Nightmarish ending snaps streak at 11
Celtics blow 22-point lead in final quarter
If Sunday’s win over the Warriors showed the Celtics at their peak, then their follow-up performance two nights later revealed there is still room to grow in order for this group to finish the job this spring.
The Celtics looked well on their way to another blowout victory on Tuesday night in Cleveland, before it all went spiraling out of control. They blew a 22-point fourth-quarter lead. Suddenly, a group that hadn’t faced adversity in over a month found some. But they couldn’t overcome it. The Cavaliers’ scorching hot finish was too much, and the Celtics’ execution waned down the stretch and in crunch time as they lost, 105-104, their first defeat since Feb. 1.
“Good loss for us,” Kristaps Porzingis told reporters in Cleveland.
“I think it’s healthy for us. We do have a feeling that we’re like, we’re going to win every game, we’re invincible. We’re going to win this game. No matter what happens, we’re like, ‘We got this.’ A little bit of that feeling is always there, which may be healthy, but it’s also healthy to get a loss here and there to recalibrate a little bit and have that attention to detail again. …
“I think it’s completely fine and I think it’s necessary for us to keep building.”
Jayson Tatum scored 26 points, but just four after halftime, to lead the Celtics, whose dominant 11game winning streak came to a shocking end to a Cavaliers team missing star guard Donovan Mitchell. Dean Wade scored 23 points, including 20 in the fourth quarter, as the Cavaliers caught fire from deep to take the lead in the final minutes, but the Celtics still had a chance.
The Celtics trailed by one with 19 seconds left after Wade’s go-ahead putback dunk and Tatum looked to make a play to win the game. Tatum dribbled the clock down and got a switch on to the smaller Darius Garland before launching a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer that missed. Garland was initially called for a foul — which would have put Tatum at the line for the winning free throws — but it was overturned after a challenge. After an ensuing jump ball at midcourt, the time ran out.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said he tried calling a timeout with 4.6 seconds left as he watched the final play unfold too slowly, but the officials didn’t see it. He emphasized that the play needed to go quicker.
“Down one in that situation, you try to get a couple more possessions and we just have to get into it faster and go faster and try to extend the game,” Mazzulla told reporters in Cleveland.
It shouldn’t have got to that point after the Celtics led by 22 with nine minutes to go. ESPN’s Analytics said the C’s had a 99.9 percent chance to win. But Mazzulla thought their execution dipped, and they started going cold as they scored just eight points over an eight-minute stretch. The Cavaliers went to a smaller lineup, and the Celtics were unable to take advantage with the usual mismatches they find.
The Cavs proceeded to take full advantage by torching them from deep, ultimately going 8-for-11 in the final period. Wade made all five of his attempts from three.
“I thought we had some really good possessions where we didn’t make the shot and then I thought we had some tough shots and credit to them,” Mazzulla told reporters. “I thought Wade played really well and they made plays down the stretch.”
Wade hit back-to-back triples in transition to bring the Cavs within three. Georges Niang drilled one to tie the game at 99, then turned to say some words to the Celtics bench after he capped a 28-6 run. Moments later, Wade hit a three to give Cleveland a 102-99 lead with 2:34 to go.
The Celtics stayed poised under the suddenly adverse situation, and certainly had their chance in the final minute. Trailing by two with 40 seconds left, Porzingis interrupted Garland’s alley-oop attempt to Jarrett Allen, then raced the other way and converted a three-point play to retake the lead. On the next possession, they nearly had a defensive stop after Garland missed a layup, but Wade cleaned it up with a putback dunk. The Cavs finished with 14 secondchance points which were a killer, but only four after halftime.
The Celtics have been better in crunch time this season than in the past, but Tuesday showed there are still some lingering problems in those situations that they haven’t quite figured out completely. Their offense stalled at times, and they struggled on the final play.
But for a team that dominated the league over the last month during its 11game winning streak, the lessons from this loss could prove more valuable down the road than if they had just coasted to another blowout victory.
“This is good,” Mazzulla said. “Regardless of whether you win or lose, you take a look at it and a lot of good situational stuff from us, whether it was end of quarters, beginning of quarters, Wade had a great offensive rebound where if we get that it’s a different game, so it’s just small things that give us an opportunity to really work on execution.”