Celts Order a 6 Piece But Only Get 5! Loss vs Nuggets 3/7

[Curmudgeon]

Porzingis trying to single cover Jokic was just pathetic.

[Jaqua92]

Here's the issue:

I see a lot of dismissiveness because we didn't play our best. Well, that's realistic. In a competitive finals series, you aren't going to be perfect. You're gonna have to find ways to execute wins when you're not at your best.

The first game we lost, Denver got NOTHING outside of Murray and Jokic. They weren't at their best.

Last night? Murray was ice cold. 15 points on 38% from the field is uncharacteristic for him. He may do that twice in an entire playoff run. They also only hit 4 threes. Like us, Denver didnt play exceptionally well either.

The difference is, they won twice. They have the best player on the planet which has MASSIVE weight in the playoffs. AND they execute just absurdly well at the end of tight games.

The only way we beat that team in the finals is if we have 3 blown out wins. In a 7 game series, we are not beating them 4 times if each game is a competitive 3-8 point gap. They're too smart, too well coached, too confident and have the best player in the world.

[Red2]

We know Tatum
Can take over in a big game like he did against the Sixers but the problem is that he doesn’t do it very often. His track record in big games is similar to his track record in taking the last shot- not very good.so last night and the game before were frankly very discouraging. Yes Brown can play big but if we’re going to win a title Tatum is going to have to lead us there. And so far there’s not a lot of evidence to support that he can do that

[Jaqua92]

I love all the felger takes after every loss. We lost by 6 to the best player in the world on a night where JB missed 7 FTs and Tatum scored 15. We can beat these guys in a series...they're just really really good and it will be brutal.

Everyone pretending like we haven't seen Tatum score 47 or whatever it was on the road in an elimination game vs the Bucks. Or 50 in a game 7. We'll be fine

Exactly!

The Nuggets were playing at their best, championship basketball, and they were one Jayson Tatum 3-pointer away from losing this game.

Celtics played bad and they were as close as you can get from getting a win in Denver.

The Cs just need to get comfortable in big games.

That's why all those wanting the Cs to blow out every team they face is just wrong.

Cs need to practice clutch situations in actual games because clutch situations can never be simulated in practice.

Why are people saying we just barely lost to the Nuggets at their best?

Murray had an uncharacteristically bad game, and the Nuggets only made 4 3s, 28% from the field.

They weren't even close to their best.

[Bar Fight]

But they were making the right plays.

They were not turning the ball over, like the Celtics.

Murray just didn't shoot well, but you can never accuse him of being passive or making bad decisions.

Part of championship basketball is still being able to impact the game even when you're not shooting the ball well.

Murray was never a negative for the Nuggets in this game.

Ok. And the Nuggets can play much better than they did last night, and have done so before. This was not one team playing "their best" and the other playing like **** like you tried to portray it.

Are you really telling me this is how the Cs played during that 11-game winning streak?

Uh...no? Where the hell did I even allude to that lol

[Bar Fight]

But they were making the right plays.

They were not turning the ball over, like the Celtics.

Murray just didn't shoot well, but you can never accuse him of being passive or making bad decisions.

Part of championship basketball is still being able to impact the game even when you're not shooting the ball well.

Murray was never a negative for the Nuggets in this game.

Ok. And the Nuggets can play much better than they did last night, and have done so before. This was not one team playing "their best" and the other playing like **** like you tried to portray it.

That's about as good as Denver can play - especially when facing elite competition.

Denver executed with precision, they made basically no mistakes all game, their best player played like an MVP..it was the opposite for Boston.

Home court advantage was also clearly a factor that helped Denver. Their crowd was going nuts and they have used that to play better at home over the past couple years.

Plus some BS technicals being called on Boston. And lucky buzzer beater shots by Denver from 40 feet from the basket.

Tatum did basically nothing.

And we were still only down by 2 with under a minute left.

And it's only March. If we play them in the finals, it'll be june. Things could look very different in 3 months - especially when we would have home court advantage.

If you don't think Denver can shoot MUCH better, Murray can play better/take care of the ball better, Porter can contribute more, etc. You might not have watched the Nuggets play AT ALL in the Playoffs last year

[Parasite]

Where are people getting that Denver played well last night? Wtf that was their “C” game at best. Delusion runs deep here.

[leper-con]

Our Bench failed us

[CelticsPride18]

Ok. And the Nuggets can play much better than they did last night, and have done so before. This was not one team playing "their best" and the other playing like **** like you tried to portray it.

That's about as good as Denver can play - especially when facing elite competition.

Denver executed with precision, they made basically no mistakes all game, their best player played like an MVP..it was the opposite for Boston.

Home court advantage was also clearly a factor that helped Denver. Their crowd was going nuts and they have used that to play better at home over the past couple years.

Plus some BS technicals being called on Boston. And lucky buzzer beater shots by Denver from 40 feet from the basket.

Tatum did basically nothing.

And we were still only down by 2 with under a minute left.

And it's only March. If we play them in the finals, it'll be june. Things could look very different in 3 months - especially when we would have home court advantage.

If you don't think Denver can shoot MUCH better, Murray can play better/take care of the ball better, Porter can contribute more, etc. You might not have watched the Nuggets play AT ALL in the Playoffs last year

Both teams were awful from 3 in both games, but honestly MPJ and KCP didn’t get many open looks. We did a good job on both games of guarding shooters. If both teams shoot %40 from 3 Celtics would still have the edge because Denver doesn’t shoot a lot of threes. Solid games by Tatum in both matchups would have given us the win, but he sucked in both games.

[zoyathedestroya]

Ok. And the Nuggets can play much better than they did last night, and have done so before. This was not one team playing "their best" and the other playing like **** like you tried to portray it.

Are you really telling me this is how the Cs played during that 11-game winning streak?

Uh...no? Where the hell did I even allude to that lol

11-win streak against non-Denver teams has very little to do with losing against a Denver team.

Just like the first matchup, this was high-level bball (leaning more on defense) between two great teams. The other team just made a couple of more plays/made a couple more shots than us. I don’t think it’s a big gap between the two teams.

We don’t have an answer for their cheat code. They’ve had an answer for ours (KP). We can’t defend their best player. They can defend ours (Tatum). Something to figure out between now and June (*crosses fingers*).

We could be worrying about the Nuggets but then some West team takes them out first. Or we get taken out by another East team and we just rage-post til we get banned.

[Fierce1]

Where are people getting that Denver played well last night? Wtf that was their “C” game at best. Delusion runs deep here.

If you don't think making the right passes and taking good shots is not playing well then it's a delusion within a delusion.

[playa-hater]

Read on Twitter

Ngl, not a fan of this stat.

Personally that is not a good sign for me. Considering our history with struggles in the playoffs.

[Fierce1]

Read on Twitter

Ngl, not a fan of this stat.

Personally that is not a good sign for me. Considering our history with struggles in the playoffs.

There's always next year.

Just stay alive until 2030.

[CelticsPride18]

Are you really telling me this is how the Cs played during that 11-game winning streak?

Uh...no? Where the hell did I even allude to that lol

11-win streak against non-Denver teams has very little to do with losing against a Denver team.

Just like the first matchup, this was high-level bball (leaning more on defense) between two great teams. The other team just made a couple of more plays/made a couple more shots than us. I don’t think it’s a big gap between the two teams.

We don’t have an answer for their cheat code. They’ve had an answer for ours (KP). We can’t defend their best player. They can defend ours (Tatum). Something to figure out between now and June (*crosses fingers*).

We could be worrying about the Nuggets but then some West team takes them out first. Or we get taken out by another East team and we just rage-post til we get banned.

Offensive rating in both games was pretty mediocre for Denver even with Jokic going supernova. Gameplan has been good defensively except for Tatum missing rotations on AG. Nuggets lack of 3 point shooting it’s because they were not getting open looks. In the end Tatum needs to be MUCH better.

[GoCeltics123]

The "not playing their best" stuff is BS either way. These games are always low-scoring rock fights when the best teams are playing.

That game wasn't either team's best. Tatum choked the game while Jokic rose to the occasion, pretty simple

[zoyathedestroya]

Read on Twitter

Tatum steps up in either game like we know he's capable of doing, this matchup is 1-1. But he's got to do it. TBD. Right now, take the criticisms on the chin like a champ . Skepticism is warranted imo.

[Jaqua92]

Ok. And the Nuggets can play much better than they did last night, and have done so before. This was not one team playing "their best" and the other playing like **** like you tried to portray it.

That's about as good as Denver can play - especially when facing elite competition.

Denver executed with precision, they made basically no mistakes all game, their best player played like an MVP..it was the opposite for Boston.

Home court advantage was also clearly a factor that helped Denver. Their crowd was going nuts and they have used that to play better at home over the past couple years.

Plus some BS technicals being called on Boston. And lucky buzzer beater shots by Denver from 40 feet from the basket.

Tatum did basically nothing.

And we were still only down by 2 with under a minute left.

And it's only March. If we play them in the finals, it'll be june. Things could look very different in 3 months - especially when we would have home court advantage.

If you don't think Denver can shoot MUCH better, Murray can play better/take care of the ball better, Porter can contribute more, etc. You might not have watched the Nuggets play AT ALL in the Playoffs last year

It's remarkably clear that most fans haven't watched that team. I remember the sentiment after the first loss, where Jokic put up 32/12/9 and Murray had an effecient 30, was that they can't do that all of the time.

But that's exactly what they did. Jokic averaged 30/12/10 on 64%ts for a playoff run that included, legitimately, 3 of the best defensive bigs in the NBA. The series he played a team that DIDNT have a defensive big? 35/11/12. Murray gave you 27/6/7 all playoffs last year.

I've watched almost every Denver game this year since December, watched all the playoffs last year. This team has a level that they can consistently play at. Last night, they were not at their best. Their bench was great, Jokic was neutral. They shot terribly, didn't take care of the ball, and still executed well enough to win.

Us beating them in a 7 game series would be freaking Magical. But I don't think this board has really become oriented to how good this Denver team is.

People see Jokic's 26/12/9 averages, and Murray's 20ppg and think anything better than that is an outlier, which is why Denver "played as well as they could have"

[bisme37]

Yep the loss still sucks lol.

I saw some C's posters saying it was a must win game but I don't really know why. It was def an "I'd really like to win" game, and it was high profile and had a lot of eyes on it as far as RS games go. But imo it was more important for the Nuggets than us since we have the #1 seed locked up and they are trying to get that 1 seed in the West and homecourt. I know fans and media are going to analyze it to death but I don't really buy into RS games having much impact on playoff series. For the C's the most important thing for the rest of the RS is to stay healthy and figure out how teams are going to try to stop us and how to counter.

My handsome son JT sucked last night and I didn't enjoy it. I was worried I'd wake up to him having a hand injury so at least we haven't heard anything about that. Knock on wood. But the TNT broadcast showed him getting raked across the fingers on his shooting hand and in pain and after that he seemed really frustrated and reluctant to shoot. (I mean that wasn't his whole problem last night obviously but it was a thing, I think.)

It feels crappy today but I think it's good for the Celts to face some adversity before the postseason. We've been spoiled to blow teams out and have the best record but it won't be all sunshine and roses when it matters. So it's ok if we have to take our lumps now and then, and hopefully the C's learn and continue to improve. Winning isn't supposed to be easy and as fans we feel the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat along with our guys. I'd rather feel the agony part now than later.

[zoyathedestroya]

If you don't believe in the Celtics, believe in Jokic.

Read on Twitter

Just so happens they're a more well-oiled machine than us. Partly because they've been together (core four at least) for at least 3 seasons. But mostly because Jokic makes them go. Jokic rarely has nights off.

[Celts17Pride]

Read on Twitter

Skepticism is warranted imo.

100% of course it is. Celtics are not entitled to anything and up to now they have failed at every turn. Celtics just need to keep their mouths shut and prove it. If you want a championship then go out and prove it. Until then they are just like any other team.