Another fall-from-ahead loss: 10 Takeaways from Boston Celtics-Utah Jazz

1. The Boston Celtics dropped one more fall-from-ahead recreation on the Utah Jazz on Saturday evening. Blowing leads just isn’t one thing that’s distinctive to the Celtics, even when it looks as if a hard Boston-centric factor. Due to the best way the sport is performed now, a lead of 20 factors is never protected till deep into the fourth quarter, and that’s throughout your entire NBA.

This loss additionally got here on a back-to-back with journey that included a uncommon West-to-Mountain time zone change. And the Celtics have been with out Al Horford and Marcus Good, whereas persevering with to be with out Rob Williams.

None of these issues are excuses. The Celtics had an enormous lead and will (and may) have received towards a workforce that’s battling for a spot within the Play-In Match.

However these are a few of the causes that Boston misplaced. And there are a complete lot extra causes. Let’s dive into these now.

2. With out Rob Williams, rebounding has been a problem for the Celtics. Take Al Horford out of the combo and take away Marcus Good (who is usually fairly stable at boxing out greater gamers) and that concern is exacerbated tenfold.

That stated, Utah bludgeoned Boston on the boards. The Jazz grabbed 17 offense rebounds and outscored the Celtics 20-8 in second-chance factors. In a one-point recreation, that’s a large margin.

Regardless of the current struggles, Boston nonetheless ranks as the highest defensive rebounding workforce within the NBA. However there are nights it actually doesn’t look like it. And that’s clearly being propped up by some early-season success. It doesn’t matter what, it’s one thing that should get solved with massive, bodily groups like Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Cleveland and New York looming within the playoffs.

3. The place was Derrick White in the course of the fourth quarter? Except White is coping with an undisclosed harm, and nothing has been shared, there is no such thing as a cause he must be sitting for a whole ultimate interval. This very true on an evening when Boston didn’t have Marcus Good and was struggling to include the Utah ballhandlers.

This tweet from Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports activities Boston is baffling:

White has been someplace between the Celtics third- and fourth-best participant this season, relying on the place you place Al Horford within the combine behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Certain, Boston has nice guard depth with Good and Malcolm Brogdon. However White must be on the ground extra usually late in video games. And this resolution is one thing that Joe Mazzulla ought to actually expound on extra than simply his commonplace “Matchups” reply.

4. Associated to the above, Boston couldn’t management the Jazz ballhandlers all recreation lengthy. Now, controlling John Stockton, Deron Williams and Donovan Mitchell is a troublesome process, however…What’s that? Oh! It was Talen Horton-Tucker and Kris Dunn?

Sarcasm and snide apart, it was a foul defensive effort on that entrance. Solely Derrick White did a stable job of protecting both Jazz guard from stepping into the paint at will. He bought overpowered a few instances by Horton-Tucker, however that’s what THT does. However, for essentially the most half, White stored the ballhandlers in entrance and compelled passes or robust appears.

A part of this was soft-switching. This occurs so usually, that it needs to be a schematic teaching resolution to soft-switch. A soft-switch, or no-resistance change, is when the protection switches regardless of there not being a display, or earlier than the display could be set.

The Celtics have soft-switched for years, but it surely’s often extra alongside the traces of handing off a cutter or off-ball screener to the following man, as they play a type of pseudo matchup zone protection. Now, it’s taking place with on-ball actions greater than ever. On the whole, it’s fantastic, as a result of the Celtics belief their guys to carry their very own when switched. However, in a recreation like this one the place nobody might hold the ballhandlers managed, it known as for a method or scheme change, and none ever got here.

5. These have been Jayson Tatum’s final two pictures of the sport. With Boston nursing a one-point lead, Tatum dribbled the air out of the ball earlier than taking this awkward, contested, one-legged fallaway because the shot-clock expired:

Then, down some extent, whereas attempting to preserve the 2-for-1, Boston went to this search for Tatum on an ATO:

Tatum is Boston’s greatest participant. That’s true irrespective of how nicely Jaylen Brown is at the moment enjoying. However Tatum was 4-for-10 earlier than these two pictures. Utah’s mixture of funky defenses and double-teams (extra on that later) had Tatum out of rhythm.

So as to add to the curious resolution, Tatum has been brutal as a pullup shooter this season. He’s nicely beneath 30% on the 12 months. And that’s a two-year pattern now.

Sure, Tatum has been a crunch-time killer for many of his profession. However Boston might, and may, have gotten higher appears than these two pictures.

6. Let’s go to the ultimate play of the sport. Right here it’s:

Postgame, Joe Mazzulla, Grant Williams and Jayson Tatum all confirmed that what was drawn up was Williams catching and executing a dribble handoff with Tatum. The thought was to free Tatum up for the game-winner.

Clearly, that’s not what occurred. The place did all of it go mistaken?

First, Lauri Markkanen, or Will Hardy (or each), made the suitable name to have Markkanen drop off Malcolm Brogdon because the inbounder. That allowed Markkanen to leap Wiliams reduce, which blew up the thought of the DHO.

Williams backdoored Markkanen a bit to get the catch. From there, every thing went worse. The DHO was now gone, as a result of it could have taken too lengthy for Williams to pivot again and for Tatum to get to him. Tatum began the play within the backcourt and barely moved into the frontcourt by the conclusion. That spacing wasn’t good proper from the beginning, blown up DHO or not.

Williams can’t pitch it again to Brogdon, who would have been wide-open, as a result of Brogdon by no means bothered to get inbounds on the play.

Williams stated he possibly might have handed to Sam Hauser within the nook, however that’s a troublesome angle with the lengthy arms of Kelly Olynyk, who already had deflected a number of passes, stunting towards Williams and Markkanen trailing.

Williams had no angle to go to Jaylen Brown, who was, as soon as once more, solid a bystander away from the play.

In full equity, Williams might, and doubtless ought to, have taken a pullup or a floater or one thing. He stated so himself. Difficult Walker Kessler, who’s already one of many league’s greatest rim protectors as a rookie, was a tall process, no pun supposed.

Largely, that is now a recognized play design from Mazzulla. The one variations are if Tatum catches it direct on the run, catches it deep and dribbles into the shot himself (like he did on the earlier play) or if Tatum catches off a go/handoff from a teammate. It’s a assure that Hardy had his workforce schooled and prepared, thus Markkanen blowing up the preliminary motion.

Grant Williams might have performed higher, and he stated so himself, however the Celtics must put him in a spot to do higher too. And that begins with being inventive and working one thing totally different on the finish of video games.

7. Associated to the above: Jaylen Brown just isn’t the NBA’s greatest decoy for use to drag a defender away from the play. He’s a star participant. Relegating him to watching off-ball and away from the play on ever late-game motion is outdated, stale and unhealthy. It’s past time to contain him in certainly one of these end-game performs. Both let him get the shot or make the choice to go.

Or, and it is a really wild suggestion, possibly run an motion that entails the 2 All-Stars on the roster working collectively to create a glance?

8. Numerous the above occurred within the final minute of the sport, however Boston misplaced this one simply as a lot within the second and third quarters as they did within the ultimate minute.

The Celtics bought sloppy about halfway by the second interval. They let the Jazz shut the half with momentum. The third quarter was all Utah, till Boston regained management late. Then, regardless of teammates and Joe Mazzulla yelling, Jaylen Brown misplaced observe of his inner clock:

That allowed Kris Dunn to rise up the ultimate good look of the interval and he hit a three-pointer to chop Boston’s lead again to only three factors. It was a foul and unforced turnover that led straight to a few factors for Utah. It’s usually stated that you just don’t lose a one-point recreation on the final play, however on any variety of performs all through the sport. This was an excellent instance of that idea.

9. The opposite place the place Boston struggled, and it occurred from halfway by the second quarter and onward, was towards Utah’s zone. Perhaps impressed by March Insanity, Will Hardy coached this one nearly like a school recreation. He combined in a 2-3 zone, a 1-3-1 zone, a matchup zone and a few funky double-teams on Jayson Tatum.

The outcome was Tatum was off-kilter all recreation. This was essentially the most diagnosing he’s needed to do in a recreation since final season’s playoffs.

It additionally took the Celtics a very long time to determine the Jazz zones. As soon as they did, they began to interrupt them down and bought some attractiveness. However that’s on Joe Mazzulla and the teaching employees. Certain, an odd appear like a 1-3-1 would possibly take a few performs to see, after which a name or two from the sideline to kind out. However we’re speaking minutes of gametime right here earlier than Boston discovered what was taking place. That’s an absence of preparedness, recognition and talent to determine it out on the fly that was finally deadly.

10. So…the Celtics clinched their ninth-consecutive playoff look, regardless of the loss. That’s one thing and it’s an accomplishment. Nobody will have fun it, as a result of merely making the playoffs isn’t something that anybody desires anymore. And that’s honest, but it surely’s nonetheless an accomplishment value a minimum of minimally recognizing.

There have been additionally some good issues out of this recreation. Grant Williams turned in a really robust recreation. One so good that you just wished higher for him on that ultimate play, as it could have capped off a fairytale kind of evening. Luke Kornet and Mike Muscala turned in some good minutes off the bench, together with in some bizarre lineups the place they needed to play collectively because of lack of personnel. Malcolm Brogdon is again in rhythm, and he seemed good once more too.

However all of that’s silver-lining stuff that nobody actually desires to listen to or learn. Boston might have made up a bit of extra floor on Milwaukee atop the convention, and as an alternative they get up in third place (by win proportion, regardless of having the tiebreaker over Philadelphia). There are solely 10 video games left, and as an alternative of rounding into type, the Celtics appear to limping to the end line.

On the plus aspect, Boston now has two days off and Rob Williams would possibly play on Tuesday on the Sacramento Kings to complete the street journey. And it’s a street journey the Celtics can nonetheless return house from with a 4-2 file. After a wanted day of relaxation and a much-needed apply day, Tuesday is one other likelihood in a sequence of dwindling alternatives for Boston to search out themselves once more earlier than the common season involves an in depth.