CELTICS 2010

pretty much, especially given that the other options aren't particularly scary at the moment. but i am a firm believer that the bad karma of trying to manipulate seedings usually comes back around to bite you

will be funny if both the celtics and bucks try throw tonights game

celtics have moved up to contender status this year you could say theyre the new kids on the block

Double Jayson Tatum at your own risk now. This is a quick read to get the ball moving. Derrick White is swinging the ball to Jaylen Brown almost before he even catches it. The ball doesn't stick very often with Boston now. White's 0.5 ability has been exactly what they needed. pic.twitter.com/aOUFyhjuhS

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) April 7, 2022

nice

two seasons ago tatum had 24 hockey assists. last year he had 47. right now he's at 69 (and counting). left-handed no-look bounce passes are now commonplace: https://t.co/KhT9RZZ5fj pic.twitter.com/00oZAaNIOm

— Michael Pina (@MichaelVPina) April 7, 2022

yessss

his passing has improved significantly anyway but i feel like how much trust there is right now is the biggest ingredient. such an unselfish team

the ball is just zipping around, best kind of offense

some more great clips in that article, lotta passes that are not necessarily spectacular on their face but he's just reading the floor really well, sucking the defense to himself without even having to drive at all and consistently getting it to the right guy

havent dug into the article yet but one thing this year thats new is hes making reads earlier often moving the ball before the double gets there which allows him to get a clean pass off and basically puts the defense in terminal rotation

there you have it

Celtics announce Jayson Tatum and Al Horford are out tonight against Bucks

— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) April 7, 2022

red claws front court making a run vs the champs

turned this game on for a sec and the celtics had 3 white guys out there

resting guys? tanking for playoff position? perfect time to play your whites

Boston has some dangerous whites

— A.K (@Kungu_NBA) April 8, 2022

this game is insane

everyone is trying so hard!

not really a stats guy but i think i detect a trend

Celtics offensive rating by month:
October 103.5
November 107.2
December 111.5
January 112.2
February 116.5
March 120.9
April 129.1

— Bill Sy (@deliberatepix) April 10, 2022

Celtics assist percentage by month:
October 59.8
November 57.6
December 57.4
January 60.4
February 65
March 63.1
April 67.9

the return of 2014 nba finals mvp Passing

ball movement baby gotta love it

sitting pretty here at 3, set to face the Bulls... AND YET I think it's highly unlikely that's where the Celts will be at day's end? Bucks are resting everyone and losing big to Cavs. So if we win we jump over them into 2nd. But if we lose and Philly beats Pistons @ home (which you gotta think they want that 3-seed too), then we drop to 4th, I think? Am I wrong about this?

Whatever it is, loving those numbers upthread and excited to do some damage in the offs!

i think the 4 seed is better cause you avoid the bucks in round 2

heat have been playing well too though

i fear the dear

worst case is the most likely which is playing the nets in first round

sixers seem to agree with me

#Sixers’ Joel Embiid (right knee soreness), James Harden (left hamstring, injury recovery) and Paul Millsap (non-Covid illness) are all out for tonight's game.

— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) April 10, 2022

and i guess dont care that thybulle cant play in toronto

only way to get out of it at this point is to lose to the grizz's bench, or for the nets to lose their play-in to the cavs

im sure thats the plan

tho on the other hand if you take the 2 seed then you have home court vs the bucks in the 2nd round

should just forfeit todays game but i know you have to at least appear try which will probably be enough to win

yeah thats a good point might still be better than the 3 seed

i feel like the celtics can put a worse team out than the griz if they want, especially since the griz dont need to lose

just make it illegal for kyrie to play here

this decision by the sixers is kinda wild they could actually lose to toronto

do they have tiebreakers over the bucks? this is all very confusing

yeah they have the tie breaker over bucks and philly

okey dokey

Ime Udoka said the Celtics are going to play their guys. Al Horford is working on some back tightness, but they expect him to play. Regular starters.

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) April 10, 2022

lotta ins, lotta outs, so might as well get the actually-trying-to-win-games karma on your side, right

ill be honest i dont love it, i think the celtics will beat the nets but still i dont think theres any point in playing the nets if you dont have to, tho having home court in the second round is good

ideally the nets would just lose this game in which theyre leading by 4 to the pacers here booting them to the 8th spot at best

does the highest seed to advance from the play-in face #2 and lowest face #1, or does whoever wins the 7-8 game automatically play #2 (even if 7 loses but then beats the 9-10 winner)?

god there's no way to write about this stuff without being confusing

winner of 7-8 gets the 7 seed and other winner gets the 8

hmm so the only difference between 7 and 8 is getting home court for the 7-8 game?

yea

i've come around to thinking the 2nd round home court is more important as long as you think the bucks are a tougher matchup than the nets

which i do think

you risk a first round upset for a better chance at going all the way, seems like something to do. i dont think first round fatigue is enough to offset home court

i think the chance of losing to the nets is well more than home court adds to beating the bucks tho, particularly considering theres zero chance of losing to the bulls

pretty crazy that the bulls were in first place not that long ago and are now maybe the worst team in the east off/ins

also philly really shouldve played the nets in the 1st round

ah well maybe the nets will lose the playin game, or maybe the celtics will only play their guys for five minutes tonight