Author: Dave Long

It’s time to chronicle what’s been a totally under-the-radar first half of the baseball season despite having some notable highs and, considering their horrid April, really low lows.

Let’s get to the annual first half Red Sox report.

Holy Cow Moment

Alex Cora went against type to let Nick Pivetta and Michael Wacha pitch actual complete games that each exceeded 100 pitches. Wacha’s was a three-hit shutout of Anaheim in early June. No word yet on whether the final balls were sent to Cooperstown for their Herculean feats.

The High Points

Middle of the Order: I was for signing Kyle Schwarber and trading J.D. Martinez, and with Schwarber having 23 homers and 50 RBI to J.D.’s 8 and 33 that would have been the right thing to do even if he’s hitting .217 in Philly. But with him hitting way over .300 all year, it’s hard to complain about J.D. With Xander Bogaerts and Raffy Devers being even better, it’s a great 3-4-5 middle of the order, occasionally wrecked when Devers bats second. Throw in Alex Verdugo’s 43 RBI and average-challenged Trevor Story’s team-leading 52 and 12 homers on either side of the first three and it’s a potent group.

Young Pitchers: It looks like they’ve found their close in Tanner Houck. He’s made 15 straight relief appearances since May 5, with the last 10 as the closer when they won all 10 and he got one win and eight saves and had an ERA of 1.54.

Personally, I wanted him to be the starter among their two best young pitchers and Garrett Whitlock the late-inning reliever. But Whitlock became a permanent starter in late April where, thanks to some ridiculous early yanks by Cora, he’s only 2-1. But the ERA is 2.05 as a starter and they’re 5-1 in his last six starts before going on the DL in June. Throw in Pivetta and that makes three emerging young guys to build the staff around going forward.

Do I Hear Four: A fourth may be Josh Winckowski. Bloom took a lot of flak when he traded Andrew Benintendi, especially after Franchy Cordero’s Dumpster-fire season. But getting Winckowski from the Mets was supposed to be the prize in the deal. While it’s too early to tell anything, it’s encouraging that in his four starts filling in for Whitlock and Nathan Eovaldi he’s 3-1 with a 3.60 ERA.

Chaim’s Best Trade: With being 19-13, with a spectacular, had-to-have-it extra-inning win over Tampa in the playoffs, since arriving in 2020 after being disappointing in Philly Nick Pivetta represents Chaim Bloom’s best trade/steal so far. This year it’s 8-5 with a 3.23 ERA.

Surprises and Miscalculations

Michael Wacha: Boy, did I get it wrong on him. I was thinking bargain-basement signing all the way. But at 6-1 with a 2.65 first-half ERA he’s exceeded all expectations in returning to the form he showed with the Cardinals at the start of his career.

What’s the Story? Despite a lower than usual average, no regrets on signing Trevor Story. The power numbers are there and his smooth transition to second base has helped the infield defense.

Not According to Plan: Bloom’s biggest miscalculation was thinking that after his solid final two months of 2021 Bobby Dalbec would evolve into a 30-homer guy to replace the power lost by sending Hunter Renfroe to Milwaukee last winter. Thus far it’s just 5 homers and 18 RBI for Bobby, who finally got over the Mendozza Line last week and is now splitting time with Cordero at first base.

A Little History: That walk-off grand slam by Cordero for an 8-4 win over Seattle in May was the first walk-off slam (as best I can remember) since Mo Vaughn also did it to the Mariners in the home opener in 1998.

To the stat geeks who think starters should face the order a third time: Seattle yanked Randy Johnson that day with a 5-2 lead after getting 15 strikeouts in 8 innings. They even scored two more runs before the Sox came up in the ninth. The stellar Mariners bullpen then let the Sox get it to 7-5 before Mo (money) came up to hit the slam for the 9-7 win. It’s a reminder that when you yank a starter who’s got it going on, you do so for the uncertainty of whether whoever comes out of the pen has their good stuff or not.

What’s To Come

Next Three Weeks: Their 16-5 streak in June came against the weaker teams, which has the naysayers saying they’ll come back to earth. But that’s what they said about the Celtics when they started to win all the time in January. So for me, I know you can only play who they tell you to play and I saw good things were happening as they did. Especially with the pitching. Which means they enter a critical stretch of 23 games (including losing the 2 of 3 from Toronto to start it) with the top three teams in the AL East and the White Sox with momentum.

Chris Sale: Who knows what they’ll get from him? Could be a big boost or a nothing burger. So instead of predicting I’ll be like Yogi Berra when his wife asked him where he wanted to be buried and he answered surprise me, as I let it play out.

Rumor Mill: The ones on Bogaerts being traded at the deadline have died out completely. Beyond that, crickets.

Help Wanted — Or Is It Needed: I don’t trust anyone in the bullpen beyond Houck, especially Ryan Brasier and Matt Barnes, so they need to add one, maybe two difference-makers.

Prediction: With bullpen help, the winning continues with a spot in the play-in game looming.

Next week, a look at all of MLB.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

Many things have collected dust while we’ve been following the Celtics playoff run. It’s time to dust them off, with extra attention to some recent back-in-the-day stuff

Just so you know, I will not believe anything about how improved the Pats defense will be or the draftees are until I see it for myself.

I admit, though, I’m hoping Malcolm Butler has a great return season. I never liked how it ended here for the author of the greatest play in team history (tied with Adam V’s kick in the snow) and hero of SB win No. 5.

Dan Patrick is the best interviewer in sports. He asks real questions while showing his fandom at the same time and it’s always fun. Like with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in his George Foreman good-guy third act of life, the ones with the big fella are fun and interesting. Plus he loves Larry Bird trash talking stories.

The NFL Network just named its Top 3 Defensive Players of All-Time:

Lawrence Taylor: Deserved. Not only was LT a dominating, scary and destructive force, he also changed how his position was played. And his DC in NYC concurs.

Reggie White: I’m a no on Reggie. Great player, but always thought he was given a little too much credit for what he actually did. Guys like Dick Butkus and Deacon Jones dominated more and Deacon’s teammate Merlin Olsen made 16 straight Pro Bowls playing on better defenses than Reggie was ever on.

Deion Sanders: It is downright laughable the Kyrie Irving of football is in this trio. They say he shut down half the field with his coverage skills. Maybe, for a time, but the guy didn’t hit in either of the pro sports he played. Forget all positions, here are five cornerbacks who were better: Rod Woodson, Night Train Lane, Darrelle Revis, Darrell Green and Ty Law, not to mention Ray Lewis, Mean Joe Greene, Aaron Donald, and about five guys on Lombardi’s Packers.

In the merchandise era there are many stupid-looking uniforms out there. And while this may be a get off my lawn moment, I hate the Red Sox “city editions” worst of all. How does yellow and pastel blue have anything to do with Boston or the Red Sox? The Sox’ dumbest choice since making Bobby Valentine the manager.

If the rumor floating around is true Kevin Durant is not communicating with the Nets front office because “he’s frustrated” with them for not getting to know and “understanding” Kyrie Irving, it says his/their sense of entitlement now outweighs their talent and I’d dump both. Hope it’s not true, as I always liked KD. But seems like it may be.

That makes the trade rumor Miami is willing to give up Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro for Durant a little more interesting. With Durant turning 34 in September, it’s yes if I’m Brooklyn. But with team prez Pat Riley 77, he’s likely in “win now” mode so maybe.

I like Mad Dog Russo probably more than most, but with Lombardi’s Packers second and the Bradshaw Steelers third, the Top 5 Sports Dynasty Teams recently listed on Stephen A’s show was nuts. Both won less and didn’t last as long as the Patriots or Montana/Young 49ers. Not to mention the Celtics, Lakers and Montreal Canadiens.

For the record here are my Top 5 (which values long time at the top over the burst of a short-term great team that disappeared when the best guys got old like GB and Pitt): (1) Yankees, (2) Montreal, (3) Lakers, (4) Celtics and (5) Patriots, while acknowledging the 49ers’ run was cut short by the advent of the salary cap, which clobbered a team put together under different rules.

I’ll also take the Tom Landry/Jimmy Johnson Cowboys over GB.

Staying back in the day for a second. I just saw the fourth quarter of Bill Russell’s last title win in Game 7 in the 1969 Final on YouTube and was astonished how badly it’s been reported for history. First, the high bounding and fall-through-the-rim foul line jumper by Don Nelson was not the winning bucket as it’s been made out to be for decades. The final points came on foul shots by John Havlicek and Larry Siegfried. Second, I’ve never heard mention the Celtics blew a 17-point fourth-quarter lead before winning in the end. Third, while the score was 108-106 the C’s had a six-point lead with 10 seconds left and the last L.A. basket came as time expired, so it wasn’t as close as made out to be. And for Russo and the rest of the mis-remember folks who think the NBA was better back in the day because of their fundamentals: I didn’t see one box out the whole fourth quarter. Oh, and L.A. was 28 for 47 (Wilt 4-13) from the line in a two-point loss

If WNBA’er Brittany Griner is a political prisoner in reprisal for sanctions against Russian for its unprovoked attack on Ukraine, doesn’t that make “free Brittany” rallies counterproductive? Because the noise gives Vladimir Putin what he wants — attention.

I get the protests about the money coming from the sinister Saudi Arabia government and it does look like Greg Norman has been bought and paid for. But an entity challenging the PGA like the LIV tour being bad for golf? That’s what they said about the AFL and the ABA and it was just the opposite.

Personally I don’t follow the Bruins enough to give an informed opinion on whether Bruce Cassidy should have been fired as coach. But I did notice mild-mannered Boston Globe hockey writer Kevin Paul Dupont calling it a scapegoating by GM Don Sweeney and President Cam Neely after not getting enough good players to make the B’s more competitive. Since I can’t recall KPD ever being overreactionary or a blamer, what he says makes me wonder.

We’ll get to the surging Red Sox next week.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

After coming up just two games short of winning the NBA title, the inevitable happens for your Boston Celtics. The exclamation point is that they had a 2-1 lead in the series before coughing up three straight losses to Golden State. And since they can only be described as (use your own word) bad to horrendous losses that saw them blow double-digit leads in all three, let the finger-pointing begin.

I don’t like the words “blame” or “fault” because those are words for losers who get stuck in the past and don’t focus on the future, which is where you need to be to find a solution, which is what Brad Stevens and the brass need to do.

So, while this may be semantics, I prefer to think about “responsibility” because it identifies areas that need to be improved in the off-season. That could be a weakness in personnel, questionable coaching decisions, repeated mental mistakes or just playing against a better team.

First thing is to assess what the season was in relation to expectations. This can be looked at two ways.

Glass Is Half Full: Getting to the NBA Finals was a major step forward with a disappointing ending. Especially in light of their train wreck first two months of 2021-22, which suggested we were in store for a repeat of the same infuriating under-achievement as last year. After somehow finding their mojo in early January it turned into a major step forward for a team that exceeded everyone’s expectations, which, after a few minor tweaks, makes the future look bright.

Glass Is Half Empty: This Celtics loss doesn’t approach a blown opportunity by the favored Lakers over the Celtics in 1984. They’re hardly the first underdog to blow a 2-1 series lead. I mean the Celtics put that same number on the defending champion Bucks just last month.

But what I care most about is how a team loses. And the way the C’s lost to GS raises major red flags about their heart and collective ability to hold their attention firm during adversity. They had their moments earlier in the playoffs, but they really needed the same mental toughness when the Warriors put the heat on, and this time the top three melted like a stick of butter in a hot frying pan.

Is that just part of the growing process, or in their DNA?

That’s where Stevens’ assessment should begin as he decides what steps are needed to win those last two games next year.

The Opponent

Golden State: First, the Celtics lost to a better team in a series GS earned. A surprise to me because I underestimated two things: their team defense and Steph Curry.

The D was exceptional because Andrew Wiggins (mostly) did a great job on Jayson Tatum in his forgettable series and their quickness to close out on open shots took away what the C’s do to put opponents on their heels. It especially flummoxed them in the half court during crunch time.

As for Curry, I somehow forgot how good he is at scoring around the basket, which destroyed my “crowd him to make him drive” strategy. This dude’s just good and raised an interesting question from my nephew, who asks, is he a Top 10 player all-time? I never thought of him that way, but since he’s the leader of a team that’s won more titles than Larry Bird did, maybe we should.

The Red Flags

Heart and Grit: They were resilient all through the playoffs even amid hiccups vs. Milwaukee and Miami. But it’s a tough call because good opponents can cause them. But at the end of it all, I’m back to where I was in December on Tatum. While he has the talent, does he have the make-up to be the team leader or do they need to find a Jimmy Butler team leader to pair with him?

Turnovers: Careless, mindless T.O.’s thrown up for grabs handed the Warriors free baskets that killed Boston all series. Tatum set a record for most T.O.s in a playoff season and in Game 4 alone Marcus Smart handed GS 10 free points himself on five totally mindless cross-court passes. As for Jaylen Brown, despite his occasional brilliance, almost every drive was an adventure because he has the worst handle I’ve seen since Tom Boerwinkle retired.

Can they fix this issue internally or do they need a point guard to do so?

The Bench: Despite some earlier heroics, Derrick White aside, it was mostly a Finals no show. So is it good enough?

IQ And Instincts: It made Jeff Van Gundy crazy all through the series and me for much longer than that. With the peak being Tatum giving take fouls to stop a fast break early in Games 5 and 6 that led to first-half foul trouble both times. Somehow he and Smart think that’s smart but risking early foul trouble over two points is just dumb.

Most amazing is they kept repeating the same dumb mistakes.

What Next

Since they also had similar collapses twice against Milwaukee and Miami, my view is they have to address all their red flag issues to take that next step.

Who To Build Around: I don’t think a big change is needed. But if a big deal surfaced to make them clearly better, the two untouchables are Tatum and Robert Williams. Though I’d be reluctant to move on from the wisdom, versatility and toughness of Al Horford as well. While I think everyone else deserves appreciation for a terrific season I’d be willing to part with anyone else in the right deal.

One-Player Wish List – Damian Lillard: Wouldn’t give up both Brown and Smart for him. But he’s a real point guard and the kind of seasoned leader to reduce that burden on Tatum.

So, overall mostly a job well done. But get to work, Brad, because you’ve got some holes to fill.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

As I write this, Game 5 of the NBA Finals goes off tonight in San Francisco with the Celtics and Warriors tied at two games apiece.

That is vexing to me as a writer because you will not see this until after it’s over, and going in I have no idea what is going to happen.

Part of that has to do with the rhythm of any seven-game series, while the other part, as Yogi Berra might say, is mental. By that I mean since Game 1 of the Milwaukee series the Celtics just can not stand prosperity. The latest example is Friday’s Game 4, where with a 2-1 lead and playing in front of a ravenous, frothing at the mouth crowd the series was there for the taking, especially after they jumped out to an early double-digit lead. But they didn’t/couldn’t keep their foot on the gas and let Golden State back in the game, which eventually cost them as under a barrage of late-game Steph Curry bombs they lost.

Give GS credit for staying the course and being tough enough to win in that environment. And the Celtics are hardly the first team to get bulldozed by Curry. But still, it seems like the C’s let a golden opportunity to take command of the series slip away.

However if you’ve been following this playoff season it shouldn’t have been a surprise really, as it’s had only two constants so far. One is that, by somehow going just 6-5 at home, the Celtics seem determined to make it harder on themselves. The other constant is their resilience. Just when you think they’ve put themselves in a hole they won’t get out of by losing all those supposedly vital home games, they do, thanks to being a ridiculous 8-3 in enemy buildings.

All of which brings me back to my original statement. I have no idea what’s going to happen in Game 5, let alone 6 and 7.

However, Curry’s brilliance aside, the unpredictability of the first four games speaks to why I much prefer the NBA playoffs to the NCAA Basketball Tournament. It’s a to each his/her own world. But, while watching the run of a dark horse is fun, you can luck out to win in a one-and-done tournament (see Villanova–Georgetown 1985), but outside of losing a key guy to an injury, you can’t luck out in a long series. You’ve got to earn it by surviving the inevitable ups and downs that come when excellent teams face each other seven times in a row. It builds friction among players that leads to increasing physical play and the kind of hard feelings that can form the foundation of a real rivalry. That rarely happens in the tournament.

There’s also the overreactions of the fans and pundits from game to game to enjoy. Like Steven A. Blowhard saying the Warriors looked in trouble after Game 1. Ridiculous. The C’s famed Mother’s Day massacre of L.A. shows Game 1 is just one game. Instead, most times, these things go game to game. Especially in the first four.

Then there was just last year when Phoenix dusted the Bucks by double figures in the first two games, to have the media spouting OMG, they’re dead because only four teams have ever climbed out of an 0-2 hole to win a title. Well guess what? It’s now five times because the best player in that series took it over after Game 2 to lead Milwaukee to win four straight, culminating with Giannis Antetokounmpo’s historic 50-point game in Game 6.

Which brings us to the point of this diatribe. While sometimes, like Cedric Maxwell in 1981 or Grant Williams in Game 7 vs. Milwaukee, an unexpected surprise happens. I’m standing by what I said before the series: that for the Celtics to win Jayson Tatum had to play Curry even and Jaylen Brown had to outplay Klay Thompson. So far the latter has happened, but with Curry averaging 34 per and making several backbreaking shots in the GS wins, the former has not.

And that’s where the series lies in the last three games — in the lap of Tatum, who has not played well in either of the last two series. At least not to the dominating level he showed in series wins over Brooklyn and Milwaukee.

It speaks to a guy’s talent when a big mouth like me can say a guy averaging 22 a game isn’t playing well. But the way to tell if a star is struggling, beyond the stats, is hearing announcers like the ABC crew bending over backward to talk about Tatum’s improved passing and floor game. That’s great and speaks well to the future. But Tatum isn’t paid to pass. He gets the big money for scoring big and imposing his will on big games. That’s what’s needed here because the Celtics won’t win unless he does.

Can he do that? Yes. Will he do it? I don’t have a clue. Though as of right now I’d bet on Curry, because Tatum hasn’t reached the point yet where you know he’s going to come through even when he doesn’t.

It was like that with Larry Bird. But even he suffered through some tough times, like his miserable games 3, 4 and 5 vs. Houston in the 1981 Finals, where he shot 11 for 37 as he scored just 8, 8 and 12 points in those games.

You can say it’s not fair to compare Tatum to Bird. But at that point he wasn’t Larry Legend. He was just in his second season and yet to win a title. But he came back in Game 6 to put 27-13-5 on the board in a 102-91 series-ending win.

Which brings us back to resilience. It’s been their calling card so far and how you win. You keep moving forward to get your groove back.

We’ll know by now if Tatum found his in Game 5.

There’s good news and bad news from the NBA Finals today.

The good was the Celtics bombing away during an incredible comeback that erased a 15-point Golden State third-quarter lead with a 40-16 fourth-quarter surge to win Game 1 big. The bad was showing once again they can’t handle prosperity by coughing up Game 2 in a 107-88 Warriors rout.

The latter via a barrage of first-half turnovers in a mostly inept offensive effort before getting flattened by a third-quarter Warriors explosion.

True, GS couldn’t go to Boston down 0-2 so they played with desperation, but the Celtics’ lack of intensity was equally responsible for the loss.

In the end being tied 1-1 is good for Warriors fans, those with no dog in the hunt, ABC/ESPN and the league but a repetitive irritation for Celtic Nation. Fortunately resilience has been their calling card so far, so maybe that irritation will fade by series end.

In the meantime, here are a few observations from the first two games.

Raise your hand if you knew Payton Pritchard was the second leading Celtics rebounder in Game 1 with six. One behind leader Jaylen Brown and tied with bigs Al Horford and Rob Williams. He also scored 8 points and played plucky on-ball defense vs. Jordan Poole in the decisive fourth quarter, and the C’s were a plus 14 in his 15 minutes of PT.

Speaking of Poole: This is unofficial, but that shot he made from one step past mid-court to end the third quarter of Game 2 is likely the longest shot made in the finals since Jerry West buried one from two steps beyond mid-court as time expired in the fourth quarter to send Game 3 in 1970 to OT. The Knicks recovered from that to still win 103-101, but that 53-footer was the ultimate clutch shot from Mr. Clutch.

Anyone ever seen Darth Vader and Draymond Green in the same room? Easy to hate that guy’s act after it was chippy stuff all around in Game 2.

I could not disagree more with ref analyst Steve Jaffe and Jeff Van Gundy saying a ref has to take into account game situations when deciding to give Draymond a game ejecting second technical foul for his first-half dustup with Brown. So what if he already had one? Doing that gives a guy whose M.O. is committing mayhem carte blanche the rest of the game. Sorry, he’s the doofus who put himself in the situation by being unnecessarily mouthy earlier in the game. He’s the one who crashed into Brown on his 3-point attempt and gave his landing on him a little extra oomph, then put his feet on his head to be annoying and Brown pushed him back. Double T, no questions asked. See you later, Draymond. Terrible interpretation by the refs.

I’ve never seen anyone who can go from being lights out in the first quarter to stone cold and absolutely awful the rest of the game as Brown was in Game 2, which came on top of his Game 1-saving fourth quarter to make it more perplexing. How does that happen?

Am I the only one who sees the irony in Mark Jackson waxing poetically about the Warriors; mini-dynasty? Because it happened immediately after he got fired for the toxic environment he created when he was their coach.

He hasn’t played all that well yet, but after two years of bad luck and hard rehab it’s nice seeing Klay Thompson healthy and back on the court.

Amid all the local drooling over Jayson Tatum’s many high moments, I’m still pretty tough on him for his lapses. I’m not picking on him; I just think he still drifts too much in his focus. So if you’re wondering why I included him in the Game 2 carnage despite scoring 28 points, it’s because they were -36 when he was on the floor. So something wasn’t working.

Having said that, it was a relief to see his touch return in Game 2. Though I’m with Mark Jax that he’s still not quite in sync, because he’s forcing things in favorable match-ups.

Anyone on the“Stephen A Blowhard is a basketball genius” bandwagon remember he proclaimed the Warriors to be “in serious trouble” after losing Game 1? That’s Game 1 of a best-of-seven series when the Celtics shot a very hard to repeat 7 of 9 from distance in their fourth-quarter blitz. Talk about an overreaction, which predictably lasted one game. Truth is, series like this usually have mood swings and the first two games rarely tell you much because they’re like fighters feeling each other out. As for Stephen A, shouting it louder than everyone else may get you to the top of a sports network, but it doesn’t make you right, which he rarely is. And that imbecile Skip Bayless makes him seem like he’s basketball’s Einstein.

Along that line, the overall stat so far to make Celtic Nation queasy is that the Dubs basically shot the same in both games, while the C’s were a hard-to-match 51.2 percent on 3’s in Game 1 and a back to normal 39 percent when they got croaked in Game 2.

While I love prehistoric history more than most, linking this Celtics team to those from its rich long ago history seems a stretch to me. I see the connection for guys who have played for the franchise and old buck fans like me, but it’s won one title in 36 years! Which by the old way of thinking is three and half decades of failure. The kind of franchise people around here during the Bird era goofed on.

This group is actually more like what Curry and company were in 2015. A young up and comer looking to be the NBA’s next great multi-year contending team. Time will tell if they become that, but if they do, I’ll settle for that.

Phew! That was a close one.

Try as they might to give away the last two games with repeated sloppy play and disappearing stars in crunch time the Celtics managed to hold on to win Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals 100-96.

Outside of the final two games, it wasn’t all bad. But beating the Heat in Miami was not easy.

It earned the C’s their first trip to the NBA Finals since 2010. But before we get to the three-time champion Golden State Warriors here’s a quick review of surviving the seven-game series with Miami.

Give Miami Credit for Toughness: With Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry limping, they looked dead in the water after a Game 5 Celtics beat down. But somehow they pulled it together, which is what admirable teams do, to be a missed Butler 3 from being in the lead with under 30 seconds to go. Ditto if an eagle eye at the scorers table hadn’t disallowed a crucial Max Strus 3 after seeing his heel catch the sideline in an after-the-play review to see if it was a 3 or a 2.

Tatum’s Hall of Fame Berth Back On Hold: While he’s certainly had some high highs, he didn’t deserve the MVP, because the play in this series was so erratic. And as I said before the playoffs you only get into the Top 10 players group if you dominate in the playoffs. But in Game 6 he disappeared in the fourth quarter and in Game 7 he had the softest 28-point (with at least four missed lay-ups) game I’ve ever seen. Fortunately he has the Finals to erase that. Word to the wise: Ditch the Kobe wristband, ’cause he looked like Kobe when he shot 40 percent from the field and 31 percent on 3’s in the 2010 Finals.

Why Let Marcus Smart Take The Last 5 Shots With Game 7 Slipping Away? Because with Tatum shrinking from the moment somebody had to take them and as ineffective as he was, Marcus had the stones to take them. Plus he was wide open on the 3’s.

That’s The Derrick White We Were Sold: He’s had his ups and downs since arriving in February. But he was the best guy off the bench vs. Miami in making huge defensive and offensive contributions in games 4 through 7.

Bravo – Jimmy Butler: He played through pain. Put his team on his back to score 47, 41 and 35 in the way many expected Tatum to and Tatum didn’t. I’m fine with the 3 he took in the final minute. Strength or not he broke Boston’s backs in Game 6 with 3’s. Standing O for Jimmy.

The Main Event: What to expect from the Warriors.

Previous 2021-22 Games: GS won a tight one in Boston before the January turnaround and C’s blew them out in March in SF in the game Curry got hurt.

Players to Watch

Steph Curry: After all the early playoff hoo-ha over Kyrie Irving, we get to see the real deal here instead. A two-time MVP, three-time champ and the best shooter who ever lived. He kills you with 3’s and off the dribble is a leader and a winner. All the things Kyrie ain’t. So watch out for this dude.

Klay Thompson: After two painstaking years rehabbing tears of an ACL and Achilles that cost him two seasons he’s back to form shooting 38 percent from deep and averaging 20.4 per. The only really bad thing to say about Klay is his father, Mychal, played for the Lakers in the ’80s heyday.

Jordan Poole: He’s their version of Rob Williams. A low first-round pick who came on strong in Year 3 to average 18.5 per game and can go for 30 on any given night.

Who Should You Boo: This is a pretty hard team to not like. So thank goodness for Draymond Green. Loud, abrasive, nasty and borderline dirty. Guaranteed he will raise the ire of Celtics Nation more than once for sure. And, oh yeah, he’s very good, which is what makes his act most annoying.

Best Match-up: Marcus Smart vs. whoever he guards. Because they have a lot of guys who can score and he can cover all of them. Just not at once.

Issues

3-Point Shooting Battle: Both teams can blow you out shooting 3’s. GS takes 40 3’s a game and makes 36 percent. Draymond shoots under 30 percent, so be my guest.

The Boards: GS rebounds collectively as a team with team leader (with 596) Kevon Looney the only one who can hurt the C’s on the offense glass consistently.

Strategy

Celtics on Defense: Tight, tight, tight D to make the GS guards put it on the floor and take it inside the line. Even if it means them scoring off the dribble, because giving up two is better than getting blown up with a barrage of 3’s, which they can do when Curry and Thompson get it going. The D can get away doing that with Al Horford and Lob it to Rob Williams back there protecting the basket.

Celtics on Offense – Who To Attack: The GS guards. The Warriors are not a big team and have no real shot blocker, so Tatum and Jaylen Brown need to use their size advantage to shoot at the rim and get the foul shots that come with that.

Key Stat: The Celtics hold opponents to shooting 31.9 percent from deep, while for Golden State it’s 36 percent. If that stat holds, edge to C’s because it will throw GS a bit off its game.

Golden State Wins: If the Celtics let the secondary players capable of doing real damage like Poole and Andrew Wiggins have big scoring series to supplement what Curry and Thompson generally do.

Boston Wins: If they control it offensively and defensively around the basket, consistently force GS deep shooters to put it on the floor, while Tatum plays Curry even and Brown outscores Thompson.