{"id":6949,"date":"2024-11-13T09:54:53","date_gmt":"2024-11-13T09:54:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949"},"modified":"2024-11-13T09:54:53","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T09:54:53","slug":"breaking-there-was-little-mystery-as-to-why-this-loss-caught-up-to-the-celtics-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: There was little mystery as to why this loss caught up to the Celtics"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n\n
\n
Keaton Wallace, a two-way contract guard playing in his 10th NBA game and making his first start, looked stunned as he dribbled unimpeded into the paint, seemingly waiting for resistance.<\/span><\/p>\n
No one bothered to challenge the 6-foot-4-inch point guard as he flipped in an easy layup in the final minute when the Atlanta Hawks desperately needed a bucket.<\/span><\/p>\n
It was a prime example of the Celtics\u2019 lackadaisical and lazy play Tuesday at TD Garden.<\/span><\/p>\n
On their biggest defensive sequence of the game to that point, they allowed an uncontested layup. They refused to protect the rim. They made silly turnovers with apathetic passes that were downright disrespectful to the Atlanta defense.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n
<\/main><\/section>\n<\/div>\n
And when they desperately needed a bucket in the final 40 seconds, they had nothing left. They inexcusably lost, 117-116, to the shorthanded Hawks after blowing a 15-point third-quarter lead.<\/p>\n
The Hawks were without All-Star guard Trae Young, yet the Celtics were outplayed, outhustled and outcoached by an inferior opponent.<\/p>\n
\n
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nAtlanta’s Garrison Mathews (left) steals the ball from Celtics star Jaylen Brown in the third quarter of the Hawks’ upset victory Tuesday at TD Garden. Danielle Parhizkaran\/Globe Staff<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
The Celtics\u2019 chances of reaching the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup are now damaged, so much so they\u2019ll probably have to win their final three games to have a chance at the quarterfinals, which includes a matchup against the undefeated Cavaliers.<\/p>\n
And they finally paid for their defensive slippage, lack of rim protection, and stretches of halfhearted play that\u2019s plagued them over the past two weeks. Boston committed 20 turnovers, yielded 20 offensive rebounds, and 38 Atlanta second-half points in the paint.<\/p>\n
The Hawks used their size and physicality to exploit the Celtics\u2019 softness in the middle. Rim protection and defense is becoming an issue. The Hawks inside duo of Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu were a combined 15-for-22 shooting with 10 offensive rebounds.<\/p>\n
They bullied any Celtic brave enough to stand in their path, or they cross-matched and simply shot over smaller players.<\/p>\n
The Celtics may be off to a respectable 9-3 start, but they are a team with issues to address. They have to be tougher, they have to rebound better, and they have to punch first.<\/p>\n
Once again, they began this game sluggishly only to find a way to take control, and then allow their arrogance to coast once they owned a 15-point lead midway through the third quarter.<\/p>\n
The Celtics thought the upstart Hawks were done, but Atlanta kept pushing, kept attacking the paint with no resistance, and then grew more confident. The Celtics\u2019 approach in the second half was borderline disrespectful toward their opponent.<\/p>\n
After the game, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was brief but not exactly fuming. In his own peculiar way, he appeared to accept his team is far from a finished product, that they have glaring weaknesses, and perhaps the embarrassing loss could serve as a reason for re-emphasis on the little things, especially toughness.<\/p>\n
\nCeltics coach Joe Mazzulla (left), sharing a word with guard Jrue Holiday, said his team were outplayed in every facet of the game in Tuesday’s loss to Atlanta. Danielle Parhizkaran\/Globe Staff<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cThey outplayed us at every facet of the game, beat us on all the [statistical] margins. They deserved to win the game,\u201d Mazzulla said. \u201cThey played harder and they played more physical than we did. They got 20 offensive rebounds and forced us into 20 turnovers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lesson here is the Celtics are beatable, especially when they\u2019re not making threes at a 50 percent clip. Mazzulla loves to point out the \u201cmargins,\u201d meaning shot attempts, 3-point attempts, assists, and turnovers. The Hawks won because they attempted 25 more shots, thanks to those offensive rebounds and Celtics turnovers.<\/p>\n
The Celtics are last in the NBA in points in the paint because they lack a dominant post presence, and 56.5 percent of their shots are 3-pointers. But they\u2019re 23rd in the NBA in paint points allowed; meaning teams are gashing their defense with twos on a nightly basis.<\/p>\n
And the Celtics have to make those twos more difficult. If not, they\u2019re relying mostly on 3-point shooting to win.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey got rebounds and layups on everybody, bigs, smalls, mediums\u201d Mazzulla said. \u201cThey just outplayed us at both ends of the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked if the Celtics need to improve their rim protection, Mazzulla said: \u201cAbsolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n
The locker room was silent after the game. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum know they both need to be better. Brown scored 37 points but missed three key free throws in the fourth quarter and committed six turnovers. Tatum still doesn\u2019t appear 100 percent after spraining his ankle on that non-call Sunday in Milwaukee, and then tweaked it again on a blocked shot of Larry Nance Jr. with 4:29 left.<\/p>\n
He labored after that play and went without a field goal in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s already tough to win in this league. And when you give them second and third opportunities and you turn the ball over instead of getting a shot up, it makes it tougher on you,\u201d Tatum said. \u201cWe just let go of the rope at the end of the third and gave them light and we just made it a ballgame.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nIt was a battle for Jayson Tatum Tuesday at TD Garden, as he was just 5 for 16 shooting, and didn’t score a bucket in the fourth quarter, as Atlanta rallied for an upset win. Danielle Parhizkaran\/Globe Staff<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
There will be no rest. The Celtics play again Wednesday against the same Brooklyn team that pushed them to overtime Friday by playing harder and wanting it more. The Celtics have to regain their toughness. They have to be more physical and imposing. They have to get back to diving for loose balls and matching their opponent\u2019s intensity.<\/p>\n
They have to chill on the arrogance and play with the same desire and passion they did throughout last season.<\/p>\n
\u201cMentally, we were too careless,\u201d Brown said. \u201cThis displayed that we weren\u2019t in synch like we normally were, so we\u2019ve got to be better at that. We didn\u2019t fight how we normally do. This is part of the journey, but we\u2019ve got some stuff to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not a perfect team. It\u2019s a new season, a new journey, and we\u2019re looking forward to embracing those moments.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Keaton Wallace, a two-way contract guard playing in his 10th NBA game and making his first start, looked stunned as he dribbled unimpeded into the paint, seemingly… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6841,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n
BREAKING: There was little mystery as to why this loss caught up to the Celtics - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: There was little mystery as to why this loss caught up to the Celtics - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Keaton Wallace, a two-way contract guard playing in his 10th NBA game and making his first start, looked stunned as he dribbled unimpeded into the paint, seemingly...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-13T09:54:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-103.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MsNga\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MsNga\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949\",\"name\":\"BREAKING: There was little mystery as to why this loss caught up to the Celtics - News 365\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-103.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-13T09:54:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-13T09:54:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b1c32261ea7c1375bc99d782277ee798\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-103.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-103.jpg\",\"width\":1300,\"height\":1500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BREAKING: There was little mystery as to why this loss caught up to the Celtics\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"News 365\",\"description\":\"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b1c32261ea7c1375bc99d782277ee798\",\"name\":\"MsNga\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b3e1c10558dfaf162a998dc15535744ef38d91fd35d4fed1d170bd077977aa6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b3e1c10558dfaf162a998dc15535744ef38d91fd35d4fed1d170bd077977aa6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MsNga\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?author=4\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BREAKING: There was little mystery as to why this loss caught up to the Celtics - News 365","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BREAKING: There was little mystery as to why this loss caught up to the Celtics - News 365","og_description":"Keaton Wallace, a two-way contract guard playing in his 10th NBA game and making his first start, looked stunned as he dribbled unimpeded into the paint, seemingly...","og_url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949","og_site_name":"News 365","article_published_time":"2024-11-13T09:54:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1300,"height":1500,"url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-103.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"MsNga","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MsNga","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949","name":"BREAKING: There was little mystery as to why this loss caught up to the Celtics - News 365","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-103.jpg","datePublished":"2024-11-13T09:54:53+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-13T09:54:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b1c32261ea7c1375bc99d782277ee798"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-103.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-103.jpg","width":1300,"height":1500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6949#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BREAKING: There was little mystery as to why this loss caught up to the Celtics"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/","name":"News 365","description":"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b1c32261ea7c1375bc99d782277ee798","name":"MsNga","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b3e1c10558dfaf162a998dc15535744ef38d91fd35d4fed1d170bd077977aa6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b3e1c10558dfaf162a998dc15535744ef38d91fd35d4fed1d170bd077977aa6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MsNga"},"url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?author=4"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6949"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6951,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6949\/revisions\/6951"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"The](\"https:\/\/bostonglobe-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/CKR5CWPLIUVR4GOSDC2WHLFGIY.JPG?auth=c8f62c6e398d8cae68325d72717eaa73c864e1902b8c1f243e8dcfe9d2518f9e&width=1440\")
<\/p>\n![\"There](\"https:\/\/bostonglobe-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/52PGYEI4IZAGZX4GX3HNAFHF4A.JPG?auth=e972141b684f16981140ab96527ca742bc9078adc831089ed494d9476ab1047a&width=1440\")
![\"There](\"https:\/\/bostonglobe-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/DQR35FWGFJOA6CLKMKNRW7Z7Y4.JPG?auth=9ae79890f63f9b6c71410dbeaef49b1b75e4690c78434d810fd546a49a4ad7b3&width=1440\")
![\"There](\"https:\/\/bostonglobe-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/2H7BOLSSR63E7U2OBUBDA4PJJQ.JPG?auth=93e3936e25921a3b8ce028b47b8e7862956f13b73cbc31ac0bbd9f45271972e4&width=1440\")