After the ultimate buzzer sounded, when their disastrous, gorgeous collapse was over, the Celtics locker room was principally quiet. There wasn’t a lot to say.
There wasn’t a lot of a touch of frustration. There wasn’t a lot anger, both.
“Everything we did out there kind of spoke for itself,” Jaylen Brown stated.
The Celtics have regarded the a part of a severe championship contender for many of this season, and on Friday night time, they continued to take action in one other dominant first quarter towards the Nets.
But then – for a lot of the subsequent three quarters – the Celtics reverted to the worst model of themselves.
A catastrophe unfolded at TD Garden, and the Celtics had been merely unable to cease it. They led by 28 within the first half, solely to observe it slip away in embarrassing style. They acquired too comfy, they acquired too careless, and because it concluded, boos adopted them to the locker room after they had been handed a humbling and inexcusable 115-105 loss to the Nets.
The Celtics dedicated 19 turnovers, shot simply 9-for-30 from 3-point vary. And as soon as the Nets began rolling after getting blown out halfway by means of the second quarter, the C’s by no means regained their composure – which they’ve executed this season even once they’ve blown leads.
“That was the first time we couldn’t get it back,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla stated. “I assumed all year long, we’ve executed a superb job of sustaining our composure and our poise for almost all of the season. I believe in moments like that, when the opposite staff begins to play properly and adjustments their mindset, we simply should type of alter to your surroundings. It’s arduous. …
“We definitely have a respect for the opponent because we were up 28. So I think we definitely respected them. I don’t think most guys realize the potency of runs in the NBA in the first half because of the pace and the 3-point shot. And so, I think our team definitely respects other teams. Like I said, I think this is a one-off, it’s something that’s happened very, very rarely.”
Brown scored 35 factors and Jayson Tatum – who went 0-for-8 from 3-point vary – added 22 because the Celtics had been humiliated. The embarrassing loss snapped a streak of 10 consecutive wins over the Nets, who had been led by Mikal Bridges’ 38 factors and 10 rebounds and didn’t resemble the squad that was blown out right here in Boston final month.
The Celtics had delivered deja vu on the Nets – even their rebranded model with out Kyrie Irving or Kevin Durant – within the first quarter. A month in the past, the C’s torched the Nets by outsourcing them 46-16 within the first interval and by no means regarded again in a wire-to-wire rout. It wasn’t as unhealthy on Friday however the Celtics dug the Nets – who couldn’t hit the Charles River with a shot – an enormous gap with a 37-15 first.
Brown regarded as if he was toying with defenders as he acquired something he wished offensively. The Celtics led by 28 halfway by means of the second quarter. But sooner or later, perhaps the Celtics acquired overconfident. They had been nonetheless up 22 late within the second when the beginning lineup re-entered the sport and set the stage for an inexplicably poor finish to the primary half.
The Celtics acquired relaxed, lackadaisical and appeared to lose their focus. The Nets went on a 21-8 run to finish the second quarter, with the ultimate sequence symbolizing a disastrous meltdown in progress for the Celtics. After Brown threw an inbounds cross supposed for Tatum into the backcourt and out of bounds, Dorian Finney-Smith’s buzzer-beating alley-oop reduce the Celtics’ result in 9 at halftime.
“That kind of got them going and got their energy up,” Derrick White stated.
The Nets had been solely getting began on their comeback. Bridges drilled a step-back 3-pointer on the primary play of the second half to set off a disastrous stretch for the Celtics. Marcus Smart, who had zero fouls at halftime, picked up 4 of them within the first 3:43 of the second half, and when he subbed out, picked up a technical foul from the bench. By then, the Nets reduce the deficit to at least one. They tied the sport at 70 on Cam Johnson’s 3-pointer and took their first lead of the sport when he made two free throws shortly after.
Robert Williams, throughout that sequence, left the sport with left hamstring tightness. As they took a 76-72 lead, the Nets had produced a 53-21 turnaround in a shocking turnaround. Desperate for a spark, Mazzulla turned to Payton Pritchard – who hadn’t performed since Feb. 14 – to enter the sport. But the C’s by no means acquired up from the mat. The boos started when the Celtics didn’t field out Bridges on a putback layup that put Brooklyn up six, and solely grew louder.
“Nothing worked,” Mazzulla admitted.
The Nets’ onslaught simply continued. Finney-Smith drilled a 3 to place them up 9 late within the third they usually prolonged their result in 16 on Spencer Dinwiddie’s 3-pointer with 6:54 remaining. The Celtics by no means reduce it nearer than 9 after that.
Mazzulla chalked up the collapse to a couple elements. The Nets went to a switching protection, and the Celtics acquired stagnant offensively as they couldn’t generate the quantity of 3-point appears to be like they usually get. That contributed to shedding on the margins, which Mazzulla emphasizes. The Nets shot extra 3-pointers, they gained on the free-throw line and the glass, they usually turned it over much less.
That allowed the Nets to search out some life once they had been down 28, and mixed with how the Celtics responded with lazy, uninspiring basketball, it was a recipe for catastrophe.
“You have to battle human nature,” Mazzulla stated. “And if you want to separate yourself, the teams that don’t fall into that trap, but I’m not gonna overreact to that. It happens. Happens in the NBA, I’ve seen (blown leads) in other games. We have to be able to learn from it. So I’ll be more upset if it happens again, if we’re in another situation.”
Brown echoed that sentiment.
“Just gotta be mature and respond,” Brown stated of how they will study from this loss. “We can’t take the game for granted. I know we were up big, but we gotta play each possession like it’s a tie game or we’re down. We let them get going, let them get some confidence and at that moment, when the momentum shifted, they became hard to stop.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com