OK, first the bad news.
As we talked about yesterday, teams with a 2-0 lead are 414-33 all time.
In the Conference Finals, they are 56-6.
Unfortunately, it gets worse.
OK, now the good news.
There isn’t much outside of this one fact.
You have to lose 4 to lose a series.
You don’t lose a series by losing 2 games.
For whatever reason, the Celtics homecourt is actually a gigantic negative.
For all we know, getting away from that building will help this team remember how to play basketball.
Is that a sad attempt at spinzone?
Their best players have let them down.
The coach has had his own issues.
The veteran “others” are nowhere to really be found.
Through 2 games, it’s pretty clear what has happened.
All that talk about not being out-toughed by the Heat only to repeatedly get out-toughed by the Heat.
On your own floor.
That may have been the case had they tied this series at 1-1.
Does that mean they can’t turn it around?
The 2017 Celts did it.
They look like a team that deserves to get swept if we’re being honest.
Alright, we have a lot to get to, let’s begin.
The Good
- Just like after Game 1, it feels wrong to even have this section.
That was once again the issue.
For example, Jayson Tatum was really good in about 75% of this game.
His play was why they were able to build those leads in the first place.
In a massive game, Tatum stepped up right from the jump with 14 first quarter points.
He was giving the exact performance you want from your franchise guy.
The problem, of course, was that NBA games are actually 4 quarters and not three.
We’ll get to the finish a little later.
Brogdon gave you more than enough in his 26 mintues to win.
No real complaints about him.
- The same is true for Derrick as well.
Brogdon was a +10 in his minutes and White a +8 in his.
The decision to go small with White worked about as well as it possibly could.
In the 11 minutes they shared together (most used lineup).
He filled his role in pretty much every way we hoped.
At least he didn’t back down.
We saw it in Game 1 didn’t we?
We just witnessed elite shotmaking.
You have to tip your cap to Butler and move on.
Defensively he was back to being active and actually making a difference, and then offensively.
Where has that been?
Hopefully we see him closer to 30 minutes the rest of the way.
Marcus Smart is having a horrendous series.
There’s really no other way to say it.
He took 7 FGA in Game 1 and just 5 FGA in Game 2.
He’s shooting 41/42.9%.
It’s not that.
In fact, the Celtics are now 1-5 this postseason when he takes under 10 FGA.
They need Smart to produce points.
The problem is he is not making any sort of positive impact in his minutes.
Through 2 games, Smart has 5 FGM and 5 TOs.
You cannot win with that from your starting point guard.
Looking at the Celts production in Smart’s on/off minutes, it’s a complete disaster through two games.
They can’t survive.
Instead, he’s playing like those bullshit paper straws that disintegrate after two seconds.
That’s an issue.
When they play defense, they win.
When they don’t, they get rocked.
This game was a perfect example.
The Celts opened the game by holding MIA to 24 points.
They had a lead.
So just take a step back and look at it.
This team gives up 30+ point quarters, what happens?
It’s been that way these entire playoffs.
Another game where the Celts allow over 110 points and they lose.
Once you get to this time of year, you oughta be able to consistently defend.
Not for a quarter.
Not for two quarters.
it’s crucial that you do it for all four.
- 10-35 from deep for a stellar 28.5%.
Derrick White was 3-5, which means all other Celtics were 7-30.
Tatum 3-10, Brown 1-7, Brogdon 1-5, Al 0-3.
Through two games in their own building the Celts went 20-64 from deep (31.3%).
In Game 2 they were 4-12 on “open” 3PA and 3-12 on “wide open” 3PA.
Much like Smart, Horford is having a horrendous series.
In fact, he’s been fairly brutal offensively since the 5-7 from deep game against the Sixers.
I mean, he had 17 points in that Sixers game on 5/5 and has just 17 points since.
His threes aren’t even close right now.
That’s what happens when a key starter is giving you nothing.
That just cannot happen.
- Tell me if you’ve heard this before.
Let’s go to the numbers!
The Celts blew their first lead in the 2nd quarter by doing what?
They had 5 in the 2nd quarter alone, all of which were just via playing dumb basketball.
They were fortunate Tatum went nuclear offensively and it didn’t cost them.
The same cannot be said for the 4th quarter.
How impactful were they?
You play like assholes and you deserve everything that comes with it.
There’s also the topic of White, but this one is a little more tough.
The Celts needed offense, and Brogdon was more than fine on that end while also playing legit defense.
That’s probably why he played the most of any point guard in the 4th at 9+ minutes.
That quarter was also when Grant was making his impact, so his minutes made sense as well.
At this point, you have to find ways to send more help and then recover.
Look at how Spo is covering Tatum down the stretch, there’s no single coverage.
He’s cool with the “others” on the Celts beating them, and they failed.
The 2nd best player on the team needs to show up.
In the fourth quarter for the second straight game we got a 1-5 showing.
Offensively, defensively, decision making, all of it was dogshit.
Talk about a lack of situational awareness.
On what planet is going 1 on 5 a good idea in this siutation?
Everything about this is losing basketball.
In the fourth quarter, where possessions are at a premium.
Execution is the most important thing in the game in these moments, and this is what you do?
This cannot happen from anyone on the roster let alone one of the franchise guys.
The fact is the Heat’s two stars in Jimmy and Bam have completely outplayed the Celts two stars.
Both throughout the game and then ESPECIALLY late.
You cannot win with that.
- Which brings me to the close.
Up 9 with 6 minutes left, the Celts closed the game allowing a 24-9 run.
Jimmy Butler scored as many points as the entire Celtics team.
In that 4th quarter, the Celts took 18 FGA with Tatum and Brown accounting for 8 of them.
Tatum without a FGM in two games is insane, even with getting doubled.
He had open looks last night that he simply has to make.
Jaylen continues to be as brutal as ever.
Meanwhile, here’s the Heat in the 4th quarter
Is it a surprise who is up 2-0?
It shouldn’t be.
More specifically, their two best players.
So this is it.
A prime opportunity at a title blown and easily the biggest failure of this Tatum/Brown era.
That I know for sure.
