfort knowing that the next one will go." - Joe Mazzulla on Tatum's ability to hit big shots despite a quiet fourth quarter
4) And this is why you trade for Jrue. By far, his best game as a Celtic. Scored a season-high 28 points on 78.8 TS% and added 8 assists and 7 rebounds. Thought they would hunt mismatches and they did. His eyes lit up any time he had Hali on him and Hali's eyes teared up any time he had Jrue on him. It was almost disrespectful. Jrue locked him the freak up, especially in the fourth and overtime.
“Just continue to be aggressive, continuing to work on my game, continuing to have my coaches and my teammates in my ear, telling me they’re going to need me. Just being aggressive.” - Jrue Holiday
“[Jrue Holiday] is the best defender in the NBA and has been for a long time… I’ll learn from it and I’ll be better in Game 2.” - Tyrese Haliburton
5) I get it. Boston hasn't been giving up many free throws in the playoffs but this is crazy.
Free throw attempts in regulation:
Celtics - 23
Pacers - 3
Almost felt like a Lakers game. I know I said it already but Indy seriously had this game. You turn the ball over 21 times, you're outscored from the free-throw line by 15, and lose by five in OT?
Speaking of free throws, what's up with Jaylen Brown shooting 61.5% from the line this postseason? Was 5-8 tonight.
6) These were the two best playoff offenses coming into tonight and it showed. First time ever in a Conference Finals Game 1 that both teams scored 60+ in the first half. Thought the Celtics defense might be able to slow down the Pacers some but nah, not this version. Pacers lost with 38 assists!!! You're not supposed to lose with 38 assists. They're a problem for Boston.
Maybe the Celtics get some help soon. Sounds like Kristaps is targeting a Game 4 return according to Woj.
“The Pacers came out and played extremely well… We just gotta match their intensity. We got to be the harder-playing team.” - Jaylen Brown
7) The Al Horford experience was a trip. In the first half, I thought Mazzulla was gonna have to match his minutes with Myles Turner cause Turner was cooking Luke Kornet. In the second half, the Pacers targeted the sh*t outta Horford and the Celtics’ drop coverage. First, the Cavs picked on him, and now the Pacers. Poor Al can't get that bullseye off his back.
Also, like Cleveland, Indy played the "leave Al Horford open" game which was kinda surprising. That's not really their style but it worked. He was 3-of-12 from three. He averaged more wide-open threes than anyone else in the Conference Semifinals and that doesn't look like it's changing anytime soon.
"I felt like I had really good looks and I have to continue to stay locked in. Just happy overall that we were able to find a way to get this win." - Al Horford
8) One of the bigger questions I had was if we’d see another slow start for Tyrese Haliburton (25 points, 10 assists). He had his lowest usage in both Game 1's against Milwaukee (11.3%) and New York (11.6%). Thought it was like a feeling out thing for him. Ugh, now I got myself missing Floyd Mayweather Jr. fights but I digress. His usage was at 22.2% tonight so no, not crazy low like previous Game 1's but you'd still like to see it a bit higher. Maybe I'm just being greedy.
“That’s not on him. … I had two bad turnovers that I feel like cost us the game. … I understand he’s protecting us… but I’ll take that more than he should.” - Haliburton on Carlisle taking the blame
9) I'll close this game out on a couple things I couldn't stop laughing at.
* Payton Pritchard vs T.J. McConnell might be the greatest and most annoying matchup I've ever seen. It was obvious that Pritchard knew the stakes. He was oozing so much emotion.
* Jalen Smith made a rare rotation appearance for the first time since Game 1 against Milwaukee (not counting garbage time). That experiment lasted 25 seconds after Horford bodied him down low. He was never seen again.
Celtics somehow beat the Pacers 133-128 in overtime.
"That shit was chaos. That shit was wild. But, just stay present, stay in the moment. As long as there’s time still on the clock and the game is in reach, we feel like we have a chance." - Jayson Tatum
10) The 2023-24 NBA All-Defensive teams were announced earlier today.
First team: Rudy Gobert, Victor Wembanyama, Bam Adebayo, Anthony Davis, Herb Jones
Second team: Alex Caruso, Jrue Holiday, Jaden McDaniels, Jalen Suggs, Derrick White
Postionless voting has turned this into bigs vs smalls. Shoulda been expected but still kinda weird to see. Wemby completely breaks the mold…
*First rookie to make an All-Defensive First Team
*Youngest to make any All-Defensive team
*First player to make a First-Team on a bottom 10 defense since the stats have been tracked
Domantas Sabonis received a first-place vote. Gotta be the same person who gave him a DPOY and MVP vote, yeah? RELEASE THE NAMES.
1) Pacers are gonna be kicking themselves all night. They had this game won multiple times but the turnovers were killer. You can't turn the ball over 21 times in Boston and expect to win. Actually check that, they still shoulda won LOL. Fourteen of those TO's were after halftime. They averaged 12.9 in the regular season. I'd go through each big turnover if I had the time but we'd be here all night. The Haliburton ones at halfcourt though. The Nembhard one... Ok, I gotta stop.
2) WHY DON'T YOU FOUL UP THREE?!!?!HSKHS. We ask the same question every time a team makes a three to send a game to OT. I mean, LeBron and JJ just talked about this in depth on episode 7 of Mind the Game. Carlisle said that he told the team to foul (I don't believe him) before the Jaylen Brown three but there wasn't an opportunity.
Anyway, salute to you. Shot was insane. Don't tell that to him though. He looked like the Celts just lost by double figures.
"Yes, but [Brown] caught the ball, and he was face-up, Pascal decided to lay off - which was, I understand. That’s probably the right decision, you don’t want to give up a four-point play." - Rick Carlisle on not fouling
"And yall still wanna know why I would foul up 3 EVERY SINGLE TIME??" - LeBron James
3) The clutch Tatum memes filled my timeline before overtime began. You don't understand how brutal the next couple of days were gonna be for him if he didn't get those five extra minutes to change the narrative. He scored 10 points in OT, the most for any player in a playoff game since 2021. If Brown doesn't hit that three, all people talk about is Tatum going 2-7 in the fourth. Taking a fadeaway jumper near the free throw line with 14 seconds left down three?
"He just plays with a level of poise and comfort knowing that the next one will go." - Joe Mazzulla on Tatum's ability to hit big shots despite a quiet fourth quarter
4) And this is why you trade for Jrue. By far, his best game as a Celtic. Scored a season-high 28 points on 78.8 TS% and added 8 assists and 7 rebounds. Thought they would hunt mismatches and they did. His eyes lit up any time he had Hali on him and Hali's eyes teared up any time he had Jrue on him. It was almost disrespectful. Jrue locked him the freak up, especially in the fourth and overtime.
“Just continue to be aggressive, continuing to work on my game, continuing to have my coaches and my teammates in my ear, telling me they’re going to need me. Just being aggressive.” - Jrue Holiday
“[Jrue Holiday] is the best defender in the NBA and has been for a long time… I’ll learn from it and I’ll be better in Game 2.” - Tyrese Haliburton
5) I get it. Boston hasn't been giving up many free throws in the playoffs but this is crazy.
Free throw attempts in regulation:
Celtics - 23
Pacers - 3
Almost felt like a Lakers game. I know I said it already but Indy seriously had this game. You turn the ball over 21 times, you're outscored from the free-throw line by 15, and lose by five in OT?
Speaking of free throws, what's up with Jaylen Brown shooting 61.5% from the line this postseason? Was 5-8 tonight.
6) These were the two best playoff offenses coming into tonight and it showed. First time ever in a Conference Finals Game 1 that both teams scored 60+ in the first half. Thought the Celtics defense might be able to slow down the Pacers some but nah, not this version. Pacers lost with 38 assists!!! You're not supposed to lose with 38 assists. They're a problem for Boston.
Maybe the Celtics get some help soon. Sounds like Kristaps is targeting a Game 4 return according to Woj.
“The Pacers came out and played extremely well… We just gotta match their intensity. We got to be the harder-playing team.” - Jaylen Brown
7) The Al Horford experience was a trip. In the first half, I thought Mazzulla was gonna have to match his minutes with Myles Turner cause Turner was cooking Luke Kornet. In the second half, the Pacers targeted the sh*t outta Horford and the Celtics’ drop coverage. First, the Cavs picked on him, and now the Pacers. Poor Al can't get that bullseye off his back.
Also, like Cleveland, Indy played the "leave Al Horford open" game which was kinda surprising. That's not really their style but it worked. He was 3-of-12 from three. He averaged more wide-open threes than anyone else in the Conference Semifinals and that doesn't look like it's changing anytime soon.
"I felt like I had really good looks and I have to continue to stay locked in. Just happy overall that we were able to find a way to get this win." - Al Horford
8) One of the bigger questions I had was if we’d see another slow start for Tyrese Haliburton (25 points, 10 assists). He had his lowest usage in both Game 1's against Milwaukee (11.3%) and New York (11.6%). Thought it was like a feeling out thing for him. Ugh, now I got myself missing Floyd Mayweather Jr. fights but I digress. His usage was at 22.2% tonight so no, not crazy low like previous Game 1's but you'd still like to see it a bit higher. Maybe I'm just being greedy.
“That’s not on him. … I had two bad turnovers that I feel like cost us the game. … I understand he’s protecting us… but I’ll take that more than he should.” - Haliburton on Carlisle taking the blame
9) I'll close this game out on a couple things I couldn't stop laughing at.
* Payton Pritchard vs T.J. McConnell might be the greatest and most annoying matchup I've ever seen. It was obvious that Pritchard knew the stakes. He was oozing so much emotion.
* Jalen Smith made a rare rotation appearance for the first time since Game 1 against Milwaukee (not counting garbage time). That experiment lasted 25 seconds after Horford bodied him down low. He was never seen again.
Celtics somehow beat the Pacers 133-128 in overtime.
"That shit was chaos. That shit was wild. But, just stay present, stay in the moment. As long as there’s time still on the clock and the game is in reach, we feel like we have a chance." - Jayson Tatum
10) The 2023-24 NBA All-Defensive teams were announced earlier today.
First team: Rudy Gobert, Victor Wembanyama, Bam Adebayo, Anthony Davis, Herb Jones
Second team: Alex Caruso, Jrue Holiday, Jaden McDaniels, Jalen Suggs, Derrick White
Postionless voting has turned this into bigs vs smalls. Shoulda been expected but still kinda weird to see. Wemby completely breaks the mold…
*First rookie to make an All-Defensive First Team
*Youngest to make any All-Defensive team
*First player to make a First-Team on a bottom 10 defense since the stats have been tracked
Domantas Sabonis received a first-place vote. Gotta be the same person who gave him a DPOY and MVP vote, yeah? RELEASE THE NAMES.
NBA dying for another dynasty. 6 different champions in 6 years is killing them. I love it. I wish it was this way growing up. Dynasties are only good for fans of that team.
Exactly this is why I love the parody of the NBA right now. I’m going to miss the Golden State Dynasty but at the same time, I’m glad the wealth is getting spread around.
They hurting without Lebron lol.