Photo by Charles Krupa / AP Photos
I can’t believe I am writing this again, but here we are.
For the second straight game, the Boston Celtics lost to the New York Knicks after having a 20-point lead late in the third quarter.
What is even more discouraging is the fact that the Celtics actually took far less three point attempts, which is what got them in trouble last night.
Tatum was terrible last night. Quite frankly, between his performance last postseason and this series, I am starting to think he isn’t the superstar we thought he was.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great player. But there are now countless examples of him being nowhere to be found late in big games, and it cannot be ignored any longer.
I am putting a lot of this game on head coach Joe Mazulla. Blowing back-to-back 20-point leads to an inferior team like this is no coincidence.
For whatever reason, his guys are just not responding to the moment whenever there’s even a slight shift in momentum.
Countless missed shots that were wide open, horrible play designs, and a constant sense of panic from the C’s have been evident in these past two games.
And that finally play, oh boy.
After Jalen Brunson hit a free throw to put the Knicks up by one with 12 seconds to go, the Celtics elected to NOT take their final timeout.
Instead, they ran a play that they had just run on the previous position. The ‘play’ in question was just to have Tatum take the ball up and blow by his man. Some real revolutionary stuff right there.
It is actually preposterous that they didn’t take the time to draw up a designed play. Especially when you’re losing by just one, and any field goal will do.
Instead, the plan to have Tatum bully his man did not work, and he ended up dribbling like a chicken with its head cut off until the game ended.
Like many Celtics fans, my first reaction to the play was: “What the hell was that?”
The Celtics (who were -1000 favorites coming into the series) are now down 2-0 in the series. Oh, and they lost both of their games at home.
At this point, the only thing you can say is that the team just needs to be better. Tatum, Brown, all of them. They need to hit shots, and they need to be more consistent before they lose this thing.
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