Cavs vs. Celtics - 2018 Eastern Conference Finals

[Ohio]

Yea Delly was in his jersey that series until the dehydration killed his body. But I remember hearing chatter that Curry was dealing with concussion symptoms after getting undercut by Ariza in the previous series. Which I was hoping happened considering how hard he fell on his head. But we know the NBA only cares about concussions when it's a role player as we saw in Game 2 with LeBron b

He's def the most susceptible to having bad games out of most Superstars so him playing amazing every night is kind of a hyperbole. But Steph is in that Lebron tier to me where they only have 1 bad game in them per series. Hobbled Steph I think he can have a bad game every other night

Yikes.

Yeah, I just can't stand the protecting & coddling of Curry. The lengths the media goes to do this is disgusting. Fact you as a Cavs fan (assuming you are a Cavs fan) are doing it is just disturbing.

Curry in the LeBron tier...mother of god even the media gave that one up.

 

[Heej]

Yikes.

Yeah, I just can't stand the protecting & coddling of Curry. The lengths the media goes to do this is disgusting. Fact you as a Cavs fan (assuming you are a Cavs fan) are doing it is just disturbing.

Curry in the LeBron tier...mother of god even the media gave that one up.

Just because this is the Cleveland echo chamber doesn't change the fact that no 2 players in the NBA have remotely approached the impact James and Curry have on their team's success for the past 5 years. Bron might've been in his own tier 2014 and 2015, but they're easily in the same tier now when fully healthy even if Bron is on the higher end of it.

That's why they basically played eachother to a standstill last Finals while being the focal points of both team's defensive strategies. KD was just a bitch who feasted off of easy looks that Steph fed him. It's amazing to me how hard people go on this forum to underrate Curry just because Bron is better.

 

[Ohio]

Just because this is the Cleveland echo chamber doesn't change the fact that no 2 players in the NBA have remotely approached the impact James and Curry have on their team's success for the past 5 years. Bron might've been in his own tier 2014 and 2015, but they're easily in the same tier now when fully healthy even if Bron is on the higher end of it.

That's why they basically played eachother to a standstill last Finals while being the focal points of both team's defensive strategies. KD was just a bitch who feasted off of easy looks that Steph fed him. It's amazing to me how hard people go on this forum to underrate Curry just because Bron is better.

Well, it appears you just define 'tier' different the most. Because, to me, if one player is clearly better than the other, then you aren't in the same tier.

LeBron was far and away better than Steph every year they've met in The Finals. What on earth are you talking about?

The only time Curry was in the LeBron tier was the 2016 regular season, but reality set in once the playoffs came around.

Basically, Curry had one hot season and you & the media elevated him to a place he never belonged.

You say it's amazing to you how hard people on this forum underrate Curry (lol)...I think it's amazing you essentially just said that Curry literally can't have a couple bad games without being hurt...that's laughably asinine.

 

[JMoneyYourHoney]

Just because this is the Cleveland echo chamber doesn't change the fact that no 2 players in the NBA have remotely approached the impact James and Curry have on their team's success for the past 5 years. Bron might've been in his own tier 2014 and 2015, but they're easily in the same tier now when fully healthy even if Bron is on the higher end of it.

That's why they basically played eachother to a standstill last Finals while being the focal points of both team's defensive strategies. KD was just a bitch who feasted off of easy looks that Steph fed him. It's amazing to me how hard people go on this forum to underrate Curry just because Bron is better.

Curry is the linchpin of an impressive system; remove him from that system and how do you think he looks?

Replace LeBron with Curry and we never make it out of the East these past 3 years, while LeBron with Curry's casts likely never loses a game in the Finals.

The two aren't worlds, they're universes apart.

 

[Heej]

Curry is the linchpin of an impressive system; remove him from that system and how do you think he looks?

Replace LeBron with Curry and we never make it out of the East these past 3 years, while LeBron with Curry's casts likely never loses a game in the Finals.

The two aren't worlds, they're universes apart.

I think realistically if he's allowed to spam high PNR and have absolute primacy every play like Westbrook or Harden or even LeBron does and be given a blank check to just float around on defense and chase after Rebounds and get drag screens in transition he'd probably be able to put up 33-34 PPG in a season. The Steve Kerr system intentionally suppresses his numbers now by not calling PNR play after play and requiring him to enter the ball into the post and work off ball as a screener and cutter.

Replace Curry with Bron in 2015-16 and that Warriors team wins 65 games instead of 73 so it works the other way too. Teams are built to cater to their Superstars. There's literally nothing statistically or from the eye test that can tell you they're universes apart unless you're watching with giant homer goggles on. The dude could easily put up monstrous statistical seasons like 2015-16 again if he just spammed PnR. He's the most tricky to contain PNR player we've ever seen. I see a lot of possessions and try to watch a lot of film and I've never seen a player that can force teams to sell out on their coverages and show their hand the way Steph can. Even LeBron needs 2 games to tease it out of you

 

[And1]

With how gut wrenching and weird this season has been how hilarious would it be if we get to the finals and just win it all? Extremely unlikely, but damn that would be crazy . . .

Extremely unlikely is putting it mildly

 

[And1]

Yikes.

Yeah, I just can't stand the protecting & coddling of Curry. The lengths the media goes to do this is disgusting. Fact you as a Cavs fan (assuming you are a Cavs fan) are doing it is just disturbing.

Curry in the LeBron tier...mother of god even the media gave that one up.

Spot on my friend

 

[Cavatt]

Extremely unlikely is putting it mildly

Lebron has beat the odds before, and the Warriors have choked before...

By my calculations, due to the poor shooting at the beginning of the playoffs Clarkson and Hood will hit 95% of their shots in the finals in order for their % to even out

 

[CHIMOCHIS]

Damn win or go home

Looking forward to seeing what this cast of misfits , knuckleheads, outcasts, rascals can do tonight

My body ain’t ready

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

I feel like the Celtics are going to focus on the 3pt line a lot more tonight. We have to be aggressive and force the issue in the paint. Obviously starts and ends with LeBron attacking. But the entire team should play the game with an extra eye inside the paint, IMO. On both ends. Need good help at the rim(A lot of that is on Bron), NEED to win the battle inside the paint. Our bigs and our paint finishers(Green, Bron, etc) need to battle to get inside position and our ball handlers need to make good, clean, fast passes to guys with position/mismatches. We need to get the ball into the heart of the defense as much as possible. If we do that this team cannot stop or beat us.

We have to keep making a clear effort to push the pace. That helped immensely last game. The faster we get into our actions the more open shots we create.

 

[Franklin]

Just play hard , move the dam ball , and keep it up for the entire 4 quarters = a win

Coach Drew will have the adjustments worked out and implemented

 

[Cavatt]

I feel like the Celtics are going to focus on the 3pt line a lot more tonight. We have to be aggressive and force the issue in the paint. Obviously starts and ends with LeBron attacking. But the entire team should play the game with an extra eye inside the paint, IMO. On both ends. Need good help at the rim(A lot of that is on Bron), NEED to win the battle inside the paint. Our bigs and our paint finishers(Green, Bron, etc) need to battle to get inside position and our ball handlers need to make good, clean, fast passes to guys with position/mismatches. We need to get the ball into the heart of the defense as much as possible. If we do that this team cannot stop or beat us.

We have to keep making a clear effort to push the pace. That helped immensely last game. The faster we get into our actions the more open shots we create.

Increase Nance's minutes a bit.

 

[JMoneyYourHoney]

That last dunk by Brown made my blood boil. I'd start Perkins next game just to shuck him into the stands and then bring in TT.

Classless little sophomore punk.

 

[LeShaq]

Well, I think we're the better team. But we've still got a long way to go.

- They're unbeaten at home so far this postseason and role players should play better for them there.
- They may get Larkin back, which gives them a change of pace player and another body
- Lack of rest. We were great in the first half of Game 4 then faded hard in the second half.

I was worried about lack of rest after Game 3 (we had 3 days of rest before then) and it showed up tonight (1 day of rest). More turnovers, stagnant offense in the second half, etc.

We had just 2 assists in the second half of Game 4.

Our ORTG for the first half tonight was about 133. It ended up at about 112.

So, we've got to find a way to keep our energy as high as possible. And there will only be one day of rest between every game from here on out.

 

[LeShaq]

I just did the math. These figures are approximate but give you a picture of how much fatigue hurt us in the second half.

1st half Game 4 ORTG ----------> 133.3
2nd half Game 4 ORTG ----------> 088.7
Game 4 ORTG -------------------> 111.0

That second half won't cut it in Boston. Lue needs to find a way to get a bit more usage out of the bench. Or use more timeouts, something.

If we get to the Finals, then I think most games will have 2 days of rest before them. That will help us a lot. But we've got to get there first.