Inside The Celtics

Eager to Skip Ahead to the Playoffs, the Celtics Must Not Squander the Time Leading Up to It

Consecutive quarters in Boston's second overtime loss to the Cavaliers highlighted the Celtics' potential and what, if unchecked, will prove their greatest regret.

Bobby Krivitsky

Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
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In the Celtics' 114-113 overtime loss in their rematch with the Cavaliers, both teams traded decisive wins from one quarter to the next.

After getting outplayed and outcompeted in a first frame where Cleveland hung 35 points on Boston while limiting its guests to 27, the Celtics responded with one of their best quarters of the young season.

They were locked in, raised their physicality defensively, attacked the paint at the other end, and didn't allow a single offensive rebound to a team featuring Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen in the front court.

Below, the Cavaliers cycle through multiple actions, trying to catch Boston off guard as Kevin Love slips to the basket. With Marcus Smart focused on denying Darius Garland the ball, Cleveland nearly gets two points at the rim.

But in a play that's defined by Jayson Tatum's effort, seeing Love cutting to the cup, he comes to the rescue with a well-timed contest off two feet, blocking Love's dunk attempt while avoiding fouling him.

Later in the frame, when the Celtics pass each assignment involved in a staggered screen to the next defender, the Cavs get Malcolm Brogdon matched up with Allen as he dives to the rim. But Brogdon's physicality, while he face-guards a center half a foot taller than him, dissuades Donovan Mitchell from throwing the entry pass.

Brogdon tries to shoot the gap to get into the middle of the paint, but Jaylen Brown stunts to cut him off, and Mitchell settles for a pull-up jumper from 21 feet.

Then, when Mitchell tried to attack the basket, not only does Al Horford stay tight to him after the switch, but the best outlet Mitchell has is Darius Garland in the weak-side corner as the reigning Defensive Player of the Year closes out to him.

And in another example of a help defender making an extra effort to impact the play, Derrick White could justify to himself that Mitchell's pinned under the basket with Horford on his back and focus on boxing out Allen. But as soon as he sees Mitchell pump fake, he closes from behind and swats his shot out of bounds.

And with just over a minute left in the first half, when Brogdon walls off Mitchell's drive, Boston crowds him, and the Cavaliers end up with Cedi Osman, a below-average three-point shooter, bricking a contested long-range attempt.

While holding the Cavaliers to 15 points on 6/24 (25 percent) shooting, including 3/11 (27.3 percent) from beyond the arc, and keeping them off the free-throw line, at one end, offensively, the Celtics relentlessly attacked the basket.

Boston generated 12 points in the paint, led by Tatum and Brown, who produced four apiece, including the latter benefitting from one of the four second-quarter turnovers the Celtics forced.

And even when Cleveland scored, Boston pushed the pace. In the play below, after a Caris LeVert jumper, the ball gets over half-court quickly, and Tatum immediately gets the offense in motion.

Smart attacks LeVert and gets into the paint as Horford pulls Allen away from the rim and to the play-side corner. As soon as Mitchell looks back at the ball after checking on Brogdon, the latter breaks for the basket; Smart has his head up, delivers him a bounce pass, and Brogdon leaps off two feet for a reverse layup off the glass.

But in the third quarter, the Celtics weren't as focused. The Cavaliers got back to attacking the basket; met with less resistance, they produced 18 points in the paint.

Mitchell and Garland repeatedly got there off the dribble, then found Mobley or Allen for an easy deuce or finished the play themselves.

In the play below, Brogdon's flat-footed, and Garland doesn't even need to drive middle to get him to stunt for Mitchell to beat Brogdon off the catch. But the gripe here is with Brown's closeout.

He's capable of so much better than what he demonstrates in this clip. He's anticipating Mitchell snakes to the middle. Rather than walling him off, giving himself a chance no matter what happens, Brown opens his hips, overcommitting based on the direction Mitchell's looking. When the latter goes right, Brown realizes there's not much he can do as Cleveland's prized offseason acquisition lays the ball in off the glass.

Shortly after that, Brogdon gets no help when Mitchell gains a step on him and slices through the defense for another layup.

Offensively, Boston mostly got good shots that didn't go down. That includes three Brogdon missed layups and some clean looks from beyond the arc, like Sam Hauser's open corner three in the final minute.

After the loss against the Bulls, Joe Mazzulla said the Celtics creating quality shots was a factor in him not taking a timeout despite Chicago going on a 30-9 run.

But on Wednesday, it wasn't exclusively a matter of bad luck and quality shots not dropping. Boston turned the ball over four times in the third quarter, helping the hosts sustain a 25-8 run.

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Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

In a period where the Cavs went 1/8 from beyond the arc, they outscored the Celtics 33-20 as Mitchell and Mobley produced six points in the paint apiece, Allen tacked on four more, and Garland and LeVert combined for 13 points.

After the loss, Tatum expressed, "One thing I realized about being in the Finals is like when you are playing all the way into June, you realize that stressing about a game on November 2nd, no."

As understandable as it is for him to have that outlook, Boston went from delivering one of its best quarters of the season to getting bludgeoned in the following frame.

At the root of that were familiar problems like a lack of focus, physicality on defense, and not making the extra effort as they did on some of the plays highlighted in the second quarter.

These were all relevant to why the Celtics came up short in the Finals. And as monotonous and exhausting as the regular season gets -- and by the way, Boston's only played seven games -- the Celtics have issues that need addressing for this to be the group that hangs banner 18 in the TD Garden rafters.

They have to know where they can turn for a reliable source of offense in the midst of a drought. The answer's probably Tatum and Brown attacking the rim, and when Robert Williams returns, alley-oops to the Timelord.

This team also needs to do a better job taking care of the ball, keeping opponents off the offensive glass, and maintaining focus.

So, as much as the Celtics want to look ahead to the playoffs, they need to make sure that when the postseason arrives, they don't regret not taking advantage of the time leading up to it.

Further Reading

Here's What Stood Out in Celtics' Second Overtime Loss vs. Cavaliers: Boston's Still Struggling to Maintain Focus, Consistency Defensively

The Top 5 Plays from Wednesday's Celtics-Cavaliers Game

Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown Strongly Weigh In On Ime Udoka-Nets Rumors

Jayson Tatum Reflects On How Celtics' NBA Finals Run Has Changed Perspective

Jaylen Brown, Joe Mazzulla Dissect Final Play From Celtics' OT Loss Vs. Cavaliers

[Video] Grant Williams Discusses Everything from Negotiations with Celtics to Mental Health and Signing with Jordan Brand in Interview with Shams Charania

Now Is Time to Buy Low on Malcolm Brogdon's 6th Man of Year Betting Odds

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Bobby Krivitsky
BOBBY KRIVITSKY

Bobby Krivitsky's experiences include covering the NBA as a credentialed reporter for Basketball Insiders. He's also a national sports talk host for SportsMap Radio, a network airing on 96 radio stations throughout the country. Additionally, he was a major-market host, update anchor, and producer for IMG Audio, and he worked for Bleacher Report as an NFL and NBA columnist.

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