Celtics @ Wizards: Game 4!!!

28-28

2017 NBA Playoffs: 9-3

The pick:

Wizards -4.5 over Celtics

We are getting a good side and spread here and I'll tell you why.

1. Thomas' teeth

I can speak to this. I've had my teeth knocked out. I've had the surgeries, the bridges, the endless repairs, the innumerable dentist visits (the sanitized smell of a dentist office is my most hated smell on earth I've been there so many times).

Having this happen to you is not pleasant in the least. It would be better to have a flesh wound and get stitched up. And I'm not a world-class athlete near the top of the NBA in offensive output. I'm saying this as a Joe with a job and a house capping from a PC. The level of intensity on that court, particularly in a VERY physical playoff series (Bad for someone who has had such an injury), is something Thomas will have to deal with in two days...and that's not enough time IMO.

The pain is there. The swelling is there. Every bite you take is measured. Your teeth make up your face. Your face represents you. Change your teeth? Change your face.

This is not a good thing. Because the physical devolves into the psychological and once it become psychological, it far outweighs anything physical.

I can guarantee Thomas is feeling out of sorts right now, especially given what the Celtics revealed tonight:

As a result of a collision that occurred in Game 1 of the Boston Celtics¡¯ Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Washington Wizards, Isaiah Thomas sustained multiple front teeth injuries including a complete fractured tooth and two other subluxed/shifted teeth that required extensive oral surgery to stabilize. He did not suffer a fractured or broken jaw.

Thomas is currently wearing a four-piece temporary bridge that cracked after being re-injured. This necessitated a replacement at halftime during Game 3 of the series. The spanning bridge is necessary to protect and stabilize the injuries. Members of the Celtics medical staff anticipated the need to replace the temporary bridges, and are prepared at any time to do so. Thomas will receive a permanent bridge at a future date.

That's not a broken jaw but that's not a good progress report. This isn't just a lost tooth Gents. Like he's Mankind smiling on his way from the wrestling ring after just having lost Hell in a Cell to the Undertaker.

This is more. And if Thomas dials it back a tick or two or three because he is having second thoughts about how intense he should be driving the hole, because his subconscious is overwhelming him, telling him he'll get hit in the teeth again, the Celtics cannot win.

The line opened at 4.5. It is still 4.5 after this news. I can assure you, after reading what you read above, it should be more. How much more is debatable because he'll be on the court.

But he was on the court in the second half of  Game 3 and the Wiz destroyed the Celts, Thomas having all of 13 points.

Why are you here? You are looking for an edge. This teeth injury and subsequent recovery is an edge.

"Oh god. Because Scal lost teeth too, now he's using that to cap a game!"

Wrong. What I am telling you is that I can speak to this, the scars are psychological, will affect his on-court performance as it did in the second half of last game, and that is worth betting on.

The dropoff from 53 to 13 the next game was the biggest disparity in points after scoring 50+ in Nba history....That matters.

2. A History of Hate

The Hate comes from both sides. And it goes back, way back, longer than you think, as the Ringer has detailed below:

intentionally injured him in the 2015 playoffs, and Olynyk seemed to try the same move on Robin Lopez in this year¡¯s first round. The screen on Oubre wasn¡¯t dirty?¡ª?honestly, I¡¯m not sure it was even a foul?¡ª?but Olynyk has a reputation, and when you think a silly-haired Canadian man is getting dirty with you, you have to stand up for yourself.

then¨CWizards coach Randy Wittman was accused of cursing out Jae Crowder, but it¡¯s gotten more serious since. Crowder booped John Wall in the nose during a postgame yelling fit, leading to teammates separating the two on the court and police separating them off it. Wall once picked up a flagrant foul on Marcus Smart before the two yelled at each other, then Bradley Beal got in Smart¡¯s face (also Smart once broke Beal¡¯s nose). Otto Porter Jr. said the Celtics are dirty, and the Wizards famously dressed in black for a ¡°funeral¡± game against the Celtics.

Isaiah Thomas losing a tooth, Al Horford accidentally injuring Markieff Morris, Morris ¡°accidentally¡± shoving Horford into some photographers, and Morris and Thomas yelling at each other. After the Kelly-on-Kelly scuffle, Terry Rozier and Brandon Jennings resumed their minor beef with each other until they were ejected in the fourth quarter.

2. A History of Hate

The Hate comes from both sides. And it goes back, way back, longer than you think, as the Ringer has detailed below:

intentionally injured him in the 2015 playoffs, and Olynyk seemed to try the same move on Robin Lopez in this year¡¯s first round. The screen on Oubre wasn¡¯t dirty?¡ª?honestly, I¡¯m not sure it was even a foul?¡ª?but Olynyk has a reputation, and when you think a silly-haired Canadian man is getting dirty with you, you have to stand up for yourself.

then¨CWizards coach Randy Wittman was accused of cursing out Jae Crowder, but it¡¯s gotten more serious since. Crowder booped John Wall in the nose during a postgame yelling fit, leading to teammates separating the two on the court and police separating them off it. Wall once picked up a flagrant foul on Marcus Smart before the two yelled at each other, then Bradley Beal got in Smart¡¯s face (also Smart once broke Beal¡¯s nose). Otto Porter Jr. said the Celtics are dirty, and the Wizards famously dressed in black for a ¡°funeral¡± game against the Celtics.

Isaiah Thomas losing a tooth, Al Horford accidentally injuring Markieff Morris, Morris ¡°accidentally¡± shoving Horford into some photographers, and Morris and Thomas yelling at each other. After the Kelly-on-Kelly scuffle, Terry Rozier and Brandon Jennings resumed their minor beef with each other until they were ejected in the fourth quarter.

2. A History of Hate

The Hate comes from both sides. And it goes back, way back, longer than you think, as the Ringer has detailed below:

Olynyk has a history of playing dirtier than is legal?¡ª?Kevin Love said that Olynyk intentionally injured him in the 2015 playoffs, and Olynyk seemed to try the same move on Robin Lopez in this year¡¯s first round. The screen on Oubre wasn¡¯t dirty?¡ª?honestly, I¡¯m not sure it was even a foul?¡ª?but Olynyk has a reputation, and when you think a silly-haired Canadian man is getting dirty with you, you have to stand up for yourself.

But more importantly, there is long-standing beef here: It began when then¨CWizards coach Randy Wittman was accused of cursing out Jae Crowder, but it¡¯s gotten more serious since. Crowder booped John Wall in the nose during a postgame yelling fit, leading to teammates separating the two on the court and police separating them off it. Wall once picked up a flagrant foul on Marcus Smart before the two yelled at each other, then Bradley Beal got in Smart¡¯s face (also Smart once broke Beal¡¯s nose). Otto Porter Jr. said the Celtics are dirty, and the Wizards famously dressed in black for a ¡°funeral¡± game against the Celtics.

It¡¯s continued in this series, through Isaiah Thomas losing a tooth, Al Horford accidentally injuring Markieff Morris, Morris ¡°accidentally¡± shoving Horford into some photographers, and Morris and Thomas yelling at each other. After the Kelly-on-Kelly scuffle, Terry Rozier and Brandon Jennings resumed their minor beef with each other until they were ejected in the fourth quarter.

3. John Wall

A quick point. He has been sensational: 20/14a 42/8a 20/16a 40/13a and 24/8a in his last five games.

That is as good as it gets from a PG. When you are laying points to a number 1 seed, you need your number 1 guy playing like this. And the Celts haven't had answers to stop him. That should continue.