The Celtics need major changes, and their near-comeback against the Heat doesn’t change that

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The Boston Celtics were on top of the world two nights ago. Derrick White’s buzzer-beating tip in tied the Eastern Conference Finals at three games apiece, giving the Celtics a chance to make history as the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-0 deficit in the postseason. Doing so would have been a remarkable achievement, but it would have obscured the severe disappointment of falling behind a No. 8 seed 3-0 in the first place.

That’s a nasty habit the Celtics have developed over the past several years. They tend to play down to their opponent. They needed six games to slay the underwhelming Hawks in the first round and then immediately lost the first game of the second round against a Philadelphia 76ers team that didn’t have James Harden. They even let their guard down during individual games. That Derrick White miracle on Saturday? It was preceded by the Celtics blowing a double-digit lead with under five minutes to play. The same thing happened in Game 7 of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals. Boston led by 13 with 3:35 remaining, but ultimately needed Jimmy Butler to miss a game-winning 3-pointer to escape humiliation.

The Celtics are so talented that they frequently get away with these shenanigans… until they run into an opponent capable of punishing them for it. That was Stephen Curry a year ago. It was the Heat on Sunday. When things are going well, the Celtics are unbeatable. When another team punches them in the mouth? Not so much. Boston finished the postseason 1-5 in games decided by seven points or less, with White’s putback representing the only victory. It would be easy to write off the Game 7 loss as the result of Jayson Tatum’s ankle injury, but it’s not as though Boston was one healthy superstar away from winning this game.

Jaylen Brown was supposed to be Boston’s second star. He no-showed Game 7, shooting just 8-of-23 from the field and 1-of-9 from deep while turning the ball over as many times by himself (eight) as the Heat did as a team. Those same turnovers nearly doomed Boston against Miami a year ago, and…

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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/the-celtics-need-major-changes-and-their-near-comeback-against-the-heat-doesnt-change-that/

Author : Sam Quinn

Publish date : 2023-05-30 04:56:03

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