The Cavs played two quarters in Boston. Why weren't they done? If guys playing with Lebron shoot the lights out they will win the championship. I am betting/hoping they don't do it three more times.
It was more than that. Yes, they shot poorly, but IMO that was a symptom of them being very tentative on offense. They weren't driving to the hoop like they're capable of doing against these Cavs, and they were passing up open looks for worse ones. Every Celtic just played as if they were very unsure of themselves.
The Celts couldn't shoot but to the Cavs' credit (even though it was two games too late), the Cavs started running actions on offense and putting forth their best lineups that I had expected from them going into game one. LeBron's usage rate was almost cut in half and Hill's rate doubled which is what they should have been doing all along. If the Cavs continue the trend of Love and Korver playing together off the ball, Hill in PnR situations, and LeBron not bringing it up, the Celts will have to adjust for this is the Cavs at their absolute best. Lue should be sued for coaching malpractice over the first two games.
Hill was abused on defense in game one in particular. If the Cavs want to put him out there, I expect Brad/the C's to take what is given and go right at him.
I don't care much about Game 4 just as I didn't about tonight (expected this result), or how I will about 6.
Indiana beat Cleveland at home in the first game of their series in what was a defensive battle. The C's can make adjustments on the road too and if the Pacers were able to steal a game in the Land, Boston can as well. I am not saying it will happen but its definitely possible with this Cleveland squad.
That wasn't a huge surprise to me - what was surprising was how they responded after falling behind early. There wasn't a moment in this whole game where it looked like they would tighten up their defense and go on their trademark run.
With regard to the bolded, the biggest adjustment Lue made was to put TT on Horford. According to this article, the numbers are silly: "When Horford is on the court and Thompson is off, the Celtics have an offensive rating of 107.6, a defensive rating of 80.0 and an astounding 27.5 net rating. When Horford and Thompson are on the court together, Boston's offensive rating drops to 102.0 and their defensive rating explodes to a paltry 112.7."
Maybe this is a sign that this is actually the youngest team in the league (if I'm getting that stat correct). We act like these guys are grizzled veterans because they've played so well this year in the face of a lot of adversity, both in individual games with a bunch of amazing comebacks, and over the course of the season with the injuries. But most of these guys have little experience at this level and are doing things they've never had to do before. Is it that shocking that after pushing aside the favored Sixers without too much difficulty and demolishing the might Cavs twice that they started taking things for granted? They spent four days thinking "Gosh, we're hot shit, we're going to dethrone the King" instead of remembering what has made them successful. Hopefully, last night's embarrassment teaches them that they have to be ready to play every game, their way and all night long.
On balance, I'd be happy with a repeat of Milwaukee game 4. Milwaukee dominated the first half of that game, but the Celtics came back and, but for a missed foul call on a Jalen Brown fast break, might have won.
Yeah, I think many people are forgetting how difficult it is to win on the road in the NBA playoffs. As has been mentioned, the 2008 Celtics - filled with a ton of gritty veterans with a lot of playoffs minutes - only did it 3 times in four series.
Do teams even practice with one day off between playoff games? At most, I would think they would do some walk-through stuff and watch some film.
I'm pretty sure there is a media requirement for regular practices to occur on the day before the game in The Finals and Conference Finals.
The problem many times tonight was that when the ball was moving it would end up in Smart's hands as his eyes grew larger. That's the downside of ball movement when you have a player(s) on the floor who you don't want shooting as the defense can influence the ball action.
And the Cavs smartly (sorry) goaded Marcus into shooting or helped on other shooters so that he was the only open option. This is a byproduct of having Rozier on the floor - he was the single weakest point for the Celtics all night followed by young Mr. Tatum who showed his age/experience. And when the Cavs went at him, it forced Stevens hand to bring in Smart. Tonight was Smart at his worst - there is no sugarcoating it.
To be fair the only way anyone would be supportive of a Kyrie trade would be if the return brought us a player who could also be an alpha who can create his own shot against playoff level defenses. It isn't like anyone is saying to trade Kyrie for filler so we can hand the team over to Rozier. This is Westbrook and Reggie Jackson......and you don't trade the elite player unless you get a ridiculous return.
Tatum was a problem here. Hesitant early, meant a lot of extra passes. He was invisible the entire first half. Not a surprise given the situation.
Its also a problem when the players they *do* want shooting hesitate themselves into tough shots.
I didn't like the call either, but I would hardly say that Love was out of control. He went for the block, and if anything. made minimal contact on a foot that did extend out - even if just a tiny bit.
If you charted my interest in bringing Smart back on a semi-lucrative long-term deal, it would basically look like a sine curve. It's like the Tony Allen experience x 10. Must be an Oklahoma State thing.
I'm not particularly worried about signing Smart, if they do so, since as DeJesus notes above much of Smart's bad play in the last few games has been due to being placed in situations where he isn't great, namely being a ball-dominant, shot-creating guard, which obviously he is not. With Kyrie and Hayward back, Smart can focus much more of his energy on defense and play more as an off-ball guard who can cut, pass, and take the occasional open spot-up three.
When has this ever been Smart's game? We all would love for him to be our Draymond/Rodman/Bowen but he's always been a high volume (bad) shooter even in college. It will only be more frustrating when there is ball movement and he's taking those shots instead of Kyrie and Hayward after he gets paid, IF he gets paid here (which I am far from certain will occur).
Smart is not a high volume shooter. His per 36 FGA this year are only above Baynes and Theis for the regulars. And looking back over the past few seasons, he seems to always hover around 11.5 FGA per 36, which is consistently around 10th on the team.
As moops points out he's really not a "high-volume" shooter (like the other Marcus), although I'm in full agreement that, as bad as a shooter as Smart is, he does shoot too much. My point was just that, if you assume he is going to take X number of shots during the season I would prefer those to be in the flow of the offense rather than trying to create his own shot, which he simply can't do, and that the likelihood that he is taking better shots will inevitably increase when Kyrie and Hayward are back.
I worded that poorly. For someone who should be a non-shooter he "actively" looks for his offense which isn't what an ideal defensive specialist should be doing. I don't expect this to change unless Smart willingly changes his approach as his shot selection was still poor even when paired with Kyrie.
There's no way he's going to change when we hear Stevens tell us publicly that he wants him to shoot. Now, there could be a conversation in offseason--you're going to get paid, so here's what the role will be.
In a way, I'm happy that this is taking place right now. All of this playoff experience (good and bad) is going to make him a MUCH better player in the next few years. I think we will all look back on this Cavs series, regardless of the outcome, as a key moment for the young core of this team learning about playoff basketball. The next time on this stage will be much different for Tatum and Brown.
