If NBA games ended after one quarter, the Boston Celtics would be 5-1 in their last six games. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, and Boston is 1-5 in that span instead.
The latest heartbreaker came Sunday night in Memphis to the middling Grizzlies, who trailed by as many as 21 points but rallied to stun the Celtics in another frustrating loss for the Green and White. The defeat was the latest installment in a disturbing trend for a Boston club that continues to struggle closing out games: The Celtics now are 3-8 this season in games decided by five points or less.
A quick look at the box score reveals a simple cause for Boston’s woes: The team just isn’t executing down the stretch. The Celtics shot just 29 percent in the fourth quarter Sunday, and four of their six free throw misses came in the final 12 minutes.
So how do the C’s cure what ails them? Brad Stevens sounded a lot like another Boston-area head coach when posed that question after Sunday’s loss.
“I think the biggest thing is, you focus on the task at hand no matter what the circumstance is,” Stevens said in a postgame interview aired on CSN New England. “When things are going really well, you focus on the task at hand. When things are going really poorly, you focus on the task at hand.
“What do you need to do to be successful on a play? If your job is to run a lead and catch the first pass, then you’ve got to run it. If your job is to enter the ball, you’ve got to do do that. If your job is to screen, you’ve got to do that. If your job is to roll, you’ve got to do that, (and) on down the line. The more you do that consistently, the better chances you have at a successful possession.”
Basically, Stevens wants to adopt the mantra espoused so often by Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots: Do your job.
That’s obviously easier said than done, but Stevens’ message has merit. As the Grizzlies mounted their comeback, the Celtics started to press and force shots rather than play the free-flowing game that allowed them to open up an 18-point first quarter advantage.
Success in the NBA so often comes down to clutch play, and Boston simply isn’t getting that right now. But if the Celtics can narrow their scope and slow the game down to singular possessions, it would go a long way toward preventing the club’s late-game shortcomings.
Thumbnail photo via Justin Ford/USA TODAY Sports Images
