Forsberg: Game 5 collapse leaves Celtics with plenty to clean up originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
On Sunday night, after the Boston Celtics finished off a satisfying Game 4 win over the Atlanta Hawks, Jayson Tatum sat inside the State Farm Arena and meticulously recalled each of Boston’s letdowns that complicated the team’s path to the 2022 Finals.
“Being aware, learning from our mistakes from last year that kind of made the road a little tougher for us,” said Tatum. “And I think we’ll be ready [for Game 5].”
It seems that even those who remember the past are sometimes condemned to repeat it. This Celtics core is exceptionally talented, and yet maybe the one thing they are truly elite at is making their lives as difficult as possible.
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Forty-eight hours after Tatum’s proclamation that the Celtics would be ready, he and his Boston brothers came unglued in yet another key playoff moment. The Celtics fumbled away a double-digit lead in the final five minutes of Game 5. Instead of closing out the Hawks, Boston will head back to State Farm Arena for an unexpected Game 6 on Thursday night.
All the hallmarks of Boston’s familiar crumbles were there. Turnovers. Lack of pace. Absence of poise. Head-slapping decision making. It was enough to make you wonder how this team can possibly suggest with a straight face that they’ve learned from their past transgressions.
All of it added up to an embarrassing 119-117 defeat. Instead of launching into the Eastern Conference semifinals this weekend and forcing Philadelphia to decide what to do with an ailing Joel Embiid, Boston has work to do before it can even think about what comes next. Sixers coach Doc Rivers celebrated the extra time after Philadelphia’s practice on Wednesday.
Maybe Tuesday’s loss won’t bite the Celtics in the near term, as they have two more opportunities to close this series out. Fumbling away a 3-1 deficit is almost impossible. But the haunting feeling is that, eventually, these types of losses will come back to bite the team.
Good luck picking the most frustrating part of Boston’s Game 5 collapse. There was something for every aspect of the game:
Offense: All brakes, no gas
If the Celtics are fumbling away a double-digit lead, it always involves taking their foot off the gas. Here’s a look at all of Boston’s offensive possessions from the final five minutes:
There was a nearly three-minute stretch as Atlanta rallied to tie the game where the ball didn’t get any closer than 14 feet from the basket. Boston loves to walk the ball up the court and wait for the shot clock to inspire some offensive urgency. A bad pull-up jumper or turnover usually follows.
Turnovers were a familiar guest of every Celtics loss last postseason. Tuesday night might have given you PTSD watching Tatum and Marcus Smart threw away passes as Atlanta rallied. Smart compounded matters with an illegal screen along the way, and Brown had a tough giveaway on a drive, too.
All the missed free throws along the way sure added up, too.
Defense: Frozen by Ice Trae
The Celtics spent much of the game letting John Collins get confident by daring him to shoot from the perimeter as they kept Robert Williams III close to the basket in drop coverage. It burned them late when Collins muscled home a couple tough finishes to ignite Atlanta’s comeback.
Trae Young eventually took over. Eager to put Al Horford in isolation at every opportunity, Young hit all the big shots. Even in the biggest moment when everyone in the arena knew he was getting the ball, the Celtics couldn’t stop him from hitting a long 3-pointer to put the Hawks out front to stay.
A Boston team that made defense its calling card last season couldn’t consistently get a stop in the final five minutes. Giving up 37 points in the fourth quarter of a home closeout game won’t inspire confidence.
Coaching: Tough night for Joe Mazzulla
Let’s start by noting it’s easy to nitpick coaching decisions after a game slips away. But there were some head-scratchers here.
Blake Griffin got dusted off for his series debut in the fourth quarter and played longer into the frame than Malcolm Brogdon, who could have brought some poise to the offense. Williams III did battle foul trouble and Griffin brought energy, but it was still a curious move.
The Celtics stuck with their double big lineup late despite their offensive woes. That might have made sense if Boston was locked in defensively, but it wasn’t.
After Young made two free throws to put the Hawks up 116-115 with 15.8 seconds to go, first-year coach Joe Mazzulla elected to pocket a timeout, only to call one when Collins got whistled for a non-shooting foul with 9.5 seconds to go. play. That trimmed 6.3 seconds off the clock, which could have been mighty valuable as Boston’s final offensive possession fizzled and ended with Tatum not even getting a final heave off in time.
Bad decisions: Nothing smart here
We’re typically all for Smart being on the floor in late-game situations. He’s often an agent of chaos and his portfolio of winning plays is unrivaled.
But Smart’s decision to dive for a steal near midcourt while pestering Young with 15.8 seconds to play wasn’t ideal. Smart got whistled for a foul while colliding with Young as the Hawks guard tried to secure the ball. It put Young at the free throw line for two freebies that put Atlanta back out in front.
Tatum got whistled for a bad technical foul for swatting the ball after the whistle with 1:39 to go in a one-point game. Tatum didn’t deserve a tech at that moment but his frustrations with his poor shooting night left him vulnerable at that moment.
Tomase: Smart’s crunch-time struggles are a microcosm of what ails C’s
Ultimately, nobody could quite save the Celtics from themselves on Tuesday night. The Celtics desperately needed someone to steady them. Just about everyone failed to meet the moment.
Nothing Boston players could have said afterwards would have explained away the collapse. Nor should it make anyone feel like they’ll be better in a similar situation next time.
The Celtics simply love making their lives difficult. It bit them in the tail a year ago. And it appears that, despite what they say, they haven’t learned their lesson yet.