Game 31 | Celtics (19-13) @ Cavs (23-7) | Dec 29, 2016 | 8:00 PM ET

[TitleTown]

It's not hard to see that the big minutes are a pattern and a trend. This is not even debatable.

I agree. But we can't do anything about it unless you want to fall out of first place in the East.

We need more players. And, in my opinion, a backup PG.

 

[PedroFlu]

It was nice to see defense on the 3rd period.

Liggins really stood out in there, what a perfect complementary player they found.

Love and Irving are playing the best ball of their lives I believe, Jesus. They are improving crazily.

 

[czvo]

So saw we were up 20 and won by 6.

Every Boston game since LeBron came back.

 

[godfather]

Again, if you are unhappy with the amount of minutes LeBron and Kyrie are playing, that finger goes at Griffin, not Lue.

 

[PedroFlu]

In a vacuum, I agree. The annoying part is that Kyrie and LeBron should have been able to put it away early in the fourth and avoided the excess minutes.

LeBron played 44 minutes. It's just out of this world, nothing justifies it.

There were alternatives. He had a lot of trashy/desengaged moments during the game, Jefferson/Shumpert/Liggins all could have had more minutes.

It was tough to take Irving away because he was spectacular, but 3 or 4 less minutes could also be given to those guys.

 

[TitleTown]

Again, if you are unhappy with the amount of minutes LeBron and Kyrie are playing, that finger goes at Griffin, not Lue.

I have to imagine he is trying to get us to the trade deadline to maximize value. Trades that happen before the final action are always a sellers market.(meaning: we would have to pay more)

Griffin is smart. His hands are tied, just like Lue's, until teams are willing to deal. Especially since we have very few assets to begin with.

I blame Gilbert. We should have never let Delly go.

 

[PedroFlu]

Again, if you are unhappy with the amount of minutes LeBron and Kyrie are playing, that finger goes at Griffin, not Lue.

It's mostly Griffin yes, but Lue is also responsible. The minutes distribution seems improvable.

But I agree in general, the roster (complementary players) was flawed and it was expected to be very thin.

 

[Real Deal]

Their bench is murdering ours. Griff and/or Dan fucked up royally this off-season. No more sugar coating it.

Please don't start bitching about not paying Delly 40 million to backup Kyrie.

 

[wuck]

View: https://twitter.com/Rachel__Nichols/status/814678289994240000

 

[Jscc]

View: https://twitter.com/Rachel__Nichols/status/814678289994240000

That's different than a pull, correct?

 

[PedroFlu]

I agree. But we can't do anything about it unless you want to fall out of first place in the East.

We need more players. And, in my opinion, a backup PG.

Well, that might just be the case. Cavs are still chasing a strong record, but matter of fact is GSW and Spurs will finish first.

And imagine all the rest you could give to the main players in exchange for 1 more away game at Toronto.

I think it is the case, indeed, of thinking about letting the 1st position in the East go if necessary, if they can't improve the roster.

 

[TitleTown]

Please don't start bitching about paying Delly 40 million to backup Kyrie.

I agree with @Rich. Losing Delly was less about Delly's value in isolation, and more about "the whole being greater than the sum of the parts."

In other words, we didn't just lose Delly. We lost a key piece in our rotation and a third leader on the court. Delly in isolation may not have been worth $40million, but as part of a greater whole, I think he is worth it.

Now we have almost no options to replace him. We should have paid him.

 

[iWx]

I agree. But we can't do anything about it unless you want to fall out of first place in the East.

We need more players. And, in my opinion, a backup PG.

It is ok to fall out 1st seed. No team in the East can beat a healthy Cavs squad and we're not gonna beat Warriors/Spurs squad for home court advantage in the finals.

Cavs playing with this short of rotation is only going to decrease the odds of repeating.

 

[TitleTown]

I think it is the case, indeed, of thinking about letting the 1st position in the East go if necessary, if they can't improve the roster.

Sure, maybe. But that's not a decision we make before the trade deadline. We are fine for now.

The long term questions cannot be answered until we know the final makeup of our roster.

 

[Real Deal]

That's different than a pull, correct?

We're running him into the ground when last year he was fresh all season because of Delly being suitable.

JR getting hurt did not help the situation at all.

McRae and Felder are also flopping. This isn't the summer league.

Shumpert could only do so much, and he's no Delly at creating plays. More of a transition finsher.

Griff needs to get off his ass and get something cooking. We cannot afford to run Kyrie past his limit game in and game out. LeBron as well.

Dunleavy isn't the guy we thought he'd be. We're pretty weak at backup PG, SF, and C. RJ is a wildcard.