It has to look higher than this, extra typically than this.
It is going to be higher. Mathematically, it must be. The Boston Celtics have misplaced 4 of their final six video games, however they shoot sufficient threes, have sufficient expertise and play in a weak sufficient convention so that it’s going to robotically be higher. However in Boston, we’re not on the lookout for computerized; this staff is meant to be greater than that.
I assumed we have been within the clear. The back-to-back losses to the Magic and 76ers regarded unhealthy, however then the Celtics introduced the hammer down on Indiana with a thirty-seven-point bludgeoning. No Kristaps Porzingis, no Jrue Vacation and dealing with a completely wholesome Pacers staff? No drawback. Signature win.
However Sunday noticed a return to ugly kind, replete with wildly inaccurate three-point capturing from iso-ball possessions and such nonexistent protection that I thought-about calling the Nationwide Guard. There have been cute bursts of power and proof of the Celtics’ superior physicality to their scrawny Indiana adversaries, however nothing convincing. Nothing signature. Nothing that makes me assume Banner 19 is definitely within the playing cards.
What is that this staff making an attempt to do? Drunkenly stumble towards a mediocre 54-28 file and be four-point dwelling underdogs to the Cleveland Cavaliers within the second spherical? The Celtics’ inconsistency reeks of a post-championship meals coma, and having run out of early-season adrenaline, they’re now falling to worse groups that need it extra. That’s inexcusable.
After 4 days off, Boston simply performed six video games in ten days, and their lethargy was palpable. Their two wins — post-embarrassment obliterations of the Bulls and Pacers — felt like market corrections, whereas the losses mirrored their precise power.
Derrick White is in an actual droop, it doesn’t matter what the field scores say; Jayson Tatum is unassertive and complaining; Payton Pritchard has been unable to summon his mojo when the Celtics want it most. And past his efforts, Boston’s bench is formally nonexistent.
These losses beg uncomfortable questions. Is the river lastly coming for Al Horford, who was 1-10 from three on Sunday? Can the Celtics plausibly make a deep playoff run lacking one, not to mention two, of their starters? Are they nonetheless the prohibitive favorites within the Jap Convention, as they have been for the primary two months of the season?
If I used to be compelled to take away my panic hat and reply all of these questions logically, I might say… in all probability not, in all probability sure, and nonetheless sure. All of it will get higher, as a result of that’s merely what occurs when super-talented groups hit tough patches — simply ask the Milwaukee Bucks. However it may’t simply be higher. It has to look higher.
And that wanting higher has to start out on protection, as a result of I’m undecided what this staff is making an attempt to drag meandering round towards skinny two-guards that needs to be getting bodied all the way in which to Waltham. T.J. McConnell ought to by no means have a clear layup. Bennedict Mathurin shouldn’t want one hesitation to get a clear layup. It’s arduous to stability offense and protection in a five-man lineup when Pritchard must play half-hour to get us to 110 factors, however when you’re not going to get a cease for a whole half, there needs to be clawing and biting, not confused, inconsistent sliding.
If you’re making an attempt to drag off a title protection, above-averageness culminating in a decent three seed will not be going to fly. It’s a lot more durable than successful the primary one. It’s not possible to get that dire, life-or-death feeling that pushed everybody to their maximums a yr in the past again. However the Jap Convention smells blood within the water and a staff that, with a couple of nagging accidents, has misplaced its world-destroying id. They have to get that again, and so they should make it look nearly as good as it may presumably be. As a result of proper now, they aren’t scaring anybody.
