Picks 'n Pops: Battle-tested Jays, adjustments explained, and wholesome content

Every week I gather some thoughts about the Celtics, the NBA, and beyond and dump them here. Because I needed a break from praying to avoid going to Indy on the same weekend as the Indianapolis 500. 

- The Timberwolves demolished the Nuggets last night, so Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals will be played Tuesday night in Boston at 8 p.m. no matter what happens in the Knicks/Pacers series. They’ll play every other day with the standard 2-2-1-1-1 format. Every game will be played at 8 on ESPN except Game 3 next Saturday. That will be on ABC at 8:30. 

- What a big couple of days for the 36-plus NBA club

Conley didn’t have a monster offensive game like Al Horford did, but his 13 points on 5-9 shooting (3-6) from 3 and five assists helped stabilize the Timberwolves offense. 

In a similarly impressive accomplishment, I played 90 minutes of pickup basketball without rupturing a single lower-leg tendon. So really, who’s to say who had the best day this week? 

- Jayson Tatum on how far he and Jaylen Brown have come together: 

"Yeah, we've just been in a lot of battles together. Seven years as teammates, he's been in the conference finals six times, this is my fifth time. We've been in a lot of (big) moments, regular season and playoff games. And just throughout the years, learning from our experiences, we're really getting to a stage where we understand what we can do individually. We know how gifted we are offensively, but each night just kind of presents different challenges, and (it's) being ready and up for the task to do whatever is needed because both of us are capable on a basketball court to do literally everything. And each night may call for something different."

For the first time in their careers, we’re seeing how willing they are to take a step back personally for the better of their team. Tatum took nine shots in Game 5 as Boston closed out Miami. Brown took nine in the Cavs closeout game. 

The game will always tell you what it needs. The question is always whether the players and coaches are listening closely enough. Tatum and Brown seem to be. 

- Almost all of the national discourse about the Celtics starts with people being bored and not knowing what to talk about. 

- Speaking of crappy discourse, people getting all over Caitlin Clark for struggling two games into her pro career is absolute lunacy. Can she get some time to get used to a new game, new team, and really, a new life? 

- Luka Doncic is reportedly playing through injuries that would normally sideline him for two weeks and his Mavs are a win away from the Western Conference Finals. I jammed my finger playing basketball and had AI write my stories for the last four days. 

- There are often mushroom clouds in the rearview mirror of advancing playoff teams.

And so the Darius Garland/Donovan Mitchell experiment comes to an end one way or another. The Spurs should be watching that situation closely. If Garland is available, he’ll be cheaper and better than Trae Young in San Antonio. 

- There's no higher comedy than Max Strus coming into Boston wearing a Florida Panthers jersey, playing terribly, and skulking out with his season over. 

- LeBron James attended Game 4 in Cleveland and brought his own bottle of wine, which somehow was fine but me bringing my own bottle of whisky to press row was a problem? I was willing to share. 

- It's always fun to hear when a team losing a playoff game is a problem, and when it’s because ‘winning championships is hard.’ 

- Jaylen Brown says he’s starting to embrace his inner villain. I hope he makes it a cool one like Ric Flair and starts coming out in sequined robes and feather boas for warmups. 

- Misleading headline of the week: “Boston Celtics: Kristaps Porzingis Breaks Silence on Lenghty Injury With Pivotal Update” This was the “pivotal update”:

An Instagram picture with the caption “every day” and a rising stock chart emoji. 

I can’t anymore. 

- Porzingis did look okay getting a workout in Cleveland. 

I have no clue when he’ll come back, but he’s making progress. I haven't heard anything definitive, but if the next round goes long enough, I think we might see him return. 

- Good luck to Sam Cassell, though it would really suck to see him coaching the Lakers. 

- Joe Mazzulla explains adjustments versus Cleveland: “Once Mitchell went out, the whole thing was ‘How are you going to take away their speed, how are you going to take away their 3-point attempts?’ They made a conscious effort to get more threes, and so once we went to switching and they were going to isolate, I thought that was the best thing for our defense because it took away the (Max) Strus’s, the (Sam) Merrills, the (Marcus) Morris’s, and it just made us play 1-on-1. There’s obviously things that you have to focus on, rebounding and stuff like that, but it made us answer the bell. You’ve got to guard your yard. This is what it takes to win this game, this is what it takes to win this series. Guard your yard, individual defense, man up and do it, and the guys did it. It’s a credit to them.”

Basically, they went iso vs. iso. Mano e mano. The bet was ‘our players are better than your players’ and it worked. 

- This notion that hockey players are tough because they try to take cheap shots and hurt each other is one of the most insane things I’ve ever read. 

“It’s part of the playoffs,” Bruins captain Brad Marchand said. “People don't want to say it, but part of the playoffs is trying to hurt every player on the other team.”

I know Marchand is a lunatic himself, but this is insanity. People will say “well, that's hockey” and praise it as the toughness of the sport, but that just sounds crazy to me. I’m all for playing hard, but purposely trying to hurt players is out of bounds. 

But the NHL let that cheap shot go, so what do I know? I guess I’ll just stay in my lane over here on the basketball side. 

- Derrick White playing with a bobblehead at a Red Sox game with his parents is the wholesome content we need on the internet.

- Did the Nuggets play with their food?

- It feels like Bronny James is doing everything he can to separate himself from his dad on the basketball court. 

- The Hawks shockingly got the top pick in the NBA draft. Time to smash the quick rebuild button and find a team dumb enough to give up something meaningful for Young. 

- Maybe I’m a homer, but the Patriots schedule release video was the best one out there. 

Everyone is raving about the Chargers doing a Sims-themed release, but I don’t understand half of what’s happening in there because I’m old and cranky. Making a parody of a film from 27 years ago is right in my wheelhouse. 

- Ben Affeck and Jennifer Lopez broke up again? If they can’t make love work, what chance do the rest of us have?

- This week’s Bing AI-generated image: Just waiting patiently … again …

- Here’s my latest podcast, if you’re bored