Just when I thought the Celtics season could not get any lower I watched them blow a 10 point second half leave to the COVID ravaged Wolves. And trust me this loss is actually worse. The Wolves did not have their entire starting five which included Towns, Edwards, Russell, or P-Bev . If we were in the school yard and chose sides based on the starting 10 players the Celtics would have the first five picks. Let me say that again, we had the advantage at every starting position and somehow that translated to a loss. The starting lineup for the Wolves was Jaden McDaniels, Nathen Night, Jordan McLaughlin, Josh Okogie, Malik Beasley. Stop me when you see an established star or even someone we think is a year or two away from being a consistent NBA starter. Of that group you might expect Beasley to lead the way but that prospect Nathen Night from William and Mary puts up 20 and 11. Throw in Jaylen Nowell with 29 off the bench. Who? yes Jaylen Nowell a guy only known in NBA circles before last night. Greg Monroe has not played in the NBA since 2018 and he managed to put up 11 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists in 25 minutes.
I have so many questions watching that game but let’s start with this one. As Bill Simmons has tweeted a few times, I feel like I have watched the same result about 10 times. A game the Celtics seemed to be in control and somehow did not make the right plays down the stretch. The end of those games usually consist of several highly contested step back 3’s for Tatum, a Tatum drive where he gets doubled and spins into a turnover or bad shot, or a highly contested bad look for Jaylen Brown. At no point did it consist of several possessions where the ball moves around like the old “Pong” game resulting in an open look for someone or legit 1:1 opportunity for Tatum or Brown with other defenders distracted or off balance from the ball movement.
I thought to myself because these losses are annoying maybe it is isn’t as bad as my memory so I decided to count them. There is actually 11 games. Please relive my misery with them. It started with the 2OT loss to the Knicks when we either could not score at end of the game or could not stop them. That loss looks worse with the Knicks struggles. The new look Wizards beating them in back to back close games including another 2OT loss. So 3 in October.
So no big deal right, in the NBA things to balance out and we learn from things. The 4th heartbreaker was Luka’s 3 at the buzzer after a questionable decision to foul to give them the last shot. Then another 2 point loss at the Cavs when we could not close a 6 point lead in the last 4 minutes. Then the 3rd one for November was the give away we gave the Spurs because again they seem to make shots and stops at the end of the game and we could not.
December, starts with our best offensive output against the Jazz but since we allowed them their franchise record high 3’s in a game. They gave up 27’s (not a misprint). Another 3 point loss to the Clippers, and the Warriors prime-time game when again they closed and we didn’t. The 4th loss was Embiid going for 43 when we didn’t consider doubling him until he was at 41 points. The Bucks game on XMAS blowing a 6 point lead with 3 minutes to go and now the Wolves game. That makes 6 in December alone and we have 2 games to go!
I recognize in the NBA sometimes players just make plays but in our case 11 games that we had control of and didn’t win when we have 2 of the best 25 players in the sport? Even if you give the Celtics 5 more of those wins the season looks so much different. Why does this keep happening. Can probably narrow it down to a few things.
- Cannot get key defensive stops – although on paper there top defensive lineups seem solid I can rattle off big plays by DeJounte Murray, Beal, Curry 1, Curry 2, Embiid, Rose, Conley, Giannis, and so on and so on. Not sure I know why this keeps happening. Probably combination of some great plays, bad luck, COVID lineups, and lack of confidence because they keep not getting stops in these situations. The G-League T-Wolves lineup opened the 4th quarter shooting an 11-12 stretch. That group would have problems going 11-12 going five on zero in practice and the Celtics let them do it an NBA game. Think about that. Also, with the exception of the Utah game in the other 10 they were one stop at way at various points of closing the game and just couldn’t get it.
- Stretches of poor offense – the Celtics have stretches consistently where they will score under 10 points in a 6 minute stretch. With Brad at the helm he valued defense so much he would put out some bad offensive lineups. I don’t think that is our issue. But the carryover from last year with this group is too much iso ball. Not enough ball movement.
- Rookie coach – I like the coach a lot. He has definitely discouraged the whining by Tatum and other players and has them focusing on the game. However, some occasional time management activities creep up and lack of creativity in end of game situations. One small example, when the Bucks started making the run they hit a big 3 to make it 109-103 with about 3:40 left. Perfect time to call the use it or lose it time out (before 3 minute mark), calm the arena down and get a good look. Instead we got a bad Tatum step back (sound familiar) with no ball movement, Bucks came down and scored and we used the timeout at 109-105. If we score and keep it at 8 point lead that game probably finishes different.
- Roster construction – and we can’t ignore this one since I have been harping on it all year. Amazing that since COVID players missing it turns out Pritchard really can play. Wow the Celtics fans who watched last season all know he is a rotation player and should not be buried on the bench when all is healthy. We have too many wings and play to small at times which causes us rebounding issues. We absolutely need to make a move at the trade deadline. Also, the bottom line is this team looks better when Freedom and Pritchard get minutes.
- Roster upside – another observation from me is seeing the upside of players getting extra minutes. With Minnesota it was Night and Nowell scoring 20 plus points in a game when they got the opportunity. When have we seen that night from Langford, Nesmith, Grant Williams, Time Lord, or Pritchard. Now granted minutes might be the biggest issue here but these players are designed to fill in roles around Tatum or Brown. At 16-18 time to reassess all pieces.
If things do even out and the Celtics can get healthy and confidence back maybe there is a 12-3 stretch for this team. But if it doesn’t happen quick expect some tweaks at a minimum at the trade deadline. How can we get Sabonis from the Pacers or a Larry Nance Jr from the Blazers? Or here is a crazy one Duncan Robinson from Al Horeford? Heat need a big to really make a run and Duncan becomes our off the bench guy. Then Celts trade Smart, Nesmith, 2 #’1’s for Sabonis. If we are not going to play Nesmith then just trade him. Time for Celtics to retool.
Hoops With Holly 