Game Thread: Spurs at Celtics - Jan 5, 2022 - 6:30pm CT

[DC23]

1478753224966520841

[heyheymymy]

:flag:

[MannyIsGod]

Thank god DJM is back tonight. I think we saw how important he was to this team over the past few games.

[TDomination]

Thank god DJM is back tonight. I think we saw how important he was to this team over the past few games.

he is back tonight?

awesome!

[BatManu20]

Go C’s tbh. Spurs need a top-5 pick in a bad way.

[Thomas82]

Go C’s tbh. Spurs need a top-5 pick in a bad way.

Facts!!

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Thank god DJM is back tonight. I think we saw how important he was to this team over the past few games.

Yeah, I was hoping to see White step up but it didn’t happen. And Keldon’s playing like sh!t.

Walker and McDermott bring more than I gave them credit for as well. We were very G league the last few games

[LeBowen]

Yeah, I was hoping to see White step up but it didn’t happen. And Keldon’s playing like sh!t.

Walker and McDermott bring more than I gave them credit for as well. We were very G league the last few games


Who would've thought that our only actual 3pt threats not named Brent Forms make the team better?
Other guys can shoot, but no scouting report will say Keldon needs to be closed down aggressively, despite his improved 3pt%.
They also want DJ and Derrick to shoot rather than drive.

Which leaves us with two actual NBA players who are a threat when moving off the ball and using screens to get open for a shot.
Others shoot just because they're wide open.

When Lonnie and Doug don't play, Forbes gets more minutes. Which is never a good thing.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

When Lonnie and Doug don't play, Forbes gets more minutes. Which is never a good thing.

Yeah, and we’ll still see a lot of him tonight which doesn’t give me a lot of hope even with Murray being back.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Celtics by 15.

[John B]

Spurs Injuries: Zach Collins (Out — Ankle), Devontae Cacok (Out — COVID-19 Protocols), Doug McDermott (Out — COVID-19 Protocols), Lonnie Walker IV (Out — COVID-19 Protocols), Dejounte Murray (Probable — Competition Reconditioning)
Celtics Injuries: Aaron Nesmith (Questionable — COVID-19 Protocols), Romeo Langford (Questionable — Illness), Jabari Parker (Questionable — Teeth), Brodric Thomas (Out — Back), Robert Williams III (Probable — Toe)

I really hope DJM rallies the team back. Spurs by 3pts :flag::flag::flag:

[Robz4000]

Another blowout loss tbh.

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

Get that L fellas!

:flag:

[Sugus]

Won't be able to catch the game. But given the C's recent play, it'll probably end up being a "who can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat" kind of game. Hoping for major Primo minutes at the least.

[MannyIsGod]

Probably going to to be close no matter what. Spurs should be a LOT better with DJM in there.

[SpurSpike]

I thought Zach Collins was expected to return in December, what happened to that? I haven't heard any updates about the dude in a while. He seems healed up, probably just working on conditioning i guess. Hope to hear something soon about him.

[spurs10]

:flag:

[RC_Drunkford]

DJs gonna start, but is on a minute restriction which means a lot of Tre Jones and Bryn Forbes. Automatic L

[Dejounte]

https://twitter.com/realtompetrini/status/1478867874043338756?s=21

He says the COVID restrictions are delaying him from coming back because they cant have practice with 3 on 3 or 4 on 4 drills with Zach

[Manu-of-steel]

GSG!

[PhantomDashCam]

Spurs have to do a better job of staggering height, playmaking and shooting across the lineup.

Start KBD, have Tre J and Vassell come in as first subs.

[emanueldavidginobili]

Will be interesting to see the Williams/Poeltl matchup

[emanueldavidginobili]

Great to see DJ back out there.

[BatManu20]

We’re gonna win. Celtics are trash.

[emanueldavidginobili]

KJs BBIQ is so low man, still rooting for him but damn.

[Leetonidas]

DV putting in work early

[PhantomDashCam]

Great lineup. More of this please Pop. :tu

[Slippy]

Finally got the pass into Landale inside the key with a small on him. Great find by DJ.

[Slippy]

Denis Schroeder going to kill the spurs on his own again.

DJ a step slow on d.

[PhantomDashCam]

Forbes again avoids injury. Guy is inhuman and also Assssss

[DeRozan m8]

Start Jock

Turtle is fucking horrible

[SPURt]

DJM makes this team a lot better.

[Slippy]

DV need more shots. He smoking hot atm.

Good recognition by DJ. Devin just needs a bit of room . The way he shooting, h
e gets that shot off, its going in.

[Robz4000]

Murray for MVP tbh.

[emanueldavidginobili]

Looks like DV is getting his rhythm back.

[Dejounte]

DJ willing to yell at his teammates

[BatManu20]

How are the Celtics this bad tbh. No wonder Celtic fans are already clamoring for Ime to be fired :lol

[emanueldavidginobili]

DJ 9 assist in 21 minutes.

[emanueldavidginobili]

Spurs the only team this year having an asymptomatic player on a minutes restriction lmao.

[emanueldavidginobili]

Derrick came into this league much better at basketball than DJ, but as of right now imo it's wild how much better DJ is better than Derrick.

[Leetonidas]

Derrick came into this league much better at basketball than DJ, but as of right now imo it's wild how much better DJ is better than Derrick.

Murray clearly puts in a lot of work in the gym. Idk about White, seems like the type to get bossed around by his wife :lol

[Dejounte]

That was a terrible defensive play by Vassell on Tatum

[KingKev]

Pop gonna bench DJ right at 30 lol

[Dejounte]

White wants to throw this game away

[emanueldavidginobili]

Big shot by Derrick. Close this shit out!

[PhantomDashCam]

Bang-Bang call. Hard to overturn this I would think.

[lefty20]

Boston feeling dat White D tonight.

[Slippy]

Top defense by the spurs. Got stops on both plays. DWHITE AND DEVIN

Another stop by Dwhite. Charge call.

Hopefully doesnt get reversed on replay

[Degoat]

Win or lose… Celtics are terrible, no excuses for them they have at least two top 25 players on their team

[emanueldavidginobili]

LMAO, Derrick. you hate to fucking see it man.

[Trill Clinton]

white smh

[Slippy]

The lucky bounce favours the spurs after jumpball.. think spurs got this.

[PhantomDashCam]

LMAO, Derrick. you hate to fucking see it man.

No excuses for the other turnovers but he’s def. Tackled by Brown there.

[BatManu20]

Celtics are so ass :lol

[Robz4000]

:lmao Landale
:lmao Brown
:lmao that whole sequence

[Slippy]

Wtf Jock. Spurs almost made it overtime.


Spurs with the win. Lol

[Leetonidas]

:lmao wow

[Barfunk]

Brown missing his Larry moment.

[BatManu20]

Jaylen Brown is such a fucking overrated bum :lol

[lefty20]

I swear to god we have more trouble inbounding the ball more than any other team.

[Chinook]

Jock living up to his name with that dumb pass, but KBD closed it out.

[DeRozan m8]

Wasn't Jocks fault...every dumb fuck couldn't get open

Had to take the gamble instead of getting violation

[Trill Clinton]

Yung Joc tried to throw the game away

[tbdog]

Oh my. What an avoided disaster.

[Degoat]

Jock losing pops trust game by game wtf lmao GSG tho!!

[Robz4000]

I swear to god we have more trouble inbounding the ball more than any other team.

Spurs have trouble doing a lot of things more than any other team tbh.

[tbdog]

Fuck, Landale touched the fucking rim.

[PhantomDashCam]

Jesus Jock touched the ring on that Jaylen shot. How’d they miss that?

[BatManu20]

Boston needs to make a change. Their team is trash and their entire offensive structure is awful. Zero excuse for them to be this bad and losing this many games with the talent they have.

[Degoat]

DJ is really good at basketball tbh

[NASpurs]

The defense was outstanding but holy shit did they try to give it away on the other end.

[Arcadian]

:lol

[Degoat]

Boston needs to make a change. Their team is trash and their entire offensive structure is awful. Zero excuse for them to be this bad and losing this many games with the talent they have.

It’s crazy! The more I watch Tatum the less impressed I am, he’s like a less efficient Demar/prime Carmelo lmao

[spurraider21]

too bad murray couldnt grab that rebound after brown's miss

[itzsoweezee]

Holy cow. Why is jock inbounding the ball? What they hell is pop thinking?

[BatManu20]

Spurs’ defense played well but Boston makes it easy to play good defense with their insanely retarded offensive structure. It’s a lot easier to defend 80% iso-basketball with the occasional PnR with a Center who can’t roll :lol

Easy to see what they’re a sub-.500 ball club right now. Looks like Ime can’t coach for shit. Glad he’s gone tbh.

[Dejounte]

The offense finally looked sharp and no one was second guessing who to pass to. They all took defense much more seriously instead of looking relaxed all night. Dejounte should be an All Star.

[DAF86]

The offense finally looked sharp and no one was second guessing who to pass to. They all took defense much more seriously instead of looking relaxed all night. Dejounte should be an All Star.

Offense looked sharp by scoring 99?

[Dejounte]

https://twitter.com/paulgarcianba/status/1478922537618874370?s=21

[John B]

Can Jock pass? I’ve seen him turnover so many times. It’s that lazy, not crisp pass. Almost gave it away. Plus he touched the rim and could've been a basket interference. I guess that’s allowed in some international leagues. Bill Land was just chuckling, “let’s go to wattaburger commercial” :lol

[Dejounte]

Offense looked sharp by scoring 99?

Jesus, you could only say this if you’re only box score watching which you’ve admitted before. Just stop. Makes no sense to single out the total points and equate that to the offense not looking sharp, especially compared to the last several games.

[John B]

DJ is a very big game changer for the Spurs. Immediately there’s tenacity and leadership on both sides of the court.

[John B]

KBD is such a great pickup. This guy is getting better and better, excellent work guarding Tatum. It’s not even a stretch to start him instead of Keldon or slide Keldon to SF, but Devin also fits well in the SF position in the SL.

[Dejounte]

https://twitter.com/paulgarcianba/status/1478926281857290240?s=21

KBD did play great defense tonight

[gilmor2002]

only 3 matter - DJ, White and Walker

[Chinook]

It's a shame how much Spurs fans hate on Bates-Diop. He's been so valuable for the team this year being the only guy with the size to actually cover fives on a switch and the perimeter savvy to guard wings. The Spurs' defense doesn't work without him to marry the smalls with the bigs.

[Dejounte]

https://twitter.com/hectorledesmatv/status/1478927061246955526?s=21

[John B]

That White TO could’ve been costly too. You don’t make a spin move like that with two defenders. Derrick should have dribbled closed to his body his other arm protecting. And that TO by Poeltl/White under the basket, no communication, very similar to the Detroit one, could’ve been costly. Bball IQ and protect the ball

[Mr. Body]

Boston needs to make a change. Their team is trash and their entire offensive structure is awful. Zero excuse for them to be this bad and losing this many games with the talent they have.

They're not that talented. Ainge totally squandered their draft picks and now they have two iso-heavy guys and nothing else.

[DAF86]

Jesus, you could only say this if you’re only box score watching which you’ve admitted before. Just stop. Makes no sense to single out the total points and equate that to the offense not looking sharp, especially compared to the last several games.

I didn't see the game. I want you to explain me how an offense can look sharp by scoring 99 in today's NBA. It might make sense.

[PhantomDashCam]

+ DJ's seamless re-intergration
+ Devin Vassell's scoring repetoire
+ Derrick's special Defense on Tatum and Brown down the stretch
+ KBD being the glue guy between starters and the bench

- DW's turnovers down the stretch
- Jock's errant, late game pass (tbf no one was moving for him)
- Udoka's one season tenure as Boston HC

[ismael-robert]

Jock could've at least lobbed it towards basket

[Spurs Homer]

That defensive lineup was money and i dont remember pop using it all year-

keta/DJ/white/vassell/purtle

i was just thinking in the last 3 mins- “this is working- why am i sure pop will insert forbes any second now?”

hope this lineup closes out games

(lol- pop did insert forbes but it was jock who blew it)

[Degoat]

Easier said then done….. but in the scenario like the one jock was in on the inbounds pass why not shoot it instead of the forced pass? Is that against the rules to to try and shoot it on an inbounds? I swear Ive seen that happen before on a lob pass

[BackHome]

Murray needs to get Covid again so we can get a top 5 pick

[BatManu20]

Murray needs to get Covid again so we can get a top 5 pick

The dream of a top-5 pick is gone my guy. Spurs simply aren’t bad enough to warrant one and this franchise is too proud to tank. Spurs will continue to select around 10 and likely wallow in mediocrity for years to come tbh.

[TDomination]

Really glad to have djm back.
He deserves all star spot imo

[BackHome]

They're not that talented. Ainge totally squandered their draft picks and now they have two iso-heavy guys and nothing else.

They did what Spurs did with Gay, Mills, and LMA - waited to long when things were clearly not working out they had many times they could have made some pretty good trades. But Ainge is kinda like Pop he got greedy and thought he was smarter then everyone else. Now they are a shell of what they were 2 or 3 years ago

[Chinook]

They did what Spurs did with Gay, Mills, and LMA - waited to long when things were clearly not working out they had many times they could have made some pretty good trades. But Ainge is kinda like Pop he got greedy and thought he was smarter then everyone else. Now they are a shell of what they were 2 or 3 years ago

This is a stretch. The Celtics are struggling because the third-best draft pick they've made in the last dozen years or so was Marcus Smart. You're trying to harp on the Spurs for not trading their vets for, what, seconds? Maybe a late-first if they took back bad money? It's nowhere near the same issue. The Spurs don't have any building blocks like Tatum or Brown (though I do think Murray and Brown are getting pretty close), and unlike Boston, they didn't have a bunch of picks to use to build around those guys or the vets they signed like Kyrie, Horford or Hayward. If anything Ainge did what Pop supposedly didn't when he robbed Brooklyn -- and I imagine that until recently you or someone in your camp on this would've praised Boston for exactly that. He just wasted what he got back and provided support for Pop's way being better.

[paperboy77]

Spurs’ defense played well but Boston makes it easy to play good defense with their insanely retarded offensive structure. It’s a lot easier to defend 80% iso-basketball with the occasional PnR with a Center who can’t roll :lol

Easy to see what they’re a sub-.500 ball club right now. Looks like Ime can’t coach for shit. Glad he’s gone tbh.

I agree about Ime. I never liked him as a Spur and sure as hell not as a coach. Mind blowing why the pundits were all over this guy being some kinda steal. I can imagine why.

[Mr. Body]

Easier said then done….. but in the scenario like the one jock was in on the inbounds pass why not shoot it instead of the forced pass? Is that against the rules to to try and shoot it on an inbounds? I swear Ive seen that happen before on a lob pass

That's not even slightly legal. The ball has to be established by a player in bounds first.

[paperboy77]

Offense looked sharp by scoring 99?

Sure did. DJ is definitely their MVP.

[paperboy77]

Easier said then done….. but in the scenario like the one jock was in on the inbounds pass why not shoot it instead of the forced pass? Is that against the rules to to try and shoot it on an inbounds? I swear Ive seen that happen before on a lob pass

Cant make the “shot” from an inbound... but you can dunk it in without it being a goaltend.

[Chinook]

You can't make a shot from OOB, and if you miss and it goes out without anyone touching it (a likely result from trying it in that circumstance) then it's a turnover. However, there's nothing against passes hitting the backboard and rim, so throwing it off the glass to provide a different angle could theoretically work provided you don't pull a Manu and accidentally can the shot. It's likely way too risky to actually try it, but it could work in some circumstances.

[GAustex]

More I watch the more Keldon looks like Barkley
Wish he played like him

[pad300]

It's a shame how much Spurs fans hate on Bates-Diop. He's been so valuable for the team this year being the only guy with the size to actually cover fives on a switch and the perimeter savvy to guard wings. The Spurs' defense doesn't work without him to marry the smalls with the bigs.

I don't hate KBD. For the salary, he's been good. But the reason he's been so valuable is because we don't have anyone else who's actually able to physically play as a 4 on the roster. This is a failure of roster construction that really needs to be addressed next year.

[poopbox]

Pop finally found an assistant coach he could consistently beat :hungry:

[Fusternino]

I still don't see why you can't play Young as a 4. He can shoot the 3 (if Pop allows it) and he's not actually as tall as you guys think.

[BatManu20]

1478928303876673540

[BatManu20]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FIYvMrWXMAIeKqc?format=jpg&name=large

[siraulo23]

Spurs really deserved that win, and good that they did.

4th quarter was a cluster fuck once again, great effort but a tad too many mistakes.

Glad to have Murray back :tu

[pad300]

I still don't see why you can't play Young as a 4. He can shoot the 3 (if Pop allows it) and he's not actually as tall as you guys think.

1) Footspeed, lack thereof.
2) Pop has clearly frozen the guy after his public comments...

[Fireball]

nice win by the Spurs in Murrays return game ... lets hope they just get all players back without losing more to Health and safety protocols

a bit too many minutes for Forbes though

[Gagnrath]

1) Footspeed, lack thereof.
2) Pop has clearly frozen the guy after his public comments...

1. He played a decent amount of 4 as recently as last year. I agree that his lateral movement has decreased though. He doesn't rim protect to play 5.

2. Not as sure about that, I think the Spurs just aren't as interested in trading him as in figuring out what they have in other players.
3. The bubble and schedule from it helped Young as an older player with a mostly good mentality he didn't get the abuse from travel and duration the same way during that time frame. The sequestered nature also probably helped a bit.

Physical edge with rotation level players makes a huge difference. You especially see this with D. White. He's not a guy who in the NBA stands out with athletic ability, however a lot of his defensive pokes and tips are because of that and a good bit of his driving game is angles and body control.

[John B]

I still don't see why you can't play Young as a 4. He can shoot the 3 (if Pop allows it) and he's not actually as tall as you guys think.

Because I rather see KBD at 4 than Thad who is just waiting to be moved

[MannyIsGod]

Wasn't Jocks fault...every dumb fuck couldn't get open

Had to take the gamble instead of getting violation

Jock threw the absolute worst pass you could possibly throw in that situation. Literally any other choice than that pass was better. I blame Pop for putting the guy in to a degree, but lets not act like Jock was anything but stupid in what he did.

[MannyIsGod]

None of you fucks really seem to want to call DJM Instagram baller anymore do you.

[rjv]

None of you fucks really seem to want to call DJM Instagram baller anymore do you.

still baffles me, the number of ST posters who continue to downplay DJs game and/or value to the spurs. (actually, it doesn't baffle me, considering it's ST.)

[Mugen]

Fuck! Almost pulled out that sweet L. Can't blame the old man for lack of trying though with his usual shit out of bounds play :lol

[Ocotillo]

I recall there was a camp that wanted Udoka to take over for Pop and was angry at Pop for not retiring before Udoka left.

[JeffDuncan]

Wasn't Jocks fault...every dumb fuck couldn't get open

Had to take the gamble instead of getting violation


It was Pop’s fault. Again. He did the same stupid crap against the Celtics last season, in the April game the Spurs lost in overtime. Remember the game where Rudy Gay ended up having to try a long lob pass to Walker, and it got intercepted? It was the identical problem.

Pop’s “special” play didn’t provide any of the players enough separation for a safe inbounds pass. That is squarely on the coach.

Pop can be an outstanding strategist, for a game overall, but as a tactician, for specific plays that he draws up on the fly, he’s dreadful. He has a strange knack for setting his team up to fail. We lucked out this time.

[itzsoweezee]

I recall there was a camp that wanted Udoka to take over for Pop and was angry at Pop for not retiring before Udoka left.

What did you see in that game that suggested udoka is the issue? It seems to me that the Celtics have a roster that doesn’t fit very well together. Danny Ainge had a shitload of picks remaining after drafting Tatum and Brown and wasted them all.

[Ocotillo]

I didn't get to see the game. Also, I was not saying one way the other whether Udoka is a good coach or not, just observing that there were a number of folks who wanted to push Pop out and bring him in.

[Mr. Body]

I recall there was a camp that wanted Udoka to take over for Pop and was angry at Pop for not retiring before Udoka left.

So what. The Boston roster is mediocre at best. Stevens couldn't do shit with these guys. No one could do better with those players.

[CGD]

Didnt realize how bad BOS is. No wonder the pundits are increasingly talking about breaking up the Brown-Tatum pairing.

[Budkin]

Fuck! Almost pulled out that sweet L. Can't blame the old man for lack of trying though with his usual shit out of bounds play :lol

There have been some bangers over the years.

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

Fuck! Almost pulled out that sweet L. Can't blame the old man for lack of trying though with his usual shit out of bounds play :lol

we can't lose em all, pal

have a feeling we're about to go on a good L streak coming up :toast

[cd98]

Is Udoka in the hot seat? Celtics are a non-playoff team right now. With two established stars, that's unheard of.

[BatManu20]

Is Udoka in the hot seat? Celtics are a non-playoff team right now. With two established stars, that's unheard of.

Their issues aren’t all his fault (they need a playmaking PG in a bad way), but the majority of their fan base is calling for his head already. If he doesn’t turn it around this season, I could see them actually firing him after one year or during next season. Legit.

[wildbill2u]

Worst closing ninety seconds I've ever seen. Lucky to escape that game with a win.