Game 4 Review
The Celtics fall down 3-1 in yet another embarrassing loss, 121-113. The team came out firing to start the game, scoring 39 points in the first quarter, and finishing the quarter on a 12-0 in just over a minute. The ball movement was back, the defense was mostly dominant, and the three ball was falling again. Derrick White and Jayson Tatum lead the way combining for 29 points on 83/77 splits. After this hot start, however, it was all downhill.
The rest of the game the Celtics offense would struggle to generate easy shots, but especially in the second quarter. Only scoring 23 points on 39/30 splits, they allowed the Knicks to stay in the game. The lead was as much as 14, but as we know, big leads are not safe in this series, and the Celtics once again did not finish the job and allowed the Knicks to hang in the game.
The third quarter was when the floodgates opened getting outscored 37-23 in this quarter and completely blowing the lead and momentum that was built in the first half. The Knicks shot 65 percent in the third, with Brunson and KAT combining for 27 points on 11/15 shooting. The Celtics offense continued to sputter, scoring just 23 points again, with the team reverting back to the poor offense in game 1 and 2 that caused a big lead to be blown. Bad turnovers, poor shot selection, giving up offensive rebounds and sloppy defense.
The only reason the Celtics were still in the game was Jayson Tatum, who scored 11 more points on 4/9 shooting. Much of the same continued in the fourth, bad defense, bad shot selection, and Tatum keeping the team afloat with another 11 points. Sadly, it all ended when Tatum fell down on a non-contact injury. Many have speculated it to be a torn Achilles, and with Tatum's reaction, combined with him in a wheelchair heading to the locker room, it is fair to assume this injury has completely warped the Celtics immediate and long-term future.
Credit: Sports Illustrated
The biggest surprise was the lack of urgency in this game. Mazzulla was screaming countless times to run the ball up the court because the energy was so lackadaisical. For a team to be down 2-1, losing the momentum, there should have been far more desperation. This team is littered with vets, where is the leadership? Tatum stepped up, but someone else needed to come along with him and match his energy on offense and defense, and outside of the first quarter with Derrick White, nobody did.
Wasting a Tatum masterpiece was the final nail in the coffin for the series. Even if he did not get injured, this series is over, and there is nobody to blame but themselves. Nobody played or coached up to standard in this series, and it cost them dearly. The Knicks are a good team no doubt, but this should have been a Celtics series win in 5 or 6 games, and they squandered it greatly.
Jaylen Brown played far below his standards in this series, Porzingis was a complete non-factor, and Al Horford is just too old to be a big minute's contributor. This series exposed a lot of holes in some players, and it will be interesting to see how the offseason is handled. With the series being 3-1 and Tatum likely done, there are few positives to takeaway, but one is seeing how the Celtics perform with no Tatum and a big deficit. There will be zero pressure or expectations, so a glimmer of hope could be if there are adjustments made and if certain players are better, but either way, this series marks another year where the Celtics were massive favorites and failed miserably.