Are the Celtics' crunch time issues THAT concerning? | First to Floor

  • 5 months ago
The Boston Celtics have suffered some nasty crunch-time losses this season, often on National TV for all to see. But how do their crunch-time issues compare to other contenders? How do they compare to the 2008 championship Celtics?

Plus, we fire up the Schadenfreude Report to discuss the Bucks' loss to the no Lebron Lakers, and much more.

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Transcript
00:00 [Music]
00:25 Welcome in to another episode of First to the Floor. Ben Vallis here. Thank you for joining us.
00:29 Hope you're doing well. I think we're all doing pretty well after that hilarious and timely collapse
00:33 by the Milwaukee Bucks against the LeBron-less Lakers last night. Alongside me, Wayne Spooney and Jake Eisenberg.
00:38 How's it going, guys?
00:40 Doing good. Guys, real quick. Do you know who Kaitlyn Clark is, right?
00:44 Oh, yeah.
00:45 I think she's becoming a LeBron-like figure to me in the hate catalog.
00:49 Oh, no! Wow. Say more.
00:51 Yeah, they beat WVU in the second round of the Women's March Madness.
00:56 Oh, is that? Okay.
00:57 They shot 33 free throws. WVU shot 5.
01:01 Dame was tweeting about it. Dame tweeted like, "WVU's getting screwed, man."
01:05 So, anyway, I'm doing good other than that.
01:08 That's tough. I like her from what I've seen from far away.
01:13 But, yeah, obviously, there's nothing that she could do to me personally because
01:18 Massachusetts doesn't have a WNBA team and I don't have a college.
01:25 You got the Connecticut sun up in New England, man.
01:30 Yeah.
01:31 As long as she's young. That would hurt.
01:33 I don't know about you, Jake. I've completely latched on to WVU through screenings.
01:39 The first college hoops person I've known.
01:42 So, I'm like, "That's my rat and die team now."
01:44 I'm sorry.
01:45 Yeah, I blame you.
01:47 Mine's kind of Clemson. One of my best friends is from Clemson.
01:50 And so, all my friends from high school went to school in America.
01:56 So, Clemson, Penn State, a few random ones.
02:00 I've been to University of Miami for a weekend. That was cool.
02:03 It's a dope campus.
02:04 I visited there when I was looking for grad school.
02:07 Very cool. Big frat party, giant mansion, everybody naked.
02:11 I can understand why people like it down there.
02:15 That might be an off-season pod right there, Jake.
02:18 You can hear in that story.
02:20 Naked-ish.
02:21 Yeah, naked-ish.
02:22 Okay. Appropriately naked.
02:25 Now, we've got a fun one coming up.
02:26 We're going to get to everyone's favorite unsponsored segment, the Shard of a Photo Report.
02:30 We're going to talk about the Celtics' crunch time issues and whether or not they're actually that bad.
02:34 And we're going to talk about the upcoming Game 2 of the two-game miniseries against the Atlanta Hawks.
02:39 But first, a bit of housekeeping here.
02:41 Hit that Like button if you're here watching live on YouTube.
02:43 Shout out to everybody in the chat or watching later.
02:45 Subscribe to the First of the Four YouTube channel and/or audio podcast.
02:49 That's going to bless us with the algorithm gods and put this show in front of more people.
02:54 It's also going to wash your YouTube algorithm or podcast algorithm with more Celtics content, which is always a good idea.
03:01 Playback.tv/CelticsBlog.
03:03 Go and sign up there.
03:04 Watch live Celtics games with us, Jake, myself, Spoonie, and other folks from the Celtics blog multiverse.
03:11 Three Leaf Clover, Spoonie's weekly column on Celtics blog.
03:15 What have you got for us this week, Spoonie, on Three Leaf Clover?
03:18 This week, I'm going to break down what the Celtics should be doing at the end of games instead of what they are doing.
03:26 And a little bit of stats.
03:28 I tweeted out some stats today about their shots.
03:31 That I'll bring up on this pod in the last two minutes of games.
03:34 So a little more narrow focus than crunch time and just getting into the nitty-gritty there.
03:40 Timely.
03:41 Already better time management than the Boston Celtics.
03:43 Amazing.
03:44 Discord, merch, the links are below in the description.
03:47 They're also in the podcast show notes if you're listening later.
03:50 And check out the Celtics Lab and How About Them Celtics podcast.
03:53 Great podcast run by a great bunch of blokes.
03:56 Also under the CLNS media umbrella.
03:58 So if you like this show, you're going to like them as well.
04:00 So make sure you hop over to their channels and check them out.
04:03 Alright, guys, let's get right into it.
04:04 Everybody's favorite unsponsored segment, the shot of a photo report.
04:07 [Shot of a photo report]
04:31 The Milwaukee Schmucks, guys.
04:33 124-128 loss in Double OT to the LeBron-less Lakers.
04:37 The Bucs held a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter.
04:40 A familiar tale.
04:41 One that Celtics fans might be familiar with.
04:43 Austin Reeves had a good game.
04:45 A triple-double also.
04:46 A similar tale to what Celtics fans might be familiar with.
04:49 But the Lakers had a 27-13 fourth quarter to force the game into overtime and eventually win in Double OT.
04:56 Jake, I feel inclined to throw to you here first.
04:59 Because this is a Jake Eisenberg segment here.
05:02 How does this one make you feel?
05:04 What should Celtics fans take away from this one?
05:06 This one really got me going.
05:07 I got to be honest.
05:08 This one really, really tipped me over the edge.
05:11 And I've been trying to figure it out.
05:13 Why does everybody freak out after a Celtics loss, etc, etc.
05:16 Everybody's been slobbering all over the Bucs.
05:19 They won one game against the Thunder.
05:21 And every podcast is like, "Oh my God, here they come."
05:23 And I figured it out.
05:24 I mean, it's essentially like, whatever the thing is that rarely happens.
05:28 That's what sticks out in people's minds.
05:30 Celtics lose a game, people freak out.
05:32 Pistons win a game.
05:34 The NBA world was never more locked in than they were during the Pistons losing streak.
05:39 So them winning a game was big news.
05:41 And the Bucs winning a big game and playing well against a big opponent is big news.
05:46 But this, I mean, look.
05:47 The lack of self-awareness from Bucs fans is truly astounding.
05:52 I understand wanting to come at the Celtics after they blow that Hawks game.
05:55 I get it.
05:56 The game is the game.
05:57 We're all out here for the takes.
05:59 But do you not realize at this point in the season that your team is more likely than not to embarrass you 24 hours later or less?
06:06 Like, this is what's happened in the last 26 games since Doc Rivers has taken over.
06:11 Blew a 19th point fourth quarter lead to the LeBron-less Lakers at home yesterday.
06:14 Lost to the Celtics.
06:16 Blown out by 35 to the Kings.
06:17 Lost to the LeBron and AD-less Lakers.
06:20 D'Lo goes off for 44 points.
06:21 The last time D'Lo scored 40 was in 2019.
06:24 Lost to the Wolves.
06:26 Blown out by 35 to the Warriors.
06:28 Blew a game down the stretch against the Memphis Grizzlies.
06:30 Blown out by 26 against the Heat.
06:32 Lost to the Suns.
06:33 Blown out by the Jazz.
06:34 Blew a crunch time game against the Blazers.
06:37 Lost to the Nuggets.
06:38 That's 12 losses in the last 26 games.
06:41 Do you know how far back you have to go to find 12 Celtics losses?
06:45 December fucking 4th.
06:48 That's how far back you have to go to find 12 Celtics losses.
06:51 Four months.
06:52 Four months.
06:53 The Bucks are frauds.
06:54 Their Mickey Mouse ring is nonsense.
06:57 They would never have been anywhere near the finals
06:59 if not for a Kyrie ankle and a hardened hamstring.
07:02 They played the Trae Young Hawks in the conference finals.
07:05 They got to play Chris Paul-led Phoenix Suns and DeAndre Ayton
07:09 in the finals.
07:10 Mickey Mouse ring and then they turn around and say that,
07:13 "Oh my God, we would have won that Celtics series
07:15 if we had Middleton," while not realizing
07:17 they wouldn't have sniffed the conference finals,
07:19 let alone the finals, if not for the decimation
07:21 of the Brooklyn Nets.
07:23 Oh, and by the way, Damon shot under 40% from the field
07:26 in 29 games this year.
07:27 That's 43% of all of his games shooting below 40%.
07:32 They're frauds.
07:33 Fuck the Bucks.
07:34 We're going to the finals.
07:37 I don't know how the hell I follow that, but yeah, fuck the Bucks.
07:40 We're going to the finals.
07:42 This game was like the morning Bloody Mary
07:45 after you had too many drinks and the Hawks loss was,
07:50 I got way too drunk for how old I am.
07:53 I puked a little bit, and then you wake up
07:55 and you get the hair of the dog and you're like,
07:57 "All right, I'm starting to feel pretty good again all of a sudden."
07:59 It was such a vintage Doc Rivers coach team performance
08:06 where he's just confused as the lead's melting away
08:10 and basically does nothing different,
08:12 and they just completely fall apart.
08:15 It reminded me a bit of game six in our second round series
08:20 against the Sixers where it's like Tatum's going nuts
08:22 and they're just letting it happen.
08:24 They're not throwing doubles at him.
08:26 He hits two threes.
08:27 He hits three.
08:28 He hits four, and Doc's like, "Oh, what just happened?"
08:30 Someone just punched him in the face.
08:32 It's just, man, I needed that because that Hawks game,
08:35 that kind of got me down.
08:37 I know it means nothing and it was not a big deal
08:39 and we were missing both of our starting guards,
08:41 but that's just a shitty way to lose.
08:44 But thanks, Bucks.
08:45 You just always count on the Bucks to completely embarrass themselves
08:48 immediately after we do.
08:51 After any Celtics game, and in this case,
08:54 after a loss to the Hawks, for me it's sigh, deep sigh,
08:59 Control-T, new tab, twitter.com,
09:01 "All right, let's see what the discussion is."
09:03 You just knew what was coming, the avalanche of negativity
09:06 after that Hawks game, and then the knowledge
09:08 of having to wait two days before a shot at redemption.
09:11 You know that the Celtics, I would hope so,
09:13 are going to bring it and bring their full force of vengeance
09:16 against the Hawks in this second game.
09:18 But for the Bucks to lose in this fashion,
09:21 after dancing on our grave after that loss to the Hawks,
09:24 really it shortened the window of suffering for Celtics fans.
09:26 So for that, I'm appreciative.
09:28 And it's just hugely a meaty bone for the Shard and Frodo report,
09:33 exactly what we needed to get this segment up off the ground again.
09:37 So good stuff.
09:38 I was so excited, dude, when that thing--
09:40 because I was watching it all on delay.
09:42 I'm watching this thing go down.
09:44 I'm watching it late.
09:45 I'm like, "No way. No way."
09:47 I'm like, "Oh my God, I've missed out on the party online
09:50 apparently once I finally got to overtime and then double overtime."
09:54 And then you add the fact that they had to play double overtime.
09:57 If you're going to lose, you may as well just lose in regulation.
10:00 It's like you're adding double overtime.
10:02 Yeah, dumbasses, dude.
10:04 Why don't you lose like the Celtics, like real men?
10:06 Take the next two days off in regulation.
10:09 Take the L.
10:10 And it's like Dane, Bjarne, Brooke, and Middleton all aging.
10:14 And you have to play--
10:16 Everybody was dead at the end of that game.
10:18 And it's like now they got to--
10:19 And these games matter so much more to the Bucks.
10:22 Now they fall even closer towards the three.
10:26 And am I wrong, but are they sneaky in danger of falling into the 4-5?
10:33 There are only two and a half games up on the fourth seed right now.
10:36 It's like not what you want at all.
10:40 Like these games definitely matter for them purely for the standings perspective,
10:43 but also can they play good for a week in a row
10:47 before the rest of the fucking media goes, "Look at them go."
10:50 Like the Celtics were 20-2.
10:52 Or what is it? 20-3?
10:54 20-3?
10:55 Yeah, 20-3.
10:56 What do we do, indeed?
10:58 Which is a 71 win pace over a full season.
11:01 I did the math today.
11:03 The Celtics last 23 games, they're winning at a 71 win pace,
11:06 and the Bucks are 500 essentially, and they're crowning the Bucks.
11:10 But the hubris of Bucks fans--
11:12 I remember that Kyrie season when it was all falling apart
11:16 and the team clearly hated each other.
11:18 I was not dancing on graves.
11:20 I was like, "Man, this feels like it's going to fail catastrophically in the playoffs."
11:25 But these dudes, they don't give a shit.
11:28 They're out there like, "Oh, the Celtics lost. Ha ha ha ha."
11:31 Dude, your team has a negative net rating in March.
11:34 Maybe look in the mirror a little bit.
11:37 I can't believe that they set themselves up for these disappointments.
11:40 I would be a little more humble on the internets if that was my team.
11:45 Yeah, and this gassing up Middleton as well,
11:48 where you only have to watch a couple of Bucks games
11:50 to notice the pattern of any time they have a crucial defensive possession,
11:53 Middleton is firmly on the bench and no way to be seen out on the court
11:57 because his defense is dog shit.
11:59 So shout out to Bucks fans. Thank you for the content.
12:02 One more point on the Shard of Infrared report.
12:04 Before we move away from Shard of Infrared, we'll talk about some injury stuff,
12:07 which we want to make sure is properly decoupled from the Shard of Infrared report.
12:11 But the Heat got handily defeated by the Golden State Warriors yesterday.
12:16 And I believe this is the Heat commentator, correct me if I'm wrong,
12:19 anointed us the champions of the 2022 NBA season.
12:22 [crowd cheering]
12:25 Andrew Wiggins, a guy who averaged 18 points and 9 rebounds a game
12:30 in the 2022 NBA finals, which they lost to the Celtics.
12:34 [crowd cheering]
12:39 Two years ago, it was Boston in six to win it all.
12:43 One point Heat lead with under a minute left in the--
12:46 So you assume the gap in the middle is like the producer being like,
12:50 "Nah, man, that is not what happened at all."
12:52 And then he somehow comes back and doubles down on that take,
12:54 which is completely insane.
12:56 I don't know where to go with this, Spoonie,
12:58 other than what was going through this guy's mind.
13:01 It feels-- I toyed with my emotions a little bit,
13:04 because obviously it brings up some bad memories of what could have been.
13:07 But what's going on here?
13:09 I have no idea, but that's a reality I'm now choosing to live in
13:14 from here on forward.
13:16 But yeah, I think when you talk for 82 games for two and a half hours,
13:22 that's just a lot of talking.
13:24 You're just going to be out of it one day.
13:26 You know what I mean? I have bad days at work.
13:28 This dude's just not having a good brain day at work.
13:31 It happens, but don't really appreciate it.
13:34 But it does suck to bring that up, and it got some news,
13:38 and people are posting it everywhere.
13:40 It's like, "Ugh."
13:42 Sam S. Vandiari, co-host of the Light Years pod,
13:46 he tagged me being like, "Congratulations, Jake Eisenberg."
13:49 I'm like, "This is great.
13:51 Can't wait to chase Banner 19 this upcoming playoffs.
13:54 It's very exciting."
13:56 The second title of the Tatum and Jalen era is coming soon.
14:00 Yeah, hang the banner with just a little asterisk at the bottom
14:03 as per the Miami Heat commentator.
14:05 2022 champions.
14:07 All right, let's get to some news from our closest rivals and opponents,
14:12 but not part of the Shard of Freddie Report.
14:14 The first one, Patrick Beverley, seemed to announce on his pod--
14:16 I haven't heard the clip yet.
14:18 I've just read several tweets and Reddit posts about it.
14:20 He announced that he has torn ligaments in his wrist
14:23 and is weighing up surgery options and is most likely going to be out
14:27 for the season, which puts the Milwaukee Bucks in a position
14:30 where they have seemingly no backup point guard.
14:33 They lose someone who's maybe come in and gassed up their defense,
14:36 if not the actual defense, then their motivations defensively,
14:40 you might say.
14:42 Jake, what does this news bring to your mind as far as how it affects the Celtics?
14:47 Like, they need all the players they can get, really.
14:52 So this is obviously not good, but all of the numbers from Pat Bev,
14:56 like on/off, net rating stuff, they're pretty bad.
14:59 So I didn't think this was a huge deal, but then this guy tweeted--
15:03 he's a Bucks guy, Cream City, I believe is his podcast.
15:07 Wow, Bucks don't have a backup point guard, just lost the life
15:10 and soul of the defense.
15:11 This is a huge loss, much bigger than people likely think.
15:15 Wow.
15:16 I legit couldn't tell if that was satire or not.
15:19 I couldn't, but I think he's being serious because from what I'd say,
15:23 like Pat Bev's washed, and I actually think that him being on the roster
15:28 gives Doc kind of like a crutch in that he'll kind of keep going back to Bev,
15:32 even if he's not effective because he's a veteran,
15:35 that's kind of what Doc does.
15:37 The problem with the Bucks is, like, what does this mean?
15:39 It's like, do you play more Andre Jackson or Marjon Beauchamp
15:43 or AJ Green?
15:45 It's like, AJ Green?
15:47 But--or Pat Connorson.
15:50 So I don't think it really matters because they're all kind of the same player
15:53 to me, but if that's actually true, then obviously we don't want to see injuries,
15:58 and I've talked about my respect for Patrick Beverley's career,
16:02 but if that makes the Bucks worse, then that's objectively good
16:06 for the Celtics, and that's just the reality.
16:09 Yeah, like Pat Bev can kind of defend certain types of guys,
16:14 and he can make some shots, and, like, when you have--you look at that Bucks bench,
16:19 like, it appears Ty Ty Washington is, like, the only real point guard
16:25 on the bench now, and he flamed out in one of the worst Houston Rockets teams
16:29 of all time.
16:31 Like, he couldn't even make that roster.
16:33 I'm not even sure he's on a full contract.
16:35 I think he might be on a two-way for them.
16:37 The coaches don't have a lot of options, and at least Pat Bev,
16:40 in a playoff series, you know he's playable.
16:43 He might not be, like, positive.
16:45 He might be negative, but compared to some of these, like,
16:48 unknown young guys who aren't really ball handlers, or Pat Connington,
16:52 who I think has been playing a little bit better recently
16:54 but has had a pretty bad year, yeah, they just really lack depth
16:59 all over the place, and Dox doesn't do depth any favors.
17:04 I mean, he's not real creative with how he uses, like, deep bench guys.
17:08 So it's bad news for the Bucks.
17:11 It sucks for Pat Bev.
17:12 As much as I hate him on the court, when I see clips of his podcast,
17:15 he does come off quite likable, so he seems like a pretty good dude
17:18 off the court, so it's too bad.
17:21 Yeah, absolutely.
17:23 And I suppose as far as how it pertains to the Celtics
17:25 and potentially this playoff matchup, these new rules of the NBA
17:29 are unwilling to acknowledge a better allowed physicality,
17:33 defensively, that obviously benefits a player like Pat Bev,
17:36 who has made a career out of being really physical and tenacious defensively.
17:40 He's now not a presence in a potential playoff series against the Bucks.
17:44 So as much as we despise injury and we want Pat Bev to get better
17:47 as soon as possible, that takes the pressure off, I think, our guards,
17:51 and potentially you think about guards getting switched onto KP,
17:54 and no matter how small they are, KP does have trouble with that added
17:57 physicality, which we're going to get to a little bit later.
17:59 Pat Bev out of the equation obviously makes life a little bit easier
18:02 for the Celtics.
18:03 So it's that weird situation where obviously you don't wish injury
18:05 on anyone, you hope that they get better soon, but you immediately recognize
18:09 it does ease some of that pressure, I think, defensively on the Celtics
18:12 if we do see the Bucks in the playoffs.
18:14 Speaking of the playoffs, I'm going to use this to segue
18:16 to some Joel Embiid news as well.
18:18 This is the current East playoff picture.
18:20 So we've got the Pacers in sixth, and they have per--
18:24 I can't remember the name of the website, playoffseeding.com--
18:26 Playoff status.
18:27 Playoff status. Thank you, Jake.
18:29 A 41% chance of holding the sixth seed, or a 27% chance of dropping
18:33 to the seventh seed.
18:34 In seventh place, the Heat.
18:36 They're 39-33 at the moment, so one loss back from the Pacers.
18:40 They have a 37% chance of holding on to that seventh seed,
18:43 or a 22% chance of climbing to the sixth.
18:45 Then we've got in eighth-- the eighth seed, eighth seed rather,
18:49 the Sixers--too many numbers--who are 39-33, so very close to the Heat there.
18:54 The ninth seed, we've got the Bulls, and tenth, we've got the Hawks.
18:57 As it stands currently, the Heat would be in that play-in pool,
19:02 if you will, along with the Sixers, the Bulls, and the Hawks.
19:06 Jake, I know you're captain of the ship of "We want to avoid the Heat
19:11 at all costs."
19:12 How does this current play-in/playoff picture make you feel?
19:16 We're going to play the Heat in round one.
19:18 [laughs]
19:19 Yeah.
19:20 They're the worst, dude.
19:22 Jimmy Baller's is not even playing.
19:26 They just don't seem to give a shit, dude.
19:30 They're going to fall out of the playoffs one of these years,
19:33 completely, and they're going to lose both play-ins.
19:36 They almost did this last year.
19:38 That's the big hope, right, is that they just completely fall out.
19:42 I'll talk about the NBA news now just because it parallels
19:47 with this point right here, is that Woj was just on TV talking
19:53 about how they expect Embiid back when, not if.
19:57 And Nick Nurse today is saying there's a very good likelihood
19:59 that Embiid's back before the start of the playoffs/play-in.
20:03 He's going to be back.
20:05 On Simmons's podcast, he was saying the same thing,
20:07 that he's going to be back.
20:09 The Sixers fans that I've interacted with, they're all going to have
20:13 the same information.
20:15 A lot of Celtics fans in our Discord just believe that Embiid's
20:19 not going to come back, which is, I think, possible, totally.
20:23 But I think all signs are pointing to him coming back,
20:25 I'm going to guess, like, three to five games before
20:28 the regular season ends.
20:30 And if he's healthy enough-ish, and the conditionings aren't going
20:34 to be that much of an issue in that context, last five games
20:37 and then a play-in game, I'd be pretty surprised if they don't
20:40 just win that play-in game because that's kind of where
20:43 he can be really good.
20:45 It's like, okay, one game, it's not the constant burden,
20:48 the conditioning's not going to pick up, potentially.
20:50 I could see him destroying, even if the Pacers do fall in.
20:54 41% sounds like a lot because it's a lot higher than the other numbers,
20:58 but that's obviously still, you know, they're still giving a 38% chance
21:03 that they fall into the seven or the eight seed.
21:05 So, like, still a very good chance they fall in there as well.
21:09 I think Embiid would destroy the Pacers in a one game,
21:12 or the Heat as well.
21:14 Like, I think that's very possible in a one-game scenario,
21:17 which pushes the Heat into the eight seed.
21:19 I think that, to me, seems like the most likely scenario right now,
21:21 and then we're going to have to rely on either the Bulls or the Hawks
21:24 to beat the Heat in a play-in game, which is legitimately possible.
21:30 Like, the Heat aren't good enough where that's not out of the realm
21:32 of possibility, clearly, because it almost happened last year.
21:35 But I think, I mean, you know, I don't know how much everybody
21:38 believes in the power of the universe, but if you do believe in it,
21:42 then you're probably feeling more likely than not right now
21:45 we're going to get the Heat in round one.
21:47 What do you think, Spence?
21:48 The Bucks swept the Heat on their way, avenging, I think,
21:52 a first round knockout.
21:54 No, a second round knockout in the bubble, and then avenged that
21:58 with a first round sweep of the Heat when they won the title.
22:02 So, you know, maybe--
22:04 Universe, I see you and I raise you another one.
22:08 I want a Tatum's watches.
22:10 So, yeah, I will never cheer for a non-Celtics team more than I will
22:15 cheer for the Chicago Bulls or Atlanta Hawks when they play the Miami Heat
22:19 in that play-in game.
22:20 Like, I will be--I might just drive up to Chicago, or I guess it'd be
22:24 in Miami.
22:25 Damn it, that's too far away.
22:26 Ooh, yeah.
22:28 So, go ahead, Jake.
22:30 Well, as I was going to say, secondarily, like, the subplot here is
22:34 the Embiid playing the Bucks in round one is like--
22:37 That's right.
22:38 That would be huge.
22:39 See, I would--I phrase it this way because that's just the trap we've
22:43 fallen into as fans.
22:44 I would rather face the Heat in the first round if it meant that we got
22:47 to see an Embiid-Yanis-Bucks-Sixers matchup in the first round as well
22:51 in that 2-7 spot.
22:52 So, it's a sacrifice we have to be willing to make to take on the Heat
22:56 in order to see those guys just take each other to seven games, hopefully,
22:59 and exhaust each other, assuming we do get by the Heat and see one of the
23:03 most likely Yanis down the road.
23:05 What an insane thing.
23:07 Jesus.
23:08 Do we think this is, like, the one time Embiid might get stronger as the
23:12 playoffs go on as he, like, plays himself into better shape?
23:15 Like, that's the one thing I'm thinking.
23:17 He's going to be so frigging out of shape in that first round
23:19 playoff series.
23:20 It's like, do you just want him then?
23:22 You can just run him off ball screens and make him, like, guard in space
23:25 and just blow by him.
23:27 But, I don't know.
23:28 I think I would trade that for that Yanis-Embiid series.
23:33 I want it.
23:34 I know Sixers fans want it bad.
23:36 Like, they're convinced that they would win that series for a variety
23:39 of reasons, I think principal being Doc Rivers and the fact that the Bucs
23:44 aren't good, that part, too.
23:47 Not a bad call.
23:48 Well, look, when we come back, we're going to talk about the Celtics'
23:50 crunch time issues and whether or not they're truly that bad.
23:53 But first, here's a quick word from our sponsor.
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25:00 Now, the Celtics crunch time issues.
25:03 Are they really that bad?
25:04 My three-minute, very shallow preliminary research and data mining suggests
25:10 maybe, yes, maybe it is that bad.
25:13 So the 2023-24 Celtics are in crunch time.
25:17 2011, pretty good, with a net rating of 19.1, which is good for 6th in the league.
25:24 And for reference there, the Bucks, who we saw shit the game down their legs
25:29 last night against the Lakers, 23-13, good for 3rd, at least in terms of
25:34 win-loss record in crunch time.
25:36 The Celtics post all-star break, however, 2-3 in crunch time games.
25:41 So under 500, with a net rating of -7, good for 19th in all rankings
25:47 post all-star break.
25:48 They're also dead last in pace on the year in crunch time, which I think
25:52 is probably the stat that jumps off the page the most and also the most obvious one.
25:58 We've got the clip here from one of the final possessions against the Hawks.
26:01 You could be forgiven for thinking that this clip was being played back to you
26:05 in slow motion.
26:06 It is not.
26:07 And it's everyone just meandering up the court.
26:10 KP sets this like nothing screen for Tatum, which just gets them nothing.
26:15 KP tries to set another screen, it's soft, they get nothing out of that.
26:19 The Hawks do a really good job of switching and it ends up in a contested
26:22 step-back three for Jalen Brown.
26:24 So they just took forever to get into that.
26:26 When they got into that, they were meandering on the screens and the actions
26:30 and they were sort of soft in their approach and their execution there.
26:33 Just terrible.
26:34 So while they're well and truly above 500 in crunch time games, it seems like
26:38 they've gotten worse and slower in their execution as the season has gone on.
26:43 However, and I promise I'll shut up soon, the 2008 Celtics, those guys who won
26:48 the title in 2008, they were 24-13 in crunch time, also 6th in the league
26:53 at that point, with a net rating of just 1.4.
26:57 And their offense in crunch time was ranked 25th overall.
27:00 The 2017 Golden State Warriors were 25th in crunch time win-loss record
27:06 with a 7.4 net rating.
27:09 And actually the Celtics, I think that was the last Isaiah Thomas year,
27:12 were first in net rating of that year.
27:14 Suffice to say, your crunch time execution and your rankings subsequently
27:19 don't have to be top of the table for you to be a championship caliber team.
27:23 That said, crunch time is what we're putting under the microscope
27:26 for this segment.
27:27 And let's just be honest, it doesn't look that great.
27:30 I don't know who wants to take the next stab here, but that's what I got.
27:34 Go Spanee.
27:36 I don't think it looks that bad statistically.
27:41 I mean, our net rating plus 19.1 in crunch time, that's really friggin' good.
27:47 The -7 recently is bad.
27:50 My guess is that's pretty small minutes.
27:53 On the pace thing, I think that's the stat that truly is infuriating.
28:00 But I think part of that is the Celtics very often are in the lead
28:04 in crunch time, whereas lots of teams probably are trying to catch up,
28:08 so they're playing faster.
28:09 So that goes into it.
28:10 But we all have eyes.
28:12 They're obviously playing way too friggin' slow in crunch time,
28:14 even if you can explain away.
28:16 They should be 28th in pace and not dead last.
28:18 But I don't think they're bad if it's like a five-point game
28:23 with like four minutes left.
28:25 But it's like the last two minutes really nail-biting time is when I think
28:30 that they really struggle.
28:32 So I did a - I deep-dove into some stats today.
28:35 We've attempted 46 shots when the score is within three,
28:40 and there's two minutes or less in the game.
28:42 We are shooting under 40% on twos, but 39% on threes.
28:49 All of the made threes are assisted.
28:52 We have not made a pull-up three when it's within three under two minutes.
28:57 At the rim, 55%.
29:00 Short midrange, 50%.
29:02 Corner three, four of six.
29:04 Above the break, three of 12.
29:06 Long midrange, one of nine.
29:09 That sounds right.
29:10 Yeah, and I think we all know who is probably to blame for that one of nine.
29:15 Peyton Pritchett.
29:16 Goddamn it.
29:18 Peyton would probably slick on it.
29:20 So I just think it's like we're really good at when we actually try
29:27 to generate good looks, corner threes, shots at the rim,
29:31 short midrange area, which, you know, late game,
29:33 that's not a bad look at all.
29:34 But when we settle for long midrange above the break threes,
29:38 we are terrible at it.
29:40 And it just goes to like back to that frustrating thing is like you guys know
29:44 how to generate these good shots.
29:45 We just watched it for 46 minutes.
29:48 Just keep doing that.
29:50 And I get there's a balance that you don't want to turn it over,
29:53 but there's also a balance of like, yeah, that clip's a great,
29:56 great example, Ben, of like they're just not doing things with force.
30:01 They're going through the motions.
30:03 And this is the last time you should be going through the --
30:05 like go through the motions in the first quarter, boys.
30:08 So something needs to get fixed.
30:10 But I had like a Zen moment this morning when I was drinking my morning coffee.
30:15 I trust Joe Mazzuolo to fix it.
30:17 I really think -- I think last game was like going to be the breaking point,
30:20 and I think they'll do better from here on out.
30:23 It's funny.
30:24 Like with last game in particular, I'm just like I'm kind of whatever with it
30:28 because I think it was just so obviously bad.
30:31 Like you're going to watch film for five seconds and be like, yeah,
30:34 that was a disaster.
30:36 There's no Derek White.
30:38 And what's funny with all of these records with and without players,
30:42 KP we're like 17 and 3, no Jalen, we're undefeated,
30:46 Tatum we've lost only one.
30:48 But Derek White has missed six games, and we're 3 and 3 in those Derek
30:52 White games.
30:53 It's like he is so important, and especially in these moments,
30:58 Dr. Germ scary in the chat here.
31:00 I bet Derek White made all those clutch shots.
31:03 Derek White has been insane in the clutch.
31:05 Yeah, he's at like 47% from three in the clutch.
31:08 He's massively important in the clutch.
31:11 And like you talked about those minutes, Spoonie, so 2 and 3,
31:15 that's 17 total minutes over those five games.
31:20 So like the sample size is insanely small.
31:24 So from a statistics perspective, and Ben, you're on it.
31:28 Like always, you just don't have to be good to win a title in the clutch.
31:31 Phoenix Suns were the best crunch time team in the NBA.
31:34 They went to the finals and lost to the Bucks and went through a Mickey
31:38 Mouse run as well through the playoffs.
31:40 Like you just don't have to be.
31:42 And you guys have been everyone here.
31:44 We've all been through the last couple of playoff runs where crunch time
31:46 has not been.
31:47 It's just not a strength.
31:49 Like this team is so good at everything.
31:51 And this is why we come back to this is because it's like they're number
31:55 one or number two or number three in just like everything with a bullet.
31:58 You'd like you name the thing and there's elite at it.
32:01 And it's just like the one thing.
32:03 And it's like, it's a glaring thing because one,
32:05 it's the only thing they're not good at.
32:07 And obviously it matters when it comes down to big moments.
32:10 And you remember big moments going back to my point at the top,
32:12 you remember things that don't happen very often.
32:15 And it's like, don't lose games very often.
32:17 And I don't do this very often.
32:19 I think my point with this is like, this team is better.
32:23 And so it's like,
32:24 they're better in the clutch than they have been the last couple of years.
32:27 You can go back and look at all the blown leads in the Adoka season.
32:30 Way more, way worse in the, in the clutch.
32:32 This team is better in clutch time, better defensively,
32:35 better offensively in a variety of ways.
32:39 So it's like, yes, I think it's okay to be like,
32:42 this is not a strength of this team.
32:44 I think they can be better.
32:45 And I kind of write off this post all-star break thing as well.
32:48 It's like right now to be this, you kind of have to trick them.
32:51 You've got to be, you've got to be down 20 in the fourth quarter.
32:55 And then you might be able to come back.
32:57 Cause the Celtics are like, fuck it dude, it's March.
33:00 This is why we do this.
33:02 I feel better already. That was, that was great.
33:04 I will also add that like not all crunch times are the same.
33:07 So correct me if I'm wrong,
33:08 but the parameters or the criteria for crunch time is within five points and
33:12 within five minutes or less to go.
33:14 And how we arrived at that point in this Hawks game is the Celtics had been
33:18 up by 30. And as we approached that five minutes to go, Mark,
33:21 the Hawks had been on this massive run to get the game close and therefore had
33:25 all of the momentum. It wasn't this tit for tat game was on a knife's edge,
33:30 super close the whole way through with both teams exchanging punches.
33:34 It was the Hawks had all the momentum arriving at that point,
33:37 which I think you could attribute to the Celtics lack of pace and momentum at
33:41 that point as well. Do you know what I mean?
33:43 Like it wasn't the recipe for that particular crunch time circumstances was,
33:48 was different to others that we've seen say against the wolves of the Nuggets
33:51 so far this season.
33:52 And they had some really good crunch time possessions.
33:58 Like they had that nice Tatum drive for a dunk.
34:00 Like it wasn't all a disaster.
34:02 It's just those like last two are so bad that those are the ones like the Tatum
34:06 turnover and then the Jalen. I don't, I don't, the controller shut off.
34:10 Like whatever.
34:11 It almost went in dude. It was just hilarious.
34:13 It's so funny. Yeah. Like there's five.
34:15 I almost got the rebound. Yeah. There's five possessions, right?
34:18 The Tatum dunk, the Tatum pull up on the left elbow.
34:21 And Jalen also hit a shot from the left elbow too.
34:23 So it's like those five possessions, they actually went three for five.
34:26 Right. Disaster, bad process agreed. But it's, and like, but you know,
34:33 you zoom out just a tiny bit. It's like, actually not so bad.
34:37 That Tatum dunk goes into the put back chamber of secrets buried on the
34:42 ground with all the other great moments in losses.
34:45 That was such a sick dunk. Jalen Brown dunking on Maxi Kleber on KG's
34:50 retirement night. Yeah, exactly.
34:53 One day after we've won banner 18,
34:55 we'll kick back with a two hour pod and then watch through it.
34:58 Cause suddenly like those moments are revived.
35:00 It was all on the road to the championship,
35:02 but right now they have to be buried unfortunately,
35:05 but that was a sick dunk. Yeah, very deep. All right. Well, look,
35:10 we'll end with some news of the day and we'll get to this Hawks game
35:13 tomorrow, which I think we all hopefully assume is going to be a blowout as
35:17 the Celtics kick back after that very disappointing loss.
35:21 And hopefully we get a Jason Tatum makeup dunk in a win on that one.
35:25 But Jason Tatum appeared on, I don't know the name of the show.
35:28 This is the level of research that goes into this podcast guys,
35:31 the post game show on TNT and got stuck in this one-on-one conversation
35:36 with Shaq about whether Tatum would try and dunk on him in a real game.
35:39 Situation. We saw in the playoffs, your epic dunk against LeBron.
35:43 A couple years back. We saw,
35:45 we've seen like you get people in this generation back in the old days.
35:50 Would you have tried Shaq coming down the lane? No, no.
35:53 Oh, he's looking straight in your, would you have tried him?
35:56 No. Well, hold on.
35:58 I'm not asking you. I love his mom. I love his dad. I love,
36:04 I love this little man, but he know I would have put him on the ground.
36:07 He said he would try. I would have tried. No, he wouldn't have tried.
36:10 I'm just, I've only been dunked on twice in 20 years.
36:13 There's a reason for that. Relax. Only twice? I'll put you down.
36:16 I'm trying. I'm telling you.
36:19 Twice. Only twice. But you would have gone for it.
36:22 You gotta try. You have to. He feels obligated to try.
36:27 He said he'd catch you slipping. So lane help side.
36:30 Slow news eh? So we're running with this,
36:35 but Shaq walking towards him in sort of a semi threatening stance.
36:39 Like I think he's wearing sketches as well.
36:42 Some sort of ankle supporting geriatric shoe or footwear.
36:46 I don't know. Do you guys think that Tatum would try and dunk on Shaq?
36:49 It's a strange hypothetical, but this is where we're at.
36:51 I technically, he would if he, if the situation presented itself,
36:57 but I, Shaq's probably right. I don't know. I don't know if Jason's,
37:02 it's not really his game dunking on people like Shaq.
37:05 That's more Jalen. Jalen would try it. Oh yeah. He would have his at it already.
37:10 What do you think Spoonce?
37:11 JT like dunks around people, not really like on their heads like JB does.
37:17 So, and there's no getting around Shaq,
37:20 especially at this age where he's widened out a bit as well.
37:23 But dude, Jared Greenberg is tall, man. I don't know why.
37:28 I just assumed he was short, but he's like, you got me like 6'3", 6'4".
37:31 He's like Jamal Crawford's height, which is what I took away from that clip.
37:35 But yeah, I thought Shaq was going to murder him.
37:37 Isn't that Lefkoe?
37:38 Oh, is that Lefkoe? Oh, is it?
37:40 The guy on the left next to Shaq? Yeah. That's Lefkoe.
37:44 I was like, who's, who's Jared Greenberg?
37:47 He's like the NBA TV guy, right?
37:49 Yeah. The guy that does get up. Host.
37:51 Maybe that guy's short then. Anyway, it's not important.
37:55 I was like, I'm pretty sure that's Lefkoe.
37:57 Yeah, you're right. You're right. My bad.
37:59 Taller, taller than I thought too.
38:01 Dude, that's awesome.
38:02 Because I saw some photos of Tatum and Shaq like taking a photo
38:06 and like the angles and people were like, oh, Tatum's so tall.
38:09 You see the angle right there where everybody's like flat across?
38:12 Shaq's so much bigger than Tatum did.
38:15 Oh, yeah. It's just not close at all.
38:18 I have another news thing, Ben, that I don't think is on the run sheet
38:21 before we get to the Hawks thing that I didn't have time to upload.
38:24 But all the Celtics, a bunch of the Celtics went to the main team
38:30 play against the Atlanta team and like Hauser was there.
38:33 Joe Quiet was there and Jordan Walsh got interviewed by Noah,
38:38 who we got to get on the podcast.
38:40 Noah was like talking to Walsh and he's like, I love seeing these guys come
38:44 and see that I'm like not a bum and that I can actually hoop.
38:46 And I just enjoy that everybody like went and watched him
38:50 and he was super excited to have them there.
38:52 I don't know if you guys ever played like varsity or junior varsity.
38:56 If you're on junior varsity and the varsity team watches you, it's sick.
38:59 And if you're on varsity and you watch the JV team, you're like,
39:02 you're super hyped for them and you can tell they really appreciate
39:04 you guys being there.
39:06 These guys aren't that much older than those guys anyway,
39:08 especially Walsh, right? He's like 19.
39:11 I'm sure he would have loved it.
39:13 Yeah, amazing. I once went on a basketball tour of New Zealand,
39:18 which is like the peak of my high school basketball playing days.
39:22 And I was in the B squad, you know, untalented as I am,
39:25 athletically speaking.
39:27 And yeah, the A squad would hang around and watch our games afterwards,
39:30 which meant everything on the odd occasion where I would score
39:32 or do something that made it look like I was a competent athlete,
39:36 they would all cheer. So I get those vibes.
39:38 That's awesome, man. It kind of, it's an extension of that plane shot,
39:41 sort of pre Lamar Stevens, Trey, where it was a photo of the team
39:45 posing together on the, on the plane.
39:47 This is just another iteration of that, right?
39:49 Just another example that this team has galvanized to the, you know,
39:53 like most championship teams are,
39:55 obviously it's a stretch to make that connection that if they show up
39:58 to a G League game, it means they're going to win the title.
40:00 But they've left no doubt that at least the chemistry side of things
40:03 is completely taken care of.
40:05 I was going to say in that game that they did watch,
40:07 the main Celtics did beat the college park Skyhawks 127 to 112.
40:13 Jordan Walsh had 19, nine boards, one assist, one turnover.
40:17 Did go one for five from three, which is tough, but man,
40:21 Cater out here, dude, just killing people.
40:22 Nine for 11, nine boards, three assists, three blocks.
40:25 And then JD 13 and eight, three steals.
40:29 Drew Peterson quietly, 0 for seven from the, oh, Jaden Springer, 26 points.
40:34 11 for 18 with six rebounds, three assists.
40:38 All right.
40:39 We've got a few guys who exist in that groove,
40:42 that chasm between the G League and the NBA where they're too good for one
40:46 and just not good enough for the other,
40:48 which makes for a really dominant G League team.
40:50 Apparently they've been awesome.
40:51 I've been watching the highlights pretty consistently throughout the season
40:54 and they've been fantastic.
40:55 Hopefully we'll see some of them in Vegas for summer league in July.
40:59 Yeah.
41:00 It's like the quadruple A players in baseball,
41:02 like the two good for triple A, not good enough for the big leagues.
41:06 Yeah.
41:07 It really makes you appreciate when Springer looks like an all-star
41:10 and then he gets on the court and he looks like he's never dribbled a
41:12 basketball before in the NBA.
41:14 It's like these dudes are such in a crazy level.
41:16 Yeah.
41:17 Jesus, dude.
41:18 Like Springer 11 for 18?
41:20 Nuts.
41:21 Not bad.
41:22 Not bad at all.
41:23 Let's wrap on this.
41:25 The Hawks, who we play tomorrow in Atlanta again,
41:28 are up seven on the Blazers while the Celtics just chill out,
41:31 go to G League games and presumably play golf.
41:33 Who knows what else?
41:36 Predictions for this game?
41:37 I know we pretty much hit on that already, Jake,
41:39 but how do you think this one's going to go tomorrow?
41:42 Right.
41:43 So injury report wise, I think we've got -- do we have it here?
41:47 We do.
41:48 We do?
41:49 Do you want to -- we got -- I know Drew questionable,
41:52 Horford questionable, Springer questionable,
41:54 which is funny because Springer played yesterday.
41:57 But my guess is we don't see Al or Drew.
42:00 The big toast brain is like that's just code for Al's not playing tomorrow.
42:04 And Drew, I mean, I think it's just great news.
42:08 The biggest news of the week probably is that Drew Holiday has been moved to
42:11 questionable for the shoulder after people deep diving into dead arm
42:15 surgery potential options at the end of the season.
42:19 And so that's huge.
42:21 Get Derek White back up, but I expect him to come out pretty focused.
42:26 But I don't know.
42:28 March is a mess, dude.
42:30 We got freaking Jalen Green playing for the Rockets, like dominating again.
42:34 For the first time in his career.
42:36 Like Curry.
42:37 Yeah, March is like this period right now you have to just throw it away for
42:41 the most part.
42:42 Like if your team, like the Celtics, doesn't have anything to play for,
42:46 like we did the part where we're looking for things to enjoy.
42:50 Reading too much into anything, like from big picture wise, is a mistake.
42:54 But like little things like Pritchard and stuff playing well,
42:56 that's really what we're kind of looking for.
42:59 These guys have proved what they're capable of and what they can do,
43:03 what they should do.
43:04 Six game lead on the Western Conference at this point.
43:07 Like we're a couple of wins away from knocking this whole thing up.
43:11 Yeah, I wonder if they come out like that,
43:13 got knocked in their pride a little bit with that Atlanta loss and come out
43:17 and just kill them is kind of what I expect, even though, yeah,
43:20 you're right, Jake.
43:21 Like it is totally meaningless for them.
43:23 Like they got such a big cushion even on the West that the goal is to not
43:28 have anyone get hurt.
43:29 And can the refs like call it, like call fouls at some point?
43:33 Like I was afraid somebody was going to get hurt in that Atlanta game.
43:37 Like Wesley Matthews was like out to hit people, dude.
43:41 Like there was so much contact on every off ball action we had.
43:45 It was crazy, man.
43:46 At one point he just like two hands on Sam Houser was trying to set a screen
43:50 and like pushed him up to the three point line.
43:53 It was crazy.
43:54 So don't get hurt.
43:56 Try and get a win.
43:57 I do think they're going to come out and whip ass though.
43:59 I think so.
44:01 Can we see KP just get in a little bit more of a rhythm?
44:04 I know you guys aren't necessarily like along on the ride with me here,
44:07 but he's just come back from the hamstring thing.
44:09 But I am a little worried.
44:11 And, you know, after this we're going to record our underrated plays video,
44:14 which will be up on our YouTube channel in a couple of days.
44:17 But he has looked like he has struggled with that added level of physicality.
44:20 Those fouls that the refs are no longer calling.
44:22 And so I'd love to see him just begin to grow used to that.
44:26 Because you know what basketball environment is incredibly physical
44:30 where less fouls are called?
44:31 It's the playoffs.
44:32 And they're right around the corner.
44:33 So like now's the time for KP to adjust to this.
44:36 And I'd love to see a nice healthy stretch of KP just like getting those switches
44:41 and kind of dominating out of them because he just hasn't been doing that
44:44 since he's been back.
44:46 My scale of worriedness from zero to Ben Vallis is like three.
44:49 So I'm not all the way up there yet, but it's beginning to rise a little bit.
44:53 I would like that too.
44:55 Absolutely.
44:56 No question.
44:57 Let's get KP, you know, 20 and five tomorrow.
45:00 And just on like a nice efficiency game.
45:04 All right. Book it.
45:05 That's going to do it for this one.
45:06 Thank you so much for joining us.
45:08 Hit that like button.
45:09 Subscribe.
45:10 You guys know the drill.
45:11 Spoonie, Jake, love your work, guys.
45:13 Until next time, go Celtics.
45:14 I love the Celtics.
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