I've Never Been More Excited In My Life For A Celtics Season To Mercifully Come To An End

 

    The Celtics have suffered through many terrible seasons (and I'm sure that there will be plenty more of those in the future) in my lifetime but I have to be honest: I can't ever remember wanting a season to end as much as I needed this group to go away. Thankfully the Nets were there to help us as they blew out the Celts one last time: 123-109 tonight at the Barclays Center in Game 5 of their pointless first round playoff series which Brooklyn took four games to one. With that, Boston heads into the off-season with a boatload of questions that they'll need to figure out. Point guard Kemba Walker (knee) and center Robert Williams (ankle) were inactive for the second game in a row, couple that with All-Star Jaylen Brown's absence and you can understand why the C's had no shot in this game or in the series for that matter. 

    As always, the Nets were led by their big three: shooting guard James Harden had a triple-double with 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists with two blocks and two steals; point guard Kyrie Irving added 25 points and power forward Kevin Durant notched 24 points and three blocks. Brooklyn also got solid contributions from small forward Joe Harris (10 points, 6 assists) and Boston native Bruce Brown put up 10 points, five rebounds and four steals off the bench in the win. For Boston, superstar Jayson Tatum's fourth season in the NBA ended with a team-high 32 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals. Shooting guard Evan Fournier had 18 points and six rebounds, shooting guard Romeo Langford got a rare start and he made the most of it with 17 points, two blocks and two steals.  Guard Marcus Smart added 14 points and seven rebounds and the forgotten man Jabari Parker put up 13 points off the bench for the Celts. 

    Boston hung around for longer than they should have as Brooklyn led 31-24 after the first quarter and 59-51 at halftime. The Celtics actually outscored the Nets 28-27 in the third quarter before they predictably collapsed in the fourth quarter (27-20) which allowed the home team to lead by as much as 22 points. Brooklyn advances to the second round where they'll meet Milwaukee which should be a way more competitive and interesting series. For Celts GM Danny Ainge (who should be on the hot seat but probably won't be), his summer starts right now as the C's have three pending free agents: Fournier, power forward Semi Ojeleye and center Luke Kornet. Of those three, I'd hope that Fournier is the only one that they are inclined to re-sign (assuming that they don't wildly overpay him). The scary part is that the Celtics are always so reluctant to make big moves. That's why Ainge and head coach Brad Stevens probably won't be fired this summer not that they are the sole reasons why this team underachieved so drastically. Tatum and Brown are obviously everything to Boston's hopefully much brighter days ahead. Other than them-as far as I'm concerned-they are all tradeable in the right deal. 

    The Celts head into the long break with so many issues surrounding them that it's hard to know just where to begin. A) They have to keep Tatum and Brown healthy and happy together; B) They need to surround those two with more talented guys all around them; C) They should get creative to sell the city to perspective free agents. This gentleman's sweep of a series proved yet again how far away they actually are from Brooklyn (who combined in the regular season and playoffs went 7-1 against them in 2020-21) not to mention Philadelphia and Milwaukee-and that's just in the Eastern Conference! I will always love the Celtics and cheer for them but there really was very little to enjoy in this doomed campaign: they endlessly battled Covid-19 with a bunch of guys, injuries to key players, the countless losses to awful teams and they had a bunch of younger players that did not seem to get better as they rotted away on the bench. Here is to some honest conversations in the Celtics' front office starting tomorrow that eventually lead to major changes-whatever that entails. That franchise is too rich in history (namely winning championships) and they have too many fans all around the world to accept another useless campaign like that.  

Friday Was Fun, Now Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming: The Nets Owning The C's

 

    I thoroughly enjoyed Game 3 on Friday and I hope that you did too because now the Celtics-Nets first-round playoff series is all but over after Brooklyn gave Boston another reality check tonight at the TD Garden with a 141-126 beating that wasn't nearly that close. The Nets' big three of Kevin Durant (game-high 42 points, 5 assists, 2 blocks), Kyrie Irving (39 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals) and James Harden (23 points, playoff career-high 18 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals) combined for an absurd 104 points as Brooklyn took a commanding 3-1 series lead. Only 13 teams in NBA history have ever rallied from a 3-1 deficit so yeah, Game 5 on Tuesday (7:30, NBC Sports Boston) at the Barclays Center will be the last time that you thankfully see these woefully overmatched Celts for a long time. Let's just hope that Celtics GM Danny Ainge has the guts to make some real moves this summer for the first time in a while since this team is in desperate need of some major tinkering.  

     A tall task for Boston to even the series at two games apiece got even more unlikely right before tip-off as point guard Kemba Walker (left knee medial bone bruise) and center Robert Williams (left ankle sprain) were both ruled out. Williams is sadly made of glass so that wasn't a surprise by any means but it was a bummer that Kemba couldn't play either as bad as he's been in this series. That meant more pressure fell on Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum (team-high 40 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks) and he met the challenge about as well as you could possibly imagine given the impossible deck stacked against him. Point guard Marcus Smart (16 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals) and shooting guard Evan Fournier (16 points) were both predictably ice cold after they were each really good in Game 3's shocking win by the Celts. 

    The Nets also received 14 points from small forward Joe Harris while Boston native Bruce Brown added 14 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Boston had three bench guys in double-figures, only because there was so much garbage time after Brooklyn led by as many as 27 points. Rookie point guard Payton Pritchard scored 12 points, rookie small forward Aaron Nesmith added 11 points and the ghost of Jabari Parker notched 10 points and six rebounds in front of a sold-out Garden (for the first time at a Celtics game in 14+ months). The Nets improved to 6-1 against the Celtics this season so let's not kid ourselves into thinking that all this dominance is just because of Boston's current injuries. Brooklyn can put the C's and their fans out of their collective misery on Tuesday in what will undoubtedly be another blowout. Haha good times!

This C's-Nets Matchup Is Going To Be One Of The Least Competitive Playoff Series In NBA History

 

Has there ever been an NBA playoff series that was effectively over after only two miserable games? I ask because our Boston Celtics got embarrassed by the Brooklyn Nets 130-108 at the Barclays Center this evening in Game 2 of their opening round playoff series. Brooklyn is now up 2-0 in the best-of-7 with the series coming to the TD Garden on Friday (8:30, NBC Sports Boston) and Sunday night (7, NBC Sports Boston). The Nets didn't waste any time as they raced out to a double-digit lead (40-26) at the end of the first quarter. That ballooned to 71-47 at halftime so you get the point, there was no need to watch the second half since you already knew the outcome halfway through Game 2. To make matters worse, Celtics star Jayson Tatum (9 points, 2 steals, 2 blocks) got poked in the eye by Brooklyn star Kevin Durant (game-high 26 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks) in the third quarter and he never returned to action (granted it was a picture perfect blowout so there was no point anyway).

    Notably, the only two Celtics that seemed to take losing in such depressing fashion personally were guard Marcus Smart (team-high 19 points, 6 assists, 2 steals) and newcomer Evan Fournier (16 points, 2 steals). You can always count on Smart to give an honest effort but it was nice to see Fournier get in Durant's face after the latter got involved in Fournier's conversation with one of the referees. Brooklyn's sharp-shooting swingman Joe Harris (25 points, 2 steals) was unstoppable as he made a franchise playoff record 7-of-10 3-pointers. Shooting guard James Harden added 20 points, seven assists and five rebounds while point guard Kyrie Irving had 15 points, six rebounds and six assists. The ghost of Blake Griffin notched 11 points for the home team and nine guys appeared off the bench for Brooklyn with shooting guard Landry Shamet (10 points) the only one to score in double-figures. For the Celts, point guard Kemba Walker put up 17 points and seven assists while center Tristan Thompson had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. 

    Friday will be the first time that Kyrie returns to the Garden with actual live fans in attendance so he obviously couldn't help himself in his postgame press conference tonight as he alluded to Boston still being a racist city after all of these years. If you are dumb enough to spend however much money it takes to watch another blowout in this inevitable sweep, I suppose one of the only real fun aspects of it will be the chance to boo Kyrie in person as much as you want. Please don't do anything stupid and give more needless fuel to people that aren't from here to cling to the tired old stereotype that Boston is still a tough place to be for minorities. This fake series has already gone off the rails so there is absolutely no need to draw even more negative attention to the Celtics, their fanbase and our beloved home.

In Gm 1 Of Their Playoff Series Vs. Nets, C's Played About As Well As They Could But Still Lost By 11

 

    Under the current impossible circumstances, you could not dream of a better start than what the Celtics got in Game 1 of their first round playoff series with the Nets tonight at Barclays Center. Boston led 21-16 after the first quarter and 53-47 at halftime. As shocking as that was, the second half was basically paint by numbers as Brooklyn decided to try a little bit and they blew the C's out of the water-winning by double-digits (104-93) in a contest where they played kind of terrible. Not that we needed it but it served as a sobering reality check for the Celts that no matter what they do (save for an asteroid hitting the Earth in the next week), they are going to get swept by the Nets in four forgettable games and their really disappointing 2020-2021 season will mercifully be over by next Sunday night.

    One of the only interesting sub-plots of this foregone conclusion of a series is the fact that Brooklyn's big three of power forward Kevin Durant (game-high 32 points, 12 rebounds), point guard Kyrie Irving (29 points, 6 rebounds) and shooting guard James Harden (21 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals) had only played together for a grand total of 202 minutes in the regular season. How would it look when they face the pressure of the postseason against a quality opponent? Haha well obviously that question will have to wait until at least the next round since this series basically serves as Brooklyn's extended warmup to the playoffs. Swingman Jayson Tatum led Boston with 22 points and five assists but he was held to 6-for-20 shooting from the field and he turned the ball over four times as well. Guard Marcus Smart (17 points, 5 assists) actually played pretty well and center Robert Williams was able to suit up and he nearly put up a triple-double (11 points, 9 rebounds and a team playoff record 9 blocks) in 23 minutes off the bench. Point guard Kemba Walker scored 15 points while shooting guard Evan Fournier added 10 points, six rebounds and two steals in his Celtics playoff debut. Center Tristan Thompson grabbed 10 rebounds and had two steals in his first playoff game as a Celtic.

    Nets head coach Steve Nash's first playoff game was far from a masterpiece but honestly, how much does he have to do? Small forward Joe Harris (10 points) was the only other Net to score in double-figures and just nine guys on Brooklyn saw the floor but when you have the best trio in the league, you can cut many corners. Brooklyn came out in the third quarter and finally looked a little like the title contender that they are expected to be as they outscored Boston 31-20. The Celtics kept trying in the fourth quarter but they are extremely limited offensively without Jaylen Brown in there so they were outscored 26-20 in the final frame. Neither team shot well at all but Brooklyn at least was over 40% (41.7%) while Boston was 36.9% which is pathetic considering how terrible the Nets are defensively. Brooklyn made six more free throws (26-20) and grabbed 10 more rebounds (50-40). The Nets had twice as many points off turnovers (18-9) as the Celtics. 

    If the C's were ever going to surprise the Nets, this was the time for it. Now, Brooklyn will be more dialed in from the beginning of the game and as a result, Boston will get destroyed and lose by way bigger margins in Games 2-4. This being the NBA, they already get a needless extra day off between contests so Game 2 is on Tuesday (7:30, NBC Sports Boston) and I expect a much uglier blowout loss for the Celts. The Nets were 8-of-34 (23.5%) on 3-pointers in Game 1 and if you think that number will stay in the same area code for the rest of the series, you are completely delusional.

No Durant Or Harden But The Celtics Still Couldn't Beat The Nets Who Swept The Season Series 4-0

 

    As a Celtics (32-28 overall, 13-17 away) fan, if you weren't already scared to death of the Nets (40-20 overall, 24-7 home), you should be now because no matter who is playing for Brooklyn this season, Boston has proven over and over again that they have no clue how to beat them. With tonight's 109-104 victory by the Nets at the Barclays Center, they earned the four-game season sweep over the Celtics. Yes, Jaylen Brown (shoulder), Robert Williams (knee) and Kemba Walker (load management) were all out for Boston but Brooklyn was missing two future Hall of Famers in Kevin Durant and James Harden (and yes it makes me sick that Harden will be a Hall of Famer but get over it). The good news is that the C's would not see the Nets again until the playoffs but on the off chance that they do meet this postseason, how could you have any confidence that Boston will turn this one-sided matchup around? 

    Five different Nets scored at least 13 points, led by sharpshooting small forward Joe Harris (20 points, 2 blocks). You would have figured that point guard Kyrie Irving (15 points, 11 assists, 4 steals) must have carried Brooklyn but he was awful in terms of shooting: 4-for-19 from the field including 0-of-6 on 3-pointers. Former Celtics great Jeff Green added 19 points and two steals while Boston native Bruce Brown notched 15 points and eight rebounds off the bench plus the ghost of Blake Griffin posted 13 points, five rebounds and two steals off the bench as well. The Celtics' lack of depth has been a major issue all season and it really comes to the forefront against a top team like the Nets. 

    There was basically three Celtics that decided to show up for this game: swingman Jayson Tatum (38 points, 10 rebounds) was unstoppable except for the fact that he had five costly turnovers. Point guard Marcus Smart had 19 points, five rebounds and two steals while rookie guard Payton Pritchard added 22 points (in 24 minutes!) off the bench. With the aforementioned injuries, head coach Brad Stevens chose to start Semi Ojeleye (3 points) and Romeo Langford (0 points). I get that neither guy is expected to put up a ton of points but you can't have two black holes like that offensively in the lineup against a quality opponent.

    Boston played well in the first quarter and great in the fourth quarter but they were awful in the second quarter and bad in the third quarter which was enough to cost them the game. The C's were up 25-21 after the first quarter but the Nets ran circles around them in the second quarter (39-26) for a 60-51 halftime lead. Things didn't get better for the visitors in the third quarter (Nets outscored them 28-22) and they responded in the fourth quarter (31-21) but it was too late, no matter how many shots Kyrie missed. The Celts were also playing in the second game of a back-to-back which is not an excuse but just a fact in this crazy condensed schedule. 

    Some of these numbers were eye-opening as the Nets made 13 more free throws (24-11), dished out five more assists (26-21), had twice as many steals (12-6) and eight less turnovers than the Celtics. Brooklyn scored 10 more points in the paint (48-38) than them but the true nightmare fuel that will probably keep Stevens and his coaching staff up for days is the fact that the Nets somehow outscored them by 29 in fastbreak points (32-3). Haha have you ever heard something like that in an NBA game (that wasn't a 40-point blowout)? That's absurd. 

    Boston doesn't have much time to feel sorry for themselves as they go to Charlotte (29-30 overall, 15-12 home) on Sunday afternoon (1, NBC Sports Boston). The Hornets and Terry Rozier are clinging to eighth-place in the Eastern Conference but they are only two and a half games behind the sixth-place Celtics. You'll remember that when we last saw Charlotte, Boston embarrassed them 116-86 on Easter at the TD Garden. The two teams are about to meet twice in four days for a home-and-home set with Rookie of the Year favorite LaMelo Ball expected to return very soon from his wrist injury, in fact he could possibly play this weekend.

In Case You Forgot, The Celtics Are Nowhere Close To The Nets' Level (Even Without Kevin Durant)

 

    After a fraudulent four-game win streak heading into the All-Star break, it was back to reality for the Celtics (19-18 overall, 7-13 away) tonight as they began the second half of the season with a 121-109 loss at the Barclays Center vs. the Nets (25-13 overall, 14-6 home). It was their seventh straight loss on the road which seems like a sneaky major issue. The sad part for Boston is that with guard Marcus Smart's (19 points off the bench) return to action, they were as healthy as they've been in months while Brooklyn didn't even have Kevin Durant (hamstring) available. The Nets are one of the hottest teams in the entire league (9-1 in their last 10 games) and if they ever get Durant along with guards Kyrie Irving (game-high 40 points, 8 rebounds) and James Harden (22 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists) together on the court for a sustained amount of time, yikes look out world. 

    Coming back from the All-Star game, we all wanted to see how the two All-Stars on the Boston would react and the early returns were mixed: swingman Jayson Tatum had a team-high 31 points and five rebounds while shooting guard Jaylen Brown (13 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) struggled immensely shooting a woeful 5-of-23 from the floor including 3-for-12 on 3-pointers. As is usually the case these days, offense wasn't the main issue for the Celts, their defense continues to let them down time after time. Center Daniel Theis had 17 points, eight rebounds and two steals while point guard Kemba Walker scored 11 points and center Robert Williams blocked six shots off the bench in only 17 minutes of action.

    For Brooklyn, small forward Joe Harris scored 12 points while shooting guard Landry Shamet (18 points) hit six 3-pointers off the bench and former Celtic Jeff Green added 11 points. The Nets will never be a great defensive team (and really who is anymore in NBA?) but that hardly matters since they possess the most explosive offense in the league. This was the carbon copy of many losses this season for the Celtics as they were close all game long before they completely fell apart at the end where the Nets closed on a 13-3 run after Boston cut it to 108-106. The Celtics led 29-23 after the first quarter but trailed by three at halftime (58-55). Boston outscored Brooklyn 31-30 in the third quarter but they were no match for them in the fourth quarter (33-23).

    The Nets shot 2.6% better from the floor (47.7%-45.1%), hit six more 3-pointers (19-13), made four more free throws (18-14), grabbed six more rebounds (45-39) including six more defensive boards (34-28) while Brooklyn had eight more second chance points (28-20) than the Celtics. From the marquee lights of a primetime game on TNT to the anonymity of a Sunday night (8, NBC Sports Boston) visit to lowly Houston (11-24 overall, 5-10 home), the C's next game is against one of the worst teams in the NBA. Losers of their last 14 games (!!!!!), the Rockets are tanking like you read about: haha they lost by 20 points this evening to the Kings (15-22 overall, 9-12 home) 125-105. These days, I wouldn't bet anything on the C's with your money let alone my money but good lord, if they lose to the Rockets, I might be rendered speechless. No pressure guys.