CelticsStrong
Celtics Basketball => Celtics Talk => Topic started by: Drucci on May 16, 2018, 04:53:28 AM
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Now that we're up 2-0 and need to win at least 1 of 2 games in Cleveland to get a stranglehold on the series, a recurring theme from these playoffs is back : that this Celtics team isn't playing well on the road. See Brian Windhorst's latest article (http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23517495/lebron-james-cleveland-cavaliers-facing-boston-celtics-organizational-fatigue-nba) :
Calling a playoff series over too early is a classic mistake. Simply assuming the Celtics, who haven't played well on the road in the postseason and still have some weaknesses that can catch them, will win two of the next five games is dangerous.
We definitely tend to play better at home than on the road (as our 9-0 record shows) but I feel like this narrative was true against Milwaukee and not so much since. We lost all our road games in the Milwaukee series but if you remember, except for game 3 where we were blown out from wire to wire, we made a huge comeback in game 4 and had a chance to win the game in the closing minutes (and lost by 2 points).
In game 6, we lost by 10 but again, we hung around for most of the game. And then in the Philly series we won game 3 (which could easily have gone either way) and lost game 4 by a little margin but we all know how the refs played this outrageous game.
So what I'm saying is :
- after one terrible game in Milwaukee and not so stellar performances in that series, we've continually improved our play on the road and basically played close games every time since game 4 against the Bucks;
- I know the Cavs and Celtics are very different from last year's teams but we did win on an AB game winner last year so the confidence that we can win in the Q is there (especially for the returning guys such as Marcus, JB and Horford).
- The Cavs have been far from unbeatable at home. They lost game 1 against Indiana and had to pull it out at the end of game 7, and even the freakin' Raptors nearly won game 3 (but LeBron saved Cleveland with a tough game winner).
- The Celtics are already locked in on game 3, know what to expect from the hostile crowd and how a win would be huge. They are also fully aware that they have "only" protected homecourt as they were expect to if they want to win the series.
Are you confident about our road games in this series ?
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Boston is 1-4 on the road and 9-0 at home. That seems to speak for itself.
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We have to start from the perspective that this team is rising since the Bucks series and getting better and better, so I just don't see any reason why we would not take one game in Cleveland.
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Now that we're up 2-0 and need to win at least 1 of 2 games in Cleveland to get a stranglehold on the series
If we win one in CLE it's going to be over, soon. It will be hard but face it, these guys have defied expectations game after game.
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A difference between being up 3-0, and losing Game 3 but winning Game 4 to be up 3-1.
I do not want the Celtics to become the next infamous victim of a blowing a 3-1 series lead. LeBron James has been down 3-1 in a championship game before, before winning a Game 7 on the road.
The Celtics need to go for the kill in Game 3. Treat it like a Game 7.
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Boston is 1-4 on the road and 9-0 at home. That seems to speak for itself.
Pretty much how I see it. I don't think they're necessarily as bad on the road as their playoff road record indicates, but they've definitely been playing much worse on the road than at home, and all those bandwagon fans in Cleveland are gonna be pretty loud. It'll be tough to win one there, but I think they can do it.
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So far in the playoffs, it is true that the Celtics have been bad on the road. 1-4 is not a good percentage.
HOWEVER, during the regular season the Celtics were 27-14 at home and 28-13 away. So over the course of 82 games, the Celtics were actually equally good on the road.
The Celtics can definitely steal one on the road. If they can win game 3, this series is effectively over. There are still a TON of mediot doubters - in particular shannon sharpe and skip bayless. So, I'm really hoping the Celtics can steal 1 on the road on Saturday and really silence those loudmouths!
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We couldn't win on the road in 2008 either. Until we did.
We also won 8 on 5 on the road against Philly in game 3. Our overall road record may be 1-4, but that's not necessarily predictive of future performance.
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I just hope that the Celtics are listening to all of this crap.
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Boston is 1-4 on the road and 9-0 at home. That seems to speak for itself.
Pretty much how I see it. I don't think they're necessarily as bad on the road as their playoff road record indicates, but they've definitely been playing much worse on the road than at home, and all those bandwagon fans in Cleveland are gonna be pretty loud. It'll be tough to win one there, but I think they can do it.
Kinda agree and disagree. It is a fact that we lost four out of five on the road, but we also could have been winning two games if it wasn't that no call on Brown in Milwaukee or that infamous Foster-Brothers game in Philly. I think we'll be alright.
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It’s an easy storyline to sell the masses.
I recall the 2008 Celtics who were 0-6 on the road when they lost home court to Detroit. They went into Detroit and took it right back in Game 3 (and ultimately closed out in Detroit). They also had that epic win IN LA.
New teams need to learn how to win on the road and I think they came out and played like a young team in game 3 in Milwaukee. Game 4 was a huge stepping stone and they just missed pulling it out. They got outplayed in Game 6, no excuses.
But against Philly? How can anyone say that wasn’t a great road win, a demoralizing buzzer beater to send to OT and then fall behind what, 5 points quick? They showed their mettle and proved they can do what they need to.
These kids are gaining confidence each and every game and Cleveland hasn’t exactly been lights-out at home sans that quit-job by Toronto in Game 4 last round.
I really want a win in Game 3 to see all the emptiness in reporting from all these sad souls. What will they have to fall back on for Game 4? Gilbert, Lue, Altman, 2-15, everyone is getting blamed. But will LeBron?
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I just hope that the Celtics are listening to all of this crap.
https://twitter.com/celtics/status/997176837200596993?s=21
Jaylen Brown is asked what he thinks of the national media’s general perception that we can’t play well on the road. “My reaction is that I can’t wait for Game 3. I’ll leave it at that.”
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Boston is 1-4 on the road and 9-0 at home. That seems to speak for itself.
Exactly, they speak for themselves. The sample sizes are tiny and close to meaningless. What is not meaningless is the story this team has built all year long that slowly but surely the mainstream media is coming around to.
It is a false narrative but that always happens in the playoffs. The talking heads need something to talks about otherwise what would they do! No doubt in my mind Game 3 is a fight, the Cleveland shooters should pick it up in Game 3 on their home court. But I bet we find a way to win through it, just like we have all year (a proper sample size)
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I just hope that the Celtics are listening to all of this crap.
https://twitter.com/celtics/status/997176837200596993?s=21
Jaylen Brown is asked what he thinks of the national media’s general perception that we can’t play well on the road. “My reaction is that I can’t wait for Game 3. I’ll leave it at that.”
Love how he's stepped up this postseason especially
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I just hope that the Celtics are listening to all of this crap.
https://twitter.com/celtics/status/997176837200596993?s=21
Jaylen Brown is asked what he thinks of the national media’s general perception that we can’t play well on the road. “My reaction is that I can’t wait for Game 3. I’ll leave it at that.”
He knows how to talk smack.
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Until, we win more than one game on the road, it's going to be the narrative...
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This is a silly thing to be rankled about. Every NBA team plays better at home. But these games in Cleveland will be more about how Cleveland plays than how Boston plays. There is a lot of upside for Cleveland between how they played in Boston and how they are capable of playing (for example as they were sweeping Toronto). I think Boston will be fine. They probably will not play as well as they played in Boston but I don't see them falling off cliff.
I am still not sure Cleveland has any fire left at all.
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I mean its true, they've been a lot better at home in the playoffs than on the road.
They were a better road team than home team in the regular season however. I see no reason to think they will not be competitive in Cleveland. Hopefully as others have said they grow into confidence as the playoffs go on. They certainly played better in game 6 in MIL and game 3/4 in PHI than the first two road games.
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We all know the Celtics are 1-4 on the road in these playoffs. They also had the third best road record during the regular season. So what changed? Obviously not having Kyrie has made a huge difference on the road. However, most people forget that Marcus Smart missed those first two road games against Milwaukee. So I prefer to see them as being 1-2 on the road. We also have to take into account that Scott Foster was the head referee on at least one or two of those games. I forget which game(s) those were, but I thought I remember hearing a stat of them being 0-8 when he officiating a Celtics game.
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A difference between being up 3-0, and losing Game 3 but winning Game 4 to be up 3-1.
I do not want the Celtics to become the next infamous victim of a blowing a 3-1 series lead. LeBron James has been down 3-1 in a championship game before, before winning a Game 7 on the road.
The Celtics need to go for the kill in Game 3. Treat it like a Game 7.
agreed 100%. treat game 3 like a MUST WiN for us. get them down on the mat 3-0 and then FINISH THEM!
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guess we see soon enugh
I think the young Celtics finish the job...
drive the STAKE though the Vampire LeS bronstat
Tatum ,Morris and Brown bury James
and plant the headstone in Cleveland.
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Let’s look at Cleveland at home:
6 games
1 loss
4 wins by 4 or less points
2 of those wins were last second buzzer beaters
1 blowout win over the raptors
Cleveland’s home court advantage is far from an advantage
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If Smart was healthy we would have swept the Bucks though, that's one glaring weakness of Rozier, he only plays well at home
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Funny thing about the road to a championship....you don't necessarily have to be good on the road if you are lights out at home. Heck, if you got the higher seeding, you don't even have to win a game on the road to win a title.
Regarding this run, in 5 games they have played extremely well in three winning one. Don't see what's so bad about that when you are 9-0 at home and have had home court in every series you played.
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Boston got jobbed in game 4 in Milwaukee
Got jobbed in game 4 in Philadelphia
Hoping to god we don’t see Foster and company tomorrow
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we will see, but outside of Lebron I dont see this cavs team having the kind of heart to come back from 3-1 or 3-0.
Van gundy said there was tons of eye rolling going on. And their body language is just poor.
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Boston got jobbed in game 4 in Milwaukee
Got jobbed in game 4 in Philadelphia
Hoping to god we don’t see Foster and company tomorrow
Yeah that's my biggest fear.
If it's announced we get Fosters and Brothers tomorrow, it's a death sentence and series is officially 2-1... :(
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I just hope that the Celtics are listening to all of this crap.
https://twitter.com/celtics/status/997176837200596993?s=21
Jaylen Brown is asked what he thinks of the national media’s general perception that we can’t play well on the road. “My reaction is that I can’t wait for Game 3. I’ll leave it at that.”
Thanks for this - TP :).
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Ty Lue is banking in Boston not playing well in Cleveland. He has mentioned it every time he has had an interview.
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(https://thesportsdailydigital.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/jaylen-harvard.jpg?w=640)
Looking forward to Dr. Brown and this fine team of ours holding some free clinics in CLE.
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Ty Lue is banking in Boston not playing well in Cleveland. He has mentioned it every time he has had an interview.
MORE BULLETIN BOARD MATERIAL FOR US
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We got Smart leading the charge , no sugar coating this game , he does n't care where its at
Smart consisders it a war !
General Smartacus
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I expect the Cavs come out trying to run and gun going to the basket and drawing a lot of fouls
Transition threes. Boston has to rebound and get back
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Ty Lue is banking in Boston not playing well in Cleveland. He has mentioned it every time he has had an interview.
MORE BULLETIN BOARD MATERIAL FOR US
The Cavs should hope he has a strategic plan besides running more and repeating the Celtics are bad on the rpad as if it was a magic formula...
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we just have to hope that the Refs dont call a bunch of fouls on us to give the cavs the game.
If we see Tatum/Brown pick up 2 quick fouls again we will know the fix is in.
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Game 3 on the road while up 2-0 is about as tough a game to win as there is (assuming there isn't a gigantic disparity in the quality of teams). If the home team has any kind of heart you're going to see a desperate, wounded animal, fighting for its life kind of effort. The Celtics are 1-1 vs the wounded in these playoffs under these circumstances. I'd say that's pretty good.
Don't let the bear out of the trap C's!
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Game 3 on the road while up 2-0 is about as tough a game to win as there is (assuming there isn't a gigantic disparity in the quality of teams). If the home team has any kind of heart you're going to see a desperate, wounded animal, fighting for its life kind of effort. The Celtics are 1-1 vs the wounded in these playoffs under these circumstances. I'd say that's pretty good.
Don't let the bear out of the trap C's!
we just need one of these two in cleveland. BUT if we get tonight it could be the deathblow where they just give up.
Let's test the heart of this team and try and get up on them. If the last 2 games proved anything, outside of Lebron they dont have any heart.
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If Smart was healthy we would have swept the Bucks though, that's one glaring weakness of Rozier, he only plays well at home
Here's an interesting twist: For Rozier, Cleveland is where he grew up. It is home. It will be interesting to see whether he can play well there.
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We are 1-4, and our offense is significantly worse on the road. I think we have an offensive rating under 100 on the road. So no, not a false narrative. But it is a narrative we can change. With a young team like ours it might just be a matter of getting used to the rod atmosphere.
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Little perspective....the 2008 World Champion Boston Celtics were 3-9 on the road. They were bad on the road, I guess, not that it mattered. They were 13-1 at home.
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Today’s game won’t do anything to change that narrative
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Lol
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It is Cleveland that is bad on the road. They played way better, like the team that swept Toronto. More about Cleveland than the Celtics.
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It is Cleveland that is bad on the road. They played way better, like the team that swept Toronto. More about Cleveland than the Celtics.
Two teams on the court. Fact is, we’re bad on the road.
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very bad
no energy
I especially didn't understand the doubling of James tonight
Cavs give and go exposed Celtics defense badly
On offense, Brown looked overwhelmed. Horford played with low energy
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Ty Lue is banking in Boston not playing well in Cleveland. He has mentioned it every time he has had an interview.
MORE BULLETIN BOARD MATERIAL FOR US
so much for that BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA
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Today’s game won’t do anything to change that narrative
you were right because we got KILLED!
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Ty Lue is banking in Boston not playing well in Cleveland. He has mentioned it every time he has had an interview.
I mean, aside from last night's carnage in which I feel the Celtics were having an off-night, the Celtics came close to beating the Cavs on opening night after a nightmare situation happening that pretty much changed the course of the season for the team.
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Ty Lue is banking in Boston not playing well in Cleveland. He has mentioned it every time he has had an interview.
I mean, aside from last night's carnage in which I feel the Celtics were having an off-night, the Celtics came close to beating the Cavs on opening night after a nightmare situation happening that pretty much changed the course of the season for the team.
PLAYOFFS IS A WHOLE NEW SEASON
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Cavs shot 50% what can you really do?
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We didn't lose the game because of the cavs 50%,....
You cannot win when you score 86 points..
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Cavs shot 50% what can you really do?
Stop giving them open looks. Celtics were alot slower in closing out, compared to the first two games. Its more of an effort thing than anything. If Cavs still hits tough, contested shots, that's another topic.
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Cavs shot 50% what can you really do?
Play defense.
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You can’t start a game that poorly when you are on the road. The fans get into it and it makes thng so much tougher for the rest of the game . I was looking at trying to take one in Cleveland and this game had throw away written all over it. Cleveland a must win and the Celtics riding high and maybe a little to full of themselves. Here’s hoping game 4 is a battle and the C’s can sneak out a close win, otherwise get ready for this thing to go 7.
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It was interesting listening to Brad's post game last night. He said that he ignores the topic of home vs road with the team. "In my 11 years as a head coach, I probably haven't talked about road and home five times with our team... If you start talking about that, you find excuses in both places."
At the end of the day it's very difficult to win on the road in the NBA playoffs, especially if you haven't established yourself as a superior NBA team. This young group is basically learning on the fly with little margin for error. At the end of the day the Celtics rely on 110% effort and execution for 48 minutes.
I also got the vibe that Cleveland was running some sets that the team wasn't necessarily prepared for. Brad didn't outright say it but it sounds like he feels the need to tinker with lineups/rotations.
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So can we confirm that this narrative is SPOT ON?
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Yup they lose their ____ on the road
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Yeah, hate to say it but the narrative looks true now.
We look like a completely different team on the road. Scary Terry ain't scary on the road, and they held Horford in check pretty well too.
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Yup they lose their ____ on the road
yup
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Yeah, hate to say it but the narrative looks true now.
We look like a completely different team on the road. Scary Terry ain't scary on the road, and they held Horford in check pretty well too.
Brown needs to be on the list. He has to shut his mouth as well. He keeps saying the team and him are going to bring it on the road and he was garbage most the night.
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Except for the last 7 minutes of the first quarter, this game was even if not slightly in Boston's favor.
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I mean it is kind of a chicken and the egg thing. Do we play sooo much worse on the road at Clev, or do the Cavs role players play that much better at home. Hill, Smith, Nance were doorstops in games 1 and 2. Hopefully they go back to that in game 5.
The guy that seems like he has changed the series is Tristan Thompson. He is just a celtic killer with the off rebounding, def plays, garbage offense. 13 points and 12 boards for him tonight. I don't see WHY we don't bring Baynes in to counter him? Horford for whatever reason has trouble with TT on him.
For game 5, bring Baynes in to start. Let Brown start on Lebron (especially at home he will do better on D against him). Let Morris and smart come in early as the first two off the bench (Rozier and Tatum to the bench). Stay big in the lane. Stay attached to their other guys and don't let them have easy shots. Lebron is going to score 40 on whomever guards him, it almost doesn't matter. Stop the other guys from beating us like we did in games 1 and 2.
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Except for the last 7 minutes of the first quarter, this game was even if not slightly in Boston's favor.
Those were a rough 7 tho
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Game 6 is a must win game if you ask me
Especially if this squad is serious about having a chance to win it all
Next round (if it happens) ...Celts will not have home court adv