As Recreation 1 hit its most vital moments on Monday night, two offensive performs inside the final word minute value the Celtics of their beautiful loss to the 76ers. They carried the an identical theme.
The Celtics led by one as a result of the clock ticked beneath 45 seconds after they’d their worst possession of the game. They made 5 passes and couldn’t uncover a transparent look. It ended when Malcolm Brogdon inexplicably threw a cross straight to Tyrese Maxey as a result of the shot clock expired sooner than the 76ers guard scored a breakaway, go-ahead layup.
Two possessions later – after James Harden’s lastly game-winning 3-pointer – Marcus Good drove to the basket and tried to look out Jayson Tatum beneath, nonetheless misplaced the ball for his sixth turnover. The Sixers then sealed the game on the free-throw line.
“Our spacing simply received one of the best of us there,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla acknowledged.
A day after the loss, the Celtics continued to course of and digest what went fallacious. Offensively, these two performs summarized the excellence. Whereas the Celtics started scorching, they gentle late. They devoted 16 turnovers. Mazzulla and Derrick White acknowledged they’d problem with Philadelphia’s physicality. However all of it received right here all the best way right down to what Mazzulla has preached all season, what he thinks one of the best energy of his employees is.
“Spacing, execution, making open pictures, making fast selections,” Mazzulla acknowledged.
Mazzulla acknowledged the turnovers have been a product of the spacing – or lack thereof.
“We simply must struggle for our spacing,” Mazzulla acknowledged. “They do a fantastic job of being in shifts. I assumed their switching at instances slowed us down. As later within the sport, the defenses get extra bodily and so the offense, you need to struggle on your physicality, you need to struggle to not get slowed down and slowed down by their switching.”
The Celtics did an excellent job with that early, after they’d their methodology with Joel Embiid-less 76ers on the within. They made 17 of their first 20 images, and scored 40 elements inside the paint inside the first half. However Mazzulla was unhappy that they solely took 26 3-point makes an try, their fewest in a recreation this season. All season, he has preached the importance of 3-pointers, nonetheless the Sixers took 12 additional makes an try and made seven additional.
Mazzulla thought there was a correlation between the Celtics’ early success inside and their lack of 3-point taking photos.
“I believe we received into the paint at will within the first quarter, and that sort of gave us the sense of we are able to get there and do it on a regular basis,” Mazzulla acknowledged. “I believe we did job of adjusting to the shifts and going zone. Generally if you get into the consolation stage of we are able to get to the paint at any time when we wish, we are able to do it again and again. I believe it’s vital to know we now have to seek out that steadiness of moving into the paint and making the proper play. On the identical time, we now have to shoot open 3s.”
Recreation 1 takeaways
– Whereas Harden took off for a playoff career-high 45 elements, the Celtics have been nonetheless impressed that they defended him with out fouling, as he solely shot 4 free throws. However they acknowledged they’ll improve in making it more durable on the aim guard in his 3-point shot-making after he drilled seven triples, along with the game-winner.
“I do know he received to his step again a bit bit, he was a bit bit snug there,” Mazzulla acknowledged. “I believe we are able to do a greater job of recognizing our shift exercise, figuring out who we will help off of and who we are able to’t.”
White acknowledged Harden’s greatness as he made a variety of highly effective images, nonetheless that the Celtics will proceed to throw completely completely different seems to be like at him in an attempt to throw him off rhythm.
“A bit of little bit of every thing,” White acknowledged. “I believe that’s what we do a lot of the 12 months is simply sort of combine it up from possession to possession, attempt to throw him off. He’s seen every thing so we simply attempt to make it tough for him.”
– Whereas the Celtics misplaced grasp of home-court profit on this sequence with their Recreation 1 loss, they’re not putting any additional pressure on themselves for Recreation 2. Their core has been resilient over the previous couple of seasons, and might proceed to rely upon that.
“I believe our guys have been on this state of affairs rather a lot,” Mazzulla acknowledged. “I believe crucial factor is knowing what we now have to do higher and do it for longer stretches of the sport. And we simply must have the mindset of, like, after we’re at our greatest that is what we do. And we’ve gotta keep on with it for longer stretches.”
– With 5:04 left inside the fourth quarter, Tatum took an inadvertent shot to the groin from P.J. Tucker after he found Brogdon for a go-ahead layup on a fast break. Tatum was on the underside in ache for a variety of moments sooner than making a fast exit from the game, and Good had some phrases with the 76ers players after the sequence.
The play, nonetheless, was not reviewed for a attainable flagrant foul whatever the Celtics’ hope for one.
“They stated they couldn’t overview it simply because we needed to,” Mazzulla acknowledged.
“That’s simply what we have been advised, is you’ll be able to’t overview one thing simply since you need it reviewed so I suppose they didn’t see it.”
Was Tatum being on the underside not ample to warrant a analysis?
“I’m simply right here so I don’t get fined,” Mazzulla cracked.
