Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

The Celtics' starting-5 proved dominant in their Eastern Semi-Finals opener versus the Toronto Raptors. Boston took down Toronto 112-to-94 and led by as many as 40 points at one juncture. To start the game, Coach Brad Stevens put virtually all of his potent weapons out there in the persons of Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Daniel Theis - who combined for 90 of Boston's 112 total points. The Celtics major arsenal consists of the Jay team and Walker, but Smart and Theis were key parts of Boston's attack in this one. Smart notched 21 points on 6-of-10 from the field, 5-of-9 on treys and a perfect 4-of-4 from the foul stripe. He simply looked comfortable out there shooting the ball. Theis was solid, putting up 13 points, 15 boards, one steal and two blocks. 21 PTS, 6 RBS, 4 AST, +27 @smart_MS3 : pic.twitter.com/OqDcws68au — Boston Celtics (@celtics) August 30, 2020 The Celtics' top scorer off the pine was Rob Williams with 10 points. He al...

As of this mornings ratings, FiveThirtyEight's poll has the Celtics with the best odds (21%) of winning the NBA Title. Boston also is rated as having the best shot (39%) of coming out of the East to challenge for the 2020 Championship. In the same analysis, the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers are neck-and-neck with the second-best odds (18%) to win it all. The Lakers, however, are favored (32%) to win the Western Conference Finals, with the Clippers following at 29%. #BeatPhila 🧹✔️ Big fight vs Toronto ahead. Let‘s do this @celtics 🦾☘️ #BleedGreen #BubbleTheis pic.twitter.com/XFkrLO6e8k — Daniel Theis (@dtheis10) August 24, 2020 In the East, FiveThirtyEight gives the Toronto Raptors a 10% chance of garnering a Title this season, followed by the Milwaukee Bucks at 9%. The Celtics' manhandling of the Philadelphia 76'ers in their 4-game sweep played a large role in 538's predictions. The fact that the Rockets, Lakers and Clippers all appear to be vulnerable cert...

The Celtics Gordon Hayward suffered a supposed Grade 3 ankle sprain in Game One of the Eastern Conference playoffs on Monday, August 17, 2020, and the news indicated he would be out of action for roughly four weeks. Some research into ankle sprains reveals a much longer time frame of several months. If Gordon Hayward has a grade 3 ankle sprain: why are we being told he’ll be back in 4 weeks? (A little over 3 weeks from now) Grade 3 ankle sprains take from 8-12 weeks to heal according to every online site. From University of Vermont https://t.co/m7qI7Mrja1 — Celtics ☘️Canada🇨🇦 🏀 (@CelticsCanada) August 24, 2020 Boston's rival in the upcoming Eastern Conference Semi Finals, the Toronto Raptors, closed out their series last night versus the Brooklyn Nets, and the Raptor's Kyle Lowry suffered his own ankle injury. He has been diagnosed with an ankle sprain with (thus far) no Grade or recovery time attached to the diagnosis. Raptors star Kyle Lowry has been diagnosed with a...

After their sweep of the Philadelphia 76'ers last night, the Celtics will face the Toronto Raptors in Game One of the Eastern Semi-Finals at 6:30 P.M. on Thursday, August 27. Most analysts view the team match-ups as somewhat even and project the series to go seven games. The Celtics Gordon Hayward (Grade 3 ankle sprain) is expected to be out for the entire series, and Toronto point guard, Kyle Lowry, suffered an ankle injury last night in the game versus the Brooklyn Nets. His status is yet unknown. To say that Boston's bench may be over-matched in this series could be an understatement. In their Game Four victory, the Toronto bench accounted for 100 of the Raptor's 150-point total. Six Toronto players logged double-digit minutes off the bench. For the Celtics, Game Four saw only two subs (Enes Kanter and Brad Wanamaker) on the floor for double-digit minutes. Boston's bench scored a mere 11 points to Toronto's 100. Conversely, Norman Powell and Serge Ibaka comb...

When it comes to the Jay Team, it is Jayson Tatum that garners more attention, but his teammate, Jaylen Brown, has quietly elevated his game and appears to be also heading towards super stardom. In the regular season, Brown logged an average of 33.9 MPG while producung 20.3 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 2.1 APG and 1.1 SPG. He shot .481 from the field, .382 on treys and .724 from the foul stripe. In slightly elevated minutes (36.3 MPG) in the Philadelphia series, his numbers are almost identical, with the most-outstanding number being his playoff free throw percentage soaring to .952. In my interview with Brian Scalabrine prior to the 2018-19 season, Scal was bullish on the Jay Team. His accolades may be heading towards reality: Brian Scalabrine: "Jaylen (Brown) can be - gosh - I hate using Michael Jordan, because I don't think he can be Michael Jordan -but the way he plays, and moves - and see how he jumps in the air - ever remember when Jordan would jump and and elevate, kind of floa...

Kemba Walker may have been the star of the game last night (24P, 8R, 4A, 2S, 1B) in Boston's 102-94 victory over the Philadelphia 76'ers, but Marcus Smart was simply a Defensive Demon who would not let this game slip away. Smart finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals, but his key plays at the end of quarters two and four really got our attention. At the 1:10 mark of the second quarter, and the score at 49-46 in favor of Boston, Marcus stole the ball and got it to Jaylen brown for the slam. Then with 1:39 remaining in the game and the Celtics trailing by two points (92-94), Smart made another steal - once again getting it to Brown for a layup. But Smart wasn't done yet. With 36 seconds left in the game, he drove and was fouled, making both free throws. He also picked up two more rebounds in the closing seconds and made two additional free throws after being fouled by Al Horford. Kemba Walker on Marcus Smart: "I’m glad he’s on my...

Now down 0-2 in their first-round series against the Boston Celtics, what does the Philadelphia press feel about the 76'ers chances of winning the series - or even one game? Well, the headline from Marcus Hayes' article for the Philadelphia Enquirer might give us a hint: Love him or hate him, these Sixers can’t win without Ben Simmons Simmons will never gain the affection shown to Larry Bird by Boston fans, but he may be a vital piece for Coach Brett Brown - this from The Enquirer's Marcus Hayes : Ben Simmons has a knee injury. He’s out for the foreseeable future. Without him, Jayson Tatum is cooking the Sixers. Without him, there is no offensive identity. Without him, there is no leader. Brown said “we make our money” through Joel Embiid, and Embiid calls himself The Process, but it’s never been clearer how valuable Simmons is. Trademark aside, it’s Ben’s team, for better or worse. With him, it might not always thrive. Without him, it dies. In his article, Hayes str...

Beyond "budding superstar", the term that truly defines Jayson Tatum is "SMOOTH". Going back to the early 1960's, I cannot quickly recall any Celtics player that has displayed such fluidity on the hardwood. Going back to the early 60's, I cannot quickly recall any Celtics player with the smoothness of Tatum. He almost literally floats down the court, and even his off-balance shots are fluid - no awkwardness. https://t.co/jct3Sh3aMB — Tom Lane (@CelticsSentinel) August 21, 2020 Sam Jones does come to mind, and it is true - there were no rough edges with "Sad Sam". His ball handling and jump shots were as smooth as they come during Sam's time in the League. How about Larry Bird? Larry had two sides to him. He pulled off some of the best sleight-of-hand passes and shots that I have ever seen. But he also had a hard-nosed, tough game that had an extremely rough edge to it. Some fans may put Paul Pierce into this poll, and "The Trut...

The Celtics blowout 128-101 win over the Philadelphia 76'ers last night demonstrated - among other things - that Boston may have no stars coming off its bench, but it appears that coach Brad Stevens intends to employ his "Pine Troops" in specific matchups and situations. Eight Celtics subs logged a combined 107 minutes in the victory, partly due to the large point differential. And the 41-point production from the eight bench guys far exceeded the combined eight points from the series opener. Grant Williams (9P, 6R, 2A), Brad Wanamaker (7P, 2R, 4A), Enes Kanter (10P, 9R) and Romeo Langford((6P, 1R) all logged 20-or-more minutes. GWill, Kanter and Wanamaker all made significant contributions. Kanter was on his offensive game last night, and it showed. Semi Ojeleye and Romeo Langford also got into the action, contributing mostly on the defensive end. The loss of Gordon Hayward for roughly four weeks will have a significant negative effect on the team's performance ...

Jayson Tatum was virtually unstoppable in the Celtics 128-101 victory over the Philadelphia 76'ers last night. It seemed that everything he put up went in - 3-pointers, drives, layups, floaters, mid-range shots. In 30 minutes of action, he poured in 33 points on 12-of-20 from the field and 8-of-12 from 3-point land. Tatum also came away with a team-high plus/minus of +29, along with five rebounds and five assists. Philly coach Brett Brown injected Matisse Thybulle into the starting lineup in place of former-Celtic, Al Horford, most likely due to Horford's difficulty in countering the offensive threat from the Jay team, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. It didn't work. Philadelphia more than held their own in the early going, but they had little chance after that. One specific play mirrored the tone of the entire game. At the 7:53 mark of the third quarter and Boston ahead 72-59, Kemba Walker stole the ball from Joel Embiid, with Tatum gaining possession. Jayson whipped a ...

Gordon Hayward has been diagnosed with a Grade 3 ankle sprain and is exected to be out of action for at least four weeks. Coach Brad Stevens has been given no choice. In Game One of the Philly series, the starting five accounted for 101 of the Celtics' total of 109 points. Boston's Critical Core of Walker, Smart, Brown, Tatum and Hayward logged 203 of a possible 240 minutes. Time to look to the bench for much-needed help. Despite Boston's win in Game One, Joel Embiid had his way in the early going. He could not be contained down low. Expect that to change in Game Two of the series. The Celtics simply do not have the size to contend with Philly's big man, but they do have the strength in Marcus Smart and Semi Ojeleye. Expect both to have a shot at slowing down Embiid. Brad Stevens' strategy of employing a 6-man rotation in the series opener was never going to work long-term. Fatigue and injuries would eventually have reared their ugly head. Celtics back-up cente...