Celtics lost the game -- and a lot of credibility -- by falling asleep vs. Hawks

BOSTON -- If you want to take the big-picture view of it all, you still can. Realistically, the Boston Celtics can still make a run to the NBA Finals. They can still win a championship. All of those preseason and midseason and late-season hopes and dreams are still alive.

It's just ... if you want to talk about a Larry O'Brien Trophy after that meltdown at home against an inferior opponent missing its second-best player in a closeout opportunity, then, well, you'll have some trouble finding an ear that's eager to listen on this particular day.

By now, it has somewhat settled in that the Celtics kicked away a golden opportunity to kill the Hawks' season in just five games, allowing for some rest and preparation for Philadelphia in the second round. With Dejounte Murray suspended, Atlanta had exactly one dangerous scoring threat on the floor in Trae Young, and the Celtics still couldn't stop a 37-point fourth-quarter onslaught from the Hawks.

It was grisly, and some of the historic numbers are eye-popping.

Between the turnovers, the missed free throws, the disjointed offensive execution, the odd coaching decisions, the questionable defensive plays and a butt-ugly final play, a lot went wrong for the Celtics. Obviously. 

Yet while the Celtics lost the game, they also lost a lot of credibility.

Less than a year after letting the conference semifinals go to seven games (when Khris Middleton was injured), and less than a year after losing Game 6 of the conference finals at home to the Heat that required a trip to Miami for a nail-biting Game 7, the Celtics swore that this year was different. This year's team learned from last year's team that complacency leads to losses in the spring, so there was no room for letting up while they had their foot on the neck of the Hawks.

Veteran leader Al Horford had this to say before the game on Tuesday:

It's, for us, we learned last year, being in these positions. And this year we believe it's important that we come out with the right mindset, that's the biggest thing. We had a really good, focused shootaround today. And we have to be able to translate that to the game tonight.

...

It's helped a lot. I feel like last year we were put in so many different situations and positions as a team that we had never been in, and I feel like all that experience carried us throughout the year and now. We're in the playoffs, we have an opportunity tonight to be able to close this here at home, we know that these usually are the most difficult games, so we understand we have to be really sharp tonight.

...

I feel like we all understand what's in front of us, and our ability to win this game, that's all we're looking at right now.

...

I think to your point, more closing it tonight. For our sake, not extending the series. We have an opportunity to do it here at home. So doing that. Yeah, that would be nice, but our focus is we have to just close it tonight and make sure we play good basketball.

Two days earlier, Jayson Tatum said this:

There was a few times last year where we kind of relaxed. I would say after we beat Milwaukee in Game 4, we relaxed. We came back and lost Game 5 after being up 13 in the fourth. That came back to bite us because we had to go win two in a row. Winning Game 5 in Miami, coming back and relaxing a little bit instead of feeling like our backs were against the wall. We lost and then had to go back and win a Game 7.

We have to try not to make it tougher on ourselves by not relaxing. We need to go into [Game 5] with the mindset that we're down 3-1 and we've gotta win, not thinking it's over and theyr'e going to give up. Because it's not [over]; they have a great team, really well-coached with a lot of great players and a lot of pride.

...

We need to go in with the mindset that we have to survive. Just learn from our mistakes last year that made the road a little tougher for us.

All of that was the right thing to say. And for three quarters, the Celtics backed up their words and their thoughts. They just forgot to actually finish the job.

Tatum had a dreadful shooting night, going 8-for-21 from the field and 1-for-10 from 3-point range, and he took just two free throws on the night. While part of that muted performance was due to Jaylen Brown going off for 35 points, Tatum distinctly lacked an edge in the fourth quarter, and he had as many turnovers and fouls as shots in the final five minutes.

The Celtics star was asked directly why the play on the court did not match the urgency he had expressed days earlier. He didn't really have an answer.

"Gotta give them credit, they played well," Tatum said. "They made big-time shots at the right time. We wanted to win. We were focused. But some turnovers and 50-50 balls that kind of hurt us. I'm sure we'll watch film and talk about it."

Brown was a bit more honest, admitting that the Celtics let off the gas pedal and didn't execute, but there's still no real way to explain how a championship-caliber team let this one get away from them.

Again, big picture, the Celtics can still win this series on Thursday. They can still beat Philly in the next round. Then if it's Milwaukee (or Miami!) in the conference finals, the Celtics will be good enough to win. (Let us not forget that a much better Celtics team lost three games to a much worse Hawks team in 2008.)

But at this point, you can pretty much bank on none of the road being smooth. Despite their public statements to the contrary, the Celtics just don't know how to make life easy for themselves. If they can't win at home, against a mediocre Hawks team without Dejounte Murray, in a game they're favored to win by 13 points, in a game where they seemingly seized control with a 65-52 run over the second and third quarters, in a game where they led by 13 points with less than six minutes to play, then make no mistake: The Boston Celtics can lose any game at any time.