Is it championship or failure for the Celtics?

The Boston Celtics enter the Eastern Conference Finals as heavy favorites over the Indiana Pacers and are the favorites to win the Title in 2024. On Monday's Felger and Mazz, the guys react to some national media discussing the Celtics and if it is a failure if they don't win it all in 2024?

Is it Championship or Failure for the Celtics?

Felger: Nick Wright says this season is a failure if they do not win a championship....agree or disagree?  

Mazz: 100%! 

Felger: Who disagrees with that?  

Mazz: Nobody. Because it's the truth. It's the truth. There is no way around it. And I also like his analogy of “kick the door down”, because this has been the problem. Whether he knew it or not when he said it, I think it's a good way put it. If you want to win a championship you've got to kick the door down. Eventually it gets to that point. No one's going to give it to you, although the league is trying this year. Certainly they've opened up the path. They’ve basically left the door unlocked. So all you’ve got to do is walk right in. But to me, no question, it is time. It has been time, but now, as soon as they made the moves they made, they were the best team in the league. They're loaded for bear. There are no super teams in the league anymore, but they're the closest thing to it. They have all kinds of weaponry. I think they're going to get Porzingis back at some point, even if it's 85%. No excuses and all the big guys are out of their way. 

Listen to Felger and Mazz from 2-6 every Monday-Friday on 98.5 The Sports Hub, with hosts Mike Felger, Tony “Mazz” Massarotti, and Jim Murray “Big Jim”. You can listen live in the Sports Hub App and subscribe to their podcasts here. Follow @FelgerAndMazz on Twitter to keep up with the show!

Pacers vs. Celtics…. No, it doesn’t have the juice that Knicks vs. Celtics would have had. But this will absolutely be the Celtics toughest test of the postseason so far. And likely a lot tougher than a matchup against the banged-up Knicks would have been. As we get ready for Game 1 on Tuesday night let’s take a look at the five players that will play the biggest roles in determining this series. 

You aren’t going to find a bigger Derrick White fan than me. Brad Stevens has put together a longggg list of impressive moves during his time as the president of basketball operations for the Celtics. Still, turning Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, and picks into White back in 2022 might remain his best move. He was arguably the Celtics best player in their opening round series against the Heat and after three consecutive poor shooting games against the Cavs, White finished that series with a strong 18-point performance in Game 5. If White can continue to give you the type of play he did in round 1 and in Game 5, this series won’t last long. 

The Pacers acquired Siakam at the deadline from the Raptors in exchange for Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora and three first round picks. So far this postseason the trade has worked out. In 12 playoff games he is averaging more than 21 points per game while shooting better than 50% from the field. That is NOT what Siakam brought to the table the last time he played the Celtics in the playoffs.

During the bubble postseason the Raptors and Celtics went 7 games in the Eastern Conference semifinals, in that series Siakam saw his averages plummet from 23.6 points per game on 45.9% shooting during the regular season to 14.9 points on 38.2% shooting. For his career against the Celtics he has averaged 17.6 points in 25 games (his biggest game a 40 point performance against the Celtics in 2022 came against a Celtics lineup that did not have Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, or Al Horford).

The question is which Siakam are the Pacers going to get this series. The one they have gotten so far this postseason or the one that showed up in the bubble against Boston. If it’s bubble Siakam this series will get ugly. 

I’ll come clean and admit that I was a way bigger fan of the In-Season Tournament than any rational person should have been. Sure, it was artificially created by the league but it also gave players an incentive to really care about games that weren’t actually playoff games. And it worked! Players did really care!

I was especially excited for the Celtics to have an opportunity at a dress rehearsal for the playoffs. Some actual reps with this new group in games that meant a little bit more! Unfortunately, those reps came to a premature end against the Pacers thanks to a fantastic performance from Haliburton in which he had 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 13 assists. He was the best player on the court that night. And while Siakam is a two-time all-star, I’m confident in saying that Haliburton is the one player the Pacers have that has the ability to take over games against Boston. If the Celtics can keep Haliburton in check the rest will take care of itself.

Yes, I am cheating a little bit with this one but stay with me. The latest update we received on Porzingis over the weekend is certainly encouraging if you are Celtis fan. According to Woj, “Porzingis is expected to remain sidelined for Games 1 and 2 of the Eastern Conference finals next week, but there is optimism he will be able to return sometime in the series barring any setbacks.” I still don’t think the Celtics are at a point in the playoffs where they need Porzingis to win the series (I said the day after the injury took place that the only team they will need him until the finals and I haven’t wavered on that take). That being said the injury took place on April 29^th, Game 3 of this series is May 25^th, that is nearly a month off for a legit seven-footer.

Getting Porzingis up and running, back in game shape, and confident again before the Finals actually begin is vitally important. There will not be a lot of wiggle room in the Finals. Making sure the rust is knocked off and Porzingis is healthy and productive is one of the biggest goals for Boston in this series.

He is the best player on the best team. Enough said.