Down 2-0, the Celtics head to New York with extra questions than solutions

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Whereas in the course of a droop in December and January, through which the Boston Celtics misplaced almost as many video games as they gained, they urged endurance. 

This was simply the doldrums of a protracted season. The hangover of a championship. A blip. 

“I imagine we’ll peak on the proper second,” Kristaps Porziņģis mentioned Jan. 23 earlier than the Celtics closed their season by successful 19 of their last 22 video games, reassuring their doubters that they know flip it on when it counts. 

However after the Celtics blew their second straight 20-point result in the New York Knicks to lose Sport 2 of their second-round playoff sequence on Wednesday, 91-90, it is time to marvel if the Celtics’ points had been extra pronounced than they presumed. 

The Celtics’ collapse in Sport 2 was not simply deja vu of Sport 1, once they blew a 20-point result in fall to the Knicks in additional time, 108-105; it was symbolic of a much bigger downside. 

The Celtics are squandering large benefits and collapsing in crunch-time conditions, a difficulty that will be comprehensible for a younger workforce – not a pair of superstars in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who’ve performed collectively for eight years, making the playoffs in every of these seasons, and successful the championship final 12 months. 

Actually, this was repeated psychological lapses, a serious downside for a workforce that is aware of the margin for error within the postseason is extremely slim. Final postseason, they by no means trailed a sequence and by no means misplaced a couple of recreation en path to a 16-3 breezy title-winning run.

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So, why does this maintain occurring?

“I am unsure,” mentioned Brown, who had 20 factors, six rebounds and 6 turnovers. “We have gotten to nice begins. We guarded, we performed bodily, with power right this moment. To start out the fourth quarter, I believed we obtained like 4 or 5 nice seems to be that did not go in, so perhaps that affected us. However what’s performed is completed. Now we have a possibility to see what we’re made from.”

The problem for the Celtics on this sequence has been the fourth quarter. In Video games 1 and a pair of, they shot a mixed 9-for-45 (20 p.c) from the sphere and 4-for-24 (16.7) from past the arc within the last 12 minutes.

On Wednesday, Brown went scoreless within the fourth quarter, whereas Tatum was 1-for-5 from the sphere. 

In the meantime, the Knicks noticed that the Celtics hit a wall and so they capitalized on it. Mikal Bridges scored all 14 of his factors within the last quarter. He additionally made the game-sealing steal towards Tatum within the last seconds with the Knicks up, 91-90, stopping the Celtics from firing a probably game-winning shot. 

Jalen Brunson, who gained the Clutch Participant of the 12 months award, confirmed why he was deserving of that honor, scoring all six of the Knicks’ factors within the last 2 minutes. 

Now, the Knicks are two wins away from their first convention finals look since 2000. 

And the reigning champions are on the ropes, staring down an 0-2 gap with Video games 3 and 4 in New York.

Melissa Rohlin is an NBA author for FOX Sports activities. She beforehand lined the league for Sports activities Illustrated, the Los Angeles Instances, the Bay Space Information Group and the San Antonio Specific-Information. Observe her on Twitter @melissarohlin.

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