For The First Time This Season, The Celtics Learned A Valuable Lesson Of What Happens When You Fuck Around

Boston Globe. Getty Images.

Well, it was bound to happen at some point. For the first time this season, the Celts had their first "bad" loss of the season. Not just because of the result or who they lost to but also because of how it happened. 

The most basic way you could sum it up is that they once again fucked around, and this time the Basketball Gods said enough was enough, it's time to find out. 

With how they played the final 1.5 quarters of this game, the Celts deserved everything that happened on the way to this loss. It was some of the most inexcusable basketball you'll ever see them play, just a complete pile of dogshit. To help put this into perspective, the last time we saw the Celtics have a performance like this, where they allowed at least 20 OREB and committed at least 20 TOs was way back in October 2021. It's been 3 YEARS and hundreds and hundreds of games which is what makes it all so frustrating. This is only the 3rd time since 2009 (!!) that the Celts have done something like this on a basketball court.

So you can see why people might be a little annoyed with their play in this loss. It's simply not who they are. Things like defensive rebounding and taking care of the basketball is Day 1 stuff, so it's annoying when one of the best teams in the league at defensive rebounding and taking care of the basketball decide to be complete dickheads in both of those areas to the point where it costs you a win. There's no excuse for it, it in no way is acceptable on any level, and thankfully you get the sense that the players know that

To be honest, the collapse reminded me a lot of the pre-title Celtics only now everyone can't blame Marcus Smart for everything. No intensity, they got their 15 point lead and decided the game was over and were surprised when the Hawks didn't quit. There was no resistance defensively and the Hawks simply wanted it more. 

It was essentially the exact opposite of what makes this team so good.

After how they'd been playing these last few games, it was clear the Basketball Gods were going to prove a point. The Celts had managed to pull out a couple of wins despite playing a whole lot of losing basketball, and last night they finally got what normally happens when you play like shit. Perhaps the fact that they won those previous games after falling down 16-2 in the first two minutes prevented the situation from really hitting home when it comes to their level of play, so now that they blew a game at home to a team they had no business losing to it'll actually sink in that their level of play and execution on both ends has to get better.

With that said, let's begin

The Good

- Before we dive into the meat of this game, we do have to acknowledge that there were some things that weren't a complete disaster. For example, in his second game back from injury I'd say Jaylen Brown looked much more like his old self compared to his game the other night, which when looking at the big picture is the most important part of this game

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He most certainly wasn't perfect (more on this in a bit), but overall for a guy who has really struggled with this efficiency to start this season, it was nice to see Jaylen put up 37 on 14-22 (3-6). It was his offense that kept the Celts afloat early (16 points on 6-10), and I thought Jaylen did a decent job early of having the right balance in terms of creating his own shot and moving the ball to help create for others. A handful of times early in that first quarter we saw him make the correct basketball play once he made the Hawks defense commit, and unfortunately guys missed their open looks. What matters is the process and how Jaylen continues to see the floor.

- It's extremely annoying to see this team waste awesome Derrick White performances. It certainly felt like he was going to bail them out after making massive shot after massive shot down the stretch of this game, and if you're someone who believes DWhite is really the only player who doesn't really deserve much blame for this disaster of a loss, I won't really argue

A few careless passes here and there (sigh), but overall if you're getting 31 points on 10-15 (7-12) from Bald Derrick, that's more than enough to win. A starter best +5 in his 37 minutes, what I love about Derrick is the bigger the moment gets, the better he becomes. 

When shotmaking was at a premium, White went 4-4 (4-4) in the 4th quarter to go along with Jaylen's 4-6 (2-2). Without White's shooting, the Celts get blown out down the stretch of this game, and just like Jaylen he knows that how they're playing is nowhere close to good enough

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Right again Derrick! 

I appreciate that after this disasterclass performance everyone is saying the right things, which is nice. Unfortunately, talk is cheap. It's time to show it on the actual court.

- Alright, we can move on.

The Bad

- In no world should the Celtics lose a game in which they score 116 points, finish 50/40% from the floor, and make 18 3PM. And yet, here they are suddenly losing 3 of their last 5 games in which they've made at least 18 3PM. How rare is that? Prior to that stretch they were 36-0 including the playoffs. 36-0!! I'm not kidding, these are real numbers

In the 4th quarter of this game, they finished with 50/60% splits and 6 3PM. They lost the quarter by 8 points. 

How is this even possible? Simple. Turnovers and offensive rebounds. The two things that kill the Celtics regardless of what version you'd like to choose. Remember those early Heat series? They'd lose those playoff games due to turnovers, points off turnovers, and late game rebounding. 

Look at each of their losses this year and what do you see? Turnover issues and poor late game rebounding. It's really that simple. If you rebound and take care of the basketball, your offense makes you unbeatable. If you fuck around and lose the margins, you get nights like last night.

- Joe talks a lot about "math" and what we saw was the math work against the Celts. Due to their ball pressure and aggressiveness on the glass, the Hawks finished with a 100-75 FGA difference. That is legitimately insane. So while the Celts were efficient, they moved the ball (28 AST), they made 3s (18), none of that matters if you're going outshot like that. It didn't even matter that the Celts had an insane FTA difference of 27-13 either, which is also annoying.

Everyone knows that when you're playing a team that you have no business losing to, giving them extra possessions is the kiss of death. Not only are you allowing them to get easy buckets, but you're not even getting a shot up yourself. There's no chance for an OREB, no chance for extra possessions and maybe a big momentum bucket.

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You know who got those? The Hawks, which is why they deserved this win.

- While some might be inclined to give Tatum a pass for his night given his ankle situation, I'm not totally there. He did re-sprain it late in the game, but that doesn't excuse his first 3 quarters. Just 5-16 (2-9) overall, 5 TOs and just 1 rebound in 18 second half minutes is just not going to cut it. He didn't make a shot in the 4th (0-4) which was probably due to his ankle given that he wasn't all that aggressive, and it may be time to force him to sit a game just for the rest.

He already said he's playing tonight on a B2B, but if he's going to play then I need Tatum to play. 

- After the GS game, it's very clear the book is out on how to try and defend the Celts. They are yet to show that this version of the team can handle physical ball pressure. It makes their brains short-circuit or something which is bizarre since they've been seeing this shit since the 2020 Bubble.

It's no surprise that after GS had success in their win, we've seen every single team since follow the same approach. The Nets did it and it took an OT win to save that game. The Bucks did it and that was close after the Celts got off to another horrendous start, and the Hawks did it last night and it completely changed the game. Guess what the Nets are going to do tonight? Be aggressive with their ball pressure and their physicality.

Joe essentially admitted this after the game which is another annoying part of this whole ordeal. They know what teams are going to do and still don't seem ready to handle it. What gives?

- Tough night for the bench to be a complete non-factor offensively. Pritchard was a tough 2-8, Hauser only took 3 shots (made 2 3s), and overall the Celts bench was outscored 38-12. That should never, ever happen at home.

When you're getting nothing on that end, and then someone like Queta is essentially unplayable on the defensive end, that's how bad losses happen. You can have one of those things, but you cannot have both. If the shots aren't falling, then the defense has to be legit. If the defense is legit, then you have to make your clean looks. 

- Larry Nance Jr became the latest fake bullshit we've had to experience this season, and it's a common trend in all of these 3 losses. Siakam 5-7 from deep, Kyle Anderson 3-5, Larry Nance Jr 5-6. He's played well over 500 career games and not once had he made 5 3PM. In fact, it's been 3 years since he's made at least 4, which he did once. 

So yeah, the Basketball Gods made their point.

- I mean, explain this? If this isn't the Basketball Gods proving a point I'm not sure what is. This ball didn't go in

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If that drops, the game is over.

The Ugly

- Now I want to warn you, what you are about to watch is extremely disgusting, but by now you know we do not run from the dark moments. We embrace them, and we move on.

If you're curious what losing basketball looks like, all you have to do is look at that 4th quarter

Sadly, the pictures are even worse. I just don't know how you defend any of the shit like this

This is the mental lapses that Jaylen cannot have in these moments. The missed FTs and laziness with the ball are exactly how you lose games. Dyson Daniels had been a monster all game in terms of deflections and steals, so deciding to be lazy with the ball around him in the biggest moments of the games is arguably the worst decision you could make.

The thing is, it was everyone. Derrick White almost never makes a mistake, and even he couldn't help himself

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Jrue Holiday, the guy who we all believe is built for these moments in terms of being calm and collected, even he couldn't help himself

Add in some Tatum and Hauser TOs and it's no surprise the game ended the way it did. Late game execution is so important, and this may have been the worst showing of it this entire season.

- Sadly, this is only half of the story. The other half came on the glass, where an issue that has been a problem all year long finally bit this team in the ass.

The Celtics currently rank among the bottom of the NBA (28th) in opponent OREB in clutch time minutes (2.2). Basically, when games get tight, they simply cannot keep their opponent off the glass. We saw it against the Warriors with Kevon Looney in that loss, and we saw it again last night. 

Over the final 5:44, they gave up 4 OREBs. It was the final nail in the coffin.

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Okongwu himself had 3, including the final make of the game

It was your classic case of fucking around and ultimately finding out. I don't think anyone was surprised at the result given how the entire game went, and it just goes to show how important it is to close possessions out cleanly. The Celts did all the work to get the stop, only to not get a rebound and end up giving up points anyway. That shit is so annoying. 

Call me crazy, but when you have an opportunity to seal a win, this is a rebound you have to get. Instead, it ended up being 3 points for the Hawks. That's inexcusable

So hey, you take this loss on the chin and you turn the page. The good news is there's an opportunity tonight to get back into the win column, but to do that we're going to have to see this team not shoot themselves in the foot like this. Given the fact that a performance like this happens about once every 3 years I wouldn't say there's cause for concern, it's just annoying. We know they're better than what we've seen the last 3-4 games, and hopefully, a bad loss like this is what wakes them up.

Play to your standard, and you are essentially unbeatable. Fuck around, and you aren't going to like what you find out.