‘It’s embarrassing:’ Boston Celtics try to grasp, explain what Heat is doing to them
Boston Celtics second team All-NBA guard Jaylen Brown called it “embarrassing.”
Coach Joe Mazzulla said he didn’t have his team “ready to play.”
First-team All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum said, “For whatever reason, we didn’t have it” in Game 3.
That the widely-favored Celtics have dropped the first three games of these Eastern Conference finals to the Heat is surprising enough. But the Celtics were at a loss to explain Sunday’s meek performance, one in which they trailed by as many as 33 points in a game they desperately needed.
Mazzulla, the first-year coach, had few answers — at least any he wanted to share publicly — after this 128-102 Heat shellacking.
On six different occasions during a late Sunday night news conference, he said essentially the same thing: “I have to be better” or “I just didn’t have them ready to play.”
One Celtics writer asked Mazzulla to explain the reason for the perceived disconnect between himself and the team.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “That’s where I need to be better, figure out what this team needs to make sure they’re connected, they’re physical and they’re together by the time we step on the floor. I didn’t execute the proper game plan.”
Mazzulla made two adjustments in Game 3, starting guard Derrick White instead of center Robert Williams and double-teaming Jimmy Butler at times, after not doing that in Games 1 and 2.
But neither decision had much impact, or could compensate for Celtics shortcomings in this series: poor Celtics three-point shooting (29 percent/31 for 106 in the series); turnovers (15 more on Sunday); an inability to limit the Heat’s supporting cast; and the failure of Brown and Tatum to rise to the moment.
“I don’t even know where to start,” Brown said. “We can point fingers. But, in reality, it’s just embarrassing. I feel we let our fan base down, our organization down. We let ourselves down.”
During the regular season, the Celtics allowed just 110.6 points per 100 possessions (second best in the league). In this series, Boston is permitting 122.4 points per 100 possessions.
“Some of the defensive identity has been lost,” Mazzulla said. “We’ve got to get that back.”
Tatum agreed: “We’ve got to be connected more. We have to do a better job of being there for one another, having each other’s back.”
The Heat is shooting 47.8 percent on three-pointers in this series (44 for 92). During the regular season, Boston allowed opponents to shoot 35 percent on threes, which ranked fourth best defensively.
“As far as our defense goes, for whatever reason, we have lost it,” Celtics center Al Horford said.
Brown then offered a backhanded compliment to the Heat: “Those guys are playing unbelievable right now. They’re balling right now. Gabe Vincent, Caleb Martin, Max Strus, Duncan Robinson, guys that we should be able to keep under control are playing their [butt] off… We didn’t match the energy. It was a complete letdown.”
The inability of the Celtics’ two All-NBA players to play up to their standards — let alone dominate — also plays a large part in Miami’s 3-0 series lead.
For the series, Tatum is averaging 26 points but shooting 25 percent on threes and has 12 turnovers compared with 11 assists.
Brown is averaging just 16.7 points (compared with 26.6 during the season) and shooting 37 percent from the field and 10 percent on three-pointers with 11 turnovers and 10 assists.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well at all,” Tatum said after shooting 6 for 18 in Game 3, with Brown shooting 6 for 17 and the two combining to miss 13 of their 14 three-pointers.
“Give them credit. They’re a really good defensive team. They play hard. They communicate. But we had a lot of open looks tonight that we normally make. For whatever reason, we didn’t have it tonight.”
None of the 149 teams down 0-3 in a best-of-7 NBA playoff series has come back to win the series.
“This series isn’t over yet,” Brown said. “It’s looking bad, but you come out, have some pride about yourself, put your best foot forward.”
Said Horford: “We’re not out yet. We are still kicking.”
And guard Malcolm Brogdon insisted Monday that “we still believe we are the better team.”
This story was originally published May 22, 2023 at 10:20 AM.
