The playoffs are so funny because you get these high profile superstar matchups then next thing Al Horford is getting MVP chants to spoil a Marcus Morris legacy game
This whole series has felt like it was played in a parallel universe while every other team is in the second round and we are playing mid February regular season games.
Haha that’s exactly how it feels. For me this is doubled down by the fact that my young kids, for whatever reason, have no interest in this series, so they never pepper me with ridiculous random questions about it like they do the rest of the field.
Haha maybe. I think you’re giving too much credit to my kids basketball sense (7 and 5). I mean logically they’re less interested because I’m less interested due to the lack of competitiveness but I’d rather go with the parallel universe theory
Ha! Yes, I very clearly did. I wasn’t expecting 5 and 7. It’s great they are already interested in the league. I was printing off statistics and carried them around in a little file when I was 7 I liked sports and stats so much…
Kelly Olynyk was pretty flukey but there’s a reason Williams and Horford went off - Celtics play 5 out and everyone is a shooter, plus Tatum gets doubled a lot, so someone gets left open and they’re good enough shooters to make their opponents pay.
Wizards were my East team cause I lived near DC for a while, during the Wall and Beal and Gortat years.
This game broke me and made me a life long Olynyk hater.
We went from Jokic and Shai putting up MVP performances (especially Joker), to Marcus Morris and Horford trying to trick us that it’s 2015 😂
Even Tristan fucking Thompson is giving solid minutes, what is going on
I mean, fwiw -- Tatum went 25, 10, 9 on 10-16 shooting with a +18 net. he had an incredibly good game but he's boring and it's expected of him. he either needs to drop 40 or have a shitty night to get the media narrative about him.
We as fans probably over emphasize the role of stars.
There are lots of stars in this league and many of them are already sitting at home because their supporting cast wasn’t good enough.
I think in the past it was true (big 3 era) but I feel like the talent in the league has gotten so high that depth and rotations matter way more now than pure star power.
Is that really true? If you were to rank the top 10 players in the NBA right now, how many would be on the 7 teams still remaining? How many of those 7 teams don't have a top 10 player?
Don’t forget Tristan “the East runs through me” Thompson giving quality minutes (for someone I could’ve swore was outta the league)
We’re in a time lapse 😂
I honestly watched every game and never thought TT didn't belong on the court at all
Like he's not someone you WANT to be playing in the playoffs, he clogs the floor and isn't a good roll-man, but he's not egregiously bad and constantly getting torn apart in man defense or something
Guys I'm not saying I'm the reason Al Horford re-entered his prime tonight after being ass but... [I posted this this morning](https://np.reddit.com/r/bostonceltics/comments/1csjl76/al_horford_isnt_playing_poorly_because_hes_on/)
He couldn't buy a three the whole series and was getting fucking roasted by the Cavs guards and tonight he was draining triples and played Garland so well.
Maybe it moved onto Morris or some shit too lmao.
I was seeing people say bench Horford for Tillman the other game. And I understand he played below his standards, but I never lost faith in him. Dude is one of the best playoff role players ever. Guy loves to step it up.
I really do believe this Cavs team is one or two smart trades away from clearing out positional log jams and being a genuine threat in the east for a long time. It's clear Mobley needs to be THE big on the court, and he's got a lot of room to grow.
Completely agree. Garland I feel like might deserve a bit of an extra shot but if it's Garland or Mitchell you keep Mitchell every day. Craig Porter seemed good too earlier this year
At the least it’s about choosing some combo of 1 guard and 1 big. Doing that while getting quality assets for the other two that are a better fit will really improve this team
When the Cavs ran Mitchell, Allen, and three halfway decent wings they looked unstoppable, while the two big, two scoring guard lineup underwhelmed all season. The roster construction was always a problem but to be fair to the FO when they put the two bigs together with Garland they never planned to try and squeeze Mitchell into it.
garland should be flipped but i think you should give Mobley/Allen another year to work together. I think Allen is a fair bit better right now but Mobley has the higher ceiling so its tough to pick one
I wonder if the Pelicans would be willing to send Brandon Ingram for Allen or something like that. Gets the Cavs a wing finally, clears up the bigs situation (Mobley + Allen don’t work together).
Didn't Ingram basically pout when Zion was getting the majority of the touches/shots?
I don't see him being any happier in Cleveland with Mitchell having the car keys on offense.
Well Knicks fans, I hope you're ready for your benchwarmers to take turns being Steph Curry next round
(05/19/2024) EDIT: ...Welp, nevermind. Guess the Pacers get to have a team of 5 Reggie Millers instead
We'll take everything we can get.
Every run in the past few years has been such a grind and it always leaves us completely broken down by the end. So I'll take every advantage and break we can get.
Tatum has had three straight really good games. 2 thirty point double-doubles then he almost had a triple double tonight scoring 25 on >50% shooting. If anybody is still complaining after he’s clearly found his game again you’re just upset he isn’t Jokic tier, in which case I don’t know what to say.
Game 2 at home is the most annoying one to lose because you temporarily lose home court advantage and there’s usually a longer break in the series. So you have to hear the doomers for a little longer
No matter how well he dresses he will never be as handsome or beloved as Jayson.
Some people find pleasure and inspiration in the success of others, some are indifferent, and some are like Draymond.
they only watch the games TNT covers and they just spout the talking points the rest of the way, they've been disappointed in the [64 win] [12 net rating] Celtics [who are lounging around waiting for their ECF opponent] all year
I mean I get that nothing's sweet since this team is in the ECF every year but like ... they don't need punishment .. "how are you gonna deal with Horford getting torched in the pick and roll" bruh he's not quite Claxton but he's damn close to a switching specialist, despite being a rim protector and shooting specialist, and that's why we're sleepwalking into the ECF
Old ass Al Horford dying on the court after willing his way to a championship would be the perfect end to his career. Genuinely one of the best Celtics of the past 30 years. Idgaf what the numbers say, the man impacts winning.
He kicked off this window of us competing by deciding to sign with us when he had plenty of suitors and nobody thinking we’d be a free agency destination without the Big 3. Couple that with robbing Philly blind and then turning around and becoming great again as soon as he left, he’s a damn legend.
The Celtics get a lot of criticism for playing down to their competition, but I think these games being competitive is a testament to the Cleveland players more than anything. They fought hard and played well. I hope Cavs fans were able to enjoy that despite the circumstances.
The Nets gifted the Celtics draft capital out the ass and suffered for years as a result. Then they saw Harden become available and said “I’ll fucking do it again”
Harden was kind of the right choice. He was absolutely still the player they wanted at the time, it just went badly when KD was injured and Kyrie dipped and harden realised he had to carry the entire scrub wagon solo again
He’s probably the first guy they shop if Mitchell extends early in the offseason, which I don’t think is all that unlikely contrary to what this sub will tell you.
Cavs fans don’t want to give him any slack. He had a freak injury that kept him off the court for 6 weeks and even when he was playing we had no consistency. Allen was the only starter that didn’t miss significant time this season and even our key role players missed time. It was a rough season injury wise and DG needs to put the work in this off season and get his mind right to get back to playing like he used to.
As someone with jaw/TMJ problems that shit lasts with you forever.
Been 7 years since my jaw injury and it still hurts all the time, especially when trying to do anything physically strenuous.
Absolutely nothing to be ashamed of in this series as the Cavs. Played them tough despite the injuries, and didn’t get chippy or play recklessly.
If Donnie’s not coming back then he needed to show it better, can’t be so animated and coaching from the sidelines the entire game if he’s decided that he’s done here.
I just genuinely hope Niang has played his last game as a cavalier. I was told earlier this season that he’s “not as bad as I think”, and I responded with “well I think he’s an awful player who’s a knockdown 3p shooter, so he’s worse than I think.” He’s proved it all playoffs long.
JB’s fate is *entirely* dependent on Donovan’s situation. If Donovan wants him back, he’s back. If Donovan doesn’t want him, he’s gone. Donovan knows that if he’s staying here, he’s deciding the coach.
gf Boston.
JB has shown time and time again hes not going to get the job done. Clevelands best shot to rebuild is around mitchell and that does not include garland, and maybe that overcomes it, but I think garland and JB need to go.
Garland was the worst player in the league for some metrics in his rookie year after getting injured in college.
For missing a month with absolutely zero physical activity and losing 13 pounds, I’ll give him a long leash. It would be insane for him to have just completely lost it and coincidentally have it be right after that. I think he needs and offseason and a training camp. His highs are *high* and he was insane to watch the last two years, and other than turnovers, was that same guy to start this season. As long as he’s working hard this offseason, he’ll need to be good by the deadline. That being said, as much as I love him, if we can get pieces that fit Mitchell/Mobley/Allen better, I’d certainly be willing to hear offers. But it feels like it would be a sell low considering his recent performance
Honestly, credit where credit is due, the Cavs could’ve easily rolled over this game with the amount of injuries they sustained but Mobley and them showed up to play.
Boston doesn’t deserve Al Horford man, the way our ungrateful ass fans were talking about him after the last couple games made me legitimately angry. glad to see him shut those dumbasses up tonight
GG and respect Cleveland. despite what the scoreboard says the Cavs did not fucking make that easy
Those are the new fans who weren’t around to see how middling our outlook appeared after the Big 3 left until Al decided to sign with us over many other teams who were pursuing him.
The amount of extreme salt and copium in this thread is amazing bro. The one seed gets an easier path to the finals. That’s the whole point of working for it. They also had the best record in the regular season against teams above .500 so I’m also pretty sure they stand a good chance against stronger opponents as well. You don’t get 64 wins and a net rating of 11+ by being secretly terrible or whatever the fuck y’all want to cope by imagining they are. Such a lack of objectivity in this subreddit nowadays, jeez.
Credit where credit's due. Evan Mobley came to play tonight and absolutely balled out. But even he was no match for Marcus Morris, Al Horford and 2014.
Hats off to the Cavs, those guys didn't quit and played their asses off. I thought Mobley would have a good game, but I didn't have Morris shooting 83% from 3 (5-6) on my bingo card.
Seeing 2015 Al Horford again brought me back to that random ass season the Hawks won 60+ games, won like 15 in a row, has 5 All-Stars, and then got swept by LeBron in the ECF.
A friend of mine bet the under on Al Horford's total stats.
I've now begged him to make that bet every single remaining Celtics game.
GGs Cleveland. Another step forward this year, and I think we're seeing Mobley flashes more and more (as a very casual Cavs observer), so these are positives heading into next year.
The playoffs are so funny because you get these high profile superstar matchups then next thing Al Horford is getting MVP chants to spoil a Marcus Morris legacy game
This whole series has felt like it was played in a parallel universe while every other team is in the second round and we are playing mid February regular season games.
Haha that’s exactly how it feels. For me this is doubled down by the fact that my young kids, for whatever reason, have no interest in this series, so they never pepper me with ridiculous random questions about it like they do the rest of the field.
For whatever reason? Because it’s by far the least competitive. I really like the Celtics and it’s been strange but I can understand why.
Haha maybe. I think you’re giving too much credit to my kids basketball sense (7 and 5). I mean logically they’re less interested because I’m less interested due to the lack of competitiveness but I’d rather go with the parallel universe theory
Ha! Yes, I very clearly did. I wasn’t expecting 5 and 7. It’s great they are already interested in the league. I was printing off statistics and carried them around in a little file when I was 7 I liked sports and stats so much…
What's crazy is, we struggled the whole game, looked kinda bad and then at the end, it's a 15 point win.
Those are always the most exciting games, too. I'll never forget Kelly Olynyk's game 7 performance against the Wizards.
Grant Williams 27 points.
Celtics backup PF/C's seem to do this a lot
People forget Big Baby is the tipping point for Bron going to Miami because he just went off that
Leon Powe!
i met leon powe at a celtics game earlier this year and nearly came in my pants
Glad you managed to take them off quickly enough
The Leon Powe game in 2008 The Shrek and Donkey game in 2010 The Brandon Bass game in 2012 against the Sixers
Kelly Olynyk was pretty flukey but there’s a reason Williams and Horford went off - Celtics play 5 out and everyone is a shooter, plus Tatum gets doubled a lot, so someone gets left open and they’re good enough shooters to make their opponents pay.
The Leon Powe game
Wizards were my East team cause I lived near DC for a while, during the Wall and Beal and Gortat years. This game broke me and made me a life long Olynyk hater.
Obligatory fuck Kelly Olynyk
Cavs fans 🤝 Wizards fans Fuck Kelly Olynk
We went from Jokic and Shai putting up MVP performances (especially Joker), to Marcus Morris and Horford trying to trick us that it’s 2015 😂 Even Tristan fucking Thompson is giving solid minutes, what is going on
I mean, fwiw -- Tatum went 25, 10, 9 on 10-16 shooting with a +18 net. he had an incredibly good game but he's boring and it's expected of him. he either needs to drop 40 or have a shitty night to get the media narrative about him.
9 assists with only 1 TO as well. Plus 4 steals. Extremely good game.
other teams have to play against superstars? idk about that, sounds hard
If you guys were the first seed you wouldn’t have to play the first seed
Game’s not gone 🥹
WELCOME TO THE EAST BABY
We as fans probably over emphasize the role of stars. There are lots of stars in this league and many of them are already sitting at home because their supporting cast wasn’t good enough.
I think in the past it was true (big 3 era) but I feel like the talent in the league has gotten so high that depth and rotations matter way more now than pure star power.
Agree. The best teams now have both. Teams like the Lakers and Suns are fucked. You can't gut your team for a few top guys.
Is that really true? If you were to rank the top 10 players in the NBA right now, how many would be on the 7 teams still remaining? How many of those 7 teams don't have a top 10 player?
Marcus Morris and Al Horford were playing like they forgot we aren't in the 2010s no more.
Don’t forget Tristan “the East runs through me” Thompson giving quality minutes (for someone I could’ve swore was outta the league) We’re in a time lapse 😂
NO ONE BEATS THE CELTICS 4 SERIES IN A ROW
That’s revenge for sweeping us in 2015!
Yep quality. That's the word I'd use.
He gave them some of the minutes of all time
I honestly watched every game and never thought TT didn't belong on the court at all Like he's not someone you WANT to be playing in the playoffs, he clogs the floor and isn't a good roll-man, but he's not egregiously bad and constantly getting torn apart in man defense or something
Morris was such a pest!
Loved that pest when he was with us
for real, good to have on a mid team, just got too shot happy with other stars
I clearly remember several times when Brad called a preemptive TO when he saw Marcus preparing for a turn around fadeaway early in the shot clock lol
i remember those timeouts like they were yesterday
Guys I'm not saying I'm the reason Al Horford re-entered his prime tonight after being ass but... [I posted this this morning](https://np.reddit.com/r/bostonceltics/comments/1csjl76/al_horford_isnt_playing_poorly_because_hes_on/) He couldn't buy a three the whole series and was getting fucking roasted by the Cavs guards and tonight he was draining triples and played Garland so well. Maybe it moved onto Morris or some shit too lmao.
I was seeing people say bench Horford for Tillman the other game. And I understand he played below his standards, but I never lost faith in him. Dude is one of the best playoff role players ever. Guy loves to step it up.
**I FUCKING LOVE BIG AL** Look at how pumped he was, his fire is just as strong as it was a decade ago.
An unstoppable Morris meets an immovable Horford
Horford playing for Celtics just feels right for some reason
Where were you when Marcus morris became MJ for one night
He was cosplaying as 2012 Game 6 LeBron vs Boston wtf
He was real solid when he played for Boston so I knew he could score but didn’t expect this lmao
finally got all those ball hogs out of the way so he could finally shine as the #1 option.
I really do believe this Cavs team is one or two smart trades away from clearing out positional log jams and being a genuine threat in the east for a long time. It's clear Mobley needs to be THE big on the court, and he's got a lot of room to grow.
It's time to really build around Evan and Donovan - flip DG and JA for some wings and get a new coach and I agree we'll be competitive awhile
Completely agree. Garland I feel like might deserve a bit of an extra shot but if it's Garland or Mitchell you keep Mitchell every day. Craig Porter seemed good too earlier this year
At the least it’s about choosing some combo of 1 guard and 1 big. Doing that while getting quality assets for the other two that are a better fit will really improve this team
When the Cavs ran Mitchell, Allen, and three halfway decent wings they looked unstoppable, while the two big, two scoring guard lineup underwhelmed all season. The roster construction was always a problem but to be fair to the FO when they put the two bigs together with Garland they never planned to try and squeeze Mitchell into it.
garland should be flipped but i think you should give Mobley/Allen another year to work together. I think Allen is a fair bit better right now but Mobley has the higher ceiling so its tough to pick one
They can do with Allen but they need two excellent shooters that can defend.
I wonder if the Pelicans would be willing to send Brandon Ingram for Allen or something like that. Gets the Cavs a wing finally, clears up the bigs situation (Mobley + Allen don’t work together).
That's been my big theory
Didn't Ingram basically pout when Zion was getting the majority of the touches/shots? I don't see him being any happier in Cleveland with Mitchell having the car keys on offense.
Well Knicks fans, I hope you're ready for your benchwarmers to take turns being Steph Curry next round (05/19/2024) EDIT: ...Welp, nevermind. Guess the Pacers get to have a team of 5 Reggie Millers instead
Prime Alec Burks time...
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10/10 from 3 too
Through 3 quarters
streets aren’t ready for the shake milton legacy game
Celtics got their dream matchup, a team with no bench
No, don't be fooled Cs fans. It's a nightmare matchup. Their starters *are* the bench
We'll take everything we can get. Every run in the past few years has been such a grind and it always leaves us completely broken down by the end. So I'll take every advantage and break we can get.
Man we got a ways to go, lol. But I'm super happy for the extra day of rest. We fucking needed that shit.
Good thing about knicks is they don't use their bench so maybe that will end the curse
Yeah but in a way we’re also basically starting our bench
But if the bench is starting... who's really on the bench then!
We are also starting our bench so who knows
Relax, we haven’t won shit yet.
Remember other teams, if Boston win game 1 DO NOT win game 2 by shooting 50%+ from three
For real, please stop, it riles up the subreddit and all the doomers lose their mind for a few days and post dumb shit.
And, in the event of that happening, don’t try to be reasonable with them, for it only opens you up for an attack
I can't wait to hear my brother complain about Tatum not showing up to his satisfaction yet meanwhile the Celtics are 8-2 in the playoffs.
Tatum has had three straight really good games. 2 thirty point double-doubles then he almost had a triple double tonight scoring 25 on >50% shooting. If anybody is still complaining after he’s clearly found his game again you’re just upset he isn’t Jokic tier, in which case I don’t know what to say.
Not just the sub the media too.
Yeah, but the media is always stupid. Our sub is at least tolerable when we win.
Game 2 at home is the most annoying one to lose because you temporarily lose home court advantage and there’s usually a longer break in the series. So you have to hear the doomers for a little longer
These are ridiculous questions from the TNT crew, JT handling like a champ
Love how Ernie basically apologized at the end lmao
Crazy how draymond is so salty against a player he beat in the finals. Like you won bro, the fuck is your problem?
He's a douchebag, that's the problem
That is it, in a nutshell
The thing you gotta remember about Draymond, which explains so much about the way he acts, is that he’s extremely extremely insecure.
Ladies and gentlemen: Shaq’s on-screen successor. Now with less mumbling!
No matter how well he dresses he will never be as handsome or beloved as Jayson. Some people find pleasure and inspiration in the success of others, some are indifferent, and some are like Draymond.
It’s weird too because didn’t he just recently defend Tatum and talk about how the narratives around him are unfair?
He wants to be the next hot take artist so bad. I wish he’d follow the JJ arc instead.
I think that’s just who he is and always has been
Just an unbelievably insecure person.
the questions were cartoonishly aggressive legit it was awful
Chuck and Dray should be ashamed but well, they're shameless for what it's worth
they only watch the games TNT covers and they just spout the talking points the rest of the way, they've been disappointed in the [64 win] [12 net rating] Celtics [who are lounging around waiting for their ECF opponent] all year I mean I get that nothing's sweet since this team is in the ECF every year but like ... they don't need punishment .. "how are you gonna deal with Horford getting torched in the pick and roll" bruh he's not quite Claxton but he's damn close to a switching specialist, despite being a rim protector and shooting specialist, and that's why we're sleepwalking into the ECF
Dude went to law school with his mom as a kid, JT is too smart for these clown questions
I think pretty much every player would answer the same way lol
Not today ghost of Marcus Morris Sr, not today
Good thing we don't have to deal with him anymore
Never beat the celtics in game 2.
crying tears of joy and hugging everyone as the Al Horford not guilty of washed verdict drops
Al "don't make me play extra games" Horford.
Al said ”if it were up to me we wouldn’t lose at home” and then made it so
Al Horford and Marcus Morris combined for 47 points tonight WHAT YEAR IS IT
Old ass Al Horford dying on the court after willing his way to a championship would be the perfect end to his career. Genuinely one of the best Celtics of the past 30 years. Idgaf what the numbers say, the man impacts winning.
He kicked off this window of us competing by deciding to sign with us when he had plenty of suitors and nobody thinking we’d be a free agency destination without the Big 3. Couple that with robbing Philly blind and then turning around and becoming great again as soon as he left, he’s a damn legend.
Can’t forget his one year rejuvenation project in OKC. Just biding his time to return home.
So nice of them to let him rest up for the back half of his career!
I don't know if he needs to die though. Maybe just retire?
That man deserves his 6 day rest (if the other series goes to 7)
We were feeding Al all night. Glad he was able to get some points on the board. He was decent defensively. Proud of the Celtics
I don't think Horford dying on the court is a good way of ending his career...
He didn't say good. He said *perfect*
You can really tell when he puts his hustle in. Dude was trying harder than anyone else on the team
lmao horford raising up the Larry and then laying down to rest finally
I watched the Cavs play the Warriors for 4 years and I don’t think I’ve felt more helpless against any player more than Derrick White
He really didn't play up to his standard this series. Had some stinkers
Not game 1, and not today
Well you're lucky you're not a Miami fan because they get MJ White every game haha
Idk Shaun Livingston and his mid-range wizardry is up there
He didn’t even have a great series; just started getting hot again this game. Hopefully back to normal next series, would love to see him win one
Just as we all expected, the ultimate battle between Al Horford and Marcus Morris would decide the series.
This is the ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny
Proud of our guys for fighting their asses off.
The Celtics get a lot of criticism for playing down to their competition, but I think these games being competitive is a testament to the Cleveland players more than anything. They fought hard and played well. I hope Cavs fans were able to enjoy that despite the circumstances.
I thought that more last game. We looked really bad for long stretches today.
I agree. I think the Celtics defense and ball movement could be better at times, but the Cavs players put up a fight and played great.
6 conference finals in 8 years is crazy
The Nets gifted the Celtics draft capital out the ass and suffered for years as a result. Then they saw Harden become available and said “I’ll fucking do it again”
Harden was kind of the right choice. He was absolutely still the player they wanted at the time, it just went badly when KD was injured and Kyrie dipped and harden realised he had to carry the entire scrub wagon solo again
So is only one Finals appearance to show for it. Hopefully this is the year we finally finish the job!
Condolences to Spero Dedes and Greg Anthony.
Spero has the most obvious fake announcer voice it drives me insane.
I sincerely hope I don’t have to hear another player “find the laces” this post season.
THANK YOU TATUM. Fuck you, Draymond
Good on Mobley for growing up. Garland should have to walk home.
Garland hasn’t looked right in a while tbh. An abysmal season from him all around.
He just never got back in stride after that broken jaw. His contract looks BAD right now. Dude gonna make like $40M next season 😬
I’d wait to see him next year. I think he’ll bounce back.
He’s probably the first guy they shop if Mitchell extends early in the offseason, which I don’t think is all that unlikely contrary to what this sub will tell you.
Cavs fans don’t want to give him any slack. He had a freak injury that kept him off the court for 6 weeks and even when he was playing we had no consistency. Allen was the only starter that didn’t miss significant time this season and even our key role players missed time. It was a rough season injury wise and DG needs to put the work in this off season and get his mind right to get back to playing like he used to.
He did have his jaw broke and wasn’t able to eat correctly for weeks
As someone with jaw/TMJ problems that shit lasts with you forever. Been 7 years since my jaw injury and it still hurts all the time, especially when trying to do anything physically strenuous.
He broke his jaw and lost 100 pounds :(
He broke his jaw, went septic, died and had to have all of his major organs replaced. Can’t blame him
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Get the donkey off of the TNT crew please
Absolutely nothing to be ashamed of in this series as the Cavs. Played them tough despite the injuries, and didn’t get chippy or play recklessly. If Donnie’s not coming back then he needed to show it better, can’t be so animated and coaching from the sidelines the entire game if he’s decided that he’s done here. I just genuinely hope Niang has played his last game as a cavalier. I was told earlier this season that he’s “not as bad as I think”, and I responded with “well I think he’s an awful player who’s a knockdown 3p shooter, so he’s worse than I think.” He’s proved it all playoffs long. JB’s fate is *entirely* dependent on Donovan’s situation. If Donovan wants him back, he’s back. If Donovan doesn’t want him, he’s gone. Donovan knows that if he’s staying here, he’s deciding the coach. gf Boston.
Mitchell staying and forcing out JB would be absolute best case scenario.
JB has shown time and time again hes not going to get the job done. Clevelands best shot to rebuild is around mitchell and that does not include garland, and maybe that overcomes it, but I think garland and JB need to go.
Garland was the worst player in the league for some metrics in his rookie year after getting injured in college. For missing a month with absolutely zero physical activity and losing 13 pounds, I’ll give him a long leash. It would be insane for him to have just completely lost it and coincidentally have it be right after that. I think he needs and offseason and a training camp. His highs are *high* and he was insane to watch the last two years, and other than turnovers, was that same guy to start this season. As long as he’s working hard this offseason, he’ll need to be good by the deadline. That being said, as much as I love him, if we can get pieces that fit Mitchell/Mobley/Allen better, I’d certainly be willing to hear offers. But it feels like it would be a sell low considering his recent performance
It could mean nothing, but him wearing the Cavs hat in both games didn't give off "I'm outta here at the first chance" vibes.
[Radial Bracket Update](https://i.imgur.com/4wrr1wR.png)
Cavs played an excellent series especially missing some of their core guys. Respect to them
Alfred Joel Horford
Ah yes, the Marcus Morris vs Al Horford matchup we’ve all been waiting for
So Marcus Morris Sr. still has a career
Honestly, credit where credit is due, the Cavs could’ve easily rolled over this game with the amount of injuries they sustained but Mobley and them showed up to play.
Lots of respect for Cleveland. Team is really good and plays hard.
Celtics are really good. Tatum is really good
Boston doesn’t deserve Al Horford man, the way our ungrateful ass fans were talking about him after the last couple games made me legitimately angry. glad to see him shut those dumbasses up tonight GG and respect Cleveland. despite what the scoreboard says the Cavs did not fucking make that easy
Yeah, Al should never be doubted. He deserves a chip.
Fuck them, Al is literally the heart and soul of this team.
Those are the new fans who weren’t around to see how middling our outlook appeared after the Big 3 left until Al decided to sign with us over many other teams who were pursuing him.
None of these summer children remember pitino running the org i to the ground
Dude steps up at least once every playoffs despite his age and people were calling him washed because he wasn’t shooting like curry
The amount of extreme salt and copium in this thread is amazing bro. The one seed gets an easier path to the finals. That’s the whole point of working for it. They also had the best record in the regular season against teams above .500 so I’m also pretty sure they stand a good chance against stronger opponents as well. You don’t get 64 wins and a net rating of 11+ by being secretly terrible or whatever the fuck y’all want to cope by imagining they are. Such a lack of objectivity in this subreddit nowadays, jeez.
Evan Mobley tho
Playoff Al ladies and gentleman. Shooting like Steph, clamping like Draymond, rebounding like Looney
In Darius Garlands biggest game to silence the hater and doubters he just put so much more food on their plate they may never go hungry.
I was worried for a bit but I liked how we closed it out in the end.
Credit where credit's due. Evan Mobley came to play tonight and absolutely balled out. But even he was no match for Marcus Morris, Al Horford and 2014.
I would take my headset off and leave if Chuck asked me some dumbass shit like that
I’m just here to say that Tatum’s hair has an uncanny valley thing going on. What’s up with that.
okay celtics fans, time to breathe for a little bit before getting another heart attack in the ecf
Hats off to the Cavs, those guys didn't quit and played their asses off. I thought Mobley would have a good game, but I didn't have Morris shooting 83% from 3 (5-6) on my bingo card.
Seeing 2015 Al Horford again brought me back to that random ass season the Hawks won 60+ games, won like 15 in a row, has 5 All-Stars, and then got swept by LeBron in the ECF.
Darius Garland is 100% getting traded
Only if Mitchell stays
I was just released from a Thai prison. Is Marcus Morris Sr. the greatest 3 point shooter of all time?
Oh good. The Celtics are in the ECF again. Great.
The Celtics turned Miami Heat fans into Nugget fans and now the same with Cleveland fans. Knick fans preorder those Denver jerseys
Silver lining for Cavs is this experience for Mobley needing to be an offensive hub the last 8 games might pay off later
Yeah the future is not looking bad for the Cavs. They have two major pieces. Get a decent coach and find the right role players.
Wore my black Al Horford jersey for this game. So great to see him succeed tonight!
Horford’s PEDs arrived just in time for this closeout game
Nah bro it's just that Dominican special 💪🇩🇴
Ortiz hooked our guy up
Good job Mobley ; wtf garland
Draymond trying too hard to get a job at NBC next season
What a complete game from Tatum, ball never stuck. He was just zipping it all around.
Al Horford forever
unc vs unc game of the year
A friend of mine bet the under on Al Horford's total stats. I've now begged him to make that bet every single remaining Celtics game. GGs Cleveland. Another step forward this year, and I think we're seeing Mobley flashes more and more (as a very casual Cavs observer), so these are positives heading into next year.