The shorthanded Celtics let a win slip away against the Pacers on Monday night and they had a right to be irked about it afterwards. A Buddy Hield foul on Jaylen Brown was overturned controversially with 3.2 seconds remaining. That replay review opened the door wide for a Pacers win in the closing seconds after a foolish foul by Kristaps Porzingis on a Benedict Mathurin jumpshot on the ensuing possession.
Joe Mazzulla talked about how he couldn’t wait for the Last 2 Minute Report after the loss. Jaylen Brown called for an investigation into the overturn after he was clearly hit in the head. However, those developments don’t take away from one sobering reality: The Celtics shouldn’t have put themselves in a situation where they could have lost the game in regulation in the first place.
It all began with the start of Boston’s second-to-last possession as Derrick White rebounded a TJ McConnell miss with 16 seconds remaining. White started to bring the ball up the floor but was trapped so dished it over to Jaylen Brown, who was guarded by Benedict Mathurin.
The Celtics had a timeout left here to use if they wanted to draw up a play but Joe Mazzulla unsurprisingly opted against that choice. That left Brown in a spot where he controlled Boston’s destiny as he dribbled down the clock just past half court. Ultimately, he made his move a bit early while facing numerous Pacers defenders inching his way. Understandably, the All-Star wanted to take the big shot on a red-hot night (40 points) but he was clearly playing right into Indiana’s hands by trying to do it himself.
On the other side of the court, Kristaps Porzingis was pointing to a wide-open Derrick White at the top of the key. His man Aaron Nesmith had been lurking in the paint to cut off any potential Brown drive. The passing lane was there for Brown to make for several seconds before he drove deep into Pacers traffic into the midrange. Brown had shown just minutes earlier he had the recognition to make that type of pass when he found Porzingis for a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:05 left in regulation. This sequence later showed there’s work to be done still from a recognition standpoint in a pivotal spot.
While Brown didn’t make the pass to an open man, the worst part of the sequence was when he took his final shot. Attempting a contested jumper with three seconds remaining on the clock in a tie game is risky business. If there had been no whistle for a foul, the Pacers could have rebounded a Brown miss and called timeout, giving them a chance at winning the game. Even if he made a shot, that’s still too much time to give an opponent to come back to tie or win the game in that type of sequence.
The Celtics have been the best team in the NBA through 36 games but late-game mismanagement has been a constant through the majority of their losses this year. Given the team’s crunch-time woes in past seasons, this should be a sharp area of focus for Boston in the coming months. If Mazzulla isn’t going to call timeouts in these spots, he has to have his players manage the game well. If All-Stars like Jayson Tatum or Brown aren’t holding for one shot properly or finding the open man, Mazzulla needs to start running the offense through other options (White?) in those spots.
There aren’t many areas of weakness left on this roster through a 28-8 start but questionable decision-making in these critical spots could come back to haunt the Celtics when the pressure ramps up in the postseason.
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