Sunday’s final buzzer closed the door on the Boston Celtics’ fourth loss in six games — a feat that they were able to avoid all of last season. Their second outing in three days against the Indiana Pacers had a much different feel than their first.
Boston gave up seven fewer points through three quarters (98) than they did in the entirety of Friday’s dominant win (105). There was no carryover in energy after the Cs seemingly found what they’d been lacking in their Christmas Day letdown against the Philadelphia 76ers.
According to head coach Joe Mazzulla, there were other factors in play during the wire-to-wire victory in Game 1 of this back-to-back.
“I think the difference was last game, obviously, they were down (Andrew) Nembhard and they were on the second night of a back-to-back,” he told reporters. “And so tonight, I think they had, like, more points in transition in the first half than they did in the entire game (Friday). And you know, when you’re not playing well defensively, that’s on everybody. It’s on the staff, it’s on the coaches, it’s on the players. So we’ve just got to continue to work on it.”
While those factors are very real, it’s clear that Mazzulla was frustrated with his team’s output on defense in Game 2. He’s right, — Boston was beaten down the floor time after time in a game where stops were already coming few and far between. Indiana outscored the hosts 66-48 in the paint and 18-4 in fastbreak points, including this big slam from Thomas Bryant.
Not only did the Pacers capitalize on easy looks in the paint and in transition, but they used those looks to diffuse any momentum that Boston was able to put together. When you’re trying to dig your way out of a hole the way that the Cs were in, those sorts of easy buckets make it nearly impossible to do so.
Mazzulla’s team spent the first half of the fourth quarter chipping away at a seven-point Pacers lead. They had some ups and downs, but eventually managed to cut it to just two points with 7:38 to play.
In what felt like the blink of an eye, the Pacers ripped off a 9-0 run to all but ice the game, and they did it by doing what they’d done all night — paint penetration and transition.
“I mean, obviously there’s a lot of stuff that we gotta, gotta do better, we gotta improve on, and we’re gonna watch the film, and we gotta learn,” said Derrick White after Boston’s sixth home loss of the year.
Improving from mistakes has been a key part of the Celtics’ mindset for the past year and a half. Typically, it’s pretty rare for guys to have to go to the podium and echo the same “we have to better” message over and over again. It’s unfortunately been a common theme this month with the team dropping six of their last 13 games.
In order for the Cs to work their way back into the flow of things, they’re going to have to refind “competitive joy.”
“I mean, it’s just nice to know like this is a game that we got to have fun with,” White added. “Obviously, we want to play at a high level, but when we have that joy, that competitive joy that we talk about (that’s when we’re at our best). Just having fun playing the game sharing the ball, and making the right read. Some times are tough, it’s kind of like you’re running uphill. But, we’ve just gotta get back to just having that joy.”
Boston will have a chance to end 2024 with a win when they host the Toronto Raptors on New Year’s Eve. Perhaps, they’ll finish with some competitive joy.
