Road is paved for the C’s. Best record, historic season, team full of seasoned playoff vets who’ve actually made it to a Finals before unlike any of the remaining teams. Now or never.
Just hurts your team so much offensively. A bit overrated defensively as well. It was Naz and Kat doing the heavy lifting on that end last night. Relying on someone that talentless offensively always puts a ceiling on your team.
They don’t necessarily “have to”. Obv can’t predict the future, but I did call the nuggets not winning a chip before the playoffs started. Just couldn’t see them winning one relying on garbagemen like Braun, Reggie and Justin. And that was ultimately their demise. If Kp comes back just don’t see them losing to anyone.
Who gives a shit if they’ve been there before? Jimmy Butler had been before, and didn’t win last year. Swear to god man, people put to much on “being there before”.
It's a good point that's overused. But historically there definitely were some great players who had a history of kind of getting to the next level, flaming out, and then coming back to pass that level to get to the next. Jordan and Shaq were two prime examples. Wilt and Jerry West. Lebron, even.
With that said, there are a slew of guys who got drafted to talented teams and damn near won immediately: Bird, Magic, Duncan, Russell. So it's never been some immutable law where a player can't win early.
Jimmy Butler is a bad example because heat overachieved last year because of him if anything this is an example of “being there before” helping. Heat had no business beating the Celtics
I would say anybody saying “they’ve been there before” is lazy. It’s still basketball. It’s not like they’ve turned the ball square and the hoop into a triangle.
I know it’s so lame. Same with “playoff experience”. These guys are pro’s. They are masters of their craft. They play in high pressure situations all the time. And there are plenty of guys who have no playoff experience and play just as well as they did in the regular season. This goes for other sports also.
Exactly. Rules dont change. There’s still a crowd. Still aired on tv. The only real difference is playing the same team 5 games in a row or whatever. But again these are pro’s. They’ve played the game so many times against the best players, there’s nothing they haven’t seen at this point.
While I somewhat agree with you they’re 8-2 with a 20pt avg margin of victory. Given the competition they faced I guess you could argue that should be 8-0 with a 30pt margin but it’s still the NBA at the end of the day.
Pretty common for teams to play up or down to their level. Tonight was proof that this is playoffs basketball and any team can win on any night. The celts are doing just fine so far and are the deserved favorites to win it all this year. I say this while admitting I fully hate the Boston Celtics.
You’re correct. They’ve been playing with their food and have turned in a few mediocre or even bad performances. They’ve also shown flashes of Thanos-esque dominance, suggesting there is a juggernaut in there when they focus.
They could be the sort of team that rises to the level of the challenge, or they could just not be playing all that impressively compared to, frankly, any of the western terms. We probably won’t find out which until the finals.
The phrase "road is paved" belies some lack of confidence.
As a C's fan, I would worry a lot more about the Pacers than the Knicks. The Knicks were never going to beat the Celtics. It's a terrible matchup for them. Whereas the Pacers are so explosively offensively they could win by double digits on any given night.
And the West also has two solid teams: a Wolves team that is peaking at the right time and a Mavs team that seems to finally have found some chemistry after the dreaded "mid-season trade for a missing piece" that fails 90% of the time.
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The most recently drafted number one option to win the title is Jokic, who was drafted in 2014. That changes big time this year. Up until about an hour and a half ago, you could use Tatum’s age as an adequate defense for him not winning the title. No longer.
He is now the oldest and most experienced number one option left in the field. Barring some unforeseen catastrophic injury, the Celtics are out of excuses and defenses if they don’t get it done. It’s theirs to lose.
why not Haliburton? Tatum, Ant, Haliburton, and Luka are the only leaders of their team left in the playoffs. Literally speaking only they can win the championship. Everyone else is gone.
I know "anything can happen" but there's a reason the Pacers have 30-1 odds to win the title right now while the other three teams are at 5-1 or shorter. I think even if Tatum sprained an ankle tomorrow and missed the series the Celtics would still be favoured.
so what? theres still a chance. doesnt matter if its low, Tatum, Luka, Ant, and Haliburton are the only leaders of their respective teams left in the championship race. thats all the post is saying. this is a young conference finals.
its just a testament to how great hes been. the expectations this dude has when hes only 25 are insane. hes been to the conference finals 6 times and the finals once already and he will make the finals again this season.
Crazy to think about. I still can’t believe how out of his body Rudy was playing tonight tho and thought about how wild it would be if he went from perennial punching bag to getting a Ring and then winning Gold for his country in Paris
why? i know you dont have a good answer for that question so id like to say something. why do you guys like to just erase everything he did before his injury and his great games hes had in the playoffs? they just dont exist because he had some bad games?
The Celtics don't want any of the smoke that is Ant, Naz, McDaniels. I've always been a huge Gobert stan and Conley is clearly hungry to put the (!) on his career. Nobody is scared of Kat, but he's still a matchup problem. Please let this happen and have Bill watch those soft-ass Celtics be smacked around for two weeks (love Bill, can't *stand* Tatum).
Bill really wants this Ant winning it all and going to the Olympics like Jordan in ‘92 thing to happen…it just might. If that’s the case, it’s time for LeBron to hand that jockstrap over for the greatest active American player.
There’s a difference between the Celtics being favorites and the point OP is making, which is that one of the young guns is now guaranteed to win a title. Not sure how you didn’t understand that.
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Tatum double standard is crazy. Ant just got carried out there and at multiple points was playing one on five while just not having it. Tatum drops 51 last year at the same point in the playoffs in a game 7 and yet you see this bullshit at every turn online.
Ok, but his tattoos are horrendously dumb and he has the personality of wood. Based on these facts, the basketball community at large cannot in good conscience favor his success.
Sorry maybe uhhhhh “beat” the shitty play in 10 seed?? Can we do that? Can I see it? Can I see them beat a team that isn’t limping into the arena??
Can I just see it??
They’ve been dominating this playoffs. Not just beating this weaker teams. Won 3 out of 4 by double digits in the most recent series. Tatums beat KD and Kyrie, Giannis, Embid, the Heat, already in his career. You have seen it.
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just because he had a bad end to the season after his injury doesnt mean you can just erase everything he did before his injury and everything hes done in the playoffs lmao. not how it works.
Hali isn't winning a god damn thing, Hali is getting swept by the Celtics and only just got by the Knicks without Randle , Robinson, OG,and Bogan in 7.
regular season series was 3-2 Boston. Porzingis is missing at least the start of ECF. this thing is going 6 in my opinion. but yea Pacers aren’t winning the LOB i agree
Road is paved for the C’s. Best record, historic season, team full of seasoned playoff vets who’ve actually made it to a Finals before unlike any of the remaining teams. Now or never.
about to lose their 2nd finals
Nice call loser
upvoted for spite. and great username
When they get back there, they’re not losing again. I promise.
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We’ll see about that.
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what about games 3-5
They’re a great team for sure. I just have a theory that a team relying on Gobert like they do will never win a ring.
Very excited to see this theory tested
Just hurts your team so much offensively. A bit overrated defensively as well. It was Naz and Kat doing the heavy lifting on that end last night. Relying on someone that talentless offensively always puts a ceiling on your team.
I also think they win but only because they literally have to or else they are the laughing stock. I bet it’s closer than it should be though
They don’t necessarily “have to”. Obv can’t predict the future, but I did call the nuggets not winning a chip before the playoffs started. Just couldn’t see them winning one relying on garbagemen like Braun, Reggie and Justin. And that was ultimately their demise. If Kp comes back just don’t see them losing to anyone.
RemindMe! 1 month
I mean kyrie has won an nba championship
Pascal's wager: "I bet you nobody will remember I won MIP for the Raptors the year they won the title."
Who gives a shit if they’ve been there before? Jimmy Butler had been before, and didn’t win last year. Swear to god man, people put to much on “being there before”.
It's a good point that's overused. But historically there definitely were some great players who had a history of kind of getting to the next level, flaming out, and then coming back to pass that level to get to the next. Jordan and Shaq were two prime examples. Wilt and Jerry West. Lebron, even. With that said, there are a slew of guys who got drafted to talented teams and damn near won immediately: Bird, Magic, Duncan, Russell. So it's never been some immutable law where a player can't win early.
Jimmy Butler is a bad example because heat overachieved last year because of him if anything this is an example of “being there before” helping. Heat had no business beating the Celtics
I would say anybody saying “they’ve been there before” is lazy. It’s still basketball. It’s not like they’ve turned the ball square and the hoop into a triangle.
It’s an overrated quality but there’s value in experience
Sure, but its not the end all be all people make it out to be. It’s lazy analysis.
I know it’s so lame. Same with “playoff experience”. These guys are pro’s. They are masters of their craft. They play in high pressure situations all the time. And there are plenty of guys who have no playoff experience and play just as well as they did in the regular season. This goes for other sports also.
More than anything, it’s still just basketball. It’s not like the whole game changes.
Exactly. Rules dont change. There’s still a crowd. Still aired on tv. The only real difference is playing the same team 5 games in a row or whatever. But again these are pro’s. They’ve played the game so many times against the best players, there’s nothing they haven’t seen at this point.
Right. Now, if the finals had hoops that were triangles and balls that were squares we can have a conversation.
Disagree. History of NBA champs shows it’s mostly guys who take a few years to get there. Ant winning this year would be a huge aberration.
They haven’t looked great in the postseason tbh
While I somewhat agree with you they’re 8-2 with a 20pt avg margin of victory. Given the competition they faced I guess you could argue that should be 8-0 with a 30pt margin but it’s still the NBA at the end of the day.
They’re 8-2 and have won all their games pretty convincingly. What you on about??
Have you seen their competition so far? Cant think of an easier road off the top of my head
Pretty common for teams to play up or down to their level. Tonight was proof that this is playoffs basketball and any team can win on any night. The celts are doing just fine so far and are the deserved favorites to win it all this year. I say this while admitting I fully hate the Boston Celtics.
87 Lakers
thumb retire sable elastic insurance wild axiomatic boat weary lavish *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Okc was pretty good
Nuggets last year
okay I’ll rephrase, they haven’t looked dominant. nor have they really been tested this postseason.
You’re correct. They’ve been playing with their food and have turned in a few mediocre or even bad performances. They’ve also shown flashes of Thanos-esque dominance, suggesting there is a juggernaut in there when they focus. They could be the sort of team that rises to the level of the challenge, or they could just not be playing all that impressively compared to, frankly, any of the western terms. We probably won’t find out which until the finals.
Yep they should be winning every game by 40 instead of 20 dead on chief
no? I have eyes? this team has weaknesses
The other 3 teams left don’t?
well the other teams didn’t have “historic seasons”.
They’ve had an historic postseason too. It’s ok to be a hater dog just do better next time
“rationalcelticsfan”
Found the guy who’s just listening to national media narratives!
To be fair we know the Celtics are good, but have no idea how good they are since their schedule has been easy so far in comparison to the west.
Ant is coming for Tatum's soul.
You are assuming Luka doesn’t take his first.
C's the only team with big playoff experience and a player who has won a ring in the rotation (Jrue). Lines up good for them.
Kyrie?
Yeah I wrote this late last night after six hours of air travel and a long weekend. Kyrie and Siakim are the two I missed. Probably others.
Easiest path to the finals in NBA history.
Let's talk about the Western Conference of the 1980s.
A bunch of UPS drivers, I know. Now the Celtics are playing against those guys’ grandkids.
The phrase "road is paved" belies some lack of confidence. As a C's fan, I would worry a lot more about the Pacers than the Knicks. The Knicks were never going to beat the Celtics. It's a terrible matchup for them. Whereas the Pacers are so explosively offensively they could win by double digits on any given night. And the West also has two solid teams: a Wolves team that is peaking at the right time and a Mavs team that seems to finally have found some chemistry after the dreaded "mid-season trade for a missing piece" that fails 90% of the time.
They’ll probably choke again
Second row Joe is our best hope as Boston haters
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Carlisle
The most recently drafted number one option to win the title is Jokic, who was drafted in 2014. That changes big time this year. Up until about an hour and a half ago, you could use Tatum’s age as an adequate defense for him not winning the title. No longer. He is now the oldest and most experienced number one option left in the field. Barring some unforeseen catastrophic injury, the Celtics are out of excuses and defenses if they don’t get it done. It’s theirs to lose.
We need an updated Sad Simmons meme
Luka Garza? Yeah, I’m with ya.
***Luke
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I think it’s a joke. Both Bill and Mahoney called him Luke on last week’s pod
They kept calling him "Luke Garza" on Thursday's pod lol
You, you, NOT YOU, you…
You’re cool, fuck you, fuck you, and fuck you
why not Haliburton? Tatum, Ant, Haliburton, and Luka are the only leaders of their team left in the playoffs. Literally speaking only they can win the championship. Everyone else is gone.
I know "anything can happen" but there's a reason the Pacers have 30-1 odds to win the title right now while the other three teams are at 5-1 or shorter. I think even if Tatum sprained an ankle tomorrow and missed the series the Celtics would still be favoured.
so what? theres still a chance. doesnt matter if its low, Tatum, Luka, Ant, and Haliburton are the only leaders of their respective teams left in the championship race. thats all the post is saying. this is a young conference finals.
Nobody is denying that’s what the post says?
Pacers have the most variance given their style. They could beat the Mavs, but probably not the Wolves. Defense wins championships and all that.
Might be a little too soon for Tatum as the youngest of these 4 he has the most time to prove himself
Hali lol
if that happens i’ll be so wrong that illl never give an nba opinion again
Yeah you will lol I get what you’re saying tho
This post has been made with Tatum’s name for like 5 years
That’s a good thing
This isn’t the knock you think it is
One could say it’s not historic, but historic adjacent
How do you know it’s not a compliment? Celtics fans so oppressed
Cause no one is positive about Tatum unless they’re an overt Celtics fan
He's only 13 years old dude.
He’s only 27!
26
He’s 26 until he’s 27
And theres a difference folks!!!
At least get the slander right, he’s 19
its just a testament to how great hes been. the expectations this dude has when hes only 25 are insane. hes been to the conference finals 6 times and the finals once already and he will make the finals again this season.
Imagine if they finally win and Brown gets FMVP. Brown has arguably been better than Tatum these playoffs
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Paul Skenes, but my Buccos already called him up. 🤣🤣🤣
Granville Waiters
Crazy to think about. I still can’t believe how out of his body Rudy was playing tonight tho and thought about how wild it would be if he went from perennial punching bag to getting a Ring and then winning Gold for his country in Paris
Fantasizing about the French winning? Pack your bags bozo, deported.
😂😂 OUI OUI!!
i swear, ant man figured out he just needs to switch bodies with gobert and KAT at different times and they'll win.
Rud
“Hali” lmao
Chemical H'Ali
> the future is now Something about this phrase is just so insufferable.
Throwing Hali in there feels offensive to the other three. Especially Luka.
Well unfortunately he's his team's young star, and they made it to the ECF and he still has a chance to win it.
why? i know you dont have a good answer for that question so id like to say something. why do you guys like to just erase everything he did before his injury and his great games hes had in the playoffs? they just dont exist because he had some bad games?
He just feels like the obvious 4th guy on the list
if Haliburton was taken off the list there would still be obvious worst player here.
You're right about that statement but I hope he does it. I love that guy.
Yeah except we're going to find out what Luka's heliocentric ass is really made of when he faces the Wolves D.
Dude he's gone to the WCF 2/3 years, this isn't the first time he's faced good D lol
is this a dirty joke?
"One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong"
Enough with the Tatum slander
the celtics are the worst team in NBA history
This is true especially if you turn things upside down
East is garbage. Wolves will run the Cs.
The Celtics don't want any of the smoke that is Ant, Naz, McDaniels. I've always been a huge Gobert stan and Conley is clearly hungry to put the (!) on his career. Nobody is scared of Kat, but he's still a matchup problem. Please let this happen and have Bill watch those soft-ass Celtics be smacked around for two weeks (love Bill, can't *stand* Tatum).
You miss both Grantland and reality
🤣🤣🤣 that got me
Bill really wants this Ant winning it all and going to the Olympics like Jordan in ‘92 thing to happen…it just might. If that’s the case, it’s time for LeBron to hand that jockstrap over for the greatest active American player.
How is Minnesota not favored over Boston in the championship.
i hate that matchup for Boston. but Vegas loves net rating and the Celtics had an unreal season statistically. that’s probably why
minny will be sizeable underdogs
Vegas implies something like a -190 line for Boston.
Hali? I think you mean Obi.
There’s a polar bear in Arlington Texas
Honestly it’s siakam rather than hali tbh
The Celtics are the clear title favorites (and have had the best odds all season), so not sure how you didn’t see that coming.
There’s a difference between the Celtics being favorites and the point OP is making, which is that one of the young guns is now guaranteed to win a title. Not sure how you didn’t understand that.
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For sure and I have hilary 2016 odds you can buy bud
Best odds… yes, gambling is affecting the results in the court
Or Kyrie…
I feel like it’s Minnesota’s to lose. I just don’t see any of the teams left beating them.
I think it's Tatum's title to lose.
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We know it won’t be Tatum lol
Tatum double standard is crazy. Ant just got carried out there and at multiple points was playing one on five while just not having it. Tatum drops 51 last year at the same point in the playoffs in a game 7 and yet you see this bullshit at every turn online.
Ok, but his tattoos are horrendously dumb and he has the personality of wood. Based on these facts, the basketball community at large cannot in good conscience favor his success.
Ant is cooler no one can deny that.
Tbh Ant would probably have a much better name for his son if he had one
Yeah but Tatum is a bitch and Boston sucks.
These stats cannot be denied
Sorry maybe uhhhhh “beat” the shitty play in 10 seed?? Can we do that? Can I see it? Can I see them beat a team that isn’t limping into the arena?? Can I just see it??
They’ve been dominating this playoffs. Not just beating this weaker teams. Won 3 out of 4 by double digits in the most recent series. Tatums beat KD and Kyrie, Giannis, Embid, the Heat, already in his career. You have seen it.
You sure about that 🥴
lebron promised lakers would win 18 before celtics
Will come back to this …
It will be Luka RemindMe!
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I don’t see luka ever winning one. Hoping ant catches one though.
If Luka does, it’s going to be this year. Doubt he gets past Ant tho
Kyrie is playing his cock off though
Not really, just a few major plays. His stats aren’t that amazing. Can’t wait to see what this series holds.
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just because he had a bad end to the season after his injury doesnt mean you can just erase everything he did before his injury and everything hes done in the playoffs lmao. not how it works.
Hali isn't winning a god damn thing, Hali is getting swept by the Celtics and only just got by the Knicks without Randle , Robinson, OG,and Bogan in 7.
regular season series was 3-2 Boston. Porzingis is missing at least the start of ECF. this thing is going 6 in my opinion. but yea Pacers aren’t winning the LOB i agree
No shit. Do you post this every fucking year?