MIAMI — More than half-hour after the ultimate buzzer sounded, Jaylen Brown took a seat at his locker. He had simply taken a bathe, and was solely in a towel. The Celtics All-Star was nonetheless making an attempt to course of what had simply occurred. He sat there, staring into the abyss. He shook his head, nonetheless in frustration.
Moments later, he picked himself up, received dressed and took the stroll to the guests’ podium contained in the Kaseya Center, the place he would attempt to clarify the devastation he simply skilled, a 128-102 loss to the Heat that put the Celtics in a surprising 3-0 collection gap within the Eastern Conference Finals.
But Brown, all the time considerate in his phrases, struggled with learn how to describe his emotions. He and the Celtics’ satisfaction had been questioned. It regarded like that they had stop. There was a transparent disconnect on the courtroom. Brown paused for greater than 5 seconds after the primary query.
“I don’t even know where to start,” Brown started.
“An obvious letdown. I feel like we let our fan base, organization down, we let ourselves down, and it was collective. We could point fingers, but in reality, it was just embarrassing.”
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla took full accountability for Sunday’s putrid loss, however the blame goes throughout. And in terms of those that performed, Brown and Jayson Tatum shoulder the bear of the duty for an inexcusable no-show. The Celtics wanted their two All-NBA stars to ship on Sunday evening. They each got here painfully quick.
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Tatum scored 14 factors on 6-for-18 taking pictures, together with 1-for-7 from lengthy vary. Brown, after a scorching opening six minutes, got here crashing again to earth. He completed with simply 12 factors on 6-for-17 taking pictures with an 0-for-7 mark from 3-point land, together with an air-ball on a wide-open look that stated all of it. Both had been unhealthy defensively. Neither performed within the fourth quarter.
Together, the quote-unquote finest duo within the NBA, had been outplayed by a bunch of castoffs simply taking part in higher and harder than them. Gabe Vincent – undrafted in 2018 – outscored Tatum and Brown mixed with 29 factors. The Celtics continued to be incapable of stopping Caleb Martin, who had 22 factors on 7-for-11 taking pictures. Duncan Robinson, additionally undrafted, scored 22 factors on 5 3-pointers.
“We struggled to get stops, but to their credit, they’re playing well above their means,” Brown stated. “They’re balling right now. I’ve got to give them respect, Gabe Vincent, Martin, (Max) Strus, Duncan Robinson, guys that we should be able to keep under control are playing their ass off.”
Remember when Tatum scored 51 factors in an epic Game 7 efficiency in opposition to the 76ers to ship the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals? It was solely final Sunday. It seems like gentle years in the past.
No one will do not forget that efficiency fondly if that is how he and the Celtics exit. It’ll simply be a footnote on an embarrassing finish. He and the Celtics don’t have any solutions for the harder, meaner, extra impressed Heat.
For a 3rd consecutive recreation on this collection, Tatum didn’t make a shot within the fourth quarter. This time it’s as a result of he didn’t play in it. The recreation was over. One extra and the season might be, too.
“I didn’t shoot the ball well at all tonight,” Tatum stated. “But I feel we received some open seems to be, coming off the pick-and-roll, getting doubled, hitting excessive, taking part in four-on-three. We simply did not shoot the ball effectively in any respect. We could not hit something.
“Give them credit. They’re a really good defensive team. They play hard, they communicate. But we had a lot of open looks tonight that we normally make.”
The Celtics weren’t prepared, they usually rolled over within the third quarter. How does this occur within the Eastern Conference Finals?
The reality is, the warning indicators have been there in plain sight all alongside. In their epic Game 5 meltdown in opposition to the Hawks. In their Game 1 loss to the 76ers, who didn’t have MVP Joel Embiid. In their Game 5 dwelling no-show in opposition to the Sixers. The Celtics, barely, had been ok to cowl up their imperfections within the collection.
Now, the Heat are exposing them for who they are surely.
“Just being transparent, it’s unfortunate,” Tatum stated of how they lose a recreation of this magnitude like they did on Sunday. “We clearly wished to return out and carry out higher, play higher, have a distinct final result, or not less than give ourselves an opportunity. You know, it is robust. For no matter purpose, we did not have it tonight.
“At this point of the season, you don’t want to say that, but that’s on us. As a unit, we didn’t play well.”
Tatum stated he deleted Twitter from his telephone earlier than the playoffs started, so he hasn’t seen any of the surface noise and commentary surrounding the Celtics since earlier than Game 1 in opposition to the Hawks. It can be a sensible concept to maintain it that means after Sunday’s embarrassment. His capability to be a champion might be questioned. So will the Celtics’ future.
From the surface, there’s not a lot optimism for a comeback. This Celtics workforce doesn’t look to have the make-up to be the primary workforce in NBA historical past to beat a 3-0 collection deficit. But even when they’ll’t make historical past, they know they’ll’t exit like this.
“We’ve just got to have some pride, bounce back, and just be better come Tuesday,” Tatum stated.
“We’ve just got to come out and play basketball,” Brown stated. “Come out with an ideal mentality, come out and have some satisfaction about your self, come out and have some satisfaction about who you are taking part in for, have some satisfaction about no matter and simply come out and play basketball. …
“I consider we are able to win the following one, so we have simply received to return out and play. …
“The series isn’t over yet. It’s looking bad, but you come out, have some pride about yourself and put your best foot forward.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com