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- [00:00]
A
Today is Friday, May 1, and this is Celtics beat on CLNS Media, the leading online provider of audio video coverage of the Boston Celtics. I'm adam Kaufman. Episode 674 features Barstool Sports. Dan Greenberg.
- [00:14]
B
And I'm Evan Valenti. And today's show is powered by Prize Picks and Rocket Money. Prize Picks is the official daily fantasy partner of CLNS Media. Download the app today, use the promo code CLNS and get $50 in lineups when you play, $5. And sign up for Rocket Money today at RocketMoney.com BBP.
- [00:45]
A
Well, hey everybody, welcome in. It's a new edition of Celtics feed. Adam Compton, Evan Valenti, we're always here with you. We've got our good friend from Barstool Sports who's been blogging up the sports storm, Dan Greenberg here.
- [00:55]
C
For what?
- [00:55]
A
Guys, I think just kind of needs to be a therapy session more than anything else as the Celtics and Sixers head to a game seven in their first round playoff series of playoffs that so far across the NBA has been a little wacky, a little wonky, little bonkers. We can get to that maybe a little bit later on depending on how much time we have. But really this show and we thank you for being with us, obviously. Rate, review subscribe to the podcast, the audio version wherever you get your podcast or video if you want to see our occasionally smiling faces.
- [01:30]
B
Yeah, you can see how miserable we are this morning.
- [01:32]
A
Yeah, we'll try and crack a smile here on, on this particular episode. But subscribe to the CLNS media page on YouTube. You can find us specifically on the all access page along with a lot of other great Celtics content. Guys, this is kind of a. Well, really, I, I have Evan's health in mind when we scheduled this show, Dan, and the reason for that is Ev has a tendency to be driven to drink by this team and, and I, and I thought, you know what, he's not gonna day drink at work on a Friday. So let's, let's do it during the day as opposed to late at night to provide any sort of a strike stupor that this team may have put Ev in. I don't know who the first person in the, I don't know, like phrases, trends, what like everything kind of take on a life of themselves. I want to know who the first person that used the phrase belt to ass was, but that's exactly what we have seen. Not just game six, but game five as well. This series is rapidly falling apart on the Boston Celtics. Guys, we get jokers thinking about it. You would be hard pressed, definitely in my Twitter mentions. And I can only imagine what it looks like for both of you. You especially Greenie. Not a lot of people think Boston's gonna win this series. Right? Now, what is your temperature check? What's your panic meter at?
- [03:02]
C
I mean, if. What's the scale? Are we going 1 to 10? DEFCON 5? What's the highest DEFCON? Is it DEFCON 1 or DEFCON 5?
- [03:13]
B
No.
- [03:13]
A
Here's your scale. The scale's not a number. Here's your scale. The scale is one. Watch out. We're coming for you, Oklahoma City. And 10 is. Well, I. I guess they should have tanked for lotto balls because we could be talking about AJ debona right now.
- [03:35]
C
Okay. All right. So that's a pretty big. In that big scale, maybe I'm like a five. I don't think they should have tanked, obviously, but still, a very, very winnable
- [03:48]
A
series is what you're saying.
- [03:50]
C
Yeah, it's just like, what version are they gonna get? Like, the team that we've seen the last two and a half games or whatever? Like, that team is a lottery team, right? Like, they. They haven't played that poorly all year. So if that's the team that we're going to see on Saturday, they're going to get blown out by 20 plus points. If you're telling me they can be the team that we've seen all year and played at their level, I'm very confident that they'll win game seven. The issue is they've now lost the benefit of the doubt, given how they've treated these last two closeout games. You can. I don't think you can no longer say, hey, it's game seven at home. They've had clunkers. They'll bounce back. Like, they've had two opportunities to bounce back, and they have failed in both of them. Like, that has to matter when you're thinking of looking at them in the big picture.
- [04:46]
B
Yeah, it's. It's a sobering morning this morning. You know, coming off the three to one series lead, you're thinking, all right, great. This is just. Just, hey, the Celtics have their normal game two hiccup at home. They go on the road, they right the ship, and they'll finish this thing off in five. Now here we are. My panic level is a little bit further along toward the other side. I think I'm more of like a 6 or a 7. Just because what you're seeing from this team at this moment means there are some Significant issues with it. The rebounding thing, that was their pride and joy all year long. The gain, the possession battle, focus on that. That has gone away. The biggest problem that Kaufmann and I had at the beginning of the season of the Celtics big man rotation is. Doesn't look great on paper, but proved us wrong in the regular season. That's becoming a huge problem. The guys that you rely on, the Derek Whites of the world, the Peyton Pritchards of the world, like some of that's not going very well. Peyton is a very obvious exception here. The depth that was so much fun hasn't emerged at all. Love to know why I'm going Kaufman. I'm going all the way back to my preseason takeoff. This is a big. This is a big season for Joe Missoula. This is a big game for Joe Missoula. I think he's been out coached.
- [06:08]
C
Let me ask you something about that. We're going to hear that a lot. Out coached, out coached. Like, sure. What I don't know. Every time the Celtics players underperform and underachieve. How do you dictate the balance of. Is this just like, you know, if he's. If the offense is generating good looks or they're missing free throws or they're careless with the ball, like at some point every time the Celtics lose. I don't think you can just say he's been out coached. I think he's had flaws and issues in this series, like, you know, his sub patterns relying, you know, being too stubborn on his. In his starting lineup choices. But like, I don't think Nick Nurse is doing anything that's like they can't have a solve for it. I just think the players aren't living up to their end of like they scored 106 points last night. Like, that's not. Oh man, Nick Nurse is coaching circles around Joe Missoula. It's just a combination of just everyone kind of shitting their pants at the wrong time. Yeah.
- [07:10]
B
But in that regard, though, it's not like Billy shot the lights out. They could have won that game by a significant bigger margin if it wasn't for the stay ready group bringing that close and bringing it back to respectable. See, my biggest issue with Missoula in the series has been a reliance on just the same old stuff. Like, I mean, I don't understand why Peyton Pritchard doesn't start the third quarter after all the positive numbers that we have on him being on the floor in this series. I don't understand the reliance on Sam Houser. And whatever the hell is happening with him. I mean, he's not even attempting a bunch of shots. It's not like he has a ton of confidence in them. I am not going to take Derrick White off the floor because I value the defense so much. But, like, there's a Baylor Scheiman to be played more. There's a Jordan Walsh that should be playing more because at least that guy can cover a guy like Tyrese Maxey and a guy like Paul George if he needs to. Baylor gives them more as a rebounder, as a ball mover and just seems to have a little more confidence in his shot than Sam Houser right now.
- [08:15]
C
And.
- [08:16]
B
And Payton Pritchard. ISO is the only ISO that seems to be working in this moment. So it's like, you know, I hear you on the. Like, it has to be like he. Joe. Joe Missoula's not in the floor, you know, dribbling into double teams. Like Jaylen Brown's right is right now and, you know, getting six turnovers a game. In that. In that respect, Green, you are right. This is on the players, but it's also on Missoula too.
- [08:39]
C
Oh, definitely. I just think the, the phrasing. It's not that he's getting out coached. It's that he's failing in his responsibility and decision making as a coach. Right. You know what I mean?
- [08:51]
B
Well, so how is that.
- [08:52]
C
But they're out coaching. Like, like the opposition is just having. Has such a crazy game plan that, like, you know, it's insolvable that even if the Celtics play well, they can't figure it out. That to me, is out coaching. I look at this more as him just failing in his execution as the coach. That's not. It's like he's underachieving as a coach. Not Nick Nurse is coaching circles around him because, like, Nick Nurse isn't doing anything. You know, he's only playing eight guys. It's not like he's got crazy rotation voodoo and, you know, strategy. They're just, you know, they're playing sort of. I mean, they didn't even. Like you said, they didn't even really play that well yesterday. So I look at it more as a coaching failure as opposed to he's getting out coat. Like, same thing with like, you know, I don't know, maybe it's semantics and we're saying the same thing. I just, it's one of my triggers that and like quote unquote adjustments, like, trigger me because it's like at some point execution matters. More than, than anything else.
- [10:01]
A
So you both hit on things that I want to touch on here and we can go in whatever order. But I thought it was interesting because in both cases I, I didn't listen to live post game commentary last night, radio or tv, but I did check back on some of it earlier today and the immediate aftermath, the immediate responses to the loss sort of spoke to each of the things that you guys brought up on the radio I heard. Not that this was the entire conversation, but this was one of the starting points. It was Joe Missoula's job should be on the line if they lose a Game 7 at home in this playoff run after previously doing so, which I think is very strong. Again, Joe Missoula is not the one not making open threes. Joe Missoula is not the one failing to shoot 60 from the free throw line over the last two games, which is what this team is doing. There is an execution component that this team is obviously not delivering upon. Even if you do disagree with some of the rotation sub patterns, you know, the fact that Vucevich is ever seeing the floor, some of these different things that we have touched on. The other part that Ev alluded to there, I thought scalp brought up on post game pretty quickly on post game on NBC Sports Boston. I, I thought this was just an interesting thing to consider. I don't know that I fully agree because it's just not realistic, but it's interesting to talk about. They both felt the way you win in this league and most especially the way this team has won this year is on the margins with that stay ready group, with those bench guys, the depth guys, the energy guys that they conceded, they said, listen, generally those guys don't play a lot in the playoffs. The rotations tighten up, you try and win with your stars and that's just what it is. But I guess I would ask, does it have to be? Does it have to be what it is? You know, we said to Ev's point, that bench unit, when the game was effectively over, came in last night, made the final score marginally more respectable. I mean, to the point where even with five, six minutes left, one of my kids is sitting next to me on the couch, like, I think they can win this game. I'm going, they definitely cannot win this game. The Sixers know this game is in the bag. It's all set. Celtics have already waved the white flag. Doesn't matter. Like Tatum Brown, these guys, they're not coming back in. It's over. Should we be seeing though more of the guys that got you there along the way. That doesn't mean all of a sudden, I mean, like Shireman and, and Walsh and, you know, guys like that should be playing, you know, 30 minutes in this game, but should we be seeing, I don't know, more balanced playing? I. Maybe a 10, 11 man rotation versus your typical eight, nine, you know, of, of. Of real, actual rotational minutes here in this game 7. If it seems like Tatum is not at full health, we can get there. Who knows if he's even going to play. And if Jalen Brown, who is having a generally terrible series, can't give you what he needs to give you, Derrick White can't hit a shot. I mean, I've just talked about it. It's. It's the Peyton Pritchard show whenever available. And everyone else is just trying to figure it out. This has been a weird series. Celtics have had two blowout wins and a close win. The Sixers have had now multiple blowout wins and a close win. I don't know what the hell we're going to get in game seven, but I do wonder if breaking from the norm and expanding your bench a little bit is the right way to go.
- [14:00]
C
You know, it's. It's fascinating. And I was actually thinking about this last night too. Right? Because like you said, this isn't just like a Missoula thing. Every team across the entire playoffs goes to, you know, a seven, eight man rotation in the postseason. That's just the default thing that every team does. But when you look at what made this team so good, it was the fact that they had that sort of mix and match. And right away, if someone didn't have it, what did we praise all year long for is that they were pressing the right buttons. If this guy wasn't going to defensive rebound, he got yanked and they put in someone who would. And that energy and chaos is what kept everybody engaged. And it's what helped them overcome their shooting droughts because they were the high energy and high effort guys. And it's like you get to the playoffs and you have that first game where maybe that, you know, did more harm than good in terms of how they view what the rotation should be. And because when the normal rotation guys are having down periods or not producing, you haven't seen those same buttons be pressed that we saw during the year. And it's easy to say in hindsight, right? But like, you could have learned that after game two. So it's not even like we're only saying this after game six. It's like you saw the struggles in game two, even in the game they won in game three, I don't think they play particularly well. They barely scored over 100 points. So it's like, that's where I think the frustration comes, is like you're getting, you want to like, not only did you see this in the Knicks series, right? That was a unique, weird Porzingis situation. Mystery illness. You want to get a mulligan on that? Fine. But the idea is you learned from that situation. And then you have an entire year where you're not beholden to any sort of lineup or role or rotation. And then you get into the playoffs, you're getting the same type of disappearing act from your rotation players that you got in the Knicks series, but you've just refused to. And listen, 10 minutes of Ugo and 10 minutes of Baylor isn't going to overcome your best players not playing to their standard. But what it can do is maybe mitigate the, the stretches where you're just stuck in mud and you're, you know, maybe they have a high momentum steal or defensive play that helps you get an easy basket. And that's what breaks the water. You know, that's what breaks the drought. And you get over it. You're not seeing that. Instead you're, you're leaving players in who are getting killed on both ends of the floor. And now you're at a position where you're one bad quarter away from your season being over because it feels like you didn't utilize the very thing that made you so strong during the regular season.
- [17:00]
B
Yeah, that's, that's perfect.
- [17:01]
D
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- [17:33]
B
That is the. Because it's like you have to learn from your mistakes in life. You have to learn how adversity hits you in the face. And like you said, there was the built in excuse. I used it all season with Knicks fans in my mansions. Like, oh, well, you know, Porzingis was like dead. Jalen's on one one leg and Tatum got hurt in the middle of game. Game four. Like okay. This time they're as healthy as they. You could have possibly imagined with this team. I mean, outside of some mysterious Derrick White thing coming out at the end of the year, there is. This was the highest possible end outcome in terms of injuries this season. So you don't have that excuse. I just for me to look at what got you there, what got you to the two seed. And I understand you want to tighten things up, but with this particular rotation of guys, like, I. I mean, how much I get the idea of, like, you have to have a big guy on Embiid to maybe try and slow him down, but I don't know how many times I have to watch Tyrese Maxey look at Nicola Vucevic on the floor and just say, that guy come here and get to the basket. Or they find something out of that. I. It just. It's driving me crazy. The May Escada, I don't know what happened to that guy. I'm not sure where his brain is. But for him to be in foul trouble every single game is killing me. This Luca Garza thing. I mean, again, having a big body out there, whatever. And now look, if the mandate is. And if the mandate is we're not playing Tatum at the 5, we're not doing that. We're not making Tatum the biggest guy in the floor and putting four shooters down because he's coming off an Achilles injury. If that's the mandate, then I get it. But there. There he has. Joe Missoula has to have more. More tools in the tool bag here as we go into, like, this is a do or die situation. I better see some serious stuff Saturday night. If things are going as poorly as they have, especially in the past two second halves of these past two games, they've been. I mean, Greeny, what's it been? The worst two quarters of the entire season?
- [19:41]
C
Two of the three worst quarters of the entire season. Obviously, the 11 point fourth quarter in game five was the lowest point total of the year. And the 14 point quarter tied the third lowest, which also came on opening night against the Sixers in another loss. Can't do it. You can't have you. So this is what I mean, right? Like, how do we assert blame here? Because it's like, it's everything. Like, you can't. I can't just sit here and say, oh, well, if the Celtics just like, you know, met a pick and roll at the level, then they wouldn't. You know, it's like.
- [20:19]
B
Or if.
- [20:19]
C
If BAYLOR Shireman played 20 minutes instead of 11 minutes. None of this happens. Like, at the end of the day, what we're just seeing these last two playoff runs is like, collectively, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. And you've played the worst basketball at the worst possible time. Like, at some point, it's like everyone's to blame. You know, it's like, I look at Jaylen Brown, you want to be the best player, best guy, top five, mvp. Like, where are you in these, in this series, playing to that level? You know what I mean? Like, that comes with a certain baseline of expectation and production, and you have not played that way. Derrick White hasn't made a jumper this entire playoffs, and he's not really giving you all that much defensively. So it's like, as much as everyone wants to rave about impact metrics and advanced metrics and bpm, at the end of the day, you need to make shots. When you're the safety valve and you're the, you know, break glass and cage of emergencies. If the Jays are struggling but you're shooting 20% from the field, like, what good. What good does your advanced metric production give you? Like, that doesn't help me, you know, and it's just. It's just everything all at once. And it's. It's almost comical because, you know, they missed 32 threes in game two, which is the second most in franchise history. They missed 14 straight shots in Game 5 in the fourth quarter, all of which were twos. So it's not even like they were just spamming threes. They made the quote unquote adjustment and attacked the paint and took twos in the fourth quarter, but they didn't execute. It's the same we saw against the knicks in game two in the fourth quarter, down the stretch, where eight, where their last 10 shots were twos, and they went one for eight in the paint. So it's like you're not executing. Your approach is wrong. Your. Your stars aren't producing, you're not utilizing the bench you're getting. You know, you're putting yourself in positions where you're searching for home run plays as opposed to just staying the course. And I think that's where we see this team get into trouble, right? They have a little bit of a drought. The other team, whether it's through turnovers or missed free throws, like, you can feel the tension build. The opponent goes on a little bit of a run, then they start trying to buy it all back. On one possession, they miss those threes, and it snowballs like that was what happened against the Knicks and it's what happened in every loss so far of this series.
- [22:52]
A
Let's take quick break today. Today's show is powered by Prize Picks. The playoff push. It's heating up. There is no better way to cash in if you're right on the high flying hoops action than prize picks, America's number one sports picks app. Every bucket, every dime, every win. It means more when you are playing on prize picks and with their brand new team picks markets you can now pick game winners, spreads, totals, all of that on top of the player picks that you already of course know. So cash in if you're right during all the clutch buckets and slam dunks this spring with team picks on prize
- [23:30]
B
picks and we've been telling you guys we have a little, little rivalry brewing with the Garden Report, but one of us, we're, we're going to go head to head here on picks throughout the season and one of us has to obviously emerge victorious. Kaufman not shocking to you or me. We both went two and three last week so flex play saved our bacon once again. We love that. And with that in mind we're going to make this quick and efficient. We're back to our flex play Friday today. Aman Cade Cunningham against the magic. More than 40 and a half points, rebounds and assists. He was terrific last game. Absolutely ridiculous. Desmond Bain, more than six and a half field goals made in that game against Detroit. Desmond Bain's been, you know, pretty good most for most of the series. Then Jabari Smith Jr. Who's been great for Houston against the Lakers on Friday night. We're going more than two and a half three points made. He's hit that number Coffin in four, four of the five games so far in that series.
- [24:24]
A
Well Ev, we did use a couple of the same players, albeit different things. Cunningham and Bane. I've got them both in my lineups as well. But both cases three plus made threes over two and a half. Three pointers made for each of these guys which they have done more often than not throughout this series. And what I really like, even without depending on making three three pointers, it's the volume. I want to see guys that are going to be putting up eight to 12 three point tries just to know I've even got a chance. And that's what Cade and Bain are both doing the other the third leg if you will. How about the recently returned Austin Reeves, more than five and a half assists for the Lakers against the Rockets. Reeves played his first game of the series last time out had six looking for him to do that again, maybe even a little bit more. And of course we know how this works. We hit all three. We 3x the money, 2 out of 3 get the money back in the account. It couldn't be any easier than that, Ev.
- [25:23]
B
No, it's not. And look, this doesn't happen to me ever. But let's say your lineup's doing well from the jump and you've maybe got a leg or two already, you know, fulfilled. Before the game's over, check your lineup out. Maybe you can have early payout and this never happens to me, so maybe it'll happen to you. But you can, you can look at your lineup and maybe again, if things are going well, you'll have that option to cash out early. Hit that button because sometimes it'll save your bacon. I could have done it one time, Kaufman. It didn't work. So download that prize picks app today. Use that code CLNs to get $50 in lineups after you play your first five dollar lineup. Again, that's code CLNs. Get 50 bucks in lineups after you play your 1st $5 lineup.
- [26:06]
A
Back here with Evan Greeny and you know, off of everything you just said, Greenie, I want to pick up there because I, I want to be abundantly clear when I say this going into the year, I think there are a lot of people that again, we didn't know if we'd see Jason Tatum again. Is Jalen Brown capable of leading a team? What are these depth guys going to give you? Yada, yada, yada. Where everybody wondered, Is it a 45 win team? Is it a 25 win team? What's this going to look like going into the year? I think a lot of people would have said, well, maybe not. I, I, I, I'm starting to go against myself in my head. What I was going to say is I think a lot of people would have said, you know, a hard fought, lengthy, competitive first round series. Given everything working against you, no Tatum, like you'll take that. I think a lot of people actually would have not taken that. They would have said, that's NBA purgatory. That's exactly where I don't want to be. That's the worst case scenario. But ignoring that for a moment, people would have looked at it and said, all right, you know, you're kind of these plucky underdogs. You made it work. Maybe you got out of the play in whatever it is. The goal posts have moved dramatically.
- [27:11]
C
Oh yeah, I don't think you can you can have that same.
- [27:15]
A
No, the goal posts have moved. The Celtics were in the ballpark. For all you betting people out there, they were in the ballpark of like minus 900, minus a thousand to win this first round series. Never mind the fact they have owned the Sixers and Joel Embiid regular season and playoffs. It was a foregone conclusion. This series should be maybe a gentleman sweep. I mean, after the first game, it was like, holy crap, this might be an actual sweep. And then, yeah, gentlemen sweep makes sense. They can win the next three. After losing game two, they're certainly going to answer in Philly. You don't lose at home, right? You don't get embarrassed on your home court in day two and you know, game two and not respond. And they do, you know, obviously with. With a couple of. Well, one close, the other, very convincing win in Philadelphia. You're up three to one. It's like, okay, this is what it
- [28:04]
C
was supposed to be.
- [28:04]
A
This is over. Onto the Knicks, in all likelihood, or maybe it's the Hawks, but you're on to round two. And then we get these eggs that they have laid that we've talked about in each of the last games. I don't want to have the conversation of, heaven forbid they lose game seven. What does the offseason look like? What changes need to be made? Is Joe's job on the line? It's not, but you know what I mean. People are going to talk about it. Do you have to trade Jalen? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. God willing, we're not having those conversations ever. Maybe we're having them next week. We're not having them today. What I want to know is, given where this team is, you're in game seven. You've looked lifeless the last couple of games. You've looked just flat out bad. You've looked inferior. To go down cliche road, you have been the team that has not wanted it. The Sixers have been the team with edge, with desire, with energy, with intent. Determined, really. Playing like it means something versus playing like this is a regular season game in early December, late November, around Thanksgiving, it's the holidays. Who gives a damn? No, this means something. This is winner take all. This is game seven. This is everything. This is a spot to. Should not have existed, but it does back home at the Garden. How do the Celtics win this game? Absent just. Well, this time they execute. This time they make shots. This. Like that. I. I don't want that. This. This is. Stylistically, the game plan needs to change.
- [29:41]
C
I don't know though, because if, if your game plan is generating good, the only thing I would say they need to move away from is this over reliance on isolation. That's it. You're just, you're not as effective with like, Jalen isn't beating Paul George or Kelly Oubre off the dribble. He's becoming way too reliant on his off arm. Like we haven't seen nearly enough, you know, Tatum K to pick and roll. Like they've just abandoned some things, you know, set wise that I think you can see. I think most of it is maybe just lineup, but where I struggle with that is like if they're going to have possessions where they're generating good looks or they're getting shots in the paint and they don't convert on them, is that a play style system issue or an execution issue? So I think just removing some of the over reliance on isolation can help. But also it just comes down to like in these game sevens, it really just does come down to which team is going to make shots. Like, it sounds stupid to dumb it down like that, but in a winner take all game like you could have, you could run like whatever you think your ideal version of how they should play is. Let's say they do that. But if they don't execute and convert playing that way, changing their play style or approach isn't going to matter. So whenever this topic comes up, I always try to find the balance of how much of it is their approach and how much of it is their execution. If they're generating open looks and, you know, Tatum and Brown are getting to the rim and into the paint and they're missing four or five free throws a game. Like, I don't know, is that a playstyle thing or is that a execution thing?
- [31:26]
B
One of the things I think they've gotten away from and I'm just trying to find the stat right now. So maybe Greeny, you can help me out as I rant a little bit here.
- [31:35]
A
It's.
- [31:36]
B
It's about trying to limit transition points for the 76ers at the opportunity cost of trying to crash the offensive glass. I think Boston, I mean, it feels like this. So again, maybe Green, you can help me out. The last two games, I'm on basketball reference and I can't quite pull it up that quickly, so I apologize. But the last two games have felt like they have at least abandoned some of the crashing things that they were doing during the entire season where they were crashing four or five guys to the offensive glass in Lieu of trying to get back on defense and send their defense in transition versus Philadelphia 76ers team with Vijay Edgecomb, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George who have been guys that can get out and transition and be a one man bucket just by getting the, the head of head pass and getting a layup. So like.
- [32:29]
C
So here's the. Here's what so NBA.com doesn't let me filter to the last two games, but for the series, the Celtics are giving up the third fewest transition points per game at 16.8. However, they're allowing 1.14 points per possession and allowing 50 shooting, which ranks them in the 40th percentile. So even though they're only giving up 16, which doesn't sound like a lot when they're giving up these transition opportunities, they're not, they're not stopping them right. So it's like, well, you're not giving up a high volume of it. The ones you are giving up, you're getting killed on. So it's, it's tough. And a lot of that comes to the possession battle. Turnovers. They only had three offensive rebounds heading into the third quarter last night. You're not generating these extra possessions and I think that's something where you know, even on a night where the Sixers aren't killing you from three, if you're going to lose the possession battle and that's going to lead out to fast breaks and you're going to lose the shot margin. The Celtics shot 47% from the floor and 40% from three in the first half yesterday and they trailed by nine largely because the Sixers took 11 more shots in that first half because the six the Celtics were missing free throws. They didn't have any offensive rebounds and they had nine turnovers in the first half.
- [33:56]
B
So in that, in that particular point, just to kind of linger on this for a second trying to figure out strategy wise is is the move in your opinion, Greeny, let's crash the defensive glass because we cannot. Because we. You have been on this I think maybe better than anybody that the entire season it's all the. The Celtics have prioritized the possession battle and maximizing the. Again, this is how you want to the margins. You just have more shots than the other team. You have more possessions, the other team. Do you prioritize crashing the defensive glass, sending all five guys saying, you know what, transition wise, whatever. Because if you look at the pace of these past two games, they're both really slow. And if you go back to game game five, both teams are at the same pace, 93.6. And you go to game six and the pace is the same and that's 97.9 because they're playing the same game. But the point being, if you're slowing the game down to that level, well, you need to really over commit to sending five to glass line one possession for Philadelphia and then hoping you get good offensive sets on the other end and try and gain the possession battle back that way. Because again, that's been the secret.
- [35:06]
C
It's tough because I didn't feel like, I don't feel like the Celtics are getting killed on the offensive game glass. Right. There's been a couple long rebounds and some frustrating, you know, lack of rebounding on some embiid missed short hooks or some Uber misses at the rim that they didn't get. But when I think of the possession battle, I think it's more turnover and a lack of offensive rebounding on your part. So it's, it's, it's weird because I don't know, K had 11 defensive rebounds. Tatum's defensive rebounding out of, you know as well as anybody on planet earth. It's just a situation where they're not generating turnovers and they're being careless with the basketball. I think has really hurt them. And I think right before the series on May 16, I tweeted out because I was thinking, like, what could, what could be a cause for concern? How does this, how do they lose this series? And I was thinking of the Knicks, where all their losses came on poor shooting games, where they just were limited on the, on the offensive glass or offensive rebounding rate. Mitchell Robinson had that in his back pocket. You look at their three losses. 49% true shooting in game two, 49% true shooting in game five, 50% true shooting in game two in game six. And they had a 20% offensive rebound late last night. So that, to me is the formula. You're, you're, you're experiencing that shooting drought. You were rebounding in your wins at about 37%. You were getting 37% of your own misses in your wins in this series last night. You got 20% of your misses. That is such a massive drop off in both the possession battle and how you overcome these shooting droughts. Because we'd see an offensive rebound, maybe that's okay to dunk, or maybe it's, you know, it turns into a foul or a layup when you're having these one one shot possessions. And then when you're not missing you're turning it over. That's just, that's possession math. You're just not going to win. Then you fall behind the three point math, then you're forcing it. It's just. It all snowballs. But the biggest concern I had was shooting droughts and then that coinciding with a lack of offensive rebounding. And that's been the case in every one of their three losses.
- [37:28]
A
The expectation is Jason Tatum is going to play Game seven. There was the report of a calf injury, which I know you've written about. Others have said, like, if this is the case, if this is true, don't even play him. Don't put him out there on the floor. A lot of the time, not that it's a foregone conclusion, but a lot of the time calf injuries can lead to Achilles. We obviously know what he just overcame and the work that went into it. If there is any risk of further injury that people are afraid of medically within the Celtics organization, you don't play them. I agree with that. That's fine. Obviously, a Game 7 against Philadelphia in the first round is not worth it. Hell, I would tell you game seven of the NBA Finals if you're worried about Jason Tatum's future is not worth it, but doesn't sound like that's so severe. We wouldn't be.
- [38:16]
C
I don't know. I don't know.
- [38:18]
A
I'll tell you it. Shamshirani went on ESPN earlier today and said that he believes he expects Jason Tatum is playing. Obviously he's plugged in. So if the expectation is that Tatum is playing, I am, maybe I'm naive. I am choosing to believe that the Celtics medical staff and coaches and front office and ownership and literally every person involved, including Tatum, are not concerned about this. So if that's the case, see out there for game seven, I hope you're yourself. If you're not, obviously get them off the floor. But I mean, I guess what I'm wondering is in the same way, not that it's the same situation, but in the same way that, you know, years ago, Celtics go down, oh, three to Miami. They come back, force a Game 7, Tatum gets hurt on the onset of Game 7, doesn't play the rest of the game, they lose. People gave the Celtics an out. They gave them an out because they didn't have Tatum. Are you giving this Boston team and out if it doesn't have Tatum or doesn't have a, you know, the Tatum that we have been seeing of late? Because I'm not.
- [39:26]
C
No, no, I think the context was
- [39:29]
A
capable of beating Philadelphia without Jason Tatum.
- [39:31]
C
Yeah, and I think the context is, is different. Right? Like they're in this position because they've blown the 3, 0 lead.
- [39:39]
A
Right?
- [39:39]
C
They were up when you come, when you come back from down 03, you're already on borrowed time, in my opinion. And it's like that. Him then getting hurt in that game obviously was unfortunate, but, you know, that didn't prevent Jalen Brown from having his worst game as a Celt. You know what I mean? So even that wasn't really an excuse. This, I think Tatum at 80 or even if he sits altogether, that is no longer an excuse. Factor in how this game 7 would go if they were to lose it, because this entire situation was avoidable. But they put themselves in it, you know, through their own actions. So I think they don't have any, you know, any conceivable excuse injury wise or anything like that, you know, unless somehow like Tatum and Brown both get ejected because Scott Foster goes on like, you know, like something like that, maybe. But someone being hurt or him maybe having to sit because of this calf thing. No, I don't think they get the benefit of a doubt of an excuse because they never should have been there in the first place.
- [40:52]
B
I'll just let you boys know from here on out. During this show, I will be F5ing Sean's Twitter page as frequently as possible. So I'm breaking the fourth wall for everybody.
- [41:04]
A
Set up the alert.
- [41:05]
C
Just.
- [41:05]
A
You don't even need to do that. Don't even need to refresh.
- [41:08]
B
My phone's, My phone's. I'm trying to, like, my phone's over here. I got the, I got two screens going. So I'm trying to, you know, hey, look, everybody knows.
- [41:14]
A
Look, I got the notification set up on Sean, so I'm just, I'm also staying alert.
- [41:19]
B
I'm trying to stay alert because we. I can, I don't. I don't know. I'm. I'm in the. Man, I just, I, I'm in the camp of like, the people that are very pessimistic about this injury because this is what leads to an Achilles tear when you're, when you're trying to compensate for stuff. I, I don't love it. I don't feel great about it. If he plays in Game seven, and that's an if for me at this point, I will be nervous every second he's on the floor. And then let's say they get past, you know, Philly in Game seven, like, it's going to be in the back of my mind for the entire rest of the playoffs until they're done. Is his little calf injury. Whatever it is, I have no idea.
- [41:58]
A
One more break to tell you. Today's show is powered by Rocket Money. Look, life's getting more expensive by the day, believe me. I've got a wife, three kids. I know you can probably relate out there as well. And unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about all these costs that keep on coming in. Spreadsheets. They can be helpful, sure, but can also be a little overwhelming. Keeping track of everything, can it? That's why ev, we want to talk to you about Rocket Money.
- [42:22]
B
Yeah, man, I get a lot going on. You know, there's, there's. Life is busy, life is crazy. And you know what? Sometimes I get overwhelmed and I don't even realize like sometimes my doordash spend personally not so great. I got a lot going on and, and I honestly didn't realize how bad it got until I downloaded Rocket Money. And it showed me exactly how bad it has gotten. Look, life gets busy, life gets hectic. It makes it easier to have it delivered to my door. But, but guess what? Rocket Money showed me exactly how much money I was spending, how much money I was wasting. To be honest with you do. And I've reeled it in. We're back in the kitchen cooking more than ever. And honestly, I'm a little bit more confident in my day to day life knowing that my finances are in check. I can't. I can't. You know, there are people all over the country that have a lot of different, you know, economic backgrounds and, and things that are going on in their lives. Having an app that tracks all that for you, man, it is the most relieving feeling that I've had in a, a long time. And now that I have my financial life back on track, coffin, I can get my actual life back on track.
- [43:32]
A
Easier than that, right? I mean that's, that's what it's all about here. So Rocket Money, it can help you with so many things. Are you nervous maybe like Evan, about your spending habits? You want to get that under control? You want to save up for a big purchase? Maybe you want to buy a boat. I don't know if you are have the means to buy a boat. Maybe something like a house or a car are, you know, maybe make a little bit more sense. But a boat, it just sounds nice
- [43:55]
B
for those of us that want to
- [43:56]
A
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- [45:40]
C
I mean, nobody's better at coping than me. So I would say, you know, the fact that, the fact that, you know, it's they've only lost three games in a row once this entire year and it was the first three games of the season. The fact that the Celtics in their history have never blown a 31 lead.
- [45:58]
A
Nope.
- [45:58]
C
The fact that I just have to hope, I just have to hope that they can have one game where they don't shoot like complete crazy crap, you know, where everybody doesn't know show. I just, I don't know. They're Tatum and Brown, I think are 8 and 2 all time in game sevens. They're 15 and 2 all time in series where they hit at least three wins. So there's a lot of evidence that suggests when they're in this spot they find ways to win. What I am just nervous about is are they now in their own heads is this, oh my God, it's the Knicks series all over again. Oh my God, it's like, are they Mentally defeated is just the biggest question. Right. Because I think we all were expecting, hey, they got punched. This is a group that has always punched back. Well, they didn't punch back two games in a row. So that's the only thing that makes me think mentally, do they think it's over? And if that's the case, then they're going to get boat race on Saturday.
- [47:02]
B
Yeah. Because you know the other teams ready for it. You know Philly is going to come out with nothing to lose. They're going to play like they've been playing the past couple of games, which has been with their hair on fire. They've been the faster team. They've been in the passing lanes, they've been on the glass. They've been out in transition. The energy seems to be different. We need, as Jalen said, the energy needs to shift here back in the Celtics favor to, for me to feel comfortable. I don't feel comfortable right now with the body language, with the energy on the floor. Again, I felt a little bit better watching the stay ready group out there at least competing at the level that it felt like Philly was competing at. So, you know, beginning of this game is going to be very interesting to me. Now this, now that being said, this is why you win a ton of games in regular season to have game seven at home. Role players always play better at home, whether it's Grant Williams and his famous Game seven against, against the the Washington Wizards. Like this is why you have the Game seven at home.
- [48:03]
C
It's not does it matter that they're worse at home than on the road.
- [48:06]
B
It's just the other little point of it. But like, you know, having game seven and I, you know, I would rather have game seven at home than on the road because and to me the, the big thing for me is like a guy like Peyton Pritchard, who is just first off phenomenal to watch, maybe the best contract in the league, but a guy that can get scorching hot from three. And when you have a team that's struggling to put the ball in the basket, as we've talked about for 40 plus minutes here, having a guy that can catch fire like that immediately is going to be maybe crucial in this game. I know Peyton is more than capable of doing that on the road. I'm not saying he's not, but I feel better about a guy like him or a guy like Hower or maybe a guy like Shireman having a night like that at home versus on the road because of how much more comfortable they are there. I mean, I know the record will tell you it doesn't. I what are they, like 24 and 11 at home under Missoula in the playoffs or something like that? And they're actually just like 27 and 10.
- [49:12]
C
Yeah, they're like they have like a 58% winning percentage at home and like a 63% winning percentage on the road.
- [49:18]
B
So I don't love those numbers. I it for. For just full disclosure, I am choosing to ignore them at this point in time. But it is more to me about the role guys because if Jalen is going to keep doing this or if Jaylen or Jason is compromised in any way, you need every bit of those guys to come through for you in game seven. And I feel better about it being
- [49:44]
A
a team Garden, to be fair. I guess to give credit where credit is due. We've spent a lot of time, years, literally on this show dunking on Joel Embiid. There were a lot of people saw it even in our internal text threads. Ev, there are a lot of people that celebrated Embiid's return to this series. Said it's even easier now. You kidding me? Is a better matchup with Joel Embiid on the floor. Saw it on social media, heard it in the media. A lot of people excited for the Celtics about Embiid being out there. And he has generally looked great in each of the games that he has played well.
- [50:24]
C
But he was 6 of 18 last night.
- [50:26]
A
Sure. I'm not going to say they didn't, you know, he was 6 of 18. Granted it was, it was inefficient, did a reasonable job guarding him, but still at a double double, two assists away from a triple double. It's not that he didn't impact the win. Right.
- [50:39]
C
I'm just saying, like you need to be able to win a game in which he goes 6 of 18, I guess is my point. You know, like, like we already, we
- [50:47]
A
already talked about all the flaws with Boston's offense. What about in terms of containing this guy? Because, you know, you can't let goes with it like this. Of course this is true. But you. You can't let Embiid and Maxi and George all go off in a relative sense. You know, two out of three maybe. But you got to figure out. And it feels like Embiid is the one that you need to find a way to contain. I mean, obviously in that very first game that he returned, despite his early impact, Boston still ran away with the thing. It was a blowout. It was comfortable and People were feeling, you know, all high and mighty and getting on our purchase. But what about now with what we've seen these last couple of games? How do you adjust and attempt to contain him?
- [51:34]
C
I don't know. I feel like he's, you got to maybe just bait him, continue to bait him into these mid range jumpers because you know when he's on the block you have no chance. His 3 has been non existent. He missed a couple of gimme mid ranges and I think that's just the risk you have to take. They had some success doubling him, but I think that requires you to be so attentive on your weak side. Help and rotations that we saw them struggle with at times. I still think that's the best plan is just give him different looks, bait him into some 16 to 18 footers and hope you get some variance luck there. But it may just have to be. Do you can see like the old LeBron Cavs offense? Do you can see the Embiid scoring and focus on limiting everyone else. Right. Is your, is your switch up more Jordan Walsh on maxi and try to limit his production and try to shut the water off on Paul George and say Embiid, you can have 50. You guys won't get enough production everywhere else. I don't think, you know, there is no straight up, let's do this and we'll, we'll shut down Joel Embiid. I don't think that that option exists. So it's mostly going to be pick your point. What are you willing to live with? And if he beats you, he beats you.
- [52:58]
B
Yeah. Al Horford is not walking through that door unfortunately to be the guy that stops. I think you're right about that. I think it's mostly like you're going to have to live with Embiid hitting 12 to 18 footers. The more threes he takes, the better. Maxi has been just a huge problem for them. I mean you can't. He's a huge problem for them. They can't figure out how to stay in front of him and keep him out of the paint. They go to the drop coverage, keep him out of the paint, he pulls up in three and he hits it. Vijay Edgecomb has not been that good as a shooter the past couple of games. Paul George has inserted himself into this series remarkably so. He's had a terrific series on both ends of the floor, but he's starting to score the ball with a lot of confidence at this moment in time. And I feel like your, your defense has to sort of shift to trying to figure out how to contain those guys. Like, yeah, if you want to double Embiid, you're. You have to be as. As green. He said, you got to be super crisp with how you scram around that. And they haven't been that, you know, the Drew Holiday, you know, here he is to save the day defensively as a. As a roaming safety. That's not that you don't have that luxury at this moment. You got to find out different ways to do it. But, yeah, like, for. For me, you know, the massive part of this equation has been the biggest problem for them. I mean, Embiid is great, but, like, If Embiid shoots 30 times or whatever, I'm almost thrilled about it because. Because he's probably going to be exhausted by the time he hits that number 30. Right? The stamina has always been the biggest problem for Embiid. He has never been a guy that seems to be able to finish a game where he plays a ton of minutes without, you know, looking absolutely exacerbated out there. Meanwhile, Tyrese Maxey is the Energizer Bunny, and I really do think he's kind of the. The star, the straw that stirs the drink. And if they can find a way to make his life a little bit harder, that I think is more of a key than. Than trying to figure out. Do them beat. Embiid is just a matchup problem for them. As a height guy, as a weight guy like Vuchevic, you know, his job is to be big, and he's getting killed out there by either Drummond and Embiid. So it's, to me, more of a maxi thing. And I'm not quite sure if they have the horses to solve that either, because he's been killing them the whole time.
- [55:07]
A
Time. All right, let's take a look around the rest of the playoffs before we sign off here. Very quickly in the west, three of those series are done. The Thunder, no surprise, swept the Suns, the Spurs, once Wemby was back. No issue with the Blazers won that thing in five. Timberwolves, to my surprise, closed out the Nuggets in six. I really thought with the loss of Anthony Edwards, especially even DiVincenzo and the Nuggets, albeit with their depth issues and guys kind of being in and out of lineup or not being fully healthy, I just thought Joker would be enough. They'd be enough to come back when that series didn't happen. So that's unfortunate. Lakers, Rockets, they are still playing 32 LA is up on Houston. Ime Odoka is going to be looking for a new job coming up in a couple of days. I think LA is going to close this thing. Not that I would have seen that going into the series, but I think that's the reality now, especially as they get healthier. Not that Luka is going to play, but the Rockets probably aren't going to have Kevin Durant either. So, you know, see what that ends up happening here in the east though. East guys has been so interesting. We've talked all about the Celtics and Sixers and what waits and what waits is the New York Knicks, a team that was 2:2 going into a best of three with the Hawks and I was feeling validated. I thought that was going to be a seven game series like all right, here we go. New York goes out, wins the last two games by a combined like 80 some odd points. No exaggeration. Utter.
- [56:35]
C
That was crazy. That was the craziest I've ever seen.
- [56:38]
A
Especially game six leading by 60 points in that game 50 in the first half. The Hawks in the elimination game, season on the line, I mean truly failed to show up. So they are waiting now and I so desperately want a Celtics Knicks rematch. I really do. Look, if Boston loses it, it loses it. But I want Tatum going back into MSG after that, after that injury. I want to see this. I am trying to speak this thing into existence, fellas. Hopefully that happened happens. As far as the Cavaliers and Raptors and the Pistons and Magic, these have been back and forth series Greenie that the Pistons and Cavs each lead three
- [57:18]
C
two respectively and Magic magically three two.
- [57:23]
A
Oh, I'm sorry, you're right. The Magic lead three two. I misspoke. So the Magic are up three two. The Pistons fighting for their season the one eight. Could we get that upset? Not this is your typical one seed or your typical eight seed but the Cavs up three two. So look, I expect, as I'm sure you do not that the Raptors haven't been difficult Cleveland to finish off this series whether it's in six or whether it's in seven. All right, well you can, you can get, you can give me the rebuttal. By all means. The Magic in the Pistons though, man, I, I know Franz Wagner is down and Orlando didn't look as good in the previous game but Pistons, what's we've been saying this for I don't know how long on this show. What's coming home to roost on them is the lack of depth scoring behind Kate Cunningham and that there's just no, you know, you have Tobias Harris, sure. But like if that's your secondary scoring option, you're probably in trouble if you have title aspirations. And now you're seeing it here in round one against Orlando as Bankaro has, has gone off. Bain has obviously contributed. This team is looking like the team it was supposed to look like all year long. What do you think of these two series is again they sit 3:2.
- [58:30]
C
It's certainly surprising, right? I think everyone was sort of positioning themselves to play the Raptors and I think in both conferences, right, because we saw the Nuggets obviously do that with the Wolves. The idea of trying to strategically manipulate seating and matchups tends to, to come back to bite you. So I think, you know, the, the Raptors have certainly given them all that. It wouldn't surprise me if that ended up going seven even if the Cavs end up pulling that out. I think you're seeing a lot of the same issues with their front court court of just underachieving. Like it just feels like this is a repeat type series that we've seen from the Cavs these last few years. So they have like their own self doubt and internal demons coming through. The Magic Piston series is interesting because I'm not ready to say that the Pistons are dead even though you know, they can't shoot to save their lives because this whole series has just been like, like a rock fighter. You just need to get to like 90 points and you can win that series. And I just, I have to think that, you know that jumper that Cade made to help them win game, what was that? Five to stave off elimination in the final couple moments, right? They had Tobias Harris come down, he missed the shot. You're thinking, oh my God, like that that's their season. I still think that they're probably going to get over the hump, but it tells you that based on how the, the top four or five teams in the east are playing, that the Knicks are playing the best out of every team in the Eastern Conference right now and I think should be treated and talked about as, you know, the prohibitive favorite to get out of the East. And they're not. You look at the, at the odds, I think they have like the third best odds, which is just a little bizarre to me because they, they look like the team that is, is playing the best out of the top three four seeds.
- [60:33]
A
So who I really didn't, you know, if we had this conversation a week ago or a few days ago, I would have told you. And this Includes Boston, that. I just don't think anybody in the Eastern Conference is playing particularly well. Obviously there have been some up and ups and downs. The Knicks have clearly turned it on in their last couple of games. Maybe that was more a product of the Hawks play than it was the Knicks play. But again, team goes out and wins by 51 points in the elimination game. I'm not going to tool on you. Who in the east to you right now, would be your bet to come out of the conference?
- [61:09]
C
I mean, the homer in me says the Celtics, but the, the brain says probably the Knicks. Just because if they're, you know, they've seemed to have found some sort of unlocking with Cat. And maybe this is just because of who they're playing in the first round and, and how they're able to exploit those matchups. But they're healthy. I think they have, you know, the, they have the profile of a team in terms of their offense, how they can rebound, how they can lock in defensively. The way OG is playing and shooting the ball, I just.
- [61:42]
A
He's got Anne Hathaway on his side.
- [61:44]
C
Yeah. And he's got Anne Hathaway, which is, you know, never hurts. So it's tough. It's just. They just feel like the team that's played the best basketball, you know, because like, what happened, they got down to one, they got punched in the mouth and they immediately responded. We haven't really seen that from the Cavs, the Celtics and the Pistons to that same degree. There was still some screwing around and, and games that they shouldn't have lost after falling down to one that they lost. And I just, I don't know. I think the way that they're playing now is just a cut above. But that doesn't mean that they can't be beat. Should you out execute them in a matchup? I just, I just don't see if you're telling me everybody else is going to stay at the level they are now. Nobody is playing better than them in the east through this first round.
- [62:35]
A
Well, people listening or certainly watching may have noticed that we lost our buddy Ev along the way. I, I wasn't paying attention to the video. I was sitting here looking into the camera and yammering along, but apparently his, his issues have resurfaced as far as getting all, all frozen on us and things went sideways. So I don't know how Greenie, you noticed it. How long was he frozen?
- [62:57]
C
Probably at least 10 minutes. Something like that. Yeah.
- [63:04]
A
Show how often I look over at the video feed well, that's unfortunate because would like to have gotten Evan's thoughts on on, on the Eastern playoffs in particular. But there's always next week and hopefully we're still talking about Celtics basketball at that point in time. Greeny, I, I am more of a an optimist than a pessimist. I, I like to think, especially when it comes to my sports teams, that I am more of a glass half full guy. So let's hope that they just, I don't know, I, I, it seems like such a, a foolish, simplistic way of putting it, but let's hope they just figure it out, right?
- [63:40]
C
Just, just stop missing every shot you take.
- [63:43]
A
Yeah, I'm smoking bunnies and brick and free throws.
- [63:46]
C
Just be normal.
- [63:47]
A
Like that's what's playing your game.
- [63:50]
C
Just be normal. Be your normal, average self and that's enough. Dipping below that line is how you got into this situation. Your inability to get back over it is why your season is now on life support.
- [64:05]
A
I really hope we're not talking about the off season next week. That's all I have to say about that. All right, Forever, Greeny. I am Adam. We remind you, check out the CLNS YouTube All Access page to find Celtic speed shows and a lot of other great Celtics content that the awesome team over at CLNS produces. You can see them all over social media as well. Rate reviews subscribe to this podcast if you want the audio version. We appreciate you either way. And look, let's, let's all. I don't know, is it too soon to say, spread some sage somewhere? Like, let's just Positive thoughts, everybody. Let's all be optimistic and hope that the Celtics go out, take game seven, laugh in the face of what we saw in games five and six, and then it'll be on to talking about a rematch with the Knicks in round two, which would be exhilarating. We'll talk to you next time on Celtic Speed.