Celtics Don't Understand Why They're Down 0-2 To Knicks, 'Believe Their Process Is Working'

[RealGM Wiretap]

The Boston Celtics have lost both Games 1 and 2 at home to the New York Knicks after blowing 20-point leads in each. The Celtics were 4-0 against the Knicks during the regular season and were a popular pick to comfortably beat New York in the series to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Now, the Celtics will need to win four out of five games and are flummoxed that they're not up 2-0.

"They're having difficulty coming to terms with what it is happening," said Brian Windhorst on Get Up in describing the vibes in the Celtics' locker room after falling down 0-2. "They don't understand why they're losing. They believe their process is working. They believe they're generating good shots. They are doing the recipe that delivered them the championship and 61 wins. And they are not getting the bake out of the oven like they are used to.

"Obviously, there's variance with shooting this doesn't make sense to them. They feel like they're doing a good job on Jalen Brunson. He's only shooting 35 percent in the series. They want Mikal Bridges taking all those contested jumpers as he made in the fourth quarter. He's shooting 29 percent in the series, but they're losing. They're at a little bit of a loss right now.

Via Brian Windhorst/ESPN

[HotelVitale]

Seems like sports talk yelling fodder, but yeah they’re probably not going to miss like 80% of their 3s in most games. It’s a little risky but they’ve dominated and won a title with these strategy so far and it’s more likely than not to turn around.

[ziggymon123]

It's cause they shooting too many 3's and bricking them all!

[Pickled Prunes]

Seems like sports talk yelling fodder, but yeah they’re probably not going to miss like 80% of their 3s in most games. It’s a little risky but they’ve dominated and won a title with these strategy so far and it’s more likely than not to turn around.

I mean, BOS won a title last year. They're pretty stacked. But they also have a history of choking. Their 3P% dropped last regular season to the playoffs from 39% to 36%. This years drop off is from 37% to 33%. It's a similar drop off but from a lower starting point. I think their championship last season emboldened them to make even more inadvisable 3PA's. They didn't face the level of competition last season that they will face this season.

But you are correct, even with the drop off, they won't shoot 25% very often... and this was a 1pt game. They will probably find a way in this series and break some NY hearts.

[Barcs]

All the Knicks need to do is split the 2 home games and they are set. Obviously they could still lose 4 in a row against this team, but they have set themselves up in a great spot! Hopefully they continue to press the gas.

[GeorgeMarcus]

The title of this article

[Twinkie defense]

They just choked.

In all honesty I always thought Jayson Tatum didn't have the killer instinct that you need to have to be a Champion.

[_BALLDONTLIE]

They just choked.

In all honesty I always thought Jayson Tatum didn't have the killer instinct that you need to have to be a Champion.

Jayson Tatum doesn't have what it takes to be an NBA champion huh? Who's gonna tell him?

[Twinkie defense]

They just choked.

In all honesty I always thought Jayson Tatum didn't have the killer instinct that you need to have to be a Champion.

Jayson Tatum doesn't have what it takes to be an NBA champion huh? Who's gonna tell him?

You know everyone will call last season a big fluke...

[DoctorDunc]

Celtics are not battle tested, had a cakewalk last year with the easiest draw to a championship in 25 years.They shot 43% from 3 vs the Knick as in the regular season so probably should be shooting 35% in this series. It will get them a win or two. Horford and Holiday will be 39 and 35 in June. The Celtics with their injuries are in trouble at the end of grueling close playoff games vs this Knick team.

[stlboy]

Celtics are not battle tested, had a cakewalk last year with the easiest draw to a championship in 25 years.They shot 43% from 3 vs the Knick as in the regular season so probably should be shooting 35% in this series. It will get them a win or two. Horford and Holiday will be 39 and 35 in June. The Celtics with their injuries are in trouble at the end of grueling close playoff games vs this Knick team.

The Celtics will win this series, it doesn’t have the feeling that they are in trouble!

[Rek]

It's cause they shooting too many 3's and bricking them all!

Seriously. This isn't rocket science.

[jstudabaka]

Seems like sports talk yelling fodder, but yeah they’re probably not going to miss like 80% of their 3s in most games. It’s a little risky but they’ve dominated and won a title with these strategy so far and it’s more likely than not to turn around.

Zach Lowe laid it out pretty well on his podcast. The thing about spamming threes is that has a lot of variance with makes vs misses, but over the course of a big sample size, like 50 games, it should result in more wins if they’re quality looks and the team is good shooting them. Over the course of 7 games, though, yeah, you could just get a lot of bricks and there’s not enough games to see the regression to the mean.

[Vegeta10176]

May I suggest something.. They are playing harder and better defence this is tiring their legs thus they are missing more 3s and particularly this will effect end of game shots... Does this seem like a realistic circumstance?

[Vegeta10176]

They just choked.

In all honesty I always thought Jayson Tatum didn't have the killer instinct that you need to have to be a Champion.

.
Lol they won a championship and he takes the same sort of poor shots kobe did.. Kobe shot abysmal but they say despite mostly missing killer instinct because his team mates got the rebounds

[Hans1984]

It's pretty obvious why they are down 0-2.

[Barcs]

When you're a team that lives and dies by the 3, this is exactly how the process works. You can blow 20 point leads as quickly as you can build them.

[dubbmotta]

This is a tough matchup for the Celtics, Knicks have wings and guards who play D and scrappy. We could say, "They shooting too many 3's" but if they go in the paint you have Kat, OG, Robinson, etc. On paper Knicks kill this Celtics roster, especially with KP being hurt and Al looking his age.

[MegaK]

Yo everyone know tatum fake supastar bro. He lucky sometime. That it bro.

[Twinkie defense]

It's cause they shooting too many 3's and bricking them all!

Seriously. This isn't rocket science.

Over reliance on threes is their philosophy though. They shot 3,955 threes during the regular season, #1 in the League and 500 more than the #2 Warriors. They are 10th in the League in 3 point shooting percentage i.e. not elite. And this is not the first time they've had a cold streak from three - including in game 5 of the 2022 Finals which they lost to the Warriors.