Game #53: Boston Celtics 91 - Toronto Raptors 111

[LJ2]

Those all bench line up's which we were all concerned about seem to be working out.

[KeonClark]

Cavs are gonna try and tank? They're doing a pretty good job already without trying

[007]

By the way, Kyle Lowry has played less than 30 minutes 4 times in the last 7 Raptors games.

— Anthony Doyle (@Anthonysmdoyle) February 7, 2018

The Lowry Minutes Reduction Plan is working. Big thank you to Delon and FVV

[Mack North]

Good. They'll ignore us all the way to the finals until we're one of 2 teams left to talk about

And even then, they'll still only talk about the opponent!

[Mack North]

Yikes. I can't really defend Lowry and DeRozan though when people say that. You have to show up in the playoffs period.

Here's my issue though, does SAS know that the Raptors actually have a better postseason rec than the Celtics the last few yrs? last yr was FIRST TIME the Celtics got past in the 1st round in the Brad Stevens era. They would've lost in the 1st round last yr too if my boy Rondo did not get hurt. And oh they got swept by the Cavs in the Fibals last year pretty bad. How come no one's talking bout thay? lol

Not to mention we will be 1st by the time playoffs roll around. Look at our schedule.

[tDotted]

Yikes. I can't really defend Lowry and DeRozan though when people say that. You have to show up in the playoffs period.

Here's my issue though, does SAS know that the Raptors actually have a better postseason rec than the Celtics the last few yrs? last yr was FIRST TIME the Celtics got past in the 1st round in the Brad Stevens era. They would've lost in the 1st round last yr too if my boy Rondo did not get hurt. And oh they got swept by the Cavs in the Fibals last year pretty bad. How come no one's talking bout thay? lol

This is the issue that I have with the US media in general. I'm sure the Raps used that as fuel last night

[tDotted]

WTF Stephen A

[The Great One]

Yikes. I can't really defend Lowry and DeRozan though when people say that. You have to show up in the playoffs period.

Here's my issue though, does SAS know that the Raptors actually have a better postseason rec than the Celtics the last few yrs? last yr was FIRST TIME the Celtics got past in the 1st round in the Brad Stevens era. They would've lost in the 1st round last yr too if my boy Rondo did not get hurt. And oh they got swept by the Cavs in the Fibals last year pretty bad. How come no one's talking bout thay? lol

[rocwell]

[Nilanka]

Here's the thing. We all want the Raps to finish 1st right? so that they can avoid the Cavs in the 2nd round. The thing is right now, we don't know where the Cavs are going to finish. I could easily see them finishing 4th/5th/6th.

The way things are playing out, there's really no reason to avoid the Cavs at all.

[Nilanka]

Raps are 4.5 point favourites.

Not sure how this isn't a nationally televised game.

Really? No, you're sure......

With that ugly performance, maybe the media moguls were right to avoid showcasing the Cuntics on a national scale...

[wall-e]

Kyrie Irving after lopsided loss to Raptors: “As a one of the veterans on this team, I just got to be better. This one is just mainly on me, kind of just taking responsibility and trying to be better as we go forward.” pic.twitter.com/W5c6CZHygm

— Chris Forsberg (@ESPNForsberg) February 7, 2018

I asked for more tweets and u really brought it, cheers 👍🍺

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

[KeonClark]

Did the Raps and Celtics play last night? Was there a matchup between the first and seconds seeds in the East, only one game apart after more than 50 games of the season? Can't really tell...I went on the ESPN main NBA page and there wasn't really anything there. I mean, I think they played because they did have a big picture and headline of Jaylen Brown blocking a Raptor and going for a dunk. So I guess they might have played. Boston probably won. I expect very little from (unfortunately) the source where most americans get their sports coverage but this is a new low for them.

Good. They'll ignore us all the way to the finals until we're one of 2 teams left to talk about

[Jclaw]

Did the Raps and Celtics play last night? Was there a matchup between the first and seconds seeds in the East, only one game apart after more than 50 games of the season? Can't really tell...I went on the ESPN main NBA page and there wasn't really anything there. I mean, I think they played because they did have a big picture and headline of Jaylen Brown blocking a Raptor and going for a dunk. So I guess they might have played. Boston probably won. I expect very little from (unfortunately) the source where most americans get their sports coverage but this is a new low for them.

[S.R.]

I think they'll stick with a 10 man rotation in the playoffs, and they should. They also still have an 11th option between Powell/Miles depending on what they're looking for - 3 pt shooting vs. defence. Bebe is still capable for a few minutes a game if JV/Poeltl have foul trouble.

They only tweak is what Casey already often does against strong teams - instead of 5 man hockey shifts, he leaves 1 or 2 starters in with the bench for a few minutes. If everything's going well, make one more sub and the 5 man bench keeps it rolling. Usually they're doing so well that he can leave them in there for a bit even after the other team brings in starters. You would just play all that as it comes in the playoffs - leave a starter with the bench for longer or bring starters back in sooner if there are issues.

Overall the 10 man rotation has been great, though. Beyond starters vs. starters and bench vs. bench +/-, it's hard to objectify how valuable throwing two very different lineups at the other team is, but it sure looks effective. The energy, ball pressure, and fast break scoring can't be understated either - as a team they can sustain a lot more of that through 48 minutes because they're rolling 10 guys deep, including a lot of young legs. I love seeing the full court pressure several times through a game.