The Open Forum

So let's look at a quick breakdown of Boston vs Miami. Written as an unbiased Celtics fan Pick: Boston in 7 again, possibly 6 ECF rematch: Last year Boston was able to get by Miami in 7 games. They're aren't many differences between this year's matchup and last year's. Herro likely being out will be the key change, and for this series it will be a problem. His penetration off the dribble causes issues for Boston in the season matchups. With him out, Boston's biggest threats in this matchup are: 1. Tatum no-shows: this is mental. Tatum has the tools to perform well against any defender. Miami doesn't have a shut down guy that is gonna take him out the series, but teams haven't needed one. Tatum mysteriously no-shows often, but he's heading into the series coming off a hot 4th qrt in gm 6 and an even hotter game 7 performance. In Tatum ill trust. 2. Bam getting hot: Adebayo has always been a problem for Boston. Horford steps up to the challenge against guys like Giannis and Embiid (they still get they're pts but its helpful). Bam plays that short mid range space that bothers big Al. So a hot Bam could hurt Boston big time. 3. Coach matchup. Spo is one of the best in- game and in-series adjusters in the league. He will make guys like Vincent and Martin effective on both ends vs the Cs, coupled with Duncan Robinson being annoying on slow celtic runouts to the perimeter. Spo alone is good for 1 win. I didn't mention Butler going off for a few great games bc that should be expected. He's not on he tier of Tatum where an average game gets called out for negativity. When Butler scores 18 and plays solid defense, he gets credit. The expectations for him have always remained tapered. But he is a stud, especially this year in the playoffs, and will get at least 1 win on his own. So: Miami wins - butler (1), Spo (1), team effort (1) Boston wins will come off whats carried them year round: a blend of Brown early, Tatum late, and someone stepping up each game between that (brogdon, smart, white, horford)Overall Boston's depth will be too much for Miami. The Celtics are inconsistent in odd ways, hence the hesitation to say 6 games. ☘ in 7 @Charles Martinez CL KID

The 2023 NBA Playoffs are finally here...sort of. With the play-ins set to begin tomorrow (7:30 PM EST), we get our first glimpse of the post-season bracket. The play-ins get underway in Miami, where the winner of the Hawks vs Heat match-up will travel to Boston to face the Celtics (My Celtics) in the first round. Let's take a quick dive into each play-in game. -> Atlanta Hawks at Miami Heat Jimmy Buckets and the Heat face-off against Ice Trae and the Hawks. On the surface the Heat look like the pick. While Miami has looked less than hot for most the season, they've shown a higher level of maturity than the ATL. Trae and company have yet to find that chemistry that took them on a deep playoff run in their recent history. Young and newcomer Dejounte Murray have started to find a decent groove as the season progressed, but this team still looks far from a contender. With that being said, I will take the Hawks in THIS game. Miami is the better team in a 7-gamer, but for one night I will take the potential that the Hawks present in the backcourt. Both teams will face a Game 6 elimination at home regardless to my C's in the first round. Pick: Atlanta Hawks -> Minnesota Timberwolves at Los Angeles Lakers LeBron in the playoffs...shocker. While the Lake Show have been a roller coaster, to say the least, for the entirety of the season, they've made just enough moves to slide into the play-in. Some of the moves came directly at the hands of their opponent. The trade deadline swap of assets between these two franchises led to wins for both. The Wolves have closed the season on a solid stretch. However, in typical lower-tier franchise fashion, they were forced to suspend star big-man Rudy Gobert for throwing a punch at a teammate. Mr. Gobert will miss the play-in game vs LA and the T'Wolves will be taking the L. Lebron and AD (assuming good health...heavy on the assuming) should be more than enough to handle the Wolves in this home game. Minnesota still has plenty of talent to lean on and Anthony Edwards, who I love, has the potential to carry this team on any given night. Just not on this night in my opinion. Pick: Los Angeles Lakers, unfortunately -> Chicago Bulls at Toronto Raptors If you're looking for the match-up that can be a nail-bitter, this is it. If you're looking to watch two teams who have no chance in the first round of the playoffs, this is also your game. Both these teams have talent, that's not the issue here. DeRozan, Lavine, Vucevic, Siakam, VanVleet. All of these names brought up my spellcheck, but they also play at a high-level worthy of praise. Despite my previously displayed hate on this game, it should be a great one to watch down the stretch. This would likely be a 7-game series in a true playoff meeting. Unfortunately for both teams, neither found their stride throughout the season. This could honestly go either way, but I will lean with the better package of DeRozan and Lavine to deliver late in this battle. I believe Chicago presents the better opponent going forward than Toronto as well. Pick: Chicago Bulls -> Oklahoma City Thunder at New Orleans Pelicans Where I was wrong: The OKC Thunder will finish as a bottom 5 team this season. I was way off on this preseason prediction, but so was everyone else. If you would've asked anyone if the Thunder would make the playoffs (play-in) after hearing their first round pick, Chet Holmgren, would miss the season, they would've given you a profound NO. I would've picked the Oklahoma Sooners to make the NBA Playoffs before the Thunder. However, here they are. SGA is a stud. We know this. And the Pels have some firepower as well in Ingram, CJ and the occasionally present Zion. So this game should be a solid one. With that being said, I will lean towards experience and take the Pelicans. I do believe SGA and crew will make this interesting, but I have to believe that even a beat-up Pels team can overcome this Thunder roster. I have consistently believed that acquiring McCollum was the best thing this team could have done years back. When healthy, I believe this Pels team can give ANY playoff team a run for their money. Unfortunately "when healthy" never seems to happen. Pick: New Orleans Pelicans Let me know who you got in the play-in games!

The Boston Celtics (MY Boston Celtics) are heavily in the race for Kevin Durant. KD has made it clear he wants out of Brooklyn. That much is clear. But where does he end up? Originally, it looked as though Miami and Phoenix were in the lead for KD. While Miami is still in the running, the C's seem to be the frontrunner. As it currently stands, Boston has unofficially offered: Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and a 1st round pick Nets want in addition: Marcus Smart, another rotation player, and an additional pick Jaylen Brown has not been pleased with the rumors, nor have I. JB tweeted out "Smh" upon rumors of a KD for JB swap. With all this being said, the Celtics SHOULD NOT trade for KD. Boston's biggest weakness in 2022 was their lack of a legitimate backup point guard to run the offense. Marcus Smart did a great job this past year of leading the C's to the finals. However, he is not a natural point guard. He was the best playmaker on the team and deserves every bit of credit for his growth at the point. Boston has since added Malcolm Brogdon in a trade with Indiana while giving up seemingly nothing. On top of this, they added Gallinari from Atlanta for size and outside shooting. This team has made the moves necessary to put them in prime position to make and win the finals in 2023. Instead.... The Celtics have considered the KD gamble. And while, yes, Durant is a top talent, he was outplayed by Tatum and Brown in the first round sweep of the Nets. Celtics need to stand firm and keep the chemistry dynamic that has already been proven to work. There is no gaurentee that Tatum and KD will work well together. JB is young, talented and shows up in gritty situations. KD for JB wouldn't be a mistake due to the talent in return, but it is an unnecessary move for a team who has improved since making the finals just a few months ago. Loyalty > Royalty