Karalis: The Celtics have a choice - play their way, or the right way

To say the Philadelphia 76ers are better than the Houston Rockets or the depleted Charlotte Hornets is like saying Mookie Betts is a better baseball player than Tim Tebow. The Sixers have the star power, the supporting cast, the athletic ability, and the coaching to be a true championship contender this season.

And so a Boston loss to this Sixers team should come as no surprise. Add to this mix that Evan Fournier succumbed to the Celtics COVID Curse, and once again the Celtics are left shaking their heads at what could have been if they were whole.

Once again, this is a "how they lost is worse than the fact that they lost" type of game that we're so used to, but this one comes with an added wrinkle.

Despite the relative ineptitude of their previous two opponents, the Celtics had demonstrated a very clear blueprint for winning. They didn't just beat bad teams, they unleashed an offensive fury based on the core concepts Brad Stevens has been preaching since day one: move the ball, move yourself, and make quick decisions.

"I just didn’t think we hit our bigs enough to cut. That’s just what we want to be," Stevens said after the loss. "We need to do a better job of moving, cutting, getting better baskets. You can’t beat these guys in isolation. And they are very good pick-and-roll defenders because they are so long."

It's hard when the team's best ball-mover, Robert Williams, was on the bench early with foul trouble. It made it especially frustrating to watch him head back to the floor later in the first quarter and immediately bit on a fake that effectively ruined his night. But still, the Celtics continue lose their focus and resolve when things go wrong.

Early on, it looked like the Celtics were, indeed, trying to follow up on their learned lessons. Everything about this early possession was perfect ... until the end.



Matisse Thybulle is the best defender the Celtics have seen this week, and so with him around the Celtics offense had to be more precise. It's like a batter facing Shohei Ohtani after seeing nothing but junk-ballers over for a couple of games. But instead of adjusting to the new speed of the game, the Celtics kept whiffing.  

"Just some careless mistakes, to be honest," Kemba Walker said. "I can’t really explain it. ... I think a lot of times we jumped, got caught in the air, just kind of misread some things. So you’ve just got to find a way to get your passes through."

They didn't. 14 of their 22 turnovers came in the first half. You might think 'oh, well, they really cut down their turnovers in the second half,' which is true, but it came at the expense of their actual passing. By trying to do it all themselves, the Celtics also got away from any semblance of offense that worked.

The Celtics struggled to contain Joel Embiid, but his 35 points weren't the problem. The problem was Boston gave in, again, instead of doubling down in the effort to make the right plays.

When things got tough, the Celtics chose to try taking turns on offense instead of trying to get each other the ball.

And where does that get them? Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Kemba Walker all end up disappearing for long stretches of the game as two of them wait their turn. It takes away any chance at easy opportunities because the lack of ball movement allows Embiid to park himself defensively and save his energy for the offensive end.

The Celtics could have made life very difficult on Embiid, whose conditioning is always in question and was even worse as he works his way back from knee injury. The Celtics could have made him work defensively and chase cutters around if they really tried, but they didn't. They never tested his endurance. They could have pounced on an opportunity to wear Embiid out, and they let him off the hook.

Stevens loves to talk about championship habits. Those are hard to build in any year, and if we're being fair, extraordinarily difficult to cultivate in this season in particular. The opportunities to solidify those are rare this season, which means it's up to the players to find it.

These Celtics are young, and their inexperience is on full display right now. Before the game, Doc Rivers said mental toughness is the key to this season. The Celtics are lacking that right now, and it shows up in games like this.

Once again, they fell back onto bad habits, not the championship ones, when things got tough. Even with all the evidence of the past two games that showed them everything they could be, and even seeing how close they were to finishing off good possessions in this game, they decided to fall back into the bad, rather than take another step towards the good.

The blueprint is still there. The ball-moving, backdoor-cutting, floor-stretching offense is right there for them. The rest of what they want to do will more easily snap into place if they just follow that plan.

They just have to choose which style they want to play. Their way, or the right way.