Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

“I don’t know if I anticipate lineup changes,” the coach said Saturday afternoon, smiling slyly.

With a short turnaround before Game 1 tips off at 1 p.m. Sunday, Stevens said the Celtics staff has been working on getting everyone up to speed.

“We knew that there would probably be a quick turnaround or at least it was a higher likelihood of a quick turnaround than not,” he said. “We have a staff full of people, some are working on the current opponent, some are working on the next. They’ve done a great job of bringing the rest of us up to speed ASAP. You play 82 games and they’re all back-to-back or one day apart or whatever, you get used to preparing for the next one quickly.”

MassLive: Brad Stevens mum on Game 1 starting lineup

I’m still not 100% sure why the NBA HAD to have this as the 1 pm game today, but what’s done is done. The guys are at the Garden and both teams had short turnarounds. Both teams know each other well… maybe a little too well… so it’s time to get out there and just play some ball.

We recorded a preview podcast to help get you ready…

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There are a few things from the Bulls series to carry over into this one. First, the Celtics will keep Gerald Green in the starting lineup but my big question is who he’ll guard. We’ll see how long Brad Stevens sticks with it. Maybe this is a series where Jonas Jerebko sees some big minutes.

Second, Isaiah Thomas needs to let his shot come to him. He can’t be launching early shots looking to find his offense. Let things play out and take the shots that come to you. Get to the line and focus on those free throws and then the rest will come.

And speaking of shooting, the third thing from the Bulls series concerns Jae Crowder. During the regular season he shot 39.8% from 3, and a .615 true shooting percentage. In the Bulls series that dropped to 27.3% from 3 and .511 true shooting percentage. The Celtics need Crowder to get back to his regular season form to win this series.

I expect the Wizards to look at how the Celtics offense flowed through Al Horford and try packing the paint a bit more. They know they will get killed by Thomas drives and Horford rolls… so I’m expecting Washington to gamble on the Celtics shooting still being off a bit. The Celtics, Crowder especially, need to make the Wizards pay.

Page 2: Isaiah is back

All the 🎥 love I.T. https://t.co/Z1EUqwoSkp

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 30, 2017

I don’t want to read too much into three seconds of video, but Isaiah looks exhausted. The guys are going to need to pick him up today. They’ve been there for him every step of the way… and they’re better for it.

“We learned a lot,” Bradley said. “We were able to fight through adversity with everything that was going on — all the emotion. We were able to stay together, grow as a team and grow throughout that series. I feel like we’re playing our best basketball right now.”

[…] “I know it’s going to be hard on him,” Bradley said. “But we’re going to make sure we’re here for him and prepared. I know he’s going to be prepared for the game.”
[…] “I learned about this team how strong we are,” Celtics guard Marcus Smart said. “We were more than just a basketball team. We’re a family. Everybody picking up Isaiah and the things that he was going through.

“Being down 0-2 against the eighth seed, and everybody calling us the worst one seed, and being able to rally around each other, and come back and win that series, shows a lot about this team.”

I hope Isaiah is a little closer to finding the closure he needed. And I hope he can find the escape he needs on the court. These guys are grown closer in the wake of this horrible tragedy. They are finding strength in one another. That is an important thing for them just as people.

Related links: Globe: Celtics keep Isaiah Thomas in their thoughts