When the Boston Celtics clinched the best record in the NBA, there was some level of assumption that they would take a breath. The high-intensity, wildly successful season had bred the ability to relax for the final few games of the regular season.
It’s one thing to understand that’s coming. It’s another to watch it unfold.
For the second straight game, the Celtics lost in blowout fashion. On Tuesday night, they were down by as many as 24 to the Milwaukee Bucks, and on Thursday, the New York Knicks’ lead reached 31. Boston lost two games in a row for just the fourth time all season.
And then, Joe Mazzulla said the quiet part out loud.
“I saw that there was only one team in Eastern Conference that has their seed settled. And no one else does,” Mazzulla said. “I saw a high level of desperacy.”
With just a few games left to go in the regular season, the Celtics are in a league of their own. They have a 13-game cushion atop the East, while the Knicks, Bucks, Orlando Magic, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Miami Heat are fighting for seeds two through eight.
Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
New York could finish the year anywhere from two to six, and every game is crucial. If they want to maintain home-court advantage in the first round, they can’t afford to take nights off.
The dichotomy between them and the Celtics could not be more vast. Boston should be taking nights off.
They ran into two squads fighting for their playoff spots while simultaneously not needing to care about the games’ results. The outcome was a brutal viewing experience.
“We just got out-toughed the last two games,” said Jaylen Brown. “We haven’t played to our standard in terms of physicality. The game has shifted a little bit, and it’s going to shift even more in the playoffs, and we ain’t meet the whistle for whatever reason.
“It could be just because of anticipation for the playoffs or whatever. But that’s what I’ll say. We’re gonna nip that in the bud, though.”
Boston spent Thursday night slogging their way through defensive coverages and playing half-hearted offense. Intense close-outs were traded in for hand waves, and well-thought-out sets were exchanged for a one-dimensional five-out playstyle.
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