As Game 1 hit its most important moments on Monday evening, two offensive performs inside the ultimate minute price the Celtics of their gorgeous loss to the 76ers. They carried the identical theme.
The Celtics led by one because the clock ticked below 45 seconds after they had their worst possession of the sport. They made 5 passes and couldn’t discover a clear look. It ended when Malcolm Brogdon inexplicably threw a cross straight to Tyrese Maxey because the shot clock expired earlier than the 76ers guard scored a breakaway, go-ahead layup.
Two possessions later – after James Harden’s finally game-winning 3-pointer – Marcus Smart drove to the basket and tried to search out Jayson Tatum beneath, however misplaced the ball for his sixth turnover. The Sixers then sealed the sport on the free-throw line.
“Our spacing just got the best of us there,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla stated.
A day after the loss, the Celtics continued to course of and digest what went fallacious. Offensively, these two performs summarized the distinction. While the Celtics began scorching, they light late. They dedicated 16 turnovers. Mazzulla and Derrick White acknowledged they’d hassle with Philadelphia’s physicality. But all of it got here all the way down to what Mazzulla has preached all season, what he thinks the best power of his staff is.
“Spacing, execution, making open shots, making quick decisions,” Mazzulla stated.
Mazzulla stated the turnovers have been a product of the spacing – or lack thereof.
“We just have to fight for our spacing,” Mazzulla stated. “They do a great job of being in shifts. I thought their switching at times slowed us down. As later in the game, the defenses get more physical and so the offense, you have to fight for your physicality, you have to fight to not get slowed down and bogged down by their switching.”
The Celtics did a very good job with that early, after they had their method with Joel Embiid-less 76ers on the inside. They made 17 of their first 20 photographs, and scored 40 factors within the paint within the first half. But Mazzulla was sad that they solely took 26 3-point makes an attempt, their fewest in a recreation this season. All season, he has preached the significance of 3-pointers, however the Sixers took 12 extra makes an attempt and made seven extra.
Mazzulla thought there was a correlation between the Celtics’ early success inside and their lack of 3-point taking pictures.
“I think we got into the paint at will in the first quarter, and that kind of gave us the sense of we can get there and do it all the time,” Mazzulla stated. “I think we did a good job of adjusting to the shifts and going zone. Sometimes when you get into the comfort level of we can get to the paint whenever we want, we can do it over and over again. I think it’s important to know we have to find that balance of getting into the paint and making the right play. At the same time, we have to shoot open 3s.”
Game 1 takeaways
– While Harden took off for a playoff career-high 45 factors, the Celtics have been nonetheless inspired that they defended him with out fouling, as he solely shot 4 free throws. But they acknowledged they’ll enhance in making it tougher on the purpose guard in his 3-point shot-making after he drilled seven triples, together with the game-winner.
“I know he got to his step back a little bit, he was a little bit comfortable there,” Mazzulla stated. “I think we can do a better job of recognizing our shift activity, knowing who we can help off of and who we can’t.”
White acknowledged Harden’s greatness as he made a number of powerful photographs, however that the Celtics will proceed to throw totally different appears to be like at him in an try to throw him off rhythm.
“A little bit of everything,” White stated. “I think that’s what we do most of the year is just kind of mix it up from possession to possession, try to throw him off. He’s seen everything so we just try to make it difficult for him.”
– While the Celtics misplaced grasp of home-court benefit on this sequence with their Game 1 loss, they’re not placing any further strain on themselves for Game 2. Their core has been resilient over the previous few seasons, and can proceed to depend on that.
“I think our guys have been in this situation a lot,” Mazzulla stated. “I think the most important thing is understanding what we have to do better and do it for longer stretches of the game. And we just have to have the mindset of, like, when we’re at our best this is what we do. And we’ve gotta stick to it for longer stretches.”
– With 5:04 left within the fourth quarter, Tatum took an inadvertent shot to the groin from P.J. Tucker after he discovered Brogdon for a go-ahead layup on a quick break. Tatum was on the bottom in ache for a number of moments earlier than making a quick exit from the sport, and Smart had some phrases with the 76ers gamers after the sequence.
The play, nonetheless, was not reviewed for a attainable flagrant foul regardless of the Celtics’ hope for one.
“They said they couldn’t review it just because we wanted to,” Mazzulla stated.
“That’s just what we were told, is you can’t review something just because you want it reviewed so I guess they didn’t see it.”
Was Tatum being on the bottom not sufficient to warrant a evaluation?
“I’m just here so I don’t get fined,” Mazzulla cracked.
Source: www.bostonherald.com