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Boston Celtics: 3 Takeaways from Cs loss to the Pelicans

By Dallas Malloy

Feb 12, 2021; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) on the court in the last seconds of play against the Detroit Pistons in the forth quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 12, 2021; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) on the court in the last seconds of play against the Detroit Pistons in the forth quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports /
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Boston Celtics Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
Boston Celtics Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports /

Boston Celtics takeaway #1: Fourth-quarter struggles were their downfall

The Boston Celtics have been one of, if not the worst team in the 4th quarter this season. This is not what you want to see of a team that is attempting to win a championship.

Many games are won in the 4th quarter.

Statistically, the Celtics have the fourth-worst offensive rating in the 4th and the sixth-worst defensive rating. They also average the sixth least amount of points, on the third-worst field goal percentage, and the fifth-worst 3-point percentage. These are all very daunting numbers and definitely not the 4th quarter numbers you want to see out of a team with championship aspirations like Boston.

There are no escaping these issues as it shows that night in and night out this Boston team does not have what it takes to compete down the stretch.

Jaylen Brown shoots 8% worse than his average from the field in the 4th. Kemba Walker shoots 12% worse than his average in the 4th. Even star forward Jayson Tatum shoots 2% worse than his average in the final quarter.

All across the board, this team, and its stars, struggle down the stretch. And sadly, I’m not sure how much hope there is that it will get better. Last year we saw a lot of the same from this team, blowing lead after lead. Last season they were bottom ten in defensive rating in the 4th quarter. The only saving grace was that they had the 3rd best offensive rating in the 4th.

Even though they blew leads, they were able to go tit-for-tat with opposing teams and pull out wins. This year, the defense is even worse, and the offense moved down 24 spots as well.

When asked in a postgame interview about the 4th quarter struggles, Celtics coach Brad Stevens added:

"“It’s enough of a trend, it’s enough of a concern. We’ve got to stop it. Last year at this time, we were in really good shape in those moments, this year we’re not, it has not been good.”"

It is good to hear that he at least acknowledges the struggles this team has had. However, outside of this quote, he did not add much insight into how he planned to improve our chances late in games. All he had to say was how the Pelicans game-planned well against the Cs late.

That is discouraging to hear from the coach of a floundering team. All we can do at this point is hope this team turns it around especially in the 4th.

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