The Boston Celtics have gone thourgh plenty ups and downs this season but there is one particularly disturbing trend that continues to come up. The Celtics are finding ways to run away from opponents and they are finding ways to stay close with top competition. Unfortunately, close is where it starts to go downhill. The last two loses are the most recent examples but struggling down the stretch in close games is a theme that has followed the Celtics all season long.
They have shown their offensive potential with one of the highest points per game in the east and they have shown their defensive potential with the second best defensive efficiency in the league. The problem is that too often all those positives are disappearing down the stretch. The Celtics continue to find themselves in a position to win these close games, only to fail miserably, coming out with a loss.
There has been some exceptions. Most recently, Jae Crowder hit a game wing layup during their most recent three game winning streak. The problem is that they continue to prove that Crowder’s game winner was the outlier. The Celtics are one of the youngest teams in the league and while their rotation is finally settling, they continue to struggle to find what works best down the stretch in close games.
In games decided by fewer than 10 points this season, the Celtics have 8 victories and 14 loses. For a team that remains one game above .500, they have left a lot to be desired in close games this year. Had the Celtics just broken even and had a .500 record in games decided by fewer than 10 points, their record would stand at 23-18, good enough to be 5th in the eastern conference.
While this is one of the bigger problems the Celtics need to address before becoming a contending team, it is something that should have been anticipated. The youth alone puts the Celtics in a disadvantageous situation in the clutch. The Celtics found one go to scorer in Isaiah Thomas but they don’t have a single player who has proven their worth in clutch situation, largely because they have not had enough opportunities to prove themselves.
The Celtics simply do not have players that are comfortable enough in clutch situation in the NBA. Almost any significant player on the Celtics is still in the process of figuring out and developing their games. Thomas has shown the ability to score at will at times but he is not yet in a position where he knows what to do to score when it matters most.
Brad Stevens’ out of timeout plays certainly help but the Celtics need their players to step up in order to figure out what they need to do to execute properly in the clutch. Thomas is not the only one but he appears to be the closet thing the Celtics have to someone that can be trusted in those situations. The Celtics have proven that they can keep up with anyone when they play their best, the problem is it is rarely enough down the stretch.
The Celtics lack a veteran that is comfortable in those situations. The Celtics do not have a single player that has ever been in a situation where they have been trusted as a clutch player in the past. This is less of a condemnation of their game and more a product of their youth. Establishing that trust in the clutch has a great deal to do with being comfortable in those situations. The Celtics will need a lot more time before their players can gain that reputation but the good news is, despite these close loses, that is the exact kind of experience they need in order to be comfortable in the future.
It is unfortunate, but the Celtics are getting a lot of film on what should not be done down the stretch. The Celtics are getting an idea of what are the best options in the clutch but right now they have very little established. A big reason why the Celtics have a great opportunity to improve in the clutch situation is because they are finally settling into a rotation.
The Celtics have spent the majority of this season playing around with all kinds of different lineups and it is still unclear which lineup is the most effective in the clutch. The Celtics appear to have settled into their starting rotation. The Celtics are no longer rotating starters and they have established consistent minutes for the bench. The next step will be to find out which lineup combination is the most effective in those clutch situations. The Celtics have been seen getting really creative with their three guard small ball lineup. Unfortunately, that has, at times, cost them on the defensive end. The Celtics have trimmed their rotation but it is still a work in progress.
The struggles in the clutch are something that the Celtics are probably going to have to deal with for the rest of the season, the key will be improvement. The Celtics have made a lot of good progress this year and after two loses in a row where they had an opportunity to win the game in the clutch, it will be impossible to ignore the problem.
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The Celtics saw their expectations sky rocket this year and that has made all these clutch loses incredibly disappointing. However, that may not be entirely fair to the Celtics. There are no moral loses in sports but the more the Celtics find themselves in close games down the stretch the more progress they will be making in becoming a team that can close out games, even if they are not yet coming away with enough victories.