Windhorst Says Celtics 'Don't Seem to Understand What's Happening' After Knicks Loss
It's safe to say the panic meter is officially high for the Boston Celtics after blowing another 20-point lead to the New York Knicks in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals in a 91-90 loss to fall into an 0-2 hole.
Appearing on the Thursday morning episode of SportsCenter, ESPN's Brian Windhorst explained the Celtics "don't seem to understand what's happening" to cause their offensive struggles in the series thus far:
"They don't seem to understand what's happening. Obviously, they're not making shots. Anybody can see that, but they feel like they're working their process. Now, Jaylen Brown said that this situation is inexcusable. You get up by 20 points and then don't win back to back games, you just cannot tolerate that. Now, that is obvious. The problem is, what to do about it, because they're almost like a chef that has made a recipe a thousand times. This time, they're putting all the ingredients in and they're taking it out of the oven and it's not cooked because they do like most of the shots they're getting. This has been their process. You may disagree with them taking this many three pointers, but this process led them to a championship and 61 wins and the higher seed in this series. But the process is not working right now. They're shooting under 25 percent from three-point range, and they love their looks. So they're doing some soul searching, but I don't know if they're equipped to completely change the way they're playing.
"And I think the biggest concern about this, I'm not even sure the Knicks have played that great yet. And also, Kristaps Porzingis, he said after the game last night that he has had 'a big crash.' Those are his words, as he's recovering from this illness from earlier this season, when he missed eight games. He said he was managing it well, but his energy has crashed. They did not start him last night, I think, because they were worried about fatigue. He had some moments. But one of the ways out of being under so much stress on the guard shooting would be to run stuff through Porzingis. I don't know if he's equipped to do that right now. And he said, this coming up at this time of the season is killing him."
After setting playoff records for three-point attempts (60) and misses (45) in Game 1, the Celtics were likely betting on positive regression for Game 2. Instead, they shot 10-of-40 from behind the arc.
Despite those shooting woes, they built a 73-53 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter. The offense would completely crater from that point.
Derrick White made two free throws with 5:05 remaining in the fourth quarter to give Boston an 86-77 advantage. The Celtics only scored four points for the rest of the game and went more than eight minutes without a field goal.
Kristaps Porziņģis' health was something Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla addressed after Thursday's game.
He explained that Porziņģis, who was listed as probable on the official injury report prior to Game 2, has been "fighting through" the viral illness that kept him out for eight games from Feb. 28-March 14.
Porziņģis played 14 minutes off the bench on Wednesday. He was in the starting lineup for Game 1, but he was held scoreless in just 13 minutes.
It was reasonable to expect the rest of the Celtics would have positive offensive regression in Game 2. ESPN Research tracking (h/t Windhorst) noted after Game 1 they missed 32 of 45 uncontested threes in Game 1.
During their title run last season, Boston shot 8-of-35 from three in a 118-94 Game 2 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. It came back the next game and shot 13-of-34 in a 106-93 win.
The defense is doing its job so far, holding the Knicks to a total 199 points on 42.8 percent shooting.
Unfortunately for the defending champs, their offense hasn't shown up yet. It has left the Celtics in a virtual must-win situation going into Madison Square Garden for Game 3 to avoid an 0-3 hole.
