The Boston Celtics dropped a tough game to the Dallas Mavericks at home on Thursday night. Klay Thompson got hot in the first quarter, and the Mavs’ success was an avalanche from there. Guys like Spencer Dinwiddie and Naji Marshall piled onto Dallas' success, and the Celtics got caught on their back feet.
Their defensive pressure against the Mavericks wasn’t where it needed to be, and this was highlighted by the Celtics’ failure to stop transition opportunities. Though the official fast break points were only 21-14 in favor of Dallas, the Mavs got a ton of their buckets after Celtics misses on the other end.
And Boston was causing the problem themselves.
Missed layups cost Celtics in loss to Mavericks
The Celtics missed a ton of layups on Thursday night. In the first half alone, they shot 10-of-21 in the paint, including just 3-of-6 in the restricted area. That’s 3-of-6 on layups. Shots as close to the basket as possible.
Most of those misses directly led to opportunities for Dallas to get out and run against a Celtics defense that wasn’t able to get set.
And unfortunately, there isn’t really a solution other than ‘make your layups.’
"I think the first half, it was a little bit of both," Joe Mazzulla said of Dallas' transition opportunities. "They had 21 points in transition. It was a combination. Ten of those were off our turnovers, and then, the other 11 were probably a combination of a missed layup that puts you in a disadvantage situation. Plus, Klay Thompson had a great first half. So, I think it was a combination of both of those things, where it was a transition defense because of the product.
"We were 8-for-18 on layups in the first half. A missed layup is just as dangerous as a live-ball turnover because of the ability to get out and transition. So, just a combination of Thompson getting hot, us not doing a great job on him, and then a combination of our 8-for18 on layups and the live-ball turnovers. So, that plays a part in it."
By the end of the game, the Celtics were shooting fairly well from the field and from three, but they still weren’t great inside in the second half. They followed up their ugly first-half performance by shooting 9-of-22 in the paint and 3-of-14 in the restricted area. The issue got worse. The layups just wouldn’t fall.
Guys like Jrue Holiday and Al Horford have been two of the biggest contributors to the issue this season, but everyone got in on the action on Thursday night.
Horford was 0-of-4 in the restricted area on the night. Jayson Tatum was 1-of-4. Luke Kornet was 1-of-3. Holiday was 0-of-1. It was a brutal showing.
And on top of the fact that the Celtics left a ton of points on the board with their poor efficiency, they also allowed the Mavs to get out and run off their misses.
When Boston missed a layup, the Mavericks were able to push the pace, leaving whoever missed the shot as the last guy back on defense. It put the Celtics at a consistent disadvantage.
But, as mentioned, the only real solution is to make the layups.