The Celtics “Big 3” showed you what to worry about with this team
What a complete lack of composure. This was a physical game. They let the refs take them out of it. Marcus Smart got ejected. Tatum got T’d up late in the game for relentlessly bitching at the refs. Sure the refs were hard to handle in that game, but it was going both ways. Kyle Lowry simply mean mugged the zebras and dropped 28 footers in your eye balls.
And this is not the first time this has been said, but Tatum needs to knock that shit off. The amount of bitching he does makes him look petty and doesn’t help him with the refs. Maybe Lebron can sway a whistle with his tears, but Tatum isn’t there yet. Or maybe he just sucks at it. Be better.
The lost their offensive identity in the final 4 minutes. Two failed drives by Brown into 3 people. One by Tatum and one ill-advised drive and brick from Smart.
Their defense stayed true. Bam aka Dwight Bosh and Lowry gave them fits but, they got enough stops down the stretch. This wasn’t a Time Lord problem. Theis was good enough with 15 points.
This is a Tatum problem. Dude still needs to learn how to win. I’m not taking away from him. He is a top 10 player and has elevated his game this season to another level. But winning takes experience. A lot of it. Hopefully Ime can pull it out of him like he has with the rest of his game this season.
In the final 4 minutes Tatum needs to identify his spot on the floor where he can score whether he is doubled or not. Thats the next level. And the rest of the team needs to make teams pay for doubling and tripling Tatum when he gives it up.
Regardless, last night was the first time the Celtics were challenged late in a game since the Mavs. They lost both of those games. In both games they failed to execute on the offensive end in crunch time. It’s one of the last questions this team needs to answer. It’s not a one off. It’s not a trend. It may be a fatal flaw.
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