The Celtics Should Be Beyond Embarrassed With How They Lost To The Shorthanded Lakers By Playing Like Complete Dickheads
Brian Fluharty. Getty Images.Well that was
Sorry, that came out of nowhere. Give me a second to collect myself.
(deep breath)
Alright, let's talk about this shitsho-
(deep breath)
Jesus, sorry about that. I didn't think I had anything left to puke up but then the second my brain started thinking about what I watched last nigh-
(deep breath)
OK, OK I'm done, I think we all get the point.
There's no real need to overcomplicate things, last night was pathetic. There haven't been many this season, but that was about as embarrassing and shameless a performance as we've watched all year. Yes, 1 of 82 and all that, but let's also not pretend like playing the Lakers doesn't mean more. Of course it does. In the same way it meant more when the Celts went into their building on Christmas and won. Losing to the Lakers should never be "acceptable" or anything like that, so losing to the Lakers at home, fully healthy while they were without their two best players is a level of unacceptable I can't even really describe. It'd be one thing if you play well and still lose, but that is NOT what we got last night. In fact, we got the opposite.
As I always say, perspective is still important when it comes to this stuff. On the season, the Celtics are now 16-2 against teams under .500. Last night technically qualifies as a .500 or better team, but really I look at it as the 3rd under .500 loss on the season because they were 24-25 when the teams played. I'll remind you, only 1 team in the NBA has fewer losses against under .500 teams (Knicks), and that team is also 11-16 vs teams .500 or better. Personally, I'd much prefer the Celts 21-10/16-2 splits.
No, the world is not ending.
Yes, the Celtics are still very good.
Those are both true. But you know what else is also true? The Celts have been playing like dogshit for about a week now. And not in the sense that it's shitty basketball by their standards, it's shitty basketball by anyone's standards. Starting with the Clippers ass whooping, things have not been pretty.
Record: 2-2
Offense: 18th
Defense: 22nd
Net rating: 20th
TS%: 23rd
Opponent PPG: 17th
Does any of that look anything close to what you would call "good" or "acceptable"? Not to me it doesn't.
And while the Celts deserve credit for how they came back against NO and then their response to the big IND run, I look at it like this. Last night was a game where their shitty play over the last week or so finally caught up with them. It was as if the Basketball Gods saw how the Celtics started this game and decided you know what? No more bailouts. Time to make you learn your lesson. How else do you explain the 28th best 3pt shooting team making 19 3PM? OK, bad defense for sure, but it was pretty clear that the Celtics showed they did not respect the game last night and that is what is so annoying. This was as clear a message from the Basketball Gods as you could possibly get.
Call it overlooking their opponent if you want, but the issues we saw last night started well before this game against the Lakers. For these last few games the Celts have been fucking around, and last night they finally found out why you can't do shit like that. Especially against the Lakers.
We have a lot to get too (none of it is any good), so let's just dive right in
The Good
- It's probably not a great sign when the thing that leads us off in this section is the bench. If not for what the second unit was able to do in their minutes, this horrific loss would look even worse. I can't even begin to think what this looked like if Sam Hauser didn't find shit shot again and finish 6-11 (5-6). Same with Pritchard who was 3-6 (2-5).
Not a single negative +/- on the bench, that's what makes last night even more embarrassing. All that needed to happen was for the starters to not completely shit themselves and this is most likely a win. Instead, only the bench showed up from both an energy and effort perspective, and an execution perspective. Good on them, but not great in terms of overall success.
- I'd love to put more in this section, but what exactly is worthy? I liked Tatum's defensive energy in the second half, but it was a little too late. I don't think we need to force anything or spin anything here, we can just move on to the real issues.
The Bad
- It's hard to know where to start really, so I guess let's just go with how the Celts started this game. Perhaps the most disgusting 12 minutes of basketball they've played all year, it was essentially a preview of what was to come. Finishing a quarter with 9 TOs against a team that is 22nd in the league at forcing turnovers was about as clear an example of this team having zero mental focus as you can get.
The worst part is the fact that it came from everyone not named Jayson Tatum. Jaylen finished the 1st quarter with 3 TOs, KP with 3, Jrue with 2, and Derrick with 1. There was a stretch after a Reaves 3PM where the Celtics turned it over on 3 straight possessions. You simply cannot win with this shit
This is losing basketball. This is being careless with the basketball. For some reason, the Celts were under the impression that telegraphing passes is what you should be doing, which is slightly concerning.
The 9 TOs in the first quarter showed us the lack of focus. The 10 Lakers OREB in the first quarter showed us their lack of energy. If you've been following along recently, I've been talking about how the real concern you should have shouldn't be around 3pt shooting, it should be around how the Celtics are performing on the defensive glass.
You want to talk playoff achilles heels? It's not shooting. It's turnovers and offensive rebounds. Go look at the games the Celtics lost last Spring and you'll see a common theme. Careless basketball and opponents feasting on the offensive glass. To think that a team that shot 30/38% in a quarter can still nearly score 30 and have a lead is very embarrassing. The Lakers had a 33-21 FGA difference in that quarter, and the Celts have no one but themselves to blame for that.
During this shitty 4 game stretch, here are the allowed OREB numbers
vs LAC: 15 OREB (L)
vs NO: 9 OREB (W, got down 18)
vs IND: 19 OREB (W, blew a 20 point lead)
vs LAL: 15 OREB (L)
See a theme? Even in the wins, the OREB was an issue and a big contributing factor to the shitty parts of those games.
- I can understand why people don't like to hear that things can be as simple as a make/miss type of game, but when it comes to the outside shooting in this loss, that's certainly part of the equation
Notice I said part of the equation and not the entire story. Part of this is more than just "the Lakers got lucky", the Celts defense was certainly nowhere close to good enough. While some guys were dared to shoot (and cashed), 34 of the Lakers 36 3PA on the night were open/wide open. These are still NBA players who are capable of getting hot, and time after time after time we saw the Celtics over-rotate, doubling guys that didn't need to be doubled which resulted in leaving shooters wide the fuck open. Nobody decided to get a body into Austin Reaves once it was clear he was in that type of zone where you have to guard him from 30 ft.
So in total, it's both. The Celts uncharacteristically missed a shit ton of their open/wide open looks (all non-Tatum starters were 2-17), they Lakers didn't, and the Celtics defense played a big role in that production. If you aren't guarding the 3pt line, and then even when the Lakers miss you're not getting the DREB, what exactly do you expect to happen?
- If you're looking for one play that did a great job of summing up what a shitshow this game was, I'd personally choose this play
This told me all I needed to know. You're in the 4th quarter, it's time to cut the shit and execute. The Celts had fucked around for 3 quarters and were still within striking distance entering the final frame. All they had to do was punch first and lock in, and this game was there for the taking.
They started great, back to back buckets in under a minute and it looked like they were in business, and then that play happens. In a game you're trying to make a comeback, against your rival, you get beat down the floor like that after a make? Jaylen Brown…
What is that effort? I'm pretty sure I can run faster than that and I'm a 36 year old blogger. When I talk about terrible energy and effort, that's the shit I'm talking about. That's one of the leaders on the team and best players. It's the 4th quarter, and this is what we're getting? Not good enough.
I could make the case that it was this moment that truly lost the Celts the game. When you're trying to make a comeback, what happens around the margins matters. A play like that may seem small in the moment, but it has a big impact. Once you get into the 4th, it's a possesion game. You cannot waste possessions like that when you're also battling the clock. Every time I watch that clip my blood boils.
- Brutal showing from the guards in this one, no two ways about it. Jrue and Derrick finished 8-20 (1-7) and were a combined -28 in their minutes. Holiday, someone who pretty much never turns it over, finished with 4. That's the highest TO total he's had in a game since the 11/20 OT loss to the Hornets, aka another bad loss.
With Derrick, it was another one of those games where simply nothing he threw up was dropping. A tough 4-11 (1-5), it remains true that guard play is a huge deciding factor in how the Celtics look. When the guards show up? This team is nails. When they both throw up eggs? You lose to the sorry Lakers without their two best players.
- It goes without saying that Austin Reaves (32 points) outscoring the Jays (31 points) by himself is bad. Some might even call it very bad.
- The Celtics losing a game in which they made 16 3PM, 12 blocks, won the rebounding battle, had a 21-12 2nd chance points difference, more points in the paint, and 30 AST is also very annoying.
Why did this happen? Poor defense and careless turnovers. You do that, it erases everything.
- While it's tradition after every Celtics loss for people to obsess over 3P shooting, once again I think this is misplaced. With the way the Lakers were making 3s, it was the Celts 3P volume that kept them attached in the first place. You cannot trade 3s for 2s when the opponent is shooting 53% from deep. The math won't work.
The issue of course is last night was a game in which the Celtics also were awful in the paint in terms of their efficiency. THIS is the trend that nobody ever talks about, but is consistent in all of their recent bad losses
Both Tatum and Brown couldn't stop smoking layups. The White floater wasn't dropping. Meanwhile, on the other end the Lakers are making 3 after 3 after 3. The Celts have to pick one. You either miss your 3s and make your 2s, or you miss your 2s and you make your 3s. As you can see in the tweet above, in the MIL/LAC/LAL losses, they did both.
- After the 21-0 home start, the Celts have now lost 3 of 5 in their own building. Just something to monitor. They've talked about how the Garden needs to be a place where teams don't want to play, and that has not been the case as of late.
The Ugly
- It's only right that we kick this section off with the play of Jaylen Brown and Porzingis. A combined -42 in their minutes, each had their own set of issues.
For Jaylen, it was a complete no show on both ends of the floor. His energy and effort was embarrassing for any player let alone one of the leaders of the team. It was great to hear him have accountability for it after the game, but it would also be great if he ya know, didn't play that way.
A 4-12 (0-3) showing with 3 TOs and not a single FTA attempt to go along with lazy defense, of the handful of Jaylen stinkers we've seen this year this one by far was the most annoying for me. Again, I can handle shooting ups and downs. That shit happens. I can't handle playing with zero energy and effort. We saw all the time that teams follow the lead of their two best players, and the two best players weren't all that great last night. With Tatum, it at least felt like he was still trying in the second half.
With Jaylen? A complete no show. Unacceptable stuff from anyone, but especially the best players.
For KP, there were parts of his night that I liked. I continue to be impressed with how he's able to block drives while absorbing contact and not fouling, but his 1-7 from deep was tough to stomach and it did feel like maybe his ankle was impacting him a little bit because it felt like he was moving in quicksand. Add in some careless turnovers as well, and it just wasn't his night either.
When the entire starting lineup gives you this
I'm not sure how many games fans think the Celts are going to win. When 2 of the top 3 players on the team have disastrous performances, it makes it even worse.
- We all can see the 26-7 FTA difference. I would just say to that, no shit. It's the Lakers. Welcome to earth. I also think that when you fuck around and play the way the Celtics did in this game, that stuff happens. Is it a little shady? Maybe, but it's also not why the Celtics lost, so I don't really see the point in complaining about it like I had some do in my mentions after the loss.
Is it a little crazy that the entire starting group took just 4 FTA? Sure. Especially when FGA in the paint was relatively close (44-40), and 3 FTA through 3 quarters is a little iffy, but you know that going in when you're playing the Lakers. It's why you can't fuck around and be careless with the basketball or give them extra possessions, because they're also going to get the whistle.
The Lakers and the Celtics are the two best teams at not fouling this season. Lakers lead the league with 16.5, Celts at 17.2. Last night was 19-8, but you can't sit here and tell me that the Celtics defense wasn't fouling. If you want to argue the calls weren't happening on the other end fine, but the Celts are the reason the Lakers took 26 FTA. Not the officials.
The good news is we've seen the Celts respond time after time whenever one of these losses happen (which is not a lot). They have a stretch of MEM/ATL/WSH/MIA/BKN/BKN before the All Star break, which is a great opportunity to bounce back and finish strong before the break. Granted it's going to require they play nowhere close to what we saw last night. That was gross.