2008 Celtics vs 2014 Spurs

[sportjames23]

Two of the best defensive teams in the last 10-15 years go head-to-head. Which team wins it all?

[JohnFreeman]

Celtics

[Purch]

THe 08 celtics are dramatically overrated.


The spurs won only 4 less regular season games than them, whiles not playing a single player even 30 minutes a game, whiles being in a tougher western conference, and winning 30 games on the road. Not to mention they managed to accumalate a 19 game winning streak, whiles still not playing and player significant minutes.


The biggest thing that makes the 2014 spurs better however is the playoffs.

The 08 celtics were not a dominant playoff team. Their first two rounds with homecourt , against clearly inferior teams went to game 7. They went 16-10 in the playoffs compared to the Spurs 16-7 in a tougher conference. Even though the Spurs went to 7 against the Mavs, they dominated Portland.

The 08 celtics faced a Cavs teams significantly worse than the 2014 Heat, and took them to 7 games. The 2014 spurs faced a better version of Lebron, with a better supporting cast than he had on the 08 Cavs and dominated them in record breaking fashion.

12 out of the 16 wins the Spurs had in the playoffs were by 15+ ... It's clear who the more dominant team was. The 08 celtics had a very lackluster post season run IMO.

[Rocketswin2013]

Celtics

[KOBE143]

2008 Celtics and its not even close.. Even the 2008 Lakers would beat the 2014 Spurs easily and fyi that Lakers team was beaten by the 2008 Celtics in a very close series..

2008 Celtics = 2008 Lakers >>>>>>>> 2014 Spurs

[Hoopz2332]

2014 Spurs easily..2008 Cavs were a Pj brown game saving jumper away from eliminating the celtics in game 7 IN BOSTON and LBJ didn't even play that eff overall.

[ballup]

THe 08 celtics are dramatically overrated.


The spurs won only 4 less regular season games than them, whiles not playing a single player even 30 minutes a game, whiles being in a tougher western conference, and winning 30 games on the road. Not to mention they managed to accumalate a 19 game winning streak, whiles still not playing and player significant minutes.


The biggest thing that makes the 2014 spurs better however is the playoffs.

The 08 celtics were not a dominant playoff team. Their first two rounds with homecourt , against clearly inferior teams went to game 7. They went 16-10 in the playoffs compared to the Spurs 16-7 in a tougher conference. Even though the Spurs went to 7 against the Mavs, they dominated Portland.

The 08 celtics faced a Cavs teams significantly worse than the 2014 Heat, and took them to 7 games. The 2014 spurs faced a better version of Lebron, with a better supporting cast than he had on the 08 Cavs and dominated them in record breaking fashion.

12 out of the 16 wins the Spurs had in the playoffs were by 15+ ... It's clear who the more dominant team was. The 08 celtics had a very lackluster post season run IMO.
Yes, it is true that the 14 Spurs were better in the experience department because they have been playing together longer than the Celtics did in 08.

You forget a few things. Lebron's Heat was better than Lebron's Cavs, but that Heat team was mentally exhausted. That Cavs team still beat a very solid Wizards trio (Arenas, Jamison, Butler). The Celtics got into a flow in the Pistons series and the Pistons were also still a strong team at the time. Don't forget that the Spurs got taken to 7 by the Mavs in a close series while the Celtics defeated the Hawks in dominate wins.

Celtics had a pre-injury KG, who would make Duncan work much harder than whatever the Heat offered. The match up is pretty close considering the types of players each team had.

[Harison]

Celtics had decisively better defense than Spurs '14, as well as better offensive players (near prime KG, Ray and Pierce >>> Kawhi and anyone else on Spurs).

The disparity is too much to overcome, Pop or no Pop.

[StephHamann]

Kobe Stans say 2008 Celtics

Lebron Stans say 2014 Spurs

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr1wo4Xqy91qagjfuo1_500.gif

[ArbitraryWater]

Well the '14 Spurs were also one of the best offensive teams of all time..

And I was never too high on the '08 C's.

Going 7 against the bum Hawks? And going 7 AGAIN against the trash Cavaliers with LeBron having his shittiest series ever?

Spurs would sweep both teams

[Purch]

Yes, it is true that the 14 Spurs were better in the experience department because they have been playing together longer than the Celtics did in 08.

You forget a few things. Lebron's Heat was better than Lebron's Cavs, but that Heat team was mentally exhausted. That Cavs team still beat a very solid Wizards trio (Arenas, Jamison, Butler). The Celtics got into a flow in the Pistons series and the Pistons were also still a strong team at the time. Don't forget that the Spurs got taken to 7 by the Mavs in a close series while the Celtics defeated the Hawks in dominate wins.

Celtics had a pre-injury KG, who would make Duncan work much harder than whatever the Heat offered. The match up is pretty close considering the types of players each team had.

The thing about the Atlanta series, is that the celtics weren't able to win a single game on the road. Same thing with the Cavs series. Throughout the playoff the Spurs weren't just winning on the road, there were actually dominant on the road. Look at the Miami series for instance, two straight blowouts on the road against a team that hadn't loss back to back games since 2011.

In a hypothetical match up, Splitter would be on KG the same way he was on Dirk and Aldrige, whiles Duncan would be able to protect the paint

[Hoopz2332]

Kobe Stans say 2008 Celtics

Lebron Stans say 2014 Spurs

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr1wo4Xqy91qagjfuo1_500.gif


2008 Cavs weren't even championship level that year and they did better vs the Celtics than the Lakers did in the finals. 2014 heat would have smoked the 2008 Cavs and 2008 lakers.

[Rocketswin2013]

People acting like the Spurs didn't face the (Miami) Cavaliers themselves

[Purch]

Celtics had decisively better defense than Spurs '14, as well as better offensive players (near prime KG, Ray and Pierce >>> Kawhi and anyone else on Spurs).

The disparity is too much to overcome, Pop or no Pop.
Where do you get better offensive players from? There's Litteraly not a single thing the celtics did better on offense than the Spurs. The Nets had better offensive players than the spurs, but since both of those teams are clearly inferior to the actual offense of the spurs it's a moot point.

Check the numbers, not offensive rating, not passing, not fast break points, not anything. The only advantage the Celtics have is that they had bigger names, but there's absolutly nothing about the celtics offense that was better than the Spurs offense.

Not to mention the Spurs bench was significantly more productive than Boston's bench

[Hoopz2332]

Well the '14 Spurs were also one of the best offensive teams of all time..

Yep


And I was never too high on the '08 C's.

They had great/goat level defense but overall they were that impressive


Going 7 against the bum Hawks?

True but every game the celtics won at home was a blowout. ATlhad no real chance but..


And going 7 AGAIN against the trash Cavaliers with LeBron having his shittiest series ever?


I agree and the funny thing is that the Cavs actually unlike the hawks, culd have too the celtics out in game 7 in Boston if not for a sh1tty PJ Brown jumper.




Spurs would sweep both teams

Agreed. 2014 heat would beat 2008 versions of the Cavs, Lakers and Celtics also IMO.

[ballup]

The thing about the Atlanta series, is that the celtics weren't able to win a single game on the road. Same thing with the Cavs series. Throughout the playoff the Spurs weren't just winning on the road, there were actually dominant on the road. Look at the Miami series for instance, two straight blowouts on the road against a team that hadn't loss back to back games since 2011.

In a hypothetical match up, Splitter would be on KG the same way he was on Dirk and Aldrige, whiles Duncan would be able to protect the paint
Ok? The Spurs lost at home in their first series and during their Finals series. The Spurs never blew out the Mavs in their series that the Celtics did to the Hawks in stunning fashion, especially in one of holding the Hawks to 65 points to their 99 in the closing game.

That back to back statistic is impressive, but the 2014 post season Heat weren't the same as the 2013 and 2012 Heat. It doesn't make sense to bring up that stat if you are talking about a team of a specific season.

[ArbitraryWater]

The '08 Celtics were one of the weakest road teams for title teams, ever...

0-6 against the shitty Hawks & Cavaliers... How does that happen?

[dubeta]

its clearly 2014 Spurs

23 year old lebron and scrubs nearly took the 2008 Celtics

[ArbitraryWater]

its clearly 2014 Spurs

23 year old lebron and scrubs nearly took the 2008 Celtics

That's the funniest thing... LeBron was meh for 6 games and had 1 huge game 7, and it almost was enough :lol

His steal and dunk cut it to 1 with like 2 minutes left, and they even had chances to take the lead but a crappy PJ Brown jumper and Pierce's famous bounce ft gave Celtics the W.

[dubeta]

That's the funniest thing... LeBron was meh for 6 games and had 1 huge game 7, and it almost was enough :lol

His steal and dunk cut it to 1 with like 2 minutes left, and they even had chances to take the lead but a crappy PJ Brown jumper and Pierce's famous bounce ft gave Celtics the W.

can you imagine if cavs beat the celtics

23 year old lebron and scrubs would slay prime kobe prime gasol, and prime odom :oldlol:

these kobe stans would never mention bron again :applause:

[riseagainst]

08 celtics

[AintNoSunshine]

2008 Celtics wouldn't even beat the Heat that got destroyed by the 2014 Spurs

[robert_shaww]

2008 Celtics wouldn't even beat the Heat that got destroyed by the 2014 Spurs

this.

[Wally450]

True but every game the celtics won at home was a blowout. ATL had no real chance




Ding Ding Ding. The Celtics obviously wanted to win on the road, but if they didn't, they knew home games were much easier for them to win. When they lost to the Pistons in game 2 at home, look what they did in game 3, they went to Detroit and blew them out.

The Celtics stepped up when the challenge presented itself.

[Hoopz2332]

2008 Celtics wouldn't even beat the Heat that got destroyed by the 2014 Spurs


cosign

[BlackWhiteGreen]

I love that the Spurs being taken to 7 by an inferior team is unimportant but it's literally the only reason anyone can give for the Celtics being worse

[riseagainst]

I love that the Spurs being taken to 7 by an inferior team is unimportant but it's literally the only reason anyone can give for the Celtics being worse

:applause:

[SCdac]

"Spurs never blew out the Mavs"

:oldlol: did ya even watch the series?

[riseagainst]

"Spurs never blew out the Mavs"

:oldlol: did ya even watch the series?

they blew them out on game 7 by 23, where the Mavs were completely out of gas. But look at game 2, the Mavs won by 21.

Every other game were within 5, 1, 4, 6, 2.

[aj1987]

I love that the Spurs being taken to 7 by an inferior team is unimportant but it's literally the only reason anyone can give for the Celtics being worse
The Celtics went to 7 games against a 37 win Hawks team and a 45 win Cavs team. The Mavs won 49 games. 4-1 against the 54 win Blazers, 4-2 against the 59 win Thunder, and 4-1 against the 54 win Heat.

[ArbitraryWater]

I love that the Spurs being taken to 7 by an inferior team is unimportant but it's literally the only reason anyone can give for the Celtics being worse

Except that the 2014 Mavericks would probably sweep the 2008 Hawks and Cavaliers... 5 at most.

The record doesn't even do justice with the '14 Mavs playing in one of the greatest conferences ever.

They win 55 games in the '08 East

[aj1987]

Except that the 2014 Mavericks would probably sweep the 2008 Hawks and Cavaliers... 5 at most.

The record doesn't even do justice with the '14 Mavs playing in one of the greatest conferences ever.

They win 55 games in the '08 East
I'm pretty sure that the '08 Cavs are winning at least 3 games agains the '14 Mavs. Would be a very close and interesting series. LeBron was garbage that series. If he played better, they would've won.

[ArbitraryWater]

I'm pretty sure that the '08 Cavs are winning at least 3 games agains the '14 Mavs. Would be a very close and interesting series. LeBron was garbage that series. If he played better, they would've won.


Carlisle would coach circles around Mike Brown.. Cavs have no Chance.. Especially with LeBron playing like hot garbage for 5 games

[VIntageNOvel]

celtic

the best version of heat ('12) was lucky to beat the old washed up version of those celtic squad

[Hoopz2332]

celtic

the best version of heat ('12) was lucky to beat the old washed up version of those celtic squad

Are you forgetting that Bosh missed most of that series? That series isn't close if Bosh is their the entire series.

[SCdac]

Spurs clearly blew out the Mavs despite a narrative saying otherwise... And "gassed" by game 7 of the first round? :oldlol:

That's basically the opposite of the Spurs who started slow and ended with a championship. Mavs awoke a sleeping giant. Nothing was stopping SA last season.

[ImKobe]

08 Celtics

KG > Duncan
Allen > Manu
Pierce > Kawhi
Rondo > Parker

Spurs have a better system, 08 C's have a more stacked line-up with 3 elite scorers + an elite playmaker.

[ArbitraryWater]

Spurs clearly blew out the Mavs despite a narrative saying otherwise... And "gassed" by game 7 of the first round? :oldlol:

That's basically the opposite of the Spurs who started slow and ended with a championship. Mavs awoke a sleeping giant. Nothing was stopping SA last season.

Mavs were like the best thing that could have happened to SA in the 1st round :lol

[ballup]

So people are going to take a phrase out of context and run with it. You guys work in the media?

[ProfessorMurder]

Are you forgetting that Bosh missed most of that series? That series isn't close if Bosh is their the entire series.

Are you forgetting that the Celtics lost two players to heart surgery, a player to shoulder surgery, a player to knee surgery, and played with numerous other hobbled players in that series? But Bosh doe.

[Purch]

08 Celtics

KG > Duncan
Allen > Manu
Pierce > Kawhi
Rondo > Parker

Spurs have a better system, 08 C's have a more stacked line-up with 3 elite scorers + an elite playmaker.
See but it doesn't matter how many elite offensive players you have.. If you don't actually score the ball better. The spurs were a significantly better offensive team in every area

[navy]

Are you forgetting that the Celtics lost two players to heart surgery, a player to shoulder surgery, a player to knee surgery, and played with numerous other hobbled players in that series? But Bosh doe.
Bosh was Miami's only bigman. It is disingenuous to compare his value to Jeff Green, and who Bradley? :oldlol:

[Macho Grande]

Spurs just completed what is arguably the most dominating performance in NBA Finals history, against the "Super Team" that made 4 straight finals appearances, and people are still picking the 08 Celtics? :facepalm


Maybe we should get the opinion of a player who played against both teams.


[re: 2014 Spurs]--"Best team I ever saw. Best team I ever played against."
-Chris Bosh-

[Droid101]

Uh... 2014 Spurs weren't that great defensively.

[T_L_P]

Uh... 2014 Spurs weren't that great defensively.

Their DRtg for the Playoffs was one point worse than the Celtics.

[Dragic4Life]

2014 Spurs would sweep 2008 Celtics in my opinion.

[navy]

Spurs just completed what is arguably the most dominating performance in NBA Finals history, against the "Super Team" that made 4 straight finals appearances, and people are still picking the 08 Celtics? :facepalm


Maybe we should get the opinion of a player who played against both teams.


[re: 2014 Spurs]--"Best team I ever saw. Best team I ever played against."
-Chris Bosh-
Bosh didnt play against the 08 Celtics...

[casual_fan]

Spurs got this easyly. They were far more dominant against way better competition.

Garnett would get his against old Duncan, but its not like he takes games over offensively. Kawi could limit Pierce and i don

[sportjames23]

2014 Spurs would sweep 2007 Celtics in my opinion.


Yeah, but we talkin bout the 2008 Celtics.

[Dragic4Life]

Yeah, but we talkin bout the 2008 Celtics.
Typo.

[JT123]

2008 Celtics have to be the most overrated Championship team of all time. :oldlol: So let me get this straight Kobetards. A team that barely squeaked by Lebron's garbage Cavaliers, in a series in which Lebron didn't even play well, is going to beat the offensive machine that was the 2014 Spurs? :biggums:
:roll: :roll: :roll:

[riseagainst]

2014 Spurs would sweep 2008 Celtics in my opinion.

:roll:

[ProfessorMurder]

Bosh was Miami's only bigman. It is disingenuous to compare his value to Jeff Green, and who Bradley? :oldlol:

Jermaine O'Neal was the Celtics only center. Bradley was starting 2 guard and the best perimeter defender.

Jeff Green was who they traded their other center for.

But Bosh doe. Bosh is so much better than 6 injured players combined, two of which were starters.

[Gotterdammerung]

Excellent match-up.

Both 60-win teams were deep and loaded with veterans, had great coaching, good offensive versatility and played fundamentally sound team defense.

However the Spurs boasted superior chemistry for being together for 3 years, while the Celtics were slightly younger and a little more talented.

I would give the Spurs a slim margin. :cheers:

[JT123]

Jermaine O'Neal was the Celtics only center. Bradley was starting 2 guard and the best perimeter defender.

Jeff Green was who they traded their other center for.

But Bosh doe. Bosh is so much better than 6 injured players combined, two of which were starters.
Jermaine O'neal? That's your argument? :biggums: :roll:
Dude, just stop posting and take the L. No one is going to believe that washed up Jermaine O'neal and Chris Wilcox are as important as Bosh, sorry.

[Macho Grande]

Bosh didnt play against the 08 Celtics...


http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200711040TOR.html

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200712160TOR.html

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200801230BOS.html

[MastaKilla]

barely squeaked by Lebron's garbage Cavaliers, in a series in which Lebron didn't even play well

Way to contradict yourself, moron.

[cltcfn2924]

2008 Celtics and its not even close.. Even the 2008 Lakers would beat the 2014 Spurs easily and fyi that Lakers team was beaten by the 2008 Celtics in a very close series..

2008 Celtics = 2008 Lakers >>>>>>>> 2014 Spurs


How do you consider that series very close?

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

2008 Celtics have to be the most overrated Championship team of all time. :oldlol: So let me get this straight Kobetards. A team that barely squeaked by Lebron's garbage Cavaliers, in a series in which Lebron didn't even play well, is going to beat the offensive machine that was the 2014 Spurs? :biggums:
:roll: :roll: :roll:
The Cavs were a stacked defensive team. They couldnt win b.c Lebron wasnt an offensive anchor and had two of the worst playoff games for a star ever

[inclinerator]

spurs

[cltcfn2924]

Where do you get better offensive players from? There's Litteraly not a single thing the celtics did better on offense than the Spurs. The Nets had better offensive players than the spurs, but since both of those teams are clearly inferior to the actual offense of the spurs it's a moot point.

Check the numbers, not offensive rating, not passing, not fast break points, not anything. The only advantage the Celtics have is that they had bigger names, but there's absolutly nothing about the celtics offense that was better than the Spurs offense.

Not to mention the Spurs bench was significantly more productive than Boston's bench


So you completely discount the Celtics defense? That defense put this years Heat defense to shame. Apples and oranges.

[ballup]

Jermaine O'neal? That's your argument? :biggums: :roll:
Dude, just stop posting and take the L. No one is going to believe that washed up Jermaine O'neal and Chris Wilcox are as important as Bosh, sorry.
The Heat could survive by playing Haslem. The Celtics couldn't with their injuries because they didn't have a reliable front court player off the bench. Their bench rotation was 3 guards that playoffs.

[aj1987]

The Heat could survive by playing Haslem. The Celtics couldn't with their injuries because they didn't have a reliable front court player off the bench. Their bench rotation was 3 guards that playoffs.
The Heat needed a player to average 34/11/4/1/1 on 59% TS. Lets not act like the 2nd and 3rd best players on the Heat were injured as well. Bosh missed a couple of games and Wade needed surgery after the season (got his knees drained during the Playoffs as well).

Outside of LeBron and Wade (and Shitmers to an extent), the rest of the Heat were basically ineffective on the offensive end.

[Wally450]

2008 Celtics have to be the most overrated Championship team of all time. :oldlol: So let me get this straight Kobetards. A team that barely squeaked by Lebron's garbage Cavaliers, in a series in which Lebron didn't even play well, is going to beat the offensive machine that was the 2014 Spurs? :biggums:
:roll: :roll: :roll:

Yep, lets look at how poor they played on the road and ignore how well they played at home that post season. The only team to beat them at home was the Pistons and look what happened in the next game at Detroit. Blow out.

[ballup]

The Heat needed a player to average 34/11/4/1/1 on 59% TS. Lets not act like the 2nd and 3rd best players on the Heat were injured as well. Bosh missed a couple of games and Wade needed surgery after the season (got his knees drained during the Playoffs as well).

Outside of LeBron and Wade (and Shitmers to an extent), the rest of the Heat were basically ineffective on the offensive end.
No body is acting. The Celtics did not have enough proper players to put on the floor. They did not have a front court after the starting front court. That was much more significantly bad for them than the Heat not having Bosh.

[JT123]

No body is acting. The Celtics did not have enough proper players to put on the floor. They did not have a front court after the starting front court. That was much more significantly bad for them than the Heat not having Bosh.
You don't need a front court to beat Miami. The Heat have no glass eaters, and no inside presence whatsoever. :facepalm
Stop with the lame excuses. :sleeping

[BlackWhiteGreen]

You don't need a front court to beat Miami. The Heat have no glass eaters, and no inside presence whatsoever. :facepalm
Stop with the lame excuses. :sleeping

Only 2 teams to have beaten the Heat in the LeBron era in the playoffs have had 2 of the top 4 PFs in history, but no, who needs a frontcourt :facepalm

[ballup]

You don't need a front court to beat Miami. The Heat have no glass eaters, and no inside presence whatsoever. :facepalm
Stop with the lame excuses. :sleeping
You need people to play the 3, 4, and 5. The Celtics didn't have anyone outside of the starting lineup to spot any of those positions that post season. Heat fans can't pull the injury card to excuse their team for that lengthened series because the Celtics had much more injuries to overcome. That's what we have been trying to tell you.

[aj1987]

Only 2 teams to have beaten the Heat in the LeBron era in the playoffs have had 2 of the top 4 PFs in history, but no, who needs a frontcourt :facepalm
If LeBron hadn't choked, the Heat would've destroyed the Mavs in '11. Duncan was pretty good in the Finals, but he wasn't the reason why Miami lost. Heck, when he played better last season, Miami won.

Now, imagine the same team without Bosh. Last season, Ducan would've probably averaged 30/15 easily.


No body is acting. The Celtics did not have enough proper players to put on the floor. They did not have a front court after the starting front court. That was much more significantly bad for them than the Heat not having Bosh.
Did KG not play in the '12 ECF? You're just being dense now. Miami's ONLY reliable big missed games in the ECF. He didn't even start any of the games. How hard is that to understand? There's a reason why Miami needed LeBron to have a GOAT level series and a good series from Wade to win.

[That_Admiral]

08 Celtics FTW

[ballup]

Did KG not play in the '12 ECF? You're just being dense now. Miami's ONLY reliable big missed games in the ECF. He didn't even start any of the games. How hard is that to understand? There's a reason why Miami needed LeBron to have a GOAT level series and a good series from Wade to win.
Then tell me, out of all those games Bosh missed, who on that Celtics roster was put in the game at the 4 and the 5 aside from Pierce, Bass, or KG? Then tell me who was put in at those same positions for the Heat outside of their starters?