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.
Every playoff game the Celtics win will need the equivalent of the Game 7 Kelly Olynyk game; there are precious few other options. It’s a shame that the Celtics won’t return Marcus Smart until at least round two because we are about to see the most pure iteration of the Chaos Celtics. A pure release of adrenaline and energy. The chaos might end up being harmless and embarrassing, like a Wal-Mart Black Friday opening, or it might be wrathful and affecting like… well, like Marcus Smart.
It’s time to buy three cartons of cigarettes, four pairs of sunglasses and watch the Celtics in a hotel room. Brad Steven might be Kaizen, but even Japanese philosophy can get a little bit metal when you’ve been up for three nights in a row trying to figure out how to win a Shane Larkin-Bradley Beal matchup. The Celtics are here for a good time, not a long time, and I want enjoy every second of their last stand. Kyrie Irving’s injury erased the last vestiges of fear and what we are left with is an absolutely beautiful team of fatalistic defiance.
The breath of fate has snuffed out the candle of the 2017-18 Celtics, and now we get to see how long they can fight in the dark.
Normally, we don’t send traffic to our inferior competition here at Red’s Army. However, from time to time, as a blind squirrel will occasionally find a nut, even derelicts and abnormal specimens like Sam Sheehan kick out a bit of prose that is so good it needs to be circulated as widely as possible.
“Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”
… And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture: let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game’s afoot:
Follow your spirit; and upon this charge,
Cry ‘God for Harry! England! and Saint George!
“It’s About To Be Crazy, G”
If you can’t sit back and enjoy the rest of the Celtics’ season, the Celtics may not be the team for you.
Thursday night they signed a guy from the China Leagues who was in Vegas at the time.
Friday night he suited up and nailed back-to-back clutch threes–and, barring some loony and unlikely roster manipulations–he won’t even be on the playoff roster.
And if Jonathan Gibson’s performance isn’t the enjoyable madness of the Celtics’ season in a nutshell, then Greg Monroe’s triple/double is.
Monroe was signed in happier times, when the Celtics had a punter’s chance at an NBA title.
Last night he became the first Celtics center to notch a triple double in 31 years.
Yes, the Celtics’ season went off the rails when Hayward went down with that injury, but it hasn’t been all bad.
A bunch of young guys got a ton of experience, and as the season got crazier and crazier, a dedicated coterie of Celtics fans also got crazier and crazier. Like the Dada movement, the only logical response to the madness of the Celtics season was deliberate–and even more stupendous–madness from fans. This was the year that Tommy Heinsohn adopted the weirdest of weird Celtics fans by declaring that he, himself, was plenty weird.
We’re rolling into the playoffs, and Terry Rozier has said ‘climb on my back boys‘. That’s how madcap and wonderful this season has become.
Yeah, there are people out there who say that Boston is the “city of champions”, and they’re obnoxious when the city’s teams win titles–as though they, personally, were responsible for the team’s accomplishments–and these people are sullen and morose at times like this. Don’t be like them. The rest of this season is here to be enjoyed.
This ain’t life or death. It’s entertainment. It’s the movies. It’s a bunch of guys who do a particular thing particularly well whilst wearing shorts and tank tops. We happen to be particularly interested in them mostly because of the colors of their tank tops and shorts.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid gets you involved in the on-screen lives of Redford & Newman’s characters, but in the back of your mind, you know it ain’t real, and that’s part of the fun.
That’s why we laugh when Butch says, “the fall’ll probably kill ya.” We care about the characters, but we also know that there’s nothing really at stake here.
Right after the two of them decide they’re going to Australia to rob some more banks, they rush out into a city square where they’re surrounded by soldiers and the shot freezes–and what happens next to our two heroes?
They made The Sting.
And so it is with the 2017/2018 Boston Celtics. However this season ends, they’ll be back next season, with something different, yet familiar.
THE CELTICS WILL RETURN IN
FROM BOSTON WITH LOVE
Page 2: Where Mook is, once again, very sorry
Boston Celtics forward Marcus Morris was nowhere to be found following Boston’s victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Morris had been tossed with 1:44 remaining in the third quarter along with Bulls forward Bobby Portis after a brief altercation. Morris shoved Portis, at which point both were given technicals, and both continued talking after the first call. That led to a quick ejection for both, and Morris appeared to have left by the time reporters entered the locker room.
So Marcus got tossed–and a short while later–his twin brother Markieff got tossed from an ugly Wizards game that seems to have pretty much bolted them into the 8th spot in the playoffs.
As on a previous occasion, Marcus tweeted his regrets:
In case Mook decides he doesn’t want this at the top of his Twitter again pic.twitter.com/mLQg3Qxkcj
— Tom Westerholm (@Tom_NBA) April 7, 2018
This most recent apology lacks some of the, ummm, character of the earlier one, which–although deleted–lives on in screen caps and the hearts of Celtics fans.
Finally: When it rains, it pours
Gordon Hayward’s dog to have ACL surgery today. pic.twitter.com/UDgTBN0EqP
— Boston.com Celtics News (@BDCCeltics) April 6, 2018
Yep. Even the pets of Celtics players are cursed this season.
The rest of the links
MassLive: Boston Celtics, Jaylen Brown still preparing for deep playoff run, despite Kyrie Irving’s absence | Greg Monroe, Boston Celtics big, ‘honored’ to be first Celtic center since Robert Parish to record triple-double | Boston Celtics guards Jabari Bird, Jonathan Gibson can’t play in playoffs but make impact vs. Bulls | Jaylen Brown’s career-high 32 points, Greg Monroe’s triple-double lead Boston Celtics over Chicago Bulls
Boston Herald: Bulpett: Celtics ignore their doubters | Celtics notebook: Brad Stevens gives the doctor’s report on Kyrie Irving | Jaylen Brown propels Celtics past Bulls at Garden
NBC Sports: Gibson makes most of Celtics debut | C’s prevail behind Brown’s career-high 32
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