BOSTON — The Celtics had their chances to close out the Hawks late in regulation. They just didn’t execute. The C’s made crucial mistakes late, whether it was a timely turnover, a missed free throw or fouling Trae Young for two free throws when only up two points.
Ultimately, the Celtics couldn’t overcome those mistakes as they fell 119-115 to the Hawks in an overtime thriller Saturday at TD Garden. But there’s a reason why C’s coach Joe Mazzulla called the late-game miscues as “low-hanging fruit,” pointing at two other key areas Saturday. First, the C’s were outscored 31-15 in the second quarter after a strong start. Second, after the C’s went up 85-75 in the fourth quarter, they allowed a 12-2 run to let the Hawks tie the game. Finally, third, were the late-game issues.
“Those three things have to be held in the same regard of where we have to be better,” Mazzulla said. “So I do think those things, when you have to try to win a game two, three, four times, I think that wears on you.”
The Celtics also continued another troubling trend through this recent 16-game stretch of mediocre basketball. They’re 8-8 in those games as they haven’t been able to string together consistent efforts. Plus, the fourth quarter was again an issue for the C’s where they couldn’t finish off the victory.
Over that 16-game stretch, the fourth quarter has been the Celtics’ worst when it comes to net rating, coming in at negative-3.9. Now, there have been some strong finishes, like the Rockets and Nuggets wins at the start of the month.
But more recently, there have been too many times where they have faltered in that final frame. The Kings and Raptors losses were the big ones where they let go of the rope down the stretch. Even the Pelicans game last week, the Celtics narrowly escaped with a one-point victory. But the late-game execution there was also mired with mistakes as they barely won that game.
“I’ve had stretches or whatever, tough spurts throughout my NBA career,” Jayson Tatum said. “They all present their different challenges. You’re just at a different point in your career and your life. … We’re just trying to figure out how to win and things like that. But it just goes to show it’s hard to win an NBA game. Each night it’s tough and you’ve got to bring it every single night.”
The Celtics will look to regroup since that’s all they can do. They have a four-game road trip out West coming up, their second of the month. They’ve played better away from the Garden this season (15-8 at home vs. 14-5 on the road), so they could get some momentum going on the other side of the country.
But the fourth quarter woes have stuck out — especially of late. It’s been a mix of late-game execution or just not being able to get a consistent rhythm. The Celtics will look to clean those issues up and play high-quality basketball coming up, though that’s a lot easier said than done.
“If we stick together, if we continue to be a close-knit group, then we’ll figure it out together,” Tatum said. “We come out on the other side of this, we’ll feel a lot better about ourselves. So I’m certain that we’ll learn some things from it. We’ll be better once we get rolling again.”
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