All year long, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla has been reluctant to call timeouts – either to stop runs or in late-game situations – and has instead put his trust in his players to make the right plays.
At times, that approach has paid off. Sunday afternoon’s Game 4 overtime loss to the 76ers was not one of those times.
Reacting to Celtics' Game 4 OT loss to Sixers
The Celtics had chances to win the game with possessions at the end of regulation and the end of overtime, and Mazzulla did not call a timeout on either of them.
The first time was perfectly defensible. The game was tied with time ticking down in the fourth quarter, so the Celtics wanted to hold for the last shot. They did, and even without Mazzulla calling a timeout to set up a play, they wound up getting a wide-open look from three for Marcus Smart.
Sure, you can say you’d rather draw up a play that results in Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown getting the final shot, but the ball was in Tatum’s hands for a drive to the basket, and he made the right decision to kick out to a wide-open Smart, who was 4-of-9 from three at that point.
The second time, at the end of overtime, was much harder to defend. First off, it was a completely different situation. Instead of a tie game, the Celtics were trailing by one after James Harden drilled a three with 18.2 seconds remaining.
The Celtics should not have been holding for the final shot like they did at the end of regulation. They should have been working to get a shot as quickly as possible. That way if they missed, they either get the rebound themselves and get a second chance, or the Sixers get the rebound, they foul, and even if Philadelphia hits both free throws, the Celtics would still at least have a chance to tie the game trailing by three.
Not only did that not happen, but the Celtics didn’t even get one shot off. Smart slowly brought the ball up the court, wasted precious seconds waiting for the offense to set up, then passed to Tatum, who nonchalantly let a couple more seconds run off the clock before the pick-and-roll got set up. He finally made his move with just five seconds left, driving toward the basket before once again kicking out to Smart. By the time Smart collected the pass and got a shot off, the clock had hit zeroes. The shot went in, but he hadn’t gotten it off in time. Game over.
Asked after the game why he didn’t call a timeout and what the final play was supposed to be, Mazzulla went on the defensive.
“That was the play. We just had to play with a little bit more pace,” Mazzulla said. “We had the right matchup. Jayson got downhill, made the right play at the rim. We just had to play with a little bit more pace there. But that was the play.”
Here’s the thing, though: It wasn’t the right play if there wasn’t enough time left to make it. The Celtics not playing quick enough in that situation is something Mazzulla should have identified, and called a timeout to address.
Smart realized the play was developing slower than anticipated.
“We were just trying to get the right guys in the right spot. We just went a little slower than expected. We wanted to go really fast,” Smart said. “They did a good job of getting their guys on the right people and making a play. We just have to see what’s going on, see the timing.”
So, they wanted to go “really fast,” but the look wasn’t there right away and they were forced to slow down? Sounds like a good time to call a timeout and reset, right? Especially with Game 4 of a playoff series on the line? Maybe Smart should have called the timeout himself if he realized things were slowing down too much, but ultimately this falls on the head coach.
And again, Mazzulla really should have called a timeout long before all of that anyways. Calling a timeout right after Harden’s three would have allowed the Celtics to advance the ball without taking time off the clock and put them in a better position to get two shots at extending the game.
Mazzulla’s explanation suggests that he was OK with running the clock all the way down and holding for just one shot at the buzzer. He shouldn’t have been. But even if he was, he should have been able to recognize that his offense was operating too slowly anyways. He didn’t, and the series is now tied 2-2 as a result.
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