The 2023-24 Boston Celtics, truly historic in every way, even the shitty ones!
What we witnessed last night has not happened since the calendars flipped to 2000.
It is now 2024.
Since 1999-2000, the Celtics have played 2,261 games including the postseason.
Last night was theonlytime they have ever blown a 30 point lead and lost.
At some point, you do kind of have to laugh a little bit.
That’s kind of funny.
Embarrassing and inexcusable on every level, but funny.
To put even more context around this, the Celtics have had 16 30 point leads this season.
They had won all 15.
So the idea that “this happens all the time” to the Celts is factually incorrect.
It happened last night.
That’s really it.
Here’s the thing when it comes to a performance like this.
After clinching the 1 seed, none of these games actually matter in terms of the standings.
Now is the time to experiment with weird shit and see what sticks.
The results, win or lose, don’t change anything about the Celts' playoff path.
Their spot is set in stone.
When you blow that lead by playing like assholes, you deserve to get crushed for it.
Bad basketball is still bad basketball, regardless of what your record is.
There’s no real way to spinzone blowing a 30 point lead.
It should never happen, regardless of having your starting backcourt or not.
Did Tatum and Brown play?
If you want to say other teams go on runs, fine.
But that’s a game I need to be able to expect this team to win.
I get teams blow 20 point leads all the time in today’s NBA, which is fine.
Last night was tied for the 7th largest comeback inall of NBA history.Sorry, but that should never happen.
With that said, let us begin
The Good
- New blog rule.
The Bad
- Where do we begin when it comes to this shit sandwich?
The Celtics defense has been dogshit for about a week now.
But at the same time, the production is the production and it has not been good enough.
Over the Celtics last 4 games, their defense comes in at 24th in the league (119.5).
Opponents are averaging 113.5 points over this stretch, which is 18th in the league.
In terms of FG%, the Celts rank 30th in opponent FG% at 53.6%.
Take last night for example.
What was the Hawks point total?
52.9/50% with 18 3PM.
When that happens, it should surprise no one that the Celtics lost every quarter but the 1st.
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times.
If you do not defend, you die.
The backbone of every title run starts on the defensive end.
They pretty much ALL follow the same path.
If you aren’t aware of what that formula is, it boils down to this
1.
Poor 3pt shooting
2.
Points off TOs
3.
Missing 4th quarter FTs
4.
Late game opponent OREB/2nd chance points
5.
So now put that formula up against what we saw last night
1.
Poor 3pt shooting (28.9%)
2.
Points off TOs (20)
3.
Missed 4th quarter FTs (3)
4.
Late game opponent OREBs/2nd chance points
Go down the list.
1-15 shooting in the second half from deep.
An insane 20 points off just 9 TOs, which is almost unheard of for this team.
Late game rebounding issues?
You’re kidding yourself if this didn’t look familiar, especially against the Hawks!
They literally did this in the playoff series last year!
The margins matter, and that is going to be even more true in a month.
Then the late game stuff, well, more on that later.
Sometimes they simply don’t drop.
Admit it, that’s kind of funny.
- What last night reinforced is something I hope a large section of the fanbase finally understands.
Here’s the thing with that approach.
It only really works if your opponent is also cold from three.
If they aren’t, you are going to get killed.
How do we know this?
Just look at the second half of this game.
They lost the half by 20 points (64-44).
Three point shooting
Take a look at what you see here
How do you blow a 30 point lead?
You lose the 3pt production battle by 30 points.
Welcome to basketball in 2024 folks!
you might’t overcome the math.
Nothing about what we saw told us he handled that well.
The other issue that’s more glaring is Porzingis.
As a result, his impact hasn’t felt the same either.
Where was he the entire second half?
This is going to be the challenge.
How do they play when teams are allowed to be more physical and the calls are no longer there?
It’s not just about the execution part, but also the mentality part.
I don’t even know what to say.
Then, in the final minutes holds the ball only to turn it over?
Sorry, there is no Marcus Smart to blame anymore.
This is strictly on the play of the two best players.
These late game situations ALL come down to the decisions that those two make.
Always has and always will.
It doesn’t matter how much you change around them, they have to be better in these moments.
The frustrating part is the fact that they are still playing so slow.
I can handle with bad results that come via a good process.
Sometimes it’s possible for you to do everything right, and the shot does drop.
What we just watched in those clips?
That is not good process.
That’s a losing process.
The Celtics scored on 5 of their 7 clutch time possessions last night.
They had a 122 ORTG in the clutch.
You should be able to survive that.
The larger issue continues to be the clutch time defense.
There is more to the Celtics late-game issues than “isolation”.
They are not getting stops on the other end.
When you do that, your offensive fuck ups become magnified.
As I always say, keeping perspective is important.
No, the sky is not falling.
No, this horrific collapse does not confirm what will happen in the playoffs.
This has in no way shape or form been a habit this season.
Use this as an opportunity to learn and get better and move on to the next.
