Even When The Celtics Lose, They Somehow Still Find A Way To Make NBA History

Stacy Revere. Getty Images.

After the back to back losses against the Hawks a few weeks ago, in that blog I talked about what a weird place this is to be as a fan watching a team that technically hasn't played a game with seedings implications in months. You don't really know what to put stock into, how much players are actually trying, how much of it is avoiding injury, and really the only thing that you truly care about is health. 

But after those ATL losses and then again after last night, it feels like the fact that these games are technically meaningless to the standings has been used as a crutch to excuse poor play, and that's simply something I cannot do.

Yes, this game last night had zero implications for the Celtics, but I disagree with the notion that the Celtics "weren't trying". I saw a lot of that talk after the game last night and I couldn't disagree more. Were the rotations different than normal? Sure. Now is the time to try shit and be safe. But I'm also pretty certain that had the Celts won this game, there wouldn't be this idea that they "didn't care" or "didn't try".

No, they tried. They just got outplayed.

Just like against the Hawks, these games having no significance in the standings does not excuse playing bad basketball. The reality is in both of those losses and then again last night we saw the things that tend to lose the Celtics playoff games. Poor defense, not guarding the 3pt line, opponent OREB, TOs, the stars laying eggs etc. Add in the fact that last night pretty much went the exact same way as the previous meeting in MIL and I don't think this is something you chalk up to "these games don't matter".

If anything, they are a reminder that this team can get got on any given night. Other teams are pretty good too, and everyone is going to be extra motivated to kick your ass given the season the Celts have had. 

Does it boil down to one team being desperate and one team just trying to get to the end of the year? Probably to some degree. At the end of the day, these guys are human. But I'm just not someone who takes the stance that the wins to end the year count and the losses can be ignored all because the seeding has been locked up for weeks. That's not how it works to my brain, they all matter. 

With that said, let's dive in.

The Good

- If we're being honest, there wasn't a whole lot to love in what ended up being the lowest scoring game of the Celtics season. I'm not even sure who you could say played well….maybe Tatum? His 3rd quarter was the main reason the Celts got back into this game for a second

and he was 9-19 (4-9) overall while leading the team in assists, but it wasn't exactly the best we've ever seen him play. Considering he played 37 minutes, that's sort of why I push back on the whole "the Celtics weren't trying" angle. If that were the case, why the hell did Tatum get close to 40 minutes? 

I will say I did like that Tatum didn't settle for 3PA and actually was aggressive, even if the calls never came. That's going to be the approach we need in a few weeks. 

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- I honestly don't even know what else to put in this section. I guess the Luke Kornet 3PM was fun

But if I'm sitting here talking about a Luke Kornet 3 in this section, that pretty much tells you everything you need to know. We can move on.

The Bad

- Let's start with the first quarter shall we? If you remember, in the January 11th ass whooping in MIL, the Bucks won the first quarter 41-23, shot 65/66% splits, and went 6-9 from deep. The Celts on the other hand shot 34/12% going 1-8 from deep, and the Jays started 3-11 (0-2). The game was essentially over in a blink of an eye.

Last night, the Bucks won the first quarter 37-21, shot 73/80% splits, and went 8-10 from deep. The Celts on the other hand shot 30/35% and 5-14 from deep, and the Jays started 2-11 (1-4). The game was essentially over in a blink of an eye.

In this loss, the main culprit was Brook Lopez going 4-5 from deep, but no Buck in the first quarter missed more than 1 shot. It was as poor a defensive start as you could possibly have. When the Celts weren't giving up open 3s, they were providing no real resistance on MIL drives, and they had all sorts of problems figuring out how to stop Giannis at the rim. 

If you look at this entire season, 2 of the top 3 points allowed in the first quarter by the Celts all year have come in these two road MIL losses. 41 on 1/11 and 37 last night. 

The concern here is that in a playoff game, you have to be locked in defensively from the jump. One bad quarter is all it can take, and I didn't exactly love the idea of "baiting" wide open Bucks players to shoot 3s on a night where it was very clear they had it going from deep. While I don't think that's the approach we'll see in a playoff setting, it was a nice reminder of what can happen if you aren't ready to go defensively. You can blink and be down 19 on the road in an instant.

- We saw what things look like without a stretch five on the floor, and the results were certainly not good. While there's a lot to like with Xavier Tillman, it's pretty clear Joe cannot really play him against teams with a legit rim protector. Teams will simply not guard him in favor of shutting down the paint/driving lanes and live with the results of him shooting a 3PA, which isn't all that great.

Look at where Lopez/Giannis are on all of these plays while Tillman is on the floor

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This is why players like Horford and KP are so important. The spacing they provide allows everything else about the Celtics offense to flourish. Lopez and Giannis can't camp out in the paint and force the Celts to basically play 4 on 5. This isn't exactly a new problem, and largely why Brad went out and got KP in the first place. 

At no point did we see the Celts play Lopez off the floor, because defensively he was allowed to play to his strengths. The Bucks made sure to trap Tatum and funnel everything to Lopez at the rim, which is where he's at his best. Compare that to the games where he has to check Al/KP from 35ft, and things obviously look a lot different.

In the playoffs, your weaknesses will get targeted. So, if the Celts throw out a non-shooter, they become much easier to guard, especially against a team that might be a little older and slower defensively. You're doing them a favor by allowing them to sit back and clog things up. It's no surprise that Jaylen/Tatum had tough nights driving the basketball and finishing at the rim, and that all can go back to the lack of spacing.

- I'm not sure what else to feel other than concern when it comes to Holiday facing his old team. This was now Game 3, and this season Holiday is putting up just 7.7/6.3/2.7 while shooting 8-30 (3-15) from the floor against MIL. That's good for 26/20%. I don't care what "role" he has in that offense, that is nowhere close to good enough.

If you go through his season, there have been a decent amount of stinkers from Holiday in these high profile games against good teams. Struggled against MIN, struggled against DEN, struggled against MIL and OKC etc. Overall I think his season has been tremendous, but for a guy whose #1 question is about him being a playoff dropped offensively, I can't say performances like last night give you a ton of confidence. Even in a reduced offensive role, we can't be having 26/20%. 

- Yet another game where the Celts were absolutely demolished on the glass. The rebounding total ended up being 49-38, but it certainly felt worse. Granted no KP/Al factor into that, but it really wasn't all that different from the ATL losses where they were manhandled on the glass. 

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In no world while playing with no centers is it acceptable for Tillman to play 18 minutes and finish with 0 rebounds. Luke Kornet only had 2 rebounds in his 20 minutes. Tatum only having 5 in his 36 minutes was a little concerning too. You know the Bucks have size, you know you're shorthanded, so that means it has to be a collective effort on the defensive glass. 

When the Celts made their run and cut it to 11 entering the 4th, what did we immediately see? Bobby Portis 4th quarter OREBs which turned into points. 

- It doesn't happen often, but this was about as close to a no show from Derrick White as we've seen all season. Just 3-10 (3-9) from the floor, only 3 AST and then defensively it wasn't nearly the level we've come to expect. Not being able to shut down any Bucks guard was a tad concerning, and it goes back to what we always say when it comes to this roster.

When the Celts get elite guard play, they are nearly unbeatable. When the guard play stinks, everything snowballs. So to get two eggs from both Jrue/White at the same time the Jays are also struggling and the team is without KP, well yeah, that's how you get your ass kicked.

The Ugly

- Easily the worst Jaylen performance in months. Not just the poor shooting (7-19,0-6), but also the level of CTE basketball we saw him play. He was careless with the ball (5 TOs), repeatedly drove into traffic/crowds, and never really snapped out of it. 

I don't think this was a case of Jaylen not trying to not going 100% because the game didn't matter. I just think he played like shit. He shot the ball poorly to start, tried to force things in an effort to get out of his funk and it only compounded his struggles.

To me, this is what matters for the playoffs. There are going to be stretches where shots don't fall. The question will be if Jaylen can find a way to avoid making things 1000x worse by trying to do too much. There are other ways to impact a game and get out of your slump than forcing things offensively, especially against a team with length at the rim. 

As we know this team will only go as far as their best players are able to take them, and it's at the point where no shows like this in big games can't happen. 

- 91 points on 38/32% is about as gross as it gets. Especially when on the other end you're doing a terrible job of limiting open looks for MIL. 

- You know, it is funny that even in losses, the Celtics still find ways to make NBA history

This was by far the craziest part about this game. Not only the Celtics becoming the only team ever to take 0 FTA in a game, but the fact that the Bucks as a team only took 2 FTA as well. I get having a "playoff whistle", but that is not what we saw last night on both sides. The Bucks are 21st in the league in fouls per game, but I'm to believe they committed just 4 fouls last night and zero of them were shooting fouls?

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Honestly, this was just a case of the refs taking things way too far. Nobody wants touch fouls, but nobody also wants you to stop calling things that are blatant fouls. You could find a handful of plays for both teams that weren't even cheap fouls that go away in the playoffs, but real actual fouls that should definitely be called.

So while it's fun to make jokes about, the fact that there is still ZERO consistency across the league when it comes to officiating is a problem. Who on earth would ever envision a MIL/BOS game with 2 combined FTA? That seems physically impossible given how both teams play.

- Hey, the Celts dared Pat Bev to make his shots and he not only buried them, he buried the Celts. Credit to where credit is due, he was the best guard on the floor last night and that's not hyperbole. 

From the Celts perspective, that cannot happen and isn't all that different from the time he lit them up for 27 while on the Sixers.

- Largest deficit was 24, only 2 lead changes and 1 tie. That's as clear of a wire to wire ass kicking as you'll see.

The good news is everyone walked away healthy. The bad news the team played like shit and ultimately paid the price for it. No big deal in terms of the big picture, but not an effort and process that will be successful once the games matter. Just get through these last 3 meaningless games and we can all start to focus on what truly matters. I imagine we'll see the regulars for at least one more, and then it should be the Maine Celts/Hospital Celts to close things out. 

So while you shouldn't get worked up over last night's game, I also wouldn't completely ignore what we saw. They all matter to some degree, even if the standings don't reflect it.