BRIGHTON -- Drop defense and missed shots. Those are the headliners from the Boston Celtics’ Game 2 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Easy pickings. But is that how the Celtics themselves saw it? Or was there more at play?
Here’s Joe Mazzulla’s full, unedited response when asked about the potential disconnect between how the Celtics consume a loss like Game 2 versus how fans, the media, and the outside world view it:
“I mean, I don't really know what everyone on the outside sees, nor do I want to tell them that they're right or wrong. I think, at the end of the day, we just gotta focus on the process of [the way] we play. And I think I kind of said it yesterday -- I hope it didn't come off that way -- it wasn't just a product of knocking down shots. I think I said a lot more than that. I think it started with a lot of the stuff that we can control.
“I mean, if you take a look at -- and I think the only thing I would say is, in a playoff [series], it's very easy, in a close game, to just watch the last five minutes. And I think to talk about the process, the way we go about getting better, is watching runs, and momentum opportunities, and things that can impact the end of possessions in the beginning of the game are just as important.
“And if you take a look at the end of the first quarter, we didn't close the quarter very well. We were up 26 to 13, and we end the quarter 28-25, and give up offensive rebounds and live-ball turnovers at the end. We have a chance to get the two-for-one, we don't get it. The middle of the second, there was a stretch there where we gave up a free-throw rebound. There was another run that we went on there. All those things add up to the point of -- late-game, end-of-game execution is extremely important -- but I think there's a lot of other stuff that goes into even getting to that point that you have to do a good job of controlling, especially in a playoff game.
“Losing a quarter 37-26 is tough to overcome in a playoff game against a team like that. And I think that stemmed from some missed shots, but also things that we can be better at and things that we can control on the margins. Live-ball turnovers, offensive rebounds, and things of that nature.”
Making shots would have made life easier for the Celtics. And the 76ers certainly got some easy looks against Boston’s drop defense. There is plenty of room to improve in each of those areas. But they weren’t the end-all, be-all.
In fact, Nikola Vucevic pointed out that, during Boston’s film session after its Game 2 loss, there was a chance at clarity. It’s easy -- especially in the heat of the moment --