Since my mommy lives out of state (in a fascist state) and I went to a concert Friday night, I worked Sunday before, during, and after the game (don't get it twisted, I still caught 90%~ of it). Parlay that with about 49 physical ailments I'm battling, and you've got a DOL Celtics Game 7 recap/look ahead blog starting at approximately 5:13 pm on Monday the 15th.
At this point, what else is there to say other than Jayson Tatum?
WHAT A SON!!!!
Two+ things can be accurate at the same time:
Tatum had atrocious starts to Games 4-6. He's also (humbly) one of the best basketball players on the planet. The 2x First Team All-NBA, 2023 ASG, and 2022 ECF MVP showed that with his record-setting 51-point Game 7. I think most would agree that his hot streak started late in the 4th quarter of Game 6 when he absolutely took over the game, stealing the souls of all Philly fans, players, and coaches in the process with a bukkake of three balls.
I'll admit there's time he feels a little inconsistent (far too many 30ish % shooting nights), but Jayson Tatum has proven throughout his postseason career that he is (one of the most overused terms in sports) a dog. Despite what some may say or think, basketball is a team game. While Jayson certainly carried the load, the C's wouldn't be moving on the ECF (again) with the likes of Jaylen, Marcus, Al, Time, D-White, and Brogdon...shit Grant too even though he's on the fringe of being in the rotation rn. He's still my guy.
It was a hard-fought series. I must give the Sixers their flowers. Philly was right there until the C's 28-3 run in the 3rd quarter brought the game from 55-55 to 83-58. Yikes!
IMO, that was the basketball Gods' response for some big-time hashtag BAD guy behavior from Georges Naing. Sick plural first name, dude.
I fucking LOVE how Jaylen included that pic in his IG post about the series.
Juice also gave the C's 25/6/2/2/2 and the fans a glowing report after he called them out for a lack of energy (deservingly so).
Congratulations to Joel Embiid for winning one of the emptiest MVPs ever. If I were a Sixer fan, I'd be dunking my Wawa Hoagie in bleach after hearing this trash. It's quite possibly the most tone-deaf statement by an athlete in the 2020s! (that doesn't include your Aubrey Huffs of the world)
James Harden scored 9 points on 3/11 shooting in Game 7 and was not good in 5/7 games. PLEASE don't forget that his 45 points in Game 1 came without Embiid on the floor, and that big dumbie still blames his teammates!
Of course, placing all the blame on the players is unfair. Doc Rivers is Doc Rivers for a reason. What an excellent call by me in my Game 5 recap. It feels fantastic to be on the right side of one of these collapses for once.
Who knows if Doc will get fired or not? Honestly, I don't really care either way. I'll always appreciate what he did accomplish in Boston (even though it should've been more) but am much more focused on this current Celtics team winning a championship for the first time since 2008.
It's crazy, though. A few days ago, I was thinking about how this season could end much sooner than anticipated...all that promise was nearly gone, yet here we are again; Celtics-Heat for a trip to the NBA Finals: Presented by YoutubeTV, after Boston came back from down 3-2 in an ECSF where they had two home losses in the first five games. This will be the 3rd ECF between these teams since the 2020 Bubble and 4th overall since 2012. Miami holds the edge 2-1 and has two rings to the C's 0 in that time frame, but #0 on the C's has me feeling great about their chances of ending this agonizing title drought. That being said, it's gonna be a battle. I'm sure Jimmy Butler has at least one 50-piece in him. My immediate reaction is C's in 6, but I wouldn't be shocked to see the C's have another seven gamer (ideally, we gentlemen's sweep 'em). Regardless of what happens in the upcoming weeks, ESPN can fuck aaaallll the way off with these "analytics." I'm feeling a bout of PTSD from last year's NBA Finals: Presented by YoutubeTV, where some publications said the C's had like an 88% chance of winning the series. Of course, I think/hope the C's win this series, but the Heat deserve at least like a 35% chance with Himmy Buckets and the best coach in the association.
**Upon further research, I have found that disgusting graphic from 2022**
I hate to admit it because I love to discount the Lakers AAU tourney bubblegum ring, but the data is hard to ignore.
Of course, I want the Celtics to win it all and will be disappointed if they come up short...but it is pretty fucking remarkable that they're back in the ECF again. It's their 5th appearance since the 2016-17 season. They've done this with three head coaches and dozens of players. Obviously, some guys have been around for most/all of these runs, AND you want to win it all, but 29 teams don't every year. It could sound like loser talk to some, but for the C's to be in this position consistently is arguably all you can ask for as a fan.
They're so fucking close and have an amazing opportunity in front of them. I have a feeling we're gonna get a Celtics-Lakers Finals, but I'm not looking past the Heat. This Miami team is not your typical eight seed, but they still are the eight seed, so it's at least a semi-favorable draw (on paper, for now). You know Ole Dozo will be bleeding green. Go C's!
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Song: Days of the Week (2001) Artist: Stone Temple Pilots Album: Shangri-La Dee Da Nothing like starting the blog with off with a new song for my beloved DOL readers
There's no sugarcoating it, Jayson Tatum was dreadful from the floor (he was still impacting the game on defense and assisted on at least three 3's), but he humbly reminded the Earth that he is one of the best players on the planet with four fourth quarter threes (highlighted by three in a row to essentially end the game).
Tatum's ice-cold starts continued tonight as the 2-time 1st Team All-NBA wing put together one of the grossest opening stretches since The Human Centipede.
Jayson Tebow waited until the 4th to show up offensively (and oh boiiii, did he)
The Celtics wouldn't have been in a position for JT to repent for his 3rd consecutive disgusting start if it wasn't for the rest of the team. Marcus led the way with 22/7/7. Al had 11 boards. Jaylen's 17/6/4 was enough. With a short 7-man rotation tonight, we saw Rob Williams get his first start of the playoffs which quickly paid dividends as the C's got off to a red-hot start. You could tell they were ready to play. There was an intensity that's been missing throughout this playoff run.
You can tell how much this team loves each other. They're showing Time plenty of love off screen. Love this mentality from 44!!!
Leading 15-3, the C's had a turnover that lead to pick-6 lay-up and a 9-0 Philly run. That was when I started getting a little worried. Things had started off perfectly for the C's, but then they had little to show for it after Timelord left the floor. The C's lead got as high as 16 in the 2nd before Philly got things within seven at the break. Again, that worried the shit out of me because it played in the Sixers hand. The C's had dominated the first, although he ended up having a solid night..Embiid started slow too (he was like 1/8), I wanna say the Sixers were shooting like 30% as a team, but they were still within striking distance.
Brogdon and White were the only reserves to see the floor tonight, but they both played well. Malcolm had 11 first quarter points (3/3 from 3).
On a personal note, I'm going to a concert in Boston with my bois tomorrow (Cobra Man) and the vibes would've been in the bomb shelter had the C's lost tonight. Regardless of what happens in Game 7, I can enjoy Friday and not worry about sports...just bro and get weird.
Like I said in the Game 5 recap...even though losing sucked...we weren't dead because Doc Rivers is on the other sideline.
I'm just so fucking pumped right now. With the season on the line, the C's held Philly a playoff-low 86 points. They weathered the JT 1/14 storm and took a 2nd game in Flopadelphia. Anything can happen in a Game 7, but the C's are the better team and I doubt Jayson Tatum will start another game 0-10ish. If anything, he's heating up at the right time. S/O Joe Mazzulla for putting the C's best five on the floor tonight. I love D-White, but the C's are a different team when Rob Will is rolling. I know he's been banged up, but it's time to ride the Time Lord and take care of business on Mother's Day. I'm feeling great. Let's go, Celtics! One more, then eight more, but let's worry about the biggest one Sunday. #BleedGreen
It's Incredibly Simple for the Boston Celtics...Win Tonight or This Season is Over (and a Failure)5/11/2023
We're less than 2 hours from tipoff, so I'll try to be quick. The 2022-23 Boston Celtics' season is on the brink. They find themselves playing an elimination game much earlier than any Green Bleeder would've liked, but from a glass-half-full perspective, they have been here before. Last season the C's found themselves in an eerily similar situation vs. Milwaukee. They were down 3-2, then won Game 6 on the road (highlighted by Jayson Tatum's 46 points) before wrapping things up at home in Game 7.
After starting his last two games a combined like 0-15, the C's desperately need JT to be "him" (perhaps the most oversaturated term of 2023). I'd love to see Jayson start hot to get his swag going. You're the best fucking player on the floor. Play like it.
Of course I'm nervous going into the game, but I don't think this series is over. Just win tonight. After Game 5, I broke down Doc's history of blowing series, and since he did it a handful of times while he was in Boston (2009, 2010, & 2012), it sure would be nice of him to let history repeat itself. With the C's down 3-2, I've seen plenty of idiotic takes saying you need to break up the Jays and that they can't get it done...some tried to compare them to the early 2010s Thunders...which I think anybody can admit they made a massive fuck up breaking up their core so early. I love that Jayson and Jaylen got the recognition they both deserved for outstanding regular seasons. Hopefully, that lights a little fire in their ripped-up "bellies."
I'm nervous going into the game, but I don't think this series is over. After Game 5, I broke down Doc's history of blowing series, and since he did it a handful of times while he was in Boston, it sure would be nice of him to let history repeat itself.
With the C's down 3-2, I've seen plenty of idiotic takes saying you need to break up the Jays and that they can't get it done...some tried to compare them to the early 2010s Thunders...which I think anybody can admit they made a massive fuck up breaking up their core so early. I love that Jayson and Jaylen got the recognition they both deserved for outstanding regular seasons. Hopefully, that lights a little fire in their ripped-up "bellies." I love this core, and with significant changes likely coming this offseason (I might abandon the C's if they don't give the Jays the supermaxes they both earned and deserve), I am not ready for this season to end. If the C's feel the same way, they'll come out like they did in Game 2 and handle business. I reaaaally want to like Joe Mazzulla, but he's shown plenty of times that this job might be more than he can handle at this point in his life. He's only 34, so maybe that's why he doesn't believe in timeouts. It's just super frustrating that it feels like this team plays to its competition and comes out flat way too often. I mean, I'm not saying his job is on the line, but I'm definitely not sold on Mazzulla. The step-coach memes were hilarious, but the C's might've jumped the jump extending him. To Joe's credit, it's not his fault the C's missed 200,000 open looks Tuesday night, but for the C's to make it to a Mother's Day Game 7, the Jays need to step up along with everybody on the roster. I would love to see Pritchard get some legit minutes to boost the energy, but whoever is out there needs to hit wide-open looks. I love Al, but man, he looked about 78 years old last game. The title of this blog mentions how a loss tonight would mean the season is a failure. Even though I loved how introspective Giannis was after the Bucks lost in 5 to the eight seed, the Bucks season was objectively a failure. When you're the Kings, and you made the playoffs for the first time since the Bush administration, yeah, a first-round playoff loss as a higher seed isn't the end of the world...you're still on your ascent. That's not the case with Milwaukee. The Bucks were one of the top favorites to win it all, so not even making it to the second round is a failure. The same can be said for our Boston Celtics. A loss tonight doesn't mean the players are failures. That's stupid; they're all NBA guys, so they're some of the best athletes in the world...but the season itself would be a failure if it ended tonight. Things have worked out perfectly to open an easier track to The NBA Finals: Presented by YoutubeTV with the Bucks out, but you can't look past the Sixers. This series should already be fucking over, but yet again, we played with our food and are now on the verge of choking away a fantastic chance at Banner 18. Even if we lose by 30, it's asinine to break up the Jays. They should both be Celtics for the next decade and to paraphrase the late John Madden, who before 1976 was thought of as a coach who can't win the big one..the last thing you wanna do when you lose a championship game is panic. You could've been a first down here, a stop there away from winning. The last thing you want to do is lose a championship game and panic. It's not frustrating...you're close...the guys who oughta be frustrated are the ones who win two games. I know 1970s NFL isn't the same as 2020s NBA, but that sentiment rings true. This team is good enough to win it all. The last thing we need to be thinking about is splitting up the best young duo in the NBA. Win or lose, I'll return in a few hours to discuss the game. Ideally, it'll be after the C's force a Game 7. #BleedGreen Song: Say Hello 2 Heaven (1991) Artist: Temple of the Dog Album: Temple of the Dog Between the Boston Celtics and the agonizing pain in my tin foil back, I may be saying hello 2 heaven much earlier than expected. Of course, that's just my textbook dark humor to cope. Knowing the early checkout is always available somehow helps. TBH, I'm doing all I can to live my best life rn, but I'd genuinely prefer it if the C's won tonight, again on Sunday, then eight more times. It'd make both the physical and mental pain I'm battling much easier to take! Hopefully I won't be crying green tn.
I had been looking forward to Game 5 pretty much since Game 4 ended. Losing sucked. But at least you could srta take something positive away from the C's effort for fighting back and retaking the lead before letting it slip away (lead by terrible execution late). It felt extra painful because the C's started like shit, so had they just come out ready to play, who knows what would've happened? At least the series was tied and heading home....not that the C's play well at home in the playoffs. It's almost impossible to believe, but they're 7-9 in their last 16 at the Garden. **multiple puke emojis**
Tonight's loss with just a heartless effort and frustrating to watch as a green bleeder. We fucking sucked in all phases of the game. Philly getting literally every bounce did us no favors. From the game's first shot, the Sixers had shit bouncing off the rim 2 to 8 times that still found a way to go down. But PLEASE, do not get it twisted. This loss is on the Boston Celtics for once again not coming out ready to play. Their offense had no flow, and when they were getting good looks, they weren't falling. This theme is getting old fast.
You're coming home in a swing game, and you lay a fucking egg while Al Horford misses everything. Not ideal! He couldn't bury a fucking tequila shot with how awful he played tonight. Jaylen had a decent 1st quarter, then missed enough free throws to look like a URI Ram. Yo Ben Wallace, 3/8 is unfuckingacceptable. Maybe pull the mask up when you're on the line? The bench gave us nothing until it was too late; Payton Pritchard hit a couple of threes when the game was already out of reach. Did Brogdon even score? It didn't feel like it. The second/third unit did get to a place where, had they made one more three, it could've gotten interesting late, but as a team, this was a piss poor performance. Doc still found a way to make things way closer than they need to be, and honestly, our old friend Doc Rivers is the one thing still giving me hope after the Celtics played with no heart tonight after being the dominant team through the first four games.
Well, there's that and being in this exact spot last year against a Bucks team that, IMO is better than this Philly squad, but we were seemingly hungrier last year...which blows my mind. The 2022 ECSF Game 5 loss was fucking devastating because of how the Celtics threw the game away late. Tonight they never really got to a spot where it felt like they would make it competitive. The lead got down to like five at one point (which could've been in like the 2nd quarter), but Philly always answered. I don't know when Tyrese Maxery turned into 2016 Steph Curry, but that shit was lame as fuck. What I'm about to say isn't exactly the most hashtag good guy swag, but Embiid has a banged-up knee. Can we please attack that??? Put a little pressure on him. There was no intensity tonight.
Now the Boston Celtics have their backs against the wall, and a promising season (where you didn't even have to play Milwaukee) is on the brink. They find themselves in an elimination game on Thursday night in Philly, and the vibes are below sea level. This tweet perfectly sums up the problem with this team and how they're in this spot much sooner than anybody expected.â
I don't know what it is. Part of me thinks Mazzulla just isn't the man for the job. I really want to like him, but he gets on my fucking nerves with the lack of coaching and accountability. I love Tatum and know he's a star, but he needs to be more consistent to be considered a top-tier guy, even though most consider him one. He did lead this team to the Finals and finished 4th in MVP voting this season, but he needs to take that next step. I wanna see nights where he's shooting like 55% instead of 37%.
For my own mental health and the fun-ness of this summer, I hope the C's can bounce back and win in 7 like they did last year vs. the Bucks. You were 8-point favorites tonight and lost by 12 (and it wasn't even that close) AT HOME. It's fucking embarrassing, but the season is not over despite this weak, heartless, disgusting, disheartening, unacceptable, and any other bummer-adjective you can think of performance by the defending Eastern Conference champs. We've won in Philly before. We're gonna have to do it again. Time to smoke the sadness and back pain away (lol jk I need a tolerance break). Hopefully, tonight's Ted Lasso doesn't suck because I need a pick-me-up. Oh, and I lost a 1.5U chasing C's money line. Let's end on a positive note: Doc Rivers' teams have blown 3-1 or 3-2 series leads in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015, and 2020. He also coached teams that blew 2-0 leads in 2013 and 2016. Hopefully, history can repeat itself. Song: Bulls on Parade (1996) Artist: Rage Against Machine Album: Evil Empire FUCK
Anybody chronically online who knows (foot)ball knows that the way the NFL handles its schedule release is roundabout AF. Yes, they drag that shit out like an award show. They don't just give you the schedule. They make the NCAA tournament selection show look like a memo. There's the day when your team's home & road opponents are announced. There's an announcement of the day they're announcing the schedule day, and of course, schedule release day. ESPN/NFL Network regularly turns it into two hours of programming.
Today is the cousin of the confirmation of the schedule release day since I'm pretty sure that this news was already out, but Adam Schefter (pee boy) confirmed the confirmation that the 2023 NFL Schedule drops on Thursday.
But that wasn't the only news that I'm relaying to you 3+ hours later; there were some tweaks to how the NFL schedule works this year.
Since the entire tweet doesn't show while embedded because of the new Twitter blue disaster.
Let's start with the good and work our way to the bad. Actually, this isn't even really good, it's more so just a thing. I don't really care about "all games being free agents." Yes, it was cool how AFC and CBS were intertwined, as were NFC and FOX, but the world is not black and white. It's grey AF. Most things in life are on a spectrum; idc if the game is on CBS, FOX, Hulu, Lifetime, AMC, or the defunct SpikeTV. As long as the Pats are on TV/a streaming service that I already have, I'm cool.
Now for the bad.
I think the premise of Black Friday games fucking stinks. Look, I love football (and I will say that a lot for the rest of this blog). It's legitimately one of my favorite parts of being alive. The game probably ruined my brain, and the likelihood of me having CTE (even from just four years of Rhode Island High School Football) is far above 0%, but if I restarted life tomorrow...I'd probably do it all again. If anything, I would've trained harder so I could've been better and played longer because I love football and miss being part of a team.
One of the best parts of the NFL is how most games are on Sunday. This is lame af, but the older I get, the less I care about sports. The more time you make me dedicate to it, the more likely something else will come up. I'm single and childless, so I can devote the entire day to football, but not everybody is so lucky (plus, I'm one good conversation from potentially both of those things changing). With the other three major sports in this country, your team is playing every few nights, if not every night, and of course, other teams fill in the other days. It's just a fucking lot. This will be weird for fantasy with the waiver wire too. I just don't fuck with it, okay! I don't watch every MNF game. If it's a shitty matchup or doesn't have fantasy implications, there's a chance I'm watching/doing something else. The same goes for Thursday Night Football (which we'll get to soon). Plus, not everybody gets Black Friday off. You're fucking over those fans who'll miss out cause they have a shitty job that doesn't treat them like a person/a critical position where you cannot close like anything in a hospital or a Wal-Mart cashier. It just feels like overkill and a money grab. Not to get on my "capitalism will eventually lead to the collapse of society" soapbox, but this is all about making more money for the comically rich NFL. Like how they stretch out the schedule, this gives the NFL another prime-time matchup (s) to sell ads. I love football, but Thanksgiving Weekend already has a lot going on. Friday is usually a chill day. I'm sure come November, if the matchup is good or I have fantasy implications, I'll be glad there's a game, but it's almost like a chore now. Can't we just have that Friday? You're monopolizing my life, NFL! I feel for the fans who are negatively impacted by this and all the players who will have another game on short rest. It's fucked. Perfect transition to how teams can now have multiple Thursday night games. Last year, the Pats played on Thursday twice because of Thanksgiving, and it sort of worked out cause the games were on back-to-back weeks, but this is fucked. It's a significant competitive disadvantage for the teams that have to play more games on short rest. So much for player safety! I watch TNF, but wish it didn't exist. Similarly to my take on Black Friday games, I'll obvi end up watching, but that doesn't mean it's a good thing. I love the NFL (the product, not all the shady scuzzy shit behind the scenes), but in a way, these changes make it tougher to be a fan by making you dedicate more time to the NFL. Thursday night games usually suck and are proven to be a more significant risk for the players...so fuck it, let's give teams more! I'll end on a quick positive note because I need to get to the gym but I wanted to get a blog out on Dozah Day....I like only guaranteeing some teams a prime-time game. It will likely incentivize owners to improve their teams so they don't risk becoming irrelevant. That's good for the league as a whole...light a little fire under their ass. Like it's disgusting what's going on in baseball rn with tanking. Poor Oakland. Plus, I want the best matchups. It blows when a December MNF game ends up being a battle of sub-5-win teams (and that is why I usually don't watch). Sure, people get annoyed when it feels like the same four teams are playing every prime-time game, but the best matchups should be the ones getting the most eyeballs. We don't need the whole country watching Texans vs. Jaguars (although the Jags might actually be good now..we'll see if they'll continue to grow from their run last year).
Song: The Moment (2015)
Artist: Tame Impala Album: Currents
Happy Dozah Day (May=5, 8=8, put it together and you get 5-8 aka my high school football number) everybody!!
(recently, I changed my tune; it's always fuck fascists)
Even though there's a great chance nobody sees this... Sorry for starting the blog day so late; I was super busy with Dr. appointment BS, then visited my Grandma on the way back for a few hours like a hashtag good guy. Since it's Dozah Day, today's SOD is one of my all-time favorite songs + instant happiness for your ears and brain. I saw Tame Impala twice in a week last year, but they didn't play "The Moment" either time and for that I am still sad.
Apparently, this is a fan-made video. I was under the impression that it was official for years...like I didn't realize until last year after I saw them. Maybe that's why it's not staple of of their live catalog (they played it multiple times at shows near the locations I saw them at; Mohegan & TD Garden), even though it's such a fun tune that I'm sure gets the people goin'. Also, I kissed a girl for the first time this decade on Saturday night which was fucking dope. Happy Dozah Day to all!!!
In honor of the quasi-holiday/adopted persona b-day, I'm not using Grammarly to edit this blog, so sorry if I didn't catch all the fuck ups along the way. It's absolutely bananas this isn't the official music video cause it suits the song PERFECTLY. I know it's not on Tame's channel, but there are plenty of instances where official videos are posted on other channels. Vibe(s) is such an oversaturated internet term, but this shit truly is a vibe.
I worked Friday night, so I didn't get to blog about the C's convincing Game 3 victory. Luckily they did what they needed to do and took one in Philly, but losing the way they did today hurts like when you bite your fingernail too low....except it's every finger and toe, and you're also bummed that your four live bets lost because the C's took way too long to get shit moving on their final possession in a situation where their coach was like, "nah I'm not gonna coach." (Seeing Marcus' potential-game-winning shot go in gave me a brief moment of excitement since Dorris and whoever the dude is had a terrible game and messed up multiple times.) That late pace was far from the C's only mistake down the stretch.
Marcus Smart missed a wide-open three that would've won the game in regulation which was kind of annoying cause I hate shooting a three when you just need a bucket (although in today's NBA, I get it, that was a "good shot") wins it. Who knows if it would've made a difference, but the C's went into overtime with two timeouts in their pocket. On their final possession of the game, Mazzulla again chose to not call timeout. Here's what he said in the postgame about his decision.â
I've been hard on Joe lately, but I actually don't hate that response. I also don't understand the reason to not use your timeouts. Some say it's to keep the defense on their toes, but idk; in those spots, I feel like it's best to take a breath, maybe get a swing of water/Gatorade, grab your teammates a little, get fired up, and win the fucking game!
I get no love on Twitter because my tweets might suck, and I don't sub to Twitter blue (fuck Elon), but this was a solid Office reference (maybe it's cause I fucked up and put timeout as two words??)
I don't love giving the Donald air time on DOL, but this clip is the perfect encapsulation of Mazzulla's timeout management.
This loss was so frustrating because precisely what I thought would happen happened. The C's were playing gross but never fell out of the game. Things got close to out of hand at the end of the third, but a D-White three-ball started an 8-2 run to cut the Sixers' lead back to single digits.
Throughout the game, I was texting some buddies and my dad (separately; we're not all in a group chat lol). I kept saying, we're staying close, we just need a run, and the C's eventually got one. They went on like a 17-4 run in the 4th and were up 5 points with about two minutes left. Had the C's won, the series was O-V-E-R. Doc was Docin', but credit to Philly; they made enough plays late/the C's fucked up. Man, this loss stinks on ice. We've been the superior team this series, but that doesn't mean shit when it's knotted up 2-2. This isn't exactly the most profound take, but now Tuesday becomes a massive game for the C's to keep their upper hand. You won Game 3. You got homecourt back, but you cannot let Philly have a chance to close it out at home Thursday night. Defend the parquet. You gotta give credit to Tatum. After starting a poopy 0/8 from the floor, he had a 15-point third quarter and finished a respectable 9/20 for 24 points. He was off from deep all game but hit what could've been the game-winning shot for the C's late in OT. Some may say the C's loss was a "ball don't lie "situation since this could've been an offensive foul, but I'd argue the Sixers got plenty of love from the officials this afternoon.
Doc was hot about the non-call, but IMO he should be counting his lucky stars that Jaylen fucked up and left Harden uncovered.
JB was accountable for this mistake. I love this guy and his demeanor. Hopefully he never dons another uniform. (also get this man some fucking touches in the 4th!!!)
âNow we've got ourselves a three-game series. Last year, the Celtics lost Game 5 at home vs. Milwaukee in a similar situation but won in 7. Then in the ECF, they lost Game 6 at home in a close-out spot and clinched the East on the road. I really wish we'd stop playing with our fucking food, but I suppose these teams are also good and not easy outs. Everybody wants the Larry OB.
Despite being locked up, the Celtics are the better team in this series. I'm not biased; I genuinely believe that and data support it, but for that to continue to ring true, the C's must win Tuesday night. Weirdly I'm now somewhat calm after this loss (despite my earlier words & losing 4/5 live bets...I cashed one out, and of course, Seanny Wrong is blaming the C's loss on that) because of the heart they showed. The playoffs have no moral victories, but the C's showed me something in their fight. They stepped up when needed in the 4th, but it wasn't enough. Okay, I'm butthurt again; I just looked at the box score (but also stand by what I said moments ago): shooting 72.7% (16/22) from the line in a one-point loss is infuriating. Being up 3-1 would've been a luxury and likely a death knell for the Sixers. Now we've got a series. âIt low key feels like it's the same old song and dance with this team; they make things more challenging than they need to be. Philly's two wins are by a combined 3 points. Ours are by 46, but all that matters is 2-2. We'll see how the C's respond on Tuesday. Also, I would've liked to see Jaylen end up with more than 23 after his hot start. I don't like seeing Jaylen only taking 16 shots while Marcus puts up 15. After averaging 20.3 shots per game in the Atlanta series, JB is down to just 15.3 shots per game through four vs. Philly. My man needs his touches!!! P.S. It's such a shame this shimmy came in a loss. Al's had some ugly shooting nights these playoffs, but we're gonna need him to get this ring!
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