After winning the NBA Finals last season against the Dallas Mavericks, the Boston Celtics seemed primed to become the league’s next dynasty behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. However, the Celtics have found themselves with their back against the wall in the second round of the playoffs in their title defense.
The Celtics’ 91-90 loss to the New York Knicks on Wednesday evening put Boston in a 2-0 hole in the series heading back to New York.
“Two games we’re up 20 points somehow end up not with wins is inexcusable,” Brown said after Wednesday’s loss, according to ESPN. “Obviously being down two, it sucks.”
However, Brown still believes that the Celtics can turn things around as long as they execute at the top of their game moving forward. “(It’s) a bunch of stuff that we can controlI feel like we played a little bit fast and sped up a little antsy,” he said. “Just it’s a rough night.”
Star center Kristaps Porzingis was left scratching his head and is struggling to find answers.
“I don’t have the answer honestly, I don’t have the answer,” Porzingis said. “Just a little bit of execution here and there. There’s a couple missed shots here and there. A couple things go their way and it just adds up and it’s this result.”
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla couldn’t do much but tip his cap to the Knicks for their execution down the stretch.
“They made every play. … I thought we generated some good looks and then I thought we had some live-ball turnovers and they took advantage of it, so they made the necessary plays to win,” Mazzulla said.
