‘This team is fractured’: Eddie, Scal react to Celtics’ perplexing loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
So… What’s wrong with the Boston Celtics?
The reigning NBA champions entered their second-round playoff matchup with the New York Knicks as heavy favorites after sweeping them in the regular season and raced out to a 20-point lead in Monday’s Game 1 at TD Garden.
Then the Knicks came storming back to steal Game 1 in overtime. Then Boston blew another 20-point lead in Wednesday’s Game 2 en route to an improbable 91-90 loss. The Celtics are the first team in NBA history to lose two games in the same postseason when leading by 20-plus points and are two losses away from a stunning playoff exit.
So, what’s gotten into this team over the past two games? Former Celtics teammates and 2008 NBA champions Brian Scalabrine and Eddie House had plenty to get off their chests after Wednesday’s loss on NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics Postgame Live.
Scalabrine pointed to one play in particular — Jaylen Brown fumbling a Jayson Tatum pass out of bounds on fast break late in the third quarter with Boston up 20 — that seemed to turn the whole tide of Game 2.
“From that 73-53 moment, they make one mistake and they seem to just fracture at that point,” Scalabrine said. “You have a 20-point lead and a transition opportunity. You throw it away, which is fine, like, mistakes happen. But you can’t let that carry over to the other side.
“They did it last game; they did it this game. They’re not attacking the end of games.”
The Celtics’ late-game offense has been hideous in this series; in Games 1 and 2 combined, they shot 9-for-45 (20 percent from the floor and 4-for-24 from 3-point range (16.7 percent) for a total of 33 points in the fourth quarter.
Those struggles are partly a result of settling for 3-point shots instead of driving to the rim and pressuring the Knicks’ defense. But Boston’s defense has lapsed in the closing minutes as well, and House believes that comes down to effort.
“We just did not close out quarters well,” House said. “We did not close out the second quarter well. We did not close out this fourth quarter well.
“… I’m over here heated right now because I’m looking at a basketball team that’s getting outworked. They’re getting outworked.”
The Celtics were one of the NBA’s best teams in “clutch” situations (score within five; final five minutes) during the regular season, as their 24-11 record in those games led the league. That makes their collapses in Games 1 and 2 all the more perplexing, and Scalabrine believes head coach Joe Mazzulla deserves at least some responsibility for how he managed the clock in the fourth quarter.
“I’m not really into the timeout thing, but in the playoffs, I think it’s a little bit different,” Scalabrine said. “We had a ‘use it or lose it’ timeout with three minutes (remaining). The Knicks are on this run. We have a ‘use it or lose it’ timeout. We don’t use it, and we lose it.”
Mazzulla also declined to call a timeout before the game’s final possession, which resulted in the Knicks double-teaming Tatum and forcing him into a turnover.
“We also go to the end with 12 seconds to go. We don’t call a timeout (before the final possession). We don’t get a great shot off of that,” Scalabrine added.
“In the regular season, you’ve got to be able to figure that out, but in the playoffs, right now, you can clearly see this team is fractured. … Maybe you’ve got to use some of these (timeouts) to get this team going the right direction again.”
The Celtics aren’t out of this series yet. They were a historically good road team during the regular season (33-8) and led for all but 12 combined minutes in Games 1 and 2. If they can play a full 48 minutes, there’s no reason why they can’t take Game 3 in New York on Saturday and get back in this series.
But at present, it’s hard to trust a team that’s inexplicably let its guard down in back-to-back playoff games.
‘This team is fractured’: Eddie, Scal react to Celtics’ perplexing loss
Boston has blown 20-point leads in two straight playoff games.
So… What’s wrong with the Boston Celtics?
The reigning NBA champions entered their second-round playoff matchup with the New York Knicks as heavy favorites after sweeping them in the regular season and raced out to a 20-point lead in Monday’s Game 1 at TD Garden.
Then the Knicks came storming back to steal Game 1 in overtime. Then Boston blew another 20-point lead in Wednesday’s Game 2 en route to an improbable 91-90 loss. The Celtics are the first team in NBA history to lose two games in the same postseason when leading by 20-plus points and are two losses away from a stunning playoff exit.
SIGN UP HERE So, what’s gotten into this team over the past two games? Former Celtics teammates and 2008 NBA champions Brian Scalabrine and Eddie House had plenty to get off their chests after Wednesday’s loss on NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics Postgame Live.
Scalabrine pointed to one play in particular — Jaylen Brown fumbling a Jayson Tatum pass out of bounds on fast break late in the third quarter with Boston up 20 — that seemed to turn the whole tide of Game 2.
“From that 73-53 moment, they make one mistake and they seem to just fracture at that point,” Scalabrine said. “You have a 20-point lead and a transition opportunity. You throw it away, which is fine, like, mistakes happen. But you can’t let that carry over to the other side.
“They did it last game; they did it this game. They’re not attacking the end of games.”
The Celtics’ late-game offense has been hideous in this series; in Games 1 and 2 combined, they shot 9-for-45 (20 percent from the floor and 4-for-24 from 3-point range (16.7 percent) for a total of 33 points in the fourth quarter.
Those struggles are partly a result of settling for 3-point shots instead of driving to the rim and pressuring the Knicks’ defense. But Boston’s defense has lapsed in the closing minutes as well, and House believes that comes down to effort.
“We just did not close out quarters well,” House said. “We did not close out the second quarter well. We did not close out this fourth quarter well.
“… I’m over here heated right now because I’m looking at a basketball team that’s getting outworked. They’re getting outworked.”
The Celtics were one of the NBA’s best teams in “clutch” situations (score within five; final five minutes) during the regular season, as their 24-11 record in those games led the league. That makes their collapses in Games 1 and 2 all the more perplexing, and Scalabrine believes head coach Joe Mazzulla deserves at least some responsibility for how he managed the clock in the fourth quarter.
“I’m not really into the timeout thing, but in the playoffs, I think it’s a little bit different,” Scalabrine said. “We had a ‘use it or lose it’ timeout with three minutes (remaining). The Knicks are on this run. We have a ‘use it or lose it’ timeout. We don’t use it, and we lose it.”
Mazzulla also declined to call a timeout before the game’s final possession, which resulted in the Knicks double-teaming Tatum and forcing him into a turnover.
“We also go to the end with 12 seconds to go. We don’t call a timeout (before the final possession). We don’t get a great shot off of that,” Scalabrine added.
“In the regular season, you’ve got to be able to figure that out, but in the playoffs, right now, you can clearly see this team is fractured. … Maybe you’ve got to use some of these to get this team going the right direction again.”
The Celtics aren’t out of this series yet. They were a historically good road team during the regular season (33-8) and led for all but 12 combined minutes in Games 1 and 2. If they can play a full 48 minutes, there’s no reason why they can’t take Game 3 in New York on Saturday and get back in this series.
But at present, it’s hard to trust a team that’s inexplicably let its guard down in back-to-back playoff games.
