A mix of analysis and observations after a second look at the Rockets beating the Celtics handily on Sunday afternoon to hand them their fifth loss over the past six games.
1. Kyrie’s inconsistent effort and focus: From glancing at the box score, Kyrie Irving wasn’t one of the bigger problems in the C’s blowout loss to the Rockets on Sunday afternoon after leading the team in points (24), rebounds (9) and assists (6). However, a closer look at the film indicates an assortment of errors and a couple plays with highly questionable effort that he deserves to be held accountable for.
We’ll start on the defensive end, where the Celtics starting five was a walking sieve for the better part of the first opening 30 minutes. The Rockets were very good in this game and made open shots, but the Celtics made things easy for them to get open looks a lot. The rotations and closeouts of Jayson Tatum and Marcus Morris were soft and unorganized (helping to result in a career night for Eric Gordon from 3) while Irving’s lackadaisical performance was just as disturbing at times. What exactly is his defense for plays like this?
What is this closeout by Kyrie? pic.twitter.com/ZxDeIYUO3B
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) March 3, 2019
Kyrie please, pull yourself together pic.twitter.com/ocylIdXYfc
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) March 3, 2019