10 takeaways from tonight in the NBA:
1) Payton Pritchard gave us a warning earlier today...
"JB, that’s a snub. I don’t understand how you can be the number one team by a wide margin and only have one (All-NBA team member)."
The Jaylen Brown snub game was inevitable. Ties a playoff career-high with 40 points and all within the flow of the game. Nothing was forced, made the correct reads, played excellent defense. Pacers had no answer for him. Petty Jaylen Brown is peak Jaylen Brown.
Talked about his free throw shooting after Game 1. Came into tonight shooting 61.5 FT% in the postseason. Stayed after shootaround to get some extra work on his free throws and kept going up until tip-off. He made 8-of-11.
Worth mentioning that his left wrist was bothering him during the game. Same wrist that bothered him earlier this season. Was seen holding it at times. Whenever the team had to help him up, they'd grab him by the forearm rather than the hand. Obviously played through it.
"I think stuff like that does motivate him, but I also know he really wants to win." - Joe Mazzulla on the snub
"I mean, we're two games from the Finals, so honestly, I don't got the time to give a f*ck." - Jaylen Brown on being snubbed from the All-NBA team
2) All eyes are on Tyrese now. Exited this one with left hamstring soreness. Same hammy that kept him out for 10 games in January. Was noticeably limping to the bus. Carlisle said they'd monitor his status over the next two days before Game 3. Yeah, this ain't good at all. Hope Rick don't play cards, by the way, cause that poker face ain't fooling anyone. Poor guy looked so worried... and rightfully so.
To make matters worse, Hali spent most of halftime in the medical exam room dealing with a sore chest. Underwent imaging and everything. Carlisle confirmed that he took a hit to the chest. It's all bad.
"It’s a left hamstring, I believe that’s the same hamstring as before. It’s sore, so… I know there’s HIPAA laws and stuff like that, but I can safely say it's sore. I know you want details but I don't have much. It’s sore.” - Rick Carlisle
This ain't no laughing matter, but he really brought up HIPAA!
3) This is where sh*t gets weird. Pacers were down 13 entering the fourth and Carlisle essentially waived the white flag. I'm not joking. It seemed weird when Doug McDermott entered the game, but Nesmith was in foul trouble so I told myself a story. Then he took out Siakam and that's when it hit me that... he gave up once he heard the Haliburton news.
I'll be the first to admit that I'm far from being qualified to coach a high school team, let alone an NBA team. You can't convince me that a move like this doesn't poke at a player's ego. Show the rest of the boys some damn confidence man. It's the Eastern Conference Finals!
"We weren't giving up. It was an opportunity to get some energetic, fresh guys out there to fight. And they did some good things... Pascal was very tired." - Rick Carlisle
Yeah, OK.
4) You knew the Pacers' plan once the game started. Pascal Siakam went right at Al Horford on the first two plays of the game. They attacked him in the second half of Game 1 and it carried over into tonight.
He torched the Celtics for 28 points on 82.4 TS% (13-17 FG) and didn't even play the final 9:25. That's what irks me so much more about the pulling of the starters. Siakam was straight cooking the Celts. Give him a chance to see what he can do, with or without Tyrese.
"It's gonna suck tonight, losing, but we have guys that understand how hard it is to win. We're going to bounce back." - Pascal Siakam
5) Came in today wondering if Luke Kornet would lose his rotation spot. Myles Turner abused that matchup in Game 1 and Xavier Tillman returned after missing on Tuesday. Looked like nothing would change. Kornet entered the game when he usually does but hurt his left wrist going for a rebound and didn't return. Celts are calling it a sprain. Mazzulla had no updates in the postgame but this was all a blessing in disguise...
6) Oshae Brissett (2 points, 3 steals) was used as a "break in case of emergency" play and it worked out better than they could ever have expected. Was a +18 in just 12 minutes, which tied a team-high. Brissett brought in some much-needed energy and earned the right to get some Game 3 minutes. Mazzulla had no intention of going small. Even Oshae said afterward that he hadn't practiced with that lineup. Must feel good to get to do that against your former team.
"He plays with such a high level of intensity and energy, it's big for us." - Joe Mazzulla on Oshae Brissett
"I was just excited. I’m still excited. I’m trying to calm myself down." - Oshae Brissett
7) Not leaving without giving Jrue Holiday (15 points, 10 assists) some love.
Over his last five games:
18.0 PPG
5.6 RPG
6.4 APG
79.6 TS%
Doing everything, including his usual lockdown defense.
"They’re just really good basketball players." - Joe Mazzulla on his backcourt
8) Ben Sheppard (7 points, -14) is a cool story and all, but he's not bringing much to the table if he's shooting 0.0% from 3. They'll stick with him since he shot 45.0% in the Conference Semifinals, but he's now 0-6 in Games 1 and 2. I can't stress this enough, but these 3s are wide open.
9) Jayson Tatum's been getting bailed out cause that's now two straight games (if we don't count OT) of piss-poor shooting (23 points, 1-7 3PT). Usually does a good job of positively affecting the game when his shot ain't falling, but not tonight. Only had six boards and five assists, was the only Celtic other than the injured Kornet to not have a positive +/- (0), and the defense was kinda shaky. He was getting blown by often. Sh*t, during a specific stint, Boston outscored Indy by 15 when Tatum was on the bench for over four minutes. Check this... he has the lowest 3PT% of all regular starting lineup players remaining in the playoffs (26.6%). Yikes.
Celtics beat the Pacers 126-110. Congrats on your 23rd Finals appearance, Boston.
10) Cavs fired JB Bickerstaff. The Summer of Donny has officially begun. They'll make every move in hopes of pleasing Donovan Mitchell. Next comes the Darius Garland decision and what to do with Jarrett Allen.
"Sources tell me that Kenny Atkinson and James Borrego are among the leading candidates to replace Bickerstaff... There is a lot of optimism around the Cavs that they're going to get a commitment from Donovan Mitchell on a 4-year, $208 million extension." - Shams
Excited to see how this all unfolds. Much love. ❤️
