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BOSTON – Following a dominant efficiency in opposition to the Brooklyn Nets of their earlier recreation, the Boston Celtics fell flat on Friday evening, falling to the Phoenix Suns 104-96. After a dominant offensive efficiency in opposition to Brooklyn, they sputtered to a halt. It’s these kinds of inconsistencies which have plagued Boston at occasions this yr and final, leaving a lot to be desired on the offensive finish. Reasonably than placing their most effort into every possession, the Celtics have been stagnant all evening.
“I feel they got here down and outplayed us from begin to end for essentially the most half,” Jaylen Brown stated post-game. “We bought off to a good begin, however they outplayed us. No power, they bought extra pictures than we did, we have been strolling the ball up the ground each possession. We simply didn’t have an enthusiasm tonight, simply form of going by the motions as a unit.”
Within the NBA, merely “going by the motions” is a surefire option to choose up a loss, and the Celtics have handled that concern all year long. The same downside occurred the final time they matched up in opposition to the Suns, solely in that occasion, Boston blew out Phoenix and went on to drop two straight video games to the Golden State Warriors and LA Clippers.
Every of these losses got here in ugly style, with Boston’s offense struggling to persistently generate clear appears to be like. That’s precisely what occurred in opposition to the Suns. Boston recorded simply 94 factors – their third-lowest complete in a recreation this season.
Inconsistencies on one finish of the ground incessantly result in extra inconsistencies on the opposite finish, and that infinite spiral is the place the Celtics usually discover themselves trapped.
“I’m not likely disillusioned. I feel we are able to’t be inconsistent with how we execute,” head coach Joe Mazzulla defined. “The fragility of hanging onto taking part in a quote unquote excellent recreation may be very troublesome. And so, Phoenix did a terrific job of managing the sport with their offense and their potential to execute. And we had spurts all through the sport the place we gave up runs the place we didn’t handle it nicely, whether or not it was due to our offense or it was due to our second-shot protection.”
In opposition to the Nets, the Celtics shot 57.6% from the sphere and 48.1% from deep. Simply two days later in opposition to Phoenix, these numbers dropped to 38.7% total and 26.3% from distance. They went from placing up percentages that ranked of their top-five video games this season to dropping splits that each ranked within the backside.
Boston flipped a change within the worst means attainable within the span of two days. That form of drastic change in efficiency is what has made this squad so risky at occasions – having the ability to go from the perfect offensive staff within the league to one of many worst.
“Each recreation has its personal story,” stated Brown. “And different occasions, we’ve trusted guys to come back off the bench to carry us up and stuff like that. Some days it’s Malcolm, some days it’s Payton, Grant, [or] whomever. We didn’t get sufficient tonight. We simply bought to be higher going ahead. We bought to search out methods. As a pacesetter, I gotta discover methods to assist get my staff going. Sparks a little bit bit. The spark wasn’t there, and Phoenix appeared like they needed it greater than us, and that got here out extra, and we simply got here out and was going by the motions. And when that occurs, all the things turns into extra strain. We needs to be taking part in, flying round. However we took our foot off the fuel.”
Sustaining fixed confidence and tempo can be key to the Celtics’ eventual success this season. Time and time once more, Mazzulla has careworn the significance of not losing interest with taking part in the correct means. That interprets not solely on an in-game foundation however at a game-to-game stage as nicely.
At their greatest, the Celtics can go toe-to-toe with anybody, and so they is likely to be the favorites to win the title. After they get bored and begin drifting into stagnation, issues go south in a short time.
Phoenix was with out Devin Booker and Cam Johnson in opposition to Boston, which can have lured Boston right into a entice recreation. But it surely all goes again to the purpose of consistency – if the Celtics aren’t capable of carry the identical depth in opposition to a short-handed Suns staff as they’re in opposition to an inter-conference foe just like the Nets, then the place does that depart them?
“Simply mindset and mentality, you already know? You bought to have the ability to rise up for video games and match different groups’ power,” Brown acknowledged. “And tonight, that simply didn’t occur. We performed nicely in stretches. We performed means too sluggish. They shot far more pictures than us. They dictated the sport. I feel we might’ve run much more, performed a little bit bit sooner, bought some extra pictures. It didn’t occur tonight.”
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