Here’s the thing with that way of thinking though.
While true, that still doesn’t excuse playing losing basketball.
Take these back to back losses to the Hawks.
Every dribble, every decision, every set.
The only thing that doesn’t matter is the result of the game, but the process?
Why shouldn’t they matter?
Which brings me back to that fine line.
So as fans where does that leave us?
With that said, let us begin.
The thing is, this has been a trend all season.
In 29 clutch time games, Derrick White is shooting 53.3/52.2%.
He’s 16-30 from the floor and 12-23 from deep.
Either as a ball handler or a play finisher whenever the Celts get into these spots.
He has the clutch gene, I don’t know how else to say it.
We saw it in GM6 vs MIA, we saw it again last night.
The guy has a knack for showing up and coming through in the biggest moments.
That should be something that’s utilized more often.
When it came time to take the biggest shots of the night, Jaylen came through twice.
In these moments what do we always say?
The stars have to show up and come through.
To me, that’s what we saw Jaylen do.
- After shaking off his initial rust, I thought Holiday looked great after missing 5 games.
To be frank, the Celtics defense has been beyond terrible for a decent stretch now.
The only other teams worse during this stretch?
That is…..bad.
In their losses to the Hawks, the Celts DRTG has been 122.7, which is disgusting.
When it comes to guarding the 3pt line, the Celts rank 28th, allowing 40%.
So much is always made about the offense, but I will stand firm on this.
In a playoff game/series, you HAVE to be able to get stops consistently.
It’s as simple as that.
- A good defensive possession is not just about forcing misses.
That’s part of it sure, but a good defensive possession is a clean defensive possession.
You force the miss, get the rebound, and get out in transition.
You want to know why the Celtics lost these games?
The same reason they seem to always lose close games to the Hawks.
Defensive rebounding and 2nd chance points.
This is all you oughta know
Last night they allowed 17 OREB for 28 2nd chance points.
I cannot stress enough how awful that is.
They get the miss, but what good does that do if they immediately still give up points?
Capela got whatever he wanted, and KP wasn’t shooting well enough to force him off the court.
Now, how much of that is him just being reserved and making sure he doesn’t get hurt?
I dunno, maybe 20%?
There is no spinzone.
You knew EVERY single time the Hawks got an OREB that they were going to score from it.
Especially the Bogy one in the final seconds of regulation.
- Take this play for example.
Big moment, only 2 seconds on the shot clock, and you give up this wide open look?
Brutal work from everyone involved there.
Those are the miscues or mental lapses around the margins that bury you.
- Cannot miss OT FTs.
He was a -11 last night in his 18 minutes and a -5 in his 28 minutes on Monday.
Same with Sam Hauser.
Guards and wings were able to get into the paint at will, right into their comfort areas.
Again, maybe that’s the Celts holding back their energy, but I don’t buy that.
I just think it was them playing poor defense.
- He sort of came alive late, but Tatum’s second half was nowhere close to good enough.
That’s simply not good enough.
The Ugly
- Then of course, there was the final shot decision.
The Celtics came out of a timeout after that Bogy 3 to tie with 27 seconds left.
Here is your latest example of that.
But I think we’ve seen this play enough.
What this shit is, is predictable.
A low percentage look that hasn’t really worked at all this season.
Joe said after the game the plan was to get Tatum the ball and let him make a decision.
I think what we’re seeing with these possessions is more that Tatum’s style is easier to guard.
It’s not really this straight line decisive play.
Here’s the kicker though.
A 122 ORTG in the Monday loss and a 125 ORTG last night.
For comparison, the Nuggets have a 125 ORTG on the season.
You should be able to win with that, even despite these terrible late game Tatum possessions.
So what’s the real issue?
The clutch time defense.
A 130 DRTG on Monday, and a 135 rating last night.
The Hawks shot 50/53.5% in the clutch in these two games, while also having 5 OREB.
THAT should be the playoff concern.
Not end of game offense.
You’re never going to score every single time down in a clutch situation.
Sometimes you’ll have to iso, sometimes you’ll generate good shots.
But what you might do is lock in defensively and shut the water off for your opponent.
If you don’t, you die.
Guess which one the Celtics did?
Again, the results of these games do not matter.
We all know this.
Not caring about the margins because the games don’t matter is losing basketball.
Not playing with effort is losing basketball.
