Everything you need to know about the Celtics 109-104 loss to the Brooklyn Nets, with BSJ insight and analysis.
Box Score
Celtics still a game out of fourth. Atlanta beat Miami, so that and this loss keeps Boston a game out of fourth. Miami is a game behind Boston.
Another Celtics comeback falls short. This wasn’t the April Celtics in Brooklyn. This was the February/March tired/lazy Celtics that looked horrible for long stretches, furiously came back, and then fell short. This was a reminder of what was, not of what’s to come.
Shockingly, the Celtics need to be whole to be good. This is what it boils down to. They’re just not good enough when they’re missing a few guys. Of course, no team is going to be great when they miss a few starters, but the Celtics fall into crevasses when they are as opposed to the Nets, who were missing half their team but still have guys like Joe Harris and Bruce Brown to shoulder some of the load.
TURNING POINT
The Celtics cut the lead to 98-95 and forced Brooklyn to call a timeout. They subsequently blew a defensive assignment and helped off Harris, who of course hit a 3-pointer, missed a layup that turned into transition points for Brooklyn, and turned the ball over. After a Tatum 3-point play, then turned the ball over two more times, including Marcus Smart’s pass to teammates on the bench.
TOP PLAY
Payton Pritchard from deep!
https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1385773191621013505
SECOND GUESS
I know the Celtics ended up cutting it to 3, but this season has taught me that the Celtics rarely come all the way back in games like this. Brad Stevens would have been better off pulling the plug on this game with 9:00 to go instead of playing Jayson Tatum 39 minutes in this loss. This ending was the most predictable ending possible, and it played out just like it has all season.
They beat Phoenix yesterday. The split of this back-to-back is just fine. Saving some of these guys' legs might have been more important.
THREE UP
Payton Pritchard: He was one short of his career-high 23 points, and he did it not only on 3-pointers, but deep 3-pointers. He was 6 of 7 from deep, and none of those was closer than 25 feet.
“Guys have to come out farther to contest, which opens up lanes, driving, if they come out that far,” Pritchard said. “But it's harder to contest that farther out. So that's why I usually go to that spot."
Jayson Tatum: He dropped 38 on 52% shooting (50% from 3), bouncing back from two straight rough shooting nights.
Aaron Nesmith: OK he wasn’t really good, but he also wasn’t entirely bad, and his third-quarter dunk attempt and then save of the miss was a pretty fun high-energy play. He earned a mention.
FOUR DOWN
Evan Fournier: I’m not going to knock a guy for his first game back from COVID, but he did miss all 7 of his shots. A few were short, but that's to be expected.
“I probably could have waited a few more days or a few more games to really feel better, but I just got here and I need reps to play with the guys and really understand the system offensively and defensively,” Fournier said. “So I only had two days of practice, and for me, the most important thing is just to be out there. It’s going to be hard obviously, but I have to fight through it and push through it because to me that’s the only way I’m going to feel better at some point.”
Romeo Langford: This was Langford’s roughest outing. He was a -26 and it felt like it.
Grant Williams: His missed breakaway layup/dunk was brutal, and even though he came back to hit a 3-pointer after that, the miss will be one of the enduring images of his season. When he’s good, he’s good, but when he’s bad, he has games like this one.
Jabari Parker: Man... that crow I ate yesterday is giving me a little indigestion.
In reality, none of this is surprising. Parker will have these swings in games, and this is why he’ll certainly get some DNP’s as well as minutes that seem productive.
ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Yeah, this could have been a win... but... I’m really not getting worked up about this loss.
- They already beat Phoenix. So this is a split of two games that were probably losses.
- They are still in fine position schedule-wise. They are a game out of the fourth seed in perpetuity, it seems, and that’s where they remain after this game. I’ve already laid out the case for the Hawks and Knicks dropping games while Boston’s schedule is easier. Honestly, Miami losing tonight is very helpful here.
- This isn’t the real Celtics. Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown, and Robert Williams might have made a little difference in this game.