#1 – Defensive meltdown
During the first part of the game, the Boston Celtics were able to limit the Knicks’ offense and applied a smart defensive game plan to the best of their abilities. Then, the fourth quarter started.
It all began with Mikal Bridges scoring. Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson were out, the lead was up to 15, and it looked safe. But it wasn’t. Mikal started hunting Kristaps Porzingis in drop coverage to get to his spot. With Payton Pritchard as his primary defender, it was easier for him to find open space.
Then, the Celtics put Jrue Holiday on him, but the result was the same. His size and handle were too much to contain one-on-one, and after six minutes in the fourth, Mikal Bridges had already made his fifth bucket, cutting the lead to 10.
Then the defense started to collapse collectively. To avoid pressure from the help defender, the Knicks used an empty-side pick-and-roll. They forced a switch, but Jaylen Brown can contain Brunson—so no need to panic. Yet, Horford is in the paint. The Knicks swing the ball to Josh Hart in the corner, and Horford decides to close out hard—even though the Knicks forward is supposed to be considered a non-shooting threat. This gives Hart enough space to drive into the paint.
The collapse continued as Jalen Brunson ran across the court to find a spot in the opposite corner. The Celtics don’t communicate well, so Holiday and Horford both end up on Brunson. Hart rolls to the rim and, even if he misses, Karl-Anthony Towns can dominate Derrick White on the rebound.
The Knicks are now one point away, going up against the clutch player of the year. Brunson tries to get the switch onto Horford, but the Celtics are able to take that away. Yet, the Knicks’ go-to guy can still create offense out of nothing. A gorgeous step-back over Jrue Holiday—and that’s another 20-point lead down the drain.
Then, after a contested mid-range and a rushed putback, the Celtics once again fail to communicate in transition. They aren’t able to contain Jalen Brunson in a two-on-three situation, and the Knicks take a three-point lead that the Celtics won’t be able to overcome.
Because yes, the defense was questionable and the execution wasn’t sharp late in the game —but the offense was even more concerning.
#2 – Mediocre offensive execution
The Celtics piled up misses in the fourth. Yes, there were good shots, but also many possessions that should have been handled better. Here, the Celtics run a pick-and-roll with two screens. They get the switches they wanted, with McBride on Al Horford and Robinson on Payton Pritchard. This forces Mikal Bridges to help from the weak side. Yet once Jaylen Brown got the ball, he tried to drive and take a contested mid-range shot on the Knicks’ best defender—while two players were open from three.
A few possessions later, the Celtics again took too much time to get going on offense and ended up with 8 seconds on the clock and no gap created. Pritchard uses a Brown screen and pulls up—from 34 feet. The Celtics couldn’t get to the rim at all. They made only three shots at the rim in the final quarter—two putbacks from airballs, and a late dunk after a timeout.
Even when they had all the space in the world to drive, they didn’t. Here, Brown has the paint open for him after a screen from Derrick White. But no—he pulls up from three, despite the shot not falling for the last two games.
The Knicks are getting closer and the lead is shrinking. So, the Celtics decide to go for… yes, another isolation. Tatum isn’t able to create any separation against OG Anunoby and takes a contested fadeaway while the four other Celtics stand still, spectators of the action.
The Knicks are now ahead, and the Celtics try to change things a little by going for… yes, another isolation and another contested mid-range shot. Despite having space to drive or post up again, the Celtics offense settles for an inefficient look.
In the end, it’s 17 points in the fourth quarter—after just 16 in Game 1’s fourth. Two 20-point leads down the drain in three days. It doesn’t get much worse than that.
#3 – Jay’s inability to take care of the ball
The Celtics’ duo ended up with nine turnovers for seven assists. Again, execution is the root of the problem—and it started early. Here, Jaylen Brown drives against Josh Hart in a crowded paint, despite Holiday telling him that Jayson Tatum has a mismatch on Brunson on the other side.
A quarter later, it’s Tatum’s turn to lose the ball from poor execution. After a pick-and-roll, he tries to get the ball to Kristaps Porzingis to get him going but, despite the Latvian big man being 7’3”, he somehow sends the ball out of reach.
Same issue here when he tries to get the ball to KP again, despite four Knicks players in the paint. The Celtics lost some offensive flow by trying too hard to get Porzingis going. And off those turnovers, the transition defense became concerning—like here, where Jaylen follows the ball instead of his matchup.
Jaylen ended up with six turnovers in total. The Knicks’ defense really found ways to bait him into driving into tight spaces and stripping the ball away.
Then came the last turnover from Jayson Tatum, which sealed the game and buried the hope of winning Game 2. That turnover followed a timeout-play that created a great opportunity—but with only a few seconds to go and a timeout left, they chose to improvise… and lost again.
#4 – Timeouts are meant to be used
Down one, the Celtics ran a beautiful play—a full-court pick-and-roll to give Jayson Tatum all the space in the world, with perfect spacing.
After Jalen Brunson hit a couple of free throws, the Celtics tried to run the same play without calling a timeout. But this time, Al Horford’s screen is closer to the rim, the Knicks are ready, and it doesn’t create any separation. The good news? The Celtics still have a timeout left—they’re supposed to be safe. No need to improvise.
Well, that’s what I thought.
The coaching staff chose not to call it, and Jayson Tatum fell into another Knicks trap.
#5 – Jrue Holiday to attack Brunson
Despite the frustrating ending, the Celtics did some things right—things they could reuse in New York to try to survive.
On Monday, they weren’t always able to turn switches into good looks. But they adapted on Wednesday, especially with Jrue Holiday’s role. The Knicks started with Jalen Brunson on him. But instead of using a screen to get Tatum or Brown on him, Holiday attacked Brunson himself.
Jrue Holiday is rarely used as a creator, but when needed, he’s shown he can play that role—like in the previous series.
By isolating Brunson on Holiday and not setting a screen, the Celtics caught the Knicks by surprise. It also made it harder for them to help Brunson defensively—and since the Knicks’ offensive leader needs to stay out of foul trouble, he can’t get too physical when Holiday posts him up.
Because of that start, the Knicks switched Brunson onto Derrick White. But even then, Brunson’s struggles weren’t over. White, like Holiday, is a good screener and can drive too. So even after the adjustments, the Celtics kept targeting Brunson.
#6 – Getting Jayson Tatum going against the drop
The New York defense had done a good job limiting Tatum’s impact with switching and hedging. But out of nowhere, they went back to drop coverage. And, as we saw in the regular season, that’s not ideal—it gives Tatum too much space.
So in the third quarter, the Celtics leaned into pick-and-rolls because the Knicks gave them the best coverage. First, Tatum scored with pull-ups and drives.
Then came his passing. We finally saw two-man actions between Tatum and Kornet, leading to great synergy. Kornet was definitely the better interior player last night, and the Celtics might want to lean more on him for the next games in New York.
#7 – Containing Jalen Brunson
In the first half, the Celtics did a great job containing Brunson with drop coverage and aggressive stunts. They used three defenders: the on-ball defender went over the screen, the big stayed in drop, and the closest defender stunted from the wing.
This took away the pull-up, the roll, the drive, and the kick-out—because Josh Hart isn’t a shooter. This great structure limited Brunson to 7 points in 19 minutes in the first half. But as we saw, the second half was different. The Knicks gave Brunson more off-ball opportunities and found ways to avoid the stunt.
That forced the Celtics to concede the switch they didn’t want to give. But it’s still a good indicator of what they need to do to contain New York’s go-to guy.
#8 – KAT dominating Horford
The young center dominated the veteran in a way we hadn’t seen before. The Knicks spotted it quickly and designed a play to get the ball to Karl-Anthony Towns in the post, where he could overpower Horford.
Even further from the basket, KAT was quicker and got to the rim with ease. Despite Porzingis and Tatum being in the paint, the Knicks’ center was given easy access and scored several times in a row from that spot.
The Celtics will have to do a better job at protecting Horford, unless he is able to turn the matchup around.
#9 – More spain pick-and-roll
One play that worked well—but strangely disappeared—was the Spain pick-and-roll targeting both Brunson and Towns. The idea is to use a KAT matchup to screen the ball-handler, while a Brunson matchup sets a backscreen on KAT. This creates chaos—suddenly, the rim protector is the smallest guy on the floor, and KAT can’t navigate the screens properly.
Even when Derrick White rejects the screen, Brunson can’t protect the rim by himself—and the wings can’t help, because Brown and Tatum are spotting up.
Hopefully, we’ll see more of this in the next games in New York. On the other hand, here’s something I hope we won’t see again.
#10 – The hack-a-Mitch has to stop
It was fun—but it might be time to get serious. Late in the fourth, the Knicks had Mitchell Robinson on the floor, and the Celtics started fouling him again, giving the Knicks a chance to enter the bonus.
Without that, maybe Jrue Holiday’s late foul doesn’t turn into free throws. Maybe there’s another way to deal with his impact. This isn’t Shaquille O’Neal—we’re talking about Mitchell Robinson. If the Celtics coaching staff can’t find another way to deal with his size and rim protection, that’s a problem.
