Boston Celtics: 3 takeaways from C’s upsetting Game 4 loss to Warriors

Boston Celtics takeaway No. 3) IC’s didn’t make enough in-game adjustments

Steve Kerr was playing chess while Ime Udoka was playing checkers and losing.

Basketball is a game of runs and adjustments. The Celtics still seem to come out of the half flat and uninspired like chickens with their heads cut off.

We saw no adjustments to how Boston was guarding the perimeter. The quality of play-calling and shot selection was pedestrian at best. The Celtics seem to have an issue with getting too comfortable with even the smallest lead.

Careless passing into passing lanes leads to an unset defense giving up easy transition points.

It also felt like Udoka was burning through timeouts and accomplishing nothing because the plays called out of the huddles were passing that transitioned into contested jumpers. Instead of trying to make the right basketball play, it was too much trying to match the Warriors in a shootout and this is not a winning scenario.

Udoka has proven to be a great coach, but sometimes he gets too stubborn to stick with something that clearly is not working. Like keeping certain players in too long after sloppy plays.

Adjustments are the game within the game.

Steve Kerr made these shake-ups in his rotations all game long. He realized quickly when Kevon Looney was needed for size if the small ball was not working. He did not hesitate to sit Draymond Green and play Nemanja Bjelica, an ultimate questionable move that paid off in a huge way.

He never got rattled throughout the highs and the lows. That’s Championship-level coaching.

One other large-scale issue is why can the Boston Celtics not respond after a win?

They seem to only play with a fire under themselves after a loss or in a must-win situation.  It’s a bad habit of beating yourself in a way.

The hallmark of a team that has not been here before.