Film Review: Celtics' backcourt lets team down late in Pelicans' loss

The Celtics' backcourt was prominently featured throughout Tuesday's overtime loss to the Pelicans. Despite having two traditional big men, the Pelicans like to go small at the three spots on the floor, regularly playing with three-guard lineups for the better part of 48 minutes. That matchup choice kept Jayson Tatum off the floor for the better part of the final 12 minutes, as Brad Stevens opted to stay small and match up with a combination of Kyrie Irving, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier and Jaylen Brown at the 1-3 spots.

For the better part of the fourth quarter, that plan worked. The Celtics locked down defensively on the Pelicans, limiting them to just nine points in the first 10 minutes of the quarter, as the Celtics turned a 10-point fourth quarter deficit into a 101-96 lead with just under four minutes remaining. The win was there for the taking, but the Celtics went into a scoring funk of their own, scoring just one point in the game's final four minutes until Irving's game-tying layup with 11 seconds remaining.

What went wrong down the stretch? A lot of ugly offense from the team's backcourt was to blame: Let's look at the tape:

3:30 remaining, Celtics lead 101-96: The string of ugly possessions start with something we saw a lot of on Tuesday night: Smart trying to do too much. A lethargic halfcourt set leaves Smart intent on driving the ball. He hardly looks to pass at all, takes Ian Clark to the hoop and throws up a prayer. Definitely not a play you want to see anyone making, let alone a 35 percent shooter.



2:34 remaining: Celtics lead 101-96: Another stop keeps the Celtics with a chance to put the Pelicans away. This time, Irving runs a classic set with Horford, who finds the cutting Irving just to the left of the key. Irving hoists up a decently contested 3 and misses. Not an ideal possession on a night that Irving is struggling shooting, but a livable shot.



1:50 remaining: Celtics lead 101-96: This one was the backbreaker. Irving again tries to isolate Jrue Holiday after a pick from Daniel Theis, leading to no ball movement on the possession. Irving had been struggling with his handle all night and taking Holiday, an elite defender at the point guard spot, was probably not the smartest person to attack 1-on-1. Irving does it anyway, gets stripped, which leads to an easy bucket for Ian Clark in transition. A huge swing for the Pelicans, who had been shut down by the Celtics' defense for several minutes at this point.



1:35 remaining: Celtics lead 101-98: The action goes back to Smart here. The point guard works a pick-and-roll with Al Horford and throws an ambitious pass over Anthony Davis to the rolling big man. Horford can't handle and the C's chalk up another turnover.



1:26 remaining: Celtics lead 102-99: Smart makes a surprising defensive error on this possession, which is understandable given the huge performance from Davis. Smart recovers from a screen on Davis and manages to stick with Holiday at the top of the key at first. However, he seems preoccupied with making sure Davis doesn't pop out uncovered and turns away from Holiday. The hesitation gives the Pelicans point guard enough breathing room to hoist up the game-tying 3, which he hits. Smart didn't trust his teammates and that opened the door for the clean look for Holiday, who was red-hot in the second half. (20 of 23 points).



Overtime issues: While Irving may have forced the game into overtime with a game-tying layup at the end of regulation, his miscues were featured prominently over the extra five minutes, along with the rest of the Celtics backcourt. Irving drove into traffic without a plan on multiple occasions and the same goes for Jaylen Brown. Meanwhile, Smart was still hoisting up contested 3s in pivotal situations.







Ultimately, this was an uneven performance from the Celtics all night long. They turned the ball over too much (18), they let Davis crash the glass hard (eight offensive rebounds) and most importantly, they didn't move the ball on offense they way they should have. The Pelicans are one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA and the Celtics didn't take advantage of that for most of the night. Instead, a steady dose of hero ball late cost the hosts their eighth straight win.