1. The Boston Celtics dropped yet another fall-from-ahead game at the Utah Jazz on Saturday night. Blowing leads is not something that is unique to the Celtics, even if it seems like a troublesome Boston-centric thing. Because of the way the game is played now, a lead of 20 points is rarely safe until deep into the fourth quarter, and that’s across the entire NBA.
This loss also came on a back-to-back with travel that included a rare West-to-Mountain time zone change. And the Celtics were without Al Horford and Marcus Smart, while continuing to be without Rob Williams.
None of those things are excuses. The Celtics had a big lead and could (and should) have won against a team that is battling for a spot in the Play-In Tournament.
But those are some of the reasons that Boston lost. And there are a whole lot more reasons. Let’s dive into those now.
2. Without Rob Williams, rebounding has been an issue for the Celtics. Take Al Horford out of the mix and remove Marcus Smart (who is generally pretty solid at boxing out bigger players) and that issue is exacerbated tenfold.
That said, Utah bludgeoned Boston on the boards. The Jazz grabbed 17 offense rebounds and outscored the Celtics 20-8 in second-chance points. In a one-point game, that’s a massive margin.
Despite the recent struggles, Boston still ranks as the top defensive rebounding team in the NBA. But there are nights it really doesn’t seem like it. And that’s clearly being propped up by some early-season success. No matter what, it’s something that needs to get solved with big, physical teams like Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Cleveland and New York looming in the playoffs.
3. Where was Derrick White during the fourth quarter? Unless White is dealing with an undisclosed injury, and nothing has been shared, there is no reason he should be sitting for an entire final period. This especially true on a night when Boston didn’t have Marcus Smart and was struggling to contain the Utah ballhandlers.
This tweet from Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston is baffling:
The Celtics have played 162 crunch-time minutes this season. Derrick White has been on the floor for 55.4 of them (34.2%)
Boston has played 60 overtime minutes this season. White has been on the floor for 16.3 of them (27.2%)
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) March 19, 2023
White has been somewhere between the Celtics third- and fourth-best player this season, depending on where you place Al Horford in the mix behind…
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