Last night, in what many around the league considered a must win game to compete for the 1 seed, the Celtics got beat badly by the Washington Wizards. While credit is due to the Celtics for their recent burst in energy and winning conviction in the prior 3 games, last night was not one of those types outings.
From early in the game the Celtics starters looked as though they were moving at half speed on both ends of the court. The Wizards came out hitting shots, but most of these shots were open looks from the paint or mid range, given up from a less than enthusiastic defensive approach from Boston.
With the only real effective effort in the first half coming from Jayson Tatum, the Celtics found themselves down by 13 at halftime to a team who is not going to make the playoffs. I don't think anyone expected that result after 24 minutes, include the Wizards who were all smiles going into halftime. Early on the Celtics were moving the ball well, however this shifted into a make or miss from three point land kind of night down the stretch. Both the Celtics and fans were hopeful they would turn things around starting in the 3rd quarter, but sadly this was not the case. Boston continued to be beat on both sides of the floor for the full 48 and dropped this game 130-111 in a blowout loss.
Key Takeaways:
Game of Margins: As we hear frequently from Coach Joe Mazzulla, he plays the game of margins, and margins are how you win basketball games. Last night, the margins were not in the favor of the Celtics.
3 point shooting: Wizards outshot Celtics making 13-37 (35%) vs Celtics 11-44 (25%).
Rebounds: Wizards out rebounded the Celtics 43-38.
Assists: Wizards had 33 vs Celtics 29.
Turnovers: Boston committed 12 turnovers resulting in 11 points for the Wizards.
Limited number of fouls in the game: There were only 11 foul shots taken by Boston and 13 by Washington. Credit to Washington for limiting trips to the line which often kicks off comeback opportunities.
Fast break Points: The Wizards took advantage of the seemingly slow motion Celtics and scored 19 points in transition compared to the mere 11 from the Celtics.
Jayson Tatum scored efficiently: Perhaps the only silver lining of the night was how well Jayson was connecting on his shots. He went 11-19 on FGs with 28 points.
+/- Rating: One of the more rare occurrences in a Celtics game where every single starter posted a negative plus/minus rating. The only positive ratings were from Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, Mike Muscula and Luke Kornet, all who were put into the game with 9.5 mins remaining. These players actually provided a spark and cut the lead to 12, but that's as far as it went.
Make or Miss Team: When the Celtics are not hitting shots from deep, trouble usually follows for the rest of their play. Last night the Celtics shot just 25% from deep on 44 attempts. They did not adjust their play calling and the discouragement spread like wildfire across the starters.
Limited Defensive Effort: The Celtics did not put much respect towards Porzingis which cost them greatly as he easily shot over smaller players, or gave his team easy open looks when double teamed. The Wizards virtually received a layup drill for most of the game from the Celtics lack of effort and energy.
Looking Forward:
With last night very much considered a must win to enable the Celtics to fight for the 1 seed in the East, this outcome dramatically hurts their chances. In order to complete this comeback, the Celtics would need to win the remaining 6 games of their schedule with the Bucks losing at least 3 games.
With the playoffs rapidly approaching, the Celtics desparately need to find ways to win games even on bad shooting nights. It can't just translate to bad play and low energy for all other aspects of the game.
Boston tips off against the Bucks tomorrow night in Boston for their final match up of the year. You can expect a big energy from both sides as this will be a key matchup closing out the season and playoff seedings.
Opmerkingen