BGleas

Eh, I’m definitely a homer, but I don’t think 5 is outlandish. Is 6 more likely? Yes, but 5 wouldn’t be crazy. The Celtics haven’t lost a home playoff game yet, and certainly have the athletes to match up, and are more athletic overall, the experience and more talent. Again, I’d predict 6, but I think 5 would be more likely than 7.

After the first quarter I told my wife LeBron had 21 and she said “that’s not good”, I replied and said “I don’t mind, we took his punch and we’re only down 5, we’re in good shape.”

You’re going to hate this, but I think the the Celtics would beat the Pacers in 5 or 6 games. Probably six and the games would be tight for the most part, but don’t see anyway the Pacers would beat them, especially given Celtics would have home court.

Yeah, I completely expect LeBron to go off tomorrow night. I do think the Celtics are as well positioned to defend him as any team in the league, as Boston has numerous guys they can switch onto him, and Stevens is so good in that he won't let LeBron hitting some shots shake him off their plan, but nobody can stop LeBron when he's locked in and focused. You just hope the combination of Morris, Brown, Tatum, Horford and Smart can keep his outburst in check, like holding him to low 30's instead of letting him go for 40+. This Cavs team is so hard to read. I agree outside of LeBron they're not that good, certainly the worst team he's been on since leaving Cleveland the first time, but LeBron is playing at such as insane level that I don't know if it matters. I'd love to see the pressure an 0-2 deficit would put on LeBron heading back to Cleveland.

I think it goes 7, though I don’t like facing LeBron in a game 7 even if it is at home. I thought today was a really big win just from a confidence perspective.

The only way OG would ever be moved this summer would be if Toronto packaged him with DeRozen in a deal for another super star. Not saying this would ever happen, but something like DeRozen, OG and picks for Kawai Leonard. Sometching like that. Hes on a rookie contract which is super team-friendly given his performance.

If you’re talking a trade for OG, you’re probably in the Sabonis and Turner for OG and a first round pick area. There would need to be filler for contracts to make the salaries match, etc so Toronto would probably have to throw in another player. Not sure which side says no, probably both. Indy would be giving up two rotation guys for one, while Toronto would be giving up a guy that is potentially a future great, and currently really good 3 and D guy. But again, as KoB said, the Pacers are not getting OG. If they did, it would be like 6-7 years from now after his second contract.

Smart’s a FA this offseason. One of those deals of who can you get at the most affordable rate and that they’ll happy behind Irving. I tend to think Rozier will want a shot to start at some point.

He’s really good. He would be a great fit alongside Oladipo in Indy. Will be interesting to see how the C’s handle Rozier and Smart, probably won’t be able to pay both.

He didn’t get fouled.

Believe me, I get it. I grew up on 80's NBA basketball. Only thing I'll say in response though, is what's the difference between Bird vs. "Nique in a 7-game series in the 80's and Curry vs. Durant in a 7-game WCF two years ago? In both cases you have HOF headliners and HOF supporting casts, and it was a fantastic series. I get not liking that Durant eventually went to G.S (I hated that too), but the basketball itself was fantastic. The Celtics vs. LeBron (both Cle and Mia) were fantastic series' over the last 10 years. The Celtics won in 7 in '08, the Heat won in 7 in 2012 (I think),and they've faced off a couple other times. The Spurs-Heat Finals a couple years ago where Miami look finished with 30-seconds left in Game 6 and then remarkably came back to win in OT and then won Game 7. Then the following year the Spurs put an absolute basketball clinic on the Heat. This year has been a little lest dramatic outside of the Celtics-Bucks and Cavs-Pacers in the first round, but I'm telling you the playoffs have been fantastic the last 10 years or so. Since 2010 I think we've had 3 Finals go 7 games (off the top of my head: 2010 Celtics-Lakers, Spurs-Heat 2013 and Cavs-Warriors 2016).

As HH said, everyone is certainly welcome to like/dislike as they please. It would be pretty boring if we all aligned on everything. The last 5 minutes of the Celtics game was fantastic last night, as was the overtime game 3, and several of their close games with the Bucks. There were some good games in the Cavs-Raptors series as well. Not sure how the NBA has screwed the Pacers for years? Sounds to me that you're a Pacers fan, not an NBA fan. Nothing wrong with that at all of course, but it's like how some people are IU fans, not really college basketball fans.

Everyone has their own likes and dislikes of course, I'll just say that as a diehard basketball fan and NBA fans, the NBA the last 8-10 years is as good as it's been since the 80's IMO.

Completely agree! I love both college and the NBA, and there are things to love and dislike about both. In the NBA I love watching the absolute best basketball players in the world. The skill level is unmatched and not even close. I realize in the NBA that the regular season can get boring, but how is that any different than the first 10 or so games when IU plays against Florida Atlantic and South Carolina Central State? I love the pageantry of college basketball, the school pride, seeing the players grow over their time in school, arguing with fans of other programs, and of course the Tournament, etc., etc., but at the same time sometimes the lack of skill (think Wisconsin winning games 56-47) can be frustrating and not as fun. Good things about both, and of course reasons to dislike both.

You have a point as yes those were the 4 favored teams at the beginning of the season, but the point also has some flaws. The Celtics were not favored in their series with the Sixers, and actually through the first 4 games (I didn’t see who was favored going into last night) were not favored to win any of the games.

Yeah, pretty ridiculous he didn’t get a vote, especially given that Terry Stouts got one? Really, if you watch the Celtics at all the guy is incredible.

Agree. Stevens has to win some titles before passing what Pop has done. I got ahead of myself there. I was probably just thinking Pop is sort of on his way out in the next few years.

Just like college programs are held hostage by grad transfers, kids declaring for the NBA and not hiring agents, over 700-800 regular transfers per year, etc. Plus, Pop will get this figured out.

Agree and disagree. Yes, the college game is more ran by the coaches than the player, compared to the NBA, but I’d counter and say the college game goes a bit too far in that other direction. They treat the coaches like gods and I think they sometimes get too much credit Also, the NBA being run by the players depends on the organization. The Celtics most certainly are not run by the players. The Spurs are not run by the players. Phil Jackson was in complete control of the Bulls and Lakers sideline when he was in both spots. The good teams are managed by well run organizations, not individual playoers. Is OKC going to pretty much do whatever Westbrook wants to keep him, absolutely. But not all teams are like that. If Kyrie Irving went to the Celtics and said fire Stevens or trade me, Irving would be playing somewhere else. If Westbrook said fire Donovan or trade me, Donovan will be fired. Depends on the team. But the point of my post was that Stevens is the best coach at either level right now, and I don’t want him anywhere near another college program.

Celtics are not going to lose to Cleveland in 5. I’d say it goes 6 or 7. If Kyrie was healthy I would pick the Celtics in 6. I’d pick Cleveland to win at this point, but not confidently. Celtics are tough, and while LeBron is out of his mind right now, the Celtics have multiple long, athletic guys to throw at him, and at every other position the Celtics will have a big advantage in terms of length and athleticism. Again, I’d pick Cleveland going into it, but it should be close.

As an IU fan and a Celtics fan, I love Archie Miller, but man I hope Brad Stevens stays with the Celtics and NBA for the rest of his career. The dude is a magician.

Agree, Philly is going to be good for a long time. Embiid is ridiculous and Simmons is just going to get better as he develops a perimeter game. Will be interesting what happens though if Reddick, Belinelli and Illyasova all leave. They will have some holes to fill. I really hope they don't get LeBron, it will completely stunt Simmons growth, and I don't think it will go well. I agree with you on the Pacers as well. Vic is just going to get better as he gets more comfortable being a star and they have a nice supporting cast. It would be helpful if they can sign a fringe star to accompany him though, just a reliable scorer to take some pressure off. Not sure I agree with you on the talent around him or him being a better star than anyone on Boston. I love Vic, Kyrie is better though, and the supporting cast of Horford, Brown, Taytum and Hayward is better than anyone the Pacers have around Vic. I may have misinterpreted your thought there though? Taytum is going to be a star in his own right. He just passed Kobe last night for the youngest player ever to have 4 straight 20-point playoff games. Dude is going to be a perennial all-star at some point. The Bucks have good pieces, but I think if they don't make some playoff noise really soon that Giannis is going to look to bolt when his contract is up. He won't want to toil in Milwaukee being a first round exit every year.

I can agree with that. I’ve never really considered the Raptors a real serious threat. Obviously I’m a homer, but I think if fully healthy the Celtics would be going to the Finals.

The Raptors are not the best team in the East. They had the best record because of injuries (Celtics) and some upheaval (Cavs) to other teams.

Speaking of Crawford, he just became the first non-Ball family member to sign with Big Baller Brand.