Taylor Hall Is Sent To Chicago So Boston Can Get Some Salary Cap Relief Before Free Agency Starts

 

    With very little money left available under the salary cap, the Bruins needed to make some moves to clear some space that they hopefully can use on key free agents like winger Tyler Bertuzzi. Boston got what is sure to be a very busy week started this afternoon-with the NHL Awards show, the NHL Draft and NHL free agency all happening-by trading left wing Taylor Hall along with the rights to impending unrestricted free agent left wing Nick Foligno to the Blackhawks. In exchange, the B's received restricted free agent defensemen Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula who I had never heard of before now and truthfully, you have no clue who they are either. This was a good old fashioned salary dump plain and simple and hey maybe one of those guys gives Boston some quality depth in Providence (AHL) which they have lacked for years.

    After playing in Black and Gold for parts of three seasons, it is safe to say that Hall's time here was not all that memorable hence why it is fine to say goodbye to him at this juncture. There is a reason why Chicago will be the former No. 1 overall pick in 2010's sixth NHL club. He perhaps surprisingly proved to be a team-first guy with the Bruins but clearly, wins for the most part have not been a big aspect of his career and save for his random one-off Hart Trophy (NHL MVP) season in 2017-18 with the Devils, he has never really lived up to the hype and the eye-popping skills that show up from time to time. In 158 career regular season games with Boston, Hall had 44 goals, 67 assists and he was plus-37 with 12 power play goals. Those are perfectly respectable numbers but in what should be the prime of his career at age 31, he was relegated to the third line last season with the Bruins which is just not good enough no matter how you spin it. If he had showed more consistency, there is no doubt that they would have kept him since his cap hit for the next two years is only six million dollars for each season. 

    Ironically, Hall was one of Boston's few players that really showed up in their very depressing first round exit vs. Florida a few months ago where they lost in seven games after leading the series 3-1. Taylor had eight points (5 goals, 3 assists) against the Panthers and 17 overall (10 goals, 7 assists) in 25 career playoff games for the Spoked B. Foligno was obviously just a throw in to this deal but he might actually bring a little something to the rebuilding Blackhawks as well if they can sign him. He looked washed up in his first season as a Bruin but bounced back last year with twice as many points (26) on 10 goals and 16 assists. The former Blue Jackets captain is a great leader-at least that is what NESN's "Behind The B" has led us to believe-and if he is still interested in playing, he should be helpful for whatever time he spends in Chicago which will soon have Canadian phenom center Connor Bedard with the No. 1 overall pick on Wednesday. 

    One last gut punch for the 2022-23 Bruins occurred tonight in Nashville at the NHL Awards as Boston came away with not one, not two but three major awards as expected. Center Patrice Bergeron extended his league record by winning a sixth Selke Trophy while goaltender Linus Ullmark won his first Vezina Trophy and head coach Jim Montgomery captured the Jack Adams Award in his first year in charge of Boston. Whatever became of their former head coach Bruce Cassidy anyway? Only the Bruins could pull off that nearly impossible feat and yet not advance out of the first round in that particular postseason. Ugh, they will never have a more loaded team than that as Ullmark and right wing David Pastrnak (runner-up to Connor McDavid for the Hart Trophy) were both named to the NHL's First Team while defenseman Hampus Lindholm (remember him?) was on the NHL's Second Team. No matter who is on the roster next season, Boston will still be one of the favorites to win their first Stanley Cup since 2011 but the PTSD caused from last season is sure to last for a very long time with true Bruins fans. 

UPDATE 6/27/23: This morning, Chicago signed Foligno to a one-year deal worth $4 million dollars. It turns out that being Bedard's babysitter is not such a bad life as you try to hang on in the NHL.

C's Trade Marcus Smart To Grizzlies & Get Kristaps Porzingis From Wizards In Three Team Deal

 

        It has been a rather bizarre few days for the Boston Celtics but with the 2023 NBA Draft just completed a few hours ago, we can officially say that guard Marcus Smart is now on the Memphis Grizzlies while power forward/center Kristaps Porzingis is a Celtic. I won't bore you with all the details of the three-way (hey now!) deal between Boston, Memphis and Washington but the most important part is that the longest tenured Celtic is out of here, the former Knicks All-Star/savior Porzingis comes to his fourth NBA team (NY, Dallas, Washington & Boston) and then point guard Tyus Jones goes from Memphis to Washington along with forwards Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala who will join him in DC from Boston. On Wednesday, it looked like another Celtics guard-Malcolm Brogdon-would be included instead of Smart in a three-way deal involving the Clippers and not the Grizzlies to acquire Porzingis but it fell apart at the last moment (the teams faced a midnight deadline for Kristaps to opt-in to his player option for next season) since Brogdon's forearm apparently is in rough shape. Brad Stevens stuck with it though and ended up making a huge move that his club so desperately needed. 

    After going to five of the last seven Eastern Conference Finals (but only winning one of them!), it was clear that the C's needed a real shake up in terms of its roster. Star wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are both very good but something always seemed to trip up Boston before they could get that elusive first NBA title since 2008. For his Celtics career, Smart averaged 10.6 points per game, 4.6 assists per game and 1.6 steals per game. Part of why he became so overrated was that certain local announcers and media members would focus on what they called "winning plays," ignoring the fact that he also did a bunch of dumb stuff that constantly hurt his team both on and off the court. Along with being the longest tenured Celtic-he was the sixth overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft-Smart was the unofficial captain of the team and easily the most polarizing Boston athlete this side of former Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask. 

    Much like the sad state of politics in the United States these days, Celtics fans either loved Smart or hated him, there was no in between. Always a solid defensive player (he was on the All-Defensive first team three times), Smart was named the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year in 2022. For whatever reason (no Ime Udoka?), the Celts lost their way defensively this past season with Joe Mazzulla in his first year as head coach. Additionally, Smart's overinflated sense of self became comical over the last few years as he talked down to both Tatum & Brown publicly along with Mazzulla which while warranted is still a no-no. He also flops incessantly and whines constantly to the refs which really starts to wear on you when you have to watch it over and over again for nine years. Oh and he was never a great 3-point shooter to begin with but somehow the ball would always seem to find him late in games and he has the confidence of Stephen Curry so he did not hesitate to let it fly.  

    Straight out of Latvia, Porzingis took the league by storm shortly after being drafted fourth overall in 2015 by New York. He was an All-Star in 2018-ironically his last season as a Knick-but not surprisingly for a guy that is 7-foot-3 and only 240 pounds, he has battled numerous injuries since then that have caused him to bounce around to a few other middling clubs. There is no question that coming to Boston should motivate him immensely since he has only appeared in 10 career NBA playoff games (all with Dallas). For his NBA career, Kristaps has averaged 19.6 points per game, 7.9 rebounds per game and 1.8 blocks per game. Especially under Mazzulla, Boston became way too reliant on the 3-pointer and while Porzingis shoots plenty of 3s, at least he makes them at a better clip (36%) than Smart (32%). His health is by far the biggest question mark although he did appear in 65 games last season with the Wizards-his most since his second year as a Knick. He also averaged 23.2 points per game in 2022-23 which was a new career-high. 

    The bottom line is that Porzingis gives Tatum and Brown another guy that can carry the load offensively when either of them has a bad game or series (see Tatum in the 2022 NBA Finals or Brown in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals). The term Big 3 is so played out these days in basketball but at least on paper, this is by far the best running mate that they have had since they were too young when Kyrie Irving (yuck!) was here and Kemba Walker was about to go off a cliff when he was a Celtic. Kristaps will turn 28 in August so theoretically, he should be in his prime. After Smart gets over the shock of going to a new team, he will quickly realize that he is lucky to be in Memphis rather than on some rebuilding crap team like Washington. With Grizzlies star point guard Ja Morant suspended for the first 25 games of the season, Smart will be their starting point guard to begin the year on what was one of the best teams in the Western Conference last season. 

    This could be the rare trade that truly helps both teams. Porzingis gives the Celtics a uniquely skilled player that is much different from their other big guys-the ancient Al Horford and an injury-prone Robert Williams. Smart brings toughness and playoff experience to a Grizzlies team that showed this past postseason that they were not quite ready for prime time yet. Since they lost Game 7 to Miami, Boston had made its coaching staff way stronger by hiring Sam Cassell, Charles Lee, Amile Jefferson (Tatum's buddy from Duke) and former Celtics great Phil Pressey to be assistant coaches. However, those moves mean very little when they are compared to getting Kristaps and saying goodbye to their loudest/most divisive voice in Smart. We wish Marcus well in Memphis but it was time to make a real change and credit to Stevens for having the guts to get it done.

Now They Are History: C's Laid An Egg In Gm. 7 Of The ECF Vs. The Heat, Losing 103-84 At TD Garden

 

    In a season filled with incredible highs and lows, it is only fitting that with everything to play for-namely a spot in the NBA Finals and a place in history as the first team in the league to ever recover from a 3-0 deficit-the Celtics fell right on their faces for the entire world to see. They shot an appalling 21% on 3-pointers (9-for-42) and yet they refused to ever change their gameplan even as it quickly became clear that those shots were not going to fall. Tonight at TD Garden in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, they got off to a terrible start by scoring 15 points in the first quarter (tied for their lowest scoring opening frame of the year) and they never really recovered as the Heat blew them out 103-84 to clinch the series 4-3. Miami became only the second team ever to reach the NBA Finals as an eight seed after the 1998-99 Knicks. They will meet Denver-who has been off for roughly three weeks-in Game 1 on Thursday (8:30, ABC) in the Mile High City. Boston's superstar wing Jayson Tatum (14 points, 11 rebounds) sprained his left ankle on the first possession of Game 7 but that does not excuse the terrible performance by the rest of his teammates namely the Celtics' supposed other star wing Jaylen Brown (19 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, career-high 8 turnovers) who was dreadful throughout most of this series. 

    Tatum admirably hobbled around for 42 minutes but with him at clearly less than 100%, the C's desperately needed somebody else to step up. That turned out to be guard Derrick White (18 points) who seemed to be the only Celtic who was not scared of the moment but still he is Derrick White so he can only do so much in this type of high level contest. After Boston (5-1) lost their first elimination game of this postseason and finished under .500 (5-6) at the Garden in the playoffs, I think we have to stop saying that the Celtics are the better and/or more talented team. Throughout this series, the Heat were the more poised, tough, smart and relentless club. In truth, it was not even that close when it came to those important facets of the game. Miami's superstar wing Jimmy Butler (game-high 28 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals) was named MVP of the Eastern Conference Finals which in truth should have gone to small forward Caleb Martin (26 points, 10 rebounds) who was the most consistent player on the Heat all series long. 

    I am also done saying that Miami's center Bam Adebayo (12 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists) is their second best player because he is not. Still, the Heat all know their role so despite his struggles for much of this series, they survived it because of guys like point guard Gabe Vincent (10 points) and forward Duncan Robinson (10 points, 2 steals off the bench) who always seem to make the right play. Meanwhile nobody else on the Celtics cracked double figures in scoring as point guard Marcus Smart (9 points), center Al Horford (8 points, 8 rebounds) and backup center Robert Williams (8 points, 6 rebounds) were all OK but ultimately not good enough. There is also a reason that teams are now 0-151 in NBA history when they trail 3-0 in a playoff series. It is supremely difficult to win four games in a row right after dropping the first three games. Boston was this close to making incredible history but now all that will be remembered is how poorly they played in Game 7 on their home court. 

    This was one last wretched performance as the C's trailed by as many as 23 points. Just like I will refuse to solely blame this loss on Tatum's rolled ankle, I also cannot totally pin this on Boston's rookie head coach Joe Mazzulla. However, if the Celts' front office decides to bring this jabroni back next season, I might puke. All you need to do is watch a clip of Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra-arguably the best in the NBA-talking to his team during a huddle or how he explains things in his post-game press conferences to realilze that he is an adult while Mazzulla is a green infant not ready for this spotlight yet. The easiest thing to do in pro sports when things don't go your way is to fire the head coach, however considering that Boston has had three different head coaches in the last three seasons (Brad Stevens, Ime Udoka and Mazzulla), do you really think that Stevens will want to fire another young head coach? 

    The more pressing matter is what to do with Brown who is now eligible for a super max deal. Boston cannot simply run it back with the same exact roster and expect things to change for the better. I doubt that they would be bold enough to shop Jaylen but you have to consider anything to make the team better no matter what it takes. This also flipped the narrative from last season's NBA Finals that Jaylen is the gamer while Jayson fades in the clutch moments. All I know is that like the Bruins in 2019-the Celtics could not have dreamed of a more favorable path to a title and yet they puked all over themselves when it counted most. In all likelihood, they would have lost anyway to the Nuggets in the NBA Finals but that is besides the point. They did not even give themselves that opportunity by burying themselves alive (going down 3-0) and coming back from the dead only to epically fail one last time. 

Derrick White's Miracle Putback At The Buzzer Sends C's To Game 7 Of ECF Vs. Stunned Heat

 

    If the Celtics win the NBA title in a few weeks, the play at the end of tonight's Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals will live on in league and franchise history forever. Down 103-102 with only a few seconds potentially left in their bizarre season, guard Derrick White darted to the rim and was able to grab an offensive rebound and quickly put it in right before time expired. Boston won 104-103 at Kaseya Center to even the series 3-3 and send it back to TD Garden on Monday night (8:30, TNT) for what should be an absolutely bonkers atmosphere for Game 7 with a spot in the NBA Finals on the line. The Celtics are down to a short list of now only four teams in NBA history that have forced a Game 7 after trailing in a series 3-0. Of course the previous three all lost as they look to become the first of 150 teams (!!!) to complete this impossible task. 

    This was the 2022-23 Celtics at their best and worst as center Al Horford fouled the Heat's struggling superstar small forward Jimmy Butler (team-high 24 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists) taking a 3-pointer with three seconds left in regulation. Butler was a James Harden-esque 5-for-21 from the field but he almost made up for that by going 12-for-14 from the free throw line including calmly draining all three of those gift free throws to put his team up 103-102. At that point, this was a game that Miami should have locked up but weirdly, I would not call this an outright choke since the winning play was so fluky. The Celtics played well enough in the first three quarters-particularly in the first half-that it should not have come down to this. However, like so many other times this season (regular season and postseason), they could not close out a game as they appear to tighten up and simply try to run the clock out which is impossible in basketball against a legitimate, tough-minded opponent. 

    Celtics superstar small forward Jayson Tatum (game-high 31 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks) was not much better than Butler in terms of shooting (8-for-22 from the field including 0-for-8 on 3s which seems impossible for him) but he was a perfect 15-for-15 on free throws. Shooting guard Jaylen Brown (26 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals) had one of his patented fast starts followed by long stretches of foul trouble (4) and ugly turnovers (4). He was 8-for-10 on free throws though which is no small feat for him. Point guard Marcus Smart (21 points) had his second very strong performance in a row while center Robert Williams added 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Unless Butler goes crazy in Game 7-which is always a real possibility-Miami will win this series because of their undrafted guys. Small forward Caleb Martin (21 points, 15 rebounds) started and still played great while point guard Gabe Vincent returned with 15 points on his gimpy ankle, shooting guard Max Strus added 10 points and forward Duncan Robinson (who went to Governor's Academy and Phillips Exeter!) continued to impress with 13 points off the bench. Butler's rough outings have rightfully been focused on lately but Miami's center Bam Adebayo (11 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists)-their second best player-has been terrible in his own right. He went 4-for-16 from the field which seems like a misprint since he doesn't shoot 3s or anything from too far away from the basket. 

    Boston led 34-29 after the first quarter and Miami responded to cut their halftime lead to only four points (57-53). The third quarter was even more of a rock fight that the C's came out on top of (22-19) giving them a 79-72 lead heading into the fourth quarter. In terms of played out analogies, I will say that the Heat are like cockroaches led by Butler-who might as well be The Undertaker in a casket match-because they are virtually impossible to kill. The Celts had been up by as much as 13 points earlier on and they shot 8.1% better than the Heat from the field (46.7%-43.6%) but they managed to survive a brutal time shooting 3-pointers (Boston hit only 7-of-35 while Miami was a much better 14-of-30 aka 46.7%). The C's hit six more free throws (29-23), they blocked twice as many shots (8-4), scored 10 more points in the paint (42-32), had four more second chance points (16-12) and eight more fast break points (12-4).

    The stakes could not be any higher in Game 7 for the cardiac Celtics who improved to 5-0 in elimination games this postseason which is an incredible mark. By winning the last three games in a row and given how Game 6 ended, it is not a reach to think that they might have finally broken the Heat's amazing fighting spirit. Still, this is not the Hawks or Sixers that we are talking about. These same teams played in an identical Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals last year that Boston just squeaked out in Miami so there is no reason to think that this will play out much differently than that did. The C's opened as an eight-point favorite but I am still not comfortable risking any decent amount of money on this bi-polar club. The previous six games do not matter at all, Game 7 is the only thing that anyone will remember from this series; either Boston pulls off the greatest (series) comeback in NBA playoff history or Miami bounces back in the nick of time to save themselves from Yankees and Falcons type infamy. Get some rest these next few days, Memorial Day night should be a truly special atmosphere at the Garden. 

We've Got A Series Now (!!!!) As Boston Rolls To A 110-97 Victory In Game 5 Of The ECF Vs. Miami

 

    Basketball is a simple game so it is amazing what happens when you can pair great team defense with some fantastic long-range shooting. Tonight at TD Garden, the Celtics continued to claw their way back into the Eastern Conference Finals as they led from start to finish in a complete 110-97 Game 5 win that cut the Heat's lead down to 3-2. Game 6 is in Miami on Saturday night (8:30, TNT) and in many ways, that looks like a must-win for the suddenly reeling (is that too strong?) Heat. Boston improved to 4-0 facing elimination this postseason and for the first time all year, they had four guys score 20+ points: guard Derrick White had a game-high 24 points and two steals, point guard Marcus Smart added 23 points and a playoff-career high five steals, superstar small forward Jayson Tatum had a great all-around game with 21 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds and two steals while shooting guard Jaylen Brown added 21 points and three steals. Center Al Horford had 11 rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block as he continues to help out even if he isn't scoring much.

    All playoffs long, this is the version of the Celtics that we had been waiting for. Sparked by Tatum going to the hoop at will, they were aggressive from the start and as they showed in the second half of Game 4-when they are on, the Heat have no chance to fully stop them. Miami's point guard Gabe Vincent missed tonight's contest with an ankle injury and his absence was felt all night since that forced the Heat to start old and washed up Kyle Lowry (5 points, 4 turnovers in 30 invisible minutes) in his place. Miami's supposed dynamic duo of small forward Jimmy Butler (14 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals) and center Bam Adebayo (16 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals) were likewise completely ineffective. All you need to know about how much that Boston locked down Miami in Game 5 (holding them under 100 points for the second straight game) was that New Hampshire native Duncan Robinson led the Heat with 18 points and nine assists off the bench. Not only that but something called Haywood Highsmith-which sounds like a fake name-dropped 15 points off the bench in his first extensive minutes of the series and small forward Caleb Martin notched 14 points and five rebounds off the bench even though he tweaked his knee pretty badly in the first half. 

    The C's blitzed the Heat in the first quarter (35-20) and never really let up as they led 61-44 at halftime then 90-72 going into the fourth quarter. There are a few key stats that really illustrate just how much Boston dominated Miami: the Celts shot 16-for-39 (41%) on 3-pointers and they had more than twice as many steals as them (13-6) thanks to seven more turnovers by the visitors (16-9) which gave the home team eight more points off turnovers (27-19). Boston led by as much as 24 points and numerous offensive rebounds especially early on gave them 10 more second chance points (17-7) for the game.

    The Celtics are listed as a three-point favorite for Game 6 and even though you cannot totally trust them just yet, all the signs are there that this historical comeback could actually happen. We all know that no NBA team (out of the 150 that faced this predicament) has ever won a series that they trailed 3-0; Boston is the 14th to make it to a Game 6 and if they can force a Game 7 in Boston (which would be on Memorial Day), they would only be the fourth club in league history to pull that off. The momentum has totally shifted their way now and all the pressure is on Miami since I think most believe that Game 6 is by far their best chance to end this series once and for all. I know my long weekend just got way more exciting and wow, if the Celts can win their third game in a row, they are that close to pulling off something that I thought was nearly impossible to do in the NBA. Celtics in seven?  

In Game 4 Of The ECF, The Celts Staved Off Elimination With A Complete 116-99 Win At Miami

 

    In the grand scheme of things, tonight was likely just a stay of execution for the 2022-23 Celtics but hey, at least they showed up and competed en route to an impressive 116-99 victory at the Kaseya Center in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Miami still leads the series 3-1 and keep in mind that in addition to no teams ever rallying from a 3-0 deficit in NBA history to win that series, only three have even forced a Game 7. So yeah, the C's still have an insane amount of work to do but at least we can think about them for a few more days and not focus all of our attention on the mediocre Red Sox (26-23). Game 5 is Thursday (8:30, TNT) at TD Garden. Tonight's win was notable for a few reasons besides the obvious of avoiding an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the eight-seeded Heat; Boston improved to 5-3 on the road this postseason while also staying unbeaten (3-0) when they face elimination and furthermore, Miami suffered their first home loss this postseason (5-1).

    What makes this Celtics team so baffling is that results like this should be more of the norm given the talent and depth gap between them and the Heat. It is beyond frustrating that it took them this long to find a way to finally put a little pressure on Miami and show that the Heat are not this unstoppable force that the C's made them seem in this series especially in that pathetic Game 3 performance that is best forgotten ASAP. Boston's superstar small forward Jayson Tatum (game-high 33 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks) had his third 30-point game of the series but this was the first time when he truly felt like the best player on the floor. Conversely, his All-NBA cohort shooting guard Jaylen Brown (17 points, 2 steals) continued to struggle but luckily, his teammates were there to pick him up. The other three starters for the Celtics-guard Derrick White (16 points, 2 steals, 2 blocks), center Al Horford (12 points, 7 rebounds) and point guard Marcus Smart (11 points, 6 assists, 2 steals)-all scored in double figures. Additionally, power forward Grant Williams (14 points, 6 rebounds, steal, block)-the same guy who did not play a single minute in Game 1 thanks to head coach Joe Mazzulla's stupidity-proved that he is a very valuable guy off the bench in the right situation. 

    Miami's superstar small forward Jimmy Butler (team-high 29 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, steal, block) was not nearly as effective as you might think-save for a strong third quarter-since he shot 9-for-21 from the field. Boston's defense was really good and they completely neutralized center Bam Adebayo (10 points, 5 rebounds, steal) who is undoubtedly Miami's second best player. Point guard Gabe Vincent (17 points) and small forward Caleb Martin (16 points off the bench) were both good but neither of those scrubs went crazy which was a marked improvement for the Celtics from the last few contests. Also, Vincent rolled his ankle in the third quarter and managed to return to action but that is an injury to monitor on Thursday. They say that role players always perform better at home so hopefully both of those guys can come back to Earth even further in Game 5 but we will have to see it to believe it. 

    Things certainly did not start out too hot for Boston as they trailed 29-23 after the first quarter and 56-50 at halftime. They were fantastic in the third quarter though (38-23 including a 19-2 run that gave them an 18-point advantage) and that carried over to the fourth quarter (28-20) as Miami went ice cold and had no response for the Celtics' lockdown defense and pinpoint 3-point shooting. For the game, Boston shot nearly eight percent better from the field (51.2%-43.6%), they hit 10 more 3-pointers (18-8), handed out 10 more assists (28-18), they had three more steals (8-5), five less turnovers (15-10), eight more fast break points (18-10) and 13 more points off turnovers (27-14) than Miami. 

    Beware of people (mostly fanboys) trying to talk themselves into a historical comeback by the Celtics being right around the corner these next few days. Remember that this is the same club that is under .500 at the Garden (4-5) this postseason so they will have to win Game 5 before I ever start to take this seriously at all. It is hard to fathom that they could go 0-3 at home in the Eastern Conference Finals so hopefully they show some more pride and find a way to extend this series back to Miami for Game 6. If that happens, then we will have something to talk about as the Heat would have to start feeling a bit uneasy about how things are crumbling apart.

Just When You Thought Things Couldn't Get Worse, The C's Lie Down In Game 3 Of The ECF

 

    It is hard to remember a more pathetic performance in a must-win playoff game than the one submitted by your Boston Celtics tonight in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Kaseya (huh?) Center. They never bothered to even show up as the Heat broke their will and destroyed them 128-102 to take a 3-0 series lead. FYI teams in NBA history that have trailed 3-0 in a playoff series are 0-149 in winning that series so yeah, Boston's season is for all intents and purposes over. Who would bet on this group of gutless players and inept head coach to be the one to break that neverending streak? Game 4 is on Tuesday (8:30, TNT) so I hope that the Celts enjoy their last few days on South Beach before their season abruptly ends well short of their goal of an NBA title (that will make it 15 years and counting for that once proud franchise). 

    There really is not that much to say after an ass-whooping like what we just witnessed. It will surely cost head coach Joe Mazzulla his job-making it four head coaches for the Celtics in four seasons which is gross-but for once, he was far from the major problem in this disaster. Nope, getting swept by Miami (which is the lock of the century now) should make Boston's front office take a long hard look at their overrated roster. Were we naive to think that the Celtics' star tandem of small forward Jayson Tatum (14 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals) and shooting guard Jaylen Brown (12 points, 6 rebounds) are really good enough to lead them to a championship? They were two wins away last season but now, it feels like they are way behind with no titles on the horizon. 

    For the second straight game, another undrafted (sorry Coach Spo for pointing this out) nobody for the Heat had the game of his life. Step right up immortal point guard Gabe Vincent who dropped a game-high 29 points right on Boston's face. If that wasn't bad enough, former Williams College star forward Duncan Robinson added 22 points and guard Caleb Martin (Game 2's unlikely star) notched 18 points off the bench for the home team that can now taste another NBA Finals appearance-this time against Denver who is similarly up 3-0 on the overhyped Lakers. The Heat's superstar small forward Jimmy Butler (16 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals) and center Bam Adebayo (13 points) barely had to break a sweat as their minions did the job for them in Game 3. Shooting guard Max Strus added 10 points in the embarrassing defeat for the C's. 

    This was a true stinker of the highest order as Boston was never reasonably competitive: they trailed 30-22 after the first quarter, 61-46 at halftime and 83-63 headed into the final frame which prompted Bazooka Joe to pull all his starters for good. The Celtics might as well have not been there since the Heat shot a blistering 56.8% from the field and hit 54.3% (19-of-35) of their 3-pointers. Watching this team has become a painful chore akin to hate watching a TV show that you used to love; you know that you should just tune out but for some silly reason, you keep coming back and pretending that it is going to get better. It is not but at least this farce will reach its rightful conclusion on Tuesday. Get this terrible product out of our faces because we cannot take it anymore. Yuck.