Without a start date for the 2020-21 season on the calendar — if they don’t start until January, then what do you call it? — the Celtics momentarily have an indefinite amount of time to wonder not only about what went wrong, but how they fix it.
The youth of their talent says that they’ll naturally get better. An expected lowering of the salary cap leaves it unclear just how much help they can actually bring in.
But even for a team that has reached the conference finals three times in the last four years, it’s time to get out the tool kit.
“Unfortunately we didn’t combat it, we didn’t respond the way we should have,” Marcus Smart said of letting another fourth quarter lead disappear in Sunday’s Game 6 elimination loss to Miami. “It’s part of it. We played a really good team. Gotta tip your hat off to those guys. Gotta go back to the drawing board and see what needs to be fixed and come back ready next year.”
At least the typically frank Smart admits that something has to be fixed. And Jaylen Brown brought in an even more painful concept — that the Celtics underachieved.
“Obviously we feel like we underachieved, but still no reason to hang our head,” he said. “I think we’ve got a really good group, a young group, a talented group that’s only going to do nothing but improve. Once again, it stings, but I’m still very, very proud of this group.”
Considering, though, that the Celtics clearly didn’t leave their best basketball out there on the floor, they’ll start the fall wondering about what got in the way. Here’s a few items for the punch list.
Some young teams, like Miami, have mental toughness. The Celtics do not. They led in every fourth quarter against Miami, Sunday night surrendering a six-point lead with 9:15 left to a 26-6 Miami run. The Heat’s youth, reflecting their leader, Jimmy Butler, played like veterans down the stretch of virtually every game in this series, with Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro calmly changing the course of games with big-time plays.
Though Smart is a similar kind of leader, he suffered like his teammates. Beyond some runs with his 3-pointer, the Celtics guard fell prey to bad shots and turnovers down the stretch a little too often. He was 1-for-6 with four fouls in the fourth quarter Sunday. In Game 4, likely the low point of the series for the Celtics, Smart had three turnovers and three fouls in the fourth.
Smart had lots of company. But when your emotional leader isn’t able to rise above the mistakes, you’re likely finished. And as Jayson Tatum later noted, performing in his second Eastern Conference finals was a little different than his first, in 2018, when the Celtics forward and his teammates were playing with house money. This time, with Milwaukee out of the way, they were expected to reach the Finals, and spit the bit.
“My first year, wasn’t too many expectations,” said Tatum. “We were young, people didn’t know what to expect, a couple guys was hurt. This year we had a lot of expectations. Unfortunately we couldn’t take advantage of a lot of the opportunities when we was up. It’s just unfortunate.”
Brad Stevens has hit a high conference finals plateau. The Celtics’ 2017 conference finals run was driven by the greatest performance of Isaiah Thomas’ career, and 2018 was a surprise. But with elevated expectations this time, Stevens’ team underachieved — lost its poise. The coach shares blame for breakdowns like these.
He sometimes appeared to be at a loss to adjust to Miami’s multitude of actions and options, though his strategies are generally in the top tier among NBA coaches. When the aforementioned 26-6 Miami run hit stride, Stevens only called one timeout, after Miami was 19-6 into the burst, and had replaced a 96-90 Celtics lead with a 109-102 lead of its own. It was too late at that point.
Depth is a greater concern than previously thought. With the salary cap expected to be reduced, the Celtics will have limited resources to bring in outside help — especially with a max contract offer in the works for Tatum. Gordon Hayward will decide on whether to exercise his $35 million option — the Oct. 17 deadline is expected to be moved back as the league decides on a free agency start date — or restructure for more years, possibly giving the Celtics a shot at a mid-level free agent.
But they need a scorer — a shooter — off the bench. Yes, everyone wants them to find the next Bam Adebayo, and good luck doing that. Their most immediate need is to help take the scoring burden off their very gifted young core. Aron Baynes could fill both needs thanks to his 3-point shooting and sterling defensive rating, and Marcus Morris has already shown what he can do here, if he’s over the fact that the Celtics didn’t call him during the last free agency period. Or, in light of Kemba Walker’s age, they pursue a scoring-oriented point guard. But first they’ll have to create some cap room.
Is Timelord on the clock? Though the original goal of finding out what Rob Williams was all about was put off by injury this season — he was great, and sometimes not so much during the playoffs — the Celtics have to find out if he fills their obvious need for a full-time center. Sure he can still get lost on defense, but with more strength and maturity, there’s a good chance he’s the answer. And yes, Daniel Theis remains a great part of the solution for how Stevens wants to play.
Have a pen ready: The chance to sign Jayson Tatum for the next four years to a max contract offer is automatic. At 22 he’s already made three conference finals appearances, and his ability to carry a team in playoff situations will only get better. Consider the company he’s already joined.
From the desk of stat guru Dick Lipe: Tatum with 925 playoff points in his first three seasons, is sixth on the all-time list in that category. Those above him are Hakeem Olajuwon (935), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1,040), Jerry West (1,046), Elgin Baylor (1,089) and Dwyane Wade (1,272).
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September 29, 2020 at 04:43PM
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Five observations from Celtics’ playoff exit - Boston Herald
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