I don't like reading too much into that, necessarily... but combine his shooting slump with the defense's inability to do anything with Giannis with the Celtic fans seemingly turning on him with his own future up in the air? Yeah, I mean, I think he has the mental fortitude for the big moments and he has the mental fortitude to be the guy a contending team needs... but he seemed exhausted in all senses of the word second half of Game 4. Seemed like he'd accepted what the rest of the world already knows-- they can't win this series. I'd prefer to see him fight... but he'd be far from the first star player to look resigned to defeat with a series against a better team winding down.

Kyrie's shooting this series hasn't helped, but I think the team's inability to develop a genuine second option this season really hurt their playoff prospects in general. Tatum didn't take the massive leap many people thought he would this year-- he's obviously improving, but he isn't Second Option on a Title Team good. Brown's shooting really plummeted. Hayward obviously needs time, and even then he may not become what he was before the injury. Horford is very solid but is a sturdy role player at this point, not a guy you lean on to carry a big load. So who can the Celtics go to when Kyrie's shots aren't falling? This is insane to even ask... but is their second best player *right today* better than Khris Middleton? Is their third best player *right today* better than Eric Bledsoe?

I also don't love what Stevens did this year. Sped up the pace, fired more 3s per game, looked for more transition buckets. The offensive efficiency improved-- more 3s and more transition buckets will help that-- but I felt at times like this was also hurting their defense, between looking for the run out instead of focusing on cleaning up the defensive glass and taking ill-advised 3s that led to easy bucket opportunities for their opponents. ESPECIALLY in a series against the Bucks, who are absolutely dynamite in transition, this is a really bad combination of things imo.

It'll be interesting to see what Kyrie does from here. He's still my favorite player in the league, and I still think he's absolutely capable of making deep runs. I think Boston would be attractive to free agents and I think Tatum will continue to improve with another year under his belt-- whether that means he stays or acts as an attractive trade piece for a big home run signing. I also think Hayward should at least improve from this year's play. So Boston has way more upside for Kyrie as a leader than most any other team-- unless he joins a team as the second option again, which I don't really see happening. I *pray* he understands that he has way better chances at winning a title in Boston than he would as the #1 option in goddamn New York. So I'm hopeful he'll at least try to stick it out short term in Boston. (Unless he gets a shot at some superteam and more rings, in which case, by all means, chase away-- those opportunities don't come around too often.)

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