Game 5 Picks And Analysis Going Into The Most Important Week Of This Era Of Celtics Basketball

Let me start off by guaranteeing Celts in 7. They are the more talented team all around. Looking at the team’s superstars in Embiid and Tatum, I think it’s pretty clear Tatum takes the cake. I know Philly fans will whine about the knee injury but he was extremely dominant for the first three​​ quarters of the past two games before getting absolutely gassed in the fourth. The stats speak for themselves – Embiid and Tatum went 1/7 and 1/3, respecitviely from the field in Q4 last game. Tatum also just outperformed him physically.

That being said, I haven’t been able to go to sleep (or even close my eyes) without seeing Jaylen Brown moving to help guard the strong side shooter. It’s pretty clear the Celtics number one enemy is themselves. A LOT of things were downright awful about them last game.

Tatum in the first half. HORRENDOUS. He made ONE pullup jumper off nine shots. I guarantee my boy Amos from back home who plays for SLC would’ve put up at least 4. That’s pretty inexcusable but hear me out… he was still making plays (6 assists, cashed the over there), dominating the court (18 rebounds, 4 of them ORs), and he popped the fuck off in the fourth, so I’ll let it slide. I will admit though, the non-offensive foul call on Jayson Tatum was egregious. It was SO obvious that he pushed off of Tyrese Maxey I was almost in tears from laughter. I didn’t want to jinx anything but the refs were letting Maxey and PJ Tucker get a little extra physical (which is good for basketball if it’s both ways, but it wasn’t imo). Also Doris Burke Jesus Christ just say you’re hooking up with a guy involved with the Sixers already. We get it, you hate us.

Anyways, the Celtics NEEDED Brad Stevens on the court. Not to discredit Joe Mazzulla in any way shape or form. It’s incredible what he’s done with this team since Ime got caught banging his event planner. But come ON man. I don’t mind letting the team play it out at the end of regulation when the game is tied. If you don’t call a timeout and they make it you’re lauded. If they don’t make it you got to OT, which is what happened. I also don’t mind letting Marcus Smart take that shot instead of Tatum – Smart sunk his second three point jumper of the quarter late in the fourth and although Tatum started heating up, I felt it was a more reliable play.

But at the end of OT when you’re down by a basket and haven’t used a single goddam timeout, FUCKING CALL ONE. I almost sent my dog into convulsions screaming at the TV I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The Celtics (Tatum) took wayyy too long to set up that play after Jaylen Brown’s misread led to Harden putting the Sixers up 116-115. Tatum was playing like the game was still tied and although Smart’s second buzzer beater attempt was butter, he didn’t get it off in time. That is 1000% a coaching error and if Stevens were here it would’ve been series over already. But alas, here we are.

Game 5. At home. The first of possibly the two most important games of the Brown/Tatum Celtics era. Let me remind everyone: the winner of a game 5 series when the series is tied 2-2 has gone on to win the series 80% of the time. Although the Celtics defied history against the Bucks last year, I absolutely feel uneasy about their ability to do it again.

Also, the NBA Awards are tomorrow. If Jaylen brown makes ANY of the three All NBA teams, he becomes eligible for the supermax extension (5 years, $290 million). I personally don’t fear Jaylen running to another team if he doesn’t make it, but I also have zero clue what’s going through his head. What I do know though is that NO NBA Player in history has turned down the supermax.

So yea, this is a huge game for the Celtics and if three things in life are certain, they are death, taxes, and Jaylen Brown playing absolutely nuts in his Batman-esque mask. He went 23/3/5 and was arguably the best player on the field for the Celts, both offensively and defensively. He was literally SO good. It physically hurts rewatching him leave Harden wide open in the corner with less than 30 seconds left over and over in my mind. But why was Tatum even guarding Emiid to begin with?? Because of the change Mazzulla made on defense.

The Celts literally had the game in the bag and had the Sixers under control and then when OT came around, they switched to Tatum on Embiid even though Al Horford played outstanding defense on him the entire game. Please make it make sense. The guy had FIVE blocks and had Embiid so shook that PJ Tucker had to go Jon Taffer up in his face. Then they didn't even call a timeout!! I must sound like a broken record at this point but who can really blame me?

PICKS

All in all, if the Celtics tighten up the coaching errors and their star players don’t go slumping, they can easily pull off a win at home and ease my conscience going into Game 6. Taking Celtics Moneyline.

The Celtics and Sixers have tended to play low-scoring games in Boston, with the under hitting in 5 of the last 7 games. As both teams look to tighten up defensively (and because Harden switches games between sucking and being the best player on the court), this should be another lower scoring game. Taking Under 213.5 (-110)