Written by RR
The Celtics embarked on game 3 of their 7 game home stretch last night vs the Pacers. There has been endless dialogue in the Celtics community after dropping two straight games at home to yes... the Magic. I think I speak for everyone when I say we were expecting the "Energy to Shift" once again as the Celtics looked to break out of their quarter season slump.
The Celtics came out swinging early with Jaylen Brown showing signs of aggressive explosion to the cup as the Celtics jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, forcing the Pacers to concede an early timeout. I for one, took a big sigh of relief as I was happy to see the Celtics back in the swing of things playing their game.
Well... for those who watched the game, we know that this same energy quickly shifted back towards the Pacers coming out of that early timeout. The Celtics seemingly took a sleeping pill during that first quarter and were asleep at the wheel through the end of the first half. Pacers did a great job in playing their game which was all out running on both ends of the floor. They took advantage of slow transition play from Boston and capitalized on what felt like every single decent shot opportunity. Very quickly the lead jumped into the Pacers favor and continued to climb, ultimately reaching a 30+ point lead in the first half.
For the first time since I can even remember, the home crowd actually reigned down boo's in TD Garden as the Celtics showcased a lack of effort and heart during the first 24 minutes. The crowd eventually got back into this game after a few highlight dunks from Rob and key stretches from Jayson Tatum.
The third quarter was all MVP all NBA Tatum as he quickly secured steals on the defensive end and threw down a monster dunk on former teammate Aaron Nesmith. Coach Joe Mazzula gave JT a rest to start the forth and the lack of shooting and heart quickly proved to be too much for the Celtics as the Pacers put out their A game.
Down the stretch towards the end of the game, the Celtics made it interesting and did not go away quietly as the Pacers probably hoped. The game rounded out with a brutal non shooting foul call committed on a 3 point shot attempt on Tatum (that he made). All in all, the Celtics more than deserved to this lose this game, but for a moment it looked like a possible repeat of the Lakers game last week.
Credit to this Pacers team for giving it everything they had in the tank, especially Tyrese Haliburton who showed spectators he should be in the Allstar selection.
THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY
Good: Rob Williams III is back to looking like his bouncy self. He owned the boards and put in a significant effort on both ends earning himself a "Tommy Point" from Scal for clutch offensive rebounds.
Good: Jayson Tatum came alive in the 2nd half eventually making this a worthwhile contest as he singlehandedly cut the lead down to single digits. Last night was another MVP caliber performance from him, it just did not come early enough in the game.
Bad: Marcus Smart was out for last night's game due to a non COVID illness. The team missed his offensive control and playmaking, but more obvious was the lack of defensive effort from the Celtics without the reigning DPOY.
Bad: Celtics put out yet another awful shooting performance with several key missed interior shot attempts.
Ugly: They gave up easy looks to the Pacers who seamlessly got to the rim for automatic buckets.
Ugly: Jayson Tatum and Rob Williams looked to be the only players in green who cared about being in that basketball game.
LOOKING FORWARD
So where does this Boston Celtics team go from here? Is it perhaps time for a mid season Marcus Smart led team meeting? Once again, the Celtics have another home game in front of them versus the Wolves on Friday in what feels like a must win game to regain their confidence and get back on track as one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference and League.
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