There’s a famous quote that could not be more true when it comes to the 2022-23 Boston Celtics.
I’m sure you’ve heard it before
Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.
This is not the first time we’ve seen the Celtics be in this position.
Different roster, different coach, same result.
Honestly, this loss was basically another carbon copy of what we saw in Game 5 vs ATL.
Give up 30+ points in the 1st quarter?
Give up 58 pts in the first half?
The Celts gave up 63 last night
Don’t defend the arc?
The Celts gave up 19-41 against the Hawks and 17-38 last night
Give up 30+ points in the fourth?
The Hawks scored 119 in their win, the Sixers scored 119 in theirs.
In that game, it was Trae Young going for 38 points on 14-33 (5-13).
Last night it was James Harden going for 45 on 17-30 (7-14).
It was the same exact shit.
James Harden had the best game of his career.
Melton went 5-6 from three.
Maxey had clutch buckets.
They took care of the ball.
They earned that win.
you’ve got the option to give them credit and still acknowledge that the Celts blew this game.
The Hawks series was supposed to be a wakeup call correct?
Well then why is this team still asleep?
It’s one thing to be giving away those pop in of games in the regular season.
This is now the 2nd round.
The Conference Finals are on the line and you’re at home against a severely undermanned opponent.
The path is right there for you, all you have to do is just not fuck it up.
Unfortunately, that’s what we got in Game 1.
No need to waste more time, let’s dive in.
I mean, that’s the production and the efficiency we all dream about.
Your two best players showed up and did enough to get you in a position to win.
Both had their issues late (which we’ll get to), but overall?
They were more than good enough.
A full 48 as the kids say.
He stopped being aggressive, and the offense as a whole suffered.
Until the 4th quarter.
Like the Jays though, his issues came in the biggest moments.
The Celts won the points in the paint battle 66-42.
They outrebounded the Sixers 38-28.
They tied them in 2nd chance points and had more fastbreak points.
As a team, they only shot 26 3PA and finished at 38.5%.
It was clear there was no rim protection and the Celts didn’t settle.
That’s the good news.
With Embiid out and hobbled when he does return, the Celts need to keep exploiting the paint.
This tells me the simple adjustment for Joe is to have Rob on the floor way more.
The two most used lineups with Rob speak for themselves.
Well, we are yet to see Rob play 30 minutes in a playoff game.
Put Rob on the goddamn floor.
That’s not news.
When this team gets good guard play, they are elite.
When their guard play stinks, it undoes everything positive that the Jays are doing.
Game 6 vs ATL and Game 1 vs PHI is a great example of this.
Their overall guard play was dogshit.
It starts with Derrick.
Really really brutal showing for him on both ends.
They cannot have Derrick giving them absolutely nothing like that.
With Smart, this was not Game 6 Smart we just watched.
With him, it wasn’t the shooting, he finished 4-7 (0-2).
The issue was the carelessness with the basketball.
Add to that, there was absolutely no resistance from Smart when it came to defending James Harden.
I still cannot believe that pass.
Where is the calm situational awareness?
Perhaps the more concerning part when it comes to the guard play is the regression in outside shooting.
The “others” have to hit their open looks.
Without that, the offense is cooked.
- As awesome as Tatum was, most of it really came in the first half.
It’s not like these were bad iso 3PA or anything stupid.
It was shit all around the rim with no real rim protector.
To go 3-9 from that zone over an entire half is inexcusable.
Just dunk the fucking ball.
A total of 0 FGA over the final 6 minutes.
When I say this game was just like Game 5 vs ATL, I’m not kidding.
They cannot stop being aggressive.
So what did they do?
They stopped being aggressive and it once again cost them a very winnable game.
This is where I think Jaylen’s turnovers in the 3rd quarter fucked with him.
He was not aggressive on that break.
And I get it, maybe you don’t want to turn it over.
But that doesn’t mean just give the ball to Tatum and watch him hold it for so long.
Again, you’re not making the defense work.
Everyone knows what’s coming.
Nobody is moving, everyone is watching, and the Celts become predictable.
The Celts were essentially 1 FGM away from icing this game.
As it so often does, these games come down to late game execution.
- I didn’t mind the Horford play at the end.
He was right there on his shooting hand, he contested, Harden just made a great shot.
It was certainly a much better contest than what we saw against Trae.
Like I said, it was Game 5 all over again.
This is crucial for a few reasons.
It prevents you from taking and making shots
2.
We saw it against MIL.
We saw it against MIA.
We saw it against GS.
you’re free to’t trade 3s for 2s.
Losing the 3PM battle 17-10 was a 21 point difference.
That cannot happen.
How many times did we see the Celts just straight up pass it to the other team?
It was as if they never played basketball before.
- As bad as the turnovers were, nothing compares to the lack of defense.
I cannot think of a clearer example of nothing else mattering if you don’t defend.
If you don’t defend in the playoffs, you die.
By my calculations, the Celts have played defense in just 10 quarters this entire postseason.
Are you fucking kidding me?
Again, is this a joke?
There is absolutely no excuse for a team that is fully healthy like this to be THIS BAD defensively.
From the perimeter to the bigs, everyone has been complete dogshit as a unit.
It’s about having some pride and saying enough is enough and locking in.
We just saw it in the 4th quarter of Game 6, so what’s the deal?
- Not the best time for Joe to not have his best day.
I get the alternative is a switch that you might not want, but you have to try something.
Sub Horford out and put Grant or Rob in.
Or, maybe just don’t switch.
You have to try something different to give them a different look, and that never really happened.
It was also frustrating to see everyone sort of panic when the Sixers went to a zone.
It was like the MIA series all over again.
Especially when the final 3 minute execution is so poor.
Joe has to help them there.
On the final play, this also felt pretty familiar.
By bringing the ball down low, it allowed Melton to recover and knock it away.
I don’t care who it is, Tatum or Brown, just pick one.
Live with whatever they do.
So now here we are.
The Celts blow homecourt advantage and now make life infinitely more difficult on themselves.
Game 2 is now a must win, and the Celts have no one to blame but themselves.
For the millionth time they fucked around and found out.
We know they can bounce back, we’ve seen it before, but man what an inexcusable loss.
