Being up 20 points in an NBA games is typically a pretty good sign, unless you're the Boston Celtics. Boston managed to fall down 0-2 to the New York Knicks on Wednesday, after they successfully pulled of their second-consecutive second-half disappearing act.
Kristaps Porzingis sank a three-pointer with 3:12 remaining in the third quarter to put the Celtics up by 73-53, and then things got worse. Unlike Monday's disaster, the horror didn't happen all at once. The Celtics still held a 16-point edge over the Knicks with 8:48 to play in regulation.
They did not make another field goal until Jayson Tatum threw down a dunk with 19 seconds to play. Boston missed 13-straight attempts from the floor before that make. It was a brutal watch.
“I said throughout the end of that 4th quarter, I thought we generated some good looks," said Joe Mazzulla postgame. "Then, I thought we had some live-ball turnovers and they took advantage of it.”
Whether the looks have been good or not, they haven't been dropping in tense situations. Through two games the Knicks look far more prepared to compete in crunch time than the Celtics do. In fact, Boston looks like me if I picked four of my friends to try and close out a win against New York.
The Celtics have put themselves in a 0-2 hole by being historically horrible
This series has been absolutely ridiculous. In order for the Celtics to put themselves in this nearly impossible position, they've had to make history. Wednesday's loss made them the first team since 1996-97 (when the league started to track these sorts of things) to drop multiple games in which they've led by 20 in the same playoff run.
Not only are they the first to do it in the same postseason, but the Celtics did it in back-to-back games.
It would be pretty unfair to discuss this situation without tipping my cap to the Knicks. They were 100% ready for the moment when Boston so graciously held the door open for them in this series. New York took two losses and turned them into wins. That's all you can ask for if you're on that side of the fence.
At the same time, if the Celtics don't play HISTORICALLY bad basketball, they'd be heading down to Madison Square Garden looking to close out a sweep. Instead, they'll be looking to even the series by winning both games on the road.
For what it's worth, Boston was one of the best road teams in NBA history this season, winning 33 of 41 possible games away from home. It's possible, but it's not going to be easy to steal two wins from a team that you've just injected an entire new body of life into.
The playoffs are the playoffs. The regular season is the regular season. It doesn't make it any less frustrating that Boston was 8-1 against this team over the past two campaigns, including a series sweep this year.
They've had no problem reminding everyone that they've still got it in them to play well against the Knicks. They've just had every single problem imaginable when it's time to seal the deal.