We knew this was coming at some point, right?
The Celtics were shooting the ball better than anyone had ever shot it from deep, fueled in large part by guys who were on outrageous heaters. Before their big road trip, Malcolm Brogdon was shooting 49%, Al Horford was at 47.6%, Sam Hauser 47.5%, Grant Williams 45.8%, and Derrick White 44.9%
Over the course of the road trip and these last two home games against Orlando, Brogdon shot 39%, Hauser 25%, Williams 37.9%, White 20.7%, and Horford (who only played in three of the games) is at 29.4%.
The Celtics were shooting 40.4% from 3 as a team heading into the road trip, and 31.6% since.
“We shot the ball so well to start that there's naturally going to be a decline,” Joe Mazzulla said. “We just have to maintain our confidence and our trust. We have really good shooters, so just have to stick with it.”
Sticking with it is tough. Boston’s heart might still be in San Francisco because the shooting numbers are even worse if you push the starting point to the Golden State loss. Boston is only shooting 28.6% over their last five games.
Remember when I said their identity was now offense-first? Well, now they're having an identity crisis.
“I think the main thing for us is the body language, which you can tell,” Marcus Smart said “We miss a shot that we usually make and we're just looking like, what the heck is going on? It didn't go in. Instead of getting back on the defensive end and making up and shooting that same shot and making it this time. … We put so much emphasis on every shot that we take that it's putting a lot of pressure on our defense."
Sam Hauser may have been the poster boy for the bad body language in this game. He casually tossed an after-the-buzzer 40-footer up off the glass and in. The frustration washed over his face as he saw it fall through, and as he turned to the bench, he could be seen saying “of course I make that one.” When he actually made a 3 that counted, he threw his hands up in the air in mocking, exaggerated celebration.
This is where Boston mettle will truly be tested. Just like we should have seen this coming, we should also see it ending. No team is immune to the ebbs and flows of an NBA season. The Warriors followed up their win over Boston with three straight losses. The Milwaukee Bucks, who are now percentage points ahead of Boston at the top of the NBA, had a three loss in four nights stretch that featured two losses to the Hawks and one to the Spurs.
What the Celtics can’t do is make a shooting slump even worse by botching the rest of the game. What they can’t do is let the misses lead to lapses, like losing sight of guards crashing from the corners and letting the Magic eat nearly a minute of clock in a one-point game. It’s inexcusable that they couldn't run any real offense and attempt a shot for more than 50 seconds.
The reintegration of Robert Williams is making things a bit choppy for Boston, and they didn’t have Jayson Tatum for personal reasons, but even with those things, the Celtics had their chances, just like they did in the last loss to Orlando. Teams can shoot poorly and win, but it takes focus and discipline. ‘
The Celtics need to reset themselves and get back to the fun of playing basketball.
“You thought we were just going to shoot lights out for the whole season? Shit, I wish,” Jaylen Brown said. “It just never goes like that. But that’s a part of why you love basketball, why I love basketball. Tonight I didn’t play my best game offensively. I missed a lot of shots that I know I can f---ing make. We missed a lot of shots as a team that I know we can make.
“But that’s why you love the game. Every game has its own story. In your head, we still have 50-plus games left to go. So what we shot 30% tonight against a team that we should have beat? We learn from it and we move forward and we pick each other up.”
