1. Full disclosure: This copy of the takeaway is going to be a little rambling, a bit of a rant and perhaps overly negative. This space is rarely written in first person, which means you don’t get a lot of “I think…” or “I want to…”. It was never the intention of the takeaway.
That said… I can’t today.
When Game 1 of the Boston Celtics Series 2 vs Philadelphia Seventy Sixers It ended, I was frustrated, disappointed and angry. I hoped that by sleeping on it and re-watching with less sentimental eyes in the morning, things would come into focus.
no. Frustration, disappointment, and anger will still rule the day.
I found myself starting, deleting, restarting and re-deleting the takeaway several times. Analyzing what went right and what went wrong seemed hollow and only served to heighten the general feeling of discontent.
So, instead you get this. The annoying, disruptive, hype (that’s not even a real word!) version of the takeaway we only try to write twice a year. Apologies and no hard feelings if you skip straight to game two. I wish I could.
For me, I’m disappointed with the Celtics. I’m disappointed in the Celtics. But I am angry at myself.
I am a middle aged man with a family. I should not allow a sports team to own and control my behavior in this way. Instead, I act like everything I tell our daughter not to be after losing a game. Even worse, she’s upset about a game she’s already played with a group of teammates that she loves and that they love. She has real reasons to be in her feelings.
I’m upset with a team I follow from about 1,300 miles away. I should not be so upset, but here I am in a strangely unpleasant mood on a beautiful sunny spring morning. I guess that’s life as a sports fan. We subscribe to this as children and it probably never ends until the last bell of life sounds.
In terms of the actual Celtics point of this, I guess I just have a few questions:
what was that
How did you keep doing the exact same things at the end of the close games?
Why? just why?
I have watched this play at least 50 times now. I’m looking for clarity that will never come:
Even if a shot hour violation is called, it doesn’t matter. If it’s reversed, we’d all want the Celtics to get the starting layup, too.
I’m not even mad that no one from Boston chased after Maxie. Nobody was holding him anyway.
I’m at a loss as to why any of the Celtics who have denied shots on this possession would have denied these shots. And what was Malcolm Brogdon thinking in the world? Even if he lost the watch, whatever. It happens, even if it’s a bad time for it to happen. But what the heck was that scroll? Maxi’s defense on the play was so bad that he was guarding a ghost that flew away long ago. However, Brogdon threw it his right.
What was already forgotten was Boston’s comeback straight and Jason Tatum earned two free throws to take back the lead. Then this happened:
I love Al Horford. He was one of my favorite players in the league before and after the Celtics’ second stint. But James Harden and Therese Maxey were looking for Horford at the switches throughout the bout, just as Tra Young and Djaaunt Murray did in the first round.
It’s not on Al Horford that he can’t turn into guards anymore and deal with them as easily as he can deal with Kabir. He is approximately 37 years old. Gone are those days, minus here and there.
To be fair to Joe Mazzola, he tried to pre-switch and let Horford jump (he stayed home on the baseline and others around him) for large portions of the second half. Late in the game, however, teams return to their comfort level. There isn’t even a real reason for Marcus Smart and Al Horford to switch this procedure above. They did it because that’s what they’ve always done.
And this is not good enough. Horford’s defense wasn’t that bad. He was right on the shot, as far as you can get without obstruction or fouling. But Smart may have chased Harden off shooting something off balance and later lunged at the clock.
Or, Smart could have fought through the screen, while Horford hedged, and they could have forced Harden to drop it. Someone else would have run in to show Harden the second body. There were a number of things that could have been done that didn’t involve the Sixers MVP offering a dagger.
moving in …
The Celtics still have a chance. They were only twice ahead with 8.4 seconds on the clock, so they had plenty of options. This is what they did:
It’s hard to blame Marcus Smart for trying to cut out Jason Tatum for the sake of ease. But it’s very clear that either this wasn’t what it was called or someone just missed what it was called. Either way, Jayson Tatum wasn’t on the same page as Smart and it was another bad spin.
Here is the other killer. It was the Celtics’ fourth turnover after a break in action. Three of them were involved in ATO plays and one came in the opening quarter. This is incredibly sloppy and can’t happen in a playoff.
So, my frustration comes with all this neglect. Everything is pretty much non-coercive and just messy.
My disappointment comes with the Celtics publicly admitting that they relaxed when they found out Joel Embiid was out for the 76ers.
I’m disappointed that Jaylen Brown saw exactly three shots after a big first quarter, including only two in the fourth quarter. And yes, he had some bad turnovers, but those came in the third quarter. Brown needed to see the ball late. This is on him and his teammates and Mazzola.
I’m disappointed that Boston found a way to lose a game where they shot 58.7% from the field and beat their opponent by 10.
I’m disappointed the Celtics turned it over 16 times and let the Sixers shoot 50.6% from the floor.
I’m disappointed Boston dressed again late in the fourth quarter with the same things we’ve hated for at least four years, under three different coaches.
I’m angry too. But I’m not mad at the Celtics.
I’m angry at myself.
Like I said, I’m angry that I let this affect me as much as it did. But mostly, I’m angry because I expect him to change and be different. I’m Charlie Brown and the Celtics play Lucy in football. I still hope I can kick it, but it’s just when I believe in it the most that the Celtics pull away from it and end up on my back wondering why I trusted them in the first place.