It's A Bold Strategy For Both Cavs Fans And Media To Willingly Give The Celtics Bulletin Board Material

Brian Babineau. Getty Images.

Well, Cavs it is. After Donovan Mitchell's heroics in Game 7 to take down the on-the-rise Magic, the Celts and Cavs will face off for the first time since 2018, and for the first time without LeBron being involved since 1992. Safe to say, things are a little different this time around.

During the year, the Celts took 2 of 3 from the Cavs, and it took a Dean Wade out-of-body experience in the 4th quarter for that to not be 3-0. With Jarrett Allen banged up and Porzingis out, things will look a little different compared to the regular season matchup, but as a Celts fan I certainly expect this to be a more competitive series than what the Celts just played. To put it simply, the Cavs are better than the Heat and present many more challenges for the Celts to figure out. To advance, they're going to have to play better than they did in Round 1, that should go without saying.

With Game 1 slated to begin tomorrow night, I couldn't help but notice a whole lot of chatter yesterday from the CLE side. Not so much the players, but everyone else. We had Cavs fans chanting "We Want Boston"

Which recent history suggests is probably not the best idea. I get it, you're excited about advancing, but it's easy to talk like you want that kind of smoke until the time comes for you to back it up. We saw it with Nets fans in 2022

Heat fans in Round 1 

only for those two series to end 4-0 and 4-1 respectively. Unfortunately for those fans, they bit off more than they could chew. It's all fun and games until the time comes to actually beat Boston 4 out of 7 times.

Now Cavs fans are following the same script. 

Hey, I have no problem with it. I love it. Scream it from the top of your lungs for all I care. I'd actually like to give some credit to Ohio's Tate who touched on this in his postgame blog. This is a guy who gets it

Oh noooo. What are we doing? I'm all for celebrating erasing an 18 point deficit in a Game 7 to move on to the 2nd round….but do they realize it took erasing an 18 point deficit in a Game 7 to move on to the 2nd round, at home, against a team we strategically tanked to play? Not sure we "want" Boston is the proper terminology. 

Listen, I talk shit when I think it's right. And I'll be honest with you, it is not the right time right now. While these last two quarters were fun, this Cavs team still stinks. We are 0-9 under JB Bickerstaff on the road in the playoffs. And we're probably about to go play the #1 seed without Jarrett Allen…..

This is someone who clearly respects the Basketball Gods, as they are always watching. It's an A+ move and one I also subscribe to. Any Celts fans that are talking like this is going to be a sweep or an easy series are foolish. The playoffs are always tough the deeper you go, and the second you disrespect your opponent, the Basketball Gods make you pay. You won't hear me talking all that noise, not in a playoff run as important as this one.

You see, it's one thing for stuff like this to come from fans. Fans are irrational. Fans talk shit. When you win a Game 7 at home, you shouldn't really be held responsible as a fan for what you say. Game 7s are a different beast that truly do some crazy things to your brain.

But the media? They're supposed to be the level-headed ones right? The ones who operate with facts and are able to talk about these things without bias while also telling the truth. And yet….

You see, what we're starting to learn is that when it comes to discussing the Boston Celtics, people cannot help themselves. Let's just go down the list.

1. JB Bickerstaff can outcoach Joe Mazzulla

When I first read this, I thought maybe it was a bit. The trendy thing nowadays is to still try and pretend that Joe Mazzulla is not an elite coach. You know, despite his 121-43 ).738) coaching record all time and his 15-10 (.600) playoff record, apparently the guy can't coach. This is where someone says "well he has a stacked team!" as if there aren't coaches in the league right now that are sitting at home watching Joe Mazzulla coach despite having loaded rosters themselves. 

For whatever reason, there seems to be this collective apprehension when it comes to acknowledging that Joe Mazzulla is not some braindead coach. This is a guy who just had no problems with Spo, and he's going to be outcoached by JB Bickerstaff? Who in their right mind legitimately thinks that? Bickerstaff was probably getting fired had the Cavs lost yesterday, now he's going to outcoach Mazzulla?

2. Mitchell over Tatum in the clutch

Donovan Mitchell is a HELL of a player, especially in the playoffs. He's about as clear a playoff riser as you can get at the guard position. His ability to explode offensively and put the Cavs offense on his back is truly special. When he gets going and the pullup 3s are dropping, he's an extremely tough cover.

But here's the thing. As always, just look to the data. Another fun narrative that seems to exist is that Jayson Tatum is not a clutch time performer in the playoffs. A bizarre stance given ya know, the actual production

I'm not a huge reading guy, but even I can see the name at the top of this list. 

So far in these playoffs, Donovan Mitchell is shooting just 37.5/33% in clutch time minutes. I get it, as a CLE media guy, you ride for the players on your team. It's just a little crazy to say something like that when the guy you're talking about happens to be the best clutch time shooter in the entire NBA over the last 3 postseasons on higher volume.

3. The Celtics are a different team without Porzingis

Now this is true. The Celtics are a different team without Porzingis. I'm just not sure this is a positive talking point as to why the Cavs can beat the Celtics. On the season, including the playoffs, the Celts are 22-4 without KP. Call me crazy, but that tells me they're probably still pretty good even without their 7'2 unicorn. 

At the end of the day, this is all pretty standard operating procedure when it comes to the fanbase of a Celts opponent. I'm just not sure it's the best idea to give the best team in basketball extra motivation at a time like this. There are ways to be confident in your team and not give the Celts bulletin board material, and so far it doesn't seem like opposing fanbases have figured that out. 

As a Celts fan, I welcome it. Yes, make the Celts underdogs. Joe can't coach, Tatum is a bum, Jaylen can't dribble, feed me all of it. You know who you never hear do any talking? The Celtics. They just go out and play, and suddenly those fans who were chanting "we want Boston" don't seem to be screaming that anymore. 

Funny how life works sometimes.