Celtics Get A Nice Reminder That It's Not Always Going To Be Easy
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Celtics had a chance to clinch a real playoff spot and retake possession of first place in the East on Wednesday night. Instead, they got a bit of a wakeup call courtesy of the Miami Heat.
Wednesday night's tilt at TD Garden had all the ingredients of a postseason matchup, filled with several lead changes, passionate play and lots and lots of complaining to the officials. It was the latter that had Celtics head coach Ime Udoka displeased with his team following Boston's 106-98 loss.
Plain and simple, the Celtics lost their composure several times during the defeat. They folded down the stretch, causing flashbacks to the team's dismal start of the season. Just about everything has been easy for the Celtics over the last several months, but the Heat did not make anything easy on them Wednesday. And the Celtics did not handle that well.
The Celtics were outscored 27-15 in the fourth quarter as the Heat stifled them with their zone defense. Boston let Miami go on a 12-3 run to erase a five-point Boston advantage. After a Derrick White three made it a one-point game, 97-96, with 4:21 to play, the Celtics went bucket-less on six straight possessions. Those fruitless possessions included a Marcus Smart offensive foul, Jayson Tatum getting blocked by Max Strus at the rim, and Jaylen Brown missing a bunny.
Kyle Lowry turned that Brown block into a fadeaway, and then Brown fell victim to another Strus block. That rejection led to an easy breakaway dunk by Jimmy Butler to put Miami on top 102-96 with 1:43 to go. That was pretty much it for the Celtics, who went 1-for-4 the rest of the way.
Smart let his frustration boil over and let the referees know. He was ejected in the final seconds. Tatum was also hit with a technical in the first half when his jawing at the officials went on a little too long. Arms were flailing nearly every time the Celtics missed a layup, which happened pretty often.
Missing bunnies and focusing more on the zebras were just two of the issues that Boston had in the loss. Their 18 turnovers, leading to 18 Miami points, was another. So were the six free throws that Boston missed.
It was a sloppy night for the Celtics, and a reminder that nothing is going to be easy when the playoffs roll around. Though frustrated by the 48 minutes, the Celtics believe this little wakeup call will make them better going forward.
"Every game is not going to be easy," Udoka said of his postgame message to the team. "You aren't going to win every game by 20 points, but keeping your composure when you miss some shots or there are some non-calls, playing through that -- this was a good test playoff-wise. This is what it's going to be like coming up in a few weeks here, so every game is not easy."
"It's a good thing for us to learn from," said Tatum, who had 23 points, six assists and five rebounds on the night. "The season is not decided today. We've still got games to play, playoffs. So, we'll be good."
It wasn't all doom and gloom for the Celtics on Wednesday night. Brown was cooking for much of the evening, leading the charge with 28 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Daniel Theis was solid in Boston's first real glimpse of life without Rob Williams, with the fill-in big man hitting all six of his shots for 15 points.
And while they missed out on a chance to retake first place, the Celtics can still clinch that real playoff spot with a win over the Pacers on Friday night. The worst Boston can finish is seventh in the East, but things would have to go terribly, horribly wrong over the final five games of the season for such a fall in the standings to occur. Boston is currently fourth in the conference, percentage points behind the Philadelphia 76ers for third, one game behind the second-place Bucks, and now two games back of the first-place Heat. Boston sits 2.5 games ahead of the Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors, and 4.5 games ahead of the play-in Cavaliers.
Wednesday's loss stings. It was a missed opportunity for the Celtics, and it brings back those bad memories from October to December. But the Celtics are going to use it as a learning experience, one they hope will make them stronger when the postseason arrives.
"It was good for our team to be in this position," Horford said of Wednesday night's slugfest. "They're a playoff team and this is a great time for us to continue to find ways to get better. You always obviously want to win, but I just think it's good. We haven't been in one of these in a while in the fourth and I think for us, the key is gonna be looking at this game [Thursday], seeing how we can improve and get better, and move on."
It wasn't always going to be sunshine and rainbows, and hopefully, the Celtics got any bad juju out of their system on Wednesday night.