ATLANTA — Hit enough bumps in the road, and eventually, the tires will come off their axles. That’s what happened to the Boston Celtics on Monday night. The Atlanta Hawks placed speed bump after speed bump in their way, and eventually, it all fell apart in the third quarter.
Jayson Tatum and Neemias Queta were both sidelined, and Jaylen Brown wasn’t able to carry the load in the manner he has all season. A quality Luka Garza start was all Boston had to show for its one-night stay in Atlanta when it was all said and done.
But what happened before the car came careening off the road?
1. Jaylen Brown’s terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day
Nothing worked. Every dribble missed his hand on the way up. Every shot bounced off the rim and out. Every drive into traffic ended up in Atlanta’s hands.
At every turn, Brown fumbled and flailed his way into a black hole of nothingness on the offensive end. The Hawks’ defensive pressure got to him, but even when it didn’t, he got to himself.
“I give credit to Atlanta,” Brown said. “That was probably one of my worst games of the season, in my opinion.”
Brown’s performance was unlike anything he’s displayed all season. It’s been an MVP-caliber campaign for the Celtics superstar, but on Monday, he looked like a different guy.
It wasn’t just turnovers. The shots that have become automatic for Brown were completely off. And a lot of the easy ones that he missed eventually turned into transition opportunities for the Hawks, as they grabbed the ball off the rim and ran with it.
Even on this play, Brown still couldn’t convert. Gabe Vincent hits the deck, trying to draw an offensive foul on Brown. That leaves the Celtics star with a wide-open mid-range.
He just misses.
Atlanta got the board and immediately scored in transition, capitalizing on Brown’s whiff in the paint.
This play was a weird one. Maybe Brown was so stunned that the refs didn’t call him for a foul that he was out of rhythm. But it was emblematic of the type of night he was having up to that point.
“I missed a lot of easy shots, but [it was a] very physical game,” Brown said. “Playoff-like atmosphere, and I didn't think we adjusted quick enough. They came to play, the refs let a lot of stuff go, [and] we didn't adjust to the physicality. So, good game to learn from.”
Brown’s struggles affected more than just his stat sheet. His inability to find a flow on offense disrupted the entire team’s rhythm on that side of the ball.
Even on possessions when he didn’t turn the ball over or miss a shot, Brown often lost his handle and had to reset, forcing Boston into some awkward, late-shot-clock attempts.
This isn’t a perfect example, as Amari Williams should have had a bit more patience, but the play starts with Brown having to pick up his dribble because of Atlanta’s defensive pressure.
After that, the entire offensive possessions sputters out, and Williams ends up taking a tough shot in the paint.
Boston has struggled against ball pressure a lot in the second half of the season. They lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder (on the road) and the Minnesota Timberwolves (at home) in March, and both teams sent a ton of pressure at the Celtics’ ball-handlers.
Atlanta does the same. They’re a very physical team, and without Tatum as an additional offensive outlet, the Celtics -- and Brown -- fell flat on Monday night.
“Their defense is pretty physical, and they got good defenders that make it difficult, and a lot of guys the same size,” said Derrick White. “So, you play a team a couple of days ago and you play them again, it's going to be a little bit more difficult, and we just weren't able to execute as well as we needed to.”
By the end of the night, Brown caught fire. He put together an impressive fourth-quarter performance, but it was too little, too late for him and the Celtics.
That said, Brown said the most important thing on a night like Monday is to just keep going. And his buckets late in the fourth proved that.
“Mindset. You can't throw in the towel if you're not feeling up to your best,” Brown said. “Still got to do what you need to do. Sometimes, you just got to work your way through it, rely on your teammates. But if you're getting good shots and good looks, you just got to trust that. Keep playing aggressive basketball. Tonight wasn't the greatest night for my team or myself, but you learn from it and move forward.”
In the fourth, Brown put up 14 points, four rebounds, and one assist on 5-of-11 shooting from the field and 2-of-5 shooting from deep. His playmaking was solid all night, but his offensive consistency just didn’t meet the mark.
Brown ended the game with 29 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, and six turnovers while shooting 9-of-29 from the floor, 3-of-9 from deep range, and 8-of-14 from the free-throw line.
2. The dreaded third quarter
Boston didn’t play well in the first half. Yet somehow, the Celtics still found themselves tied at the half. That’s when the wheels began to come undone.
The Celtics only turned the ball over three times in the third quarter. But their efficiency was awful. They shot 5-of-20 from the field, 3-of-9 from beyond the 3-point arc, and 9-of-12 from the free-throw line.
“I think really it was mostly just our third quarter,” Joe Mazzulla said. “It was a tie game at halftime. I thought we played pretty well. Just thought it got away from us in the third quarter. Just some empty possessions on the offensive end. They hit some shots. We gave up too many layups in the third quarter. So, I think it was just kind of more of just a, out of the three quarters we played, I thought that got the best of us.”
Layups were definitely a problem for the Celtics in the third quarter. Not only did Boston give up 16 paint points to the Hawks, but they shot just 1-of-8 in the paint themselves (including 1-of-6 in the restricted area).
The empty possessions quickly built up for the Celtics, who, at times, crumbled against Atlanta’s defensive pressure.
But for as many of those offensive possessions that took place, Boston also missed easy opportunities that could have snapped the funk it was in.
“I thought they played better offense than we played offense,” Mazzulla said. “I just didn't think we -- we got some looks, we didn't make them. They made them. So, I thought their offense was better than ours in the third quarter. And that's kind of what led to that 36-point quarter. And then we had a ton of empty possessions, not turnovers, but just didn't make shots.”
Atlanta’s offense? It shot 13-of-19 from the field, 4-of-6 from 3-point land, and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line in the third.
3. Poor paint defense
The Celtics missed Queta on Monday night. In his first season as a full-time starter (a full-time rotation piece in general, really), Queta has emerged as one of the best blossoming rim-protectors in the NBA.
And though Garza chipped in with an impressive offensive performance, he’s not at the same level as Queta when it comes to protecting the rim.
Watch this play.
Onyeka Okongwu is spacing to the corner, which means Garza has to step out to guard him. However, when Jalen Johnson drives to the rim, Garza isn’t quick enough to get all the way over and contest him properly.
Had Queta been in the same spot, he likely would have been able to recover quickly enough. And if Johnson had made the pass out to the corner, Boston could have rotated to cover for him.
“I think we gave up a few more layups,” Mazzulla said. “I thought they executed well. I thought we just had some empty possessions on the offensive end.”
But Garza’s relatively slow feet weren’t the only problem in the paint. This play was a disaster.
Hugo Gonzalez steps up to double Johnson (for no real reason), which gives Mouhamed Gueye room to roll to the rim. Johnson finds him for an easy bucket, all the while, Williams is standing at the top of the key, completely motionless.
Both rookies were completely out of position, and Boston gave up a wide-open layup. There was no rim protector.
Mazzulla immediately called a timeout after that play and laid into both Gonzalez and Williams.
By the end of the night, the Hawks had 48 paint points to the Celtics’ 30.
4. Luka Garza’s strong showing
On the offensive end, Garza gave the Celtics everything they could have possibly asked for. Brown was struggling. White was, too. So, Garza found ways to get his team going.
“When they play a drop, like they did tonight, I can pick-and-pop, I can do a little bit more,” Garza said. “And obviously, the game was really fast-paced, and especially in the beginning, I felt like I was able to run ahead and get some advantages in transition, and guys were able to find me and reward me for running. So, I think that's kind of what led to that.”
Despite not being the fastest or most athletic player, Garza still managed to find advantages in transition that led to buckets.
Look at the way he runs on this play. Garza manages to beat Okongwu down the floor. Or at least, he stayed with him stride for stride. Then, when he gets the ball, he decelerates and throws Okongwu off his defensive rhythm.
Garza even showed flashes of his old self. Flashes of his days at Iowa.
On this play, he gets the ball at the top of the key and has to make something happen. Garza puts the ball on the floor, posts up CJ McCollum, and works his way all the way to the basket for two points.
Add in his floor-spacing against Atlanta’s defense, and it was as well-rounded an offensive performance as Boston could have asked for.
And his hustle on the offensive glass was there, too, as per usual.
This play won’t count as an offensive rebound for Garza. He didn’t even get a stat for the play. But his fight on the glass earned the Celtics an extra possession here.
5. Missed layups are the enemy
This was yet another example of a game in which the stats don’t perfectly match the results.
By the box score, the Hawks only scored 10 points off turnovers. But a quick glance at the fast-break points stat tells a different story. Atlanta scored 17 of those. And even that doesn’t paint the whole picture.
Boston’s horrendous shooting in the paint was a huge contributor to its failures on the defensive end. The game is all connected. Offense leads to defense and vice versa. So, if an offense is flopping, the defense often is, too.
Right before this play, Pritchard missed a layup at the rim.
Jonathan Kuminga immediately sprints in transition, and since Pritchard was the closest Celtic to him, he has to pick him up. Kuminga gets the ball deep in the paint, and at that point, there’s not much Pritchard could do.
Missed layups can be just as bad as a turnover. And Boston shot 13-of-27 in the restricted area and another 2-of-10 in the paint (non-restricted area) on Monday night.
6. Jaylen Brown injury update
For the first time all year, Brown missed two games in a row. Monday night was his return to the lineup, and though it didn’t go quite as swimmingly as Brown may have hoped, he felt all right.
“I felt OK. I felt fine,” Brown said. “I had a couple plays, I took some hard falls, but overall, I felt fine. I'm just trying to get my feet up under me. Just maintain my balance and stuff like that. I feel like I missed a lot of easy shots, even at the rim. Uncharacteristic, but you shake it off and move on.”
Brown was listed as out for two straight games due to left Achilles tendinitis. However, he doesn’t believe it will be a long-term issue.
“Just something, everybody's dealing with something. Just some soreness,” Brown said. “Definitely want to make sure you stay healthy as much as possible. You don't want to risk anything. But I think it'll be fine going forward.”