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BOSTON — The Celtics had a lot go wrong in the second half of their collapse against the Knicks in Game 1 Monday night. They set a record for most 3-point misses in a playoff game. They lost a couple of key rotation players to injury and illness. The team’s offense also fell off a cliff after going up by 20 points midway through the third quarter on their way to a 108-105 overtime loss.
Tough shooting nights happen but questionable game management in crunch time surfaced once again for Boston and proved costly in the defeat.
One glaring choice came in the final seconds of overtime with Boston facing a 3-point deficit. Derrick White corralled a missed 3-pointer from Josh Hart with 17 seconds remaining in the game. The Celtics held two timeouts but Mazzulla declined to use one. Instead, White pushed the ball up the floor with some urgency but saw little from his star teammates.
A gassed Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown trotted up the court as White waited for them. Tatum ultimately collected the ball from White but had no real plan from here. The Knicks had a foul to give and were up three points and now a quick strike option was out the window.
Instead, Tatum attacked and passed off to Jaylen Brown after facing a double team. Brown eventually tried to get a contested 3-point shot off but Karl-Anthony Towns wisely fouled him on the floor first. Boston finally called timeout during the stoppage with three seconds remaining.
Mazzulla tried to explain his rationale by passing on the timeout initially in overtime by pointing to the Knicks personnel.
“In regulation, when you call it, they’re taking both Towns and Brunson out of the game,” Mazzulla said. “So I felt like we had speed there to be able to get something with two left. We can go get a layup with one of those two guys on the floor that would give us a chance to extend the game. Then I was at half court probably around eight or nine calling it, they didn’t see it, and then they ended up fouling.”
Mazzulla does get some credit for attempting to call a timeout midway through the disastrous possession, but he should have never let it go that far. The Celtics offense was an absolute disaster in the fourth quarter and overtime (21 combined points) so placing any sort of faith in it at that point was an ill-advised choice.
Calling timeout right away with 17 seconds left extends the game in a multitude of ways. It saves time on the clock that was wasted with White dribbling up off the floor. It also provides a better chance for a quick hitter and more unpredictability with shot selection with more time left on the clock. Running the clock down makes it a much easier choice to foul up three for New York, which they ultimately did.
Furthermore, the fact that the Celtics should be worried about Knicks defensive personnel at that point of the game is bizarre. Mitchell Robinson and Miles McBride are far from all-NBA defenders and they certainly shouldn’t put much fear in Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown to avoid using a timeout. If Tatum can’t get to his spot against either of those guys, Boston has far bigger problems.
With Tatum settling for jumpers throughout crunch time, a set play that would have saved time and potentially given Boston multiple attempts to get back into the game was the right call here. Instead, the Celtics had to settle for a catch-and-shoot 3 off an inbounds with three seconds left. Mazzulla turned to a hobbled Brown who was 1-of-10 from 3 on the night. He failed to get a shot off as Mikal Bridges knew what was coming and stole the ball to end the game.
“Jaylen is great in space,” Mazzulla said. “You know they’re going to foul in that situation, so it’s got to be catch and shoot. So just a read to try to create space, get a quick catch and shoot for Jaylen. Ran that play a few times. I think he was able to get some good separation. Bridges made a good play.”
Brown didn’t have much to say after the sequence beyond the obvious reality.
“We called a timeout,” Brown said. “Maybe it could have been a little sooner, but we got three seconds on the clock. Plenty enough to get a good look at the room. Just I wasn’t able to get that. So yeah, that was it.”
Brown and Tatum deserve their fair share of the blame for a lack of urgency in this sequence. The poor choices capped off a dismal second half for the duo (5-of-22 combined from the field). Tatum settling for a 3 against Mitchell Robinson at the end of regulation was particularly troubling.
However, this was the second tough crunch time for Mazzulla this postseason already. A number of questionable calls late in Game 3 loss in Orlando (leaving Porzingis in game amid poor play, costly failed challenge, not fouling late leaving little time left on the clock) proved costly in that loss. An early overtime timeout may not have saved them in Game 1 against the Knicks but it certainly would have given them a better chance to complete the comeback.
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Tough shooting nights happen but questionable game management in crunch time surfaced once again for Boston and proved costly in the defeat.
One glaring choice came in the final seconds of overtime with Boston facing a 3-point deficit. Derrick White corralled a missed 3-pointer from Josh Hart with 17 seconds remaining in the game. The Celtics held two timeouts but Mazzulla declined to use one. Instead, White pushed the ball up the floor with some urgency but saw little from his star teammates.
A gassed Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown trotted up the court as White waited for them. Tatum ultimately collected the ball from White but had no real plan from here. The Knicks had a foul to give and were up three points and now a quick strike option was out the window.
Instead, Tatum attacked and passed off to Jaylen Brown after facing a double team. Brown eventually tried to get a contested 3-point shot off but Karl-Anthony Towns wisely fouled him on the floor first. Boston finally called timeout during the stoppage with three seconds remaining.
Mazzulla tried to explain his rationale by passing on the timeout initially in overtime by pointing to the Knicks personnel.
“In regulation, when you call it, they’re taking both Towns and Brunson out of the game,” Mazzulla said. “So I felt like we had speed there to be able to get something with two left. We can go get a layup with one of those two guys on the floor that would give us a chance to extend the game. Then I was at half court probably around eight or nine calling it, they didn’t see it, and then they ended up fouling.”
Mazzulla does get some credit for attempting to call a timeout midway through the disastrous possession, but he should have never let it go that far. The Celtics offense was an absolute disaster in the fourth quarter and overtime (21 combined points) so placing any sort of faith in it at that point was an ill-advised choice.
Calling timeout right away with 17 seconds left extends the game in a multitude of ways. It saves time on the clock that was wasted with White dribbling up off the floor. It also provides a better chance for a quick hitter and more unpredictability with shot selection with more time left on the clock. Running the clock down makes it a much easier choice to foul up three for New York, which they ultimately did.
Furthermore, the fact that the Celtics should be worried about Knicks defensive personnel at that point of the game is bizarre. Mitchell Robinson and Miles McBride are far from all-NBA defenders and they certainly shouldn’t put much fear in Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown to avoid using a timeout. If Tatum can’t get to his spot against either of those guys, Boston has far bigger problems.
With Tatum settling for jumpers throughout crunch time, a set play that would have saved time and potentially given Boston multiple attempts to get back into the game was the right call here. Instead, the Celtics had to settle for a catch-and-shoot 3 off an inbounds with three seconds left. Mazzulla turned to a hobbled Brown who was 1-of-10 from 3 on the night. He failed to get a shot off as Mikal Bridges knew what was coming and stole the ball to end the game.
“Jaylen is great in space,” Mazzulla said. “You know they’re going to foul in that situation, so it’s got to be catch and shoot. So just a read to try to create space, get a quick catch and shoot for Jaylen. Ran that play a few times. I think he was able to get some good separation. Bridges made a good play.”
Brown didn’t have much to say after the sequence beyond the obvious reality.
“We called a timeout,” Brown said. “Maybe it could have been a little sooner, but we got three seconds on the clock. Plenty enough to get a good look at the room. Just I wasn’t able to get that. So yeah, that was it.”
Brown and Tatum deserve their fair share of the blame for a lack of urgency in this sequence. The poor choices capped off a dismal second half for the duo (5-of-22 combined from the field). Tatum settling for a 3 against Mitchell Robinson at the end of regulation was particularly troubling.
However, this was the second tough crunch time for Mazzulla this postseason already. A number of questionable calls late in Game 3 loss in Orlando (leaving Porzingis in game amid poor play, costly failed challenge, not fouling late leaving little time left on the clock) proved costly in that loss. An early overtime timeout may not have saved them in Game 1 against the Knicks but it certainly would have given them a better chance to complete the comeback.
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Read the original article on MassLive.
Continue reading...
