The Way The Celtics Collapsed By Collectively Puking On Themselves Was A Nice Reminder That If They Fuck Around, They Won't Like What They Find Out

David Liam Kyle. Getty Images.

And just like that, the 11 game winning streak is over. With the Celtics finally losing their first game since February 1st (it's March 6th) we of course know what happens next. As the only team in the NBA who is not allowed to lose a basketball game, they deserve all the slander they are going to get from the talking heads until their next win. That's what happens when you blow a 22 point 4th quarter lead. If you don't want it to happen, don't puke on yourself like that.

However, this is usually how winning streaks end, with some sort of horrific and disgusting loss. How do I know that? Because it's already happened this season, Remember the 6 game winning streak we saw the Celtics snap when they lost to the Charlotte Hornets in OT? Or how about the 5 game winning streak being snapped by choking late against the Warriors in OT? Or the immediate 6 game winning streak that followed that GS loss which was broken by getting their ass kicked by the Thunder on the road?

Yet somehow, the sky actually wasn't falling. The same is true after this loss. Yes, it shouldn't have happened, a team like this fully healthy should never blow a 22 point lead with 9 minutes left. That shit is inexcusable. But guess what? When this is the second time it's happened in about 72 games, I think everyone will be OK

So let's not pretend like the Celtics have some sort of focus problem or don't know how to hold onto big leads. They had won 34 straight with a 20 point lead! Just take a deep breath!

It's possible to hate how they closed this game last night, understand that in the future when the playoff start they can't fuck around the same way, and still have perspective that shit happens sometimes. If being 48-13 and ripping off an 11 game winning streak where the Celts didn't lose for a month doesn't buy them the benefit of the doubt, I'm afraid nothing will. Sometimes teams get hot, sometimes teams blow leads, it's the NBA. The Clippers just blew a 20+ point 4th quarter lead to the Lakers, the Nuggets just got down by 20+ to the shorthanded Suns last night and were outexecuted in the clutch on their own floor. It's really not that big of a deal.

But I get it. When the Celtics lose, it's a big deal. One of the only teams in the NBA who pays the "can't lose a game" tax. That's fine. I consider that a badge of honor. 

What that doesn't do is excuse what we saw in the final 12 minutes of last night's loss. Unacceptable basketball is still unacceptable basketball no matter how good you are or how infrequently it happens. At the same time, I do think there seems to only really be a focus on when the Celts come up short late while ignoring all the times they come through late. That's not really how it works. We don't live in a world where only the bad moments count and the good ones are ignored, it all matters. It's all part of the puzzle.

Last night told us more of what I think we should already know. When the Celts lose their focus, they give up leads. When they don't play with the right intensity level defensively, it allows guys to get comfortable and start to build momentum. When they go too slow late in games, it almost never works. 

To me, it's not about never having these moments. People often confuse a lack of progress in these areas with not being perfect. There are going to be times you come through and times you don't. That's basketball. It's about when they do happen, how do you respond? The Celts most likely thought they had it in the bad, lost their focus and fucked around, only to find out exactly why you can't do that. We'll see if that's the reminder they needed after running through the league for the past month.

Just like the previous gross losses to end long winning streaks, last night will be quickly forgotten. Should the Celts win tomorrow night against the Nuggets, I'm pretty sure not a single person will care about this collapse. You take it on the chin and move onto the next.

But before we do, let's talk about it.

The Good

- There's really only one choice to kick this section off, and that's the play of Kristaps Porzingis. He's one of the few players from last night that I have zero complaints about. He filled his role perfectly, he was efficient, he was clutch, it was in my opinion one of his better games of the year

9-18 (3-6) from the field, huge buckets in the 4th quarter, great defense both at the rim and in space, it's hard to complain about KP's night. I also love that Joe kept his minutes around 32 in this game, understanding that given where the Celts are in the season and the standings, there is NO NEED to push KP's minutes just to you can win a regular season game in early March. It's pretty obvious how important he is to the success of this team, and I think how they've managed him all year has been pretty damn perfect.

Now having watched over 50 games of KP up close, I will say there are a few things that have definitely surprised me. The way he can defend 1-5 in a way that he absorbs contact which lets the offensive player believe they've created enough space, only for his length to block the shot all without fouling. It doesn't matter if it's a guard or a big, KP's positional defense is way better than I thought.

He's also proving to be much stronger than I thought as well. His rebounding in traffic is certainly better than I expected, and he plays with a toughness that I don't think you truly notice unless you watch him every possession.

- Last night was weird because I'd say 75% of the night was great. The ball was moving, guys were making their open looks, the defense was locked in, it was another case of the Celts looking like the team that had been unstoppable for the last month. Their 8th straight game with a 20 point lead, there was certainly a lot to like about quarters 1-3. I do not think we should ignore that the Celts continue to extend leads and really hammer teams in the 3rd quarter. To me, that was always one of their biggest weaknesses. They'd come out and lay an egg in the 12 minutes after the break to the point where they now find themselves in a battle.

But now? They've stopped fucking around in the 3rd quarter. It reminds me of the Warriors 3rd quarter of death from their dynasty run. In a playoff game/series, going for the throat in the 3rd quarter is what the dominant teams do, and that's what the Celts will need to do if they want as short a series as possible.

- That's really it though. We can move on to the meat of the blog now.

The Bad

- Last night was just the 3rd time all season (61 games) that the Celtics have lost a game in which they shot over 35% as a team from three (39.5%). Love when that happens. It's also why I'm not getting overly worked up about last night. If it takes a team to go 20-42 (47.5%) from deep to beat the Celts by 1 point, I feel pretty good about that. 

What this loss was though was a reminder of just how important the basketball math is. In the 4th quarter last night, the Celtics DOMINATED the Cavs in the paint. They finished 8-16 to the Cavs 3-4. For all those who cry about the Celtics 4th quarter approach not having enough paint touches, you saw exactly why things are not as simple as "just take 2s!".

With the Cavs going 8-11 from deep and the Celts 0-8, it didn't matter that they dominated the paint. This is why it's so important to keep yourself attached when it comes to 3P shooting. If your opponent is red hot from three, you have to take as many 3s as it takes to keep yourself close. Last night only 8 of the Celts 26 FGA were 3PA compared to 11 of 15 for the Cavs, and as a result, they lost the quarter by 17 points despite a massive paint scoring advantage.

You may not like it, but this is NBA basketball in 2024. If you aren't going to limit your opponent from making 3s, you cannot respond by just living in the paint. Your 3P volume has to match. Last night it didn't and the Celts were beaten at their own game.

- There are few constants with this team that will always remain true no matter what the roster looks like. One example of that is the importance of the guard play. Whether it's Smart/White or Smart/Brogdon or Brogdon/White or now Jrue/White, getting good guard play will always be the barometer for this team.

Last night, the guard play was nowhere close to good enough. There should be no world where Derrick White only takes 5 FGA in 35 minutes, and watching him it felt like he was WAY too passive. Him being an offensive threat is a gigantic part of the Celtics offense. That doesn't mean force bad shots, but it does mean play with force, play with a purpose. Instead we got the opposite with a few bizarre turnovers mixed in.

Same thing with Jrue. I get being unselfish, but I would also like to remind him that he's a pretty damn good offensive player. It's OK if he shoots! It felt like he had the same sort of passive approach as Derrick which I'd like to avoid moving forward. We also had 4 TOs from him, which is an unusually high number.

But more importantly, I'm still waiting to see the Jrue Holiday that calms everything down late in games. That's why he was brought in right? Because this was supposedly something Marcus Smart couldn't do. Holiday was the proven champion who has been in these moments and was supposed to get everyone organized and on the same page.

Did it feel like that was the case last night, or did it feel like he pretty much just ran to the corner?

This is something that I think comes from Joe and Tatum as opposed to being something Jrue isn't capable of doing. What's the point of having that asset for those moments, if you don't use that asset in those moments? So when I say I'm waiting to see if from Jrue, what I mean is I'm waiting for the team to allow him to do it.

The Ugly

- Alright, a few things here. We of course have to start this section with the play of Jayson Tatum. Or more specifically, his second half play. In the first half, he was incredible. Barely missed a shot, was engaged on both ends, it was exactly the Tatum we've been seeing for well over a month now.

But NBA games are 48 minutes, and as the best player on the team, it in no way is acceptable to finish a second half 1-12 (0-3) and a -20 in your 18 minutes. Just 1-8 in the fourth quarter, it's about as brutal as you think it looks

Smoking plays at the rim, missing open 3s, missing midrange jumpers, easily the worst half of Tatum's season. Look, it doesn't matter what else happens. If Tatum throws up a 1-12/-20 half, the Celtics are going to lose. Even with the added talent, that still remains true.

The fact of the matter is, it doesn't matter what new additions Brad makes, at the end of the day things will always come down to the late game decision making and execution of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and this was a perfect example of it. Things obviously came to a head on the final possession, so let's have a look

OK, there's a lot to break down here. For starters, inbounding the ball with 19 seconds left and not starting your action until around 6 seconds left is a complete and utter disaster. This is a moment where a lot of fans raged at Joe for not calling a timeout, but once again I think that misses the point. You want Garland on the floor for defensive purposes instead of Okoro. Not only that, having 2 timeouts gives you the chance to extend the game should you need to.

But for any of that to work, you have to go faster here. This is what, Year 7 for Tatum? It's OK to hold him to the standard of knowing that at this point. This is not the first end of game possession Tatum has had in his career. I expect the best player on the team to have the situational awareness of what he needs to do in that moment. Tatum's decision to walk it up and burn 13 seconds before even doing anything is the root of this issue, not timeouts.

When you wait like that, all you are doing is eliminating your options. When you get into these tight moments, you want to give yourself as many chances as you possibly can. That's why you have to go quick. But the longer you wait, not only are you lowering the odds for an OREB/extra possession, you're also limiting the things you can actually do on the possession. Just watch that play. After waiting so long, Tatum's only option was to kick it to Derrick, but he was clamped. That forced Tatum into a low percentage decision, and the longer it took the more time it gave for defenders like Jarrett Allen to shade into Tatum and cut off lanes. 

It's no surprise that in pretty much all of these unsuccessful late game Tatum possessions, there is a constant theme. He goes too slow. Until he decides to stop doing that shit, nothing else really matters in these moments. Here he is, with 7 seconds already off the clock and he's barely crossed half court, where we see Tatum basically stop and look over to the sideline

Where is the urgency? This is a mismatch. You have Jarrett Allen in space. Instead, they wait for the Derrick screen/switch (which I don't hate), but again, Tatum doesn't really attack that switch with force and ends up getting locked up by Darius Garland. That is something that cannot happen. 

I also have no real problem with him not getting bailed out by a foul on that play. You shouldn't be rewarded for a bad process, and the Basketball Gods made that clear. Not only that, but after watching this play I'm also pretty sure the blown whistle doesn't impact KP's putback. I thought it may have in real time, but the whistle blew at 0.7. When that happened, the ball was here

Given that it hit the rim, went back up in the air, and then hit the rim again on the way down, I'm pretty sure that took more that 0.7 seconds. So while in real time it felt like the Celts got boned there, I'm not sure they did. 

- I think part of why this loss was so triggering is the fact that it came via another Caleb Martin-esq performance of a role player suddenly never missing from three. Dean Wade made 6 3PM in his previous 9 games combined, only to make 6 last night including 5-5 in the 4th quarter. Credit him for knocking down his changes, but that was a bit of a prayer, just like Martin

- The first clip in that video is something I have been harping on for MONTHS now. Late game offensive rebounding has been a problem for this team for a while, and it finally bit them in the ass. Jrue turning his head and ball watching allowed him to lose sight of his man, and since he had no idea Wade was cutting to the rim, he wasn't there to put a body on him and the rest is history.

These are the type of late game mental mistakes that will end your season. Coming from a player who should know better, that's not great. The thing is, he's not alone here. Too often do we see the Celts as a team lose their mental focus on the defensive glass late in close games. It's happened with different coaches, different lineups, and I will keep screaming about it until I am blue in the face. THIS is where the Celts concern is for me. I've seen way too many playoff games be lost because of late game mental mistakes, and really this is honestly the only part of last night that truly annoys me. 

You just went down and took the lead. All you had to do was lock in for one defensive possession, and you win. Instead, you get a mental mistake at the worst possible time. That, is very bad.

- Call me crazy, but my expectation is that when the starters come back with a 10 point lead with 5 minutes to go, that is enough of a cushion for them to close it out. I saw a lot of complaining that Joe waited too long to bring his guys back, but again, it was a 10 point lead with 5:14 to go. That is more than enough time and more than enough of a lead for the starting group to execute down the stretch.

We can't talk about how dominant this group is and then also have the stance that they shouldn't be able to hold a lead like that. That's not how it works. 

Listen, sometimes it's not the worst thing in the world to be served a nice slice of humble pie. What's important is what you do as a result of an absolute choke job like this. There are going to be heart-wrenching losses in the postseason run, and it then becomes about how you respond. This is a regular season chance to see how that looks. The Nuggets are going to be pissed given their loss last night to the Suns, and it doesn't get better in terms of competition than them. For a Celtics team that has proven to be resilient all season long (they haven't lost 2 games in a row since November), it's maybe not the worst thing in the world for them long term to have a situation/test like this. Their seeding is locked up, so now it's about seeing them handle different situations to help prepare for the playoff run.

Take care of your business tomorrow, and we move.