Anybody that has ever watched the NBA can tell you that every detail and a single possession or two can be the difference between winning and losing an important playoff game. Apparently the Celtics' woefully overmatched head coach Joe Mazzulla has not received that crash course yet as his team blew a golden opportunity to take a stranglehold of its second round series vs. Philadelphia. Instead of coming home with a 3-1 series lead, the series is knotted up 2-2 following Philadelphia's 116-115 overtime victory this afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center. There are a million ways to breakdown this utterly predictable loss by the Celts but it really came down to this: their point guard Marcus Smart (21 points, 7 assists) had a chance to win it at the end of regulation but he missed a 3-pointer and then their superstar small forward Jayson Tatum (24 points, 18 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 blocks) could have taken a shot at the end of overtime that would have clinched it but instead, he took too long then threw it out to Smart for a three that he could not shoot in time before time ran out. Ugh.
For all the crowing we hear non-stop from the team, fans and bobo media members about how Tatum and Boston's star shooting guard Jaylen Brown (23 points, 5 assists) are the best tandem in the league, that sure was not the case in Game 4. Philadelphia's much-maligned shooting guard James Harden (game-high 42 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds, 4 steals) and the NBA's MVP center Joel Embiid (34 points, 13 rebounds) dominated the contest and outscored Boston's dynamic duo 76-47. You cannot argue that the Celtics have a deeper roster but playoff games are usually decided by star players and there was no question which pair was ready for this moment and which one came up short yet again in a key spot. If Tatum and Brown are as good as we think that they are (or maybe can be), they simply cannot lose this series to a washed up/playoff choker like Harden and out of shape/injury prone Embiid.
Truth be told, if the C's had somehow pulled this off, it would have been a miracle since they sleepwalked through much of the proceedings. They trailed 27-19 after the first quarter and 59-50 at halftime when it felt like it should have been much more in favor of the Sixers. Despite being up by as much as 16 points and playing to a draw in the third quarter (33-33), you knew that Philly would have a hard time closing it out since they are not a very good team after all. True to form, Boston stormed back in the fourth quarter (24-15) with an excellent defensive frame (finally!) but it was still not enough to prevent overtime.
Both teams only played eight guys apiece in the entire game and point guard Tyrese Maxey (14 points, 8 rebounds) was the only other Sixer to score in double figures. Boston's guard Derrick White added 12 points while center Al Horford (10 points, 7 rebounds, 5 blocks) was immense defensively. Sixth Man of the Year and backup point guard Malcolm Brogdon (19 points, 8 rebounds) continued to play great as he earned more minutes (36-31) off the bench than White who hasn't been nearly as effective as he was in the first round series against Atlanta. I know that little Joey will not do it but starting Brogdon over White in Game 5 seems like a nice lineup change to me but what do I know?
Just like many other times in the up and down regular season (which sounds crazy for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and NBA title favorite) and thus far in the playoffs, the C's will always be their own worst enemy-somewhere the 90s one-hit wonder band Lit smiles. They owned many of the stats in Game 4 except the most critical: the Sixers had three times as many steals (9-3), they committed three less turnovers (10-7), they hit three more free throws (19-16) and scored 10 more second chance points (19-9) than the Celtics. Game 5 on Tuesday (7:30, TNT) at TD Garden is obviously the biggest game of the season for the C's and like Game 2, it feels like a pseudo must-win because if they go down 3-2, it is tough to see them winning two elimination games with how all over the place they tend to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment