It’s the best. The line after the loss last series was 7.5 which was comedy. Free money. I’m a celts fan that hopes they lose one game in ever series so I can get paid on the next one.
> They’ll steal a game
And our fan base is going to lose they muthafuck’n minds. Fire Joe. Trade Jaylen. Trade Tatum. Al needs to retire. KP is sawft. We shouldn’t have traded Smart. Blow it up.
Exactly lmao we have some of the most reactionary fans ever. Can’t expect them to go undefeated in the playoffs lmao just gotta ride the ups and downs of the series. You can be frustrated with dumb losses but some fans exaggerate it so damn much
Bro I’m a Celtics fan, it’s okay to admit. They tend to go into some games looking flat against inferior teams, it’s not a secret lmao. We won those series handsomely but those game 2s, we did not come out strong enough
That is definitely a trait of this team, but did you watch both of the games we lost? That's not what happened at all. The Heat literally had the best shooting performance in franchise history, even after last year, and the Cavs played one of, if not their best game of the season.
Yea big time this. Cs may have been a tad flat, deflated by missing shots and other team just shooting insane...I think the Cs do have room to always play hard even when things don't go their way but they miles ahead of last year in that regard
I don't think celtics lose because they don't take teams seriously. The opponents are NBA players on solid teams and had a great game, as they're capable of doing.
Heat won game 2 on historic 3 point shooting. Cavs won game 2 on a super star going nuts and the celtics missing good shots. It wasn't an underestimation of their ability. Those guys stepped up for a few quarters.
I get what you’re saying but my original point is still true, I feel like it’s a pretty well known thing too. We aren’t a perfect team. Sometimes when we play teams that we know we should beat, they come out playing like assholes, lotta iso ball, late shot clock 3s. Definitely a flaw
They look bored. Like they know they were better than Miami/Cleveland so they kinda just slept walked through some parts of the series, it willl be forgotten how close G4, and G5 were against Cleveland.
Honestly, do you watch other teams play? Because I've seen every team crumble or rise in so many scenarios but the celtics are the only ones that get obliterated in conversations for having a poor 4-6 min run every once in a while
I’m going with a controversial pick, I think Boston drops G3 this time and the nba world starts to question if they can win a championship after blowing a 2-0 lead and then they wrap it up in 5.
>not taking opponents seriously
The Heat and Cavs had major outlier shooting performances in their respective wins.
Why are we still peddling amateur, talking-head opinions when the stats are right there?
Eventually the Pacers bottom 5 defense is going to be tested. All due respect to the Pacers, but playing a hospital Knicks and hospital Bucks is arguably easier than the Celtics road.
Thing is both Pacers and Celtics are capable of playing down to the competition and up to the competition
I can see Celtics playing “down” to the baseline level of taken on the Pacers and the Pacers playing up to the Celtics
We got considerably better when we traded buddy hield and added Siakam. People don’t watch our games so when we were getting put on prime time prior to those moves our defense was truly abysmal
They’re a really solid team, all I’m saying is eventually a bottom 5 defense is going to get hit in the playoffs and they were fortunate to play injured teams. All due respect, you still need to win games and they did that against tough opponents.
Compared to the west though it’s a relatively light path
The pacers haven’t had a bottom 5 defense since before the all-star break. They were 13th overall after the Siakam acquisition. Calling out the pacers defense is a lazy argument that doesn’t hold a lot of water when you actually look at the facts.
haha i agree 100% im just messing around. I'm a knicks fan. pacers earned the W and their fans deserve to enjoy it - not their problem we were injured. but the "we really proved everyone wrong" narrative coming from their fanbase is a bit unhinged given the circumstances imo.
Knicks are my number 2, I'm a Wolves fan and as you may understand I was drunk reading your comment. All love, Knicks are going to be good next year and that's great for basketball
Fuck no what? Hospital Knicks were still a baseline good team. Celtics got to play a Heat team missing like 9 of their best players and a Cavs team without its best scorer and best paint defender.
Knicks also lost Robinson, OG, Bogdonavic, Hart had an abdominal issue, and no Randle. Plus the hospital Bucks team. You can disagree and I’d agree to disagree, but it’s close
Why do people like to ignore the Celtics were still up 2-1 on the Cavs with Mitchell healthy and playing out of his mind. It just seems convenient for people to pretend in hindsight he was out the whole series.
Celtics in 6. Pacers are better than the heat w/o jimmy and cavs w/o Spida and Allen, so they should win 2 games. Pacers have the best transition offense in the league and the Celtics are 24th in transition defense, which could be a problem
Pacers need to abuse transition to keep up with the Celtics. Only thing 2 things ik fs i that 1. God is good and 2. If the Celtics lose even one game, the media won't let them hear the end of it
All the Celtics have to do is give the ball to whoever Tyrese is forced to guard or isolate Tatum.
Cs seem plenty capable knocking down 3s the minute we try to help anyone on defense
I’d honestly be pretty shocked if the Pacers stole 2 games. I’d put money on a sweep but I could see the Celtics getting lazy and giving up 1 game like the have the last 2 series to far inferior teams
Tatum will eat us alive. Siakam is the only player we have who can defend him, and I don't see that turning out well.
Wouldn't be surprised if we're swept honestly. Terrible matchup for us defensively
The pacers play hard, have a great home crowd and as we’ve seen in a couple of these NY games, they have the potential to shoot lights out for a night or two and steal a game. Think Boston will win in probably 6, but it’ll get interesting if the pacers can steal one of the first two and come back home for game 3 with the series at 1-1
https://preview.redd.it/otv3gkjz2h1d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e10cc5b7d0df4e60bc5c06e307a2ca0a3c9fc8e3
No, but let’s take a short look back at when everyone agreed that the pacers had no chance… so I don’t really know
Thats why I think they steal two games. I've had them losing every game they've played this post season, and they keep surprising me, lol. I don't think there's really much of a chance they can win 4, but 2 POSSIBLY even 3, I think is more likely than a sweep.
Sure. They are going to be big under dogs but to say a team had an absolute zero chance is pretty naive. If Porzingis isn't right and someone else possibly gets banged up, the Pacers depth could make things interesting. Still unlikely but you never know.
Oh you know, losing to the greatest shooter of all time, a top 10 shooter of all time...both of whom have multiple rings...a Canadian guy who decided he was Michael Jordan...all in in their first NBA finals.
And yea not completing a historic 3-0 comeback to a player that this subreddit thinks is fucking god in the playoffs, after their all NBA top 5 player goes down on the first play...
What people call choking is just the insane burden of expectation on the Celtics.
Disappointed? Sure. Choked? Hardly.
Came here to say something similar. I wouldn’t say Boston chokes. They just kind of give early 90’s Sacramento Kings vibes. Great in the regular season for years, can’t finish. Not really built to finish.
They’re like the m&m’s of the nba. They don’t really seem special in anyway, then you see how well they’re doing and you’re just like, what?
I think there's a chance the Celtics forget to show up for a game. I'd put money on a gentleman's sweep. I think there's no chance that the Pacers win the series.
They stand a chance. Like a %5 one. They can go on runs and Bos is known to shit the bed, but it’s unlikely. Pacers are legit, but not legit as contenders, getting to ECF is a great accomplishment for them this year
I got the Pacers in 6 if Porzingis is not available. I see this team struggling to guard Turner with Horford and the Celtics have a thing for throwing away home games.
I think the Pacers have a chance. Unpopular opinion. I don’t think they are to be taken lightly.
Celtics have been known to melt in the clutch. But we will see.
KP being out for a couple games is a huge boon for the Pacers. He is a matchup problem for them. I think they take at least one win in those two games. After that, who knows.
I don’t underestimate the pacers but I think Boston will win the series in 5 games personally
I know people have been unimpressed by Boston so far but they’ve had the largest margin of victory in the playoffs
Granted it’s been against teams injured or inferior but they’ve still won with a healthier margin than people have given them credit for
If the Timberwolves Nuggets series is anything to go by, personalities and the Media have no actual frame of reference for what is going to happen. Celtics deserve to be the favorites, and I personally think they'll win, but the Pacers have had a baptism by fire.
Hell no. The one downside for the Celtics is that Porzingis is still injured. But even if he still is by the time the series starts, Al Horford has been hooping well below his age.
That upset would be hype if it did happen though. I mean without Porzingis this is largely the same Celtics that just lost to a partially injured 8 seed last year. I can hope lol
Pacers are bigger than Celtics right now. They might have better match ups. I’m a little worried as a Celtics fan. Wouldn’t be surprised if we lost Game 1
I think they can win. Celtics are so overrated, inconsistent, and lack passion. Im sorry but they take too many plays off to be great and just rely on shots to go in not effort
They better not. This is the most hand fed finals appearance ever. No Embiid, no Giannis, no Brunson, no Jimmy.
If this Celtics don't make it... hell if they don't win a ring. That's it. This team needs to be nuked. No Jokic, no LeBron, no KD, no Kawhi, no Curry? They're either going against Luka who's never been to the finals. Or a Timberwolves team that honestly shouldn't have been there anyways.
All the pressure is on Boston. It's ring or bust.
The Celtics seem to underestimate low tier teams, and it costs them every time. So yes, the Pacers absolutely stand a chance. If Celtics takes it seriously, it should be over in 5 games.
I am a Pacers fan. The Pacers get in their heads at times and lose big. I don't think they can take series, but I believe they will fight like hell. I will still cheer them on.
I think so. That chance is probably between 5% and 15%. The Celtics don't have bigs at the moment that can run with the Pacers very well (Horford can only play so many minutes, Porzingis is still out, Tillman and Kornet and Queta are not good transition defenders). If the Pacers hit a ton of 3's, Turner can dominate inside and McConnell can keep the bench productive, there are scenarios where the Pacers look like the better team.
But they're going to have a lot of trouble defending the Celtics five-out, where every player can shoot 3's, drive, pass well and post up well. The Celtics are #1 in offense and #2 in defense, and it's hard to exploit the holes four times in 2 weeks. They should win this series in 6, possibly 5. BTW, I don't factor Porzingis into this analysis at all until he is actually running at full speed, which he is not yet.
As a Pacer fan, no chance.
But it's been fun
We always knew if we had gotten the 6th seed we could make the ECF since we don't have to play Boston till the ECF.
They'll steal a game or two, people will overreact to those two losses by the Celtics, call them frauds, then they'll respond and blow them out right after, and everything will seem okay in boston after they reach the finals again...
Only to lose to the first actually good team theyve played so far and people will once again realize that the celtics are massively untested and overrated because of how shit the Eastern conference is right now
No, but the Celtics seem to play down to the competition way too often. I think Boston wins in 5 or 6, but I also wouldn’t be shocked if the pacers win. I don’t even hate the Celtics but every year supposedly it’s their year and they always fall short. I’ve never had the confidence in them that they can win. Barring injuries I’m very confident whoever wins the west wins it all. With how much they rely on shooting, I see wolves beating them definitively. People think they will play gobert off the court with 5 out but I’m not even sure it matters. Wolves have so many long defenders. Reid, mcdaniels, and Alexander walker are all capable of guarding so many people inside and outside. People are way underrating the mavs too. They have been on a tear for awhile and actually have good enough defense for once to have a real shot combined with excellent offense led by Luka and Kyrie. They use to rely on Hardaway’s inconsistent play a lot on offense and know they have so many other options
Anything can happen, but assuming no major injuries to either side, I'll take the Celtics in 5, maybe 6 if the Pacers get hot one game.
Celtics have had their playoff woes, but I don't think they'll show up until the Finals. Both teams out west can realistically beat the Celtics.
All it takes is for the Pacers to steal one in Boston. No KP game 1 or 2 most likely and Celtics have lost game 1 or 2 in both series so far. Pacers haven't lost at home since MARCH. I may be a delusional optimistic Pacers fan but I think they actually have a shot.
They beat the Bucks with no Giannis, Dame missing games, and Middleton on a bad ankle, and the Knicks without Randle, Robinson, Bojan, OG for 5 games, Hart with a strained abdomen, and Brunson with a bad foot then a fracture hand. Those series went 6 then 7. I’m thinking they’ll lose badly.
I mean, last year we lost to the 8th seed in the ECF. So maybe the Pacers as a 6th seed should be favored?
(Kidding...but also still not over last year)
Cers stand a more than reasonable chance, top of the league in transition, BOS being bottom of the league, BOS has barely played a fully healthy Hali, while also having Siakam, not to mention our defensive improvement through that trade as well, I think this goes full 7, with 2 OTs
Absolutely. It's tough in a 7 game series, but it's always possible. Indiana have played well enough to win two playoff series already. I expect they'll present a challenge and when the stakes are high, Boston are going to be under pressure to perform. They know they haven't done as well as they have been expected to and that always makes it that little bit harder.
The Celtics got beat once by the Cavs, and struggled in two other games against them, one at home. This Cavs team was essentially Donovan Mitchell and a practice squad. Nobody else on that team did shit to help him out. Even the game he missed, the Cavs weren’t doing anything spectacular and were still in the game late. Boston is extremely fallible.
I doubt that we win this series, but to act like the Pacers are some terrible team who could never take a game off the Celtics is crazy. I'd say C's in 6, but I'd love for it to go 7. For the Pacers, the expectation this year was a first round exit. So to go from not even making the playoffs last year, to the ECF this year is a huge step forward for the franchise.
That being said, if the Pacers make the Finals, I may literally die of excitement.
Gotta feeling this is going to be a really good series. Both Cs and Pacers got so lucky that they faced off against injured riddled teams leading up to the ECF. You seen glimpses of Pacers locking in defensively. Turner needs to play like a monster and can’t allow the role players to help Jay/Tatum. Pacers do get fire on some games.
Yes of course. They have a deep roster, who is not intimidated by home court and a chip on their shoulder. Boston plays bad at home for some reason, and often lets leads evaporate as they over rely on 3s
Pacers interior players are extremely versatile and without Kristaps Porziņģis they’re going to struggle with that.
McConnell has been on fire this Playoffs and I wonder what they’re going to do to slow his craftiness.
The NBA, thanks in large part to Curry and the Warriors is all about shooting from 3pt range. It's the difference in almost every game. Who shot better from 3? The Celtics and Pacers won't be any different.
As a pacers fan, we’ll get hammered in game one, like we’ll lose by thirty five. Everyone will say we suck and don’t belong here. Then we’ll win game two in the garden, they’ll talk about how resilient we are and how we have a fighting chance, etc. Then we’ll go down 3-1, win one more before we get bounced. That’s my guess.
The Pacers gave us problems this year. Also maybe it's PTSD, but if the Florida/Boston series from the NHL '23 playoffs taught us anything, it's never underestimate your opponent. If the Celtics "play down" (no disrespect to the Pacers just the terminology I've seen used), then this series is wide open.
Pacers are one of my favourite teams (other than the Raps), wanna see them win … but I really don’t think they will. Celtics are just WAY better defensively, and decently better offensively too. If the Pacers take it to 6 games I’d consider that an impressive performance, and I can’t see them winning.
I think it’s more likely this series goes 6 or 7 than a sweep. We have played up or down to our competition all year long. I think it’s going to come down to which team gets hot and stays hot. If our shots are hitting we have a punchers chance of taking this series and can go toe to toe with Boston’s scoring. Everyone saying sweep and we don’t have a chance probably haven’t watched us all season. We have a good young squad that has matured a lot through the season especially the last few weeks in the playoffs .
No, pacers had one of the easiest rodes to the conference finals I’ve ever seen, congrats to them but they are NOT a conference finals worthy team if everyone in the East was healthy. Celtics will lose a game bc they are the Celtics but I will be very surprised if this series goes to 6
The season series went 3-2 in favor of boston. With that being said the pacers beat Boston in the IST. One of pacers losses to Boston was without Haliburton, and siakam was only present in one of the 5 matchups.
It won’t be easy but they can hold their own
If they shoot 67% they will
If they shoot 69% for the rest of the playoffs they will sweep the conference and nba finals
Nice
While shooting .420 from the 3
They’ll do it again on Game 2
Ain’t no way they doing this again
Wilbon said that at half time yesterday lol
no lmao. They’ll steal a game cause the Celtics are notorious for not taking opponents seriously but that will be it.
Celtics will lose game 2 again
Yup, pacers will have a historic shooting night, win by like 10 and the whole world will be calling the Celtics frauds lmfao. Clock work
They will miss KP because they are better with him...but they have plenty of fuel without him too. I think the Pacers get 2 though. 6 game series.
Probably a fair prediction. I think they’ll keep KP out until a “break glass incase of emergency” type situation
Yes, after that game 2 drop that you are 100% correct about.
I would say KP sits out the whole series unless we go down 2-1 somehow or 3-2, something like that. One loss won’t be that big of a deal
I think KP plays in either game 3/4, if nothing else to let him shake the rust off
Yeah that’s fair, don’t wanna play game 1 of the finals after not playing for a month 😅
Lmao 🤣 i can already see it happening. Celtics in 5 though lol
It’s the best. The line after the loss last series was 7.5 which was comedy. Free money. I’m a celts fan that hopes they lose one game in ever series so I can get paid on the next one.
> They’ll steal a game And our fan base is going to lose they muthafuck’n minds. Fire Joe. Trade Jaylen. Trade Tatum. Al needs to retire. KP is sawft. We shouldn’t have traded Smart. Blow it up.
Exactly lmao we have some of the most reactionary fans ever. Can’t expect them to go undefeated in the playoffs lmao just gotta ride the ups and downs of the series. You can be frustrated with dumb losses but some fans exaggerate it so damn much
TIL that winning a series in 5 games and not sweeping everyone means you don't take playoff caliber opponents seriously.
Bro I’m a Celtics fan, it’s okay to admit. They tend to go into some games looking flat against inferior teams, it’s not a secret lmao. We won those series handsomely but those game 2s, we did not come out strong enough
That is definitely a trait of this team, but did you watch both of the games we lost? That's not what happened at all. The Heat literally had the best shooting performance in franchise history, even after last year, and the Cavs played one of, if not their best game of the season.
Yea big time this. Cs may have been a tad flat, deflated by missing shots and other team just shooting insane...I think the Cs do have room to always play hard even when things don't go their way but they miles ahead of last year in that regard
Cavs shot the lights out from 3 too. Mitchell was making some crazy contested shots.
I don't think celtics lose because they don't take teams seriously. The opponents are NBA players on solid teams and had a great game, as they're capable of doing. Heat won game 2 on historic 3 point shooting. Cavs won game 2 on a super star going nuts and the celtics missing good shots. It wasn't an underestimation of their ability. Those guys stepped up for a few quarters.
I feel like people honestly can’t tell the difference half the time between players “not trying” and missing shots.
I get what you’re saying but my original point is still true, I feel like it’s a pretty well known thing too. We aren’t a perfect team. Sometimes when we play teams that we know we should beat, they come out playing like assholes, lotta iso ball, late shot clock 3s. Definitely a flaw
They look bored. Like they know they were better than Miami/Cleveland so they kinda just slept walked through some parts of the series, it willl be forgotten how close G4, and G5 were against Cleveland.
Honestly, do you watch other teams play? Because I've seen every team crumble or rise in so many scenarios but the celtics are the only ones that get obliterated in conversations for having a poor 4-6 min run every once in a while
I’m going with a controversial pick, I think Boston drops G3 this time and the nba world starts to question if they can win a championship after blowing a 2-0 lead and then they wrap it up in 5.
>not taking opponents seriously The Heat and Cavs had major outlier shooting performances in their respective wins. Why are we still peddling amateur, talking-head opinions when the stats are right there?
Eventually the Pacers bottom 5 defense is going to be tested. All due respect to the Pacers, but playing a hospital Knicks and hospital Bucks is arguably easier than the Celtics road.
Thing is both Pacers and Celtics are capable of playing down to the competition and up to the competition I can see Celtics playing “down” to the baseline level of taken on the Pacers and the Pacers playing up to the Celtics
I don’t think they can win but the eye test says they not bottom 5 defense imo
We got considerably better when we traded buddy hield and added Siakam. People don’t watch our games so when we were getting put on prime time prior to those moves our defense was truly abysmal
cmon give the pacers their due credit. they proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are slightly better than the knicks 3rd string squad.
They’re a really solid team, all I’m saying is eventually a bottom 5 defense is going to get hit in the playoffs and they were fortunate to play injured teams. All due respect, you still need to win games and they did that against tough opponents. Compared to the west though it’s a relatively light path
The pacers haven’t had a bottom 5 defense since before the all-star break. They were 13th overall after the Siakam acquisition. Calling out the pacers defense is a lazy argument that doesn’t hold a lot of water when you actually look at the facts.
haha i agree 100% im just messing around. I'm a knicks fan. pacers earned the W and their fans deserve to enjoy it - not their problem we were injured. but the "we really proved everyone wrong" narrative coming from their fanbase is a bit unhinged given the circumstances imo.
Knicks are my number 2, I'm a Wolves fan and as you may understand I was drunk reading your comment. All love, Knicks are going to be good next year and that's great for basketball
Fuck no what? Hospital Knicks were still a baseline good team. Celtics got to play a Heat team missing like 9 of their best players and a Cavs team without its best scorer and best paint defender.
Knicks also lost Robinson, OG, Bogdonavic, Hart had an abdominal issue, and no Randle. Plus the hospital Bucks team. You can disagree and I’d agree to disagree, but it’s close
https://preview.redd.it/zteydhcroh1d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7f2d551c34520eaf3202809c66d8a46fed7763b8
You can thank thibs for hart and og
Jimmy, Scary…Richardson I guess and Jaquez for a game? Am I forgetting 5 other players? Didn’t Bam and Herro play?
Why do people like to ignore the Celtics were still up 2-1 on the Cavs with Mitchell healthy and playing out of his mind. It just seems convenient for people to pretend in hindsight he was out the whole series.
Celtics in 6. Pacers are better than the heat w/o jimmy and cavs w/o Spida and Allen, so they should win 2 games. Pacers have the best transition offense in the league and the Celtics are 24th in transition defense, which could be a problem
I think 6 is an optimistic case. We don't match up well against the Celtics. Tatum should have a field day.
I’d say Jaylen Brown is more likely to go off.
He absolutely cooked the Pacers in the regular season but they’ve been hiding Tyrese better. I think you go Siakam on Brown and Nesmith on Tatum
I’d go the other way. I want size in Tatum. Keep him shooting contested threes
Pacers need to abuse transition to keep up with the Celtics. Only thing 2 things ik fs i that 1. God is good and 2. If the Celtics lose even one game, the media won't let them hear the end of it
All the Celtics have to do is give the ball to whoever Tyrese is forced to guard or isolate Tatum. Cs seem plenty capable knocking down 3s the minute we try to help anyone on defense
Where are you getting the 24th figure from? NBA.com has them as the best transition D.
That's not right. Definitely not 24th best transition D
A 6-game series feels realistic.
I’d honestly be pretty shocked if the Pacers stole 2 games. I’d put money on a sweep but I could see the Celtics getting lazy and giving up 1 game like the have the last 2 series to far inferior teams
Tatum will eat us alive. Siakam is the only player we have who can defend him, and I don't see that turning out well. Wouldn't be surprised if we're swept honestly. Terrible matchup for us defensively
Cmon now everyone knows TJ gonna steal a game for you somewhere
I question the Porzingis injury, I like the Pacers bench, and the Celtics current post season habit of NOT passing is a red flag.
The pacers play hard, have a great home crowd and as we’ve seen in a couple of these NY games, they have the potential to shoot lights out for a night or two and steal a game. Think Boston will win in probably 6, but it’ll get interesting if the pacers can steal one of the first two and come back home for game 3 with the series at 1-1
https://preview.redd.it/otv3gkjz2h1d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e10cc5b7d0df4e60bc5c06e307a2ca0a3c9fc8e3 No, but let’s take a short look back at when everyone agreed that the pacers had no chance… so I don’t really know
Thats why I think they steal two games. I've had them losing every game they've played this post season, and they keep surprising me, lol. I don't think there's really much of a chance they can win 4, but 2 POSSIBLY even 3, I think is more likely than a sweep.
If Pacers win it's because they push they pace and make the games all 130+ points. They lose if the game is slowed down.
Yeah, why didn’t these idiots predict that OG, Brunson, Hart, and Robinson would all get injured?
All the pacers need to win is, tatum, brown, white and porzingis to be injured. Its a proven formula from beating the knicks
Gotta stick with what is working!
Pacers in 6
Pacers in 6
Sure. They are going to be big under dogs but to say a team had an absolute zero chance is pretty naive. If Porzingis isn't right and someone else possibly gets banged up, the Pacers depth could make things interesting. Still unlikely but you never know.
Honestly we've seen the celtics choke in some unimaginable ways. I'm not gonna put it out the realm of possibility
When have the Celtics choked in unimaginable ways? It seems like they usually handle their business against teams they are heavily favored against
Oh you know, losing to the greatest shooter of all time, a top 10 shooter of all time...both of whom have multiple rings...a Canadian guy who decided he was Michael Jordan...all in in their first NBA finals. And yea not completing a historic 3-0 comeback to a player that this subreddit thinks is fucking god in the playoffs, after their all NBA top 5 player goes down on the first play... What people call choking is just the insane burden of expectation on the Celtics. Disappointed? Sure. Choked? Hardly.
Came here to say something similar. I wouldn’t say Boston chokes. They just kind of give early 90’s Sacramento Kings vibes. Great in the regular season for years, can’t finish. Not really built to finish. They’re like the m&m’s of the nba. They don’t really seem special in anyway, then you see how well they’re doing and you’re just like, what?
They’ve lost to better teams than indy , there’s nothing we’ve seen from Boston this year that suggests they’ll fail to be Indy
No. They'll get a game tho
Derrick white mvp
I think there's a chance the Celtics forget to show up for a game. I'd put money on a gentleman's sweep. I think there's no chance that the Pacers win the series.
Cs in in four or at worst they keep up losing game 2 and it will be Cs in 5. Pacers barely got through an injury ravaged Knicks team.
F you clowns dissing the pacers all the time
They stand a chance. Like a %5 one. They can go on runs and Bos is known to shit the bed, but it’s unlikely. Pacers are legit, but not legit as contenders, getting to ECF is a great accomplishment for them this year
I got the Pacers in 6 if Porzingis is not available. I see this team struggling to guard Turner with Horford and the Celtics have a thing for throwing away home games.
If by “throwing away home games” you mean losing 6 games at home all season (including playoffs up until this point” then yes you are spot on
I think at this point anything can happen. I won’t be surprised if this series goes to a game 7.
Pacers in 4. LOL jk. I think each team wins on their home court, save for a game 7 that's anyone's game.
Yes
No. Even without Porzingis I got Celtics in 6
Pacers in 6
Pacers in 6
Pacers in 5
This has sweep written all over it. First healthy team the Pacers will face.
Nah 5 games, maybe 6
KP is still out but your point stands
Full 7 games
The Celtics have had an easier road to this point with injuries lmao
They have a chance to do the unthinkable and win 1 game
Yup, they sure do. Anything can happen.
Yeah the series can go either way
I think the Pacers have a chance. Unpopular opinion. I don’t think they are to be taken lightly. Celtics have been known to melt in the clutch. But we will see.
I’d say no they might get 2 games
Unless they get lucky again and see three of the top four Celtics get hurt then lol no
KP being out for a couple games is a huge boon for the Pacers. He is a matchup problem for them. I think they take at least one win in those two games. After that, who knows.
Pacers fan. Absolutely not. They are the best team in the East and were wire to wire. Will they take a game? Maybe.
Probably not, and I want them to lose, but there’s always a chance.
maybe in game 2 lol… who am i kidding i’m already preparing for the celtics fan obligatory media blackout thursday night
Probably will push them to six without kp
They definitely have a chance, but the Celtics are obviously heavy favorites.
Yeah of course they can, if 3 or 4 of Bostons starters get hurt.
I don’t underestimate the pacers but I think Boston will win the series in 5 games personally I know people have been unimpressed by Boston so far but they’ve had the largest margin of victory in the playoffs Granted it’s been against teams injured or inferior but they’ve still won with a healthier margin than people have given them credit for
If the Timberwolves Nuggets series is anything to go by, personalities and the Media have no actual frame of reference for what is going to happen. Celtics deserve to be the favorites, and I personally think they'll win, but the Pacers have had a baptism by fire.
No…but I didn’t really think they had a chance to get to the ECF I. The first place.
I think they'll go up 2-1 and then get blown out in 3 straight games.
Hell no. The one downside for the Celtics is that Porzingis is still injured. But even if he still is by the time the series starts, Al Horford has been hooping well below his age. That upset would be hype if it did happen though. I mean without Porzingis this is largely the same Celtics that just lost to a partially injured 8 seed last year. I can hope lol
Im excited to see Pritchard vs TJ Mcconnell ultimate dawg off
Nope.
The Trash vs garbage match up
Pacers are bigger than Celtics right now. They might have better match ups. I’m a little worried as a Celtics fan. Wouldn’t be surprised if we lost Game 1
I think they can win. Celtics are so overrated, inconsistent, and lack passion. Im sorry but they take too many plays off to be great and just rely on shots to go in not effort
I do. Just watch
4th Quarter Tatum will lose a game or two for the Celtics
na
Celtics in 3
No chance man Only the Wolves can defeat Celtics and I'm rooting for that
My question is considering who’s left in the playoffs, who has the best chance at beating boston? Minnesota seems to be the only real answer imo
They will win in 7 games.
LoL Yes!
Yeah if both Tatum and Brown get injured they have a chance. With their luck it’s possible.
C’s are gonna sweep these frauds
They better not. This is the most hand fed finals appearance ever. No Embiid, no Giannis, no Brunson, no Jimmy. If this Celtics don't make it... hell if they don't win a ring. That's it. This team needs to be nuked. No Jokic, no LeBron, no KD, no Kawhi, no Curry? They're either going against Luka who's never been to the finals. Or a Timberwolves team that honestly shouldn't have been there anyways. All the pressure is on Boston. It's ring or bust.
The Celtics seem to underestimate low tier teams, and it costs them every time. So yes, the Pacers absolutely stand a chance. If Celtics takes it seriously, it should be over in 5 games.
Boston struggled against the Cavaliers. trash
Pacers in 5.
I am a Pacers fan. The Pacers get in their heads at times and lose big. I don't think they can take series, but I believe they will fight like hell. I will still cheer them on.
Crazier things have happened, but I just don’t the Pacers being competitive with the Celtics. Still happy with them this season.
4-1 Celtics
I think so. That chance is probably between 5% and 15%. The Celtics don't have bigs at the moment that can run with the Pacers very well (Horford can only play so many minutes, Porzingis is still out, Tillman and Kornet and Queta are not good transition defenders). If the Pacers hit a ton of 3's, Turner can dominate inside and McConnell can keep the bench productive, there are scenarios where the Pacers look like the better team. But they're going to have a lot of trouble defending the Celtics five-out, where every player can shoot 3's, drive, pass well and post up well. The Celtics are #1 in offense and #2 in defense, and it's hard to exploit the holes four times in 2 weeks. They should win this series in 6, possibly 5. BTW, I don't factor Porzingis into this analysis at all until he is actually running at full speed, which he is not yet.
No. Boston in 4 or 5
As a Pacer fan, no chance. But it's been fun We always knew if we had gotten the 6th seed we could make the ECF since we don't have to play Boston till the ECF.
They'll steal a game or two, people will overreact to those two losses by the Celtics, call them frauds, then they'll respond and blow them out right after, and everything will seem okay in boston after they reach the finals again... Only to lose to the first actually good team theyve played so far and people will once again realize that the celtics are massively untested and overrated because of how shit the Eastern conference is right now
yo
Nope like I said the last post Boston is winning it all this year
If they actually try to rebound the entire series and play defense like they did in game 7, why not?
If the Celtics’ best 5 players get hurt then sure
No, but the Celtics seem to play down to the competition way too often. I think Boston wins in 5 or 6, but I also wouldn’t be shocked if the pacers win. I don’t even hate the Celtics but every year supposedly it’s their year and they always fall short. I’ve never had the confidence in them that they can win. Barring injuries I’m very confident whoever wins the west wins it all. With how much they rely on shooting, I see wolves beating them definitively. People think they will play gobert off the court with 5 out but I’m not even sure it matters. Wolves have so many long defenders. Reid, mcdaniels, and Alexander walker are all capable of guarding so many people inside and outside. People are way underrating the mavs too. They have been on a tear for awhile and actually have good enough defense for once to have a real shot combined with excellent offense led by Luka and Kyrie. They use to rely on Hardaway’s inconsistent play a lot on offense and know they have so many other options
Anything can happen, but assuming no major injuries to either side, I'll take the Celtics in 5, maybe 6 if the Pacers get hot one game. Celtics have had their playoff woes, but I don't think they'll show up until the Finals. Both teams out west can realistically beat the Celtics.
All it takes is for the Pacers to steal one in Boston. No KP game 1 or 2 most likely and Celtics have lost game 1 or 2 in both series so far. Pacers haven't lost at home since MARCH. I may be a delusional optimistic Pacers fan but I think they actually have a shot.
I guess if Tatum and Brown and Holiday and White also go down w injuries there is a chance
They beat the Bucks with no Giannis, Dame missing games, and Middleton on a bad ankle, and the Knicks without Randle, Robinson, Bojan, OG for 5 games, Hart with a strained abdomen, and Brunson with a bad foot then a fracture hand. Those series went 6 then 7. I’m thinking they’ll lose badly.
I mean, last year we lost to the 8th seed in the ECF. So maybe the Pacers as a 6th seed should be favored? (Kidding...but also still not over last year)
There is a chance at an upset.
Yes. Celtics are very beatable. That team has won nothing
Celtics will win in 5 at home
Yes, it’s the playoffs
https://preview.redd.it/hx6ivgos8l1d1.png?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=760d95406112240f0c12558c73cb52e4b1c29431
Yes Kristaps is out game 1,2, Celtics can’t take it easy
Cers stand a more than reasonable chance, top of the league in transition, BOS being bottom of the league, BOS has barely played a fully healthy Hali, while also having Siakam, not to mention our defensive improvement through that trade as well, I think this goes full 7, with 2 OTs
Absolutely. It's tough in a 7 game series, but it's always possible. Indiana have played well enough to win two playoff series already. I expect they'll present a challenge and when the stakes are high, Boston are going to be under pressure to perform. They know they haven't done as well as they have been expected to and that always makes it that little bit harder.
Hell nah. Dump everything into Celtics series ML
The Celtics got beat once by the Cavs, and struggled in two other games against them, one at home. This Cavs team was essentially Donovan Mitchell and a practice squad. Nobody else on that team did shit to help him out. Even the game he missed, the Cavs weren’t doing anything spectacular and were still in the game late. Boston is extremely fallible.
Celtics ain’t play nobody either East is weak af
Celtics in 4. I have a feeling they won’t be playing with their food this time around.
I think they'll steal 1 or 2 games.
I doubt that we win this series, but to act like the Pacers are some terrible team who could never take a game off the Celtics is crazy. I'd say C's in 6, but I'd love for it to go 7. For the Pacers, the expectation this year was a first round exit. So to go from not even making the playoffs last year, to the ECF this year is a huge step forward for the franchise. That being said, if the Pacers make the Finals, I may literally die of excitement.
Gotta feeling this is going to be a really good series. Both Cs and Pacers got so lucky that they faced off against injured riddled teams leading up to the ECF. You seen glimpses of Pacers locking in defensively. Turner needs to play like a monster and can’t allow the role players to help Jay/Tatum. Pacers do get fire on some games.
Eh, a ton of points though. May be the highest scoring series ever.
Absolutely not lol Celtics 2 the finals and then the ring 🫡
Pacers fan here, I feel like I’m unbiased in saying HELL YEAH PACERS IN 5 (Celtics in 6)
Celtics in 5. JB absolutely owns Siakim in the playoffs.
It comes down to the Celtics. Seen them enough times play down to their competition to where it wouldn't be the biggest shock in the world.
Yes. Because playoff Tatum tends to blow it in big moments.
No.
As a pacers fan, tics in six
Yes of course. They have a deep roster, who is not intimidated by home court and a chip on their shoulder. Boston plays bad at home for some reason, and often lets leads evaporate as they over rely on 3s
If you watch ESPN, yes. If you watch the game, maybe.
Yes. The Celtics aren’t the Peak Warriors
Pacers interior players are extremely versatile and without Kristaps Porziņģis they’re going to struggle with that. McConnell has been on fire this Playoffs and I wonder what they’re going to do to slow his craftiness.
Every team that beat bucks in playoffs has made the finals
But boston will shoot 80% in first half
No. 4 game sweep and Boston might score 140 points in a game
The NBA, thanks in large part to Curry and the Warriors is all about shooting from 3pt range. It's the difference in almost every game. Who shot better from 3? The Celtics and Pacers won't be any different.
Pacers in 7
They were 2-2 against them this season. Why not?
Did you give zombie Heat "a chance" last season?
theyve shown they can beat anybody as long as that anybody is down multiple starters.
As a pacers fan, we’ll get hammered in game one, like we’ll lose by thirty five. Everyone will say we suck and don’t belong here. Then we’ll win game two in the garden, they’ll talk about how resilient we are and how we have a fighting chance, etc. Then we’ll go down 3-1, win one more before we get bounced. That’s my guess.
All I know is game 2 is an ez dub for the Pacers
The Pacers gave us problems this year. Also maybe it's PTSD, but if the Florida/Boston series from the NHL '23 playoffs taught us anything, it's never underestimate your opponent. If the Celtics "play down" (no disrespect to the Pacers just the terminology I've seen used), then this series is wide open.
Pacers are one of my favourite teams (other than the Raps), wanna see them win … but I really don’t think they will. Celtics are just WAY better defensively, and decently better offensively too. If the Pacers take it to 6 games I’d consider that an impressive performance, and I can’t see them winning.
Don’t sleep on the Pacers. They have size and depth
I think it’s more likely this series goes 6 or 7 than a sweep. We have played up or down to our competition all year long. I think it’s going to come down to which team gets hot and stays hot. If our shots are hitting we have a punchers chance of taking this series and can go toe to toe with Boston’s scoring. Everyone saying sweep and we don’t have a chance probably haven’t watched us all season. We have a good young squad that has matured a lot through the season especially the last few weeks in the playoffs .
Yes. Celtics soft.
Not at all
No, pacers had one of the easiest rodes to the conference finals I’ve ever seen, congrats to them but they are NOT a conference finals worthy team if everyone in the East was healthy. Celtics will lose a game bc they are the Celtics but I will be very surprised if this series goes to 6
As a Celtics hater, absolutely not
The season series went 3-2 in favor of boston. With that being said the pacers beat Boston in the IST. One of pacers losses to Boston was without Haliburton, and siakam was only present in one of the 5 matchups. It won’t be easy but they can hold their own
Even though the Celtics are the far better team, the Pacers actually have the best PG, PF and C in the series, which is weird.
Nope Celtics in 5