The Boston Celtics failed to show up yet again in the fourth quarter, leading to their 111-105 loss to the Miami Heat in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals on Friday night.
The loss, which dropped the Celtics into an 0-2 deficit at home, prompted plenty of locker room and postgame reaction from Boston, along with some from former All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas. Like the thousands of disappointed Celtics faithful in attendance at TD Garden, Thomas watched the Celtics buckle under pressure to Jimmy Butler and Heat for a second straight game, putting their season on the line.
The 34-year-old former Celtics star, who was known for flourishing in the fourth quarter, offered a strongly-worded, but fair, reaction to Boston's Game 2 loss:
"Them boys getting PUNKED! Damn!," Thomas tweeted Friday night,
Petty? Perhaps. Fair? Most definitely.
To Thomas' credit, does it get any worse than having homecourt advantage handed to you, then blowing it in a matter of two nights against an eight-seeded team? The Celtics are now 4-5 at home, being the only team still left in the playoffs that's incapable of defending their own house. It happened against the Atlanta Hawks and the Philadelphia 76ers, which the Celtics managed to escape. However, neither team was as strong or determined as Miami.
Boston must win four of its next five games in order to avoid elimination. Otherwise, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will watch yet another opportunity to live up to expectations breeze right by them.
