It seems like the only positive for the Celtics this season is that they continue to beat the Sixers every time they meet.

Otherwise, it’s been a pretty disappointing campaign up in Boston, as Bill Simmons’ squad sits in 5th place, 10.5 games out of first and 2.5 back from the 4th seed currently held by your town, your team.

Jaylen Brown, who averaged 15 and 5 in the Celtics’ playoff series win over Philly last season, admitted that things are not right internally:

“To be honest, I’m not feeling good at all,” Brown told the Boston Globe out in California, where the C’s begin a four-game road trip Tuesday night with a tilt against the defending champion Golden State Warriors. “The losing, it’s not a good feeling. I’m not too good about that.

“Because right now it’s not good. It’s toxic. I can’t really point out one thing. I don’t have all the answers. I’m just going to try to be part of the change. I’m going to try to do my best. That’s all I’ve got to say,” he concluded.

…

He said the environment needs to change inside the Boston locker room, but Brown added that it requires more than one guy to improve the situation.

“I just try to come out and play hard and hopefully that sparks some [change]. But it’s not just up to one person. It’s up to the whole group,” said Brown. “Everybody has to be on page. If one person’s not on page, it’s going to affect the whole group. I just try to come out and play hard and see where that leaves me.”

The Celtics have the Warriors tonight, then will play the Kings, Lakers, and Clippers over the next six days.

The only remaining game against the Sixers is on Wednesday, March 20th, a game in which Philly will be heading into the second night of a back-to-back, having played in Charlotte the night before.

But it’s a shame to hear that things are toxic in Beantown. Long-suffering Boston fans deserve so much better.

In the aftermath of the Knicks’ decision to trade Kristaps Porzingis to Dallas, plenty of fans wondered why New York never publicly put Porzingis on the block.

That especially happened in New Orleans, where a package centered around Porzingis could’ve presumably enticed the Pelicans into a swap for Anthony Davis. Davis is clearly the better player, though he only has a season remaining until unrestricted free agency, while Porzings – still recovering from an ACL tear – is approaching free agency as a restricted free agent.

Another fan base that was monitoring the Porzingis deal was that of the Boston Celtics, who likely felt the trade set some sort of a baseline for what an Anthony Davis deal would cost the team. Boston, however is unable to trade for Davis while Kyrie Irving is on the roster due to the Designated Player Extension (the Derrick Rose Rule) the players signed with the Pelicans and Cavaliers, respectively. The thought was that Boston, who have expressed interest in Davis through back channels and national media leaks, would back up the truck for an off-season trade. The Celtics’ treasure trove of assets includes four first round picks in 2019: Top-1 protected via Sacramento, Top-8 protected via Memphis, Top-14 protected via the Clippers, and their own.

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Yesterday, we got all fake offended at Alvin Kamara saying the Saints would have “beat the shit” out of the Eagles in last year’s NFC Championship game.

Today we’re shifting to Jaylen Brown, who recently hopped on C.J. McCollum’s podcast and told the Portland guard that the Celtics are going to the NBA Finals:

“Oh, we’re getting to the Finals. No question about it.”

…

“At the end of the day it doesn’t matter if we’re the favorites in the East or we’re predicted to win 10 games in the East. We’ve got to come out and play. It’s simple.”

That’s a bold prediction, but it goes against Skip Bayless, who says that “Philly is coming out of the east.”

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Tell your in-laws you can’t make it this year.

And if you’re not a Christian, you’re in the clear.

Per Marc Stein:

A vintage dose of Celtics/Sixers, Giannis and the Bucks at MSG against the Knicks and (you guessed it) LeBron's Lakers in Oakland to face the Warriors are the highlights of the NBA's Christmas Day schedule that will be announced Wednesday afternoon, league sources tell @NYTSports

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) August 8, 2018

The first part of the NBA schedule comes out tomorrow at 2 p.m., which will include national TV games for Christmas, MLK Day, and the first week of the regular season.

Joel Embiid is in the Bahamas on vacation, or “holiday,” as the British would say. He hasn’t Tweeted since the Sixers lost their second round playoff series to the Boston Celtics, but resurfaced last night with a take on Aron Baynes:

Man bun is in NBA just to get dunked on

— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) May 22, 2018

I laughed, but of course people will say, “well Embiid should shut his mouth since the Celtics beat the Sixers in the playoffs.” 

That’s probably true and fair, but I think this is just Joel being Joel.

By the way, not sure if you saw this last night, but Baynes grabbed an offensive rebound and forgot which way he was facing for a moment. Teammates had to point him to the basket:

Watch as Aron Baynes forgets what he’s doing midplay and Horford has to remind him😂 pic.twitter.com/u393CV4Ox1

— NBA RETWEET (@RTNBA) May 22, 2018

Boston just made a few more plays.

I mean, really, that was the difference in this game. They hit a few more shots down the stretch, they didn’t turn it over as many times as the Sixers, they finally won on the offensive glass, and they just executed better down the stretch.

It was an 85 to 82 shot disparity in favor of the Celtics, and while the Sixers made their looks at a higher percentage, they didn’t make ’em when it mattered.

Joel Embiid had a chance at the end. Dario Saric turned it over. JJ Redick missed an open three that would have extended the lead to five with 1:10 left on the clock. And when he did hit with a few seconds remaining, Philly could only throw a goofy Hail Mary down the court.

So it was a fitting end to a series where the Sixers just didn’t play their best. Nobody really did. Redick shot 5-13 last night. T.J. McConnell was good, but couldn’t replicate the game four magic. Dario Saric needed three games to wake up. Robert Covington was a total non-factor and the bench never really got going at all, did they? Ben Simmons was mostly ineffective and Embiid had really good stretches and really bad stretches.

Consider these two Tweets:

Joel Embiid went 0-8 on game-tying or go-ahead shots in the final minute this season, including going 0-2 in Game 5

His 8 such attempts are tied for the most by any player without a made FG under those circumstances.

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 10, 2018

The 76ers had a +/- of -63 when Ben Simmons on the court this series, and +48 when he was on the bench.

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 10, 2018

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Alex Reimer wrote a post at WEEI.com titled “Absurdly lopsided officiating for Celtics-Sixers was easy to predict.”

Reimer:

“Early on, it was apparent the Sixers would receive the benefit of the whistles Monday. In the second quarter, the Celtics were called for 11 fouls. Philadelphia, meanwhile, was only charged with one. Jayson Tatum accumulated three fouls in the first half, and Jaylen Brown, who finished with five fouls, was whistled for a technical in the third quarter. Brad Stevens got one immediately afterwards.

It’s ridiculous to believe that any professional basketball team, never mind one coached by Stevens, would commit 10 more fouls than their opponent in a single quarter. Apparently, the officials were told to call the Celtics tightly. That is the only plausible explanation.”

Well, that’s the only plausible explanation if you believe in conspiracy theories, which I don’t.

Boston lost the game because they didn’t shoot the ball that well, just 41.3% from the floor and 34.4% from three. T.J. McConnell did a nice job on Terry Rozier and the Sixers threw a different tactical look at the Celtics. Brad Stevens pointed out how 15 turnovers and 16 offensive rebounds (Reimer does finally mention this at the end) swung the game to the point where Philly had 19 more field goal attempts on the evening.

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