BGleas

You can’t be shooting if you don’t have the ball. OG never had possession of the ball and was fouled before he even touched it. Tatum has every right to try and jump and catch that pass and the foul occurred as they were both jumping to catch the pass. Brown was fouled with the balk in his hands as he was attempting to shoot while in the air. He actually attempted a shot. Either way, the NBA agrees OG’s play was not a shooting foul. Also, if the Kemba play is called right, which was a massive missed call, that maybe never happens.

Without fail, pretty much every Celtics says Marcus Smart is the most critical Celtic. With that said, it is a little funny you mention looking for players like Smart and not UK type of guys, because I believe Smart was the #1 recruit in his class. If not #1, I'm pretty sure he was top 5.

He's a great coach, no doubt. But between Nurse and Lowery I don't know that I've seen a coach/player combo that are whiny, crybabies. Nurse is an NBA combination of Izzo and McCaffery. He literally complains and cries non stop, even when he gets the calls.

The NBA's last two minute report backed up that the foul on OG was called correctly. He was not going up to score, he was going up to catch the ball. Unlike the call for Jaylen Brown later, who was trying to opp the pass he recieved. The 2-minute report also stated Kemba Walker got fouled at the end of regulation and that the refs missed Normal Powell traveling in overtime on a play where he then drew a foul and made two free throws. I'm certainly a homer when it comes to the Celtics and am biased, I'm aware of that and willing to admit the bias, but with that said this series should be over and while the Celtics of course hold blame, the atrocious officiating (and it was atrocious) is also to blame. With the correct calls on several plays, or even just one of the several plays, this series is over. https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2020/09/boston-celtics-kemba-walker-was-fouled-on-final-play-of-regulation-according-to-nbas-last-two-minute-report.html

As HH said, there's a clear difference between a player flopping and a coach purposely interfering with a play, especially a play with 50 seconds left in a tied game. On the flopping, I can't disagree with you on Smart. Even as a Celtics fan, I know and understand Smart flops. With that said, the flopping and flailing that Kyle Lowery does out there makes Smart blush. Lowery could teach LeBron a class on flopping, its ridiculous.

I can agree that the Raptors looked/played better last night. They really did. But, I don't agree that it was a "bad calls both ways" situation down the stretch. I listed 5 to 6 clearly awful calls all within the last minute of regulation or in OT that if just one goes the right way the Celtics are in the ECF already. Kemba clearly got fouled on the Celtics last possession in regulation. That alone ends the game.

That was with 50 seconds left in a tied game. Ridiculous. Nick Nurse is a great coach, but wow he is the 'Tom Izzo' of the NBA with all of the whining and crying.

I hate to do this, but I'm going to do it. Toronto is a tough, championship team and they were never going to go down without a fight, much respect to them and how they played, and the Celtics certainly had chances to put them away, but the officiating the last 3 or so minutes of that game and in both overtimes was absolutely ATROCIOUS!! What in god's name does Kemba Walker have to do to get to the foul line. He got hammered on the last possession of regulation and multiple times in the overtimes. That flagrant T on Tatum (I think in the 1st overtime?) was a horrendous call and gave the Raptors a free throw in what ended up being a tied overtime. The overturned call in 2OT when Thies got an offensive rebound was horrible On that last play with .05 left Gasol just ran over Smart, and those are just the ones I remember. Edit: I forgot the play down the stretch where Nick Nurse was literally standing on the court and baited Tatum into throwing him the ball which forced a bad pass/turnover.

Thanks, Billingsley! Like I said, as a player in that situation when I see a zone, I know someone is probably going to find a seam somewhere and at least get a decent look off.

Absolutely, great shot and great pass. But, the shot was possible because Brown was out of position in the zone. My belief is if they go man-to-man, switching everything and withva rover in the paint, Toronto probably doesn’t even get a shot off.

Houston-LA will be tough for me to watch. Can’t stand the stars on either team and of course I hate the Lakers.

It’s all good. OG made a tough shot. With that said, I’m a huge Brad Stevens fan and I think it’s insane he hasn’t won a COY yet, but I really thought he played that last possession poorly. I don’t think you put Taco or his teammates in that position since nobody is used to him being on the court, and I also don’t think you play zone there. With .5 left I would have gone man-to-man switching everything with a rover in the middle of the court in case someone got lost. I get the thought process with a zone, but as an offensive player I like going against a zone in that spot. I know I can find a seam somewhere, especially with a defender out of the play guarding the inbounded. Just my opinion, it still took a heck of a shot by OG to win that.

As an opposing fan, Kyle Lowery is insufferable. What a whiny little cry baby. Dude complains and yells at the refs when he’s not even involved in the plays, complains even when he gets the call, and of course the constant flailing and flopping. It’s tough to watch when you’re emotionally invested.

Both Game 7’s we’re really exciting! Not really well played, but definitely exciting. The funny thing to me last night was I personally am not a fan of Westbrook, Harden or Paul. All three are great players, but I think when it’s winning time, I don’t really want them as the leaders on my team. So it was funny to see all three of them shrink in the moment. As usual, Harden laid an egg in a big game, Westbrook as usual took bad shots down the stretch and Chris Paul basically ran from the ball the last two+ possessions for OKC.

This Denver-Utah Game 7 is an exciting one. Not really well played by any means, but a 1-pt game under a minute to go. Edit: it was tied when I posted this, now Denver up 2 with 30 seconds left.

Huge to steal the first two on the road

Huge win for the Celtics, especially considering they really didn’t play well. I do think the Celtics are just better than the Raptors, but I still wouldn’t count the Raptors out. They’re a tough, physical, deep team. The Celtics length on the perimeter is really hurting Lowery and Van Vleet from 3. The Celtics have the luxury of putting Marcus Smart on Siakim, which means the longer Tatum defends Van Vleet or Lowery. Switching gears, I think missing Bledsoe is really impacting the Bucks. I don’t love Bledsoe, but he is really important to what Milwaukee does. On the Rockets/Westbrook, I agree with what others have said. Westbrook is a dynamic player with historic athleticism and a ridiculous motor, but I just wouldn’t want him on my team. He’s tough to win with and doesn’t seem to understand his role in end of game situations when he’s got teammates that are pure scorers like Durant at OkC and Harden now.

Miami is really tough. I don’t think they’ll beat the Bucks, but I definitely think they have a chance. If they do, I could easily see them making the Finals. They’re that good. Riley has done a phenomenal job rebuilding that roster.

I also expect this to be a really good, long series. Remember with Boston too though, we’re without Hayward. With that said though, I expect Toronto shoot much, much better from 3 next game and could completely see a lopsided game in the other direction. So much of this series is simply going to come down to 3pt shooting. I think Boston’s length, especially on the perimeter hurts guys like Van Vleet, but at the same time Lowery and VanVleet can hurt Boston when they attack the rim.

I’m admittedly biased in this series, but while the Raptors certainly got called for more fouls in the first quarter I didn’t necessarily think they were bad calls. I think a few things caused the foul discrepancy, 1) the Raptors were out of synch and playing overly physical defensively, 2) the Celtics were playing tremendous transition defense and transition is an area Toronto excels and typically draws a lot of fouls, and 3) in the halfcourt offensively Toronto was playing a little out of control, primarily Lowery and Van Vleet when penetrating so they weren’t getting bail out calls.

I don't know, @KoB2011, I thought the officiating was fantastic!

I always liked those Blazers teams as a kid because I was the anti-Jordan kid. They’ve been hit hard, I believe that’s Kevin Duckworth, Jerome Kersey and now Clifford Robinson all gone too soon.

A couple things are clear, the organization loves him, Stevens loves him and his teammates rave about him. Those are always good things and even more so for a well run organization like the Celtics. I think they see how hard he works, what kind of person he is, and the high ceiling that is there. He just needs to spend the summer in the lab getting stronger, shooting a ton and working on his handles, primarily his left hand. He's certainly capable of all of that. I just again worry about a guy that isn't naturally active offensively, and also a guy that had so much success scoring at a young age but has glaring weaknesses like shooting and using his left. I am really high on Langford. You should see our house (me and the kids) every time we watch a Celtics game and he enters. We go crazy. Just in analyzing his game, there are concerns. My biggest concern is still his activity. I've watched him closely for two years now, in different situations (as an offensive leader at IU and as a rookie on a stacked team in Boston), and he so often just stands around waiting for things to come to him. I worry about that aggressiveness. I watched other rookies around the league, and granted every situation is different, but a guy like Tyler Herro as a rookie didn't stand in the corner he asserted himself. There's other examples. I understand the injuries and that of course legitimate. Again, I love Langford, am so excited he's a Celtic and I agree with all of the upside. Just analyzing his game so far and what he needs to improve on.

To be honest, I'm mixed on his ceiling. I really like him, of course always root for iU guys, and was/am so excited the Celtics drafted him. With that said, it's not just the injuries that worry me. For a rookie, he was pretty fantastic defensively, but he's going to have to make some big improvements to his game to really reach his ceiling as a player at this level. They're all things he certainly capable of since he's naturally gifted and a hard worker, but he has to get bigger and he has to make huge improvements in ball handling and shooting and he needs to be more active and assertive. It seems so odd, because scoring/offense should not be a problem for him, but that's actually the end I worry about for him. Like at IU, he basically would just go stand in the corner and do nothing offensively. He literally might be in a game for 7+ minutes and never once touch the ball. Now you could say that's the Celtics offense and he's not supposed to get touches as a rookie playing with Kemba, Hayward, Brown and Tatum, but then guys like Ojeleye and Devonte Green would come in for Langford and they're flying all over the place, active in the offense and making things happen (good and bad, but at least they're active). Langford would just stand there. I could see him developing into a full-time starter that averages double-digits, but I could just as easily see him as a guy that bounces around as a hard working, smart player off the bench that never develops a consistent jumper and just always shows flashes but never enough.