Great posts by the more astute observers on this board regarding the Celtics' struggles.
Instead of excuses about the refs, injuries, fouls blah blah blah let's look at what is really causing these losses.
C's turnovers continue at an alarming rate. And they tend to occur at the worst possible times. 3 straight in a crucial 3rd quarter stretch when the Hawks were coming back. The Pierce lazy pass when the C's were down 2 late in the 4th and needing a score. Perks constant traveling when having the opportunity for scores inside.
This team fails to execute down the stretch. They constantly give up big leads by playing poorly. They consistently have at least one terrible quarter (usually the 3rd) in each game.
Doc made it clear how important this game was to the Celtics when talking about how the Hawks have owned them this year. Despite having a 14 point lead the C's yet again blew it and choked down the stretch. The Hawks have the edge on the Celtics now and there is no disputing that. If they face each other in the 2nd round of the playoffs watch out...
<------- another new user spurred to register by jadams' awful told-you-so crowing. I've been reading this garbage all season--it's like your way of dealing with the disappointment of a loss is to dump all over the team so you can feel superior to all the "naive" fans. Let me clue you in to something, homey--you're a effing clown, all your posts might as well be pre-written because you say the same thing irrespective of how the game actually goes.
This nonsense about the Celtics supposedly terrible 3rd quarter is outright BUNK. They got outscored 31-25 in the third quarter, which is hardly "terrible," particularly considering the gift FT's that were awarded to Atlanta. They shot extremely well in the third quarter and by merit should have been at least even.
For the game, the Celtics shot 55% for the game and held the Hawks to 45%. Despite missing 2 of their best 3 big men, they were fairly even on rebounds. They held Atlanta below their season average on points, even. And yes, they had too many turnovers, and no, they couldn't do enough to win the game. But that's hardly the result of some fatal flaws that only you and your misunderstood basketball genius can perceive. Keep on crying about what a lousy team the Celts are--maybe it'll draw out new posters who can actually construct an argument.
In closing, SHHUUTTTTTTTTT UPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP.