The Celtics have proven that they're figuring out how to handle adversity. What they haven't been able to figure out is how to handle success.
There is no greater indicator of a letdown quite like the Celtics feeling good about themselves.
“We tend to lay back and get comfortable when the game is going our way,” Robert Williams admitted. “We’ve been trying to break that habit all year, so got to keep working on it.”
They walked into Staples Center scarfing prawns and the Lakers hit them with a “the ocean called, they're running out of shrimp,” line. Like George Costanza, they had no comeback.
(I guess that makes the end-of-game run by the bench their “the jerk store called, and they're running out of you,” line.)
“This may be the second time all season I think that we didn’t necessarily play harder than the other team,” Jayson Tatum said. “I think it was kind of an ugly game on our part on both ends. We just didn’t have that same pop and that’s the toughest part about it.”
It has been a while since the Celtics have been this hapless on both ends of the floor. After a pair of big offensive explosions and some recent performances that dragged their once anemic offensive rating from the bottom of the league to the middle of the pack, the Celtics reverted to their old habits.
“We want quick decisions, especially against a team that’s going to switch a lot,” Ime Udoka said. “That’s the point of switching is to keep bodies in front of bodies and halt the offense. We got a little stagnant there, other than a few times we actually attacked and got what we wanted at the basket or kick outs.”
And on the defensive end, the Celtics made pretty egregious mistakes, like basically getting out of Russell Westbrook’s way as he drove the lane for a dunk.
Breaking news, Westbrook likes to attack and dunk a lot.
You can see right after it happens both Williamses are immediately jawing at each other about who made which mistake.
For the record, Robert Williams getting out of Westbrook’s way was a mistake. Pardon me for the intricate analysis here, but letting guys dunk without any resistance is bad.
“We messed up defensive coverages a lot,” Robert Williams said, stating the obvious.
“Our defense was horrible from the start in recognition of who we wanted to help off of and onto,” Udoka said. “We wanted to invite to shoot, and then you get 66 points in the paint. It started early, and they pretty much got everything they wanted, by all accounts. Second chance. Don’t feel our defensive effort and recognition was very good today.”
No team is going to be perfect. The Golden State Warriors just lost to the Spurs a few days ago so every team is going to have a stinker. The difference is the Warriors are 20-4 and have a recent championship history and a two-time MVP (maybe three after this season) so the occasional poop emoji on their schedule can be more easily excused.
And that's at the heart of this for Boston. Sometimes it feels like they think they're the Warriors and that they get full hall passes for games like this; that fans will treat this like the Bridesmaids food poisoning scene and laugh off the Westbrook play like it’s Maya Rudolph crouching in the middle of the street.
They're not, and fans won’t.
They're judged a little more harshly than that because they haven't earned the benefit of the doubt quite like other teams. It may not be entirely fair, but Robert Williams admitted it’s a bad habit of theirs.
The Celtics have a tendency to get comfortable, which makes them complacent, and it always costs them. However, we haven't seen it for a while, which is both disappointing and encouraging.
It’s disappointing because a lot of people had hoped we’d be past this right now. It’s still early December, but the Celtics shrunk their margin for error with their tough start. The team should have more of a sense of urgency in games like this.
But it’s also encouraging because it’s happening much less often, which is, in fact, a testament to them working to break the habit. And their response will go a long way towards building up that benefit of the doubt.
Because, if we’re being honest, this is going to happen again. It will happen to Boston and every other team in the NBA this season. Every fan base will lament the lack of effort and the word disappointing will be used a lot.
But if the Celtics can just get right back into the habit of putting together consistent, strong efforts, then losses like this will fade more quickly into the background. This is a tough loss, but the sting of it can be cleared away rather quickly.
“It hasn’t happened in a long time, so I told the guys, a blip on the radar,” Udoka said. “But we need to get back to it tomorrow and we got a chance to.”