It’s been a giant week for shakeups.
Tucker Carlson is out at Fox.
Don Lemon is out at CNN.
And Punxsutawney Phil is out because the official mascot of Groundhog Day.
He’s been changed by Lucky, the Celtics leprechaun.
The Celtics are caught in an countless loop of late-game collapses, flat begins, and a persistent incapacity to shut out foes with a vengeance.
We’ve lined this earlier than. There is a obtrusive lack of “grit and balls” on this model of the Celtics. We need to play truthful, so we’ll maintain off on the Larry Bird analogies.
But the Big Three 2.0 solely left city a decade in the past.
Those Celtics received Banner 17 with a 39-point rout in Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals.
Thirty-nine factors.
And they did it in opposition to the defending Western Conference champions led by the late Kobe Bryant.
One should marvel if given the identical alternative in one other time-space continuum, these Celtics would have stopped at 15 and subsequently requested Kobe to signal their jerseys.
These will not be the 2008 Celtics. Nor are they enjoying Kobe’s Lakers. Boston’s opponent this time wanted to beat Miami in a play-in recreation simply to lock up the No. 7 seed.
In Game 1, Boston let a 32-point lead dissolve to 12.
In Game 3, Boston had an opportunity for a traditionally insurmountable 3-0 collection lead. The Celtics as an alternative opted to sleepwalk by way of the primary half, permitting 74 factors. Those off-nights within the ATL may be rigorous.
In Game 5, like snowflakes melting within the April solar, the Celtics liquified down the stretch contained in the climate-controlled TD Garden. Boston botched a 13-point lead in what would have been a close-out victory. Atlanta scored 34 factors within the remaining 12 minutes and did it with out Dejounte Murray.
Boston’s defeat reverberated past the ultimate rating. Or your same-game-parlay at WynnBET.
The Celtics whiffed on an opportunity to drive the Philadelphia 76ers into Game 1 Saturday with out their MVP Joel Embiid. He is recovering from a sprained lateral collateral ligament in his left knee.
Instead of resting up and placing additional strain on Doc “I’ll Never Win Another Title” Rivers and the ailing Sixers forward of a Game 1 on Saturday, the Celtics now head again to Atlanta for Game 6 on Thursday night time.
Game 7 can be in Boston Saturday.
No matter when this collection ends, Game 1 in opposition to Philly will happen Monday in Boston. We’re nonetheless engaged on the “assumption” the Celtics will get previous Atlanta. But that has been downgraded from “belief.”
The Celtics, it’s clear, haven’t taken the Hawks severely.
Far extra troubling, they haven’t taken this complete postseason factor severely.
Did they be taught something from the 2022 NBA Finals? Are they dedicated to an actual run at Banner 18? Do they merely plan to undergo the motions till they’re worn out by Jimmy Butler or a refurbished Embiid?
“No” stands at -150 throughout the board. More not than possible.
Once derided by the TD Garden crowd as “overrated,” Trae Young was every part the Celtics weren’t in Game 5. He additionally represents every part the Celtics want in the event that they need to add one other banner to the TD Garden rafters earlier than the Bruins beat them to it.
If that man is “overrated,” I’d hate to see him as merely “average.”
Young generated Atlanta’s remaining 13 factors. In addition, 16 of his game-high 38 got here within the fourth quarter.
He needed the ball. He performed with out worry. He seized management together with his season on the road.
Left unguarded, Young hit a three-pointer from Everett to present the Hawks a 119-117 lead with 2.1 seconds to play and the ultimate rating.
A flubbed try by Jayson Tatum on the buzzer by no means reached the rim.
After the sport, Tatum was requested about being hit with a technical foul late.
Tatum went full Tom Brady passive-aggressive to whine in regards to the refs with out whining in regards to the refs.
On an evening when Tatum missed 13 pictures, was 1-for-10 from behind the arc, and was a -9 in a 2-point loss, it was all in regards to the newest injustice on the courtroom.
“I was doing something I would normally do during the regular season,” he defined.
Wrong reply.
“We blew this game at home. No excuses. We must do better. These calls don’t matter.”
Right reply.
Even extra traumatic, little doubt, was the truth that Deuce Tatum one way or the other was positioned within the second row behind precise paying prospects.
They say victory has many fathers and defeat is an orphan. Well, Tuesday’s loss was Antonio Cromartie. Fourteen youngsters and counting.
Marcus Smart imploded with a pair of flops, a turnover and offensive foul within the remaining 3:26. He was a -12.
Al Horford contributed 3 factors in 33 minutes.
And rookie coach Joe Mazzulla was overwhelmed by all of it. He didn’t name a timeout in the course of the Hawks’ 13-4 run that started 4:31 left within the fourth quarter till there have been 9.1 seconds to play. During that span, Boston’s 111-103 lead remodeled right into a 116-115 Hawks’ edge.
“I don’t think we were trying to do too much. Just didn’t think we were poised and didn’t execute well,” Mazzulla stated.
Just think about if the coach was in a position to do one thing about it?
The assumption is Boston will bounce again in a giant manner for Game 6 in a lot the identical manner it has all season. Your favourite native betting apps have the visiting Celtics as 6.5-point favorites.
A win and/or cowl nonetheless won’t change this disagreeable fact: As Boston progresses deeper into the playoffs, the alternatives to “bounce back” will disappear.
And the Celtics will vanish together with them.
Bill Speros (@RealOBF and @BillSperos) may be reached at [email protected].
Source: www.bostonherald.com