The Celtics' exit from the In-Season Tournament may be disappointing, but it's certainly not the end of the world for this team.
In fact, there are actually some benefits from Boston coming short of reaching the semifinals in Las Vegas, as the Celtics will now have just one road game between November 25 and December 18, and Friday night will be their only game in a seven-day span, an unusual occurrence during the NBA season.
However, the In-Season Tournament provided the Celtics with the closest thing to a playoff atmosphere – and on Monday night, the results felt eerily similar to those of unsuccessful postseason runs in the past.
Obviously, this is a much different scenario. But again, this is the closest thing to a playoff atmosphere you can get, especially this early in the season.
The early part of the NBA season is about learning lessons and building good habits for the future that will put you in a position to find success come the spring.
“You can learn from losses, you can learn from wins,” head coach Joe Mazzulla explained following Boston’s win over the Toronto Raptors last month.
As the Celtics navigate through their 82-game regular season slate, there are going to be different tests that present opportunities for growth. Monday night’s loss was another one of those tests for the Celtics.
“Whether this was an In-Season Tournament game or the NBA Finals, the same things are going to win and lose games,” Mazzulla said postgame Monday night. “So it’s just get back to the drawing board, continue to build that mindset and those habits on how can we be that first-half team, for the entire game?”
For Boston, it was much of the same. They shot themselves in the foot by coming out with a lack of focus in the third quarter, turned the ball over, and were outplayed down the stretch – The same persistent issues that have plagued them for years, issues they need to figure out if they are going to accomplish their ultimate goal.
“It’s a combination. It’s a combination of poise from our guys, it’s a combination getting to our spacing. Sometimes in those environments, like a playoff environment, you gotta remain poised and stick to the game plan,” Jaylen Brown said postgame. “We took ill-advised shots, we didn’t get to the right spots. That’s on our veteran guys to make sure we’re in the right position and we’re poised. Make sure we keep control of the game.”
In the grand scheme, Monday night's loss will be recorded in the same column as all the others, but it holds the potential to serve as a valuable learning experience for the Celtics.
The Celtics need to address the ongoing issues in those certain areas if they are going to accomplish their ultimate goal. Fortunately, they have 62 more games to figure things out before we get to that point.
“We’ve gotta do something to come out of this locker room better and play 48 minutes,” Derrick White said postgame. “It starts with us starters. We gotta be better.”
While Monday night's loss was just another test, the Celtics should view it as an underscore, emphasizing the urgency to address these lingering fatal flaws. This setback should also serve as a humbling experience for the team, especially considering they were favored to win the inaugural event.
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