2020 Playoffs Round 2 Game 1 C*#^tics at Raptors Thursday August 27 6:30pm on (TBA)

[S.R.]

Don't need to overreact but really think a 10.man rotation might help here. Just different looks and different line ups bc the Celtics are clearly well prepared for what the Raptors want to do. Mixing it up with the big lineup + zone helped a lot. Raptors with Nurse can Swiss army knife all game, could be an advantage

[MixxAOR]

A lot of analysts are not expecting Siakam to perform at all-star level. So it's not Raptors hate. Gotta accept that he's not a first option.

[GOLDBLUM]

Celtics hit 7 more threes then the Raptors and won by 18. That's the game right there. I don't expect them to shoot 44% every time while the Raptors shoot 25%. It's the 1pm start time. No flow, no rhythm.

But either way not a good look when we get blown out twice by them in the bubble. Tatum didn't even have that good of a game. Their starters were pretty good collectively but nobody really stood out.

Pascal and Fred both sucked today. Fred got some steals but really nothing.

Nurse had a bad game too. Don't get why he didn't throw some energy into the game. Could have used a bit of Boucher or Matt in the 2nd or 3rd quarters. Sit Pascal and Fred and use those guys instead. Even a little RHJ to bang inside might have helped.

Malloy though really screwed us over in the first. Was it 11 foul calls against us or something? So many ticky tack ones too.

11 in the first yup.
Killed any chance of a transition game and put us squarely in the half court where we were shit.

regardless ... we sunk ourselves today.

I feel like maybe Nick didn’t bring in the subs cause he felt his main guys needed extended run. He said their practice was terrible yesterday and it looks like, after these few days off and all of the understandable distractions, maybe he just wanted to let them play through and get that feeling of gameplay and being back on the court again, even if it didn’t help us out of the hole.

Was a beat down today and fugly...

Thankfully that game can only take us down 0-1.

Hopefully everybody’s acclimated now.

Gotta adjust on Tuesday.

[A.I]

A lot of analysts are not expecting Siakam to perform at all-star level. So it's not Raptors hate. Gotta accept that he's not a first option.

I've said it before, he may never be, but he has already proven he is a great second option on a championship team. Its still his first year as the #1 option, not sure why some people are already either expecting that he never will be or we should trade him because he won't be.

[planetmars]

I said it earlier.. I have no anxiety. Even if we get swept, we're always going to be champions. Celtics are a tough team.

But some positives:
- We can't always shoot this poorly. We're not Philly
- We lost quarters 2-4 by a total of 2 points. We lost the first quarter by 16. We can hang with this team. We shouldn't be down double digits going into the second.
- We've lost many game 1's since the Masai era. We know how to overcome. Heck we lost two just last year.
- We've gotten spanked before as well (see game 3 Philly or game 2 Bucks last year). Still won a chip
- Lowry is 100% healthy
- We know zone works against these guys. We also know a big line up works against these guys
- Boston's depth still sucks.
- We had so many unforced turnovers. That's going to get cleaned up.

I had a feeling we'd lose this one when I saw the 1pm start time. I was hoping for the best, but when a few shots weren't going down early.. I knew it was going to be a long day. Just sucks that JClaw's streak is over. I'm more pissed off about that

[Scraptor]

Not a good start. Pascal has been terrible most of the bubble, I wonder what is going on with him.

Still have faith but Nick is going to need to work some magic to turn this bad Celtics juju around.

[The Great One]

A lot of analysts are not expecting Siakam to perform at all-star level. So it's not Raptors hate. Gotta accept that he's not a first option.

He's an energy guy. He's at his best when he's running all around the floor playing with energy.

[G__Deane]

Morris is a f'n punk another flagrant foul on Doncic. That dude should be out of the league, period.

[007]

Not a good start. Pascal has been terrible most of the bubble, I wonder what is going on with him.

Still have faith but Nick is going to need to work some magic to turn this bad Celtics juju around.

Very obvious that he went a few months without touching a basketball

[nba_4_life]

The dallas and clippers series is more of a ufc match instead of a basketball game

[MixxAOR]

I've said it before, he may never be, but he has already proven he is a great second option on a championship team. Its still his first year as the #1 option, not sure why some people are already either expecting that he never will be or we should trade him because he won't be.

Yeah I can agree with that take but I wonder from team building perspective what next move should be

[inthepaint]

Man I have a funny feeling about this one - they haven't played in a week, super early game which historically always sucks for us, so many other things mentally over the past few days...I feel like this is one of those they could be jumped on the first quarter then be on chase mode all game long...But I sure hope I'm wrong. All these things theoretically apply to Boston too, so we'll see

Gotta come out strong, alert and physical right out of the gates

I knew it. Quarters 2 through 4 was 73-71 for Boston, essentially a tossup, which should be more representative of this series. But we came out sleepy in the first, dug ourselves a hole early and could never come out. Im feel like I typed this in years past as well.


Adjustments I'd make:

1. We gotta stop wasting time with Gasol offensively. The only way we can afford to have his usual non-presence on offence is when Siakam, Lowry and FVV are hitting shots at an average to above average clip, and that's gonna be rare this series. Celtics blatantly sag off with, while he holds the ball at the elbow cocking his head for someone to cut. Celtics defence sees that from mile away, dares him to shoot (while our own guys also beg him to do it), and when he finally does it, it's a midrange clanker. On the 3 games he played vs the Celtics this season he's a combined -29

We simply don't have that kind of margin of error vs the celtics. For the next one, the beginning of the game will be crucial. Gotta punch early, with efficient, crisp scoring at the half-court, with all 5 guys on the floor a threat to score. When he's on the floor with Serge it's alright, but if it's just him, it's 4 on 5 on offence. That may fly vs the nets but not here.

2. Find a way to defend that damn corner 3 from the Celtics. Killed us on the seeding game, killed us again today.

3. Need to find some minutes for Thomas and/or more minutes for TD. Our defence is alright (aside from the corner 3), what we need is offensive versatility, and Thomas can bring that by spacing out the Celtics perimeter defence, and hitting some timely buckets.

4. PLEASE, let's run some screens for Siakam. Bring back the spin moves. Have him spot up from the corner. Have him run the floor and leak out in transition. Let's stop the static back to basket iso's, and the dirk fadeaways. They're not efficient shots for him. Gotta stop trying to turn him into some kind player he's not. Use him with the natural skills he developed on his MIP year. That alone will attract doubles, and if he recognizes that and find the open man (rather than trying to be Kawhi, or some kind of "closer" someone told him he's gotta be all the time), our offence will be humming again with the ball moving

[G__Deane]

Yeah I can agree with that take but I wonder from team building perspective what next move should be

Nothing has changed in this regards.
P isn't a Batman and may not ever be a Batman and that's OK.
Robin needs a Batman.
Masai has one thing left to prove.
He needs to sign a Batman.

Gasol, Serge and Kyle can/should all be gone within two years.
Team needs a rebuild regardless of how these playoffs go.
This was always a trot 'em out one last time season

[A.I]

Nothing has changed in this regards.
P isn't a Batman and may not ever be a Batman and that's OK.
Robin needs a Batman.
Masai has one thing left to prove.
He needs to sign a Batman.

Gasol, Serge and Kyle can/should all be gone within two years.
Team needs a rebuild regardless of how these playoffs go.
This was always a trot 'em out one last time season

This is why I'm not worried too much about this year's Playoffs. Whatever happens happens. The team will likely look pretty different in a year or two.

[slaw]

I knew it. Quarters 2 through 4 was 73-71 for Boston, essentially a tossup, which should be more representative of this series. But we came out sleepy in the first, dug ourselves a hole early and could never come out. Im feel like I typed this in years past as well.


Adjustments I'd make:

1. We gotta stop wasting time with Gasol offensively. The only way we can afford to have his usual non-presence on offence is when Siakam, Lowry and FVV are hitting shots at an average to above average clip, and that's gonna be rare this series. Celtics blatantly sag off with, while he holds the ball at the elbow cocking his head for someone to cut. Celtics defence sees that from mile away, dares him to shoot (while our own guys also beg him to do it), and when he finally does it, it's a midrange clanker. On the 3 games he played vs the Celtics this season he's a combined -29

We simply don't have that kind of margin of error vs the celtics. For the next one, the beginning of the game will be crucial. Gotta punch early, with efficient, crisp scoring at the half-court, with all 5 guys on the floor a threat to score. When he's on the floor with Serge it's alright, but if it's just him, it's 4 on 5 on offence. That may fly vs the nets but not here.

2. Find a way to defend that damn corner 3 from the Celtics. Killed us on the seeding game, killed us again today.

3. Need to find some minutes for Thomas and/or more minutes for TD. Our defence is alright (aside from the corner 3), what we need is offensive versatility, and Thomas can bring that by spacing out the Celtics perimeter defence, and hitting some timely buckets.

4. PLEASE, let's run some screens for Siakam. Bring back the spin moves. Have him spot up from the corner. Have him run the floor and leak out in transition. Let's stop the static back to basket iso's, and the dirk fadeaways. They're not efficient shots for him. Gotta stop trying to turn him into some kind player he's not. Use him with the natural skills he developed on his MIP year. That alone will attract doubles, and if he recognizes that and find the open man (rather than trying to be Kawhi, or some kind of "closer" someone told him he's gotta be all the time), our offence will be humming again with the ball moving

Good post. They started the game forcing certain things offensively and it seemed to really put the off. But the fouls, turnovers and erratic shooting betrayed an unfocused team lacking urgency.

The use of Siakam is baffling. He can be an iso guy once he is rolling but it isn’t his strong suit. I still don’t understand why he cannot be a screener with Lowry and FVV and vice versa. The insistence on forcing it to him in the mid post (he doesn’t get good post positions) seems misplaced.