Heat 93, Celtics 79: Not a perfect start to the Eastern Conference Finals, eh?
The Celtics need to be zoned in for 48 full minutes (or reasonably close to it) to beat the Heat. They need Rajon Rondo to play like a superstar. They need to rebound and rotate on a string and move the ball sharply.
None of that happened tonight, so the Celtics trail 1-0. This is their first double-digit playoff loss, so we’ll see how they adjust and respond on Wednesday. I expect a better team then.
Plenty more to come tomorrow once I re-watch this mess. For now, off to nightmares of Ed Malloy dressed as the Chuckie doll and swinging claws like Wolverine.
(frightening picture of an obviously demonized Kevin Garnett via SB Nation)
Related posts:
- Rajon Rondo pushes Boston Celtics into Eastern Conference Finals
- Proud, suddenly-underdog Celtics improbably found way into Eastern Conference Finals and don’t think run ends here
- Will the Celtics win the Eastern Conference? I’m still confident
- My Eastern Conference Reserves
- Kevin Garnett named Eastern Conference Player of the Week
Celtics Blog | Jay King | May 28, 2012
…looking ahead to next year…
If this series is over in 4-5 games, then the big 3 are gone. Kg and Pp could come back as bench associates but the era would be effectively over. The first order of business would be to resign Jeff Green. Obviously talented, he and Rondo will be the cornerstones moving forward. Idk what Bass’s contract looks like but lock him up as well because he still needs time to adjust to our defensive schemes. Cut Dooling, Daniels, Pavlovic. Keep Pietrus. I know to most people that seems absurd, but he needs time to heal himself and also needs more playing time. And reding Sean Williams because he has the potential to usurp Brandon Bass as the starting 4. Idk what we’re gonna do about the 5 though.
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Hey, it’s one f’in game…nice capitulation. Save it for after the series is over will you? And Williams will never be a starter or on the team next season unless he improves significantly. Go Cs…
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Why is it so important to sign Green? Are there other people we could sign who might be better? Could we sign him and make him part of a package for, say, Josh Smith?
I just don’t think we should obsess over Green. I know Ainge will, though, because he wants to somehow retroactively prove his trade right.
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Something that Ainge will never do in your jaded eyes. So you think we should just let the only reason we let go of Perkins walk away. Thank God you aren’t a GM. And strictly by the numbers, a straight up RA for Josh Smith trade works out better for us. But you probably want Perkins, Big Baby and Nate Robinson back don’t you Paul? And yet you talk about time warps.
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“No rebounds no rings” – Pat Riley. PP 2 rebs in 40 mins. Way to not show up, PP. BB 2 rebs, MP zero rebs…not going to get it done. RA on two bad ankles had ! more reb than PP & BB. Cs quit and shooting jumpers instead of driving killed them. The refs sucked in the first half and helped the Heat in the first qtr. But it’s only one game and as long as we hold in Boston we only need to win one in Miami. Sit KD and play EM and tell him to guard like AB does. As bad as the 2nd half was at least KG is still on fire and RR and PP just need to play better offense. Next game will tell all. Either we compete, and compete hard for 48 mins, or it’s over. Go Cs…
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The series will not be over, but we need to see these guys play hard because if they don’t they they will not stand a chance. I want to see effort for 48 mins not one quarter. Go Cs…
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“Sit KD an play EM and tell him to guard like AB does”
Seriously?
“oh yeah EM, just waltz into a situation you don’t know anything about, on the biggest stage of your life…and oh yeah, play like the NBA’s best on-ball perimeter defender while you’re at it”
You can’t be serious. And yes I know he won’t be starting anytime soon but he does deserve a shot. What you think Bass is an all star now?
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What the hell did Dooling do? Hit a 3 but only shot 33% (when was the last time he hit over that percentage???) and had 1 ast and 1 pf. He’s an f’in rally killer and takes all 3s? So EM is young, taller, and is athletic like KD isn’t. So you tell him to shadow Wade. If he fouls him he fouls him, but I believe EM can handle it. Stage? EM was in 4 NCAA tournaments so he’s not going to get stage fright. Dooling certainly can’t producing. BB had a very bad game but to suggest that Williams is better is f’in ludicrous! Go Cs…hey PP can you get to the FT line????
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The way you’re explaining it it almost seems like a lateral move putting EM in because neither player will have much effect on Dwade except for extra fouls, which won’t matter because Dwade hits his free throws. Moving on…Please please don’t compare 4 weeks of overhyped mediocre basketball to the NBA playoffs. Don’t insult our collective intelligence by doing that. The college theatre stage is diminutive compared to broadway. And I want you to go back to my quotes and tell me when I ever said Williams is better than Bass. I’ll be waiting.
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EM is a better offensive player. A better 3 pt shooter and plays smarter. Even Doc said “EM will win the Cs a game in the playoffs”. He’s got to get into the game to have any chance of doing that. My bad on the misquote re SW & BB. Go Cs…
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I think RR actually played a good game, considering how lethargic most of the team was.
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Go after a solid backup PG with experience and Steimer can be our starting 5. Sean Williams can back up Steimer and JJJ backs up Bass. Etwuan Moore backs up Avery Bradley and we have an incredibly deep team with LOADS of potential. I don’t like to dwell on the present and in these situations forward thinking is one of the things that keeps you optimistic. I’m not saying we don’t have a chance against the Heat. But it certainly doesn’t look like it.
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Tonight I saw a team that came out in the second half like they didn’t care. Rondo and KG seemed to care. So let’s play the rest of the series for next year. I would like to see Rondo keep attacking the basket, because he needs to learn how to score in traffic, and there is no better chance to learn that than against the Heat.
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And it all start with PP’s pathetic effort…like his weak pass when dbl’d for the TO. He was so bad tonight. No FTs either. He might as well have stayed home and we should have played SP. At least SP hustles and looks like he cares. SP certainly could have out produced PP’s meager stats. Go Cs…
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It’s one game. We’ll know a lot more after game 2. How come none of you are bagging on Ray Allen? He should be benched. He’s either too hurt to play or he’s in a mental funk (missing how many FTs now?) Whatever the case, he’s killing us. So is Dooling. And Pietrus isn’t much better. Doc, however, does hot have the creativity or balls to play Moore (he’s going to win a playoff game for us by waving a towel and cheering). James, correct on rebounds. The C’s were out of sync and couldn’t get it going. The Heat are not that great; we simply sucked and fed them turnovers for fast breaks and didn’t rebound, were slow on defense, you name it. And we still only lost by 14. We should’ve lost by 30 so the Heat aren’t that great. Stay tuned, folks, this season ain’t over yet. And Greg, I like some of your ideas for rebuilding, but nobody will fill that vacancy that KG leaves behind. Nobody. They will be a 500 team after KG leaves.
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In the eastern conference they’ll be better than .500. If Ray Allen wants to leave then fine…do a sign and trade for Josh Smith who is a defensive minded player. He was on the All-Defensive 2nd team in 2011. The drop off will be noticeable yes but not as much as you’d think. PP is under contract after this year so bring him off of the bench behind Jeff Green who is at this point more versatile on offense but does need work defensively. Like I said before, Bass and Rondo haven’t had time to create more set plays for them besides the standard pick and pop which is fine but Bass has way more capabilities than that. Josh smith has been on record saying he wants to be here playing for Doc and with Rondo. And aren’t we all excited to see JJJ’s development? Could be Bradley-esque.
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And if the rumors are true that Ray Allen wants to play in Miami next year, then why is Doc being loyal to him now by giving him counter productive minutes? The way he’s bricking, Miami won’t even want him, which is ironic.
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the refs broke the c’s spirit early on to set the tone for the series.not only did they set a record for bullshit techs but what will hurt them the most going forward is the lack of fouls called when they are in the paint.this fuckin shit is rigged.i was ready to go to david sterns house and ass rape him with a rolled up lebron poster!
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Ha ha, that’s cold man.
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Ho hum. Can anyone put it down to fatigue?. We just closed out a grueling 7 game series a couple of days ago. Personally, I almost think the Sixers were a more rounded team than the Heat if you take away LBJ. 1 down. Not exactly where you want to be against this team. Would be good to steal 1 one in Game 2. Very scattershot offense in Game 1 and we never really settled in and play Celtics basketball. I can always tell that the C’s are at the ir best when they move the ball well and spread the floor. That just didn’t happen today. I don’t expect to see EM for the rest of the year unfortunately. Unless it’s garbage, garbage time. Stupid. But hey if Doc can bring home the title, I certainly won’t complain about that.
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It was ridiculous the way KG was playing so hard and the rest of C’s were talking a walk in the park.
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