Commentary: End-of-game execution is a concern, and the Celtics didn’t appear unbeatable in a fourth-quarter collapse that snapped their 11-game winning run.
Mazzulla said he appreciated some of his team’s possessions, specifically somewhat more than half, during a 17-point fourth quarter. He believes Boston remained composed despite blowing a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter (the season’s largest blown lead). Actually, he believes that the Celtics’ 105-104 loss to the Cavs on Tuesday, which came without Donovan Mitchell and after Evan Mobley exited with an ankle injury, could be a good thing.
“I thought it was really good for us to be in that situation,” Mazzulla said in an interview. “Composition is one thing, but execution is another. I thought we were composed; but, I do not believe we executed well on some of the possessions.
There are a number of really fantastic possessions among the ones we didn’t score on, but execution is all about the results. So I’d say half, or slightly more than half, of the (fourth-quarter) possessions we had really nice looks on and executed well. And for the others, you just need to obtain a few better images.”
I suppose when you’re the best team around, you can make up for a humiliating loss. Before their visit to Cleveland, Boston hadn’t lost since February 1, hadn’t faced a team within seven games of their league-best record, and appeared to be incapable of making a mistake.
However, the Celtics were unable to perform well for 12 minutes against the Cavaliers. Even if Mazzulla appreciated their process, he can’t explain why their worst mistakes happened when they did. Whatever happens if Dean Wade hits one open three-pointer in the fourth quarter. Given Wade’s reputation as a “decent” shooter, that could be part of the gamep lan (Mazzulla’s postgame statements).
Two open threes? Okay, creep closer. But four (out of five), including a game-winning triple with 2:35 to play? Then there was the game-winning put-back dunk, on which he received no pushback from Jrue Holiday or Jayson Tatum, both of whom were close enough to box Wade out but did not.
