After the Celtics opening night win vs Milwaukee, I wrote how Jayson Tatum delivered a superstar moment with his game winning sidestep three over Giannis.
Immediately after seeing the final Celtics possession on Sunday night, I was left thinking “what did I just see?”
With 7.7 seconds left in the game, Boston trailed Indiana 109-108 with Grant Williams inbounding the ball. It was a simple play call for Brad Stevens to inbound the ball to his best player, Jayson Tatum, at the top of the key.
What Tatum did baffles me. He didn’t take his first dribble until 3.9 of the 7.7 seconds had wasted away. He waited for Grant Williams to cut through the lane and clear out to the right side.
One dribble went nowhere followed by a between the legs crossover left to right followed by a stepback. Tatum pulls from 27 feet while moving left with Malcolm Brogdon on him closing hard. Clank. Ball game. Boston loses by one point 108-107.
“No, that was on me,” Tatum responded when asked if he was happy with that shot selection.“I should’ve put more pressure on the defense. Obviously that’s a shot I take a lot and I can hit.”
That’s part of the problem with the play. It was predictable to the Celtics fans watching at home and reading this right now. It was Tatum’s favorite move with no screens or any real development of a play. It’s isolation basketball. Everything you hate about James Harden.
“It wasn’t the exact play we drew up. I should’ve just put more pressure on them. That’s all we need in that situation,” Tatum added.
Although that game defining moment is what sticks with me, the third quarter was inexcusable and the main reason Boston lost Sunday night.
The Celtics carried a six-point lead into halftime and for whatever reason, that moment did not carry over. Tatum’s made three at 7:24 was their first bucket of the quarter. Indiana had already scored 16 points in that span.
The Pacers stretched the lead up to 11, 74-63 midway through the third quarter. That’s a 25-8 half of a quarter. Indiana shot 75 percent while Boston was at 36 percent for the quarter.
The Celtics played some atrocious transition defense in that quarter as the Pacers scored 13 of their 23 fast break points in that time frame.
“We were very low energy in the third quarter and it cost us the game. Anytime you give up 40 on the road in the quarter to a good team you’re probably going to lose,” Stevens said postgame.
How were the Pacers, the team playing on the second leg of a back to back after beating the Bulls Saturday night, the team with more energy in the second half on Sunday?
These teams meet again Tuesday night. The NBA adjusted this year’s schedule to reduce travel and schedule more back to back games between interconference teams like Boston and Indiana.
Victor Oladipo hasn’t played in back to backs since his knee injury so expect him to play Tuesday in the rematch.
I didn’t think I would like the back to back games against the same team but I am looking forward to seeing how this team responds to a tough loss, especially after the level of effort was a question mark Sunday night.
LEFTOVER FROM THE NOTEBOOK
● Jaylen Brown was good, not great. Just one 3-point attempt for the game is something that sticks out in the box score. I chalk it up to it being more of a flow of the game thing than him passing up looks.
● Robert Williams was really good. He took responsibility for a blown defensive coverage that gave Indiana the lead with 8.4 seconds left. Despite the late game mistake, Stevens rewarded Williams for his energy early in the game. “I thought Rob was our best big tonight. That was pretty clear, right? Played with great energy. Played super hard. Did everything well.”
● Daniel Theis only got 15 minutes and hasn’t really been an offensive threat as the power forward in these two big man lineups with Tristan Thompson.
● I wonder what Danny Ainge was thinking while watching Doug McDermott torch the Celtics by running off screens for easy three point shots or curling to the paint.
● Payton Pritchard turned in a shooting performance that this bench will need on a nightly basis. He had back to back threes in the second quarter with the second from Steph Curry range.
● I could be wrong but Grant Williams chasing shooter like McDermott around screens is not an ideal matchup
● Indiana played small and with a short rotation. The Pacers played just eight guys with all of the bench minutes going to guards. Boston played had 10 players get 10 minutes or more
● Marcus Smart left the game with 2:17 left after an apparent shoulder injury. He went to the locker room but re-entered the game just 60 seconds later.