BOSTON — The Celtics are having a historic run of bad shooting luck in their first two games against the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Joe Mazzulla isn’t to blame for open shots not going in for this Boston team. However, some baffling late-game management has helped dig the Celtics into a 2-0 series hole after a stunning 91-90 Game 2 defeat Wednesday night.
The Celtics had a chance to win the game with 12 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter after Jalen Brunson sunk two go-ahead free throws. Trailing by one point, most teams around the NBA would use a timeout to advance the ball to half court, saving precious seconds on the clock. Instead, Mazzulla opted to turn to pass on a timeout and turn to his struggling All-Star to recreate the successful coast-to-coast finish on his previous possession.
“Got a good look on the exact same play 20 seconds earlier,” Mazzulla explained. “Tried to execute the exact same thing, they did a better job of their lower pick-up point, and we weren’t able to get the advantage that we had on the last Tatum dunk. So good full-court setting, they subbed out Towns, they weren’t able to sub out Brunson, had action there, and just didn’t execute.”
The failed execution and play call is one part of the discussion. However, the clock management here is another. The clock is Boston’s enemy when facing a one-point deficit, and getting multiple cracks at tying the game or taking the lead needs to be the priority.
By forcing Tatum to go full court there, the Celtics are effectively settling for one shot at the win. Bringing the ball up wasted a few precious seconds, and then Tatum was greeted by a Knicks defense that was ready to stop the drive this time around.
He didn’t even get into the paint until under five seconds and at that point, the help defense was ready to collapse with his options limited. Once Mikal Bridges got the block, the game was over as time expired. Running the play sooner maybe gives the Celtics another crack at it after some free throws.
“You don’t know that at the point of JT was driving left, thought he had a good look at an angle, didn’t shoot it,” Mazzulla said. “Ran out of time.”
The egregious part of this situation for Mazzulla is that this is the second time he’s made this mistake in a postseason game. In his rookie season, the Celtics lost Game 4 of their second round series against the 76ers when Boston failed to get a shot off in the final 17 seconds while trailing in a one-point game. Mazzulla declined to call a timeout to save time to advance the ball and get Boston organized. Ultimately, after a frantic possession, Marcus Smart’s 3-point attempt came after the buzzer.
To his credit, Mazzulla admitted his mistake a day after the Game 4 loss in 2023
“The end of overtime, I should have called (a timeout) to help us get a 2-for-1 or get a couple more possessions,” Tatum said. “With 14 seconds left down one, you want to get as many chances as you can so I’ll definitely learn from that.”
Two years later, Mazzulla didn’t learn his lesson. He put his players in a tougher spot than he needed to amid a fourth quarter when his team was shooting 20 percent from the field.
“That’s just how the game went, I guess,” Jaylen Brown said. “They made a tough defensive read at the end and we just wasn’t able to convert in the fourth quarter. That’s what it came down to. Our defense, I thought it was great. We had physicality. We had energy on defense. Our offense let us down.”
Everyone on the Celtics will need to be better for Boston to rally in this series and that includes Mazzulla after Game 2.
