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Game 2 Review

The Celtics fall down 0-2 in arguably the worst loss of the Jays era. This game was a near carbon copy of the game 1 loss, clearly showing a stubbornness to adjust when things aren't working. The Celtics dominated the Knicks' defense in the first quarter, allowing just 13 points on 26% from the floor. Offensively, things weren't great, but there was a clear attempt in getting to the rim and not settling for threes.

The biggest problem with this team is their inconsistency. Even quarter to quarter, you never truly know what you're going to get, and that was evident in the 2nd quarter, shooting a horrific 9/25 2/11 splits, only managing to stay afloat thanks to 11 points from Jaylen Brown. The Celtics also racked up 4 more turnovers, tallying 7 for the half. All year, this team was fantastic at limiting turnovers, but so far in the playoffs they have averaged nearly 2 more turnovers per game.

Even when they get off to a fast start, they cannot maintain it. Some of it is from missing wide open shots yes, but a large part of the inconsistency is the self-inflicted wounds and seemingly having no concrete plan to fall back on. One possession will look fantastic, and the next will result in panicked passes, deflections, or late-shot clock heaves. This team's bread and butter for the past 2 seasons has been the drive and kick game, spreading the opposing team out in space, but the Knicks specifically built this team with the Celtics in mind to slow down this style of offense and so far there has been little response to this game plan.

The 3rd quarter would be the Celtics best and worst quarter. They shot the ball well, going 10/20 from the floor and 3/8 from 3, but they negated all of this by committing 7 turnovers, 4 of which were from Jaylen Brown. This is inexcusable. You have the Knicks on the ropes again with a 20-point lead, but simple entry passes turned into turnovers leading to easy transition baskets for the Knicks. All of the 2023 habits have quickly crept into this team again, and it came at the worst time.

Now we get to the 4th quarter. The team was horrible, shooting 5/24 & 2/11, while giving up 30 points on 50% shooting. But the biggest culprits? The same people as game 1. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Joe Mazzulla. Tatum shot 1/5 for 4 points and Jaylen shot 0/4 with 0 points. In game 1, the two combined for 8 points on 1/10 shooting. It can't happen. No excuses for it in any capacity. The worst part about it is, they didn't even settle for threes like game 1, combining for just 3-three point attempts in the quarter. This was no bad shooting night, they simply choked under the pressure when the game got tight.

On top of this bad shooting, the effort simply wasn't there. Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart crushed the offensive glass, grabbing 5 of the 6 offensive boards in the quarter. The most unexpected piece of all this was Mikal Bridges, who was 3/21 in the series before the 4th quarter, before saving the game for the Knicks, going 6/10 with 14 points. The unexpected hero in game 1? OG Anunoby, who went 7/11 and matched Brunson's 20 points in the second half after shooting just 2/8 in the first half.

Al Horford will always be beloved in this city, but his time has simply passed. He shot a career low in percentage and points in the regular season, and that had carried over to the playoffs. In 7 games, he has shot 38% and 27% from three, on 32 minutes per game, with this game being his worst. Horford shot 2/11 and 1/6 in the 4th quarter. A big reason for this was Kristaps Porzingis's mysterious illness that kept him under 15 minutes in back-to-back games. Horford simply is too old to play big playoff minutes, but he's forced to because of this illness from Porzingis.

The center position being as compromised as it is with KAT and Mitchell Robinson crushing the Celtics has caused a massive mismatch in the paint. Kornet, who was a +11 in this game HAS to start the next game. The spacing issues cannot factor into this considering Horford has provided next to nothing from outside. Luke has had a huge boost in play this season and the team is down 2-0, you have to try something else.

Joe Mazzulla has quickly found himself from being beloved in the city to being the biggest focal point of monumental collapses. Doc Rivers won a ring in 2008 with an all-time stacked team while not being considered an elite coach, then made a career out of underachieving, blowing leads because of not adjusting, and coasting off one ring. Just 1 year after the 2024 championship, this already feels extremely familiar.

Following a poorly coached game 1, Mazzulla outdid himself with a bigger stinker. All game there was no consistency or rhythym in the offense. Bad turnovers and passes, poorly executed possessions on the break, and another lazy game plan. The biggest eye opener about this series is the fact that Mazzulla hasn't been extremely outcoached, and the team hasn't been extremely outplayed, but in crunch time the execution and coaching has been horrific.

Shot Chart

Here is the team's 4th quarter shot chart. Only 4 attempts in the restricted area is far too low for a team that has been struggling with every variation of jumpshots. The worst part, however, was the final play.

With all the struggles in the game, on top of blowing another huge lead, a timeout here absolutely should have happened. Settle the team down, draw up a play, and if they miss then so be it. But to let them scramble to find a shot after being out of rhythym all game is ridiculous. Mazzulla's m.o. was letting the team figure it out ever since he started.

While there are benefits to this idea, it is more of a regular season strategy, but it continues to fail in the playoffs. This stubbornness has cost the team 2 home games and on the verge of an all-time embarrassing series. NBA coaches have a notoriously short leash so job security is on a year-to-year basis. Mazzulla has to adjust, or he could end up like other championship coaches such as Mike Malone, Frank Vogel, and Mike Budenholzer.



In this video, there is a good amount of open threes the Celtics missed, and there is nothing we can crtique on those except the players have to hit their shots. But some are misleading. A good chunk of those "open threes" are in transition, when the defense is not set. There is simply no need to take those shots when you know they aren't falling. Transition possessions should be the time to get easy looks and points at the basket, or drawing contact because the defense is trying to get back into position, but these three point attempts consistently bail out the defense.

The Celtics now have their backs planted firmly against the wall heading into game 3. MSG will be rocking, and it is crucial the Celtics do not start off slow, because with the way they have been shooting, they may not be able to shoot themselves back into a game. If they can stay afloat until the end of the game and execute a bit better, they give themselves a chance, but if they do not make the nessecary changes, this series will be over quickly.

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