Well, I suppose it was bound to happen at some point.
In some ways, this was pretty standard.
So it should surprise no one that the Celts have started the year winning at an .800 clip.
That’s not exactly the end of the world or something that should cause even an ounce of panic.
Quite frankly, they haven’t been anywhere close to good enough, especially defensively.
The reason they were so successful last year is because they didn’t skip a single step.
To me, that’s unacceptable.
I consider last night a good learning experience.
Did they look ready to handle IND last night?
Until their monster comeback, did that look like a team playing their best basketball in a big game?
Not to me it didn’t.
Last night was a night of firsts.
You learn from it, you correct what you did wrong, and you move on.
That, is very bad.
To me, he should be the primary backup to Kornet.
Get rid of the Kornet/Tillman double bigs and play Queta as the solo big.
That is the way.
In reality, it was the opposite.
Then after the game, we got exactly what everyone should want to see.
Accountability from theirtwo best players.
I just really didnt like the way I started the game, Tatum said.
I just wanted to pick it up in the second half.
They take it on the chin, they take accountability, and they correct it.
They know the deal, everything starts and ends with them, both good and bad.
The Bad
- OK, where do we begin?
How about with how the Celts began this game.
Right from the jump it was possession after possession of lazy passing.
- Then of course we had their shooting performance.
The first true stinker of the year.
What we saw is basically what happens in any Celtics loss.
That should have been a blowout, and yet they were there until the end.
In fact, I haven’t really loved their offensive process since the opener.
The 18 3PA doesn’t really bother me, but the bang out of 3s he was taking does.
That wasn’t the case last night and it showed.
Same thing with Jaylen.
Even his makes came via high degree of difficulty.
- Winning at a championship level is about dominating the margins.
If you don’t take care of the margins, nothing else really matters.
In OT especially when you have to confirm you end possessions cleanly, they allowed multiple 2nd chance opportunities.
A total of 14 TOs and 29 fastbreak points, the Pacers completely owned the margins in this game.
11-30 (1-11) is simply not even close to good enough.
On the season, he’s shooting only 54.2% in the restricted area, which is horrific.
For comparison, he was at 66.6% last season.
In the paint (non RA) he’s shooting just 43.8%.
Overall just a really tough showing.
- He wasn’t alone when it came to missing point blank layups.
This was an everyone problem.
I mean, what the fuck is this?
In the end, the Celts finished 22-47 (46%) in the paint.
That naturally led to a points in the paint difference of 62-44 and there’s your game.
Sometimes, it’s just not your night.
- The missed layups and missed open 3s are whatever.
Those are random occurrences you live with over the course of 82.
You know what isn’t random and has been pretty awful for the majority of the season?
Another half of 60+ points, the Celts 1st half defense ranks 21st in the NBA.
Outside the top 20 currently sitting 11th.
Their defense has always been and will always be the foundation of their success.
Through 5 games, I’d say we’ve had 8 quarters of good defense?
- Jaylen/Tatum missing 3 FTs in OT and losing by 3 points was quite the kick to the dick.
If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times.
FTs are important and now we saw why.
- On the final shot, I actually didn’t hate the play design.
Good process, bad result.
So while the loss is annoying, there’s nothing wrong with winning at an .800 clip.
