It was the best of games, it was the worst of games. In the shadow of Bill Belichick's departure from the New England Patriots, the original Boston dynasty of the Celtics played their season's most lopsided back-to-back of games against the league's top competition.
Boston was triumphant coming off an overtime win against the West's best Minnesota Timberwolves. Jayson Tatum showed a late game surge and put on an MVP-caliber performance in extra minutes. Jrue Holiday made smart and freaky defensive plays that reminded fans of his impact on the big stage. The Celtics overcame being outplayed in third quarter, a stretch of the game in which they often doom themselves.
Even Joe Mazzulla called back-to-back timeouts in crunch time. Boston improved to a historic 18-0 at home. It was a gluttony of riches.
So what to make of a 135-102 to the Milwaukee Bucks the following night in a game so ugly, TNT spared the national audience from its conclusion partway through the third quarter?
It may sound soft, but the Celtics get a mulligan here. The schedule did the team no favors in forcing a flight to Milwaukee for a game directly following the showdown with Minnesota. Four out of five of Boston's starters played 40 minutes or more the previous night.
"Everything's from a player perspective," Mazzulla said following the game, adding, "I trust our character and I trust our team."
No single starter made a three-point shot in the first half, resulting in a broad benching and garbage time for majority of the game.
It was the first blowout loss suffered by these championship hopefuls. Unfortunately, as previously noted, it was on national TV and the game so bad, TNT switched programming in the second half.
Holiday said the starters preferred to stay in the game, but understood Mazzulla's decision to sit all five.
"My only job is to do what's best for the team," Mazzulla said, perhaps in honor of Belichick.
And yet, it's fair to say a 45-point deficit against a rival contender in the Bucks on national television is a bad look for a team vying for their first championship. Most of these starters are in their mid-to-late 20s, and Thursday was a chance to make themselves appear truly untouchable, after previously going 6-1 in the second nights of back-to-backs all season.
Wednesday night the Celtics proved they're the best team in the league, but Thursday night, they showed their fallibility.
