If this version of the Boston Celtics want to be a playoff team this spring, they can’t afford to play the way they did against the Utah Jazz in the second half of Monday’s 105-103 loss.
Let’s get this out of the way: there was an awful missed call with seconds left in the game, when Utah’s Keyonte George fell in front of Jaylen Brown, causing him to trip and turn the ball over for a Utah basket on the other end.
Boston shouldn’t have been in the situation for such a bizarre no-call to matter in the first place.
The C’s had a full day between seeing the Houston Rockets and the Jazz to lick their wounds, after what had to be a demoralizing 27-point loss. The Rockets are built to be a title contender. The Jazz, respectfully, are the sort of team the Celtics should be amped to get up off the mat against.
They did – in the first half. Boston came out swinging with strong, physical minutes from Neemias Queta, and a couple of 3s. They led 14-2 five minutes into the game.
From then on, they struggled to find any sort of consistent momentum. Anfernee Simons hit back-to-back three-pointers in the second quarter and Jaylen Brown willed his way to the basket – or the line – every chance he could, but he couldn’t buy a bucket from behind the arc. Ditto for Sam Hauser and Derrick White.
The third quarter was a painful watch, as Boston’s lone 3-pointer came from Chris Boucher deep off the bench, and the team had attempted 11 after the half.
It’s going to be tough sledding for this team to win any game in which Brown, White, Hauser, and Simons combine for 6-33 from behind the arc. It’s going to be a disaster if they play the kind of defense that allowed for 54 points in the paint, even with Utah’s size, and, if they continue to give up massive quarters like the third.
“That’s been kind of like, the whole year, that one quarter that seems to get us,” Derrick White said after the game.
“They got the best of us,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said postgame. “They played better, they played harder than we did at that point.”
Mazzulla cited the team’s wilted offense as putting pressure on their defense. Their misses and empty possessions ground them to a halt on both ends of the court. But the team is stuck in a bit of no man’s land without the 3-pointer – and that may be why they continue to shoot it at the league’s highest clip, even with a much younger, less talented team Mazzulla’s past rosters. They don’t have a dominant post-up player, and because of that same void, they don’t get a ton of second chances after their misses.
The Celtics certainly felt the loss – and White seemed especially deflated speaking to the media after his own 10-point night, during which he shot 33%.
“I was shitty today honestly. I think that’s a big reason why they got back into the game,” he said.
There’s losing, and then there’s losing because the other team flat-out out-played a team. The Celtics held the Jazz to 36 points in the first half. The Jazz were winless on the road until they got to TD Garden, and nobody wants to be a team that someone “gets right” against. If Boston wants to play in the postseason, they need the wins where they can find them.
“Our effort just wasn’t acceptable, especially in that third quarter,” he added. “Just wasn’t ready. Just wasn’t acceptable.”