Tell me if you’ve heard this one before. After returning from a successful road trip, the Boston Celtics fell flat at home.
Thursday’s beatdown at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks marked the third-straight letdown for the Cs in this very spot.
3-1 western trip…blown out at home by Sacramento.
3-1 western trip…lose at home to Houston
3-0 road trip…down 21 after 3 at home to Dallas.
— Sean Grande (@SeanGrandePBP) February 7, 2025
The Stay Ready group made things interesting in the fourth quarter, but this game was anything but close. The Mavericks were in complete control for the majority of the night.
Boston’s stars didn’t really have it, and the bench gave them nothing until they were down by 27 points.
Dallas’ lead grew as the game went on and it felt like anytime Boston took a step forward, they’d also take two steps back.
For example, there was a defensive possession late in the third quarter where Payton Pritchard blocked Kyrie Irving’s shot on the perimeter. When the shot got blocked, the crowd found energy that they’d been lacking for the entire night, and Pritchard took off on a fast break.
It was a great chance for the Celtics to try and use the momentum to vault back into the game.
Instead, Pritchard almost immediately had the ball stolen from him, and Dallas went down and immediately scored.
This game was full of moments like this where the Cs simply couldn’t get out of their own way. They consistently shot themselves in the foot with turnovers and missed layups, which head coach Joe Mazzulla considers equivalent to turnovers because they put the team at a disadvantage in the same manner.
The fact that we all watched this sort of performance from the Celtics after they swept their recent road trip is equally as surprising as it is not.
On one hand, you’d think that they’d be able to carry that momentum upon returning to TD Garden. This was a nationally televised NBA Finals rematch after all. The building had great energy and the team on the other side of the floor had something to prove. It’s just a shame that the Cs didn’t feel the same way.
At the same time, the letdown loss at home has become a trend for this group.
I don’t know what it is, but they just don’t win games there like they did last season when they logged a record of 37-4. All of a sudden, they’ve become gracious hosts for all visitors and are 16-10 this year at TD Garden.
Dallas played a great game. They shot 55% from the field and 45% from long range. There’s no disputing that they were dialed in. It’s going to happen. Teams are going to come into town with something to prove, but Boston needs to get back to being up for the challenge.
Now we’ve reached a point where sometimes they’re up for it, and sometimes they’re not. Thursday was the latter.
I don’t think this is the sort of game that should be overreacted to. It shouldn’t ruin your week or hinder your belief in this team. It just feels like they’re bored, just like they were bored when the Sacramento Kings came to town last month and when the Houston Rockets were here last week.
It felt like a lack of focus held them back in those games when they fell apart in a pair of fourth quarters, just as it did against Dallas when they missed layups and coughed the ball up.
