Why do Boston Celtics always fall at the decisive moment?

The Boston Celtics have been recognized as the most talented team in the NBA in the last two seasons, but they continuously fail in the most important moments. The Celtics lost to the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals, lost to the Miami Heat in the Bo7 finals of the Eastern Conference last season, and are now eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in the quarterfinals of the In-Season Tournament.

What’s more concerning is the way the Celtics lost in all three of those key moments, all of which were similar. “Clover” stalled in attack at the end of the match, something that has happened regularly for many years now. This is what prevents this team from being successful.

Attack too slow

The Celtics and Pacers were two opposing halves in the last match. While the Pacers attack extremely quickly, the Celtics attack very slowly.

Part of the reason is because coach Joe Mazzulla does not want the Celtics to get caught up in their opponent’s fast play style. But while the Pacers changed positions very quickly to counterattack, the Celtics were too methodical, they barely made any mistakes when bringing the ball up. Time after time, the Celtics brought the ball up very slowly and had 10 to 14 seconds to observe before starting to attack.

I keep thinking about this 4Q play.

-Ball crawls over halfcourt line
-Start action with 14 on the clock
-One pass to Tatum
-Rejects the screens, airballs iso pull-up over two guys.

Tatum was hitting some of these too, but it's a tough way to make a living down the stretch. pic.twitter.com/E1xzBTJNda

— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) December 5, 2023

The Celtics maintained that type of attack until the end of the game, even when they were leading by the Pacers. Instead of organizing a quick attack to quickly close the gap, the Celtics still attacked very slowly and meticulously. They even seem unable to attack normally in the last 5 minutes of big matches.

Too dependent on Jayson Tatum

In addition to playing slowly, most of the Celtics’ offensive efforts late in the game ended with Jayson Tatum dunking the ball. The four-time All-Star is one of the NBA’s top stars, and excels in decisive situations. But the Celtics cannot depend on Tatum alone at the end of the game, and he cannot always shine to save the team.

Coach Mazzulla of course bears most of the responsibility, but he is trying everything to get his team out of the mud. With five minutes remaining, Mazzulla directed a charge from the bottom of the field to give Al Horford a dunk. Two minutes later, he noticed the players were deadlocked and called time out, taking a quick hit to give Jaylen Brown another dunk. However, Mazzulla cannot save his players by calling time out every time he attacks.

Whenever there is a deadlock, the Celtics often give the ball to Tatum and wait for this player to hit a solo shot.

Get the ball more into the paint area
Criticism that the Celtics take too many jump shots has been around for a long time. They are a good 3-point shooting team, so in some respects that strategy is correct. But too often it’s not good, instead of breaking through and finding other scoring options, the Celtics often try to solve the situation with three-point shooting attempts.

Tatum is a great tough shot maker, but the Celtics can and should get better looks during 4th quarters. pic.twitter.com/CRx8TPLDqF

— Steph Noh (@StephNoh)

December 5, 2023

The Celtics rank 28th in breakaways per game, according to NBA Stat. They are 23rd in scoring percentage in the paint, according to Cleaning the Glass. Both of these parameters need to be increased to attack more consistently during the crunch time (decisive phase).

Despite the league’s shift towards more three-point shots, attacking close to the basket is still an effective method with a high success rate. The Celtics have many players with enough speed and physicality to attack the basket effectively, but have never fully taken advantage of that advantage.

The only silver lining for the Celtics is that Kristaps Porzingis missed the game against the Pacers. Porzingis is expected to help solve the Celtics’ problems in crunch time. The Latvian star has a comprehensive set of offensive skills, is both a good 3-shooter and an excellent attacker close to the basket.

However, Porzingis’ problem is that he is easily injured. This is a barrier that prevents Porzingis from developing his full potential. And that continues to hinder him this season with the Celtics.