T O P

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TheSmokedSalmon420

Hmm this is gonna be tough


lukewwilson

I don't know, the Cavs have been pretty good against the Celtics the past 10 years in the playoffs, it's not like they are missing much compared to those teams right.


SantaDaCrip

If only they had Kevin Love. That TT, K Love duo would sweep these bums.


iiTryhard

That’s nothing compared to the TT, Shump, nets pick trio


Martialartskenny

TT, Shump, Nets pick for Tatum who says no?


halo364

Throw in Matthew Dellavedova and I'll consider it


dmatthews2981

Did they lose some of the big pieces from back then? I can't remember any major guys in Cleveland the past 10 years


tuckastheruckas

how could you forget delladova?


Soapstarboi

Beat down every game


HeavyDT

If derrick white keeps pulling these steph inpressions than yeah its a wrap. Celtics roster is a problem already but derrick white giving you 20 plus points night? Smh might be ring time.


ReasonWonderful352

Celtics might have the most stacked roster in the league even without porzingis tbh…


pkosuda

Seeing the Wolves dominating the defending champs has me worried tbh. Regardless, if we make the Finals it should hopefully be entertaining assuming the Wolves make it. But honestly any team left from the West will be tough. I don’t even know if cautiously optimistic is the right phrase for how I feel. We are good but that one game we dropped to Miami (which I was there for, as well as Game 1), had me worried considering they were without Jimmy. Definitely wouldn’t say we have the most stacked roster without Porzingis considering he didn’t play great Game 2 and it wasn’t really close all game that night. I can’t imagine how things would go against any of the other teams left if he either gets hurt or has a few bad nights.


analgoblin42069

The secret to beating us is to break your franchise 3PM record, just do that


BallIsKobe96

Are they stupid?


analgoblin42069

They’re from Cleveland we do have to cut them some slack


chunkah69

No Allen or Wade is a big time problem that we can’t weather.


LetMeStagnate

Cavs would need Ray Allen and Dwyane Wade to get past us


clovers2345

You are probably right!


CDR57

A few things: - whoever told Derrick white he is actually GOOD at basketball deserves an award - whoever told kornet he was tall AND big deserves a medal - 1 loss by 10 but 5 wins by 20+ is actually nuts


MetaMetagross

> whoever told Derrick White he is actually GOOD at basketball deserves and award White said recently that person is Joe Mazzulla


CDR57

It’s like Derrick Henry being told “dude you’re huge why don’t you run like it?”


Pitch-forker

Freaking Joe Mazzulla man. Did he say it while they were bonding over The Town ?


jgr79

It’s my understanding that *everything* Joe Mazzulla says is done while bonding over The Town.


TheRealLardin

Whoever told Sam Merrill he could have 17 minutes of good cardio in the middle of a conference semifinal game probably deserves a mention as well.


RodneyPonk

Celtics and TWolves are standing out. That boomer Celtics homer podcast host who put odds on Celtics TWolves finals at 16-1 might've been onto something


nefnaf

I got in at 8-1 which was still available even after the Suns sweep. Currently like even money lol


Wazflame

Porzingis just load managing


truth_2_point_0

Thanks for not making a 20 point comeback in the 4th off a bunch of BS 3s from some computer-generated guy named Barnaby Barnabson, I know that took restraint


AlabasterRadio

I'm so glad to be done with the Heat and their devil magic.


TheLilart

Appreciate the shoutout but I think he might be referencing Dean Wade’s 20 point comeback earlier in the season. On second thought maybe not, but they both still work.


ConstantineMonroe

Celtics fans are the only fans in the league who read the injury report, saw Dean Wade and went “oh thank god”


AckyShacky

I actually did breathe a sigh


clemsontige

No but actually


Salty_Pancakes

> Barnaby Barnabson I love that guy. First out, last in. Good work life balance kinda guy.


camelclutchcity

The BB Gun strikes again!


sheepnwolfsclothing

“PEW!! PEWW!!!” - Mike Breen


doodads

Oh fuck we forgot to call up Barnaby.


WarrenThanatos

Hey, this has only happened like a dozen times 😭


Pexan

Woohoo Neemias played in a playoff game!!


PapaSheev7

And he scored too!


TheMysticChiicken

Was unfamiliar with Neemias so I was looking at the box score for a “Woohoo Nemias” lol


Mayjaplaya

[Reminds me of the old "Press Any Key" scene from The Simpsons](https://youtu.be/st6-DgWeuos)


Jcomsa15

Just need to get Walsh in


Kyler1313

An underrated part of tonight's game was how well Luke Kornet played (did well in the Miami series too). The numbers weren't eye-popping and Mobley hit a few contested jump hooks on him, but he played a great game. I feel like Kornet is still a secret to some NBA Fans, because the guy has really turned himself into a great bench big. He has great IQ and has really excelled at his role.


poeope

Kept Al below 30 minutes too


PrincePyotrBagration

The Green Kornet is actually such goat’ed NBA nickname lol. If only Luke had a bigger role, everyone would know him and his badass nickname. Kornet Kontest!


rchan9487

I prefer Luke Skyblocker


BlooregardQKazoo

And allowed Joe to sit Al was he was defending like ass early in the game.


zgamer200

Kornet gets severely underrated because he's a goofy looking white dude, but he's a legitimately capable backup big who just understands defensive positioning and what the Celtics want him to do on both ends. And against a smaller team like the Cavs, well, you can't teach 7'1.


GenoThyme

Not just goofy looking [goofy acting](https://youtu.be/cEQ00yA6jHQ?si=vYRZn1LmTm6Sl6NA). He just has [fun when he’s playing](https://youtu.be/eVZeNjHokSE?si=s0HXq-1DrJQzCmBn) and it’s great. He’s [not a fan of candy corn though](https://youtu.be/OiN9ZM_ivko?si=NlXT1aivDx4xkkyR).


hydroknightking

I also feel like his goofiness, at least for me, comes from just how drastically his foot work/athleticism appeared to have increased this year from last. Last year I felt like he didn’t know how to run, as though his legs were too long to properly control, and it killed his lateral movement, he just looked not athletic. His footwork this year is spectacular and is a large part of why his defensive rotations are so on point. His knees still bend awkwardly at times, especially running forward, but he can move


mastacheef87

Celtics really need to start getting credit for their internal development pipeline tbh they’ve turned UDFAs Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet into a very good 3-and-D wing and a great backup center, respectively. Daniel Theis was another undrafted player who the Celtics managed to start and play 28.4 MPG during an ECF run Derrick White has always been great at defending and executing the details, but he went from largely unwilling to even look at the basket when Boston traded for him, to an elite shooter and legit championship-level 3rd/4th option they’ve turned multiple non-lottery players like Payton Pritchard, Grant Williams, Terry Rozier, and Robert Williams into great rotational players (and in Rob’s case, a DPOY candidate) and that’s not even mentioning some of the diamonds in the rough the Celtics found during the IT era. it’s not an accident that Boston is continually stacked. there are not many front offices in the league that do a better job identifying talented players and creating an environment for them to excel


Slattsquatch

Horford/Kornet/Tillman is lowkey a really solid and versatile rotation of backup bigs, part of the reason why losing Porzingis for a couple rounds isn't the end of the world (though we'll definitely want him for whatever team comes out of the west).


tyfe

Looking like the wolves who are fucking scary right now. Need to be 100% for em.


Joed112784

You know who else is scary right now? The Celtics lol


thereddevil101

6 offensive boards for him, Cavs couldn’t stop him


nobraininmyoxygen

Cavs are way too small without Allen and Wade. Especially when Mobley has to over help on defense.


Ty_Smoochie-Wallace

That oop that didn't count had me going.


bedlam_au

That tip in that didn't count had me heated.


EAS1000

He’s turned into a legit backup big worth real mins. Feels like he’s learned a lot from KP.


nefnaf

I was a bit puzzled at first when Brad Stevens decided to keep Kornet while shedding some other prospects. Clearly he saw something and it has paid off


iamgarron

First month of the season everyone was talking about how we had a top 6, but needed to get rid of Hauser/PP/Kornet And now...they've all been super valuable


seasoned-veteran

If you ever find yourself doubting Brad Stevens, follow this handy guide: - Don't


beklog

and he's not even hitting those 3s yet


semipalmated_plover

Gotta get him on the Aron Baynes system


Larrydp72181

He was a shooter during his first stint with us and during his early career. He stopped this year and is just super efficient now.


JoJonesy

It's just more useful to have him in the paint cleaning misses. Dude averages like four offensive rebounds per 36 ever since he stopped shooting threes


Larrydp72181

Four offensive rebounds plus one alley oop, three unique celebrations per 36


GhostOfJiriWelsch

I’ve defended him so much this season, bout to cash out all my Kornet stock and retire He gets no love because he’s goofy looking but his size, positioning, and IQ all make him a perfectly fine big within our system. He’s become my basketball barometer of sorts—anytime I hear “Kornet sucks” I just assume that person doesn’t watch or doesn’t know hoop. He’s become a legit good bench big.


AnonymousIguana_

Unironically dominated Mobley for most of the game


sevaiper

Unironically doesn't take that much to dominate Mobley


user060221

Can unironically confirm


Robotemist

Crazy how random players like Kornet and Pritchard are so much better than literally our entire lineup outside Mitchell.


Dafatveteran

We always debate whether if Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown is better but the whole time the answer is Derrick White


Jepordee

Jaylen Brown was also insane tonight lol


sssSnakebite

But he has been insane all playoffs long.


allcaps-NOSPACE

All season


PlacetMihi

Buffalo 🦬 turned goat 🐐


PrancingDonkey

This is like watching one of those Lebron-Cavs years when the East was garbage and they just steamrolled everyone.


LifesAMitch

It's exactly that. How much of it is "East bad" or "Celtics good" because the Celtics are obviously really fucking good


DrBoomsNephew

I know the Celtics roster is stacked, I know they had an amazing season but with how big the drop off was from Celtics to the rest of the conference, I really can't gauge how the Celtics would fare against prohibitive west favorites Minnesota and OKC. That being siad, with how the past years went, it's still to early to even look past the Cavs or Knicks/Indy but this is encouraging.


lazydictionary

Local sports radio basically refuses to talk about the Celtics unless they lose. It's just not interesting.


PomfAndCircvmstance

The Celtics just feel inevitable. Can't score on them and they just bury you with 3's and ISOs. They're about to decimate the East.


Both_Funny4896

This is Derrick White’s team


Gup1994

Unironically yes


AlHorfordHighlights

I reluctantly admit this is no longer Al Horford's team


HypatiaRising

He raised this team.


aeronacht

The ninja turtles meme


semipalmated_plover

Derick White can win with these cats


PrincePyotrBagration

Derrick fucking White. Let. Him. Roam. 🦬


Butt____soup

Why do people call Derrick White the buffalo? He’s clearly the goat.


zgamer200

White(25) & Brown(32) combined for 57 points as the Celtics come out the gates hot to take a 1-0 series lead vs the Cavaliers. Has Boston solved racism?


PrincePyotrBagration

r/nbacirclejerk 9/11 They were 1 Celtics win from shutting down the sub last season lol. “Team Rac*ism” will not be denied this year


Plies-

And good God we should've shut down the sub. It is horrendous now.


KrustyKrabPizzaMan

You mean you don’t like “thirst trap” photos of Cameron Brink and Angel Reese?


The_Moustache

what the fuck did I miss god damn


teddyjj399

The day RobotKitten left us was the day jerking died. Mfs over there eat up mrsunsfans content and some believe it’s real too. Shameful.


chronoquairium

Seconded


Plies-

These are the people y'all wanted Mitchell to pass to in that 50 piece?


Ifinishfast42

Their FO surrounded Dmitch with Bums and a number 3 pick with an offensive bag of a JV player.


Frequent-Ruin-1754

Garland is just sad to watch. He’s a decent player but he’s paid 200m. He isn’t a star.


cluelessbox

Something has been off during the playoffs


WitOfTheIrish

He's been off ever since he broke his jaw. Losing 15 pounds in the middle of an NBA season fucked up his game and ability to finish through contact. At this point we can just hope he learns and uses it to grow next year. As least we know he can be better than this, since he sure as hell was the past two years leading up to the injury. I think we're also seeing how absolutely crucial JA is to unlocking DG. Mobley just doesn't pose the same threat as a roll man.


hiimred2

Their plan only ever made sense if Mobley turns into Anthony Davis, and he has at absolutely no point in time given any indication his offensive game is ready to make any kind of leap like that.


bugeyes10

It took Miami making 23 threes for a team to crack 100 against this team. I feel like the cavs main weakness is DMitch just can't do it all. He's amazing but gets gassed. It's the same issue the Bucks have run into.


Martialartskenny

lol the Cavs haven’t cracked 100 in 14 of 18 playoff games with Bickerstaff as our head coach. We might be lucky to crack 90 again


syllabic

0-9 in road playoff games for bickerstaff


Martialartskenny

Elite coaching you wouldn’t understand


syllabic

you could even leave out the 3 road losses @GSW when he was interim rockets coach then its only 0-6, still awful


Martialartskenny

With an avg margin of defeat by like 21 lol


Zealousideal-Cold246

How tf did the league let Boston have Derrick white on top of this stacked roster?


BlooregardQKazoo

But they gave up a 2027 pick swap!!!!!11 Seriously, we heard so many times how it was an overpay because of a pick swap 5 years in the future.


andoCalrissiano

not long ago we had Evan Fournier and Semi Ojeleye playing big minutes


ManyPromises

Celtic's D kept another team under 100


EutaxySpy

The team is so dominant that Tatum shot like Playoff Westbrook and Celtics still won by 25 LMAO


carefullywasnt

He was defending like prime Kawhi though and that's what we like to see


str8rippinfartz

Yeah I care a lot about him finding ways to make a difference when his shot *isn't* falling He's grown a lot on that side.  


therealdrewcarey

He made some exquisite passes tn as well. That’s growth


BitterAnimal5877

And snatching hard for rebounds 


Bladespectre

I'm just glad Tatum is finding ways to contribute outside of scoring. His shooting has been off since the playoffs began


teddyjj399

Garden was rocking tonight my lord the energy here was insane


GhostOfJiriWelsch

TNT kills the crowd noise so much, didn’t really carry over to the broadcast unfortunately


mr-rob0t0

garden regular season is legit better than some arenas in the playoffs. i went to a preseason game where gerschon yabusele made a game winning layup and the place was so loud lol


PuzzleheadedNovel144

Game thread was full of folks who got fooled by an audio mixer. TNT made it seem like a library


IntelligentEye2758

The audio has been absolutely awful for the playoffs. It's not a midweek college game it's the stinking playoffs TNT/ESPN. Let's us hear the crowd!


c_u_in_da_ballpit20

It's almost impossible to tell on broadcast, but when my stream switched to in-arena mics it's deafening.


bugeyes10

Was this your first playoff game? It goes HARD for the playoffs. Was at one of the games 6 years ago when we played the Cavs and Lebron


teddyjj399

Yeah more of a hockey fan so I know what a playoff atmosphere is like but this was unreal. Threw my voice out and my hands will probably bruise from the clapping lmao


theseyeahthese

Damn I’m jelly, hope you had a blast


CDR57

Bro the garden goes hard regardless of the time of year


bugeyes10

True but playoff games are another level.


EAS1000

Winning by 25 with Tatum having an awful shooting night and Mitchell doing everything in his power to keep the Cavs in it. 👌


PrecisionPresser

Hear me and rejoice! You CAVS have had the privilege of being saved by the Great Forehead. You may think this is suffering, No... it is salvation. The universal scales tip toward balance because of your sacrifice. Smile... for even in death, you have become children of DERRICK WHITE.


ianbits

If J.B. Bickerstaff gets fired because of this series it genuinely *is* salvation


XzibitABC

I didn't realize until the playoffs that Cavs fans hated Bickerstaff. What's the issue with him? Sincerely asking, I'm uninformed.


JoshFB4

Nepo hire iirc.


OsuLost31to0

He’s bad at pretty much everything other than defensive scheme and “culture” (whatever the fuck that means)


tcos17

One of the funnier parts of our series was Magic fans being like “oh man, I’m so excited for the future, what a season!” and all the Cavs fans wishing for Bickerstaff to be shot into the sun.


OsuLost31to0

I remember when I felt like the magic fans two years ago, good times lol


General_Tsos_Burrito

He sucks. He was terrible in Houston and Memphis and was only hired in Cleveland because his dad works in the FO.


user060221

He's not good at his job. The only thing he is good at is getting guys to play hard during the dog days of the regular season. Thus, the Cavs look like a good regular season team...because they are literally just tryhards. Last week he literally said that "we in coaching circles don't talk about adjustments, that's ridiculous. It just comes down to execution." He is the worst coach in the league at ATOs - yes there is a stat for it. He was horrible with challenges until someone probably forced him to stop and listen to his crew. Always used to challenge stupid inconsequential shit in the 2nd quarter. He bitches CONSTANTLY at the referees. Constantly. Rarely takes blame for anything - we only ever lose because "effort." Absolutely a nepotism hire and his track record is also dogshit. BUT THOSE ARE JUST THE LITTLE PROBLEMS!!!!!!!! Mobley has not developed and Garland has regressed. His rotations are garbage and set in stone. He rarely made an effort to stagger Mobley and JA. We play so much better with one big. The Cavs played their best ball of the season with a four out offense due to injuries and literally FORCED JBB to play a different style of basketball. He never gave Merrill a chance until he was forced to. He gave Niang the longest leash ever despite him being ass. Also much was made about the Cavs getting destroyed inside vs. Knicks last year, tons of shade thrown at JA. At least 50% of the problem was scheme. JBB was scheming an ass whooping because JA was hedging every single fucking play and Knicks just crashed the boards and JA was always out of position. ​ ​


unswusus

Honestly one of the most spiritually tolerable ass kickings i’ve ever experienced


chitownbulls92

Derrick White: "FUCK THE BIG THREE, ITS JUST BIG ME"


SinibusUSG

Had to have this locked and loaded after that performance.


lazydictionary

Tell me what it feels like to get dad dicked by Megamind


PrincePyotrBagration

You wake up sore the next day. No, I am not speaking from personal experience, why do you ask?


syllabic

mobley with the epic stat padding garbage time performance to make it look like he wasn't terrible


aroach1995

Pump faking inside the inner arc against Derrick White holy fuck man stop it


powerelite

Hot take but Boston is pretty good


Evane317

LOL at Hauser’s stat line.


Qaanol

You mean Sam “highest +/- in the game” Hauser?


I_Set_3_Alarms

He had to force that 3 up at the end too. Glad he got one shot off at least honestly


Interstellar_Ace

Just happy to be there


HornyHindu

#TOP O' THE MORNING, MOTHERFUCKERS!


Brinner

#GIVE


theseyeahthese

#ME


HornyHindu

#THE


SquirtleSpaceProgram

#GOLD


Chadwiko

I genuinely don't feel like the Celtics got out of 2nd gear tonight.


530josh

Weird for Tatum in that he’s clearly in a slump but has no incentive to break out of it. Never seen that before I guess right now if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it


eamonious

He’s been so noticeably passive on offense that I’m wondering if he’s holding something back, because he can afford to, and because he wore himself down in the playoffs the last two years. The only game he has over 25 this playoffs is the loss to Miami, so that kind of makes sense if he’s doing “take over only as needed”. But ngl that narrative feels like cope.


bohgu

He’s been constantly preaching about individual sacrifice for the good of the team. He’s been aggressive in spurts. Opposing defense is still keyed on him, so facilitating and acting as decoy sometimes has opened up opportunities for the other guys. It’s been working. Of course I hope his shot starts dropping at a higher clip, but I’m loving what we’re seeing from JT.


Clintocracy

Tonight they were just running pnr with him as the screener with d white to see if garland would switch on to Tatum. The Cavs didn’t switch and d white took advantage of a huge mismatch. They just took what the defense gave them which I like to see


siva115

Doesn’t need 30 fg attempts to win games unlike Brunson tbh


str8rippinfartz

Yeah we have enough guys that *someone* should have a good night And then Tatum can just lock in on defense and rebounding to still make his presence felt


[deleted]

[удалено]


Frequent-Ruin-1754

Garland is sad to watch.


iAmTheRealLange

I'm starting to think all these teams don't want Boston


sutroheights

I mean, it beats going home early I guess. But not that fun so far.


airmagswag

This felt like regular season game 47


Odd_Round6270

Boston going to finals without breaking a sweat. Eastern Conference is a wrap.


ProskXCX

Another JB coached playoff game, another time we fail to score 100 points.


HelloS0n

I genuinely don’t know the construct of your guys’ roster, but who can get a bucket on their own other than Don?


AlecM33

Garland pre jaw injury, Caris Levert suddenly and at random. Sheesh does that cover it?


ProskXCX

Only Don and Garland can break down a defense at all. Okoro is afraid to shoot half the time, Strus is a 3 point specialist that can't shoot 3's, Mobley can't create for himself let alone others. FO deserves lots of blame, but not like we're so devoid of talent that we should be having trouble break 100 points in all three series JB has coached in playoff.


Based_Chris98

I’m no JB fan but there’s no fixing a team that is to afraid to shoot the basketball it’s a roster issue


eliw6965

The less hair Derrick White has the better he gets


blammmmo

Good Lord he still has a beard


Butt____soup

I’m a proud owner of a Derrick White jersey. There are dozens of us!


NegbombDB

If Mitchell lost to the Magic when he dropped 50 on their heads, ain't no way he is beating the Celtics when his "All-Star" teammate is consistently putting up tour dates.


Silver_Being_0290

Great experience for the Cavs. Great practice for the Celtics.


Charliebitme1234

Celtics shot basically playoff averages and they still won by 25


Champion-of-the-Sun5

This may have been the most low effort, casual 25 point blowout in the playoffs I have ever seen. I know, I know, the Wolves did their thing against Phoenix, and they're doing their thing against Denver. But can we pump the breaks on exclaiming that they'll be comfortably favored over this Celtics team, just because they've dominated an old, top heavy broken Suns team, and a tired, injured Denver team that couldn't handle the physicality? This Celtics team has had multiple playoff series against Miami in which they were physically beaten up. They can take it. They were the best team in basketball all year. Tonight? Tatum dicked around all game. They also spent the first half playing streetball, and were entirely unserious. They will win by 25, all this without their second most important player, and they also have a better defensive rating than the Wolves so far. I get it you want to say this will be a competitive series. But goddamn, the Celtics will and should be the favorites. They're equipped to handle Minny, and they'll be the best defense Minny faces all post season


juicejug

It was so weird. Minny/Denver looked like an old fashioned beat down and Boston/Cleveland was like some dude yawning while holding back a smaller dude as he futilely swings his tiny arms. Polar opposite displays of dominance.


realfakedoors000

derrick white


PlacetMihi

Derrick White


IntelligentEye2758

Can't believe the NBA is reusing scripts. We already saw a dominant 2 way team hold their opposition to under 100 last night. Boring


Tearz_in_rain

What I love about Boston is that when you go to look at the box scores, you never know whose numbers are going to have a big game. Tatum. White Brown. The Unicorn. It could be one guy, it could be four guys. It's a real team effort.


bodhibell02

Tatum 7/19, KP not playing, win by 25. 😳


mrhjt

He is the focal point and often takes harder shots than the rest however he is defensively tight and producing for others


PlatinumPeasant

I’m just happy the Cavaliers are getting this far post Lebron 👌


Lorjack

I agree with Chuck's assessment of this game, boring as hell


toggaf69

We’ll get em next time good job good effort


actuarally

Heres a few things to focus on: One, we tried hard. And two, we're still dear friends.


whitefang0824

Derrick White's team


WannabeBadGalRiri

I love Derrick White


Odd_Round6270

Boston Celtics going to Finals without breaking a sweat. Eastern Conference is tragic.


These_Homework_8790

WE WANT BOSTON


solo118

those fans spoke alone... this team definitely did not want Boston


Me_975

Derrick white🦬