Going down swinging like they did and the effort and energy they played with was commendable.
In their loss to the Knicks, that one was more frustrating simply because of a lack of execution.
The process was great, they generated a billion open looks, they just didn’t execute.
you could live with that.
This loss was nothing like the previous two.
There is no positive takeaway like the Bucks game.
There is no good process/bad execution like the Knicks loss.
While this was 1 of 82, I have to ask…..what are we doing?
But is it too much to ask for them to be able to hold onto 28 point leads?
I feel like that should be a compromise.
No, the expectation isn’t that you are going to win every game.
That’s not realistic.
Given the talent on the floor, that shouldn’t be too crazy of an ask.
What matters is we are not in December.
It’s unacceptable and a complete failure by everyone involved.
Players, coaches, they all played a role in this shit sandwich of a loss.
You take it on the chin and move on.
Whatever slander might come the Celts way over the next few days is warranted.
If you don’t like it, don’t blow 28 point leads, it’s that simple.
Let’s dive in.
I decided instead to come up with a new blog rule.
Well we’re skipping the Good section any time the Celtics blow a 28 point lead.
It’s 28 points.
Hold the fucking lead.
I think that’s what truly bothers me about this game, the Celts know better.
To me, this starts at the top with your best player.
That’s not to say he is the sole reason for it, but everything starts with him.
Approach, energy, effort, all that.
He’s the tone setter.
So let me ask you, did it feel like Tatum was engaged in this game?
He was passive, he settled, and his lazy play was everywhere you looked.
What exactly is he doing?
Did this feel like a game where the best player was engaged for a full 48?
Offensively, Tatum settled way too much.
How many times did we see Tatum hunt Seth Curry the second he was on the floor?
These two teams have played a few times before, we know the formula that works.
Whether it’s Joe or an assistant, isn’t it their job to exploit mismatches?
As a staff, they collectively failed with this as well.
There’s a reason Tatum was a team worst -19 in his 38 minutes.
It’s because he was arguably the worst Celtic on the floor last night.
I know his line says 22/13/5, but he played like shit if you watched the game.
This kind of stuff simply cannot happen, it doesn’t matter who the opponent is.
- Now let’s talk about Joe specifically.
To me, this was probably his worst game of the year, and for a few reasons.
First, his rotations.
We saw Joe make only 1 sub in the final 7 minutes of the 2nd quarter.
Unfortunately, the players he had out there started to really fade around that 7 minute mark.
He eventually fouled out, but the damage was done.
Much like the lack of targeting Curry, not hunting Johnson in that 3rd quarter was a big miss.
And most importantly, I don’t know why Joe didn’t go small more.
There was no lineup adjustment once it became clear how the Nets were going to attack the Celts defense.
They were going to force the switch with a big, and attack it.
Here’s why this is something to keep an eye on.
In the playoffs, things slow down.
Things become about exploiting mismatches.
This is no different from not Donovan Mitchell and Garland did the other night.
As a team, they rank in the 24th percentile when it comes to defending isolation.
That’s a HUGE dropoff, and this was a game that showed by this is an issue.
- Why is that?
Because if the Celts can’t guard their yard, Joe is going to have them double.
When they double, that leaves wide open looks.
That leaves DFS wide the fuck open at the top of the arc, and he buried it.
- When you have to become reliant on doubles, you become predictable.
Until that gets solved, the Celts defense will be easy to crack.
Think of how the ball movement looked to start compared to the second half.
It was a completely different game.
That’s not great.
The Ugly
- Obviously, the 28 point collapse is fitting for this section.
We just broke it down above, but it needed another mention given how pathetic it was.
The entire second half was maybe the worst overall performance on both ends of the entire season.
Is it the 60 points allowed and 8 3PM?
Is it the 43/16% shooting?
Is it the 41 points in 2 quarters?
How about 12 TOs, that seems like winning basketball.
How about 11-0 2nd chance points?
I mean jesus christ what are we even doing?
If one sequence summed up this game, it was this
The Nets played harder.
That is very embarrassing at any moment let alone a game you’re blowing on your own floor.
How do you possibly defend an effort like this?
A wild concept, I know.
The important thing now is to keep perspective.
Then again, if loving and trusting was easy, everyone would do it.
