Query 1: Say the Boston Celtics misplaced to an Orlando Magic staff with no gamers on it. It was… (select one response)
…a statistical fluke!
…pathetic!
…deeply regarding and justification for widespread alarm — mild the lantern in Outdated North Church!
…completely regular. All groups lose sometimes.
More often than not, choice 1 and 4 are moderately and measured responses. Sometimes it’s important to hearth up reply 2, like when Boston blows a recreation at full power to the Anthony Davis-LeBron Jamesless Los Angeles Lakers, and I actually attempt to keep away from going full Paul Revere with choice 3. We attempt to preserve it easy and rational round right here (many individuals chuckle backstage).
Tonight’s loss, although, necessitates a better look. The Magic had been enjoying with virtually no person, loses all three of Mo Wagner, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner to damage and beginning two gamers named Tristan Da Silva and Trevelin Queen. The Celtics had been at full power other than one, super-seriously-important caveat: a last-second Jayson Tatum absence as a result of an sickness.
All these issues have unmeasurable impression on NBA video games: on one hand, you would say the Celtics acquired smacked within the face by a freak-Tatum illness pregame and had been unable to regulate their recreation plan; alternatively, the Celtics have a lot expertise and are skilled NBA gamers, in order that most likely mustn’t have mattered.
And it didn’t matter for the primary half. The Celtics had been assertive, dominant and performed larger. However the Tatum absence was felt big-time down the stretch, with Boston going full I-got-this mode with isolation and no passing in any way dragging the Celtics down the pit of mediocrity. The Magic proceeded to drag themselves up by their bootstraps and ascended to the identical stage of mediocrity, giving themselves an opportunity in opposition to this no matter Celtics efficiency.
I’m not mad. I’m simply dissatisfied. It may have and may have been higher, however Boston performed themselves proper right into a funk and had been unable to bounce out of it. The late-game execution was every thing this staff used to battle with, and underscored how necessary Tatum has change into for this staff. Every thing runs via him within the clutch, and the Celtics are liable to interrupt down with out him. It’s not an excuse, however it’s a cheap clarification.
For those who’re tempted to smash choice 1 and say it was a statistical fluke — the Celtics had been 8-32 from three, which is… not precisely nice — I’d advise in opposition to that. Boston performed themselves out of the sport schematically, not simply numerically. There was no motion, no intentionality and no person was taking and making threes confidently. On paper, it is sensible, however it didn’t cross the attention check. The Celtics’ failure couldn’t be defined with “oh, simply make one!”; it was deeper than that.
The Payton Pritchard quotient can be one thing to actively monitor. He struggled to attain all evening, notching a team-low -12 and sitting out the stretch even when the Celtics wanted a bucket, one thing he’s normally nice at. There appears to be a creating correlation between Pritchard enjoying effectively and the Celtics enjoying effectively, so let’s regulate that one as we get nearer to the playoffs.
Last reply? I’ll go for a mixture of 3 and 4. These losses occur, and I’m not practically as freaked out by them as I’d have been pre-Banner 18. However I’m guessing the Celtics gamers had been additionally not as freaked out, which paradoxically freaks me out a bit extra. They’re not going to have the identical desperation out there, so motivation to not do the stand-around-and-iso-ball factor must be discovered elsewhere.
Query 2 is… from the place?
