Let’s vent about Celtics’ loss to Hornets, then it’s on to Bucks originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Celtics played with fire throughout a four-game road trip, so it shouldn’t be particularly surprising that they got burnt at the finish line.
What’s infuriating is the way they fumbled away a win in Charlotte, triggering PTSD for every denizen of Celtics Nation who was wondering if this year’s team might finally be turning a crunch-time corner.
Instead, the Celtics tripped on the corner, skinned their knee, and spilled their drinks all over themselves. It’s pointless to linger too long on how the team fumbled away an 18-point lead — you don’t want to read about it, I don’t want to write about it — so let’s quickly run through the four most maddening sequences in Monday’s loss:
1. Free throws aren’t free
The Celtics were a perfect 22 of 22 at the free-throw line in crunch-time situations entering Monday’s game. Then they missed FOUR over the final 5:10 of play.
Jrue Holiday, who had missed a game-sealing dunk in Memphis 24 hours earlier, clanged two freebies with Boston up two and 10 seconds to play in regulation. LaMelo Ball made it hurt with a layup three seconds later.
Jaylen Brown missed a freebie in the extra session, then Jayson Tatum misfired on the third and final free throw with a chance to force a second overtime.
2. JT caught napping
When Tatum hit a second-chance 3-pointer with 57 seconds to play in the extra session to put Boston on top by two, it felt like maybe Boston was going to escape despite all its missteps. That feeling was fleeting.
On the ensuing possession, Tatum got caught Ball-watching. (See what we did there?) So concerned that Ball might pull up for a go-ahead 3-pointer despite two defenders nearby, Tatum didn’t see old friend Gordon Hayward cut baseline for a way-too-easy layup to tie the game.
Tatum has talked a lot about wanting to be an All-Defense player, and even that little lapse took away from how great he was on the offensive side for much of this game.
3. Brown’s decision to shoot
The Celtics got the ball back with 45 seconds to play in overtime…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/lets-vent-celtics-loss-hornets-162234302.html
Author : NBC Sports Boston
Publish date : 2023-11-21 16:22:34
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
