April 2, 2025 • 18 mins
The Boston Celtics were riding a nine-game win streak after a record-setting sweep of their six-game road trip. But they were cursed by a road trip hangover during their first game back home Wednesday night, which wound up as a loss to the Miami Heat. We sound off on Boston's uncharacteristic play throughout the game, including Jayson Tatum's off night, and discuss why the Celtics will be just fine moving forward.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Sound off with me, folks on one of the oldest
tales in the NBA, proving itself to be true yet
again Wednesday night at TD Garden. If you are new
to the NBA, I'm gonna teach you something. If you've
been around the NBA for a long time, you already
know this. But the old adage is that the hardest
(00:28):
game of a long road trip is the first game
back after that road trip. Now, the Boston Celtics, as
we all know, just set a franchise record for longest
undefeated road trip.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Ever. It just happened.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
They just went six and zero on the road over
the past couple of weeks. They were on the road
for twelve days. They played six games, They had a
back to back in there. They had some tough games.
Well they weren't so tough in the scoreboard, but they
won all of them by ten plus points, all of
them all six. Never had a Celtics team won six
games on a single road trip. Not only did this
(01:09):
team do that, but it did it by double digits
every single night. Now, okay, they come back home. I
thought maybe the final game of that road trip might
have been the tough one for them. They were in Memphis. Okay,
the Grizzlies got a new coach, John Morant, back in
the lineup, they got something to play for. And by
the way, the Celtics are on the final game of
their trip, so you mix those things together. I thought
(01:31):
that might have been the letdown game. I should have
thought it through. I should have thought it through. Of
what the old adage is in the NBA, it's always
the game after the road trip that comes back to
haunt you. And that's exactly what happened tonight when the
Boston Celtics fell to the Miami Heat. This was not
a super competitive game. The Celtics didn't seem like themselves
(01:52):
from the opening tip. Now that doesn't mean they didn't
have a shot to win. They did because they played
good enough during the second half to get back into
the game. But this was just a game riddled with
uncharacteristic mistakes, characteristic decisions. I would even classify it as
poor decision making at times. And you saw it during
(02:13):
the third and fourth quarters when the Celtics they were
down by as many as I believe it was twenty
three points, twenty two points during the second half, at
one point down by about twenty and they get it
back down to three. Then the lead goes up, they
get it back down to five, the lead goes up,
they get it back down to four. They had a
chance throughout the second half after they made their run,
(02:34):
but every time they got it close, they just couldn't
get over that hump. For some reason or another, they
could not get over that hump. And what stood out
to me is that decision making in those critical moments
when you have a chance to make it a one
possession game and own the momentum in the game and
(02:54):
really put the other team on its heels. The Celtics
seemed to force some shots, they seemed to force some passes,
just uncharacteristic things that you never see out of this team,
especially with the way it's been playing lately. Fourteen fifteen
and one, fourteen and one in the month of March.
This team has been playing.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Super high level basketball.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
But then you see them tonight and they just didn't
look the same as they did throughout that six game
road trip where they swept all of those games. So
it was just one of those knights where you think
they got a shot, they get it back to that
small deficit, you think they're gonna maybe rally and win
this game somehow, even despite not playing all too great,
(03:39):
but just in those critical moments, they just couldn't make
the right decisions, they couldn't make the right passes, and
they certainly couldn't make the shots that they did fire up.
So in the end, they wind up falling to the
Miami Heat, who, by the way, the Heat looked pretty
ugly when the Celtics played them a couple times back
in February and March. Well, that team is now won
(04:00):
six straight games, so they're rolling a little bit as
we get closer to the playoffs, and this could wind
up being a team that the Boston Celtics play in
the first round of the playoffs. Right now, the Miami
Heat are in the playing okay, They've got a chance
to possibly be the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference,
and the seventh seed is as we know, going to
(04:21):
face off with the second seed, and the Boston Celtics
are pretty much locked into that spot for the postseason,
so this could very well be a meeting yet again.
Feels like we can't get rid of the Miami Heap.
This could be a series yet again in the postseason.
Celtics are gonna have to try to figure that out.
This is a Heat team that is rolling right now
now looking at this game, and a few things that
(04:41):
stand out as to why the Celtics lost outside of
those uncharacteristic decisions and uncharacteristic moves that they put on
during the second half and really the first half as well,
but really in those critical moments during the second half.
These are some stats to tell the story of the game.
Boston thirteen turnovers Miami five. Celtics forty four percent from
(05:03):
the field, Miami fifty two percent from the field. Boston
thirteen made free throws, Miami twenty four. That's the game
right there with those three stats. When you turn the
ball over more, when you shoot a lower percentage, and
when you take and make fewer free throws, it's basically
(05:24):
impossible to win the game. So the numbers game said
the Boston Celtics were not gonna win. The Miami Heat
wound up coming out of TV Guarden with the victory tonight,
and that's that. The Celtics just didn't play well. Jason Tatum,
it was a very rare off night. We've seen him
flirting with triple doubles night in and night out over
the past month, month and a half. Tonight one of
(05:45):
his worst games of the season. And it happens like
the players can't be perfect. Twenty four to seven. Lebron
James in his career, he's had some bad games. Michael Jordan,
he had bad games back in the day. Tonight, Jason
Tatum just didn't look like himself and didn't play to
the standards that I'm sure that he holds himself on
a nightly basis. So listen, this one, you just got
(06:06):
to kind of crumble it up, throw it in the
trash and move on to the next one. And the
next one's coming up Friday night, and we'll get into
that in a little bit. But right now we're gonna
dive into some comments from the fans. Surely they were
not exactly happy and excited after this loss, but we've
got a little bit of glass half fall in a
little bit or some of these comments, so let's dive in.
(06:27):
Are three comments from first ones coming from JT Zero JB.
Sven dot Eh on these types of losses being a
bit of a trend this season. I'm gonna give you
some stats and let you know that this isn't the
first or the last time, maybe that this is gonna
happen this season. Next up, we've got Jeter Luise who
gives his take on why the Celtics will be just
(06:47):
fine after this loss. So there's your glass half fole.
And then lastly we've got the Kingslayer, who has something
to say about Boston's home record so far this season.
So let's dive into the one right here. This one
is coming from JT zero, jbseven dot eth. We're talking
about these losses being a little bit of a trend,
(07:10):
all right. As I mentioned, this comment is coming in
from JT zero, jbseven dot eth on Axon. He says,
or she says, looked a lot like the home loss
to Dallas after a roadie. Now that loss came back
in early February. There was February sixth, that was following
(07:31):
a three game road trip where the Celtics won all
three games, including the final one against the Cavs in Cleveland.
Then the Celtics come home and they lose one twenty
seven to one twenty to the Dallas Mavericks. Now, listen,
that loss certainly looked like this one, just a team
not really looking like themselves, not playing to the same
standard that we all hold them to, that they hold
(07:53):
themselves to. But I've got some more information to tell you, like,
this is not the only time this has happened this season,
and outside of that Dallas one, Okay, the Celtics are
now on the season zero in four in their first
home game following a road trip of four or more games.
(08:14):
I'll repeat that, the Celtics have now lost all four
games that they played back at home following a road
trip of four or more games.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
It's not a good trend, okay.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
But the good news is the Celtics don't do that
again this season, so there isn't even an opportunity to
have that come up again. Also, we've got to pay
attention to the fact that during the postseason that certainly
doesn't happen. Okay, the most you're gonna play in consecutive
road games is two, all right, So the Celtics should
be just fine from this perspective. This trend is not
(08:47):
going to continue because it literally can't. Okay, the Celtics
don't play a ton of road games the rest of
the season. I think what do they have left here?
The most consecutive road games that they'll have the rest
of the season is too, got two more consecutive ones
during the regular season then during the postseason. As we know,
during the playoffs it's two to two to one one format.
So should be just fine. This is not gonna come
(09:09):
up again. But if we're talking about things that we
can look at during this regular season, that has been
a trend. I mean, you can't beat around the bush
with an zero to four record. In that exact same scenario,
the Celtics have emptied the tank while becoming one of
the if not the they can tie the record for
the best road record in NBA history if they went
(09:30):
out on the road those final couple of games. But
they've see seemingly emptied the tank on the road and
then not had any gas left in the tank when
they got back home for that next home game. Now,
the good news is they usually bounce back after that
loss at home. Okay, then they get back into the
win colm they play well again. So I'm expecting them
to really play at a high level Friday night when
(09:52):
the Phoenix Suns come to Ton Again. We're gonna touch
on that a little bit, But this has been a
trend this season, and it's something I I bet that
when Joe mazool is putting together his plan for next
season during this offseason, he's gonna point this out. Hey, guys,
this is something that happened throughout last season. We can't
(10:12):
let it happen again. So a little bit of a
trend to look at. It happened again tonight. There's the
fourth time this season, and if you count that game
against Dallas after a three game road trip, that's five
where the Celtics have lost in their first home game
following a road trip. So something to look forward to
possibly changing next season. But the good news is we
don't have to deal with these circumstances again this season,
(10:37):
all right, Next up, Jeter Louise, it's on you, and
Jeter says they'll be fine.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Just shouldn't sit Al and KP on the same night.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
And by the way, Celtics were also missing Jew Holliday
during this game, so that's three of their top six
to seven players. Maybe alternate those guys so they don't
miss the same game on the same night. Cada defensively
is struggling, Tatum shot were way off. All right, let's
start out with Alan Kp, the Celtics shouldn't sit them
on the same night. I don't think these are just
(11:07):
decisions where Boston is choosing, let's sit both these guys
in the same game. I think maybe they're just trying
to get these guys right, and when they wake up
and they're not feeling well in the morning and they're
not feeling perfectly fine, it's gonna be questionable and then
they're gonna deem if they're gonna play as the day
goes down. Now, the Celtics have a medical team that is.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
All over this stuff.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Okay, these guys are going through testing throughout the morning
afternoon before the game to see if their tests are
testing out to their natural numbers, and if they're not
meeting their numbers, then the medical staff knows, Okay, something's
not right here. We should give this guy a little
bit of rest because of a big toe or a
knee or whatever it winds up being.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
The Celtics have to make those decisions.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
So it seems that tonight that decision was made for
them and they that they had to choose to sit
out Alan Kp And listen, this wasn't.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
The second night of a back to back.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
That's usually the only time that al Horford misses games
other than when they feel that they have to rest
him because things are not going well in terms of
his numbers and his testing and all that stuff. So
I don't think they tried to sit them on the
same night tonight. It just happened because they had to.
So that's the first thing. I don't think that'll happen again.
(12:18):
Cada defensively is struggling. Yeah, there were times out there
when Namias didn't play so great defensively, wasn't able to
stay in front of his guy. There were other times
when he was able to actually recover and help the Celtics.
From that perspective, he did have a block tonight. He
did also score seven points and grab six rebounds, a
couple of them at the offensive end. So listen, he's
(12:39):
not going to be perfect. He had some good possessions defensively.
He had so good possessions defensively, But Nimia's Cada. He's
been pretty darn good and solid and a contributor for
the Celtics throughout this season, so let's not jump on
him for having a couple of possessions where SloMo took
him to the basket, was able to score him. By
the way, Kyle Anderson, he was awesome tonight, like he
(13:03):
was a big reason why the Celtics were not able
to get over the hump and win this game. After
they got back into him, he made a lot of
big shots, so credit to him. Nimias Kata tried to
stay in front of him, tried to stop him. It
just didn't work. On every possession last year from Jeter
Luiz Tatum, shots were way off. Yeah, it just happened
to be one of those nights for Jason. Tatum winds
(13:25):
up shooting four for seventeen from the field. That is
a woeful twenty three point five percent from the field,
two for nine from distance. Just not a good night
for Jason. It seemed like he was out of rhythm.
He was forcing some shots. It was like he was
searching for his game and it just never showed up
for him. So he wound up resting along with the
rest of the starters for the final five minutes of regulation.
(13:48):
Joel Mizula said, let's raise that white flag. We are
not winning this game with the way that we are playing.
Let's get you guys some rest. And let's bounce back
when we take the court Friday night against the Phoenix Suns.
But yeah, I mean some of these things, you can
look at some of these things not I think Alan
kp they're not going to miss games together again. Unless
the Celtics are in a position where they just want
(14:09):
to rest everyone. Wins don't really matter, and they don't.
By the way, Okay, the Celtics are locked into the
second seed. They're not going anywhere, so it might happen again.
They might rest some other starters to get them ready
for the playoffs. Nimius has given the Celtics a lot
to sea. Let's not jump on him for having a
couple of tough possessions. And then Tatum, Yeah, it just
wasn't in his night. It just wasn't in his night.
(14:29):
And sometimes that happens, and you gotta wash it away
and move on.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
All right.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Our last comment of the night coming in from the Kingslayer,
hell of a name.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
All right.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
The comment coming in from him is this home record
this year is very worrisome. Okay, right now, the Boston Celtics,
after this loss, are sitting at twenty four and thirteen
at home. Listen, how can you consider that very worrisome.
(15:04):
Twenty four and thirteen. Okay, it's not the best in
the league. It's certainly not the worst in the league.
In fact, if you go through the standings throughout the NBA,
it's pretty much on par with every good team that's
not the Calves or the Thunder. The Calves are thirty
three and five at home. The Thunder are thirty three
and five at home. Everyone else in the league is
(15:27):
right around where the Celtics are within a couple games.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
The Lakers are twenty nine at nine.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
That's the only other team in the league that doesn't
have double digit losses at home. So, yes, last season,
Boston was awesome at home. What was that record, let's
look that up. Thirty seven and four at home last season. So,
I mean they were basically you couldn't beat them inside
TD Garden. But that's what the Celtics are doing on
(15:54):
the road this season. So you know, would you like
them to have an awesome record at home where they
can't be beat here?
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Absolutely. It's not like I think that they just can't
win games here.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
They have.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
They've won a lot of games inside TD Garden, and
I think they're gonna win a lot of.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Playoff games inside TD Garden. Does that mean that they
can't lose?
Speaker 1 (16:15):
No? Okay, every game is its own entity. But I
have confidence that they're gonna play at a high level
at home and on the road throughout this playoff run
as we get into the playoffs, So let's not get
too caught up in it. Twenty four and thirteen that's
not bad. Thirty two and seven on the road, that's excellent.
(16:36):
So you put those together, you got a great team
that can play well both at home and on the road.
It just I actually think some circumstances have contributed. Like
I said that earlier in the episode, the Celtics just
haven't been great coming off of road trips. You can't
just eliminate those four or five losses. But those are
four or five of the thirteen right now. So I'm
(16:56):
not getting too caught up in this. I understand why
the King Slayer you want the Celtics to be basically
unbeatable at TD Garden, and who knows, maybe that winds
up being the case.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
During the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
It was last season, so let's hope that that continues
and it comes back during this playoff run. That's about
to start here in a couple weeks. But I'm not
getting caught up in this. I wouldn't say even from
your perspective, you can say it might be worrisome, but
very worrisome to be twenty four and thirteen. You're acting
a little bit privileged right now.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Okay, all right.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
The Celtics have many more opportunities to write this ship
at home before the season ends. Okay, They're gonna play
at home again on Friday night. The Phoenix Suns are
coming to town. And we all know the Boston Celtics
just really took it to the Suns out in Phoenix,
winning by thirty points just about a week or so ago.
So they've got the Suns coming Friday. Then they've got
(17:49):
the Washington Wizards coming on Sunday. So a couple more
opportunities this week to write the ship here at home
and then head out on the road for the final
two road games of the season before they come back
for two straight home games against the Charlotte Hornets to
close out the season. We are getting close, folks. The
playoffs are right around the corner, less than two weeks
(18:09):
away from the play in coming around where the Celtics
gonna find out who they are playing in the postseason.
In the meantime, let's see if everyone can get healthy,
everyone's feeling good, and let's see if the Celtics can
get back in the win column at home on Friday
night when the Phoenix Suns come to town. I appreciate
you guys taking part in the conversation sending in your
(18:31):
comments on X I'm gonna look forward to you doing
the same again Friday and night.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
I'll see you this year.
Sound off with me, folks on one of the oldest
tales in the NBA, proving itself to be true yet
again Wednesday night at TD Garden. If you are new
to the NBA, I'm gonna teach you something. If you've
been around the NBA for a long time, you already
know this. But the old adage is that the hardest
(00:28):
game of a long road trip is the first game
back after that road trip. Now, the Boston Celtics, as
we all know, just set a franchise record for longest
undefeated road trip.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Ever. It just happened.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
They just went six and zero on the road over
the past couple of weeks. They were on the road
for twelve days. They played six games, They had a
back to back in there. They had some tough games.
Well they weren't so tough in the scoreboard, but they
won all of them by ten plus points, all of
them all six. Never had a Celtics team won six
games on a single road trip. Not only did this
(01:09):
team do that, but it did it by double digits
every single night. Now, okay, they come back home. I
thought maybe the final game of that road trip might
have been the tough one for them. They were in Memphis. Okay,
the Grizzlies got a new coach, John Morant, back in
the lineup, they got something to play for. And by
the way, the Celtics are on the final game of
their trip, so you mix those things together. I thought
(01:31):
that might have been the letdown game. I should have
thought it through. I should have thought it through. Of
what the old adage is in the NBA, it's always
the game after the road trip that comes back to
haunt you. And that's exactly what happened tonight when the
Boston Celtics fell to the Miami Heat. This was not
a super competitive game. The Celtics didn't seem like themselves
(01:52):
from the opening tip. Now that doesn't mean they didn't
have a shot to win. They did because they played
good enough during the second half to get back into
the game. But this was just a game riddled with
uncharacteristic mistakes, characteristic decisions. I would even classify it as
poor decision making at times. And you saw it during
(02:13):
the third and fourth quarters when the Celtics they were
down by as many as I believe it was twenty
three points, twenty two points during the second half, at
one point down by about twenty and they get it
back down to three. Then the lead goes up, they
get it back down to five, the lead goes up,
they get it back down to four. They had a
chance throughout the second half after they made their run,
(02:34):
but every time they got it close, they just couldn't
get over that hump. For some reason or another, they
could not get over that hump. And what stood out
to me is that decision making in those critical moments
when you have a chance to make it a one
possession game and own the momentum in the game and
(02:54):
really put the other team on its heels. The Celtics
seemed to force some shots, they seemed to force some passes,
just uncharacteristic things that you never see out of this team,
especially with the way it's been playing lately. Fourteen fifteen
and one, fourteen and one in the month of March.
This team has been playing.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Super high level basketball.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
But then you see them tonight and they just didn't
look the same as they did throughout that six game
road trip where they swept all of those games. So
it was just one of those knights where you think
they got a shot, they get it back to that
small deficit, you think they're gonna maybe rally and win
this game somehow, even despite not playing all too great,
(03:39):
but just in those critical moments, they just couldn't make
the right decisions, they couldn't make the right passes, and
they certainly couldn't make the shots that they did fire up.
So in the end, they wind up falling to the
Miami Heat, who, by the way, the Heat looked pretty
ugly when the Celtics played them a couple times back
in February and March. Well, that team is now won
(04:00):
six straight games, so they're rolling a little bit as
we get closer to the playoffs, and this could wind
up being a team that the Boston Celtics play in
the first round of the playoffs. Right now, the Miami
Heat are in the playing okay, They've got a chance
to possibly be the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference,
and the seventh seed is as we know, going to
(04:21):
face off with the second seed, and the Boston Celtics
are pretty much locked into that spot for the postseason,
so this could very well be a meeting yet again.
Feels like we can't get rid of the Miami Heap.
This could be a series yet again in the postseason.
Celtics are gonna have to try to figure that out.
This is a Heat team that is rolling right now
now looking at this game, and a few things that
(04:41):
stand out as to why the Celtics lost outside of
those uncharacteristic decisions and uncharacteristic moves that they put on
during the second half and really the first half as well,
but really in those critical moments during the second half.
These are some stats to tell the story of the game.
Boston thirteen turnovers Miami five. Celtics forty four percent from
(05:03):
the field, Miami fifty two percent from the field. Boston
thirteen made free throws, Miami twenty four. That's the game
right there with those three stats. When you turn the
ball over more, when you shoot a lower percentage, and
when you take and make fewer free throws, it's basically
(05:24):
impossible to win the game. So the numbers game said
the Boston Celtics were not gonna win. The Miami Heat
wound up coming out of TV Guarden with the victory tonight,
and that's that. The Celtics just didn't play well. Jason Tatum,
it was a very rare off night. We've seen him
flirting with triple doubles night in and night out over
the past month, month and a half. Tonight one of
(05:45):
his worst games of the season. And it happens like
the players can't be perfect. Twenty four to seven. Lebron
James in his career, he's had some bad games. Michael Jordan,
he had bad games back in the day. Tonight, Jason
Tatum just didn't look like himself and didn't play to
the standards that I'm sure that he holds himself on
a nightly basis. So listen, this one, you just got
(06:06):
to kind of crumble it up, throw it in the
trash and move on to the next one. And the
next one's coming up Friday night, and we'll get into
that in a little bit. But right now we're gonna
dive into some comments from the fans. Surely they were
not exactly happy and excited after this loss, but we've
got a little bit of glass half fall in a
little bit or some of these comments, so let's dive in.
(06:27):
Are three comments from first ones coming from JT Zero JB.
Sven dot Eh on these types of losses being a
bit of a trend this season. I'm gonna give you
some stats and let you know that this isn't the
first or the last time, maybe that this is gonna
happen this season. Next up, we've got Jeter Luise who
gives his take on why the Celtics will be just
(06:47):
fine after this loss. So there's your glass half fole.
And then lastly we've got the Kingslayer, who has something
to say about Boston's home record so far this season.
So let's dive into the one right here. This one
is coming from JT zero, jbseven dot eth. We're talking
about these losses being a little bit of a trend,
(07:10):
all right. As I mentioned, this comment is coming in
from JT zero, jbseven dot eth on Axon. He says,
or she says, looked a lot like the home loss
to Dallas after a roadie. Now that loss came back
in early February. There was February sixth, that was following
(07:31):
a three game road trip where the Celtics won all
three games, including the final one against the Cavs in Cleveland.
Then the Celtics come home and they lose one twenty
seven to one twenty to the Dallas Mavericks. Now, listen,
that loss certainly looked like this one, just a team
not really looking like themselves, not playing to the same
standard that we all hold them to, that they hold
(07:53):
themselves to. But I've got some more information to tell you, like,
this is not the only time this has happened this season,
and outside of that Dallas one, Okay, the Celtics are
now on the season zero in four in their first
home game following a road trip of four or more games.
(08:14):
I'll repeat that, the Celtics have now lost all four
games that they played back at home following a road
trip of four or more games.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
It's not a good trend, okay.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
But the good news is the Celtics don't do that
again this season, so there isn't even an opportunity to
have that come up again. Also, we've got to pay
attention to the fact that during the postseason that certainly
doesn't happen. Okay, the most you're gonna play in consecutive
road games is two, all right, So the Celtics should
be just fine from this perspective. This trend is not
(08:47):
going to continue because it literally can't. Okay, the Celtics
don't play a ton of road games the rest of
the season. I think what do they have left here?
The most consecutive road games that they'll have the rest
of the season is too, got two more consecutive ones
during the regular season then during the postseason. As we know,
during the playoffs it's two to two to one one format.
So should be just fine. This is not gonna come
(09:09):
up again. But if we're talking about things that we
can look at during this regular season, that has been
a trend. I mean, you can't beat around the bush
with an zero to four record. In that exact same scenario,
the Celtics have emptied the tank while becoming one of
the if not the they can tie the record for
the best road record in NBA history if they went
(09:30):
out on the road those final couple of games. But
they've see seemingly emptied the tank on the road and
then not had any gas left in the tank when
they got back home for that next home game. Now,
the good news is they usually bounce back after that
loss at home. Okay, then they get back into the
win colm they play well again. So I'm expecting them
to really play at a high level Friday night when
(09:52):
the Phoenix Suns come to Ton Again. We're gonna touch
on that a little bit, But this has been a
trend this season, and it's something I I bet that
when Joe mazool is putting together his plan for next
season during this offseason, he's gonna point this out. Hey, guys,
this is something that happened throughout last season. We can't
(10:12):
let it happen again. So a little bit of a
trend to look at. It happened again tonight. There's the
fourth time this season, and if you count that game
against Dallas after a three game road trip, that's five
where the Celtics have lost in their first home game
following a road trip. So something to look forward to
possibly changing next season. But the good news is we
don't have to deal with these circumstances again this season,
(10:37):
all right, Next up, Jeter Louise, it's on you, and
Jeter says they'll be fine.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Just shouldn't sit Al and KP on the same night.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
And by the way, Celtics were also missing Jew Holliday
during this game, so that's three of their top six
to seven players. Maybe alternate those guys so they don't
miss the same game on the same night. Cada defensively
is struggling, Tatum shot were way off. All right, let's
start out with Alan Kp, the Celtics shouldn't sit them
on the same night. I don't think these are just
(11:07):
decisions where Boston is choosing, let's sit both these guys
in the same game. I think maybe they're just trying
to get these guys right, and when they wake up
and they're not feeling well in the morning and they're
not feeling perfectly fine, it's gonna be questionable and then
they're gonna deem if they're gonna play as the day
goes down. Now, the Celtics have a medical team that is.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
All over this stuff.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Okay, these guys are going through testing throughout the morning
afternoon before the game to see if their tests are
testing out to their natural numbers, and if they're not
meeting their numbers, then the medical staff knows, Okay, something's
not right here. We should give this guy a little
bit of rest because of a big toe or a
knee or whatever it winds up being.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
The Celtics have to make those decisions.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
So it seems that tonight that decision was made for
them and they that they had to choose to sit
out Alan Kp And listen, this wasn't.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
The second night of a back to back.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
That's usually the only time that al Horford misses games
other than when they feel that they have to rest
him because things are not going well in terms of
his numbers and his testing and all that stuff. So
I don't think they tried to sit them on the
same night tonight. It just happened because they had to.
So that's the first thing. I don't think that'll happen again.
(12:18):
Cada defensively is struggling. Yeah, there were times out there
when Namias didn't play so great defensively, wasn't able to
stay in front of his guy. There were other times
when he was able to actually recover and help the Celtics.
From that perspective, he did have a block tonight. He
did also score seven points and grab six rebounds, a
couple of them at the offensive end. So listen, he's
(12:39):
not going to be perfect. He had some good possessions defensively.
He had so good possessions defensively, But Nimia's Cada. He's
been pretty darn good and solid and a contributor for
the Celtics throughout this season, so let's not jump on
him for having a couple of possessions where SloMo took
him to the basket, was able to score him. By
the way, Kyle Anderson, he was awesome tonight, like he
(13:03):
was a big reason why the Celtics were not able
to get over the hump and win this game. After
they got back into him, he made a lot of
big shots, so credit to him. Nimias Kata tried to
stay in front of him, tried to stop him. It
just didn't work. On every possession last year from Jeter
Luiz Tatum, shots were way off. Yeah, it just happened
to be one of those nights for Jason. Tatum winds
(13:25):
up shooting four for seventeen from the field. That is
a woeful twenty three point five percent from the field,
two for nine from distance. Just not a good night
for Jason. It seemed like he was out of rhythm.
He was forcing some shots. It was like he was
searching for his game and it just never showed up
for him. So he wound up resting along with the
rest of the starters for the final five minutes of regulation.
(13:48):
Joel Mizula said, let's raise that white flag. We are
not winning this game with the way that we are playing.
Let's get you guys some rest. And let's bounce back
when we take the court Friday night against the Phoenix Suns.
But yeah, I mean some of these things, you can
look at some of these things not I think Alan
kp they're not going to miss games together again. Unless
the Celtics are in a position where they just want
(14:09):
to rest everyone. Wins don't really matter, and they don't.
By the way, Okay, the Celtics are locked into the
second seed. They're not going anywhere, so it might happen again.
They might rest some other starters to get them ready
for the playoffs. Nimius has given the Celtics a lot
to sea. Let's not jump on him for having a
couple of tough possessions. And then Tatum, Yeah, it just
wasn't in his night. It just wasn't in his night.
(14:29):
And sometimes that happens, and you gotta wash it away
and move on.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
All right.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Our last comment of the night coming in from the Kingslayer,
hell of a name.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
All right.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
The comment coming in from him is this home record
this year is very worrisome. Okay, right now, the Boston Celtics,
after this loss, are sitting at twenty four and thirteen
at home. Listen, how can you consider that very worrisome.
(15:04):
Twenty four and thirteen. Okay, it's not the best in
the league. It's certainly not the worst in the league.
In fact, if you go through the standings throughout the NBA,
it's pretty much on par with every good team that's
not the Calves or the Thunder. The Calves are thirty
three and five at home. The Thunder are thirty three
and five at home. Everyone else in the league is
(15:27):
right around where the Celtics are within a couple games.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
The Lakers are twenty nine at nine.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
That's the only other team in the league that doesn't
have double digit losses at home. So, yes, last season,
Boston was awesome at home. What was that record, let's
look that up. Thirty seven and four at home last season. So,
I mean they were basically you couldn't beat them inside
TD Garden. But that's what the Celtics are doing on
(15:54):
the road this season. So you know, would you like
them to have an awesome record at home where they
can't be beat here?
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Absolutely. It's not like I think that they just can't
win games here.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
They have.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
They've won a lot of games inside TD Garden, and
I think they're gonna win a lot of.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Playoff games inside TD Garden. Does that mean that they
can't lose?
Speaker 1 (16:15):
No? Okay, every game is its own entity. But I
have confidence that they're gonna play at a high level
at home and on the road throughout this playoff run
as we get into the playoffs, So let's not get
too caught up in it. Twenty four and thirteen that's
not bad. Thirty two and seven on the road, that's excellent.
(16:36):
So you put those together, you got a great team
that can play well both at home and on the road.
It just I actually think some circumstances have contributed. Like
I said that earlier in the episode, the Celtics just
haven't been great coming off of road trips. You can't
just eliminate those four or five losses. But those are
four or five of the thirteen right now. So I'm
(16:56):
not getting too caught up in this. I understand why
the King Slayer you want the Celtics to be basically
unbeatable at TD Garden, and who knows, maybe that winds
up being the case.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
During the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
It was last season, so let's hope that that continues
and it comes back during this playoff run. That's about
to start here in a couple weeks. But I'm not
getting caught up in this. I wouldn't say even from
your perspective, you can say it might be worrisome, but
very worrisome to be twenty four and thirteen. You're acting
a little bit privileged right now.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Okay, all right.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
The Celtics have many more opportunities to write this ship
at home before the season ends. Okay, They're gonna play
at home again on Friday night. The Phoenix Suns are
coming to town. And we all know the Boston Celtics
just really took it to the Suns out in Phoenix,
winning by thirty points just about a week or so ago.
So they've got the Suns coming Friday. Then they've got
(17:49):
the Washington Wizards coming on Sunday. So a couple more
opportunities this week to write the ship here at home
and then head out on the road for the final
two road games of the season before they come back
for two straight home games against the Charlotte Hornets to
close out the season. We are getting close, folks. The
playoffs are right around the corner, less than two weeks
(18:09):
away from the play in coming around where the Celtics
gonna find out who they are playing in the postseason.
In the meantime, let's see if everyone can get healthy,
everyone's feeling good, and let's see if the Celtics can
get back in the win column at home on Friday
night when the Phoenix Suns come to town. I appreciate
you guys taking part in the conversation sending in your
(18:31):
comments on X I'm gonna look forward to you doing
the same again Friday and night.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
I'll see you this year.
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