LOL what were the odds that Vuc would get the first Ruocco “You bet!” of the day? 1000000000:1 ???

Let’s do this ☘️☘️☘️☘️

Something I’m really interested to see early is if we maintain the same Tatum sub patterns from the end of the regular season. Joe got comfortable taking him off the floor first and having him return before the 1st quarter. I wonder if he does that and then Tatum plays the whole second quarter

Quick thoughts on last night:

I don’t think games where All-NBA guys are deliberately load managed are worth analyzing too deeply.

That said, I thought the Knicks were a scary matchup for the Celtics all season long, and I still do. Last night wouldn’t have changed that regardless of the outcome

I think the situation this year is slightly unprecedented because everyone had an opportunity to level up without Tatum for 2/3rds of the season so he returned to a better version of his teammates than when he last played with them. And it’s worked out so well. You don’t get that opportunity often

Yeah that’s what I was thinking!

I can’t remember the last time the Celtics looked this locked in this close to the postseason

It’s time for the annual reiteration of my most correct take:

April Fools Day is the worst “holiday” and if you’re doing April Fools pranks past the age of 14 then there’s something wrong with you

Obviously these are unprecedented times for Tatum given what he’s returning from, but he has a long history (by that I mean years and years worth) of mitigating the impact of not having Jaylen in the lineup. That second half reminded me of some of those past performances

The Tatum we’re getting in the second half is basically perfect. I couldn’t care less what the shooting splits are.

Initiate the offense, be aggressive, and good things will keep happening

I think he’s earned playoff minutes regardless because of all the little things he does. But to stay on the court he’ll need to knock down shots. The fact he hit a bunch of big ones tonight in what was essentially a playoff atmosphere is so encouraging

He still has to go out there and do it, but as we get closer to April, my confidence that Baylor will hit shots in the playoffs keeps growing

Yeah that’s the thing. It wasn’t like a rare stinker or anything. They mostly played their game and we beat them. Maybe the only thing that was slightly anomalous was SGA’s missed free throws in the 4th. But he was still awesome. And we beat him. I thought the defense on him in crunch time was good

Best win since the 24 Finals

The team needs to help set him up for success. They aren’t doing that at all

The moment I knew the 2023 team wasn’t it was when Immanuel Quickley came into our building and danced all over us. Was around this point in the season too.

Not trying to get too carried away, but I got similar vibes from Bones Hyland tonight

a man with white hair and a beard says things are now in motion that cannot be undone .. ALT: a man with white hair and a beard says things are now in motion that cannot be undone ..

About to be closer to the 1 seed than to the 3 seed

1. Boston

2. Detroit

3. New York

4. Cleveland

That’s the perfect order* and it’s looking more and more like a possibility 👀

*As long as Charlotte isn’t the 8 seed lol

Tonight was fun

See it’s nights like this that make we wonder about that institutional experience.

The Hornets have never played a truly meaningful basketball game before. They went into a building where actual championships are won and ran us the fuck out of the gym. We couldn’t intimidate them even a little bit?

I guess we’ll see how the last 5 weeks of the regular season play out but yeah, I think after what they’ve done this season there should be expectations on the postseason, even if we both agree they have a pretty hard ceiling.

But obviously Tatum is such a crazy and unprecedented wildcard

Of course, this year we won’t have much choice in the matter. Those guys will have to play in the playoffs

Still think they can leverage some value from it. If we think we’re going to need Baylor, Hugo, and Walsh to step up in subsequent postseasons when our contention is stronger (I.e. when Tatum is completely back and maybe the roster is a bit better) might as well let them take their lumps this year

There are just too many guys on this roster who can wake up and decide to shoot 1/10. Half the role players have never played a second of meaningful playoff basketball.

They’ll need consistent A performances from Brown, Tatum, and White to make any kind of run

This is hitting me a little harder than I thought it would.
Usually when a team with any semblance of championship moxie plays a young team that’s *maybe* a little too big for their britches, they show them what’s what. They provide SOME resistance. They don’t get blown the fuck out.
I’m concerned

The most crucial stretch of the NBA season is right after the All-Star break. It’s when teams establish who they will be going forward

The 2024 Celtics went 5-2 with a +17.4 avg point differential in their first 7 games after the break.

The 2026 Celtics are 6-1 with a +15.7 point differential

Damn you guys are getting shit done!

a man wearing a baseball cap says so sorry to interrupt ALT: a man wearing a baseball cap says so sorry to interrupt

Me inserting myself into the Bluesky discourse I’ve missed out on