Celtics (26-11) at Thunder (15-21) Game #38 1/3/23

[keevsnick]

all I can think at this point, is that first 20 games really wasn't who this team is.
they over-performed, and we just have reverted to who we really are.

as another 3 gives OKC 150 for the game.  they might get to 160.

But it's worse than that. Not only was that not who we are, but we also created significant bad habits while doing so. We stopped knowing how to win games defensively and consistently putting in the effort on that end.

Now that we've come back to Earth, we don't have an identity, and Joe seems to have no clue where to go from here.

Can I ask a for real question:

The c's were 21-5 in their first 26 games. They are 5-7 since. Why assume the smaller sample is what they actually are and the larger sample was the fluke?

The c's weren't going to shoot 41% from three like they did the first 22 games of the year, but they aren't going to shoot 32% from three like they did the last 16 either. And they've actually (this game aside) been much better on defense lately than they were t start the year.

[hpantazo]

From the players postgame comments , it sounds pretty clear the Celtics came out with no effort once they found out SGA was not playing tonight.

[86MaxwellSmart]

Every Scrub on Every team is scoring at will on this Celtics NO DEFENSE Team....I've never seen anything like it.

[blink]

all I can think at this point, is that first 20 games really wasn't who this team is.
they over-performed, and we just have reverted to who we really are.

as another 3 gives OKC 150 for the game.  they might get to 160.

But it's worse than that. Not only was that not who we are, but we also created significant bad habits while doing so. We stopped knowing how to win games defensively and consistently putting in the effort on that end.

Now that we've come back to Earth, we don't have an identity, and Joe seems to have no clue where to go from here.

Can I ask a for real question:

The c's were 21-5 in their first 26 games. They are 5-7 since. Why assume the smaller sample is what they actually are and the larger sample was the fluke?

The c's weren't going to shoot 41% from three like they did the first 22 games of the year, but they aren't going to shoot 32% from three like they did the last 16 either. And they've actually (this game aside) been much better on defense lately than they were t start the year.

I agree it seems odd to think that the larger sample size is not the true identity.  But it just feels like to my eye test, the shooting has come back to earth and we just aren't doing the other things we need to do to win games.  Even though our def has maybe a bit better the last few games, it certainly wasn't tonight.  I don't remember another Celtic team that was a contender getting beat down on the road (+30 points) by a lottery team missing their best player.  Maybe this is an outlier, and rock bottom for our squad this year.  I hope so.

Well last year we shot 35% from 3 for the year.  So the 32% from the last 16 games is probably closer than the reality than the 41% is.  But it isn't really all about our shooting, it is everything.  We don't show up ready to play every game for some reason.  We let our bad shooting impact our def too much.  We aren't playing def well enough to win when we aren't shooting well.  That was something that last years team did well.

In general our def has slipped too much.  I know these aren't advanced stats, but just a look at the basics tells you a lot.

this year oppg - 113.3, rank= 13, last year 104.4, rank = 1st
this year opFG% - 46.8, rank = 13, last year 43.3, rank = 1st
this year rpg - 43.8, rank = 13, last year 46.1, rank = 5th
this year spg - 6.7, rank = 23, last year 7.2, rank = 19th
this year bpg - 5.1, rank =10, last year 5.8, rank = 2nd

Everything on the def side is worse than last year.  We let teams shoot a better %, we don't contest shots well enough.  We don't play good enough on ball def to make it hard on teams.  This is across the board everyone on the team.  Hopefully getting Rob back will help. 

[ozgod]

From the players postgame comments , it sounds pretty clear the Celtics came out with no effort once they found out SGA was not playing tonight.

This is 100% a lack of effort, not taking the game serious, thinking they were going to pull it out of the fire like they have been. I don't think anyone would think that OKC would beat us in a 7 game series, which is probably where some of these players' heads were at. But if you let a team shoot 50% from 3 and 60% overall and you turn the ball over 17 times you will most likely lose the game. They didn't treat the other team with the respect they deserved and the basketball gods punished them for it.

Here's what Brogdon had to say:

And the players admitted they lacked focus and took the opponent lightly when Gilgeous-Alexander was scratched about 90 minutes before tip.

“We took a deep breath and relaxed,” Brogdon said. “Honestly we should know better than to come out and not play with aggression, not play with energy and urgency.”

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/01/03/sports/celtics-defense-puts-up-little-resistance-blowout-loss-undermanned-thunder/

This team will be its own greatest enemy in the run up to the playoffs. That's Joe's No.1 issue, above worrying about defensive schemes and shooting 3s or whatever else. Getting a team that everyone has anointed the championship favorites to consistently put 100% effort in. Just looking at the box score it's very clear who didn't put 100% effort in and didn't impact the game at all.

[LaBran Jaymes]

What an embarrassing loss. These are supposed to be freebie wins. Championship teams don't squander these opportunities.

[Birdman]

Embarrassing is an understatement!! Blown out without their best player too..can’t lose to Orlando twice, pacers & thunder..

[Celtics4ever]

It was a terrible embarrassing loss.   Zero defense,   Joe's gotta go! 

He wants to be the player's buddy and does not crack down when there is no effort, can't manage the games with time outs.

[Vermont Green]

Last season, when the team started badly, you wondered if Ime was a good coach or not.  Turned out he was fine.  This season, we get off to a fast start but that didn't mean that Mazzulla is a good coach.  In both cases, too early to tell.  This stretch has me worried both about the coach and the team.  I don't think this team is good enough as compared to the other top teams, to just coast through the regular season and then flip the switch for the playoffs.  That is what this team looks like lately, a team coasting, just expecting to make the finals.

I don't know the answer.  It is like when during a game, the other team makes a run.  The coach will often call a time out to try and change the mojo.  But just calling a time out is not enough, you have to change something, make an adjustment, maybe get in someone's face.  The Celtics need an adjustment.  Their defense isn't working.  An adjustment is needed.  And they need to play like they are fighting for their life every game.

Giving up 150 points is ridiculous.

[Celtics4ever]

Honestly, this is apples and oranges. Vermont Green.   

Udoka made progress last year after a bad start, this year we had a hot start and then regression.   It is the complete opposite.

Udoka got better as the year went on.  This is not true of Joe, if you were evaluating him would you remove the interim?  I would not. 

[Vermont Green]

Honestly, this is apples and oranges. Vermont Green.   

Udoka made progress last year after a bad start, this year we had a hot start and then regression.   It is the complete opposite.

Udoka got better as the year went on.  This is not true of Joe, if you were evaluating him would you remove the interim?  I would not.

It is the same in that in both cases, it is too early to make a judgement as to how good of a coach either is.  Yes, the circumstances are different, and no, I would not remove the interim status.  To me, this is a chance for Mazzulla to earn his strips as a coach.  If he can turn this around, that shows well for him as a coach.

I think last season, Udoka focused on defense first and the offense came later.  You didn't know if Udoka was going to be able to fix the offense until he did.  Clearly this season, the offense was the focus but right now, the defense is not good enough for a team with championship aspirations.   Right now, we don't know if Mazzulla can fix the defense or not.  I think he probably will but I admit that I have my doubts, just like I had some doubts about Udoka at about this time last season.

[SHAQATTACK]

Is it time to let Udoka out of jail?

[Kernewek]

Is it time to let Udoka out of jail?

Don't think so.