Letdowns are Unavoidable, But Celtics Confident in How to Combat Them

As the Celtics sharpen the tools needed to minimize the damage from what they can't avoid, there's a guiding principle steering their approach.

The Boston Celtics owned that they were far from their best in Friday night's 133-129 win over the Washington Wizards.

That truth was apparent to anyone who watched how they played against a team that's now 9-42 and remains above only the Detroit Pistons in the NBA standings.

The hosts weren't locked in, and in the first half, they gave up 26 points in transition. Missing eight shots in the restricted area didn't help. But their half-court defense wasn't particularly effective either.

The visitors shot 48.1 percent from the floor, including 12/28 (42.9 percent) from three-point range in the first 24 minutes, entering intermission with a 71-64 edge. It's the first time the Wizards have scored at least 70 points in the first half of a game this season.

After the victory, Celtics' head coach Joe Mazzulla conveyed that it took his team a while to combat Washington's speed and that Boston's offensive execution, or lack thereof, fed into that.

But in the third quarter, the Celtics dominated at both ends of the court. They outscored the Wizards 36-16. That's tied for the fewest points the former has allowed in the third frame this season.

They also produced 18 points in the paint and got 14 from Jayson Tatum, attacking downhill and doing most of his damage at the rim. They also got 13 points from Kristaps Porzingis.

But despite holding a 100-87 lead with 12 minutes left, Boston had difficulty closing the door on the visitors.

Deni Avdija generated 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, and Bilal Coulibaly manufactured nine, helping Washington trim a 127-113 deficit with 2:12 left to seven with 51.1 seconds remaining.

A Porzingis step-back jump shot and Tatum and Al Horford faring 1/2 at the stripe helped the hosts improve their NBA-leading record to 40-12.

But lulls before the All-Star break, which the Celtics are three games away from, are common. And on a night a team with a poor record arrived at TD Garden, where Boston's now 25-3, the hosts leaned further towards those circumstances than their "Win the day" mantra.

Lately, that's happened for quarters, halves, and, in the case of their 114-105 loss to a Los Angeles Lakers team operating without LeBron James and Anthony Davis, games.

"I don't think they're habits," stated Mazzulla about the Celtics' recent dip in performance. "I think there are bad stretches. I do think there have been moments of slippage throughout games, which, obviously, is going to happen throughout. But what I care more about is our approach to those slippages. I don't think you're going to negate those. I don't think you're going to eliminate those; it's just not going to happen. But the response to those is important, and making sure they don't slip for multiple quarters (or) multiple games."

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Boston's bench boss also understands that boredom during an 82-game regular season and letdowns are unavoidable. The key is ensuring that his team is equipped to combat that.

"It's going to happen again," voiced the Celtics' second-year head coach. "But I think it's the principle of having no expectations heading into the game. Zero expectations. Just because we're playing a team that has a record of whatever their record is, (it) doesn't mean we should be up by a certain amount. I think it's pretty arrogant to think that."

Mazzulla added, "Getting away from having an expectation that the game's gonna go a certain way and more kind of thriving and building an awareness to being exactly where we're at and working through it. And I thought I saw most of that in the third quarter. So, it shouldn't matter if we're up five (or) down 10 to a team that has a good record or a bad record -- it doesn't matter. What matters is the process of how we play."

It's evident Boston's best player takes that message to heart.

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After registering 35 points, eight assists, and two blocks, all game-highs, and grabbing ten rebounds, Tatum expressed the following about whether the Celtics exerted too much energy by not sealing this win earlier in the final frame or turning this into another night where starters enjoyed most if not all of the last 12 minutes from the bench.

"That might be something you have to get away from, like, 'Alright, we're playing a team that only has nine wins,' it's gonna be an easy night, we're gonna blow them out,' offered the five-time All-Star. "I feel like those are the nights when you go in with that mindset (that) you can lose a game or make it tougher on you than it's supposed to.

"And the fact of the matter is they might not be the best team, but they've got guys that can play. Any given night, they can get hot, they can hit shots, and they can make it a ball game, and that's what happened tonight. And we did a lot of good things out there, and we had to figure it out, and a win is a win, so we'll take it."

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And while Jaylen Brown attempted the third-fewest shots on the team, finishing 9/15 and putting 18 points on the board, he emphasized one of the positives from Friday's win: his commitment to consistently making the correct play, no matter how much sacrifice that requires.

"It's a different approach, but I'm thinking with (the) long term in mind," said Brown, who's followed up earning an All-NBA selection by submitting the best season of his career to this point.

"(The) things that I'm focused on are making the right play each and every time down, guarding the basketball, being aware defensively, rebounding the basketball, and trying to be a leader and speak confidence to everybody that's around. It's a different shift, but sometimes you gotta do (different) things to get different results. So, I think it'll pay off for us in the long run."

Further Reading

Brad Stevens Discusses Celtics' Plan for Final Roster Spot

Brad Stevens Sheds Light on Celtics' Motivations for Xavier Tillman Trade

Celtics Swing Savvy Deal with 76ers for Jaden Springer

Celtics React to Xavier Tillman Trade: 'We Paid a Lot of Attention to Him'

Brad Stevens on Jaden Springer: ‘He’s a Guy We’ve Been Tracking for a While'

Marcus Smart Shares How Boston Shaped Him, His Message to Celtics Fans

Celtics Maturation Molded by Experience: 'It Builds, Like, an Armor'

Fixated on Winning, Jayson Tatum Again Proves He's Not 'Bored Making the Right Play Over and Over'

Jaylen Brown Quieting Doubters, Validating What He Always Believed: 'Earn Everybody's Trust'

Joe Mazzulla Discusses Identity, Evolution of Celtics' Offense: 'Balance of Pace and Execution'