A sad state of affairs
No excuses for Celts and their 0-2 hole
It was written in this space before this series that, No. 1 seed be damned, the Celtics were the thirdbest team in the Eastern Conference, and they’d struggle with Washington to occupy even that rung on the ladder.
It was said here, too, that life would be different in the playoffs when teams focus their defense and there would be no series, first round included, in which the Celts would cruise.
Granted all that, an 0-2 deficit on their home court to the Bulls is nothing less than stunning. We should take into account the tragedy of Isaiah Thomas’ sister’s passing and the residual effect on the Celts in Game 1.
But while there can be no way to understate or even fully understand what this has done to Thomas, whose 33-point series opener was followed by a very uneven 20 in last night’s 111-97 loss, there is no kind way to explain the way the club played on both ends of the Garden. Too hurried on offense. Too slow on defense.
“A lot of times in transition, I think we’re just trying to get, down 10, trying to get the game back in one play,” said coach Brad Stevens. “I felt like that in the first half. But I think obviously we’re going to have to play more purposeful offense that will help our defense. And then the defensive rebounding’s an issue.” Still. The Celtics gave up just one offensive rebound in the second half, but there weren’t as many available when the Bulls were shooting 56.8 percent. Besides, they pulled down 10 caroms on that end in the first half to make their point and their points.
That the Bostonians would play like this was not expected by any means. They embarrassed themselves in this one, fighting back to even from double figures down and giving it up again with Robin Lopez going for 18 points on 8-11 shooting and some inexplicable unforced turnovers.
It was, in a word, unacceptable.
It’s not that the Celtics are a bona fide power. We get that. They are a team still in serious rebuilding mode that came upon their standing prematurely. They showed up for brunch still dressed in their pajamas.
But last night they weren’t even cohesive. So troubling was their play that Stevens was left to reach for something that might work. Among the few bright spots was Terry Rozier, who didn’t get off the bench in Game 1. Tyler Zeller sat out the first half and started the second.
These weren’t the Celts we had seen in the regular season, and while, as we said, we knew it would be different now . . . well, not this different.
To an extent, as well, the lads from Chicago weren’t quite what they appeared as they walked into this series. They are Bulls in No. 8 seed’s clothing. They are far from the team that left a chalk outline on the parquet when suffering a 20-point loss here on March 12 that wasn’t that close. Afterward they were asked had they quit on the season as they fell to 10th in the conference.
Last night, the quit quotes were on the other foot.
“I looked around and a few times in the game guys were putting their heads down, I think getting down on themselves,” said Avery Bradley. “But as a team we have to stay together. The other team is looking at that. They’re using that as motivation for themselves. I could even hear (Rajon) Rondo like, ‘Yeah, they gave up. They gave up.’ But you never can let a team see that. You have to continue to be positive and go out there and play hard no matter what the outcome is.”
That seemed beyond the Celts’ ability last night. The Bulls would hit them with a flurry whenever they made noise, a fact evident from the start when the C’s scored the game’s first seven points and looked up two minutes later to see it even after Chicago’s 9-2 reply.
But where you could expect that veterans of AllStar games Jimmy Butler, Dwyane Wade and Rondo could arise and create a problem, it is quite a different matter when Bobby Portis eats your lunch in Game 1 and Paul Zipser fills that role in Game 2
“The Zipsers, (Nikola) Mirotic, Portis — those guys have had huge impacts on the first two games of this series,” said Stevens. “I mean, I expect it from Wade, right? I mean, I think we all do. Last year I think he hit less than 10 3’s during the regular season and then more than that in the first round of the playoffs. Like, this is who he is. And it’s who Rondo’s been throughout his career. I mean, the level that he’s playing at is terrific. And then Butler’s Butler. But those other guys are really impacting the series in a big way.”
And the Celtics are not. The Thomas situation is real life stuff and exists on a level above basketball.
But when we look simply at the latter, the Celtics have been found wanting, and they will have to live with this if they do not go to Chicago and acquit themselves better.
“You can’t make any excuses,” said Bradley. “Obviously it’s heavy on everyone’s heart what happened to Isaiah and his family, and we were there for Isaiah. But we can’t continue to say that’s the reason. We just want to be there for him, continue to be there, and play hard.
“At the end of the day we should want to play hard for each other and for him. Like, we can’t sit there and keep saying, ‘Oh, we’re down because too much is going on.’ We have to play hard no matter what.
“You go through a lot throughout a season. You’re going to face a lot of adversity. And the best teams overcome any type of adversity.
“And that’s what type of team we need to be.”
Bad enough they’re not that, the Celtics have taken to creating their own adversity. And that they cannot explain.