3 reasons why the Boston Celtics lost pivotal Game 6 to the Warriors

Reason Boston Celtics lost Game 6 No. 2) The Bench was a non-factor again…

Depth wins championships in this league and, in the last two games, the Boston Celtics got a combined nine points from their three key bench pieces in Grant Williams, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard.

PP was held scoreless in back-to-back games and when he’s not hitting open treys, his presence is that of a major liability. The guard is no more than six feet with obvious defensive limitations. This made him unplayable in key moments and begs the question if he can be a rotational piece on this team that is built on a tough defensive identity.

Batman has been a missing person on a milk carton at your local Stop and Shop since the Milwaukee series. He played for considerable minutes but was not aggressive to get up shots or impact the game in any other way.

The former Spur lived up to his bill as a non-shooter despite a false media narrative that he was a sniper when Boston acquired him at the trade deadline. He had some moments, but the Fred VanVleet-like new dad energy was only a temporary force.

Part of the reason, the Celtics lack the ability to get banner 18 right now is their lack of depth beyond their eight-man rotation. This offseason should give way to serious decisions to shore up additional bench pieces to be deep at every position.

Robert Williams is injury-prone, Al Horford is getting older, and the C’s could not trust Daniel Theis to provide meaningful minutes in this series, making him a non-rotational piece for the future.

Boston will need to sever ties to the end of the bench pieces in Luke Kornet, Juwan Morgan, and possibly Sam Hauser to get more reliable depth.

Ime Udoka’s eight-man philosophy worked in the regular season, but it showed serious weaknesses in the losses the Celts suffered in the playoffs.

Every champion outside of maybe the bubble Lakers had notable depth.

It’s almost impossible to win being this hollow.