Cedric Maxwell On Sports Final: Rare 'Lack Of Effort' Doomed Celtics In Game 4
BOSTON (CBS) -- Another game in the Verizon Center, another ugly loss for the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics held a lead early in the second half of Sunday night's Game 4, but then Washington ripped off a 26-0 run and rolled the rest of the way to an easy 121-102 victory. The series is now tied up 2-2 with Game 5 set for Wednesday night back in Boston.
Celtics radio analyst Cedric Maxwell joined WBZ-TV's Dan Roche on Sunday night's edition of Sports Final to break down Boston's Game 4 loss, and said the Celtics played with an uncharacteristic lack of effort.
"You don't [often] say that about a Brad Stevens team. What [the Wizards] did, they killed you on the boards and dominated that way; [the Celtics] didn't play smart," said Max. "When you give up second-chance opportunities over and over again that isn't about being helpless, that isn't trying or getting on the boards or not dominating. The Celtics are good enough to be close in the rebounding differential. When you have a 20 differential in rebounding or second-chance opportunities, you can't beat any team, especially on their home floor like that."
Washington held a 54-39 edge on the glass on Sunday night, and they've now gone on 26-0, 22-0 and 16-0 runs during the series. Max said Brad Stevens doesn't have to make any big changes to his lineup or rotation heading into Wednesday night's Game 5, but runs like that cannot happen on the Celtics' home floor.
"You have an advantage going home and playing in front of your crowd. But if you want that Celtics crowd to get behind, you have to have max effort on the glass, defending the basketball, getting back and getting all those 50-50 ball. [In Game 4] I'd say Washington got 90 percent of those 50-50 balls," he said.
Watch the full interview in the video above, and tune in to Sports Final and Sports Final OT every Sunday night at 11:35 p.m. on WBZ-TV!
