Your Morning Dump... Where every hater could get silenced tomorrow

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.

There will be no confetti falling from the Garden rafters if the Celtics are victorious tomorrow.

If Adam Silver is in the house, he will not be handing out a gleaming gold trophy to the winner.

Avery Bradley and Isaiah Thomas will not dump Gatorade over Brad Stevens if they are ahead as the final seconds tick away.

But in all measures that have even a passing acquaintance with reality, maybe all these events should occur if the Shamrocks manage to shake the Wizards in tomorrow night’s Game 7. Maybe even a duck boat ride down the street to the North End for a slice of pizza or a cannoli.

If the Celtics triumph in this second-round series, they will have traveled their maximum allowable distance — at least the max for their 2016-17 incarnation. A six-game win against Chicago and the first trip beyond the first round for a Stevens-coached professional team followed by a seven-game conquering of Washington will be a kiss to the ceiling for this crew.

Herald: Bulpett: Celtics don’t need championship to be successful, just a win in Game 7

The goalposts have been moved on this team so often that it feels like they’re playing on a 1,000 yard field. Part of it is the Celtics’ own fault.

The original goal for them was to be one of the top four seeds. Cleveland is a powerhouse and the Raptors looked really good. We came into this season thinking the Celtics could maybe compete with Toronto and one of these other teams that seemed to match them talent-wise back in October. They were supposed to get out of the first round and be competitive in the second. A trip to the Conference Finals was the best case scenario.

Home court. A playoff series win. A hard-fought second round series. That was the consensus for a “successful” season when the Celtics broke camp.

Of course, the season is long, and we often get lost in the ups and downs of every single game.

I CAN’T BELIEVE WE GOT BLOWN OUT BY SACRAMENTO!!

I CAN’T BELIEVE WE BEAT GOLDEN STATE!!!

I CAN’T BELIEVE WE LOST TO PHOENIX LIKE THAT!!

I CAN’T BELIEVE WE BEAT THE CAVS!!

The Celtics emerged from the 82 game slog as the top seeded team in the East. We know they’re not THAT good but hey, we’ll take it, even though it just gave those people who just have to say something negative more ammunition.

There is a rare opportunity, though, for the Celtics tomorrow. I’m not sure if they care about this but I’ll be happy to see it happen. It will be an opportunity to finally shut the critics up.

A trip to the Conference Finals silences all the major talking points:

Al Horford is overpaid
Isaiah Thomas can’t lead a team
Brad Stevens is a good coach but he’s not great
Danny Ainge screwed up by not bolstering the roster at the trade deadline

Most of this talk should already be reduced to an under-their-breath murmur as local windbags sneer at their missed opportunities to trash the team on the radio. Horford has had a stellar playoffs, Isaiah has mostly done Isaiah things and adjusted very well when double and triple teams were thrown at him, Brad Stevens has made lineup decisions that worked despite popular opinion, and Ainge still has all of his assets in play as his team overachieves.

A loss to the Wizards tomorrow at home would be disappointing, but not shocking. Washington is very good and these two teams are about as evenly matched as you’ll get.

After 6 games (3-3 tie)

Points:
Wizards — 660
Celtics — 657

FG %:
Wizards — 46.2%
Celtics — 46.2%

Turnovers:
Wizards — 86
Celtics — 86

— Shane Young (@YoungNBA) May 13, 2017

But a win, which I expect, would force these people to acknowledge the things we’ve been saying all along. Their bitching and whining, at least about these things, will have to stop (note: I know it won’t. They’ll keep going but now they’ll just sound even more ridiculous).

This is what we’ve known all along about this team: they are still rebuilding and still on the rise. There will very likely be a fairly big overhaul of the roster this summer, so wherever this group of guys gets is just a ride to be enjoyed.

We have been shown that Danny Ainge is trying to make moves that benefit this team for the long haul and not just misguided short-term run. Sure, he’s made some mistakes in the past and might in the future… that’s just the nature of his job… but I’m comfortable with where the team is from his standpoint so I’ve never seen any point in blasting the guy.

We have been shown that Brad Stevens is pretty damn smart on the sidelines. Every time I’ve said “I don’t like this move,” the move has worked out pretty well. Sure, he’s thrown some weird lineups out there for stretches that have hurt, but that’s going to happen with most coaches from time to time. In the end, his adjustments have mostly worked out, which is what you want to see from a coach in the playoffs.

We have been shown that the players are following Stevens’ plan. Isaiah Thomas has willingly made major adjustments to his game to counter Washington’s defense. Al Horford has brilliantly orchestrated Boston’s offense in this scenario, and the rest of the team over games 5 and 6 have adjusted with cuts to get easy baskets and draw fouls. Sure, some guys have gone cold from deep, but that’s going to happen to some guys from time to time. I can yell at guys to make shots (and I do) but they’ve largely played the right way.

So, to me, the criticisms were always short-sighted. This has been a pretty fun season, and it’s disappointing that some people couldn’t just sit back and really watch and enjoy what’s been happening. I can’t just live my life in the “banner or bust” world. That’s an ugly place that will only cause you high blood pressure and a destroyed liver from post-loss sorrow drowning.

Sometimes you have to enjoy the ride. I can’t wait for the next banner either. But when the Celtics win Game 7 tomorrow for the right to take on the Cavaliers buzz saw, I will smile a big happy smile and listen hard for the critics.

They won’t be there though. They won’t have a damn thing to say.

Page 2: The NBA owes the Celtics an extra second of Game 6

The NBA said Saturday that the Wizards’ late foul against Kelly Olynyk in the Celtics’ 92-91 Game 6 loss Friday night occurred with about 2.7 seconds left. On the play, the clock stopped with just 1.7 seconds remaining.

But the league’s finding, released in its last-two-minute report, added that the play was not reviewable.

Globe: Wait a second! Time was stolen from the Celtics in Game 6

Here's the exact wording from the NBA on the timing issue: pic.twitter.com/vz0oA9q3mI

— John Karalis 🇬🇷🇺🇦 (@John_Karalis) May 13, 2017

[begin scorching hot take]

That’s it… load everyone back onto the plane, get all those ticket holders back into the Verizon Center, put one second on the clock, and give Boston the ball.

That’s the only fair thing to do, right? A regulation NBA basketball game is 48 minutes, not 47 minutes and 59 seconds. If the clock was stopped too late and the Celtics weren’t given their full allotment of time to execute a play, then the game isn’t over, right?

[/end scorching hot take]

It’s impossible to know what would have happened with that extra second. Isaiah could have dribbled it off his foot or crossed over into a better spot and hit it. The only upsetting thing about this is that it wasn’t reviewable. That somehow something as important as the proper amount of time on the clock is (a) unnoticed and (b) unable to be corrected is pretty terrible.

Because had that time gone back on the clock and had the Celtics come up with a better shot to win the game, whatever happens tomorrow night wouldn’t have transpired. What happens today in practice is completely different. In an alternate universe, that second was played, the Celtics won, and they’re preparing for the Cavs and every little detail of life… from the mood on the plane ride home to the drive to practice to the game itself tomorrow. Every little twist and turn is altered.

Yeah, I know how dramatic that sounds. Trust me, I’m not stuck on this unplayed second. I do think that something like that should be reviewable, though. To potentially have a game decided on something like that is not a good look for the league.