Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

  The Athletic chose a panel of 43 writers, podcasters and editors to vote for their 25 top NBA players of the 21st century - a tough task, indeed. But they did it anyway, and it was gratifying, as a Celtics fan,  to find three members of The Green , both past and present, on that list . Kevin Garnett came in at #11 , and his MVP Award in 2004 , as a member of the Timberwoves , was mentioned in the article - but his 2008 Championship with Boston was somehow omitted . That omission sticks out because "The Big Ticket's" addition to the Celtics was the transaction that spurred the Title. Paul Pierce came in at #20 . As one would expect, "The Truth's" 2008 Title with Garnett, and his Finals MVP Trophy in the same year, got him into the list. Jayson Tatum was the "Third Celtic Picked" (at #23) , and he belongs . His Eastern Conference Finals MVP Award and 2024 Championship got him there.   Voting in such a poll appears to be highly subjective . ...

C's are entering a very rough stretch, it starts tonight with the Warriors. The Warriors are a wounded duck right and are not having a great season. That's what makes them dangerous tonight. After tonight we see the Kings, Clippers and Lakers. Let's hope we will see the Celtics best basketball during these next few games.  1st Q 🏀 No KP, but we have Amazing Al! He's been very good this season. He finds DWhite for an early three from the corner. JT also finds him for another three. DWhite is locked and loaded. The man is playing like an All Star this season! His all around game has been incredible this season. Excellent D by JT closing the gap, getting the steal and jamming it home! Tonight feels like it could be a shootout. Brissett with a hard take and jam! Brissett with the steal and jam! He's bringing that energy, I love it. Tatum is still in the locker room after limping off a few minutes ago. I hope he's ok... DWhite from deep again! JB is shredding the Wa...

 Past Celtics teams and the present Warriors crew are usually mentioned when the subject of sports dynasties comes up. Boston won 11 Titles from 1956-69 and three Championships from 1981-86 .while  Golden State has three from 2015 to the present . The 79-91 Lakers (5 Titles) and 90-98 Bulls (6 Titles) can be put into that list. There is no clear definition for NBA dynasties, but per Wikipedia : In  sports , a  dynasty  is a team or individual that dominates their sport or league for an extended length of time. Some leagues usually maintain official lists of dynasties, often as part of a  hall of fame , but in many cases, whether a team or individual has achieved a dynasty is  subjective . With the 2022 Finals tied at 2-2, the Warriors will either continue their League-dominance, or the very-talented, but young, Celtics could begin a series of Finals victories over the next several years, starting with this one. Golden State players are getting gr...

  This Celtics loss need not to have happened . The Green were ahead, 91-86 with 7:32 to go in the fourth quarter. That's when things fell apart . Boston went back to their habit of taking the easy way out by throwing up multiple 3-pointers, as opposed to going downhill - taking the foul - kicking it out - or actually making the layup. Prior to that mid-point in the fourth quarter , the Celtics were hitting 46.4% (13-of-28) of their treys. In the final seven minutes of the game, they hit on 25% (2-of-8) from behind the arc. Admittedly, the Warriors Steph Curry chose this game to raise his play to another level , pouring in 43 points from everywhere - hauling down 10 boards - and passing off for four assists . The potential "best shooter the NBA has ever seen" shot 53.8% from the field, 50.0% on 3-pointers and 88.9% on free throws. The Celtics still have not found a way to slow him down. After this game, Curry wll certainly be back at the number-one spot in nba.com...

 Ever notice that Jaylen Brown doesn't make a lot of noise . He's not demonstrative on the court and doesn't usually have a lot to say. Until now! After the Celtics took Game 3 from Golden State to advance to a 2-1 series lead, the often-subdued Brown is making plenty of noise in the NBA Finals, rising to number-one in NBA.Com's Finals MVP Ladder . Brown joined the elite company of LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Tim Duncan, Vince Carter and James Harden as players since 1997 to rack up at least 15 points, five rebounds and three assists in the first quarter of a playoff game. Boston's "Quiet Man" has been on a roll . In the three Finals contests, he has averaged: 35.1 MPG - 22.7 PPG - 7.3 RPG - 4,3 APG - 42,9% FG - 36.0% 3s - 84.6% FT Those are great stats and terrific company. Let's not forget, this is the guy that, in his rookie season, shot only 68.5% on free throws and averaged only 0.8 assists per game in the regular season. Like he does everythi...

  The March 7, 2016 issue of Sports Illustrated was staring at me from a basket next to my desk. There they were, the BIG-3 of the Golden State Warriors - Draymond Green, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. In March of 2016, the Warriors had already won the 2015 Title under rookie head coach, Steve Kerr , and they were contending for another Championship. But aside from the heat of competition, Curry said it best: "It took me until my fourth year to be on a winning team in this league," says Curry. "So I know how great it is to win. I know the league is so fluid. One trade, one bad free-agent signing, and it's over. So there's no way I'm not gonna have fun. I never fail to savor it." Steph and his compadres are back at again in 2022, facing the Boston Celtics in the Finals - but trailing in the series, 1-0. But Curry's words need to resonate with Boston fans , as well as his own. Despite the criticism lashed at rookie coach, Ime Udoka, and his crew, the...

  The Boston Celtics dominated in the fourth quarter to take out the Golden State Warriors, 120-108. Here are some thoughts on that Boston victory. Two guys NOT acquired for 3-point proficiency hit 11-of-16 treys Al Horford and Derrick White combined for 68.8% accuracy from behind the arc, totaling 47 points. Marcus Smart is becoming a legitimate scorer for Boston The 2022 Defensive-Player-of-the-Year has left his erratic bombs behind him. Smart racked up 18 points on 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-7 on 3-pointers. The Wolverine still drives frequently into the paint but lately has been fairly reliable on shooting the long ball. Celtics ball movement was as good as anything seen in the 2021-22 season Boston totaled 33 assists to Golden States' 24 . Jayson Tatum had 13 all by himself. The passes were quick, crisp and on the money for the most part. It was a thing of beauty. Jayson Tatum may not shoot this poorly again in the series  Tatum only scored 12 points in the game ...

 It's E ast Finals MVP (Jayson Tatum) versus the West Finals MVP (Steph Curry) . East coast against West coast. Memories of Larry Bird battling Magic Johnson. Youth clashing with age. The Number-1 defense confronting the Number-2 "D". It rarely gets better than this . Golden State will have home-court advantage in the series, but the Celtics managed to get three-of-their-four wins on the road against Miami . Home-court seemed to make little difference in the series. So here we go. The Bob Cousy Trophy winning Celtics versus the Oscar Robertson Trophy winning Warriors . If this doesn't excite you, you may not be a true NBA fan. "The Splash Brothers" batting "The Jay Team" - Marcus Smart wreaking havoc with the Warrior's offense - Steph firing shots from everywhere - Draymond Green doing a little bit of everything. And Rookie Head Coach, Ime Udoka, matching wits with seasoned Coach, Steve Kerr. Both coaches are disciples of Gregg Popovich...

 This one had it all - The Jay Team combining for 52 points - Marcus Smart taking Impact-Player-of-the-Game Award - Rob Williams with four blocks - sightings of Nik Stauskas and Sam Hauser - a spectacular, last-second 3-point heave from Nik that hit nothing but net. The Celtics came away with the 110-88 victory, and the win over Golden State had (almost) all of the excitement of a Finals matchup. Steph Curry had to leave the game following an ankle injury and never returned, the result of Marcus Smart inadvertently landing on Steph's leg while diving for a loose ball. But there was no asterix attached to Boston's win. The Warriors had their Big-3 of Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green on board, and The Green were able to lock down the fast-paced Golden State offensive attack. Always a chance we could see this rematch in the Finals.

 Despite the 111-107 loss to the League leading Golden State Warriors (.828, 24-5 record), this was a fun game to watch . CelticsSentinel normally doesn't give out its player award in a defeat, but we felt it necessary in this case. The Sentinel Citation Award goes to the "Wolverine of Causeway Street", Marcus Smart - and here's why. Tommy Heinsohn used to call them "high school rebounds" - meaning a non-traffic, easy catch off the boards. But at the 10:07 mark of the third quarter, this wasn't one of those Marcus Smart casually out-jumping a center by a mile on a jump ball pic.twitter.com/CzgW6X6hjN — Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) December 18, 2021 . It was 6'3" Smart versus 6'9" Kevin Looney for possession of the missed shot, and Marcus fought like hell for it - ending in a jump ball. Smart won the jump, tapping the ball to a breaking Jayson Tatum for the slam. The Wolverine takes no plays off. Marcus has become selfless . As Bosto...

      Covid, short bench, short roster, what is a team to do?        1st Quarter              First quarter thoughts, on a night where a majority of your roster is out what is the plan? Well overall this Celtics team came out and gave some decent effort to start. As a group they started off slow yet kept the first pretty competitive. Though they did not have the lead they played pretty well.        Steph Curry is a man among boys. With that said, the Celtics offensive sets are terrible , They all hang out by the three point line. GO TO The HOOP! What has this game become? It's not the beautiful game that Larry showed us it could be.        2nd Quarter        They had moments of quality play during the second, yet it did not lead to being ahead on the score board. Ball movement was decent but shots didn't fall. Defensively they had some decent effort yet jus...

 The Boston Celtics remain mired in the middle of the pack in NBA.com's latest Eastern Conference Power Rankings . The Green rank seventh , just after the New York Knicks and in front of the Bulls. NBA.com's John Schuhmann cites the Celtics' lack of ability to close out close games - a drop in last-season's defensive stats - and Jaylen Brown's impressive catch-and-shoot stats as focal points for the Celtics this season. "The Celtics played 43 games,  most in the league , that were within five points in the last five minutes last season. They were 17-26 (0.395, fourth worst in the league) in those games and 19-10 (0.655) otherwise, finishing 36-36 with the point differential of a team that was 40-32." Expect a lot of Jayson's-last-minute heroics  once again in 2021-22. He is a master at getting a decent shot off under pressure. Now to defense. "The Celtics’ defense saw the league’s third biggest jump in points allowed per 100 possessions, from 10...

      Steph Curry has become the deadliest outside three-point shooter of a generation , if not historically. No matter where he is on the floor, when he lets it fly, it's a thing of beauty. That release and follow through, the sound of an all-net swish - it's basketball heaven. His handles are impressive as anyone's on the floor and he can get to the hoop as easy as anyone. When he gets to the free throw line it's game over. This season showcased he could put a team on his shoulders and elevate them all.      Steph was the 7th overall pick taken by the Warriors. He's a three time NBA Champion winning in 15, 17, and 18. His game is transcendent and that's why he's won the MVP twice . He's a seven time All Star. Been named to the All NBA first team four times and the second team twice as well as a third team honor. He's a two time NBA scoring champ as well.       As all greats do,  Curry has gotten better in all aspects of the gam...