Following a Game 5 loss at home on Tuesday, the Celtics are now one game away from elimination, heading to Philadelphia down 3-2 in the second round series. With Joe Mazzulla taking much of the blame for the Celtics‘ up-and-down play in the series, Marcus Smart jumped to the defense of the first-year head coach, telling Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com that “it’s not just one person’s fault.”
“We still believe in our coach. We believe in Joe to the fullest,” Smart said. “We haven’t lost faith in him and we won’t. He has a game plan; it’s on us to go out and execute it. We’re the ones out there playing, so we’ve got to help him. He’s been doing great.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- A rival general manager believes Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri is “really, really frustrated,” pointing to Toronto’s disappointing season and Fred VanVleet‘s looming free agency as sources of Ujiri’s supposed discontent, according to Bulpett. “(VanVleet) hasn’t shown him any indication that he wants to stay. So I think he’s really down about that situation,” the GM told Heavy.com. “Maybe it’s because everything’s still so fresh, but there’s a lot they have to get done there. It didn’t surprise anyone that (head coach) Nick (Nurse) moved on.” The GM added that the Wizards, who are in the market for a new head of basketball operations, may pursue Ujiri again this spring.
- Responding to a tweet claiming that he has been getting “abused” by center Bam Adebayo in the second round series against the Heat, Knicks center Mitchell Robinson pushed back, suggesting that he has to provide help “every time” on defense. Zach Braziller of The New York Post has the story.
- Viewed as one of the Sixers‘ key additions last offseason, Danuel House has been out of the rotation in the playoffs. However, as Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes, the veteran wing logged 15 minutes in the team’s Game 5 win and played well, scoring 10 points and grabbing five rebounds. “My job is to bring energy, showcase a little something for the team, to guard the yard and make sure I’m executing plays,” House said after Philadelphia’s victory. “… It was a joy to be out there, to be honest.”
This must be posturing by FVVs camp. He had a subpar season and he knows it. There will not be teams clamoring to give him huge term
Yes there will.
VanFleet is so overrated. Whoever pays him will regret it immediately
He is, man loves to play Hero ball.
He’s also a shocking low-efficiency shooter. He’s never met 56% TS, and he’s even worse by eFG%. He’s not as good as his surface numbers imply.
I said that before his last contract, but I actually think I was wrong for the right reasons. I thought they could have done better with their flexibility, and used that money better, which is probably correct, but he also played more up to the deal than I expected, and was more important once they lost Lowry
On their roster though, I questioned whether he should still be a starter b/c I thought he could have been really effective for them off the bench as a 6th man/attacker/primary option. They have a lot of guys that need the ball in their hands, and a lot of potentially really interesting lineups with guys like Barnes or Banton as a guard or at the 4/5. Barnes, Trent, OG, Siakam, Boucher would have been my suggested starting lineup
Mazzulla is straight up trash.
He was third assistant coach last year so cool it down, while Tatum is still not a franchise leader, just a 3pt contest all star participant like Julius Randle is …
I’d say most here have always killed Doc. Not just the clowns. Well he’s out coaching Mazzulla. And about ready to go to East Finals.
Provide help does not mean you leave their best big alone in paint. Bam is schooling Mitch. Mitch should never go past the FT line. Rim Protection look it up.
Thibs is getting schooled too …….
Better not let them clinch it in NY.
Boston hasnt used certain guys in this matchup, and it’s really confusing. If you’re getting out coached by doc rivers, you probably need to figure something out. That’s 3 coaches now that have come in, and done similar things, and then for them to lose a matchup like this…
I thought they would have made the lineup changes a couple of games ago, but if they dont change anything, they’re probably going home, unless someone puts up a massive game
In this matchup, I think going back to Brown and Tatum at the 2/3 would better exploit Philly’s issue guarding on the wing/give them guard attackers to go at Philly’s not great defensive guards (besides Melton). I also dont get why Hauser isnt playing off the bench, or Grant Williams, unless they’re trying to be bring his worth down heading into the summer?
I still dont get how the same Nick Nurse that coached his first 2 years is the same one the last 2 years. He went from using all the right lineups and rotation changes depending on matchup, unlike most in the league, and then went to what are these lineups??
I can see why Ujiri would be frustrated b/c I really liked his roster, especially this year. They’ve had a lot of injuries, but definitely would have liked to have seen their best options out there together, with all their versatility, playmaking, defense
Mitch isn’t wrong. The stats back it too; he’s the only Knick who had a positive +/- in game 4 (it was only a plus-1 over 33 minutes).
Unless there’s been a categorical change in their conditions, I’d sit Brunson and Randle in game 5. They can’t move. Whatever Brunson found inside to overcome past injuries to perform at a high level, simply isn’t there with this injury. No more games are needed to demonstrate it. Randle has never been hurt before as a Knick, so I really don’t know if he ever played through an injury effectively; but he’s the type that would figure to struggle, and he has. Love Quickley, but change if from doubtful to out.
Start McBride, Grimes, Barrett, Toppin and Mitch, backed up by Hart and Hartenstein (maybe Rose if he’s up to it). We’ll lose, but we’re doing that anyway. At least with a healthy 7 we’ll be able to play to our identity. All these guys are part of that; each was at least a rotation player for us at one point this year.