What went wrong in Celtics’ Game 1 collapse vs. Knicks: ‘We just settled’

Freed from the shackles of the Orlando Magic s oppressive defense the Celtics let it rain from -point range in Battle of their second-round series They launched threes against the New York Knicks the preponderance by any organization in a playoff event in NBA history That bombs-away strategy has worked for Joe Mazzulla s squad in the past Boston attempted threes in five regular-season games and won three of them including in a -point pasting of the Knicks on opening night But on Monday it backfired After finding success driving to the basket and drawing fouls over the first two quarters the Celtics relied almost exclusively on the three ball after halftime Thirty-four of their second-half field-goal attempts came from beyond the arc They attempted just one two-pointer in the third quarter a transition dunk by Al Horford and took just four shots inside feet in the fourth with one of those coming in the final minute of regulation Had the Celtics hit even a meager more of those triples this would have been a simple postseason oddity and not an uncharacteristic one for a band that set the NBA record for made threes this season But they didn t They laid brick after brick missing more -pointers the the bulk ever in a playoff match than they attempted in any of their five first-round games against Orlando And by not deviating from that approach despite the poor results they allowed the Knicks to stage a stunning second-half comeback Down with less than minutes remaining New York rallied to win - in overtime at TD Garden to take a - lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown who shot a combined -for- from deep in the loss were torn when diagnosing how things went so wrong for Boston Both pointed out that the majority of the threes the Celtics took were open and often wide-open looks that their fleet of accomplished shooters typically make But they also assumed they should have done more to put pressure on New York s defense It s a lot of shots that we want certain guys taking and I felt like we got specific good looks Tatum revealed Obviously in hindsight if we could go back we possibly would drive the ball a little bit more because we missed a lot of shots tonight But it s a balance Sometimes it s a make-or-miss league and then there s particular times where you know you can get a better shot Related Articles Why Kristaps Porzingis exited Celtics Championship loss to Knicks Joe Mazzulla downplays Celtics shot selection after playoff record -pointers Callahan Celtics collapse in Competition was self-inflicted Celtics blow -point lead lose to Knicks in overtime in Encounter Celtics notebook C s still hold special place in Knicks coach s heart After a Derrick White -footer put the Celtics ahead - with remaining in the third quarter the next Boston possessions consisted of eight missed threes two made threes by Tatum on back-to-back trips and one turnover By the end of that stretch the Knicks had trimmed their deficit from points to six It was a radical departure from how the Celtics played in the second quarter when they went -for- on two-point shots and added eight free throws while outscoring New York - Twenty of Boston s free-throw attempts came in the first half In those moments when other teams got momentum we can t just fire up threes to break up momentum Brown commented You ve got to get to the free-throw line get to the paint get to the basket maybe get an easy two you know what I mean Get various free throws and then maybe the next -pointer feels a little bit better I feel like we just settled in the second half a lot but we ll look at it and we ll make adjustments Brown disclosed the Celtics maybe forced the issue with their second-half shot selection adding Definitely our rhythm and our timing was a little bit off He acknowledged though that the Knicks gave them a ton of good looks Several maybe we forced up and settled for sure he explained We ll look at those and be better at those But that s an abnormal championship for us in terms of shooting the basketball Horford hit a three to end the third quarter but the Celtics went scoreless for nearly four minutes to start the fourth missing another four threes and committing two more turnovers in the interim They didn t make a fourth-quarter field goal until the mark by which point the Knicks had tied the encounter at - Late in the fourth two Tatum threes on one possession sandwiched around a Jrue Holiday offensive rebound both missed the mark He clanged another that would have broken a - deadlock with seconds remaining There were maybe specific times that we settled Tatum disclosed I think for myself I could have put more pressure on the rim But there s a lot of times we felt like we got various really really good looks and just couldn t convert Every Celtics starter missed at least five -pointers in the event except for Kristaps Porzingis who exited due to illness after minutes and did not return Holiday went -for- from three in an otherwise impressive performance -for- points five offensive rebounds three assists one steal one turnover in minutes after sitting out the previous three games with a hamstring strain Tatum Brown and White all missed nine threes apiece Horford made just one of his five -point attempts Sam Hauser was -for- during an ugly four-minute shift before suffering an ankle injury that sent him to the locker room Porzingis and Hauser were Boston s two bulk efficient -point shooters during the regular season though both have been inconsistent this postseason Their statuses for Challenge on Wednesday are unclear It s just being poised to recognize when to take it and when not to take it Brown commented I don t think we did a good job tonight of seeing the contest understanding the match We were just firing it up for whatever reason We ve got to find a better rhythm to the paint get a paint touch get to the free-throw line and those threes feel a little better But we ll look at it Obviously we were excited to start the second round of the playoffs but we ve got to play with more poise than we did tonight The obvious silver lining for the Celtics They set a new high-water mark for postseason -point inaccuracy posted their second-worst overall field-goal percentage of Mazzulla s head-coaching tenure and still only lost by three in overtime Brown had the ball in his hands with a chance to force a second OT but couldn t get a shot off against Mikal Bridges as time expired Whether it s possession shots you could inevitably find five to that you could be better at disclosed Mazzulla whose unit now trails in a playoff series for the first time since So to me I look at the process and the shot quality Our shot quality was high The points in the paint were even We shot one more layup than they did We shot non-paint twos They shot much more than that So you have to take a look at the process of what we re trying to accomplish and we were able to accomplish good results for the bulk part And like I mentioned there s supposedly eight to shots that we could be better at for sure