Celtics vs. the Lebronaires
- Thread starter DJnVa
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You guys, Boston isn't recruiting any big name talent to come here. Well, except for Al but that was a one-time thing.
Don't forget the offensive rebound/putback to tie the game at 109 when Tatum drove but missed the layup.
I think that's almost the exact opposite of the approach the Celtics will take. They will probably do the best they can on Lebron, but mostly focus on running his supporting cast away from the three point line and keeping their contributions in check.
I agree with this. I think they're going to throw a lot of Morris and Ojeleye at LeBron while trying to take away the three from everyone else. Basically play him like they played Embiid, but unfortunately, LeBron is a much better playmaker than Embiid is.
Correct. Against Indiana, they struggled when players such as Smith, Korver, Hood, etc. did not shoot well from 3 and LBJ had to do everything. Against Toronto, they all shot well from 3 and they dominated.
Dammit.
Maybe we'll get lucky and somehow sneak into the lottery this year or next. But we'll do it without giving up anyone currently on our roster or any future picks. How about that?
I think they'll pick their spots to double Lebron. They ended up doing that last night to Embiid down the stretch.
They need to be disciplined in their help defense. If they pull it off, there's gonna be more coaches not liking Brad because the plaudits will roll in.
Wasn't one of the few bright spots from last year's CLE-BOS series for a Boston fan the ability that Jaylen showed to make life difficult for LBJ?
I think the Celtics have a real shot in this series; I'm a little disappointed at the amount of "Cavs in 5" or "Cavs sweep" I'm seeing today, not necessarily here, but online.
I think we have to remember that the Cavaliers stumbled through the regular season, and probably should have lost to Indiana but were bailed out by Indiana not knowing how to break a press and Oladipo saving his two worst games of the season for the middle of that series. I think people are putting too much stock into the Cavs dismantling Toronto, a team that played very, very badly. Outside of Valanciunas, every player on Tornoto's team under-performed, especially their two stars in Lowry and DeRozan, and Casey was exposed as an average coach who was slow to adjust throughout the series. The hype around Cleveland right now mirrors what was being said after the trade deadline when Cleveland won a few and people were saying they were fixed; only as that sample size got bigger it was revealed that Cleveland still had a ton of flaws that could be exploited.
With the huge exception of LeBron, the Cavs rely on a cavalcade of specialists who have specific strengths and weaknesses, which contrasts with the Celtics depth of multi-tooled players. So much of Boston's success right now is based on the depth of talent they have on the floor that can all dribble, pass, shoot and defend. I think if Boston can stifle the ball movement the way they did in the Phildelphia series and prevent the Cavs from shooting a good percentage from three, they will be in great position to win the series.
I also think a key to the series will be to attack LeBron on defense. He's played massive minutes all season, and something interesting that Brian Windhorst has mentioned a couple times is that this season LeBron has really focused on finding time to rest during games. Someone mentioned earlier this week that during the playoffs, LeBron moved at the 10th slowest average speed of any player. That doesn't mean LeBron is slow, but it means that he is walking a lot and trying to conserve energy throughout the game at all times. If you watched him this season, you will definitely notice him slacking off on defense and taking offensive possessions off. The Celtics cannot let LeBron rest on defense; they have to exploit his attempts to go on cruise control and make him pay for slacking off in order to conserve his energy.
I think they did a really good job in the Philadelphia series going after Embiid when he was tired, putting him in the pick and roll and picking on his fatigue and willingness to concede open looks. LeBron is obviously a much better conditioned player than Embiid and infinitely smarter; but the Celtics best strategy to defending him is to tire him out.
I think we have to remember that the Cavaliers stumbled through the regular season, and probably should have lost to Indiana but were bailed out by Indiana not knowing how to break a press and Oladipo saving his two worst games of the season for the middle of that series. I think people are putting too much stock into the Cavs dismantling Toronto, a team that played very, very badly. Outside of Valanciunas, every player on Tornoto's team under-performed, especially their two stars in Lowry and DeRozan, and Casey was exposed as an average coach who was slow to adjust throughout the series. The hype around Cleveland right now mirrors what was being said after the trade deadline when Cleveland won a few and people were saying they were fixed; only as that sample size got bigger it was revealed that Cleveland still had a ton of flaws that could be exploited.
With the huge exception of LeBron, the Cavs rely on a cavalcade of specialists who have specific strengths and weaknesses, which contrasts with the Celtics depth of multi-tooled players. So much of Boston's success right now is based on the depth of talent they have on the floor that can all dribble, pass, shoot and defend. I think if Boston can stifle the ball movement the way they did in the Phildelphia series and prevent the Cavs from shooting a good percentage from three, they will be in great position to win the series.
I also think a key to the series will be to attack LeBron on defense. He's played massive minutes all season, and something interesting that Brian Windhorst has mentioned a couple times is that this season LeBron has really focused on finding time to rest during games. Someone mentioned earlier this week that during the playoffs, LeBron moved at the 10th slowest average speed of any player. That doesn't mean LeBron is slow, but it means that he is walking a lot and trying to conserve energy throughout the game at all times. If you watched him this season, you will definitely notice him slacking off on defense and taking offensive possessions off. The Celtics cannot let LeBron rest on defense; they have to exploit his attempts to go on cruise control and make him pay for slacking off in order to conserve his energy.
I think they did a really good job in the Philadelphia series going after Embiid when he was tired, putting him in the pick and roll and picking on his fatigue and willingness to concede open looks. LeBron is obviously a much better conditioned player than Embiid and infinitely smarter; but the Celtics best strategy to defending him is to tire him out.
This has generally been the approach in the past. The upside is that eventually LeBron tires himself out due to high usage rate. I hope Brad goes with something more preemptive this time around and run him through screens as much as possible.
EDIT: Agreed with the above, work him, tire him out, get him to throw his teammates under a bus. He will do that when frustrated.
There weren't many bright spots from that series last year, but Jaylen did show promise. Not sure how his defensive stats vs. Lebron measure up from that series. Brown isn't nearly stout/strong enough to take on 270lb Lebron, not many are, but Jaylen can absolutely blanket JR/Korver on the 3pt line.
Stevens will use the same players to guard Lebron that he used on Simmons and Giannis. Lebron is the vastly superior offensive talent, but Brad is going to live with covering him with little to no help and try to shut down the 3pt line.
Attached below are the highlights of the biggest game of the Celtics year. Game 7 - Celtics vs Bucks. See who covers Giannis and the shots they tried to make him take.
Plus the post-game interview with Semi. The Celtics would love if is Lebron shooting 18ft contested fadeaways over Semi.
From what I saw of each series (admittedly not a ton), CLE has a lot more good looks against TOR than they did against IND.
A lot of good looks came from the 2 man game of Korver and Love.
Love murdered us last year. He was hot and made so many key shots. We can’t let him make like that again.
Beating Lebron in the playoffs is a tall order. He’s skilled, he gets away with travels and fouls at an absurd rate, and he’s good for some huge defensive stops as well. They beat us up rthere got after their big trade and usually play us tough.
There’s only so much Brad can do. Cleveland will know how we try to attack their sets. Our players have changed and of course we will try to exploit certain matchups but a lot will have to do with who shows up and plays to the best of their abilities. They’ll try to use Lebron on whomever is having a hot night so it is important that we have 3 or 4 guys shooting well enough every game
Beating Lebron in the playoffs is a tall order. He’s skilled, he gets away with travels and fouls at an absurd rate, and he’s good for some huge defensive stops as well. They beat us up rthere got after their big trade and usually play us tough.
There’s only so much Brad can do. Cleveland will know how we try to attack their sets. Our players have changed and of course we will try to exploit certain matchups but a lot will have to do with who shows up and plays to the best of their abilities. They’ll try to use Lebron on whomever is having a hot night so it is important that we have 3 or 4 guys shooting well enough every game
I agree with all of this. Make LeBron work on D or exploit him when he is sagging. And take away the three by chasing shooters off the line, just like they did with Philadelphia.
Locked on Celtics podcast theorizes that they'll let Lebron get his, but lean on him, bang him--not to stop him, but to make it so he's shooting jump shots in the 4th quarter. And this plan doesn't have to work every game--just 3 or 4 times. Because the Celtics should have no trouble scoring--it's just if they can wear him down. Somewhat.
I think it will be fairly limited. Wouldn't the Cavaliers look to get Ojeleye on a switch to Korver? That would be pretty bad on both ends.
Horford, Baynes, Morris, and Tatum. I think Tatum probably guards him the least of those 4 because Love is likely too strong for him. Smart may also get a few minutes against him because he is Marcus Smart and he defends everyone and everything.
I was thinking Al would start with him, but damn, I love the idea of Smart messing with him at some point.
I'm happy that CLE doesn't have any scrappy little white dudes to bug the shit out of Rozier. Seemed like whenever Dellavedova or McConnell pressed him he freaked out a bit.
CLE ran the same stuff against IND as they did against TOR only as Lowe wrote, IND was smart enough to stick Turner on JR Smith and Young on Love so that they had some switchability.
I think the Cs can shut down Korver if they want. But look at the IND series. When IND held CLE under 100 points they won. (IND held CLE to a 105.5 ORtg. By way of comparison, vs. TOR, CLE's ORtg was 127.3.) But when CLE made shots - i.e., CLE scored over 100 - IND couldn't match it.
If BOS can keep their ORtg in the 110s, I like their chances. I think the series will be much more like IND than TOR.
Nothing will top Philly bringing in Justin Anderson basically just to try and get Smart kicked out of the game.
That was ridiculous. He was on the floor for 3 minutes was shoving people around the entire time. It couldn't have been more obvious what Brown was trying to do there.
I'm sure most saw this, but it's hard not to love Tatum's innocence here in the post game or Jaylen's dry sense of humor. This might be more appropriate for their 'vs' thread, but I couldn't be more impressed with two young men. It's hard to fathom that they'll be going up against LeBron already on Sunday and only one can (barely) drink.
Is there any way they can appeal to the league to not get Brothers to ref any of their games? While I complain (loudly) during games I recognize that it mostly comes down to it being an incredibly tough game to referee and it mostly evens out in the long run. But the Celtics being 0-8 in his last 8 games while being one of the better teams in the league during that stretch feels like something bigger. That's tough to accomplish. Feels like a Bill Kennedy vs. the Doc Celtics or Duncan vs. Joey Crawford situation
Also, can the entire league protest Scott Foster's inclusion? The Donaghy stuff of course is there but the fact that he was the common denominator in the three losing teams' one win in each series is a bad look.
Also, can the entire league protest Scott Foster's inclusion? The Donaghy stuff of course is there but the fact that he was the common denominator in the three losing teams' one win in each series is a bad look.
And, Smart never took the bait. He doesn't get enough credit for how much he has matured since his college days.
While we are waiting, the NBA has this article with a bunch of numbers for the series.
Two tidbits: Cs have outscored their opponents by 2.8 points per game at the free throw line, the best differential in the playoffs.
And to confirm what we have been seeing, Rozier has an effective field goal percentage of 77.9 percent in the fourth quarter, the second best mark for any player in any quarter (minimum 25 field goal attempts)
Two tidbits: Cs have outscored their opponents by 2.8 points per game at the free throw line, the best differential in the playoffs.
And to confirm what we have been seeing, Rozier has an effective field goal percentage of 77.9 percent in the fourth quarter, the second best mark for any player in any quarter (minimum 25 field goal attempts)
I'm changing my thinking here. While Horford could get away with covering Simmons (w/Baynes on the floor), I don't think Al covering Lebron is efficient. I'd rather have Al stick on Love.
I expect Semi, Morris, Smart, Brown as Lebron's main coverage, although that may be rendered irrelevant. The Cavs/Lebron are so efficient on getting teams to switch on PnR, there will be a lot of defense by committee on Bron.
I suspect Brad will start Semi (w/Baynes starting on the bench, matching up w/ T.Thompson). I'd like to see Semi try to deny Lebron the ball full court and make the Cavs work time off the clock before getting into their halfcourt offense (one of the few Casey decisions I liked in the Toronto series). Semi/Morris will need to play tight/physical defense, foul hard, be willing to give up Bron mid-range jumpers, and try to take charges when Lebron attacks the hoop. LeBron will get his 30++pts with single/no help coverage, just need Brown/Tatum/Horford to run Korver/JR/Love off the 3pt line and deny the kick out.
Maybe Brad throws the 2-3 zone wrinkle at the Cavs, every once in a while. to create a new look when the Cavs offense starts humming.
I think having five days of rest is huge for LeBron. They know they have to win one of these first two games, and they should be rested and ready for game 1, which I think is the likelier game to steal. Game 1 just seems massive in this series. If the Cavs win one of the first two games I think Cavs in 6, if they don't, the Celtics win the series.
The rest is big for the Celtics as well. Horford looked like he was exhausted after game 5, and they're thin and injured. Brown at 100% would be a big help.
5 days off may have them rusty as well. That certainly was the narrative for Philly after they laid a game 1 egg.
Agree, and I'd also note that Lebron has been really bad from three point land these playoffs -- just 28.8%. He had a good year overall from three. I think it's a bad idea to sag off him early in the game, but they'll almost certainly tempt him when his legs aren't as good. I think that's probably always been part of the gameplan with Lebron, since he's murder close to the basket, but it's something to monitor.
I think Lowe is right that they need to go at Korver endlessly, too. If him and Love get going they'll murder us. I want Jaylen, Tatum, Horford, and even Smart, if he can get him in a switch, taking it to him in the post as often as possible.
Early Vegas lines:
Game 1 (H) - Cavs -1.5
Game 2 (H) - ???
Game 3 (A) - Cavs -8
Game 4 (A) - Cavs -8
Game 5 (H) - Cavs -1
Game 6 (A) - Cavs -7
Game 7 (H) - Pick 'em
Game 5 looks kind of juicy.
Game 1 (H) - Cavs -1.5
Game 2 (H) - ???
Game 3 (A) - Cavs -8
Game 4 (A) - Cavs -8
Game 5 (H) - Cavs -1
Game 6 (A) - Cavs -7
Game 7 (H) - Pick 'em
Game 5 looks kind of juicy.
Brad Stevens on doubling LeBron: “He will get a three for his team unless you double perfectly.”
Shane Larkin ruled out for Games 1 and 2 and unlikely to play at all this series, per Brad Stevens.
Brad Stevens said Gordon Hayward will be at Game 1 as a spectator.
Apparently Hayward took part in the walkthrough this morning as well. Doesn't mean anything in terms of him coming back though.
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Morris should probably stop talking.
Marcus Morris not shying away from matchup with LeBron: “Personally, I think probably the best guy defending him in the league, outside of Kawhi.”
Marcus Morris not shying away from matchup with LeBron: “Personally, I think probably the best guy defending him in the league, outside of Kawhi.”